Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After leaving the hill where the formation was located, Li Yuan continued north along the valley.

He didn't take the Blood-Devouring Stone out of his storage bag.

The effects of descriptive terms and the properties of items themselves are always quite similar.

Generally speaking, the entry will follow the direction of the item's characteristics.

The Bloodthirsty Stone's attribute is that killing cultivators increases the probability of breakthroughs.

There were dried bloodstains on the stone platform. The function of the formation was to "converge" and the core of the formation was made of blood-devouring stone.

The formation is set up inside the secret realm, in a hidden location, and has a concealment function.

Of the three people guarding the area, one carried the Li family token, while the other two were independent cultivators. Their storage bags contained the necessary materials for Foundation Establishment Pills.

If this term also corresponds to the function of the formation, then the Li family is clearly hunting down cultivators.

Li Yuan went through this information in his mind without thinking about it further, and quickened his pace northward.

For the rest of the time, Li Yuan walked around while keeping an eye on his surroundings.

Along the way, we picked a few more herbs, all of average quality. The most valuable one was a clump of Jade Spirit Vine growing on a rocky cliff in a stream, which could probably sell for ten or so spirit stones. The rest, all together, were worth only a few spirit stones.

There are good things in the secret realm, but most of them grow near dangerous areas, either guarded by monsters or in treacherous terrain. This outer area has been searched countless times by rogue cultivators, and what remains are mostly worthless items.

After walking for about an hour, the breath suddenly reacted.

A familiar aura wafted from the northwest.

It is profound, steady, and has nine layers of spiritual energy.

Captain Wang.

Li Yuan changed direction and headed northwest.

After passing through a grove of low bushes, a wide, grassy slope came into view.

There were several protruding rocks above the grassy slope. Captain Wang was standing on the highest rock, looking down and surveying the surrounding area.

Beside him was a guard, a cultivator at the seventh level of Qi Refining, carrying a long sword on his back; he was one of the people in the group when they entered the secret realm.

When Captain Wang saw Li Yuan approaching, he jumped off the rock and went to meet him.

"What happened?"

His gaze swept over Li Yuan, finding no injuries, but the lingering aura of battle on Li Yuan had not completely dissipated.

"We've encountered a formation."

Li Yuan didn't beat around the bush and spoke directly.

"It's on a hill about two miles to the south. The formation has a concealment function; it can't be seen from thirty feet away. There are three people inside: two rogue cultivators and one from the Li family, all at the mid-stage of Qi Refining."

Where are they?

"Kill him."

Captain Wang's expression remained unchanged; he nodded, signaling him to continue.

Li Yuan took out the Li family token from his storage bag and handed it over.

Then he took out the Blood-Devouring Stone and placed it in Captain Wang's hand.

"This was found in the storage bag."

Captain Wang took the Blood-Devouring Stone, examined it from all angles, and his expression darkened.

"Blood-Devouring Stone," he muttered, a hint of disgust in his voice.

He brought the Blood-Devouring Stone close to his nose and smelled it, then used his spiritual power to probe its internal structure, remaining silent for a few moments.

Then, as if he had suddenly remembered something, his expression gradually became one of realization and surprise.

"You destroyed the formation?"

"It's broken. The formation collapsed after the stone platform exploded, and the Blood-Devouring Stone was taken from the core of the formation."

Captain Wang put the token into his storage bag, but returned the Bloodthirsty Stone to Li Yuan.

"I'll take the token, but you can keep the Bloodthirsty Stone."

Li Yuan took the Blood-Devouring Stone without asking why.

He paused for a moment, then said, "Your information is very useful."

"You already know what the Li family is doing?" Li Yuan asked.

"I have a general idea, and I've also learned some other things."

Captain Wang's tone tightened a bit, "I can't tell you the specifics, but what you brought out is enough."

He took out a short pen and a palm-sized piece of yellow paper from the cloth bag at his waist, squatted down next to the rock, quickly wrote a few lines, then took out a seal from his sleeve and pressed it on the lower right corner of the paper.

The spiritual energy of the ink and the seal blended on the paper, forming a faint anti-counterfeiting spiritual pattern.

Captain Wang folded the paper and handed it to Li Yuan.

"Take this back and go to the Wang family's management office to terminate the contract."

Li Yuan took the document, unfolded it, and glanced at it. The content was brief: the contract was permitted to be terminated. It was signed with Captain Wang's name and seal.

"Don't we need to wait for you to go out together?"

"No need. We'll be staying in the secret realm for a while longer; there are some things we need to confirm. You should go back and take care of the contract first."

Captain Wang stood up, dusted off his hands, and said, "However, you still need to finish the contract with Alchemist He. That's between you and Alchemist He, and has nothing to do with the Wang family's contract. Even if you terminate the contract, you still have to fulfill it."

"understood."

Li Yuan nodded, indicating he would comply even without Captain Wang's prompting.

Captain Wang didn't say anything more, and turned to walk north with the guard who was at the seventh level of Qi Refining.

The two figures quickly disappeared into the bushes on the other side of the grassy slope.

Li Yuan stood still, folded the document, and put it into the inside of his storage bag, placing it together with the Spirit Essence Fruit.

The teleportation stone isn't fully charged yet; it will take at least another hour.

Li Yuan didn't rush to find a place to wait, but continued walking eastward along the grassy slope.

Now that we're here, it would be a shame not to explore a bit more. Gather as many herbs as you can before the teleportation stone is fully charged.

Over the next period of time, Li Yuan wandered around the northeastern region of the secret realm.

They hunted two more low-grade first-tier demonic beasts. The materials weren't very valuable, but they were easy to obtain.

I picked seven or eight herbs, most of which were common first-grade low-level medicinal materials. Only one Red Sun Ginseng was of good quality and could probably be sold for thirty or forty spirit stones.

During this time, they encountered two more groups of independent cultivators, but after seeing them from a distance, they went their separate ways without any conflict.

Most of the independent cultivators in the secret realm are very vigilant. They avoid contact with strangers if possible, because no one knows whether the other party wants to make friends or wants to steal their things.

The ability to reduce presence by stealth is very useful in secret realms.

After Li Yuan lowered his presence to a low level, when he encountered rogue cultivators, their reactions were always a beat slower, as if they didn't notice him at first, and only realized there was someone next to them when they got closer.

More than an hour later, the teleportation stone in the sleeve began to heat up.

A faint halo appeared on the grayish-white stone surface, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy became more pronounced, indicating that the energy storage was complete.

Li Yuan found a sheltered rock, sat down against it, and held the teleportation stone in his palm.

As spiritual energy was infused into the stone, the aura suddenly brightened.

A familiar teleportation field emanated from within the stone, enveloping Li Yuan's body. The ground beneath his feet vanished, and his vision was covered by a grayish-white light curtain.

The feeling of levitation lasted for two or three breaths.

Then my feet touched solid ground.

The light curtain dissipated, and the stone gate outside the entrance to the secret realm appeared before us.

The last rays of the setting sun shone from the west, casting a long shadow over the stone gate. The Yuan Yang Sect disciples on either side of the entrance glanced at him but ignored him.

Li Yuan carefully put away the teleportation stone he had used and walked back to the settlement along the dirt road.