Chapter 468 - 440: Standoff at Skeleton Ridge

Chapter 468: Chapter 440: Standoff at Skeleton Ridge

Late at night, Li Yuan was circulating the Profound Nether Killing Skill in his stone house. The Demon Qi Golden Core in his Dantian spun slowly.

A violent tremor suddenly shook his sea of consciousness.

The entire Earth Vein was trembling.

Li Yuan’s eyes snapped open.

The resonance of the Earth Vein made his perception of the land beneath his feet far greater than that of an ordinary person. At this moment, he could clearly feel a violent surge of energy erupting from deep underground, about thirty li to the northwest, spreading in all directions along the branches of the Earth Vein.

Skeleton Ridge.

Something had happened to the Tier Three Top Grade Restriction there. It seemed to be the aftereffect of a failed attempt to break it.

A disturbance of this magnitude couldn’t possibly be hidden.

Li Yuan got up, pushed the door open, and feigned a startled look as he peered outside.

In the market town, quite a few cultivators had been awakened by the tremor of the Earth Vein. Spiritual Light shone from several distant stone houses, and a few patrol members were hurrying towards the town’s north gate.

"Ji Wenchuan, the town is in your hands. I’m going out to check on the situation." Li Yuan tossed this sentence to Ji Wenchuan, who had rushed over upon hearing the commotion, before his figure transformed into an Escape Light and shot off to the northwest.

After leaving the town, Li Yuan didn’t head straight for Skeleton Ridge. Instead, he stopped on a mountain ridge halfway there.

He fully extended the sensory net of his Dark Evil Insight.

In the sky toward Skeleton Ridge, three auras were approaching the ruins at an incredible speed.

The leading aura was vast, majestic, and completely unconcealed. Its Spiritual Power pressure was like a moving mountain; wherever it passed, even the Spiritual Qi in the air was forced aside.

Late-stage Golden Core.

Xuan Pu Master.

Xuan Pu Master made no effort to hide his aura. It was like a banner planted between heaven and earth, declaring the Celestial Peak Sect’s stance on the Skeleton Ridge situation—direct intervention.

But what caught Li Yuan’s attention wasn’t Xuan Pu Master, but three other clumps of aura approaching Skeleton Ridge from two different directions.

Three Golden Core cultivators.

Demonic Qi.

Three signals of Demonic Qi were approaching simultaneously from the west and northwest at great speed. The Demonic Qi concentration of two of them was at the Early-stage Golden Core level, while the third was more solid and profound—at least Mid-stage Golden Core.

The fluctuation frequency of all three’s Demonic Qi exhibited the characteristics of a continuous, unsegmented wave.

Abyss Sect.

Li Yuan stood on the ridge, his gaze fixed on the night sky in the direction of Skeleton Ridge.

Xuan Pu Master’s Late-stage Golden Core pressure and the Demonic Qi of the three Abyss Sect Golden Core cultivators faced off in the sky above Skeleton Ridge. The clash of their auras threw the Spiritual Qi within a several-li radius into turmoil.

Besides these four Golden Core cultivators, more than ten Foundation Establishment Level auras were moving rapidly in various directions around the outskirts of Skeleton Ridge. Some were closing in on the ruins, others were retreating. Cultivators from the righteous path, the Demon Dao, and unknown Loose Cultivators—all sorts of people were mixed together.

The situation was escalating rapidly. The area was only going to get more chaotic.

Li Yuan didn’t get any closer.

He turned and retreated south, circling around the main area near Skeleton Ridge and sneaking along the outer edge of the Ghost Mist Forest.

After traveling for about ten li, his Dark Evil Insight picked up an anomaly in the forest ahead.

Three Demonic Qi signals.

One Late-stage Foundation Establishment, two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. The three were moving extremely fast, speeding southeast from the direction of Skeleton Ridge. It looked like they were taking advantage of the chaos to retreat.

The attribute of their Demonic Qi was different from the segmented pulses of the Evil Slaying Sect; it was a continuous wave, similar to the Abyss Sect.

The three didn’t notice Li Yuan. The permanent trait ’Traceless Obscurity’ completely erased his aura, making him like a stone under the cover of night and mist.

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate.

He took a Mirror Binding Talisman from his storage bag.

He still had quite a few of the Mirror Binding Talismans he had made himself. The condition to make the ’Cold Vein Languor’ trait permanent was to successfully bind a target of Foundation Establishment or higher ten times.

’Time to grind out the last few uses.’

Li Yuan flicked his right hand, and the first Mirror Binding Talisman flew out.

The Talisman activated silently in mid-air. An ice-blue, mirror-like force field exploded from its surface, precisely enveloping the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator bringing up the rear.

The moment the force field solidified, the effect of ’Cold Vein Languor’ triggered simultaneously. Ice-type Spiritual Power seeped into the target’s body through the field’s point of contact, striking the Demonic Qi flowing in his meridians and forcibly slowing its circulation.

The Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator’s body suddenly stiffened.

"Who’s there?!" The Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator in the lead whipped his head around.

The second Mirror Binding Talisman had already arrived.

The ice-blue force field blossomed again, locking the second Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator in place.

The third was aimed at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment leader.

The Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator reacted much faster, a Demon Qi Shield abruptly expanding around his body. The Mirror Binding Talisman’s force field slammed into the shield, causing a violent clash of ice-blue and dark red light. The shield quickly cracked under the pressure of the force field, but the leading cultivator had already used the brief buffer to desperately retreat several zhang.

"Go—"

Before he could finish, the fourth Mirror Binding Talisman arrived.

This time, the force field solidified over a wider area, directly covering his path of retreat. The leading cultivator’s legs were enveloped by the ice-blue field, and his Demonic Qi decelerated sharply under the effect of ’Cold Vein Languor’.

...The eighth, ninth, and tenth time.

A panel popped up.

[Condition to make ’Cold Vein Languor’ (Green) permanent has been met (10/10)]

[’Cold Vein Languor’ (Green) has become a permanent trait.]

An illusion of the Mirror Binding Talisman solidified for a breath in his equipment record, then transformed into a green speck of light and merged into his body.

But the panel didn’t disappear.

[Trait Fusion Detected]

[’Cold Vein Languor’ (Green) + ’Cold Armor Condensation Protection’ (Green) + ’Cold Current Amplification’ (White) → ’Cold Vein Sealing’ (Green)]

[’Cold Vein Sealing’ (Green) Effect: When an Ice-type Magic or Cold Attribute attack hits a target, it can slow the Spiritual Power circulation in the target’s meridians and apply a frozen effect; when attacked, automatically releases a blast of cold qi to backlash against the attacker, slowing their attack speed and inflicting meridian freeze; permanent 30% increase in the power of Cold Attribute magic.]

With a thought, Li Yuan confirmed the fusion.

’A three-in-one fusion.’

Li Yuan felt the even more solid and profound chill within his body as his gaze fell upon the three Demon Cultivators trapped by the Mirror Binding Talismans.

The three were still struggling.

The leading Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, relying on his higher Cultivation, had already shattered most of the ice-blue force field around his legs and was about to break free.

Li Yuan raised his hand.

Ice Seal Skill.

The effects of ’Cold Vein Sealing’ triggered fully the instant it hit. The remaining flow of Demonic Qi in the three’s bodies was completely frozen. It was as if their meridians had been filled with liquid ice, and all circulation came to an abrupt halt.

Three bodies froze ramrod straight, their surfaces quickly covered in a thick layer of ice.

Li Yuan walked over, efficiently collected the three’s storage bags, and then incinerated the bodies and all traces at the scene with the Flame of Flame Fiend.

In the distance, toward Skeleton Ridge, the standoff between the auras of Xuan Pu Master and the Abyss Sect’s Golden Core cultivators continued. The occasional sound of a violent Spiritual Power collision carried over dozens of li, muffled like distant thunder.

Li Yuan didn’t spare it another glance and turned, speeding back toward the market town.

By the time he returned to his stone house, the eastern sky was already showing the first fish-belly white of dawn.

He closed the door, activated the Concealment Array, and sat down cross-legged.

The Demon Qi Golden Core in his Dantian spun slowly, the arcane patterns of light on its surface having grown a layer deeper.