Chapter 442 - 416: New Mission

Chapter 442: Chapter 416: New Mission

Night deepened, and the bustle of the Mist Forest Marketplace gradually died down.

The Concealment Array around the stone house was gently triggered from the outside. Li Yuan opened his eyes, his Divine Sense sweeping over the area beyond his door.

It was Chen Yi.

Li Yuan opened the stone door. Chen Yi strode in, his expression grave, forgoing any pleasantries.

"The Phantom Mask I gave you before—do you still have it?" Chen Yi asked, sitting down at the stone table and getting straight to the point.

"What’s the request."

Chen Yi said nothing. From his storage bag, he produced a dark red bead and placed it gently on the stone table.

The bead was about the size of an egg, its surface covered in flowing, dark-red patterns. Sealed within was an incredibly dense pulse of Demonic Qi. The moment he took it out, the temperature in the stone house seemed to drop, and the acrid stench of blood permeated the air.

"A Demon Essence Bead," Chen Yi explained in a low voice.

"It’s a High Tier Magical Artifact developed by the Sect. If you crush the outer seal and carry it on your person, it will perfectly simulate a Demon Cultivator’s aura and Spiritual Waves for a set period. For a short time, it can even deceive the Divine Sense of a Golden Core Stage cultivator."

He paused, his gaze fixed on the bead.

"But the price is steep. The Demonic Qi will enter your body and cause continuous damage to your meridians. The longer you use it, the more severe the damage. The Sect wants you to use this with the Phantom Mask to infiltrate the Evil Slaying Sect’s communication network on the western front of Liangzhou as a Demon Cultivator and gather internal intelligence."

"The total reward is a set of materials that aid in Core Formation. This is just the first mission."

Chen Yi added.

For any Cultivator at Late-stage Foundation Establishment, materials that aided Core Formation were an irresistible temptation.

Li Yuan looked at the Demon Essence Bead on the stone table, and his ability to perceive item entries within a three-foot radius was immediately triggered.

A blue entry.

"I’ll take the mission," Li Yuan said with a nod.

’To infiltrate the Demon Sect’s network, he didn’t even need to crush the Demon Essence Bead. The Phantom Mask could change his appearance, the Dark Demon Token and his Demon Essence Skill provided the purest Demonic Qi, and he had long ago mastered the continuous-wave transmission method. His whole repertoire of disguises was flawless—far more effective than this Demon Essence Bead, a method that would cost him dearly for any benefit gained.’

Seeing him accept it, Chen Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

"The coordinates for the first infiltration target are here." Chen Yi handed over a jade slip. "It’s underground at an abandoned post station west of Skeleton Ridge. This is a roving contact point for the Evil Slaying Sect’s western front. The Sect confirmed its general location through a previous decoy mission, but its internal structure and contact methods are a complete unknown."

"Find out the rendezvous method. Getting a name list would be best."

"The slip also contains intelligence on the Demon Cultivators."

Having given his instructions, Chen Yi did not linger. He rose and vanished into the night.

Li Yuan then reached out and picked up the Demon Essence Bead from the stone table.

The instant his fingertips made contact, the panel appeared.

[Detectable Equippable Item: Demon Essence Bead (Intact)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Adversity Remolding (Blue)—Upon a drop in cultivation realm, aptitude and lifespan are permanently increased. The higher the realm at the time of the drop, the greater the increase. With multiple drops, the bonus is calculated based on the highest realm achieved before each fall.]

[Condition for Permanence: Break through one realm (0/1)]

Li Yuan’s movements paused for a moment as he looked at the panel.

’The effect is incredibly unique. It doesn’t directly boost combat strength, but rather allows one to gain a stronger foundation and a longer lifespan from loss.’

’Although the entry itself wouldn’t actively cause my realm to fall, if I were to shatter my core in the future, this boon would take effect.’

’The improved aptitude after falling would allow me to cultivate faster and build a more solid foundation when starting over.’

’An extreme method—to destroy in order to rebuild.’

’The condition for permanence is to break through one realm—in other words, from Early-stage to Mid-stage Golden Core.’

Li Yuan rolled the Demon Essence Bead in his palm. ’The effect of Adversity Remolding is incredibly potent, and it’s a perfect match for my plan to shatter my core and start anew.’

’The only question now is whether to first break through to Mid-stage Golden Core and then shatter it to recultivate, or whether to take advantage of my current, relatively low realm, shatter my existing Demon Pill, and attempt to condense a new, Top Grade Golden Core of Spiritual Power.’

’Even before, when my foundation in demonic techniques was still shallow, I had a chance to condense a Top Grade Golden Core.’

’With the empowerment of more Spiritual Power entries and a deeper foundation, I have a decent chance of pushing it to the Supreme Grade.’

’But something like this is ultimately extremely risky. Even if the chance of success isn’t low, there’s no room for carelessness.’

’To this day, no records of Core Formation—not just from the Primordial Yang Sect—have ever mentioned a single case of a Supreme Grade Golden Core.’

Setting his thoughts aside for the moment, Li Yuan immediately began his preparations.

He pressed the Phantom Mask to his face. His muscles shifted subtly, and a moment later, his features had transformed into those of a Demon Cultivator with deep-set eyes and a sinister expression.

He retracted his Spiritual Power and activated his Demon Essence Skill. The Middle Grade Demon Qi Golden Core in his Dantian began to spin slowly, and pure Demonic Qi flowed from his meridians to coat his body. He fine-tuned the frequency of the Demonic Qi’s fluctuations, flattening and stretching them until he had precisely switched to a constant, unbroken, continuous wave—the signature transmission method of the Abyss Sect’s outer factions.

Activating the Earth Escape Technique, Li Yuan’s body sank into the ground, and he sped northwest, traveling deep beneath the earth.

With the bonus from his "Subtle Earth Evasion" entry, he arrived at the abandoned post station west of Skeleton Ridge in less than two hours.

Above ground, only a few crumbling walls of the post station remained, choked with overgrown weeds.

Li Yuan stopped ten zhang underground, spreading the perceptive net of his Dark Evil Insight upward and in all directions.

Twenty zhang underground, he found a hollowed-out stone chamber.

Two sources of Demonic Qi were stationary at the chamber’s entrance. Both were at Early-stage Foundation Establishment, but one of their auras was still unstable, as if they had just broken through.

A hidden Sensing Array was deployed around the entrance. The style of its Array Patterns was identical to the Evil Slaying Sect’s arrays along the northern line of the Ghost Mist Forest, but this one had an additional special interface, clearly intended to be compatible with visits from specific allies.