Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 660 Undercurrents and the Minor Realm Mission

The second half of the auction is underway.

Li Yuan sat in a seat in the middle of the hall, his gaze fixed on the auction stage, but his attention was not entirely on the items being auctioned.

The permanent blue affix to Dark Insight operates passively throughout the entire process.

The core function of this entry is to greatly enhance the sensitivity to the perception of demonic energy. The auras of hundreds of cultivators in the auction house were filtered through the senses one by one, and the vast majority were pure spiritual energy fluctuations without any demonic components.

However, in the private rooms, a very subtle aura of demonic energy was detected by Dark Fiend Insight.

The intensity of the aura was suppressed to an extremely low level, so that ordinary cultivators would not be able to detect it even face-to-face. However, Dark Fiend's perception of demonic energy was far more sensitive than conventional methods, and it could still be clearly discerned even through the spiritual energy barrier of the private room and at a distance of dozens of feet.

Late stage of Nascent Soul.

Its aura carried a unique, chilling quality, highly similar to a certain aura that Li Yuan had previously encountered in the lower realm.

Yuanzong.

The characteristics of this aura are highly consistent with the demonic arts inheritance of the Yuan Sect, and I have also come into contact with this demonic aura before.

The leader of the Yuan Sect.

Li Yuan's expression remained unchanged, his gaze still fixed on the auction stage.

No action was taken.

Make a note of this, and remain silent.

The auction continues.

When the twenty-second item was presented, the auctioneer's presentation changed once again.

"The twenty-second item has a rather unusual acquisition method." The auctioneer's tone became more serious. "This item is not open to bidding with spirit stones; instead, it is acquired by completing a quest."

On the auction stage lay a dark purple crystal, about the size of a fist. The surface of the crystal gleamed with a dark luster, and within it, two different colors of light could be faintly seen intertwining and flowing—one dark gold, the other dark purple.

"The item is named Xuanmo Realm Stone, a natural crystal. The owner is willing to give it as a reward for completing a specific task to a cultivator."

The auctioneer explained the basic requirements of the task.

"Core mission objective: Infiltrate a specific Netherworld, obtain a designated jade slip, and return. The difficulty lies not in obtaining the jade slip itself, but in the conditions required for passage."

"The spatial passage to this lower realm is only open to cultivators at the Golden Core level and below. Nascent Soul cultivators who attempt to pass through will experience severe spatial repulsion. Furthermore, there are demonic cultivators within the lower realm, requiring the ability to disguise oneself with demonic energy to move safely."

"In short, we need a cultivator who possesses both extremely strong spatial passage passage abilities and demonic energy disguise abilities."

Silence fell over the hall.

Golden Core cultivators have no problem passing through, but their survival in a lower realm inhabited by demonic cultivators is precarious. Nascent Soul cultivators have the strength to deal with it, but the passage is impassable.

Cultivators who meet both conditions are extremely rare.

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the dark purple crystal.

The three-foot perception range is insufficient to reach the items on the auction stage within the current distance.

"Can I come up and take a closer look at the items?" Li Yuan raised his hand.

The auctioneer glanced at it and nodded.

"Sure. Fellow cultivators interested in taking on the mission may come forward to take a look."

Li Yuan got up and walked to the auction stage.

The distance was reduced to within three feet.

The moment the sensing range touched the crystal surface, the word's fluctuations were felt.

Purple grade.

Li Yuan turned to face the auctioneer.

"I'll take this mission."

The auctioneer nodded.

"Alright. The details of the mission will be explained in the back hall of the auction house after the auction."

Li Yuan returned to his seat.

The auction continued for another hour, during which Li Yuan did not participate in the bidding.

The auction ended in the evening.

Li Yuan followed the staff to the back hall of the auction house.

The back hall was a secret chamber about six zhang square, with a soundproof array of spiritual energy operating continuously. Inside sat a male cultivator at the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, with a thin face, a gloomy temperament, and wearing a dark gray robe.

Task commissioner.

"I am very pleased that you are willing to take on this mission, fellow Daoist."

The male cultivator got straight to the point.

"Let me explain the mission details first."

"The target lower realm is called the Demon Realm."

"Fellow Daoist, your objective is to obtain a jade slip, which is stored within the stronghold of this faction. Once you have the jade slip, simply return the way you came."

The male cultivator took out a palm-sized, disc-shaped magical artifact from his robe sleeve and handed it over.

"This is a detection artifact. It is activated after entering the lower realm and can sense the approximate location of the jade slip."

Li Yuan took the magical artifact and then asked a question.

"What is the origin of the demonic cultivators in the lower realm?"

"Demons."

Male Taoist practitioner.

"Demons?"

"Fellow Daoist, you don't know about the Demon Race?" The male cultivator glanced at Li Yuan. "The Demon Race comes from the Demon Realm, another higher plane on the same level as our Xuan Realm."

He paused.

"The Upper Realm that we usually refer to is officially called the Mystic Realm. The Demon Realm and the Mystic Realm are two parallel higher planes, and the Demon Race are the native inhabitants of the Demon Realm."

Li Yuan nodded and wrote down the information.

What are the specific restrictions on the passage?

"This passage is not an ascension passage; at most, it allows Golden Core cultivators to pass through," the male cultivator said.

"If a Nascent Soul cultivator forces their way through, they will experience extremely strong spatial repulsion, which can cause damage to their meridians at best, and regression in their cultivation at worst. This is why no one has accepted this mission. Golden Core cultivators are easily discovered by demonic cultivators, while Nascent Soul cultivators cannot pass through the passage."

Li Yuan asked one last question.

"Where is the passage located?"

The male cultivator handed over a jade slip.

"The location and entry method are inside. The entrance to the passage is in the southwest of Mingyuan Domain, about two days' journey from Mingyuan Immortal City."

End of task description.

Li Yuan carefully put away the exploration artifacts and jade slips, then left the back hall of the auction house.

After returning to his residence, he did not set off immediately, but instead spent the night cultivating.

The next morning.

Transforming into a beam of light, it left Mingyuan Immortal City and flew at full speed southwest.

About two days later, they arrived at the location marked on the jade slip.

In a desolate valley, at the bottom lies an extremely hidden spatial rift. The rift is only about two feet wide and less than ten feet high, and the spatial fluctuations at its edges are clearly visible in the passive perception of the Void Realm Master.

The passage was indeed extremely small. The walls were pitifully thin, and the structural capacity was only around the level of a late-stage Golden Core cultivator. The total amount and density of spiritual energy of a Nascent Soul cultivator far exceeded that of a Golden Core cultivator, and the repulsive force generated by the spiritual energy against the passage walls when forcibly passing through would be extremely intense.

It has no impact on Li Yuan.

Step into the passageway.

The spatial pressure pressed in from all directions, several times stronger than that of the Lingyuan Chamber of Commerce's commercial passage. The passage walls visibly deformed as Li Yuan passed through, as if an excessively large object had been forcibly stuffed into a thin pipe.

The passage wasn't very long; we emerged from it in about half an hour.

As he stepped out, Li Yuan glanced back at the exit of the passage.

The width of the exit is about 10% smaller than that of the entry.

The passageway is continuously decaying. The deformation of the wall caused by one's own passage accelerates the decay process.

Make a note of this, then turn around and observe your surroundings.

The Realm of Demons.

The spiritual energy there is extremely thin, much thinner than that of the Cangxuan Realm, about one percent of that of the Upper Realm.

Demonic energy exists, but it is not abundant, only a dozen times more concentrated than spiritual energy.

A thin layer of dark purple mist hung in the air.

The spatial coordinate positioning and perception of the airspace anchoring became exceptionally clear at this moment.

The lower realm has an extremely simple spatial structure, lacking the layered spatial folds and spiritual vein interference found in the upper realm. The accuracy of spatial coordinate positioning is significantly amplified in this simple structure.

Li Yuan used airspace anchoring to locate the spatial position of the lower boundary.

The location results surprised him slightly.

This lower boundary is not far from its original lower boundary in terms of spatial location.

Make a note of this.

Li Yuan did not move immediately.

There was no sign of danger in the vicinity, and the passive perception range of the Demon Tracking Mirror and Dark Insight did not detect any spiritual or demonic energy fluctuations from any creature.

At the same time, Li Yuan noticed that although the demonic energy here was not abundant, its quality was unique.

A certain special frequency contained in the demonic energy resonated slightly with the demonic energy circulation of the Dark Abyss Demonic Essence Technique, providing a significant boost to the cultivation of demonic arts.

Not urgent.

Li Yuan used the Occupation Technique to select the optimal direction of action based on his perception of the Occupation.

With the blessing of the Dragon Luck Technique at its peak, clear guidance was provided.

Northeast direction.

It transformed into a beam of light and flew towards the northeast.

His escape speed was suppressed to the late Golden Core stage, and his spiritual energy fluctuations were completely concealed using the Hidden and Unseen Technique. At the same time, he used the Dark Abyss Demonic Essence Technique to convert the spiritual energy on his body surface into demonic energy and release it, disguising himself as a demonic cultivator.

The beam of light traversed the thin spiritual energy of the Netherworld, advancing towards its target.