Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After nightfall, Li Yuan closed the door of the stone house and took out the bottle of Sha Yuan Pill from his storage bag.

Li Yuan poured out one and threw it directly into his mouth.

As the pill entered my stomach, a burst of icy coldness exploded from the bottom of my stomach.

Li Yuan did not deliberately suppress it, allowing the evil energy to circulate within his body.

Under the enhancement of the baleful aura tempering the body and Li Yuan's deliberate guidance.

The malevolent energy sinks into the fascia and bones. It repeatedly washes over the muscle fibers, its density halved after the first wash, and almost completely depleted after the second.

The muscle layer beneath the skin was compressed a little.

The malevolent energy was almost completely digested before it could linger in the body.

Li Yuan flexed his fingers and then rubbed his forearm.

He took out the second one and swallowed it.

This one is less effective than the first one, but my body has already adapted to it to some extent.

However, the "Baleful Qi Tempering" attribute continued to transform steadily without any issues.

The third one, the fourth one.

By the fourth one, the body's absorption had slowed down significantly. It wasn't a problem with the formula; it was that the muscles had reached their limit in terms of the amount of tempering they could withstand in a short period.

Li Yuan plugged the bottle and put it back into his storage bag.

Keep the rest and use it gradually over several days.

He sat cross-legged and regulated his breathing for a while, calming the remaining evil energy in his body. Then he got up, walked to the table, and spread out the talisman paper.

The quiet of the night is perfect for drawing talismans.

I drew three fireball talismans, then switched to the Rejuvenation Talisman to practice. The wood-type spirit patterns on the Rejuvenation Talisman require more even spreading than those on the fire-type; even a slight deviation in the force will cause it to disperse, so it needs to be practiced repeatedly.

When I was drawing the fifth picture, I suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps outside the stone house.

Immediately afterward, the cyan light screen of the herb garden formation fluctuated violently.

It wasn't something rushing in from outside; rather, the formation itself was vibrating abnormally, as if it were reminding itself.

Li Yuan paused in his talisman brush, and a small patch of spiritual ink spread across the paper.

He put down his pen, pushed open the door, and went out.

Outside the herb garden, two disciples of the He family were running towards the stone house.

One was eighteen or nineteen years old, at the early stage of Qi Refining, his face pale, and he staggered as he ran. The other was slightly older, in his early twenties, also at the early stage of Qi Refining, and he was panting heavily.

"Fellow Daoist Li—"

The younger one hadn't even reached them before he started shouting, his voice cracking.

"Something's happened at the medicinal herb garden to the south! It's been attacked!"

Li Yuan has already stepped out of the stone house.

"How many people?"

"No, I don't know, at least five or six..." The young disciple hunched over and gasped for breath. "Uncle Zhou, who guards the herb garden, is already holding on over there. He told us to come and get you."

Li Yuan didn't ask any more questions, and a flash of fire appeared beneath his feet.

"lead the way."

The two He family disciples turned and ran, with Li Yuan following behind, keeping his speed in sync with them.

From the herb garden on the back mountain to the herb garden to the south, there was a low ridge and a sparse forest in between. The night was pitch black, and the mountain path underfoot was uneven and bumpy. The two disciples of the He family ran forward with uneven steps, almost tripping several times.

Once we crossed the low ridge, the situation ahead became visible.

In the distance, towards the southern herb garden, several clusters of flickering spiritual light shone—not the light of an array, but the light of colliding spells. A crimson ball and a grayish-white ball flashed alternately, interspersed with the metallic sounds of magical artifacts clashing.

The outline of the herb garden enclosed by the stone railing was faintly visible under the illumination of the spiritual light. Most of the outer array had been shattered, and only a section of the blue light barrier on the south side was still barely lit, while the rest of the area was a dark gap.

The stone railing itself was broken into several pieces, with rubble scattered all over the ground.

Li Yuan quickened his pace, activating his Fire Escape Technique at full power, and broke through the tree line in a few leaps through the forest.

The situation inside the herb garden was worse than expected.

The herb garden was turned upside down beyond recognition, with soil and herbs mixed together, and deep footprints and scorch marks left by magical attacks everywhere. Several waist-high medicinal herbs were uprooted and thrown by the roadside.

In the center of the herb garden, a cultivator from the He family was desperately resisting.

He was in his forties, stocky, with a flushed face, holding a thick-backed round shield that was enveloped in a spiritual light. He was locked in a standoff with two attackers. A large tear in his robe was visible on his left shoulder, and blood was still seeping from the wound. His movements on one side of his body were noticeably slow.

Sixth level of Qi Refining.

The two men surrounding him were both at the fifth level of Qi Refining. Further out, two more men stood in the shadows at the edge of the herb garden, not making a move, as if keeping watch.

Li Yuan's gaze swept over the group of people and landed in the deepest part of the herb garden.

There is one more person there.

He was squatting in the middle of a specially fenced-off medicinal herb garden, his hands quickly digging something in the soil.

The strongest in cultivation.

Seven layers of Qi Refining.

Li Yuan gathered flames in his palm, released the fireball spell, and smashed it between the two attackers who were locked in combat.

boom!

A crimson fire exploded between the two, sending rubble and dirt flying.

The two attackers bounced backward at the same time. One of them blocked with his right arm, and a section of his sleeve was scorched. A look of surprise flashed across his face.

Taking advantage of the opening, the Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator from the He family took two steps back, planted his round shield on the ground to support his body, and gasped for breath.

"They're here—" he called out hoarsely, glancing towards the depths of the herb garden.

Li Yuan followed his gaze.

Deep within the herb garden, the intruder at the seventh level of Qi Refining had already stood up from the herb garden.

He held a medicinal herb in his hand.

It's not big, about a foot long, with a bright green stem and a fist-sized flower at the top. The petals are translucent jade white with a faint fluorescent glow at the edges, making it clearly visible even in the dark.

The intruder carefully placed the medicinal herb into a pre-prepared jade box, closed the lid, and tucked it into his robes.

"Got the stuff, let's go."

His voice wasn't loud, but all the intruders in the herb garden heard him.

The two cultivators who were blasted away by the fireball immediately turned and ran, without wasting a moment. The two who were keeping watch outside the herb garden also turned around, and the group of figures quickly retreated to the mountains to the south.

The leader of the seventh level of Qi Refining was the last to leave.

He glanced at the Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator from the He family and Li Yuan, his lips twitching slightly as if he were smiling, but it was also as if he wasn't.

He then flashed away towards the mountains and forests at an extremely fast speed.

Li Yuan pressed a fireball into his palm and hurled it in that direction.

The flames exploded on the tree trunks at the edge of the forest, burning off two branches and sending leaves flying.

But the person had already disappeared into the darkness.

With the speed of a seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator, coupled with the fact that the opponent had achieved their objective and was retreating with all their might, Li Yuan, with his cultivation level, couldn't catch up.

The herb garden fell silent.

After the aura of the collided spells dissipated, darkness returned to the surroundings. Only a remnant section of the array's light barrier remained, faintly glowing on the south side, like a lamp about to go out.

The sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator from the He family knelt on one knee, his round shield planted firmly on the ground, blood still flowing from his left shoulder. His right hand gripped the hilt of his sword, his knuckles white, his lips pressed into a thin line, and he remained silent.

The two He family disciples who had led the way earlier also caught up. The younger one ran to the Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator's side and hurriedly tried to stop his bleeding. The older one stood beside the overturned herb garden, staring at the empty pit in the ground, his face ashen.

"That herb..." the young disciple asked in a low voice.

The cultivator at the sixth level of Qi Refining did not answer.

The older disciple spoke first, his voice low and hoarse.

"Jade Flower".

He squatted down, picked up a crushed leaf from the edge of the herb garden, and held it in his hand.

"Something we've been secretly cultivating at home for several years is finally going to be used soon."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"What is it?"

The older disciple stood up and threw the broken leaf back onto the ground.

"One of the ingredients for a certain Foundation Building Pill."

He paused.

"And it's not just Foundation Establishment Pills. Consuming the stamens of the Jade Essence Flower can help cultivators at the sixth level of Qi Refining break through to the seventh level. The family originally planned to give it to Uncle Zhou after the flower bloomed."

He glanced at the Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator who was still trying to stop the bleeding.

Li Yuan remained silent for a moment.

The only Qi Refining Level 7 cultivator in the He family, as mentioned last time, had "left."

Li Yuan stood still, his gaze sweeping over the dilapidated medicinal garden.

The herb garden was ransacked, most of the array was destroyed, the Jade Essence Flower was stolen, and a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator was injured.

The He family has at least several dozen members, including twenty or thirty cultivators, making it a fairly large family.

However, the strongest fighter in the entire family is only a Qi Refining Level 6 cultivator.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and glanced in the direction of the He family's main residence.

There were no lights in the distant valley; it was pitch black.