C440 Stone Explosion
Yu Yuan was deeply immersed in the practice of the "Evil Body Refining Skill," unconcerned with whether anyone inside the cauldron was watching him or not. As he diligently cultivated and circulated his spiritual energy, he could easily discern the subtle nuances during the cleansing of his Yellow Court acupoints.
A young noble from the Devil Palace, well-versed in the potent Devil Spell, possessed exceptional insight. He quickly realized that the obscure Yu Yuan, hailing from an empire on the Profound Sky Continent, was in fact an Eighth Refined Yellow Court Stage cultivator—a remarkable achievement!
Eighth Refined Yellow Court Stage! He himself had only reached the Seventh Refined level. In the vast expanse of the Boundless Land, throughout an entire era, how many could claim to have refined their domain eight times during the Middle Period of the Yellow Court Stage? The thought sent tremors through the young man's spirit.
"Oh no..." His gaze darted around, landing on the thick rock walls of the Evil Cauldron, his expression subtly shifting.
"Hu! Sizzle! Swoosh!" Streams of bizarre energies began to escape from the massive crocodile, the tattered warship it bore, the peculiar corpses of alien races, and the crevices in the rock walls.
Yu Yuan stood firm, like a monolith, channeling the "Evil Body Refining Skill" and drawing in a multitude of forces. The young man watched, his unease growing as his eyes flicked from side to side.
"Crack!" A large chunk of the rock wall overhead splintered as streams of energy burst forth from the fissures, then plummeted down with a thunderous crash!
The Devil Palace youth jumped, swiftly sidestepping the falling rock, narrowly avoiding being crushed.
With the rock's descent, the true nature of the sea-bottom cavern's ceiling was unveiled. The dark, rust-streaked iron, etched with the passage of time, exuded an air of ancient solidity.
The rock, fragile as an eggshell, had concealed the Evil Cauldron's true form until its fragmentation. Inside the dark cauldron, intricately detailed Demonic Marks were etched with precision. Some marks resembled vibrant, mysterious flowers, others complex and mighty Demonic Formations, and still others seemed to hold the delicate essence of the soul.
Many were clearly patterns of the primal Devil Soul, branded with the Devil Spell, designed for the absorption, refinement, and mastery of the Devil Soul, to harness its overwhelming might.
"Crack! Boom!"
The first to shatter and fall were the massive boulders from the cave's ceiling.
As the stones plummeted, they crashed onto the earth, breaking apart the rock layer above and revealing the Evil Cauldron hidden beneath.
Patches of dark iron swiftly came into view.
The Evil Cauldron, sealed for ages and nearly fused with the seabed's rocky strata, was now separating from the stone due to Yu Yuan's cultivation. The strange luminescence he absorbed from the stone and cauldron's walls caused the rock and cauldron to part, exposing the once-infamous Artifact in its true form.
"Rip! Rip!"
Within Yu Yuan, who was deep in cultivation, his veins and blood vessels felt as if fine lightning coursed through them.
With focused introspection, he could see a mysterious light, blended with his refined spiritual energy, streaming into his organs and bones from the Yellow Court Little World in his lower dantian.
Moreover, a vein leading straight to the dantian in his chest was rapidly swelling and quivering!
An increasing flow of strange light and power surged silently through his veins, deep within his bones, and from within his blood, all converging into the painfully swollen acupoint.
"The late period of the Yellow Court Stage emphasizes the integration of Spiritual Qi with the physical body. The flow of Spiritual Qi should be swift and efficient, minimizing loss. Additionally, at this stage, repeatedly striking the Qi and Blood Mystic Technique in the dantian is crucial. Using the Spiritual Qi of the Yellow Court Stage, solidify the Qi and Blood Mystic Technique housing the five viscera and six bowels, and propel it towards the Mystic Gate!"
As he cultivated, Yu Yuan also pondered the intricacies of this phase.
He drew upon the Qi and Blood already assimilated into his organs and bones, combining it with the pure Spiritual Qi from the Yellow Court acupoint, striking and breaking through the Mystic Gate in the middle dantian, giving order to the scattered and turbulent Qi and Blood.
Like streams merging into the ocean, they ultimately converged at the Mystic Gate acupoint, allowing the Qi and Blood to fill the realm of the Mystic Gate.
With the opening of the Mystic Gate, the Profound Break was achieved!
As Yu Yuan channeled the Evil Body Refining Skill, absorbing the myriad energies of this extraordinary place, he experienced a moment of profound insight.
He came to the sudden realization that, thanks to the resilience of his body honed by the sword light in the Soul Transformation Pool at the Fallen Moon Forbidden Area, the synergy between his flesh, blood, bones, internal organs, and meridians had reached a level of effortless harmony, with virtually no resistance or depletion.
In essence, while others at the late Yellow Court Stage would need to gradually adjust to this state of compatibility, he had bypassed it entirely!
By skipping this phase, the meridians leading to the middle dantian's Profound Gate swelled, channeling the Qi and blood from his bones and organs in a surge toward breaking through the Profound Gate—Profound Break!
"I spent a long, long time immersed in the Early Period of the Yellow Court Stage. The Middle Period was another lengthy ordeal. Yet, as I stepped into the Late Period, I leaped over the usual steps and went straight for the breakthrough at the Profound Gate!"
Yu Yuan was invigorated by this revelation!
With renewed focus, he harnessed the bizarre and exotic streams of power, voraciously absorbing them.
The very power streams that had once harmed his body and were used for the tempering of his flesh and bones now served a wondrous purpose in his assault on the Profound Gate!
Even though these streams had inflicted damage on his physique, they proved instrumental in propelling him toward the Profound Break Stage!
The energies that lingered in the Evil Cauldron, binding the cauldron to the rocks, were now being drawn into Yu Yuan's being.
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Rocks continued to plummet from above, shattering upon impact, revealing more of the dark iron and Demonic Marks beneath.
The youth at the cauldron's rim wore a look of dismay, lamenting the situation.
"Now that the Evil Cauldron has shed its disguise, there's no point in hiding!" He slumped down, casting a resentful gaze at Yu Yuan, who was deep in cultivation. "Great, just great! Whether you achieve your breakthrough is a minor concern. I can't stay hidden any longer. Not only that, but the commotion here is escalating, bound to draw the attention of the Tears of Blue Devil sooner or later."
He was aware that both the Blood Sacrificial Altar and the Tears of Blue Devil above it held a powerful allure for the Chaos Roc and the Evil Cauldron. Yet, these were no ordinary objects; each had its own means of masking its presence.
But now, the Evil Cauldron, fused with the seabed rocks, could no longer hide anything due to Yu Yuan's practice of the Evil Body Refining Skill and his deep, unwitting immersion in the technique.
*Crack! Crack!*
Above, the cavern, resembling a dark, ancient leviathan, began to fracture.
The challengers from Fallen Star Eyes, the glass bottle, and the Rosy Jenny, on the verge of a verbal clash, found their attention hijacked by the exploding debris from the cave.
Eyes and gazes snapped to the seabed cavern.
With a thunderous boom, a massive rock burst apart on the ocean floor.
The exposed portion of the Evil Cauldron's exterior, an iceberg's tip, revealed the dark iron inscribed with enigmatic Demonic Marks.
"What is that?" Yan Lu pointed to the revealed Demonic Marks. "That's not just rock, is it? It looks like it's forged from various kinds of refined iron!"
"How does a rock split and expose a material like that?" Hou Tianzhao wondered aloud.
Lu Baichan was equally shocked. "What's causing the cave to quake like this?"
"Chi Nandou! Get in closer for a look!" Hou Tianzhao, invigorated, called out, urging the glass bottle nearer.
"Isn't that risky?" Chi Nandou hesitated. "That senior demon has been vigilantly guarding the entrance. If we provoke him, it won't end well for any of us."
"Just a little closer, just a little!" Hou Tianzhao urged, undeterred.
Reluctantly, Chi Nandou maneuvered the glass bottle toward the cave, slowly and with great caution.
"Lu Baichan!"
Inside the Rosy Jenny, Tang Cann of the Primordial Yang Sect barked, "That cave houses a fearsome Magic Tool! The black iron surface, now visible with its Demonic Marks, was hidden behind the shattered rock!"
"And your point?" Lu Baichan responded icily.
"The Magic Tool is about to emerge!"
Yu Yuan mastered the Evil Body Refining Skill, a technique that was both feared and revered within the Yellow Court. His journey through the Devil Palace was one of peril and discovery, as he sought to unlock the secrets of the Devil Spell. The vastness of the Profound Sky Continent was his playground, and as he ventured through the Middle Period of his training, the Boundless Land seemed to echo his ambition.
