Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The encirclement operation began two nights later.

Wang De and Qu Bo led a team of eight people. Li Yuan was assigned to ambush them from behind a low hill on the south side of the perimeter.

The target's hideout was located in a rocky area fifteen miles south of the outskirts. The contact address that Wang Lu had previously found led to a complete clue, and by following this line, the hideout of the robbery gang was locked down.

The frontal attack was led by Qu Bo and three others. Wang De led two others to the rear to block the retreat. Li Yuan and another cultivator at the fifth level of Qi Refining guarded the last pass on the south side.

After the fighting began, the sounds of battle coming from the front ended in less than a quarter of an hour.

Qu Bo's combat strength is undeniable; a late-stage Qi Refining cultivator completely overwhelms a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator. Apart from the leader, no one in the gang can withstand Qu Bo for more than ten breaths.

The eldest brother was at the ninth level of Qi Refining, and there was no difference in cultivation level between him and Qu Bo, but he was still suppressed by Qu Bo.

Moreover, Wang De blocked their retreat from behind, and under the attack from both sides, the leader could only hold out for less than a quarter of an hour.

When they tried to break through to the south, Li Yuan stopped them.

Li Yuan didn't confront him head-on, but forced him to change direction with three fireballs, driving him into a narrow ditch. Unable to maneuver freely in the ditch, Wang De caught up from behind and knocked him to the ground with a spell, which Qu Bo then stomped on to stop him.

Of the six members of the gang, one is dead and five are alive. None escaped.

The spoils and prisoners were taken away overnight.

Li Yuan did not participate in the subsequent interrogation and returned to his residence on the outskirts to continue making talismans and practicing cultivation.

The progress of making the Spirit Essence Bottle permanent has been pushed to ninety-two in the past few days.

The next day, there was a knock on the gate.

Li Yuan opened the door, and Wang De stood outside.

His long blue robe was stained with dust, indicating that he had just rushed back from outside.

The two entered the main room and sat down at the stone table.

Wang De didn't beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

"The trial is over. This gang was hired by the Li family."

Li Yuan did not show any surprise.

Wang De extended one finger.

"The gang leader's surname is Zhou, and he's at the ninth level of Qi Refining. Three years ago, he was approached by the Li family and started working for them. He has five subordinates, whose cultivation levels range from the third to the sixth level."

The second finger.

"The second one is Zhao Wu."

Li Yuan's gaze shifted slightly.

Zhao Wu. The rogue cultivator who used to sell scrap ore in Qinghe Market, secretly scouting the market's defenses before fleeing.

"Zhao Wu's true cultivation level is the sixth level of Qi Refining," Wang De said calmly. "When he entered Qinghe Market, he only appeared to be at the third level of Qi Refining. He relied on a concealing jade pendant that the boss lent him. Its grade was much higher than those circulating in the market, which allowed him to suppress his aura to only 20-30%."

He paused.

"The jade pendant you seized from those bandits in the Crow Claw Gang is almost identical in style to the one on Zhao Wu. I suspected it came from the same source back then, and now it's been confirmed. Those guys in the Crow Claw Gang were just peripheral members of this group; the jade pendants were all provided by the boss."

Li Yuan hummed in agreement.

The jade pendant of the Crow Claw Gang, Zhao Wu's jade pendant, and the even more valuable one in the hands of the gang leader—all these connect to the main point.

Wang De continued.

"Qian Si is one of their men too."

Qian Si. The cultivator who met with the man in the straw hat in Qinghe Market. Li Yuan and Wang Yuan followed him and saw him meeting with someone in a secluded location.

"The jade pendant that conceals Qian Si's aura was also provided by the boss. However, Qian Si's task is different from Zhao Wu's. Zhao Wu is responsible for the defense intelligence inside the market, while Qian Si is responsible for the movements on the outside."

Wang De placed his hands, folded, on the table.

"But intelligence from the market is secondary. Their real core mission is not to monitor the patrol teams and guard teams."

He looked at Li Yuan.

"It's a demonic beast."

Li Yuan frowned slightly.

"You know that the Li family has set up a formation to drive away demonic beasts in the Yuanheng Mountains, as well as magical artifacts and pills to do so." Wang De lowered his voice slightly.

"But the Li family themselves weren't sure if those methods would actually work. They had no idea which direction the demonic beasts would run after being driven away, how many there were, or whether any high-grade ones had been driven over."

"So we sent someone to check the results."

"Yes." Wang De nodded. Chapter update reminder: Chapter 154 Concealing Breath Spirit Pendant, reading address. "Zhao Wu and Qian Si's core task is to observe the direction and frequency of the monster attacks and verify whether the driving formation is feasible. The intelligence on the market's defenses is collected incidentally; the priorities cannot be reversed."

He removed his hand from the table.

"There's one more thing. They also planted their own people among the group of rogue cultivators temporarily recruited for the guard team."

Li Yuan's gaze darkened slightly.

"Not many, just one or two. Their cultivation levels are low, so they can't do anything significant. They just keep an eye on the guard team's daily patrol routes and manpower allocation, and then pass on messages to the outside world. We've already found out; they were detained on the way back to the market."

After Wang De finished speaking, he picked up the bowl of water on the table and took a sip.

After a moment of silence, he put down the bowl of water and looked at Li Yuan.

"From the moment Zhao Wu's anomaly was first discovered, you were involved in a lot of things. Zhao Wu, the jade pendant of the Crow Claw Gang, Qian Si's tracking, the discovery of the array core in the medicine garden, and the clues about the Foundation Establishment Pill auxiliary materials in Yunyang Market."

He tapped his finger twice on the table.

"Well done. What do you want?"

Li Yuan did not hesitate.

"The eldest brother's jade pendant."

Wang De paused for a moment.

He looked at Li Yuan, his brows furrowing slightly.

"You want that jade pendant?"

He took a jade pendant out of his sleeve and placed it on the table.

It was a size larger than any other concealing-aura jade pendant Li Yuan had ever seen before. The jade was translucent, and the spiritual patterns on its surface were extremely fine and intricate, with the carving so exquisite that each line looked as if it had been painstakingly engraved with a needle. The quality of its aura fluctuations was several levels higher than that of ordinary concealing-aura jade pendants.

"In the end, this thing is only slightly better than your previous aura-concealing jade pendant." Wang De withdrew his hand from the jade pendant. "It lasts longer and is more effective, but there's no fundamental difference in function. Your ability to conceal your aura is already quite good, so getting a better one would just be icing on the cake."

He looked at Li Yuan.

"What do you need this for?"

Wang De stared at him for two breaths.

Li Yuan remained calm and offered no explanation.

"Alright." Wang De pushed the jade pendant towards Li Yuan. "Here you go."

He didn't ask any further questions.

Then he took out a scroll of bamboo slips from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"This is for you too."

The cover of the bamboo slip had three characters written on it: Spirit Guiding Technique. Below that, in smaller characters, were: Eighth Layer, Ninth Layer.

"You're estimated to be able to cultivate to the seventh level of Qi Refining, but the Spirit Guiding Technique only lasted until the seventh level before it broke. The techniques for the last two levels should be given to you as a reward."

Wang De pushed the bamboo slips over. "I was originally supposed to retrieve them from the Wang family's main library, but I brought them with me this time."

Li Yuan took the bamboo slip and flipped through it. The markings of the meridian nodes, the new paths for the circulation of spiritual energy, and the key techniques for breaking through the eighth and ninth levels were all on it. It was the same system as the first to seventh levels, but the route was deeper and broader, involving almost twice as many nodes as the seventh level.

Thanks.

Wang De stood up.

"The items have been given out. Wang Lu will tell you the rest of the arrangements."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and went out.

After the footsteps faded away along the dirt road, the courtyard fell silent again.

Li Yuan sat at the table, his gaze fixed on the jade pendant.

The jade is translucent with fine, intricate patterns. The craftsmanship is of the same lineage as the Spirit Essence Bottle, but the level of refinement is a step above.

He reached out and picked up the jade pendant.

The moment the fingertip touched the surface of the jade pendant, the panel popped out.

[Equipable item detected: Concealing Breath Pendant (Complete)]

This item can upgrade an existing permanent attribute: Concealment (Green)

[Method 1: Equip a high-level Concealing Breath Jade Pendant, which will occupy an equipment slot. Existing attributes will be upgraded simultaneously and take effect immediately.]

[Method 2: Temporarily equip a high-level Concealing Breath Jade Pendant. This does not occupy an equipment slot, and the affixes are not active. It only accumulates the permanent enhancement progress.]

[Method 3: Consume three Concealing Breath Jade Pendants of the same grade to directly upgrade the existing permanent attribute; no need to make it permanent]

[Upgraded Attribute Preview: Aura Concealment (Green) → Aura Elimination (Blue) — Significantly conceals one's own aura. Extremely effective at concealing perception methods of the same or lower rank. Significantly interferes with perception methods of a higher rank. Greatly reduces the effectiveness of divination by other cultivators.]

[Conditions for Permanence: Submit your aura to be indistinguishable from that of an ordinary mortal, and live with other mortals for one month, during which time you cannot use spiritual power]