Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

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

After mastering the Micro-Element Guiding Meridian Technique, the openness of all the meridians in the body reached a new level. The speed at which spiritual energy circulates through the body is much faster than before, starting from the dantian, flowing through the entire body, and then returning to the dantian without any pause.

About an hour later, footsteps were heard outside the courtyard.

knocking.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, got up, and opened the door.

Qu Bo stood at the door, his expression unchanged, but his eyes were sharper than usual.

"Come with me."

Without another word, Qu Bo turned and left, and Li Yuan followed.

The two left the outer settlement and walked along a gravel path toward the hillside to the north.

The hillside wasn't high, just a gentle slope of about a hundred feet, covered with low shrubs and weeds. When he reached the halfway point, Li Yuan slowed his pace.

There was a faint fluctuation of spiritual energy on the ground beneath my feet.

It's not natural spiritual energy; it's artificially created. The fluctuations in spiritual energy are extremely subtle; it stays close to the ground and is almost undetectable without careful observation.

Formation.

Li Yuan glanced around. Among the low bushes, several inconspicuous grayish-white stones were scattered among the grass. The stones seemed to be placed randomly, but the spacing and orientation were regular.

Qu Bo stopped at the top of the slope and turned to look at Li Yuan.

"You figured it out?"

Li Yuan nodded. "When was it put up?"

"Last night," Qu Bo said calmly. "That person you mentioned last time, I chased after him but couldn't catch him, but I figured out his area of ​​activity. It's on the outskirts of that mountain range to the north, moving back and forth between a few fixed points."

He glanced down the hillside.

"We can't catch him by chasing alone. He's very alert and fast. We need to find another way."

Qu Bo walked to the top of the slope and squatted down next to a flat stone.

"You still have that miraculous stone in your hand, right?"

Li Yuan took out the Spirit Stone from his storage bag.

The grayish-white stone rested in my palm, its surface still pulsating with spiritual energy.

Qu Bo took it and inserted it into a newly carved groove on the stone surface. The size was just right.

Then Qu Bo moved the rubble around the Manifestation Stone to make sure it fit tightly before standing up.

Qu Bo took out a milky-white jade box from his bosom and opened the lid.

A refreshing, sweet aroma wafted over, more than ten times stronger than the scent of ordinary fruit, mixed with extremely pure spiritual energy fluctuations.

Inside the jade box lay a bright green fruit, about the size of an egg, with a pale golden sheen on its surface.

Spiritual Essence Fruit.

Qu Bo took the Spirit Essence Fruit out of the jade box and embedded it into a groove next to the Spirit Manifestation Stone in the center of the formation.

The moment the Spirit Essence Fruit was embedded, the array on the entire hillside came to life.

The grayish-white stones scattered among the bushes simultaneously emitted a very faint halo of light. The halo connected with each other along the spiritual energy lines on the ground, forming a network structure that covered most of the hillside.

The formation amplified the aura of the Spirit Essence Fruit several times over, spreading it in all directions. Within a radius of two or three miles, any cultivator sensitive to the aura of the Spirit Essence Fruit could smell it.

He patted the dirt off his hands.

"This formation can spread the scent of the Spirit Essence Fruit to a radius of two or three miles. That thief who raided the herb garden was trying to gather materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill, and the Spirit Essence Fruit was the key ingredient he was most lacking. If he was active nearby, there was no way he wouldn't have smelled it."

Lure the snake out of its hole.

Qu Bo pointed down the hillside.

"The formation needs a continuous infusion of spiritual energy to maintain itself. I'll keep watch from outside, and you'll be responsible for supplying the spiritual energy inside. The energy inlet is in the stone beneath your feet; just pour it in, and the formation will operate on its own."

Li Yuan glanced down at his feet. A grayish-white stone, half-buried in the soil, had several very faint spiritual patterns engraved on its surface, their paths connecting to the overall network of the array.

Li Yuan squatted down, placed his palm on the stone, and poured his spiritual energy into it.

The spiritual patterns inside the stone lit up, and spiritual energy spread out along the lines on the ground. The formation became more stable, and the aura of the Spirit Essence Fruit became stronger, spreading from the hillside in all directions.

Qu Bo nodded, turned and walked down the hillside, his figure disappearing into the bushes at the foot of the slope.

Li Yuan maintained his spiritual energy output, sitting cross-legged next to the stone.

The spiritual energy consumption is minimal. The formation's structure is already set up; he only needs to provide the spiritual energy to maintain its operation, much like adding oil to a lamp.

Time passed little by little.

The hillside was quiet. Occasionally, a breeze rustled through the bushes. The distant mountain ranges were clearly visible in the sunlight.

About 15 minutes later, Li Yuan's gaze shifted slightly.

Someone is approaching from the bushes to the northwest.

The footsteps were kept low, but the fluctuations of spiritual energy could not be concealed. The cultivation level was around the seventh or eighth level of Qi Refining. The speed was not slow. The person moved among the low trees and bushes, stopping every few steps as if to observe the surrounding situation.

Li Yuan remained still, his spiritual energy output unchanged.

The person was getting closer and closer.

From two hundred zhang to one hundred zhang, from one hundred zhang to fifty zhang.

Then it stopped.

A figure peeked out from behind a low tree.

He was of medium build, with a narrow face and high cheekbones, and wore a faded gray cloth shirt. He looked to be in his early thirties. His eyes quickly swept across the hillside, finally settling on the aura emanating from the array at the top of the hill.

His nostrils twitched slightly, as if he were trying to discern whether the breath was genuine or not.

Li Yuan had seen this face before. It was the fifth one in the portrait given by Qu Bo.

The man stood there for a few more moments, then suddenly took a step forward.

Qu Bo moved.

A beam of light shot out from the bushes at the foot of the slope, heading straight for the man's back.

The man reacted extremely quickly. Before the light even reached him, he had already dodged to the side, his toes barely touching the ground as he moved horizontally for three or four zhang (approximately 10-15 meters), avoiding the attack range.

The next moment, the man turned and ran.

Without hesitation or looking back, his figure flashed among the bushes and low trees, instantly creating a distance of thirty or forty feet.

Qu Bo emerged from the bushes and gave chase. The two figures disappeared one after the other into the thicket on the northwest side of the hillside.

Li Yuan did not pursue.

He closed his eyes and maximized the range of his senses to memorize the aura.

The aura of a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator that I had noted down at the shop entrance earlier was now completely undetectable within my perception range.

The face matches the portrait, but the aura doesn't.

They are not the same person.