Secret

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

He set down the small bundle he had seized from the black-clad man, sat in the chair, and let out a long breath.

This night had been fraught with danger, but fortunately, it had ended without mishap.

After sitting quietly for a moment, he began to review the night's battle. Especially when he had exchanged blows with Shadow Kill, the pale golden true qi within him had been unusually active, circulating far faster than usual.

Moreover, when it came into contact with the other party's demon power, the Bronze Palace deep within his sea of consciousness seemed to have trembled faintly.

This gave him a bold guess. Could it be... that the Bronze Palace had a special reaction to demon power?

With that thought, he immediately opened the small bundle. After untying the outer wrapping cloth, he found an even smaller oiled-paper packet inside.

Inside the packet was, unexpectedly, a demon core the size of a pigeon egg. It was an irregular dark red, with wisps of black patterns coiling across its surface. It felt icy cold to the touch and emitted a faint, chillingly fishy odor.

This was actually a level-four demon core!

And judging by its aura, it seemed to have come from some kind of yin-aspected demon beast.

Li Yuan held it in his palm, staring at it intently. He could feel the true qi within his body begin to accelerate of its own accord, gathering toward his palm.

Deep within his sea of consciousness, the Bronze Palace seemed to awaken from slumber, emitting a low hum.

Just as he had thought. Li Yuan's heartbeat quickened slightly. No longer hesitating, he focused his thoughts and attempted to communicate with the mysterious palace.

A faint suction force emerged from the palace's phantom. True qi overflowed from his palm and wrapped around the demon core.

Hiss—

A barely audible cracking sound rang out. The black patterns on the demon core's surface suddenly lit up, then rapidly dimmed again.

Immediately afterward, a strange energy, mixed and violent, was drawn from the demon core. It traveled upstream through the meridians in Li Yuan's arm, charging straight into his sea of consciousness!

This energy was freezing to the bone and carried the savage Sha Qi of a demon beast. If an ordinary Essence Drawing Realm cultivator rashly absorbed it into their body, at best their meridians would be damaged and their true qi thrown into disorder; at worst, they would suffer cultivation deviation and have their minds eroded by demon qi.

Yet the moment this energy surged into Li Yuan's sea of consciousness and touched the Bronze Palace, a sudden change occurred!

Buzz!

The Bronze Palace blazed with brilliant light and began to turn slowly like a millstone. That violent, frigid energy was swiftly stripped away and refined in an instant.

At the same time, a rich, gentle warm current flowed back out from the Bronze Palace. Like sweet rain, it slowly spread through Li Yuan's limbs and bones, nourishing his meridians, flesh, blood, and bones.

In the end, all of it poured into his dantian and merged with his own true qi.

Li Yuan felt his entire body shudder as the true qi within him rapidly became more solid at a visible rate.

Under the impact of such vast, pure energy, the barrier of the Essence Drawing Realm was pierced through as easily as paper.

His cultivation rose step by step, from the early stage of the Essence Drawing Realm to the middle stage, then the late stage...

Finally, after completely absorbing and refining the energy of the entire demon core, his cultivation stabilized firmly at the peak of the Essence Drawing Realm. He was only one step away from Subtlety.

The entire process took no more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea. Li Yuan opened his eyes, and a flash of golden light vanished from them. He felt light all over, his blood and qi vigorous, his true qi full and surging. He was several times stronger than before.

Excitement appeared in his eyes. A single low-grade demon core had saved him half a year of arduous cultivation, directly allowing him to reach the peak of the Essence Drawing Realm.

Li Yuan's heart burned with fervor.

The Bronze Palace could not only help him awaken his talent, but also refine demon cores and transform them into the purest true qi. This was practically a heaven-defying shortcut.

If he had an endless supply of demon cores, would his cultivation not advance a thousand miles in a single day?

Then he suddenly thought of something and could not help shaking his head. If such a heaven-defying ability were exposed, what kind of consequences would it bring?

Human cultivators had always relied on absorbing the spiritual qi of heaven and earth themselves, or on consuming pills. He had never heard of anyone being able to directly absorb and refine demon cores.

Those who had attempted it either exploded and died, or were eroded by demon qi and became half-human, half-demon monsters.

Once his ability was exposed, he would certainly be regarded as a heretical fiend, perhaps even suspected of colluding with the Demon Race.

A common man was innocent, but the jade he carried made him guilty. Li Yuan understood that principle better than anyone.

It seemed he needed to be more cautious and keep this from being exposed for now.

Early the next morning, Li Yuan went to the library again.

This time, in the sections for Records of Strange Tales and Miscellaneous Discussions on Cultivation on the first floor, he searched through the books meticulously, trying to find records concerning humans absorbing demon cores.

The result was exactly as he had expected. Without exception, all the records clearly stated that demon cores were fundamentally incompatible with human cultivation techniques, and forcibly absorbing them would bring harm rather than benefit.

There were occasional accounts of cultivators who practiced extreme evil or demonic arts, or puppets eroded and controlled by demons, using special methods to draw upon the power of demon cores. Yet every one of them paid a terrible price, lost their humanity, and ultimately became monsters that knew only slaughter.

The orthodox cultivation world treated the matter as taboo and avoided mentioning it as if it were forbidden.

After putting down the last scroll, even the last trace of luck in Li Yuan's heart was shattered. It seemed his ability absolutely could not be known by outsiders.

At least until he possessed sufficient strength to protect himself, he had to keep this secret tightly guarded.

But now that he knew the secret of demon cores, how could he possibly resist such temptation?

No. He needed more demon cores—the more, the better.

There might be channels within the academy, but the risk was too great and would easily draw attention.

Now, only Aji could help him. Western Market was a place where dragons and snakes mingled. As long as one had silver, quietly gathering some low-grade demon cores would not be a problem at all.

After weighing the matter repeatedly, Li Yuan wrote Aji a brief letter, instructing him to help collect demon cores for research, and enclosed banknotes worth a sufficient amount of silver.

He sealed the letter, went to the side gate, and handed it to the old gatekeeper. Usually, these gatekeepers could help academy students send letters.

The old man nodded indifferently. Only after Li Yuan had left did he take out a communication jade talisman.

A moment later, Mr. Mo appeared at the gate. He picked up the letter in his hand and read it, then looked in the direction Li Yuan had gone. A trace of deeper meaning flashed through his eyes.

That evening, in Su Wenyuan's study.

Liu Hongyan and Mo Wentian had gathered there.

"He is seeking demon cores." Mo Wentian placed the letter on the table, getting straight to the point.

Su Wenyuan frowned. "According to you, he can directly absorb demon cores? Not only does it do him no harm, his cultivation even advances greatly?"

Liu Hongyan's phoenix eyes narrowed slightly. "This is no small matter. Since ancient times, it has been unheard of for a human to be able to refine demon cores."

"Whether it is fortune or disaster remains to be seen," Su Wenyuan said slowly. "But at least for now, his disposition seems sound. He is not a wicked and depraved person."

"The Headmaster means?"

A hint of hope flashed through Liu Hongyan's eyes. Li Yuan was her prized disciple, and naturally, she did not wish to see him ruined just like that.

"Since he wishes to obtain demon cores, we shall let the boat follow the current." A sharp glint flashed in Su Wenyuan's eyes. "Mr. Mo, arrange for reliable people to provide some low-grade demon cores and pass them to Li Yuan through him."

Mo Wentian nodded. "Understood."

"This matter is to be known only by the three of us." Su Wenyuan's expression turned serious. "Hongyan, when you teach him normally, pay closer attention to his condition. Do not let a young man's greed for too much ruin him."

"Yes." Liu Hongyan responded, though inwardly, she let out a sigh of relief.

Several days later, Li Yuan received a reply letter and a small cloth bundle at the gatehouse. The letter was written by Aji, its handwriting crooked and uneven. It only said that he had been lucky and had quickly found two demon cores.