Chapter 447 - 420: Countering the Net at the Gray Hills

Chapter 447: Chapter 420: Countering the Net at the Gray Hills

The Concealment Array within the stone house operated silently, isolating it from all external sounds.

Li Yuan sat at the stone table, before him several Spirit Detective Talismans he had just retrieved from outside. He extended his Divine Sense into them one by one, reading the passive sensory data stored within the Talismans.

The new leather goods shop in the Eastern District had been unusually active over the past three days.

The continuous wave transmission frequency from the dark red token had appeared twice in the Spirit Detective Talismans’ records. The transmissions were directed northwest, toward Skeleton Ridge. At the same time, several Spirit Detective Talismans placed on the old road outside Skeleton Ridge had also captured corresponding Demonic Qi echoes.

Li Yuan pieced together the Spiritual Power fluctuation data from different locations and times in his mind.

A clear movement trajectory emerged.

The continuous wave signal from the direction of Skeleton Ridge was moving outward. The Abyss Sect’s peripheral advance party, sent to investigate Skeleton Ridge, was withdrawing.

The transmission sent by the leather merchant was a confirmation for a rendezvous on their withdrawal route.

Judging from the trajectory’s direction and speed, the team had not chosen the conventional trade route through Ghost Mist Forest. Instead, they had taken a wide detour, attempting to cut through the gray, hilly region at the border of Liangzhou and Jingzhou.

At their current pace, they would reach the midpoint of the border hills in about three days.

Li Yuan put away the Spirit Detective Talismans.

The Abyss Sect was moving faster than he had anticipated. Withdrawing immediately after scouting the weak points of the Array at Skeleton Ridge clearly meant they had obtained the data they wanted and were heading back to report.

Three days was enough time to set up a perfect trap.

During the three-day wait, Li Yuan did not leave the stone house. Instead, he turned his focus back to Artifact Refining.

He took out the tattered beast-skin diagram he had found at a stall in the White Mirror Market from his storage bag.

The diagram depicted partial Array Patterns for a Tier Three forging method. Previously, he could only barely make out some of the surface-level structures. But as his Cultivation and mastery of the Array Dao had improved, especially after witnessing the Profound Nether Sect’s Great Arrays at the Sub-Palace and Skeleton Ridge, his perspective on this diagram was now completely different.

Although the diagram was incomplete and couldn’t be used to restore any full Tier Three Artifact Refining jade slip, it provided a high-level design philosophy.

The circuit design of Tier Three Array Patterns pursued ultimate energy efficiency. Within an extremely limited area, hundreds of Spiritual Power nodes were perfectly interwoven, with not a single redundant line.

Li Yuan stared at the tattered diagram for a long time.

He took out a standard schematic for refining a Tier Two defensive Magical Artifact and spread it on the table. Compared to the intricate, spiderweb-like structure of the Tier Three diagram, the Spiritual Power circuits on the Tier Two schematic looked crude and bloated.

’What if I use the node-folding concept from the Tier Three diagram to streamline the Spiritual Power circuits of a Tier Two Magical Artifact?’

Li Yuan walked over to his workbench and ignited the artifact refining furnace.

The Flame of Flame Fiend surged, engulfing several pieces of Spirit Silver Ore and Star Sand. He didn’t follow the standard steps from the Tier Two schematic. Instead, at the critical moment when the Spirit Liquid was coalescing and taking form, he forcefully intervened with his Divine Sense, modifying the paths of several Spirit Patterns according to the folding concept from the Tier Three diagram.

The first experimental piece shattered the moment it cooled.

The modified Spirit Pattern circuits caused an energy conflict; the Magical Artifact’s internal structure couldn’t withstand the instantaneous surge of Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan’s expression was calm as he cleared away the slag and threw in new materials.

A second time, a third, a fourth.

With every failure, he precisely identified the crux of the circuit conflict. As he continued to make minute adjustments, the originally redundant lines inside the Tier Two Magical Artifact were eliminated one by one, and the efficiency of the Spiritual Power flow improved visibly.

When the seventh Magical Artifact emerged from the furnace, a smooth and stable Spiritual Light shimmered on its pale blue metal surface.

It didn’t shatter.

The Spiritual Power flowed with extreme smoothness through the modified circuits. Its defensive efficacy was ten percent higher than a finished product refined strictly according to the original schematic.

A panel popped up before his eyes.

[Artifact Refining Proficiency: Tier Two Proficient → Tier Two Mastered (0/800)]

The value of the Tier Three diagram was completely reassessed. It was like a key handed down from a higher dimension, allowing him to directly unlock the door to the optimal solutions for Tier Two Artifact Refining. As long as he continued to optimize in this direction, fully solidifying his Tier Two Mastery was only a matter of time.

After storing the finished product, Li Yuan glanced at the sky.

「Three days had passed.」

He pushed open the stone door, activated his Earth Escape Technique, and sank silently into the ground, moving at full speed toward the border hills.

The gray hills rolled on endlessly, and the air was filled with a dry, desolate aura.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi here was extremely low; even the hardiest weeds grew sparsely. No High-Tier Cultivators had set foot here for years, making it a natural haven for murder and robbery.

Li Yuan came to a stop beneath a hollow in the middle of the hills.

Ghostly Concealment completely erased his aura, preventing even the surrounding soil from showing any unnatural Spiritual Power fluctuations. His Dark Evil Insight perception spread out like an invisible net, covering a three-li radius.

「One hour later.」

Four suppressed signals of Demonic Qi entered the edge of his perception net.

One Late-stage Foundation Establishment, and three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

Four figures moved swiftly through the hills, their Body Techniques light and agile. They wore the unremarkable attire of Loose Cultivators, but they could not hide the air of battle-hardened vigilance about them.

As they neared the hollow, the leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator gave a hand signal. The four of them stopped to rest briefly behind a massive boulder.

"We’re finally out of Liangzhou’s territory." A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator let out a long sigh, his voice filled with unconcealed exhaustion. "We squatted outside Skeleton Ridge for over half a month and didn’t even get a clear look at a damn thing."

Another man pulled a waterskin from his storage bag and took a swig, his tone tinged with complaint.

"I get it now. The higher-ups are just using us as cannon fodder. That damn Skeleton Ridge is sealed tight by a Tier Three Top Grade Restriction. Forget about us, even a Golden Core Zhenren would be helpless there."

The leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator frowned.

"Enough complaining. Once this mission is done, there will be rewards waiting for us back home."

"Boss, don’t try to placate us with that."

The one who had spoken first pursed his lips. "Why the hell did we have to come to this backwater to get mixed up in this mess? I heard from a brother in the inner hall that the main Abyss Sect isn’t even that interested in these so-called Profound Nether Sect ruins. It’s just a few of the elders from certain branches messing around, trying to score some side profit."

"Watch your tongue!" the leader barked, his sharp gaze sweeping over the three of them.

"It’s not our place to question the elders’ decisions. Since we’ve already recorded the Array data, our mission is complete. Once we get back to Lingzhou and hand the item over, this will have nothing more to do with us."

The other three pursed their lips but said no more, each sitting down cross-legged to meditate and recover their energy.

One hundred feet underground, Li Yuan heard every single word of their conversation.

’The main Abyss Sect isn’t interested; it’s just the private actions of a few branch elders.’

’This piece of intelligence is crucial. It means the Abyss Sect forces currently eyeing Skeleton Ridge aren’t a unified behemoth, but a regional power rife with internal factional struggles. Their investment will have a limit, and they’ll have more scruples.’

After resting for about fifteen minutes, the lead Cultivator stood up.

"Let’s go. The sooner we’re out of these hills, the better."

The other three got to their feet.

The very instant they stepped out from the shadow of the massive boulder—

—the ground suddenly split open without warning, and a bone-chilling cold erupted from below like a volcanic eruption.

Ice Seal Skill.

Based on his Great Success in the Cold Stream Skill and enhanced with the permanent traits "Water Element Speed Boost" and "Water Vein Insight," this Tier Two Low Grade control Magic unleashed terrifying power in Li Yuan’s hands.

The azure cold qi instantly condensed into solid ice crystals in mid-air.

The four Abyss Sect peripheral Cultivators had no time to mount any defense before the ground beneath their feet was covered in a thick layer of solid ice. The frost madly crept up their legs, freezing their lower bodies firmly in place.

It wasn’t just a physical restraint.

The "Spirit Vein Lag" trait from the Spirit Locking Talisman activated the moment the Magic hit. The four men felt the flow of Demonic Qi in their bodies suddenly stagnate, and the protective magic they were about to cast was a beat too slow.

That fatal half-beat was enough to decide everything.

A gray fissure bloomed silently in the air.

Void Rend.

The first fissure skimmed across the ground, precisely severing the necks of the three Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Three heads flew into the air, the severed surfaces instantly frozen by the residual cold of the Ice Seal Skill, not even a single drop of blood spraying out.

The leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator was, after all, a fraction faster to react.

With a furious roar, he unleashed the Demonic Qi in his body, shattering the ice on his legs at the risk of damaging his own meridians. A dark red bone shield appeared in his hand as he tried to block the lethal attack heading his way.

The second Void Rend arrived.

The gray fissure slammed into the bone shield, producing a teeth-grinding screech. The Tier Two Middle Grade bone shield held for only a single breath against Void Rend’s intensely condensed spatial edge before splitting in two.

Its momentum undiminished, the fissure continued onward, slicing straight down from between the lead Cultivator’s eyebrows.

His body froze in place, eyes staring fixedly ahead, before splitting down the middle and falling to both sides.

From start to finish, the battle had lasted no more than two breaths.

The desolate hollow returned to a dead silence.

Li Yuan emerged from the ground, his expression calm as he walked toward the four corpses.

He deftly removed the four storage bags. Since these four had been sent to scout the weak points in the Array at Skeleton Ridge, they must be carrying the results of their investigation.

His Divine Sense quickly rummaged through the four storage bags.

Aside from a few hundred Mid-grade Spirit Stones and some standard pills and Magical Artifacts, Li Yuan found a special jade slip at the very bottom of the lead Cultivator’s storage bag.

The jade slip was made of a material that was neither metal nor jade, and it emanated a grim, deathly aura.

Li Yuan extended his Divine Sense into it.

A dense flood of information about Array nodes instantly poured into his sea of consciousness. This data detailed the Spiritual Power flow trajectories of the outer Array at Skeleton Ridge, and even included the specific location of the weak point and the energy accumulation there.

However, the crucial part—the deductions for breaking the Array—was a garbled mess.

’It’s encrypted.’

The information was locked by a special Demonic Qi frequency. Without the corresponding decryption method, any attempt to force it would cause the jade slip to self-destruct. And Li Yuan keenly sensed that this encryption frequency was a high-tier variant of that same constant, unsegmented continuous wave transmission frequency.

’He couldn’t learn the specific plan to break the Array immediately, but the jade slip itself was the best proof.’

’Those few Abyss Sect branch elders had indeed found a way to deal with the Tier Three Top Grade Restriction, and they had already entered a substantive preparatory phase.’

Li Yuan placed the encrypted jade slip into his own storage bag for safekeeping.

He flicked his finger, summoning a wisp of the Flame of Flame Fiend, and incinerated the four corpses and the remaining ice crystals, leaving not even a whiff of blood behind.

Then, he activated the Earth Escape Technique once more.

Instead of returning to the market city, he turned southwest and disappeared into the depths of the gray hills.