It was a gray, soybean-sized bead, with a wisp of demonic qi currently swirling around its surface.
"This is a Demonic Core from a demonic cultivator's body. Its function is similar to a demonic beast's core, but the biggest difference is that one can manually stimulate and consume the demonic qi within a Demonic Core, unlike a beast core, which can only be used in alchemy.
"This Demonic Core was given to me by the martial uncle who saved me after he killed the two demonic cultivators. He only briefly explained its use.
"We just need to stimulate the demonic qi within, and it will radiate outward. It can even be used to power demonic clan magical treasures.
"However, the demonic qi inside the core is limited; the more you use, the less you have. But it should be enough for this infiltration."
Li Yan looked at the four astonished faces, knowing they had no understanding of Demonic Cores. He didn't mind revealing some of the insights he had researched to give them a better understanding of the demon clan.
As he finished speaking, Li Yan smiled faintly. Spirit Power surged from his hand, and in an instant, a stream of pure demonic qi once again emanated from between his two fingers. The next moment, as Li Yan withdrew his Spirit Power, the just-released demonic qi receded like a tide.
Seeing this, Bai Rou and the other three all breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Xiaowang and his two companions immediately withdrew their Spirit Power and said, somewhat embarrassed, "This is truly the first time we've heard that a Demonic Core has such a function. Our apologies, Junior Brother Li. You should have explained this beforehand; you gave us quite a scare."
Li Yan gave a noncommittal smile. He was still in the guise of "U Yuan," and this smile caused the patterns on his face to twist, making him look quite ferocious.
'It's better for them to experience some things firsthand,' he thought. 'Their inability to see through my transformation will only boost their confidence in the plan.'
"Fellow Daoist Li, this is my first time seeing a Demonic Core. What an eye-opener, truly an eye-opener!" Sun Guoshu said with great emotion. Li Yan's few words had brought them immense benefits.
Sun Guoshu hadn't even participated in the demon clan's tentative attacks a few days prior, so he had seen even fewer true demonic cultivators.
This was especially true because demonic cultivators, when facing a life-or-death situation, would almost always choose to self-detonate their Demonic Cores without hesitation. They were extremely fierce and rarely left any traces behind.
The use of Demonic Cores was actually known to a very small number of Foundation Establishment cultivators back at Windy Cool Mountain. They had occasionally obtained Demonic Cores in battle and, after some research, learned some of their uses.
But most cultivators were selfish. Upon discovering that a Demonic Core could temporarily power a demonic cultivator's magical treasure, they would want to keep it as a hidden trump card, using it to overcome a crisis at a critical moment.
Furthermore, when they acquired demonic magical treasures from humans who were ignorant of the Demonic Core's use, it was no different from getting them for free. They were too busy rejoicing in their secret to share this good news with others.
Hearing Sun Guoshu's words, the other four nodded in succession. At the same time, they felt a little dissatisfied with the upper echelons of the Four Great Sects. It would have been much better if this information had been made public.
In fact, the higher-ups of the Four Great Sects had once considered briefly explaining this in the jade slips they distributed, making it common knowledge for low-level cultivators. However, after discussion, they concluded that not telling them had more benefits. Demonic cultivators were inherently fierce; one demonic cultivator could often defeat two or three human cultivators of the same rank.
If they let the people below know the use of Demonic Cores, in order to obtain them, human cultivators would invariably hold back in battle. They were already weaker than their opponents; if they held back further, the probability of their death would be even greater.
Moreover, if everyone wanted to obtain a Demonic Core, they might harbor a certain hostility towards their own comrades. A battle fought with such a team dynamic would absolutely do more harm than good.
The final point was that a demonic cultivator, upon seeing that death was certain, would immediately self-detonate. If human cultivators were fixated on obtaining the Demonic Core at that moment, they would naturally be unwilling to distance themselves, fearing someone else would get it first. The result would be incalculable losses.
As for the fact that this information would eventually become known, they decided to let it be discovered slowly. The selfishness of cultivators guaranteed that this matter would not be widely publicized for a certain period of time.
By the time most cultivators knew, they would have already been fighting life-and-death battles with the demonic cultivators for a long time and would have learned the art of making trade-offs.
It had to be said that these wily old foxes, the upper echelons of the Four Great Sects, had an extremely accurate grasp of a cultivator's psyche. Their plans were flawless.
Sure enough, looks of pleasant surprise immediately appeared on the faces of Hu Xiaowang and Yan Feijun. Today, Li Yan had essentially given them a piece of relatively secret information for free.
Although they would all eventually learn of this as the war with the demon clan continued, knowing it now meant that the next time they encountered a demonic cultivator, they would think of ways to prevent them from self-detonating their Demonic Core.
Then they could acquire some demonic clan magical treasures at a low price. Although these items couldn't be used for long, if they had a large number of Demonic Cores on hand, the situation would be different.
Taking a step back, even if they only had a limited number of Demonic Cores, keeping a few incredibly powerful demonic magical treasures to use unexpectedly when fighting an enemy could have a miraculous effect in securing victory. It might even save their own life at a critical moment.
Bai Rou's face flushed with shame. "Junior Brother Li, I... I apologize for my actions just now!" Thinking of how she, too, had been ready to attack Li Yan, she immediately felt embarrassed.
"U Yuan" waved his hand. "Well then, we can proceed according to the plan now. I think you can all just casually conceal your original appearances. There's no need to transform into those foreign cultivators; that would make it easier to be seen through. Posing as South Sea cultivators will be fine."
After speaking, "U Yuan's" face blurred and changed as well. If anyone who knew the Manor Lord of the former Griefspirit Manor were here, they would feel that the face Li Yan had transformed into bore a seventy to eighty percent resemblance.
This was also because Li Yan hadn't seen many demonic cultivators. In his memory, the Manor Lord of Griefspirit Manor was the one who had left the deepest impression on him. He did this for fear of running into an acquaintance of "U Yuan." He had transformed into U Yuan earlier only to let the four who had seen him check for any flaws.
After getting their confirmation, it was, of course, better to switch to an unfamiliar face.
There were over ten thousand demonic cultivators who had invaded the South Sea, and among them, those at the Foundation Establishment stage were as common as ox hair. Who could possibly know everyone? You think my face is unfamiliar, but I don't know you either. Li Yan had already thought this through.
Seeing that what Li Yan said was reasonable and that it was already dark, there was no time to delay. The four of them performed a minor Immortal Art, making only partial adjustments to their faces. This method made it even harder for others to spot any flaws.
Among the four, only Bai Rou's appearance changed significantly after her transformation. She now looked like a middle-aged woman, wearing a loose-fitting dress. Her features were plain and her figure was thin. She did this because her original figure was too eye-catching; it was a reluctant necessity.
During this time, Yan Feijun seemed to want to speak several times but was stopped by a look from Hu Xiaowang.
He and Yan Feijun were in the same boat and came from the same peak. They had a good private relationship. Hu Xiaowang immediately guessed what Yan Feijun wanted to do.
He wanted to ask Li Yan to hand over the Demonic Core so he could be the one to transform into a demonic cultivator and lead the team's infiltration.
Overall, Yan Feijun's intention was good-natured. He was afraid that Li Yan's cultivation was insufficient and that he would be easily seen through.
But at the same time, he had more selfish motives. He wanted to get his hands on the Demonic Core first, claim it for himself, and study it.
For this reason, he had even secretly sent a voice transmission to Hu Xiaowang, suggesting that Li Yan might have two Demonic Cores. Since the martial uncle who saved Li Yan had given him one, why would he only give one?
Seeing Yan Feijun's persistent look, Hu Xiaowang, who was considering the bigger picture, immediately stopped him with a stern gaze. Although Yan Feijun's general intention was good, if he brought it up, it was very likely to anger Li Yan.
Everyone knew that Li Yan's cultivation was lower than theirs, but these prodigies were always extremely proud. The two of them shouldn't risk stepping on his toes.
Now that there was finally a glimmer of hope, everything was in Martial Uncle Wei's hands. If they accidentally offended his direct disciple, a single word from Li Yan might be enough to change the nature of that promise.
Hu Xiaowang himself very much wanted to take that Demonic Core. He was also inwardly lamenting how lucky this "Junior Brother Li" was, to run into a martial uncle from Windy Cool Mountain while fleeing.
However, when Li Yan once again activated the demonic qi in the Demonic Core, Hu Xiaowang and the others carefully sensed it this time. After another look with their divine sense, they were surprised to find that they couldn't see any flaws in Li Yan at all.
As they marveled at this, they couldn't help but attribute it all to the richness of the demonic qi in the Demonic Core. They had no idea that to achieve the optimal state, Li Yan had also used some of his Stealthy Night Art to hide his own aura, which was how he managed to prevent "even a single trace" of his own spirit power from leaking.
Of course, in the eyes of a powerful expert, there would still be traces of spirit power on Li Yan.
The group's suspended hearts finally settled at this moment. With this, the chances of success for the mission increased by several degrees, and their confidence grew considerably.
After the five of them quietly sensed the situation outside the formation for a while longer, they waited until the patrol teams had moved far away before quickly dismantling the illusion formation. Then, they quietly snuck away from the mountain peak.
After leaving the peak, they snuck northwest for some distance, chose a deserted spot, and then carefully revealed themselves. Under Li Yan's lead, they began to fly at a low altitude toward Zhouyang Town.
At this time, Zhouyang Town was bustling with noise. From time to time, squads of cultivators would fly in swiftly from the darkness. Li Yan and his group blended in among them.
Li Yan's five-person squad was not conspicuous. Some of the squads that arrived had only two or three people, but each one looked listless, exuding a thick aura of fatigue. They were followed closely by demonic cultivators.
Li Yan and his group soon landed at the entrance of Zhouyang Town. The moment they landed, several strands of divine sense swept over them. More than twenty demonic cultivators were already standing there, all at the Foundation Establishment level.
One of them, who looked like a leader, glanced at the four people behind Li Yan. When he saw Bai Rou's gaunt, middle-aged woman appearance, a look of disappointment flashed in his eyes.
He then walked up to Li Yan's group of five alone and said to Li Yan, "How come only five of you returned?" As far as he knew, squads were usually composed of eight or more people.
The large man Li Yan had transformed into waved a big hand, his expression turning ugly and displeased. But under the other's gaze, he reluctantly said, "We ran into an enemy Golden Core cultivator. If a Demon Lord hadn't appeared at the last moment, I'm afraid no one would have made it back."
Hearing this, the demonic cultivator's face turned ferocious. "These damn cultivators from the Four Great Sects! Relying on their numbers, they frequently have Golden Core cultivators ambushing us everywhere, but they don't have the guts to fight us one-on-one. By the way, was that human Golden Core cultivator killed by the Demon Lord?"
As he finished, a very confident expression appeared on his face, and he deliberately raised his voice, allowing the demonic cultivators checking other squads and the nearby cultivators to hear. They all turned to look.