Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The wandering merchant with demonic energy stayed in the market for three days.

Li Yuan didn't make a move that would alert the enemy; he simply used his keen spiritual perception to keep a close watch from a distance.

The itinerant merchants behaved no differently from ordinary merchants. During the day, they set up stalls in the square selling spiritual herbs and mineral scraps at fair prices, haggling with passing cultivators and occasionally chatting with acquaintances. At night, they stayed in a guest room on the east side of the market, closing the door to cultivate and not going out.

On the morning of the fourth day, the traveling merchants packed up their stalls, put their goods into storage bags, and headed towards the south gate of the market.

Li Yuan followed.

The concealment effect suppressed their presence to an extremely low level, while their keen senses pinpointed the merchant's location. They maintained a distance of over a hundred feet between them, separated by thick fog and withered trees, their vision completely obscured.

After leaving the market area, the traveling merchants did not head towards Yunyang Market, but instead turned southwest and headed into the depths of Ghost Mist Forest.

The speed was slow, as if they were confirming their direction.

Li Yuan followed behind, his divine sense always locked onto the aura ahead.

If you encounter danger, evacuate.

The traveling merchant walked for about half an hour through the Ghost Mist Forest and stopped in front of a rocky beach.

Li Yuan stopped 150 feet away and hid behind a withered tree.

His consciousness was focused on the direction of the traveling merchant.

The traveling merchant looked around to make sure no one was nearby, then took out an item from his pocket.

A token.

It is about the size of a palm, dark in color, and has densely engraved patterns on its surface.

Li Yuan's senses detected an unusual fluctuation at that moment.

It was neither a fluctuation of spiritual energy nor a fluctuation of malevolent energy.

Spatial fluctuations.

Extremely faint, but undeniably present. The fluctuation emanated from beneath a large rock in the center of the rocky beach, as if some kind of concealed spatial structure existed there.

After his spatial perception became permanent, coupled with his divine sense, Li Yuan could sense the fluctuations even from a distance of a hundred feet.

The traveling merchant held the token in front of him and channeled his demonic energy into it with his right hand.

The dark token's surface gleamed with a faint, eerie light, and dark purple light flowed through its patterns.

The traveling merchant vanished in the next instant.

Transmit.

Some kind of hidden teleportation array, or spatial entrance. It requires a specific token and demonic energy to activate.

Li Yuan stood still, scanning the rocky beach with his divine sense.

The spatial fluctuations had dissipated, and the rocky beach had returned to calm. Nothing could be sensed beneath the large rock, as if the spatial entrance had automatically closed after the traveling merchant entered.

Without hesitation, Li Yuan turned and left, returning to the market along the same route.

After returning to the stone house, Li Yuan went through the process of following the suspect in his mind.

The traveling merchant's destination was a hidden space that required a demonic energy token to enter. This wasn't something an ordinary rogue cultivator could create; there must be an organized group behind it.

Whether this is the same organization as the previously killed demonic cultivator is currently unconfirmed. However, the fact that both appeared near New Town is unlikely to be a coincidence.

No rush. Let's wait for the itinerant merchants to reappear before making any plans.

In the days that followed, Li Yuan devoted his energy to cultivation and market affairs.

Perfecting the array system is currently the priority. The framework for the linkage system of the complex arrays has been established, but there is still room for optimization in the details. The signal transmission speed of the linkage nodes, the energy distribution ratio between arrays, and the replacement cycle of the Gathering Qi Array all need to be continuously adjusted in actual operation.

Li Yuan spends two or three hours each day maintaining and optimizing the formation, and the rest of the time practicing cultivation techniques and spells.

One afternoon, Li Yuan was patrolling the main street of the market.

The word perception system continued to operate within a three-foot radius, scanning over the shops and stalls on both sides.

As I approached the entrance of a grocery store, I sensed a fluctuation in my perception.

green.

Li Yuan walked into the shop and strolled slowly along the shelves.

The fluctuation originated from a wooden box in the corner at the bottom of the shelf.

Li Yuan squatted down and opened the wooden box.

Inside was a milky-white stone the size of an egg, with a smooth and warm surface, and you could vaguely see fine spiritual patterns flowing inside.

"What's the price?"

The shopkeeper peeked out.

"That was consigned by a traveling merchant a few days ago. He said he found it in some ruins, but he couldn't say exactly what it was. The material looks alright, and he asked for eighty spirit stones."

"Take it."

Li Yuan put the spirit stone down and put the milky white stone into his storage bag.

Back in the stone house, I ran my fingers over the stone surface.

[Equipable item detected: Spirit Essence Bead (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spiritual Energy Expansion (Green) - Increases maximum spiritual power by 30%; the more immortal cultivation techniques one practices, the greater the increase, up to a maximum of 30%]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Cultivation level reaches Foundation Establishment, or breakthroughs three minor realms within five years (already met)]

[Current equipment slots: 5/5, replace?]

Green entry. Highly recommend "Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes"! Direct access to the exciting content. Spiritual Essence Expansion.

The maximum increase in spiritual power is 30%, which is linked to the number of immortal cultivation techniques practiced.

Currently, I cultivate the following immortal techniques: Spirit Guiding Technique, Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique, Azure Wood Longevity Technique, Crimson Fire Technique, Iron Wall Body Refining Technique, plus Micro-Element Meridian Guiding Technique and Nourishing Origin Technique. The number is considerable, and my spiritual power limit should be close to its maximum.

The condition for permanent establishment is reaching the Foundation Establishment stage in cultivation. I am already at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, so the condition is met on the spot.

The empty equipment slots after the Demon Spirit is permanently converted can be put to good use.

equipment.

The conditions for permanent Spiritual Essence Expansion (Green) have been met.

Is it permanent?

Yes.

[Permanentization successful]

[Spiritual Essence Expansion (Green) has become a permanent entry]

[Equipment consumed]

The milky white stone turned into green light in my palm and entered my body.

The liquid spiritual energy in the dantian changed the moment it was permanently established. The capacity of the dantian seemed to have expanded invisibly, and the upper limit of spiritual energy was significantly increased.

The maximum spiritual power has increased by about 20%, which means that with the same cultivation level, more spiritual power can be stored, and the continuous output of spells and combat endurance will be significantly improved.

Li Yuan organized his equipment inventory and continued his cultivation.

More than ten days later.

As Li Yuan patrolled the market square, the perception of the Demonic Yuan Avatar reacted once again.

the same person.

The traveling merchant in the dark gray robe reappeared in the market, squatting in front of a stall selecting ore fragments, doing exactly the same thing as before.

The residual demonic energy deep within his body was exactly the same as last time.

On the morning of the third day, the itinerant vendors packed up and left again, heading towards the south gate of the market.

Li Yuan followed.

Following the same route as last time, after leaving the market, turn southwest and head deeper into the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan maintained a distance of over a hundred feet, concealing his presence and lowering his aura, while his keen senses locked onto his target.

The traveling merchant walked for about fifteen minutes, but still hadn't reached the same rocky beach as before.

Li Yuan accelerated.

He activated the Windwalking Escape Technique, his figure flashing out from behind the withered trees, closing the distance to thirty feet within a few breaths.

The traveling merchant suddenly stopped and turned around.

The spiritual pressure of the Foundation Establishment cultivator pressed down from a distance of thirty feet.

The traveling merchant's face turned deathly pale instantly.

He neither chose to run away nor to fight; black spiritual patterns suddenly appeared on his body.

Li Yuan's pupils contracted.

Golden Blade Technique.

A silvery-white blade shot out from his fingertips, heading straight for the merchant's right hand.

But it was half a breath too late.

A dark purple spirit rune lit up on his chest, lasting for a moment before extinguishing.

The traveling merchant froze on the spot, the light in his eyes quickly dimming.

A trickle of black blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, and his body tilted forward, crashing heavily to the ground.

The breath completely dissipated within two breaths.

died.

The dark purple spiritual mark on his chest was probably some kind of pre-set self-destruct spell. Once triggered, it would directly destroy his heart meridian and dantian, resulting in a clean and swift death.

Li Yuan walked over to the body and squatted down.

The traveling merchant's face was ashen, and black blood flowed from the corners of his mouth and nostrils. A fist-sized hole was burned through his clothes at the chest, revealing charred skin underneath, with faint traces of dark purple spirit patterns still visible.

Li Yuan turned the body over, took off the storage bag, and examined it one by one.

Spirit herbs, fragments of ore, dozens of spirit stones, and some daily necessities. These are all goods sold by ordinary traveling merchants.

There was a token in the storage bag's inner compartment.

Just like the one I saw from afar last time, it's palm-sized, dark black, and covered with dense patterns.

Li Yuan picked up the token and infused it with spiritual power.

No response.

The patterns on the surface of the token remained unchanged, as if it were an inanimate object.

Li Yuan withdrew his spiritual power, but in a different way.

He drew a wisp of demonic energy from deep within his body and infused it into the token.

The patterns on the token's surface lit up instantly.

A dark purple light flowed within the patterns, causing the token to vibrate slightly. A stream of information surged from the token, directly entering Li Yuan's divine sense.

The information was limited, consisting of only a few short lines.

The location coordinates correspond to the rocky beach where the traveling merchant disappeared last time.

A code name, three characters, with no other explanation.

Li Yuan noted down the information and withdrew his demonic energy.

The light on the token's surface dimmed rapidly as the demonic energy dissipated, returning it to the state of an inanimate object.

Spiritual energy cannot be activated, but demonic energy can.

Like that hidden space, this token is only open to demonic cultivators.

Li Yuan put the token into his storage bag, disposed of the merchant's body, and returned to the market.