Chapter 346 - 335: Dark Evil Insight
After nightfall, Li Yuan put away his Pill Furnace and talisman brush, focusing all his energy on the Muddy Evil Skill.
Bolstered by the complete Evil Qi immunity from his Evil Essence unification and the profound control from mastering the Evil Spirit Transformation Skill, the Evil Qi moved through his meridians unhindered.
As Midnight approached, the moment he completed the thirty-second Grand Circulation, the flow of Evil Qi in his meridians suddenly crossed a critical threshold.
The circulation of Evil Qi, which originally required deliberate guidance to maintain, now became a spontaneous cycle. Like a river finding its most natural channel, the Evil Qi flowed on its own along the route of the Muddy Evil Skill, no longer needing any external push.
The panel popped up.
[Muddy Evil Skill: Perfected]
Li Yuan exhaled a breath of grayish-black turbid air.
A Tier One Cultivation Technique, perfected.
Mastery of the Evil Spirit Transformation Skill, perfection of the Muddy Evil Skill. Of the two evil-type cultivation techniques he possessed, one was now perfected.
His gaze fell upon another part of the panel.
[Permanence condition for Evil Source Condensation (Green) has been fulfilled.]
[An evil-type Cultivation Technique has been perfected.]
[Evil Source Condensation (Green) has become a permanent Entry.]
The phantom image of the Evil Crystal dissipated in the equipment slot.
Li Yuan did not close the panel, but instead took out the Fire Evil Stone.
’The Red Fire Skill and the Muddy Evil Skill are both perfected, so the permanence condition is naturally met.’
[Equipped: Fire Evil Stone (Complete)]
[Fire-Evil Infusion (Green) has become a permanent Entry.]
The phantom image of the Fire Evil Stone appeared in the equipment slot for a moment, then shattered into a streak of dark red light that entered his body. The slot it had occupied became empty again.
The moment the Entry became permanent, Li Yuan sensed a cold, sinister evil nature emerge from deep within his Fire Attribute Spiritual Power. From now on, whenever he cast the Fireball Technique, Fire Python Skill, or even the Flame of Flame Fiend, his flames would naturally be infused with the corrosive effects of Evil Qi. They would no longer merely burn, but could also defile protective Spiritual Power and corrode flesh and meridians.
After the permanence process was complete, Li Yuan stood up, took a few things out of his storage pouch, and placed them on the table.
Three Drainage Stones. Dozens of array-stabilizing copper plates. Half a bottle of Spirit-Extinguishing Sand.
These were all array materials he had looted from the storage pouches of the Demon Cultivators he had killed before. He had found the same things on the Demon Cultivator who had been guarding the underground Demon Gathering Array.
Li Yuan divided the materials into three portions.
What he had to do was very simple.
Set up three miniature Demonic Qi monitoring node arrays.
The array had only one function: to passively absorb and record any Demonic Qi fluctuations that appeared in the vicinity. It would not actively release any Spiritual Power or generate any Spiritual Power signals detectable by the outside world. It was a purely passive receiving device.
The array’s structure was extremely simple. A Drainage Stone served as the Array Hub, a dozen or so array-stabilizing copper plates formed a minimal Spiritual Power circuit, and Spirit-Extinguishing Sand filled the gaps between nodes to insulate against Spiritual Qi interference. The entire array, once set, was only the size of a palm. Buried three feet underground, it would be completely untraceable from the surface.
In essence, it was a node array related to Demonic Qi.
Li Yuan gathered the materials, extinguished the light in his stone house, and pushed the door open, stepping out into the night.
Traceless Breath, Hidden Meridian, and Spiritual Wave Concealment—he activated all three layers of cloaking simultaneously.
He did not use the main gate. Instead, he vaulted over an old wall in the southern district and moved north along the market district’s underground drainage channels.
The first node’s location was beneath the inner ring patrol checkpoint in the market district.
The mole passed through this area every time he went out late at night. Placing a monitoring node here would record whether he was carrying Demonic Qi when he passed, along with its concentration and direction of origin.
Li Yuan crouched in a dark corner of the drainage channel, Spiritual Power flowing from his fingertips. The Drainage Stone was embedded into a crevice in the channel wall, and the array-stabilizing copper plates were arranged along the crack. His Spiritual Power precisely carved out extremely fine circuit lines. Spirit-Extinguishing Sand filled the gaps between the nodes, and finally, he covered the surface with a thin layer of mud.
In less than a quarter of an hour, the first node array was set.
There was no light, no fluctuation of Spiritual Power. The array was silently embedded in the stone wall, just like an ordinary rock.
Li Yuan stood up and moved toward the second location through the underground channel.
The second node’s location was at the end of the narrow alley between the outpost and the market district.
Same procedure, same speed. The second node array was set up within a dozen breaths.
The third node’s location was deep within the foundation of the market district’s western wall.
A moment later, all three node arrays were in place.
Li Yuan rose from the dark corner beneath the western wall, brushed the dirt from his hands, and returned to his stone house the way he came.
Then, from his storage pouch, he took out the dark purple Crystal Stone that had been the Demon Gathering Array’s hub.
The Crystal Stone was cool to the touch, and the black mist inside it was still slowly churning.
"Equip."
[Equipped: Demon Gathering Array Hub (Complete)]
[Demonic Attraction and Channeling (Green) is now in effect.]
The panel immediately displayed the next line.
[Permanence condition for Demonic Attraction and Channeling (Green) has been met.]
[Demonic Attraction and Channeling (Green) has become a permanent Entry.]
The phantom image of the Crystal Stone solidified in the equipment slot for an instant before dissipating. Another slot was freed up.
[Permanent Entries suitable for same-system fusion have been detected.]
[Evil Source Condensation (Green) + Demonic Attraction and Channeling (Green) + Evil Qi Perception (White) + Demonic Sense Amplification (White)]
[Fusion Direction: Comprehensively strengthen the ability to sense, gather, control, and identify Evil Qi and Demonic Qi.]
[Proceed with fusion?]
’Four entries. Two green, two white.’
’Evil Source Condensation gathers and settles Evil Qi; Demonic Attraction and Channeling attracts and directs Demonic Qi; Evil Qi Perception detects Evil Qi, and Demonic Sense Amplification detects Demonic Qi.’
’The functions of all four entries are highly synergistic, all of them related to controlling and perceiving Evil Qi and Demonic Qi.’
"Fuse."
The two clumps of green light and two clumps of white light on the panel shattered simultaneously, devoured by an azure radiance. They intertwined and spun, finally coalescing into new text.
[Dark Evil Insight (Blue)]
[Effect: Actively attract, gather, compress, and channel surrounding Evil Qi and Demonic Qi; control precision and range increase with Divine Soul strength. Possess an extremely high ability to identify Evil/Demonic Qi nodes, array circuits, and underground seepage direction. Passively sense Evil and Demonic Qi fluctuations over a wide area; perception range increases with Divine Soul strength.]
The moment the fusion was complete.
Li Yuan’s senses suddenly exploded outward.
It wasn’t the kind of perception for Spiritual Qi and auras that came with a clear Spiritual Sense, but another, completely independent dimension of perception.
Evil Qi and Demonic Qi.
Within three feet of the surface beneath the market district, every wisp of residual Evil Qi shone as if illuminated. The three node arrays he had just placed in the drainage channel now appeared in his perception as three exceptionally clear, dark purple points of light, their faint Demonic Qi circuit pulses rising and falling like a heartbeat.
His perception continued to spread outward.
Beyond the market district’s walls, in the direction of the Ghost Mist Forest, several extremely fine lines of seeping Evil Qi were clearly discernible within the underground rock strata. This Evil Qi seeped out from the deeper Earth Veins, slowly flowing toward the market district along cracks in the rock. Its concentration was so faint that it would be impossible to detect by conventional means.
Farther away, in the direction of the ore vein convergence zone, the Cultivating Evil Array was still operating, though it had lost the extra support of Evil Source Condensation. The paths where the Evil Qi gathered appeared in his perception as grayish-black threads, converging on the Array Hub from all directions like a giant spiderweb.
The depths of the Ghost Mist Forest were even more complex.
Vast clumps of Evil Qi were deposited in the low-lying areas of the forest. Occasionally, a few wisps of Demonic Qi would pass through the clumps, their directions varied—some headed north, others southeast.
Li Yuan withdrew his perception.
’Dark Evil Insight, a blue Entry.’
’The four-in-one fusion had elevated his ability to control and perceive Evil Qi and Demonic Qi to a whole new level. The faint fluctuations that he previously needed to deliberately activate Evil Qi Perception or Demonic Sense Amplification to catch were now part of his passive, constant perception. It was as if he had gained a new pair of eyes that could see only Evil Qi and Demonic Qi.’
’For investigating the sleepers the Dark Abyss Association planted around the market district, tracking the movements of Demon Cultivators, and even monitoring the mole’s every move, this Entry’s practical value was immense.’