Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Afternoon, outside the east gate of the market.

When Li Yuan arrived, the three of them were already standing by the roadside.

Zhou Dazhuang leaned against the door pier, looking like he hadn't slept well, but he seemed more energetic than during the guard rotation.

Standing to the side were Xu Mao and Lin Xiaowu. Xu Mao was in his early thirties, with a calm and composed appearance. He was a man of few words and a law-abiding nature, and had worked in the patrol team for several years. Lin Xiaowu was in his early twenties, the youngest in the team. He looked a little nervous, and his hands kept touching the magic weapon at his waist.

When the three saw Li Yuan approaching, they all cupped their hands in greeting.

Li Yuan spoke as he walked, without wasting words: "Traces of a monster have been discovered in the southern part of Lingtian District. The management office wants us to find out whether it was just passing by or had set up camp."

As Li Yuan spoke, Zhou Dazhuang lowered his head to touch the water pouch at his waist, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip.

"Once we arrive, we'll split into two groups. Zhou Dazhuang and I will go south and search outwards from where the claw marks appeared. Xu Mao will take Lin Xiaowu east and circle around the edge of the spirit field area to see if there are any other traces. If we encounter any monsters, we'll retreat first and regroup when we return."

The three responded.

Lin Xiaowu, following behind, couldn't help but ask, "Vice-Captain, do you know what grade of monster it is?"

"uncertain."

Zhou Dazhuang looked somewhat uneasy and walked silently beside him. After a while, he finally spoke: "Recently, everything is heading to the edge of the market. Last month, during the guard rotation, Sun Liang encountered a burrowing centipede while hunting demons outside. He was hit by a shockwave, which damaged his internal organs. He's still recovering in the market."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"He wanted to get more spirit stones, so he rushed to the front."

Zhou Dazhuang shook his head. "It was divided into five pieces."

Exchanging his internal organs for five spirit stones was neither a question of whether it was worth it nor not; it was Sun Liang's own choice.

The four walked along the dirt road for about half an hour and arrived at the south side of Lingtian District.

He Lingnong was the first to come forward, saying that the traces were still there and he had deliberately prevented anyone from stepping on them.

Li Yuan instructed Xu Mao to take Lin Xiaowu to the east, while he and Zhou Dazhuang followed He Lingnong south.

The claw marks are still there, just like yesterday, only the edges have been blurred by the wind.

Zhou Dazhuang squatted down and examined it for a while: "There are quite a few three-toed webbed monsters, but I haven't seen one as big as a bowl in the entire month I've been in the guard team."

After speaking, Zhou Dazhuang glanced again at the direction the claw marks extended—the wasteland to the south.

Li Yuan followed the direction of the paw prints and walked south towards the wasteland.

Once outside the edge of the Lingtian area, the ground turned into dry, hard yellow soil and gravel, and the claw marks quickly became less noticeable.

Same situation as yesterday. Following the trail with the naked eye, this is a dead end.

But today is different.

Li Yuan stopped and took out the spirit-detecting disc from his sleeve.

A bronze-yellow disc lay in the palm of the hand.

Li Yuan had no intention of equipping himself with weapons; he needed to act cautiously and avoid revealing himself, even if the probability was very small.

He simply activated the magical artifact to survey the surroundings.

With a thought, he channeled his magical power into the disc.

My senses suddenly intensified.

It's like walking blindfolded all the way, and then suddenly having the cloth strip ripped off.

It wasn't that I saw anything, it was that I sensed something. The spiritual energy fluctuations within a radius of several dozen feet surged into my mind at the same time.

Zhou Dazhuang stood a dozen feet behind him. His spiritual energy fluctuations were stable and deep, probably at the level of the third level of Qi Refining.

Further away, in the direction of the Spirit Field District, there were extremely scattered and unclear faint fluctuations—the cultivation auras of the Spirit Farmers.

The wasteland was quiet and peaceful, with no spiritual energy fluctuations from demonic beasts within a radius of several dozen feet.

Holding the spirit disc, Li Yuan walked slowly southward. After walking about seventy or eighty feet, he sensed an anomaly.

Something appeared in Li Yuan's perception.

The concentration of spiritual energy was not high, but rather extremely low, which seemed quite abrupt.

"South by east, follow me."

Zhou Dazhuang followed without saying a word.

The two walked through waist-high weeds for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea.

Li Yuan stopped in his tracks.

A patch of grass in front of me had been flattened by something, about two or three zhang square, not large, but very obvious.

The surrounding weeds were waist-high, but this patch was shorter, as if a large thing had been lying on it for a while, compacting the grass.

Several clear claw marks on the ground—exactly the same as those in Lingtian District, three-toed with webbed feet, about the size of a bowl.

It's not a trace that can be left by a hurried passerby.

"This isn't just passing by." Li Yuan straightened up.

Zhou Dazhuang shifted his gaze from the claw marks and glanced in the direction of Lingtian District.

From this location to the south of Lingtian District, there is only a patch of weeds in between, with no obstructions.

Standing here, you can see directly what's happening in Lingtian District.

"This thing is observing the spirit field," Li Yuan said from the ground.

The grass stems at the very bottom were withered, yellow, and brittle, with dry ends, indicating they had been pressed down at least several days ago.

It was covered with a layer of freshly broken grass, the cut surfaces still showing a hint of green, for at most a day or two.

"And they may have come more than once."

Zhou Dazhuang's face darkened completely. Li Yuan noticed that Zhou Dazhuang subconsciously glanced in the southwest direction, the same direction he had looked when they arrived at Lingtian District.

There were no other abnormalities within a radius of several dozen feet, and the monster's main body was not nearby.

"Let's go back first."

The two retraced their steps. By the time they reached the edge of Lingtian District, Xu Mao and Lin Xiaowu had already circled back from the east.

"The east side is clean." Xu Mao shook his head. "The field ridges and the road surface are fine; there are no claw marks or traces of monsters."

Li Yuan briefly recounted what he had discovered in the south—they had found traces of a demon beast's presence, and that location allowed direct observation of the spirit field area; it wasn't just a chance encounter.

Afterwards, Li Yuan notified each of the spirit farmers near the spirit field district. They were told to finish work before dark, not to stay overnight in the fields, and to run to the market if they encountered anything unusual.

He Lingnong tugged at Li Yuan's sleeve and asked twice if there really was a monster watching his field.

After giving the notification, the four returned to the market and went to their post to report to Wang De.

Wang De remained silent for a few moments after hearing this.

"Keep an eye on Lingtian District?"

"Most likely. He found a spot to lie down in the wasteland to the south, from which he could see the spirit fields directly."

"Why is this monster staring at the spirit fields? The spirit grains aren't even ripe yet."

Wang De tapped the table twice with his knuckles, then picked up a pen and wrote a few lines on the document.

"Lingtian District will temporarily increase patrols, and a team will be assigned to patrol there every day. You will lead the team."

"We can't determine the grade of this monster yet. Go borrow a magic weapon... never mind, all the magic weapons are with the guard team. I'll assign you more people."

Li Yuan led the three of them out.

As Li Yuan walked out of the courtyard, he glanced at Zhou Dazhuang out of the corner of his eye.

From the afternoon until now, Zhou Dazhuang has been tense, as if he has something stuck in his throat that he can't get out.

As the crowd dispersed at the doorway, Zhou Dazhuang took a couple of steps, then turned back, pulled out a water pouch from his waist, and took a swig.

My wife is two months pregnant and is experiencing severe morning sickness.

Li Yuan did not respond.

Zhou Dazhuang wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and stared down at the ground.

"She vomits everything she eats and has lost a lot of weight. She's a mortal, and her body isn't as strong as a cultivator's to begin with. I wanted to stay home and take care of her, but I was rotated into the guard team and can't leave."

"I was extremely anxious, and the patrol went awry."

Zhou Dazhuang's wife was a mortal, living in the mortal residential area in the southeast corner of the market. It was not uncommon for cultivators and mortals to marry in the lower classes.

There aren't many female cultivators, so if you marry a mortal, you can marry a very beautiful one.

Especially for cultivators like Zhou Dazhuang, whose cultivation level is not high and who have no hope of breaking through, there are quite a few who choose to live the life of an ordinary person.

"I had finally made it through, but lately..."

The conversation was cut off before he could finish speaking. Zhou Dazhuang sighed, turned around, and left.

Li Yuan watched Zhou Dazhuang walk away.

Back at his lodgings, he bolted the door and sat down on the edge of the bed.

Sit cross-legged and circulate the Spirit Guiding Technique. The spiritual energy enters the body pure and unadulterated, circulating rapidly throughout the body.

Li Yuan adjusted the rhythm of his cultivation, maintaining it at a comfortable intensity.

Dusk fell outside the window, and only the even breathing could be heard inside the wooden house.