Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The following afternoon, the four of them left the east gate of the market again and headed towards Ling Tin District.

All four of them were well prepared and even brought items for collecting monster materials.

Yesterday, traces of the monster's presence were discovered. Wang De's idea was to investigate the situation as soon as possible and deal with it if possible.

Upon arriving at the southern part of Lingtian District, He Lingnong greeted them from afar.

"Deputy Captain Li, there was another disturbance last night! The rice fields on those few acres to the south were trampled again, even worse than the day before yesterday. Several rows of rice have completely collapsed."

Li Yuan squatted down and took a look; the new claw marks were exactly the same as the previous ones.

The area trampled stretched from the field ridge to the edge of the wasteland, in the same direction as the flattened grassland from yesterday.

"It's becoming more and more active." Li Yuan straightened up and took out the spirit detection disc from his sleeve.

He held the bronze-yellow disc in his palm, infused it with spiritual energy, and his senses began to unfold.

The auras of the three people beside him were clearly discernible, while the scattered auras of spirit farmers in the direction of the spirit field area were faint and indistinct. Further away—

Deep within the barren grassland to the south, there was a solid fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It wasn't far, just about thirty feet in front of them, almost near the flattened grassland they had discovered yesterday.

"There's something there." Li Yuan's voice was low, but his tone remained unchanged. "Due south, about thirty zhang away."

All three of them paused in their breathing.

Zhou Dazhuang gripped the short sword magic weapon in his right hand, Xu Mao took half a step forward, and Lin Xiaowu's face showed a hint of tension and excitement.

"Come with me."

Li Yuan put away the spirit-detecting disc and led the three of them southward along the field ridge. Waist-high weeds parted and closed beside them, the withered yellow blades rustling softly against their patrol uniforms.

Twenty feet from the edge of the Spirit Field District, the weeds in front of us suddenly shortened.

Then a large, dark green creature appeared before us, its four legs curled up under its belly, its flat head resting on its forelimbs, and its long tail draped lazily behind it, like a large stone covered in moss.

The four-legged creature was a size larger than Li Yuan had expected, with its shoulder height almost reaching its waist.

Its body was covered in dark green scales that gleamed with an oily sheen in the afternoon sunlight. The grayish-white webbing between its toes matched the claw prints in the Lingtian area perfectly.

It is sleeping.

The intensity of the spiritual energy transmitted by the spirit-detecting disc was very clear—it was much thicker than the third level of Qi Refining, roughly corresponding to the level of the mid-stage of Qi Refining.

Tier 1, Medium Grade.

Li Yuan stopped and gestured to the three people behind him.

Zhou Dazhuang and Xu Mao spread out from both sides, using the overgrown grass as cover to circle around to the left and right of the monster. Lin Xiaowu stayed behind Li Yuan, responsible for providing long-range support.

Four people surrounded and attacked a mid-grade level 1 beast. As long as nothing went wrong, there would be no real danger.

The key is to prevent it from running away.

Li Yuan focused his spiritual energy in his palm, and a fireball the size of a fist took shape.

A master-level fireball technique can be formed in less than two breaths from the mobilization of spiritual energy.

The moment Zhou Dazhuang and Xu Mao arrived, Li Yuan let go.

The fireball left his hand, trailing a short tail of flame, and headed straight for the monster's side.

The monster suddenly sprang up from the ground, letting out a low, piercing roar.

But it was too late.

boom.

A bright burst of fire erupted from the dark green scales, turning them charred black, and the beast's roar grew even louder.

On the left, Zhou Dazhuang charged forward headlong, his short sword glowing faintly as he slashed at the beast's hind leg joint. The blade struck the scales with a crisp metallic clang, leaving a deep white mark, which also seemed to have a hint of red.

The monster's flat head suddenly swung, and its heavy skull slammed into Zhou Dazhuang's shoulder. Li Yuan clearly heard the sound of bones cracking, which sent Zhou Dazhuang and his sword flying several steps backward.

Zhou Dazhuang stumbled, but didn't fall. He managed to stop himself, his face pale.

Lin Xiaowu circled around to the back, formed a hand seal, and shot an ice spike from his fingertips, which pierced the monster's hind leg.

Taking advantage of this moment, Li Yuan bent down, condensed a second fireball, and smashed it into the monster's abdomen.

The monster was turning its head to deal with Xu Mao, who was coming around from behind, its side completely exposed.

The attack was launched from an extremely low angle, penetrating the thinnest part of the scales at the base of the forelimb.

boom.

The scorching heatwave sent mud and bits of grass flying everywhere.

The monster let out a sharp cry, its forelimbs went limp, and its heavy body slumped to the right.

Zhou Dazhuang took a deep breath and slashed out with his short sword, aiming at the gap in the scales that had been blasted open by the fireball. The blade sank in more than half an inch, and dark red blood gushed out from the crack.

The monster struggled to turn over, but Li Yuan had already rushed to its front.

A third fireball formed in his palm and smashed into the monster's open mouth.

A muffled thud came from deep in his throat.

The monster's body convulsed violently a few times, its four legs pawed at the ground, and its long tail weakly patted the weeds twice.

Then it stopped moving.

From the moment the first fireball was launched to the end, the entire process took no more than thirty breaths.

The surroundings fell silent, the air thick with the smell of burning and the stench of monster blood.

"Dead?" Lin Xiaowu stood at a distance, his voice still somewhat agitated.

Xu Mao stepped forward and kicked the monster in the abdomen. After confirming that it was not breathing, he nodded.

"Will we get a lot of spirit stones?"

Zhou Dazhuang sheathed his short sword, rubbed his shoulder where he had been hit with his right hand, moved it around a couple of times, grimaced but didn't utter a sound.

"dismantle."

The four of them began dismantling the monster. They collected its hide, bones, and blood. The complete set of mid-grade first-tier materials was no small amount.

During the disassembly process, Li Yuan's fingers touched animal hides, bones, and other materials.

The panel remained silent, showing no reaction whatsoever.

Just like the monster materials I found in the market before, these fragments and scraps do not meet the equipment requirements.

Materials were distributed according to output. Li Yuan took the animal hide with scales and some animal bones, Zhou Dazhuang received most of the animal bones, and Xu Mao and Lin Xiaowu each received some materials and animal blood.

There wasn't much meat, so everyone divided it up.

After returning to the market, Li Yuan first went to the camp to report to Wang De.

"Tier 1, mid-grade, lizard-like, didn't know its name, disposed of it."

Wang De nodded after listening, without asking any further questions about the details of the battle.

"Things in the Spirit Field District should be fine for now. How were the materials from the monsters you led the hunt divided?"

"It was divided according to the number of people and the amount of work done."

"Okay. The management office will issue the task rewards, and all four of you will receive one. It's not a lot of spirit stones, but mainly contribution points."

Li Yuan agreed and left the camp.

The next day, Li Yuan took the animal hides and bones to the East Street of the market.

Li Yuan inquired about prices at several old stalls on East Street, and finally made a purchase from a rogue cultivator who specialized in buying materials from demonic beasts.

He sold a total of fourteen spirit stones, and with the spirit stones he already had, his sleeves were heavy with more than he had ever been since he transmigrated.

In the afternoon, I went to the management office to collect my mission reward—two spirit stones and eight contribution points, which wasn't much.

In the following days, Li Yuan continued his routine patrols.

The number of people in the market continued to increase. The stalls on East Street and North Alley were already packed to the brim, and even the corners of several side alleys were occupied by newly arrived independent cultivators.

There have been more minor disputes encountered during patrols than before.

That afternoon, two rogue cultivators in the middle of North Alley had a falling out over a deal.

The buyer said the goods were not as described, while the seller said that once the money was exchanged, there would be no returns or exchanges. The two went from arguing to pushing and shoving, and the goods of the nearby stalls were knocked over all over the ground.

When Li Yuan arrived, the buyer was grabbing the seller's collar. The seller was tightly protecting the spirit stone bag in his arms with one hand, while pushing the buyer's face with the other.

"Let go."

Li Yuan showed his badge, and the two men paused for a moment when they saw the words "vice captain".

The buyer let go first, pointing angrily at the seller: "The Qi-Nourishing Pill he sold me is the wrong color, much lighter than normal, it's clearly a defective product."

The seller stuffed the spirit stone bag back into his pocket, his neck stiffening: "You checked it before you paid, what's the meaning of this backing out now?"

"That's because you put something on it," the buyer replied.

Li Yuan reached out, and the buyer handed him the pill.

The pills were a dark yellow color, and the medicinal fragrance was indeed a bit weak. There were also a few fine lines on the surface.

This quality isn't uncommon in the market. With the shortage of herbs, the quality of pills produced has generally declined. Strictly speaking, it's not counterfeit, but it's definitely inferior to the quality of the past.

Li Yuan looked at the seller: "Refund one spirit stone, and we'll call it even."

The seller opened his mouth to argue, but shut up after meeting Li Yuan's gaze, and reluctantly took out a spirit stone and slapped it into the buyer's hand.

The buyer took the spirit stone, muttered a couple of words, and then left.

The stall owner who had been knocked over squatted on the ground picking up his things. Li Yuan helped pick up the few miscellaneous items that had rolled away and patted the dirt off his hands.

These kinds of disputes are becoming increasingly common recently.

With rising prices for herbs and declining quality of elixirs, the mismatch between the expectations of buyers and sellers leads to friction.

In addition, the market was packed with people, with crowded stalls and narrow aisles, making bumps and knocks inevitable.

Li Yuan kept these details in mind and continued walking along the North Alley.