Chapter 227 - 219: Territory
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle shot out of the mine tunnel, its speed suddenly increasing. The Fire Python Skill failed to pierce its carapace.
The defense of a Tier Two Middle Grade Demon Beast was a full tier above the Jiao Linxi’s. After being steeped in Evil Qi for years, its carapace was far harder than any ordinary scale or hide.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s mouthparts suddenly gaped open, and at the same time, the cracks on its body began to glow with a dark red light.
In the next moment, it shook its carapace violently.
A large amount of condensed Evil Qi erupted from the cracks, forming a fan-shaped black mist tinged with red that swept toward him, hugging the ground.
The Evil Essence Unity trait activated. A layer of the oppressive, incoming Evil Qi was rapidly siphoned away, and the cold, corrosive feeling of the gritty tide instantly diminished by more than half.
Li Yuan absorbed the remaining Evil Qi. It affected his body, but the impact was negligible.
Li Yuan did not continue using the Fire Python Skill.
He had only just learned the Fire Python Skill, so he couldn’t unleash its full power yet. In contrast, though the Fireball Technique was only a Tier One Magic, his proficiency with it was near perfection. Boosted by multiple traits, its actual power was no weaker than the fledgling Fire Python Skill.
Moreover, the Fireball Technique’s explosive power was more focused.
The Fire Python Skill’s damage was linear, distributed along the body of the python. The Fireball Technique’s damage was point-based; all the Spiritual Power was compressed into a sphere and released instantly upon impact.
Against a heavily armored Demon Beast, a concentrated burst was more effective than scattered coverage.
Li Yuan raised his right hand in quick succession.
’Fireball Technique.’
A crimson Fireball formed rapidly in his palm and shot out from his hand.
The first one was aimed at the Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s head, striking the carapace directly between its two antennae.
BOOM.
The charred mark on the carapace expanded, and cracks spread out two inches from the point of impact.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s antennae retracted sharply, and its mouthparts emitted a sharp, grating sound.
Seeing that the Evil Qi had no effect on Li Yuan, the Demon Armor Giant Beetle fully extended its limbs and charged at him. Its massive body ground across the earth, leaving deep claw marks in its wake.
The second Fireball immediately followed, smashing into the same spot.
The cracks widened, and a shallow dent appeared on the surface of the carapace.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle was already within twenty zhang.
Li Yuan tapped his toes to the ground, activating Divine Movement Step, and his figure flashed sideways. The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s charge brushed past his side, the blast of air from its massive carapace making Li Yuan’s robes whip and snap.
Unable to stop, the Demon Armor Giant Beetle crashed headfirst into a dead tree. The tree snapped at its base, its trunk flying more than ten zhang away.
Li Yuan seized the opportunity as it turned, smashing three consecutive Fireballs into the same spot.
The first blast completely shattered the carapace at the dent, revealing dark red muscle underneath. The second poured into the crack and exploded in the muscle layer. The third plunged deeper through the same opening, and the searing flames spread within the carapace.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle let out a muffled roar as its huge body trembled violently. It didn’t charge again. Instead, it curled its body up, retracted its limbs, and closed its carapace into a giant, spherical defensive posture, protecting the crack beneath its body.
’It’s withdrawn into its shell.’
Li Yuan stopped his attack and observed from ten zhang away.
After retracting into its shell, the Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s defense was even stronger. The gaps between its carapace plates had all closed, and a Fireball now only left a white mark.
But it couldn’t stay curled up forever.
Li Yuan once again released the Evil Qi stored in his body.
A dense Evil Qi surged from his body, forming a visible cloud of dark red mist around him.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s antennae poked out from a gap in its carapace, twitching frantically.
’A Demon Beast that feeds on Evil Qi can’t resist a concentration this high for long.’
Li Yuan slowly backed away while releasing the Evil Qi, increasing the distance between them.
After about twenty breaths, the Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s carapace began to loosen.
’It can’t hold out any longer.’
Its carapace slowly opened, its limbs extended, and its antennae pointed toward Li Yuan. Its mouthparts gaped wide as it began to madly absorb the surrounding Evil Qi.
The crack was exposed.
Li Yuan raised his right hand.
’Fireball Technique.’
This Fireball took half a breath longer to condense than the previous ones, and the compression density of the Spiritual Power was at its absolute limit.
The Fireball in his palm was a size smaller than usual, but its color had deepened from crimson to a dark red, and the Spiritual Power patterns on its surface were extremely dense.
He let it fly.
The Fireball crossed the ten-zhang distance and drilled precisely into the crack in the carapace.
BOOM.
This explosion was more muffled than any of the previous ones. The Fireball had detonated inside the carapace, and scorching flames shot out from every seam.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s body arched violently, its limbs kicked convulsively a few times, and a hoarse, piercing shriek was forced from its mouthparts.
At that moment, a panel appeared.
[Magic: Fireball Technique—Perfected (3200/3200)]
’The Fireball Technique is perfected.’
Li Yuan did not pause; he raised his right hand again.
’Golden Blade Skill.’
A silvery-white blade of light shot from his fingertips, simultaneously enhanced for sharpness and armor penetration. The blade sliced into the crack, delving deep inside the carapace. It pierced the muscles already ravaged by fire and struck the beast’s internal organs.
The Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s body slammed heavily onto the ground, its limbs splayed out, its antennae drooping.
Its mouthparts slowly closed, no longer opening and shutting.
Its aura dissipated.
Li Yuan retracted his hand and walked over to the Demon Armor Giant Beetle’s corpse.
’A Tier Two Middle Grade Demon Beast... much harder to deal with than the Jiao Linxi.’
’My Cultivation is only at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment. Demon Beasts below Tier Three are generally weaker than Cultivators of the same rank, and with all my traits, the win was still relatively easy.’
’The hardness of its carapace and its defensive posture made a frontal assault almost impossible. I had to concentrate my fire to break through a single spot, then use the Evil Qi to bait it into exposing its weakness.’
Li Yuan crouched down and began to harvest the materials.
The carapace was the most valuable part. Having been steeped in Evil Qi for years, its hardness far surpassed the defensive materials of an ordinary Tier Two Demon Beast. If used in Artifact Refining, it could be made into an extremely sturdy defensive Magical Artifact.
Removing the carapace took quite some time. The joints of the carapace were extremely tight, requiring him to use the Golden Blade Skill to cut it off piece by piece.
Carapace, bones, antennae, and the keratinous flaps of its mouthparts were collected one by one into his storage bag.
Then he reached into the abdominal cavity to retrieve the Inner Core.
The Inner Core was deep within the viscera. It was dark gray with a layer of extremely fine, dark red veins on its surface, and its Spiritual Wave was stable. It was a size larger than the Jiao Linxi’s Inner Core and felt heavier in his hand.
Li Yuan placed the Inner Core in his palm and pressed it with his finger.
No reaction.
’No traits.’
Li Yuan put the Inner Core into his storage bag.
Just as he was finishing up, he heard footsteps in the distance.
Chen Yi arrived from the direction of the mine tunnel, leading two disciples from the Primordial Yang Sect.
When Chen Yi saw the remains of the Demon Armor Giant Beetle on the ground, he paused. His gaze swept over the carcass before landing on Li Yuan.
"A Demon Armor Giant Beetle. It came from one of the branch tunnels. It must have been absorbing Evil Qi in there."
Chen Yi walked over to the remains, looked at the marks from where it had been cut and dismantled, and nodded.
"Good work. Everyone in the mine is fine; you lured it away just in time."
Chen Yi glanced at him, as if carefully choosing his words.
"Li Dao You, you practice an Evil Qi Cultivation Technique. Do you normally require a large amount of Evil Qi?"
"I do."
Chen Yi nodded and glanced toward the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest.
"The Ghost Mist Forest covers a large area, but no one has ever been stationed long-term in the deeper regions. The concentration of Evil Qi is too high; ordinary Cultivators can’t stand it."
He brought his gaze back.
"Since you can cultivate in an environment with Evil Qi, why don’t we set aside a territory for you in the Ghost Mist Forest? You can be stationed there to cultivate long-term and, in the meantime, help the Sect keep an eye on the mine area. If any Demon Beasts appear, you can deal with them promptly."
’A long-term post. My own exclusive territory.’
"You can choose the location yourself," Chen Yi added. "Pick any spot deep in the Ghost Mist Forest, as long as it doesn’t affect the mining operations."
"Agreed," Li Yuan nodded.
Chen Yi nodded, said no more, and led the two disciples back toward the mine.
Li Yuan cleaned up the remaining scraps of the carcass on the ground and found a nearby clearing with dense Evil Qi to sit down.
He took out all the materials from the Demon Armor Giant Beetle from his storage bag and inspected them piece by piece.
The carapace: twelve complete, dark gray plates of varying sizes, all incredibly hard. Li Yuan sensed them. No sign of a trait.
The bones: a few sections of vertebrae and ribs, all extremely dense. No traits.
The antennae: two of them, flexible yet tough, with fine patterns on the surface. No traits.
The keratinous mouthpart flaps: four pieces. No traits.
The Inner Core. He checked it again, but still nothing.
’No traits on any of them.’
Li Yuan put the materials back into his storage bag.
The materials from a Tier Two Middle Grade Demon Beast were quite valuable in their own right. The carapace and bones could be used in Artifact Refining to create decent defensive Magical Artifacts. The Scales and bones from the Jiao Linxi were still in his storage bag. Adding the carapace from this Demon Armor Giant Beetle, he had now accumulated a good amount of materials for Artifact Refining.
He still had one Artifact Refining Token from the Ji family. After this mining vein mission was over, he could go talk to Ji Huaiyuan.
Li Yuan sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.
The concentration of Evil Qi deep in the Ghost Mist Forest was extremely high, allowing the passive effect of his Evil Essence Unity to operate at full capacity. The Evil Qi automatically gathered around him, tempering his body, tempering his soul, and converting into Spiritual Power—all four processes advanced at once.