Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The five of them rushed through the pass, and the entire medicinal garden came into view.

The array's light barrier was still holding up, but only the south and east sections remained lit; the rest were completely shattered. The cyan barrier was incomplete, and the edges of the breaches flickered with light, like a lamp about to go out.

Several sections of the stone railing have collapsed.

The rare medicinal herb garden inside the fence was completely ransacked.

Large swaths of soil were thrown up, scattering medicinal plants across the ground. Some were uprooted and tossed aside, while others were trampled into the mud, leaving only half of their stems exposed. Several medicinal gardens bore deep footprints and scorch marks from magical attacks.

Manager Wang rushed to the fence and stood there, his gaze sweeping over the broken medicinal herb garden.

His face turned pale instantly.

The main ingredient of that Foundation Building Pill disappeared along with its roots and soil.

In the center of the herb garden, there was only a deep pit, with a few drops of dark sap still seeping out from the broken roots at the bottom.

The one next to it is also just an empty pit.

Of the dozen or so rare, top-grade first-tier medicinal herbs in the enclosure, nearly half are missing. The rest weren't uprooted, but most were affected by the spell, their leaves scorched and curled or their stems broken, their appearance completely ruined.

Manager Wang's fingers gripped the handle of the ritual implement, trembling incessantly.

Old Zhao and the young exploration cultivator stood to the side, their faces ashen and their lips pressed into a thin line.

Neither of them spoke, but the muscles in their jaws were taut.

The cultivator surnamed Zhou walked around the perimeter of the herb garden and then quickly returned.

"The outer herb gardens were also ransacked. A lot of low-grade spiritual herbs were ruined, and several herb gardens were completely burned down."

Manager Wang didn't respond, but instead scanned the herb garden with his eyes.

"Where is Feng Lao Er?"

No one answered.

The door to the stone house was open, and the inside was empty. The bedding of the cultivator surnamed Feng was still on the bed, but his magical artifacts and storage bag were gone.

The person has disappeared.

"The alchemist isn't here either." The cultivator surnamed Zhou poked half his head out of the stone house on the slope. "His medicine furnace is still here, but some of his things have been moved."

Manager Wang's gaze swept around the surroundings, and he spoke in a deep voice.

"First, try to save the medicinal herbs that can still be saved; save as many as you can."

Li Yuan and the others dispersed and began to examine the remaining medicinal herbs along the paths between the herb gardens.

Not long after, hurried footsteps came from the direction of the pass.

A person ran over from the other side of the hill.

He was short and stout, and his gait was wobbly as he ran. He was carrying a bulging storage bag in his arms and was panting heavily.

Alchemist.

As he rushed into the herb garden from the valley entrance, he almost tripped over a section of collapsed stone railing. He staggered a couple of steps before regaining his balance, his hands on his knees as he gasped for breath.

His face was covered in dust, his apron was stained with grass juice and mud, and there was a tear in the cuff of his left sleeve.

Manager Wang rushed over in two strides.

"What happened?"

The alchemist straightened up, took several breaths to catch his breath, and his voice was rough and hoarse.

"Someone has arrived."

He swallowed hard.

Six.

He stretched out his palm, then raised one finger.

"Two of them are in the late stage of Qi Refining."

Manager Wang's brows furrowed suddenly.

"When did you arrive?"

"About an hour after you left," the alchemist said, removing his hands from his knees, which were still trembling. "The formation activated first, and Feng Lao Er ran out to check. He came back and said that there were cultivators probing outside the formation. We didn't dare to release any signal smoke, for fear of attracting attention, so we stayed in the stone house to keep watch."

He took a breath.

"Then the formation shattered."

"It didn't shatter bit by bit; it broke open entirely from the north side. A single spell struck, and half of the light barrier vanished instantly. The power of that spell was beyond what a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator could unleash."

He raised his hand and pointed to the remaining fragments of the broken array light screen to the north.

"After the men rushed in, I wanted to set off a signal smoke, but Feng Lao Er pulled me and ran up the slope. The six men split into two groups: four went to the herb garden to loot medicinal herbs, and two chased after us directly."

Manager Wang asked in a deep voice.

"Where is Feng Lao Er?"

The alchemist's expression changed.

"When he saw the two chasing after him, he decided to split up and run. I ran towards the eastern hillside, and on the way I saw a few other people collecting medicinal herbs and carrying them out. After that, I never saw Feng Lao Er again."

He lowered his voice.

"I don't know if they escaped or were caught."

The open space was quiet for a while.

Manager Wang did not pursue the matter of the cultivator surnamed Feng further, and turned to look in the direction of the herb garden.

"What did you see them take before you ran?"

"Everything inside the fence has been ransacked." The alchemist put the storage bag he was carrying on the ground. "They mainly targeted the high-grade plants; I saw someone pulling up that large, nearly mature herb. They probably took a lot of the others too."

He patted the storage bag in his arms.

Cola Novels, your portable library, contains more than ten thousand volumes.

"I grabbed a few spirit herbs and stuffed them in before I ran. That's all."

Manager Wang nodded but offered no comment.

"First, determine the extent of the damage."

The group dispersed and counted the herbs one by one along the herb garden.

The rare medicinal herbs inside the fence suffered the most damage.

The two nearly mature Foundation Establishment Pill main materials were all uprooted. Of the remaining ten or so first-grade high-quality medicinal herbs, five were uprooted, three were severely damaged by the spell, and only two escaped untouched because of their remote location.

Li Yuan walked up to the medicinal herb patch and took a look. Traces of broken roots remained in the mud pit.

The losses to the surrounding medicinal herb gardens were also considerable.

About 30% of the low-grade spiritual herbs were uprooted or destroyed. Several herb gardens were completely burned, leaving nothing on the charred soil. Several other herb gardens were not directly destroyed, but the spiritual energy shockwave from the collapse of the formation loosened the roots of the herbs. These herbs survived for a short time, but if not dealt with quickly, they would wither and die within a few days.

Li Yuan and the cultivator surnamed Zhou replanted and compacted the soil around the damaged spiritual herbs, then infused them with spiritual energy to stabilize the roots. Their cultivation technique was still in its early stages, so the effects were limited, but it could at least slow down the withering process.

The alchemist took the spiritual herbs he had snatched out from his storage bag and placed them on the open ground.

There were more than a dozen low-grade spiritual herbs, of mixed varieties and varying quality; some had their stems broken in half, and others had lost most of their leaves.

better than nothing.

After the inventory was completed, everyone returned to the open space at the bottom of the slope.

Manager Wang stood in the middle of the open space, his gaze sweeping across everyone's faces before finally settling on the dilapidated state of the herb garden.

"I'll go and inform the Wang family."

He fastened the ritual implement to his waist.

"You stay here and keep watch. There are still two sections of the formation that are usable, so we can make do for a while. They've just finished looting, so it's unlikely they'll come back immediately, but we can't rule it out."

He glanced at Old Zhao.

"You take your men and keep a close watch on the perimeter, make sure they don't sneak in again."

Old Zhao nodded.

Manager Wang said no more and turned to walk towards the mouth of the valley. After taking a few steps, he channeled his spiritual energy into his feet, accelerating his movement and quickly disappearing into the night.

Five people remained in the open space.

Old Zhao gripped his magical artifact tightly and walked towards the broken array light barrier to the north to arrange for guards. The young reconnaissance cultivator and the cultivator surnamed Zhou followed suit, each keeping watch in several directions around the herb garden.

The alchemist squatted beside the stove, his hands still trembling slightly, and didn't move for a long time.

Li Yuan stood still and glanced around.

Everything that could be done has been done. The medicinal herbs have been used to save what could be saved, guards have been assigned, and Steward Wang has gone to inform the Wang family. Now, all that's left is to wait.

He did not return to the stone house to make talismans.

The current situation is not suitable for making talismans. The formation is damaged, and a second wave of attack could come at any time. It is not a good choice to spend your mind on drawing talismans.

Li Yuan returned to the stone house and sat down, taking out the Azure Spirit Talisman Brush from his storage bag.

The emerald green pen was held in his palm, and the skillfully written words were still hanging on the equipment bar.

With a thought, he removed the Azure Spirit Talisman Brush.

[Equipment removed: Azure Spirit Talisman Brush]

The entry for "Skillful Writing (White)" is temporarily unavailable.

[Permanent progress retention]

[Note: Once the same type of equipment is removed, it can only be re-equipped after twelve hours.]

The Azure Spirit Talisman Brush reappeared in his palm, the white light faded, and it returned to its physical form. Li Yuan put it into his storage bag.

Then, he pulled out a Qi-gathering talisman he had made earlier from the depths of his storage bag.

equipment.

[Equipment Successfully]

[Acquired entry: Spiritual Energy Expansion (White)]

[Affix Effect: Increases maximum spiritual power by 10%]

[Permanentization condition: Complete 100 cycles of cultivation within 36 hours (0/100)]

The Qi-gathering talisman transformed into a pale white light and entered the body.

The capacity of the dantian expanded slightly. It wasn't that the spiritual energy had increased, but rather that the upper limit of its capacity had increased by 10%. The dantian, which was already nearly full, now had an extra layer of space, making it less cramped when spiritual energy settled within it.

Thirty-six hours, one hundred cycles.

Let's start counting from now.

There's no need to make talismans during this time; there are people on guard outside, so you only need to sit inside and cultivate.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed, closed his eyes, and began to circulate the Spirit Guiding Technique.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the herb garden was extremely high. Even though most of the formation was broken, the spiritual vein itself was still intact, and the spiritual energy seeping up from the ground was still abundant. As the spiritual energy surged into the body, the pure spiritual power removed impurities, and the spiritual power condensed and sank into the dantian.

After completing one cycle, switch to the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique and complete another cycle.

The two cultivation techniques were used alternately, and spiritual energy flowed through the meridians again and again, pushing the cultivation level forward little by little.

The night outside the window was very dark.

The tattered array of light flickered faintly in the distance, as if it might go out at any moment.

The herb garden was so quiet that only the rustling of the night wind through the medicinal herbs and the occasional chirping of insects from the distant mountains could be heard.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, his breathing even, and his spiritual energy circulated continuously within his body.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.