Tang Dynasty Demon Suppression Division

Li Yuan pushed open the door to the east wing. Inside, there was only a bed, a table, and a chair, and the bedding on the bed was brand new.

He put down the small bundle he had taken from one of the men in black, sat down in a chair, and let out a long sigh of relief.

It was a thrilling night, but thankfully we escaped unharmed.

After sitting quietly for a moment, he began to review the battle of the night, especially when he fought Shadow Assassin, during which the pale golden true energy in his body was unusually active and much faster than usual.

Moreover, upon contact with the other party's demonic power, the bronze palace deep within the sea of ​​consciousness seemed to tremble slightly.

This led him to a bold guess: Could it be that... this bronze palace has a special reaction to demonic power?

Thinking of this, he immediately opened the small bundle, unwrapped the outer cloth, and inside was an even smaller oil paper package.

Inside the oil paper package was a demon core the size of a pigeon egg, irregularly dark red in color, with wisps of black lines entwined on its surface. It was icy to the touch and emitted a faint, chilling, and fishy smell.

This is actually a level four demon core!

Moreover, judging from its aura, it seems to be some kind of yin-attribute demon beast.

Li Yuan held it in his palm, staring intently at it. He could feel the true energy within his body spontaneously accelerating its flow and converging towards his palm.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, the bronze palace seemed to be awakened from its slumber, emitting a buzzing sound.

Just as he expected, Li Yuan's heart raced slightly. Without further hesitation, he focused his mind and tried to communicate with the mysterious palace.

A faint suction force emanated from the palace's illusory form, and true energy overflowed from the palm, enveloping the demon core.

laugh--

A very faint cracking sound rang out, and the black patterns on the surface of the demon core suddenly lit up, then quickly dimmed again.

Immediately afterwards, a strange and violent energy was drawn from the demon core, flowing upstream along the meridians in Li Yuan's arm and rushing straight into his sea of ​​consciousness!

This energy is icy cold and carries the ferocious aura of a demonic beast. If an ordinary cultivator at the Qi Refining Realm were to inhale it rashly, at best their meridians would be damaged and their true qi would be disordered; at worst, they would suffer a qi deviation and have their mind corrupted by the demonic energy.

However, when this energy rushed into Li Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness and touched the bronze palace, a sudden change occurred!

hum!

The bronze palace shone brightly and began to slowly rotate like a millstone. The violent and cold energy was instantly stripped away and refined.

At the same time, a warm and gentle current flowed back from the bronze palace, like sweet rain, slowly flowing into Li Yuan's limbs and bones, nourishing his meridians, flesh and bones.

Finally, all of it flowed into his dantian, merging with his own true energy.

Li Yuan felt a jolt throughout his body, and the true energy within him rapidly solidified at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The barrier of the Primordial Realm was easily pierced like paper under such a powerful and pure energy impact.

His cultivation level rose steadily, from the early stage of the Qi Refining Realm to the middle stage, and then to the late stage...

Finally, after completely absorbing and refining the energy of the entire demon core, his cultivation level steadily stopped at the peak of the Qi Induction Realm, just one step away from the Microscopic Realm.

The whole process took no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea. Li Yuan opened his eyes, a golden light flashing in them. He felt light all over, his blood and energy were vigorous, and his true energy was surging and overflowing, making him several times stronger than before.

Excitement gleamed in his eyes. A single low-grade demon core had saved him half a year of hard work, allowing him to directly reach the peak of the Qi Refining Realm.

This made Li Yuan's heart burn with excitement.

The bronze palace can not only help him awaken his talent, but also refine the demon core and transform it into the purest true energy. This is simply a shortcut to defy the heavens.

If he had an endless supply of demon cores, wouldn't his cultivation level advance by leaps and bounds?

Suddenly, he thought of something and couldn't help but shake his head. What would happen if such a heaven-defying ability were exposed?

Humans have always relied on absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth or taking elixirs to cultivate; it has never been heard of anyone being able to directly absorb and refine a demon core.

Those who attempted it either died from their bodies exploding or were corrupted by the demonic energy, becoming half-human, half-demon monsters.

If one's abilities are revealed, one will inevitably be regarded as a heretic or evil spirit, and may even be suspected of having ties with the demon race.

Li Yuan understood this principle all too well: "A common man is innocent, but possessing a treasure is a crime."

It seems he's being cautious and not wanting to leak this information yet.

The next morning, Li Yuan came to the library again.

This time, he carefully browsed through the section on strange tales and miscellaneous writings on cultivation on the first floor, trying to find records about humans absorbing demon cores.

As he expected, all the ancient records clearly stated that demon cores are incompatible with human cultivation methods, and that forcibly absorbing them would be harmful rather than beneficial.

Occasionally, there are records of certain cultivators who practiced extremely evil and demonic arts, or puppets that were corrupted and controlled by demons, using special methods to absorb the power of demon cores. However, all of them paid a heavy price, lost their humanity, and ultimately became monsters who only knew how to kill.

In the orthodox cultivation world, this is a taboo subject, kept very secret.

As Li Yuan put down the last book, the last glimmer of hope in his heart vanished. It seemed that his abilities must never be known to outsiders.

At the very least, one must keep secrets until one has sufficient power to protect oneself.

But after learning the secret of the demon core, how could he resist this temptation?

No, he needs more demon cores, the more the better.

There might be channels within the college, but the risks are too great and would easily attract attention.

Now only Aji can help him. The West Market is a mixed bag, and as long as he has money, it's not a problem to secretly collect some low-level demon cores.

After much deliberation, Li Yuan wrote a short letter to Aji, instructing him to collect demon cores for his research, and attached a sufficient amount of silver notes.

He sealed the letter, went to the side door, and handed it to the old man guarding the door. Normally, these gatekeepers would help students send and receive their letters.

The old man nodded calmly, and after Li Yuan left, he took out a communication jade talisman.

A moment later, Mr. Mo appeared at the door, picked up the letter in his hand, looked at it, then glanced in the direction Li Yuan had left, a deep meaning flashing in his eyes.

Evening, in Su Wenyuan's study.

Liu Hongyan and Mo Wentian gathered together.

"He's seeking a demon core." Mo Wentian placed the letter on the table, his words concise and to the point.

Su Wenyuan frowned: "According to you, he can directly absorb demon cores without any problems, and his cultivation has even greatly improved?"

Liu Hongyan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly: "This matter is of utmost importance. Since ancient times, it has never been heard of that a human could refine a demon core."

"Whether it's a blessing or a curse remains to be seen," Su Wenyuan said slowly. "But at least for now, he seems to be of good character and not a wicked person."

"What does the dean mean?"

A glimmer of hope flashed in Liu Hongyan's eyes. Li Yuan was her prized disciple, and she naturally didn't want him to be ruined like this.

"Since he wants to obtain demon cores, we'll go with the flow." A glint flashed in Su Wenyuan's eyes. "Mr. Mo, arrange for a reliable person to provide some low-level demon cores and have them delivered to Li Yuan through that Aji."

Mo Wentian nodded: "Understood."

"This matter is to be known only to the three of us," Su Wenyuan said solemnly. "Hongyan, when you are teaching him, you should pay close attention to his condition to prevent the young man from being greedy and making mistakes."

"Yes," Liu Hongyan replied, feeling a sense of relief.

A few days later, Li Yuan received a reply and a small cloth bag at the gatehouse. The letter was written by Aji, with crooked handwriting. He only said that he was lucky and had found two demon cores very quickly.