Chapter 224 - 216: Demon Essence Skill
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed. He unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, then equipped the jade slip.
The jade slip warmed slightly in his palm, and a stream of information surged into his mind.
It was not text, nor was it images. It was a form of understanding infused directly into his consciousness.
He still couldn't decipher the strange characters on the surface of the jade slip, but the complete contents of the cultivation technique had already materialized in his mind. Every circulation node, every pathway, every detail was as clear as if he had spent ten years studying it.
The Demon Essence Skill.
A Tier Two cultivation technique that centered on Demonic Qi.
Li Yuan closed his eyes and took a moment to process the information, familiarizing himself with the cultivation technique's framework.
On the surface, the Demon Essence Skill seemed just like an orthodox cultivation technique. It was divided into the same stages—Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Golden Core—and the requirements for breaking through to the next stage appeared similar as well.
But in practice, its fundamental principles were completely different.
Spirit Cultivators harness power. Demon Cultivators, on the other hand, first allow that power to transform them until they can endure it.
The difference lay in the type of energy used for cultivation.
Normal cultivation techniques used Spiritual Qi, whereas the Demon Essence Skill used Demonic Qi.
Spiritual Qi travels through the meridians to be condensed, compressed, and liquefied in the Dantian.
Demonic Qi, however, did not travel through the meridians.
Its circulation path was highly unusual. It bypassed all main and tributary meridians, instead seeping into the deepest, most minute parts of the body—the gaps between meridians, the fissures between muscle fibers, the micropores in bones, and the membranous walls of the internal organs.
It was like water seeping into the cracks in dry earth; it didn't follow a riverbed, but permeated the soil itself.
Li Yuan attempted to circulate it.
One of the effects of the Demon Essence Incarnation entry was the ability to convert Spiritual Qi into Demonic Qi.
Li Yuan drew a wisp of Spiritual Power from his Dantian and channeled it according to the entry's conversion method.
The Spiritual Power circulated halfway through his body before its nature abruptly changed upon passing a certain node. The once-gentle, pure Spiritual Power transformed into an extremely fine, dark stream of energy. It felt heavier and carried a faint, chilling, corrosive sensation.
Demonic Qi.
The amount was minuscule; only a small fraction of the original Spiritual Power had been successfully converted.
Li Yuan guided this wisp of Demonic Qi along the pathways described by the Demon Essence Skill.
The Demonic Qi left his meridians and seeped into the fissures between his muscle fibers.
The infiltration was incredibly slow, but the effects were immediate. Wherever the Demonic Qi passed, the structure of his muscle fibers underwent a subtle transformation. Their density didn't increase, but he could feel a noticeable improvement in their toughness and elasticity.
This change was completely different from the tempering of Body Refining Techniques.
The tempering from the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill was a process of compression and reinforcement from the outside in, like hammering a block of iron to make it harder and denser.
The enhancement from the Demon Essence Skill was a process of infiltration and transformation from the inside out, like alloying the iron with another metal to change the very nature of the material.
The two methods operated on different levels and did not conflict with each other.
Li Yuan converted another wisp of Demonic Qi, guiding it into the micropores of his bones.
The effect was the same. The microscopic structure of his bones changed subtly as the Demonic Qi seeped in, increasing their strength.
After using up both wisps of Demonic Qi, Li Yuan paused to assess his body's condition.
There was a corrosive effect.
The Demon Essence Incarnation entry only reduced the corrosive effect of Demonic Qi; it didn't eliminate it.
After the two wisps of Demonic Qi seeped into his body, a faint, residual corrosive trace remained in their wake.
The sensation was faint, like a mosquito bite on the skin. It wasn't painful, but it was undeniably present.
If he continued cultivating without managing it, the corrosion would gradually accumulate. The cultivation technique didn't specify what would happen once it reached a certain point, but Li Yuan had no intention of finding out for himself.
The solution was simple.
Li Yuan began to cultivate the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.
The nourishing properties of Wood Spiritual Power naturally repaired the corrosive damage. After he circulated the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill for two complete cycles, the faint sensation vanished.
He would alternate between them.
He would cultivate the Demon Essence Skill for a while, allowing a small amount of corrosion to build up, then switch to the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill to eliminate it. By alternating the two techniques, he could advance his progress in the Demon Essence Skill without letting the corrosion accumulate to a dangerous level.
Li Yuan followed this rhythm and cultivated for the better part of the day.
His progress with the Demon Essence Skill was not slow. Though he only used a tiny amount of Demonic Qi in each session, the effects were tangible. The transformation of his body's deep structures was accumulating bit by bit, and the very nature of his muscles, bones, and organ membranes was slowly changing.
No proficiency notifications had appeared on his panel, meaning he hadn't officially mastered the basics of the Demon Essence Skill yet. However, Li Yuan could feel he was close, as its circulation pathways were growing increasingly smooth.
During a break in his cultivation, Li Yuan turned his attention to another matter.
Magic.
His combat abilities were clearly lacking now that he had reached Foundation Establishment.
The Magic he had learned during the Qi Refining Stage was primarily Tier One. While his Fireball Technique was powerful thanks to its entry, it was still just a Tier One technique. Using it against a Tier Two Demon Beast was already a struggle.
The fight with the Jiao Linxi had required several Fireballs and a Golden Blade Skill to resolve. Against a stronger Tier Two Demon Beast, he might not be so lucky.
He needed Tier Two Magic.
Li Yuan took out his Protector Token, infused it with Spiritual Power, and checked his Contribution Point balance and the exchange list.
Contribution Points: 500.
The prices for Tier Two Magic started at 510 Contribution Points and went up into the thousands.
'Even the cheapest Tier Two Magic is just out of reach by ten Contribution Points. It's almost like it was designed that way on purpose.'
Contribution Points were distributed once a year, at the year's end. The next distribution was still over half a year away.
There were no other routine ways to earn Contribution Points in the interim, short of accepting missions from the Primordial Yang Sect. But right now, the Protector Token showed no available missions.
'So I can't buy any for now.'
Li Yuan put the Token away.
'I'll put aside the matter of Tier Two Magic for now and focus on making some money first.'
Spirit Water Talismans.
Both the Wang family and the Purple Abyss Trading Company needed Spirit Water Talismans. He had already negotiated the supply channels and set the price: one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones per talisman, with a material cost of about thirty Spirit Stones.
Li Yuan spread the talisman-making materials across his desk and began to draw a Spirit Water Talisman.
His efficiency in making talismans was on a completely different level now that he was in the Foundation Establishment Stage. After mastering the basics of the Tier Two Talisman Making Skill, the flow and connection of the twelve Spirit Patterns had become muscle memory. He could switch between the Water Condensation Pattern, Storage Spirit Pattern, and Rain Gathering Pattern with increasing smoothness.
His success rate had stabilized at around thirty to forty percent.
He was turning a small but steady profit.
Just as Li Yuan finished one talisman and was about to start the next, he heard a knock at his courtyard gate.
It was Han Qing.
The boy stood at the entrance, clutching a stack of talisman paper and some Spiritual Ink, a nervous expression on his face.
"Senior Li, my father sent me," he said.
Li Yuan let him into the courtyard.
Han Qing sat on a stone stool and laid out the talisman paper and Spiritual Ink. Li Yuan sat across from him, glancing at the materials he had brought.
"How far have you gotten in your practice lately?"
"I can draw the Fireball Talisman up to the fifth Spirit Pattern, but I can never seem to connect the last three," Han Qing said, scratching his head.
Li Yuan took a sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in the Spiritual Ink, and began to draw.
Viewing the Spirit Pattern structure of a Tier One talisman from the perspective of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was completely different from his understanding back in the Qi Refining Stage.
Back when he taught Han Qing during his Qi Refining Stage, Li Yuan's own understanding of Spirit Patterns had been purely technical. He knew how to draw them and control the distribution of Spiritual Power, but he hadn't fully grasped the underlying principles—why the patterns flowed the way they did, or the logical connection between one pattern and the next.
After reaching Foundation Establishment, the precision of his liquefied Spiritual Power made the underlying logic of the Spirit Pattern structure perfectly clear. The path of each Spirit Pattern wasn't an isolated stroke but a link in the talisman's complete system. The way one pattern concluded determined the starting angle of the next. The connection between them wasn't a crude splice, but a natural extension of the Spiritual Power's flow.
Li Yuan explained this newfound understanding to Han Qing in the simplest terms he could.
Han Qing listened intently, his eyes growing brighter with comprehension.
"Oh, so that's how it works... Senior, you never explained it this way before."
"I didn't fully understand it myself back then," Li Yuan admitted.
Li Yuan was being honest. Teaching from his new Foundation Establishment perspective gave him a different kind of insight as well.
His proficiency in the Tier Two Talisman Making Skill even increased by several dozen points.
Han Qing practiced diligently for over two hours, and he finally managed to connect the fifth and sixth Spirit Patterns of the Fireball Talisman. Although the quality was still crude, the pattern was unbroken, and the Spiritual Power was distributed fairly evenly.
Li Yuan pointed out a few more details for him to work on, then sent Han Qing home to practice on his own.
The boy left, clutching his talisman paper, his steps much lighter than when he had arrived.
Li Yuan closed the courtyard gate and tidied his desk.
Night had fallen.
Li Yuan sat on his bed and began circulating the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.
After three cycles, he switched to the Demon Essence Skill, converting a few wisps of Demonic Qi and letting them seep into the depths of his body. He then switched back to the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill to eliminate the corrosive effect.
He repeated this process, alternating back and forth.
Partway through, he equipped the Spirit Ink Bottle and began the countdown.
He would cultivate continuously for twenty-four hours.
He alternated between the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill and the Demon Essence Skill, weaving in the Soul Condensation Skill during the intervals to temper his Divine Soul. Outside his courtyard, the market stalls went from bustling to silent, and back to bustling again as an entire day flowed by in his cultivation.
By the following evening, his twenty-four-hour cultivation session was complete.
A notification appeared on his panel.
[Condition to make Soul Attack Sense (White) permanent has been met.]
[Make permanent?]
Yes.
[Successfully made permanent.]
[Soul Attack Sense (White) has become a permanent entry.]
[Equipped item has been consumed.]
'When my Divine Soul is attacked, I now have a chance to directly sense the attacker's location. It's another passive defensive ability for my Divine Soul.'
Li Yuan reorganized his equipment slots and resumed his cultivation.