Chapter 192: The Boundary Stone Needle

The Mythic Artifact known as the Boundary Stone Needle was a masterpiece in every sense of the word. Marcus could not even begin to guess what material it had been forged from. It was small and exquisitely crafted, no longer than a dagger, yet its edges carried a razor-thin sharpness that seemed capable of splitting more than flesh. Even at rest, it radiated a sense of restrained lethality.

The needle hovered in midair, bathed in a crimson glow. Wisps of white mist coiled around it in a slow, endless spiral, drifting upward as though drawn toward some unseen sky. With each silent rotation, more of that mist spilled out, dissolving into the air.

Marcus approached it carefully, half-expecting some violent backlash or hidden trial. Instead, when he reached out, the process was almost anticlimactic. The Boundary Stone Needle simply lowered into his palm as if it had always belonged there. No resistance or struggle. It accepted him without protest.

Right then, the system interface unfolded before his eyes:

—

Boundary Stone Needle (Mythic Artifact)

Requirements: Level 40, 200 Agility

Description: Forged from the refined essence of a Boundary Stone placed at the mouth of a great Wyvern’s wind-breathing cavern, where it was tempered by the unending flow of draconic winds.

Attack: +200

Critical Hit Chance: +50%

Accuracy: +100%

Additional Effect:

Minor Wound: 30% chance to inflict a minor wound, causing the enemy to lose 100 HP per second for one minute.

Skill:

Boundary Seal: Channels the demonic energy within the needle to unleash a powerful sealing technique at the cost of the user’s life force. The strength and scope of the seal depend on the user’s abilities.

Success Rate: 40%

Requirement: Level 80 or higher

Cooldown: Once per month

Penalty: After use, regardless of success, the user’s level will drop by 1 to 2 levels. Cannot drop below Level 80.

—

Marcus exhaled slowly as he absorbed the information.

The base attributes alone were formidable, especially the staggering boost to critical chance and accuracy. But it was the skill, Boundary Seal, that made the artifact truly worthy of its Mythic title.

He remembered clearly how Lyanna had wielded it. With this very needle, she had sealed the entire Mist Veil Palace, erecting a barrier that neither the Demon Clan nor the Dragon Dynasty had been able to breach. The implications were staggering. In the right hands, this was not just a weapon but a strategic trump card.

If he could fully unleash its power, could he seal a Divine Beast? The thought made his pulse quicken. Or perhaps, instead of sealing an enemy, he could seal himself within an invulnerable domain and challenge a Divine Beast head-on. The possibilities were intoxicating.

Unfortunately, reality quickly dampened his enthusiasm.

Level 80.

The requirement alone placed the skill far beyond his current reach. Worse still, the penalty was brutal. Climbing past Level 80 would require months of relentless grinding, and each activation carried only a 40 percent success rate. To gamble that much effort on a skill that might fail, and to lose levels even if it did, was a risk bordering on madness. Only the desperate or the recklessly confident would dare to use it.

After weighing the pros and cons, Marcus stored the Boundary Stone Needle in his inventory.

With the artifact secured, he turned his attention to the rest of the Mist Veil Palace. This had once been a major branch of the Water Moon Cult. Its defenders had fought to the death to protect it, which meant it had to contain something of value. Since it had been overrun by demonic creatures and sealed away a thousand years ago, no one had stepped inside. In practical terms, it was untouched territory.

A treasure vault waiting to be looted.

Marcus strolled through the palace halls at an unhurried pace, inspecting chambers and corridors with the quiet satisfaction of someone who knew he was the first to lay claim in centuries. What he did not realize was that his simple act of retrieving the needle had already set far greater events in motion.

When Lyanna had entered the Mist Veil Palace a millennium ago, she had been gravely wounded. The Boundary Stone Needle alone would not have been enough to create a barrier capable of withstanding even a Divine Beast.

To reinforce it, she had embedded four high-grade Mythic beast cores at the cardinal points of the palace and activated a powerful talisman known as the Adamant Firmament Formation. The talisman amplified the needle’s sealing power to an extraordinary degree.

The formation functioned like a living engine. The Boundary Stone Needle served as its central key, anchoring the structure. From that center point, energy flowed outward, drawing upon the four Mythic beast cores positioned at the east, south, west, and north. Those cores continuously supplied power, allowing the seal to endure for a full thousand years without faltering.

Marcus, blissfully unaware of this intricate design, had just removed the key.

The moment the needle left its position, the formation collapsed.

The delicate balance of energy sustaining the four distant cores destabilized instantly. Without the central anchor to regulate the flow, the accumulated power surged wildly out of control.

Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom.

Four thunderous detonations reverberated through the palace grounds as the Mythic beast cores were pulverized by their own backlash. Across the sky, the vast white mist barrier that had cloaked the Mist Veil Palace for a millennium began to thin, its once-impenetrable veil dissolving into scattered strands of vapor.

The seal was breaking.

Far beyond the palace grounds, several powerful beings sensed the shift immediately.

“The seal on the Mist Veil Palace… it’s been broken.”

In the untamed Southern Forests at the extreme edge of the Dreamland Continent, a slender figure moved with the grace of flowing water. Her presence was soft as moonlight, her beauty refined and luminous, as though sculpted from silver streams.

But the illusion of gentleness shifted the moment she turned.

She wore tight-fitting armor woven from dark-flame golden silk, the faint, sinister fire glimmering across its surface. The design clung to her form with deliberate precision, accentuating every elegant curve. The contrast between her moonlike features and the dangerous aura radiating from her armor created an unsettling harmony, equal parts allure and threat.

She frowned slightly, sensing the disturbance. The Mist Veil Palace had remained sealed for a thousand years. For it to open now was no trivial matter.

There was no time to speculate.

She whispered a brief incantation. A blue moon sigil flared to life on her forehead, looking luminous and cold. It expanded outward in an instant, enveloping her in a halo of icy-blue radiance that made her appear as though she stood beneath a crescent moon.

Then she vanished.

In less than a heartbeat, she shot toward the Mist Veil Palace at a speed that defied ordinary perception, covering distance with such velocity that it resembled teleportation.

Anyone versed in ancient history would have recognized the sign immediately.

A fiend of the Water Moon Cult.

A thousand years ago, the cult had been a terror across the continent. Every member bore a moon sigil upon their forehead, with its color signifying rank and power. Gold, black, blue, red, green, white. Blue denoted a high-ranking elite. Moreover, only those with exceptional talent could conceal their sigil at will.

Her strength was likely brushing against the threshold of a Mythic beast. But why would such a figure rush toward the newly unsealed Mist Veil Palace?

Far to the north, deep within the territories of the Demon Clan, another presence stirred.

“The seal on the Mist Veil Palace has been broken. Has someone obtained the Dragon-Horse Lyre?”

A colossal serpent writhed in the sky, its six blood-red heads snapping and hissing in agitation. Twin wings stretched from its massive body, beating with violent force as its enormous tail lashed through the air, cracking like thunder.

Its twelve crimson eyes burned with restless fury. This was the Six-Headed Twin-Winged Serpent.

A thousand years ago, the Demon Lord had dispatched it to intercept the Wyvern Saint Knight Lyanna and seize the Divine Artifact known as the Dragon-Horse Lyre. Instead, Lyanna had escaped into the Mist Veil Palace and sealed it shut. The serpent had returned empty-handed, unable to claim either her life or the artifact.

Now, sensing the collapse of the ancient seal, it let out a furious hiss and surged into the sky, leading a swarm of demonic minions toward the palace.

After a thousand years, the opportunity it had failed to grasp had finally resurfaced.

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