Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 299: Chapter 289: Breaking the Seal

Back in the marketplace, Li Yuan was cultivating that night when his Spirit Vein Perception suddenly caught an aura that belonged to neither the mineral vein nor the main vein’s normal fluctuations.

The aura of a Tier Two Demon Beast.

Li Yuan immediately stopped his Cultivation Technique and rose to his feet, readying himself.

With his Spirit Vein Perception, he filtered out the lingering auras of ordinary animals one by one, until only the deep, cold fluctuation remained. Its location was more precise than the previous night.

It was ahead and to the east, near an area of fallen old trees.

Li Yuan moved forward, his steps light, his body hugging the shadow of a thick, ancient tree.

When he was less than a hundred feet from his target, he finally saw it.

A large, grayish-white lizard crouched beneath a fallen log. It was about twenty feet long and covered in fine, grayish-white Scales. The most striking features were two short, curved horns on its head, their tips glinting with a faint, cyan, cold light, like a pair of partially melted icicles.

’A Cold Horned Lizard. Tier Two Middle Grade, by the looks of it.’

’A water and Cold-Attribute Demon Beast, adept at ambushes. Its hide is tough, and its weak points are where the Scales meet beneath its neck and on its belly.’

The Cold Horned Lizard seemed to sense something as well. Its body tensed slightly beneath the fallen log, and its slitted pupils slowly swiveled in Li Yuan’s direction.

Li Yuan gave it no time to react.

The instant the Fire Python Skill formed in his palm, a crimson light shot from his fingertips.

His Fire Python Skill, having reached the Great Success Realm, no longer required conscious guidance. The Fire Python materialized with incredible speed, its body thick and solid. It shot from Li Yuan’s palm, lunging straight for the underside of the Cold Horned Lizard’s neck.

With a muffled BOOM, crimson flames exploded against the grayish-white Scales.

The Cold Horned Lizard shrieked in pain. A large patch of Scales on the back of its neck cracked from the intense heat, revealing charred flesh beneath. It thrashed wildly, trying to shake off the fire, as its two horns simultaneously unleashed a blast of bone-chilling cold air that coated the bark of several nearby trees in a layer of white frost.

When the cold air washed over Li Yuan, the Spiritual Membrane from his Three Elements Body Protection automatically appeared and blocked most of it.

Li Yuan didn’t retreat. He raised his hand and unleashed another Golden Blade Skill.

The golden light cut through the residual cold air, slicing directly toward the underside of the Cold Horned Lizard’s neck.

That was the exact weak spot his tracking ability had highlighted earlier. The Golden Blade Skill sliced precisely into the thinnest part of its armored Scales, plunging a foot deep as blood sprayed forth.

The Cold Horned Lizard’s struggles weakened at once.

It tried to shrink back, but with two grievous wounds—one on its nape and one beneath its neck—it could no longer support itself. Its limbs scrabbled uselessly at the ground a few times, and its tail slammed against the fallen log. Then, its entire body slumped to the side. It twitched for a moment and then fell still.

From start to finish, the entire battle had lasted less than ten breaths.

Li Yuan stood his ground, his breathing even. He hadn’t even broken a sweat.

Li Yuan went to collect the carcass.

The Cold Horned Lizard’s Scales, bones, horns, and demonic blood were all useful. The two horns, in particular, were excellent materials for crafting water and Cold-Attribute Magical Artifacts and would fetch a good price in Spirit Stones at the marketplace.

While dissecting the abdominal cavity, he retrieved an Inner Core.

It was bluish-white, slightly smaller than the one from the Rock-Armored Fire Python. A cool sensation seeped into his palm as he held it.

Li Yuan swallowed the Inner Core directly.

Once the Inner Core was in his stomach, an icy power rushed from his stomach walls into his meridians. His Evil Essence Unification technique immediately activated, stripping away the Evil Qi to be processed separately. The remaining Demonic Power was caught by the combined flow of his Qi Blood and Medicinal Essence, slowly seeping into his flesh and bones.

The panel promptly appeared.

[Bones Tough as Iron (Green) Permanence Progress: 1/3]

Li Yuan placed all the materials from the Cold Horned Lizard into his storage bag. After scanning the area to ensure no other Demon Beasts had been disturbed, he turned and headed back.

He didn’t return to the marketplace, but went to the Spirit Vein Core instead.

Not to cultivate, but to begin dismantling the Restrictions on the underground passage.

The path from the main Spirit Vein’s core node to the teleportation structure beneath the Core Formation platform was sealed by several layers of Restrictions. These had been set by the former Sect to control the teleportation structure’s activation and prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing the Core Formation District directly from underground.

The old Sect was long gone, but the Restrictions were still active.

Li Yuan started with the outermost layer.

The outermost Restriction was located beside the main Spirit Vein’s core node, not far from his usual cultivation spot. This layer’s structure was relatively simple, its primary functions being identification and obstruction, and its Array Patterns were not complicated.

Though not complex, the Restriction itself was of a high grade. In theory, Li Yuan should have had no chance of breaking it.

However, his Spirit Vein Perception allowed him to see every detail of the Restriction with perfect clarity.

Li Yuan combined his practiced eye, honed by his Tier Two Array Dao proficiency, with his Spirit Vein Perception. He first identified the primary and secondary structures within the entire layer of the Restriction, then located its most critical nodes.

He couldn’t rush the dismantling process.

These Restrictions were linked to the teleportation structure itself. If he tried to break them by force, the teleportation structure might be damaged as well. He had to dismantle it one node at a time, carefully peeling the Restriction away from the structure.

After a full night’s work, he had dismantled most of the outermost Restriction.

The following night, Li Yuan returned, finished clearing the rest of the outermost layer, and then began on the second.

The second layer was more complex than the first, with more nodes and more intricately nested Array Patterns. However, it was still within the scope of Li Yuan’s abilities; it would just take more time.

After several more nights, the second layer of the Restriction was also slowly dismantled.

Two layers of the seal along the path to the teleportation structure had been broken, bringing him one step closer to the Core Formation platform.

During this period, the changes back at the marketplace were also apparent.

Cultivators from Yunzhou continued to pour in.

The war between the Qi Shui Sect and the Evil Slaying Sect showed no signs of abating. In fact, the fighting grew even more intense, and successive waves of fleeing Loose Cultivators ran toward Liangzhou. Relying on its reputation as a forward outpost near ancient ruins, Mist Forest Marketplace became the primary destination for many of them.

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!