Living steadily in the world of gods and mystery
Chapter 204 - 176: Demon Trace

Chapter 204: Chapter 176: Demon Trace

The deep autumn night was cool and slightly chilly.

A thin mist, like milk, clung to the ground, flowing slowly. Sharp rocks peeked out through the veil, resembling mountain peaks and stone forests in the morning fog, alternately hidden and revealed.

Chen Li, feeling hot, unbuttoned his clothes and walked to a nearby rock. He gently wiped away the dust and gravel, then sat down on it.

’It’s time to learn some higher-level offensive spells,’ Chen Li thought to himself.

Because casting high-level spells is relatively slow and complicated, they are difficult to utilize effectively in intense battles. Therefore, since the latter stages of Qi Cultivation, almost all the spells Chen Li had chosen were auxiliary in nature, including the only offensive spell he possessed—a Second Order First Grade Earth-Shocking Skill, which was specifically to counter Earth Escape Skill.

The strongest purely offensive spell he had was the Ice Skill.

But the Ice Skill was only First Order Seventh Grade; even at max level, it was barely comparable to a Second Order Second Grade spell.

It was enough to deal with those at the early Foundation Establishment Stage.

But when it came to the middle period of Foundation Establishment, it began to fall short, let alone the later period. At most, it could only play some minor distracting role in battles and couldn’t be the main force.

Now, however, things were different.

With the Phantom Skill, high-level offensive spells undoubtedly had their place.

Imagine during a battle.

With two phantoms to distract the enemy, the true body could calmly cast high-level offensive spells. The slow casting time, which was a weakness of high-level spells, would be greatly compensated for.

One person with two phantoms, fighting three to one, could handle the later period of Foundation Establishment, provided they weren’t exceptionally powerful.

If preparations were thorough before the fight, casting three, four, or even more phantoms... by then, he might be able to deal with threats below the Golden Core level without even taking action himself.

"I wonder if phantoms can ’level up’ spell progress?" At that moment, a sudden thought struck Chen Li.

Hey, it might actually be possible.

Phantoms are embodiments of one’s own thoughts and are parts of oneself.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t test it even if he wanted to.

Except for the Phantom Skill, all other spells had already been leveled up to max by him. As for the Phantom Skill, he had already tested it and found it impossible to self-replicate.

After all, the Phantom Skill is not a common spell; it requires splitting a piece of the true body’s consciousness, and consciousness cannot be further divided.

However, if he could truly replicate himself, that would be extraordinary.

One becomes two, two become four, four become eight... With the number of casts doubling each time, it probably wouldn’t take a hundred rounds before the entire universe would be crowded with his images.

"Husband, it’s already late at night. Aren’t you sleeping yet?" came Zhang Shuniang’s soft voice from the outside.

"Coming, coming," Chen Li stood up, dusted off his clothes, and let out a long sigh.

Being long married, he could understand her thoughts with just a hint.

Alas, it was a life of ceaseless toil.

...

In the study, a small lamp burned like a bean, and the aroma from the incense burner was faint but pervasive, filling the air with a clean fragrance.

Dawn was barely breaking when Xia Hongyi began to deal with official documents.

The affairs overseen by the manager of domestic administration included not only internal matters of the sect but also the entire Returning True realm. From arranging rotations of Foundation Establishment cultivators stationed in markets, to secular matters like harvest and plowing season—all manners of big and small issues were within his scope, resulting in a mountainous pile of documents every day.

Despite holding great power,

if given the choice, he really didn’t want to be the Domestic Affairs Sect Leader, as it even interfered with his cultivation.

But he had no choice; he was the only one at the later period of Foundation Establishment in the entire Returning True Sect.

And a Direct Disciple of the Sect Leader at that.

Other than him, who else could take up the position?

In the early years, he held some resentment, blaming the Sect Leader for hindering his cultivation, but as the years went by and the hope for the Golden Core became increasingly remote, he gradually let go.

Perhaps the Sect Leader had long recognized the limits of his potential.

"Suspected Third Order Demon Beast spotted in Yongning District"

Xia Hongyi’s hand halted over the document, and he inspected it closely once more, his eyebrows knitting tightly together.

The document was sent by a Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed in the market—a witness at that. Though it was only a suspected sighting, it was almost certain.

"This is troublesome," he sighed, revealing deep furrows between his brows.

Third Order Demon Beasts have vast territories and typically do not encroach on each other’s lands, but there are always exceptions—such as sudden changes in the environment within their territory, depletion of food, or being driven out by another Third Order Demon Beast. All of these could lead to them roaming wildly.

In fact, when they had first moved here, they had considered such threats.

For one, the Zhenzong Sect had settled here for a century, living in peace without witnessing any threats that they couldn’t manage.

Secondly, with their Sect Leader in his prime and considerable strength, any ordinary Third Order Demon Beast wouldn’t be a problem for the Returning True Sect to handle.

That was the past, however.

Ever since the Tianxing Sect battle, the Sect Leader began his closed-door meditation.

Others might not be aware of the extent of the Sect Leader’s injuries, but he had some idea.

The Sect Leader had already been seriously wounded once during the battle with the Zhenzong Sect, taking several years to recover. Although he made a comeback, whether his foundation was damaged remained unclear. Then there was the Tianxing Sect battle, where he was injured again by Cao Wu’s self-destruction.

What was even more serious was that, in order to conceal his injuries and prevent other sects from coveting their position, he did not go into seclusion immediately to heal but instead forced himself to continue for a few days using forbidden medicine while bearing the injuries.

Only after dividing the influence areas with surrounding sects and settling all matters did he begin his seclusion.

Now, nobody knew the current condition of the Sect Leader.

Whether alive or dead remained unknown.

Not long ago, people from the Hongshan Sect came by, beating around the bush to probe the condition of the Sect Leader, their intentions were clear without asking.

Although the two sects had formed an alliance, everyone knew it was a reluctant alliance based on mutual interests. Once things went awry, and once the nearby sects lost all their reservations, the fierce attacks that would follow might very well include the Hongshan Sect.

With this thought, he showed a deep fatigue; no longer able to sit still, he simply put down his documents and hurried towards the Sect Leader’s place of secluded cultivation.

Only a few steps in, he immediately realized that he was appearing too anxious.

He slowed his pace, and his tightly knit eyebrows gradually relaxed, his whole demeanor becoming calm and unhurried.

...

The Scripture Pavilion.

Rustle!

Chen Li sipped his fragrant tea, gently turning the pages and perusing the contents of the catalog in his hands.

The catalog had been supplemented with more content, making it one-fifth thicker than before.

Undoubtedly, these were spoils from the battle with the Tianxing Sect.

Second Order First Grade spells added included ’Wall-Penetrating Skill’, ’Soul Summoning Skill’, ’Giant Voice Skill’, ’Dream Entering Skill’

Second Order Second Grade spell added was ’Paralysis Skill’.

Second Order Third Grade spell added was ’Soul Capture Skill’.

Second Order Fourth Grade spells added were ’Water Element Enchantment’ and ’True Fire Skill’.

In the Second Order First Grade, Chen Li already had Earth Escape Skill, which could accomplish the tasks of Wall-Penetrating Skill when max level. As for Soul Summoning Skill, Resurrection Skill had more utility, because Resurrection Skill required only a remnant soul within the body.

Whereas Soul Summoning Skill could only summon wandering spirits.

Chen Li thought it would not be very useful; it would be troublesome if he accidentally summoned some malevolent spirit.

Giant Voice Skill: Allows the spell caster’s voice to be heard over a radius of several miles.

Essentially a large loudspeaker.

It could have surprising effects if leveled up to max.

Learn!

Dream Entering Skill: Infiltrate into someone else’s dreams.

There’s nothing to say here, learn!

For this type of spell, Chen Li could immediately think of several uses.

Such as entering dreams to interrogate for information or to scout for news.

Although it’s rarely needed, isn’t the point of learning spells to have them ready for crucial moments?

As for the Second Order Second Grade spells, there was only the Paralysis Skill, which was quite superfluous.

Paralysis Skill: Paralyze a cultivator without protection up to the third layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage; not very effective against Demon Beasts.

Which Foundation Establishment cultivator wouldn’t have protection?

They wouldn’t just stand there and let you paralyze them.

It could at best be used to paralyze Loose Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage and ordinary people.

But then again.

What’s the use of paralyzing Loose Cultivators in the Qi Cultivation Stage and ordinary people?

Even if you did need to do something, you wouldn’t need the Paralysis Skill to do it.

And the Second Order Third Grade’s Soul Capture Skill, basically an advanced version of the Scolding Skill, was a must-learn.

There were also the Second Order Fourth Grade’s Water Element Enchantment and True Fire Skill.

Although he was only at the third layer of the Foundation Establishment Stage, the fourth layer wasn’t far off. According to his current progress, it wouldn’t take two months before he could attempt a breakthrough. So, he decided to buy the talisman version of the Water Element Enchantment as well, to save himself a trip in the future.

...

"You... you’re already at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment?" The old cultivator in charge of the Scripture Pavilion, eyes cloudy with age, pointed at Chen Li in astonishment.

Over the years, he had grown even more aged, and his spirit seemed to be waning, hands and feet beginning to shake uncontrollably.

He likely didn’t have many years left.

"You flatter me, Elder. It’s still early for me; I’m just making preparations in advance," replied Chen Li.

The old cultivator’s surname was Ji, his given name Kai, and he was one of the remaining five cultivators at the middle stage of the Foundation Establishment in the Returning True Sect.

"I see. I’ve heard of you. Your cultivation speed is comparable to Ding Jian, but I still have to advise you, breaking through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment is not easy. Being stuck for three to five years is considered lucky; being stuck for a lifetime happens to many. There have been many with great initial talent who ended up dying in obscurity. From my experience, maintaining a peaceful state of mind might make it easier to break through," he said.

"I’ll take that to heart!" Seeing the old Ji’s frail form trembling, Chen Li’s expression became serious, and he gave a deep bow.

...

As he walked out of the Scripture Pavilion, Chen Li sighed inwardly, "I only have seven top-grade Spirit Stones left."

The spells weren’t expensive; five of them amounted to just over two top-grade Spirit Stones.

The pricey Water Element Talisman cost an exorbitant three top-grade Spirit Stones.

But you get what you pay for. As one of the most important talismans for the Foundation Establishment Stage, its prospects were promising.

Just one would set one back six mid-grade Spirit Stones.