Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After returning to the market, Li Yuan relayed the information about the token to Chen Yi through the Dharma Protector Token.

Chen Yi arrived that afternoon.

Li Yuan handed over the token, the traveling merchant's storage bag, and the remaining items after the corpse was disposed of.

Chen Yi examined the token for a while, then probed its patterns with his divine sense, his brows furrowing slightly.

"Spiritual power can't activate it; only demonic energy can?"

"Yes. After injecting demonic energy, it will transmit a location coordinate and a code."

Li Yuan relayed the information.

Chen Yi remained silent for a few moments before carefully putting away the token.

"I've never seen anything like this before."

He placed his hands on his knees.

"I will send the token back to the sect and have someone investigate it. We will also send someone to survey the location of that spatial entrance, but we will not enter rashly."

He glanced at Li Yuan.

"Be careful over there. This isn't the first or second time people with demonic energy have appeared in the market; there might be an organization behind it."

Li Yuan nodded.

Chen Yi left with the token and the items.

In the following days, Li Yuan turned his attention to the Sha mine.

The evil ore vein that Yuan Yang Sect had allocated to him was located deep in the Ghost Mist Forest, slightly to the south, about six hundred feet from the market town. Li Yuanfei went over to inspect the site.

The vein wasn't large; only a small section was exposed above the surface. Dark purple malevolent ore was embedded in the rock wall, its surface gleaming with a heavy, malevolent light. The entrance to the mine tunnel wasn't deep; after walking a dozen or so feet, it reached its end.

The concentration of malevolent energy inside the mine was extremely high, two to three times denser than deep within the Ghost Mist Forest. Thick, dark red malevolent mist permeated the rock walls, the ground, and even the air.

The efficiency of the "Sha Yuan Gui Yi" technique here is at its peak, with the evil energy rushing into the body almost in a rush.

There were claw marks and bite marks on the rock walls deep in the mine, just as Chen Yi had said, the Giant Dung Beetle might have escaped from here.

While the ore itself isn't particularly valuable, it can be used to replace the foundation stone of a Fiend Gathering Array, saving on material costs. Moreover, the concentration of fiendish energy around the ore vein is extremely high. If a Fiend Gathering Array is set up here to concentrate the fiendish energy into the array's foundation stone, the concentration of fiendish energy in the surrounding area can be reduced, allowing other cultivators to enter and mine.

Li Yuan spent a day setting up a Gathering Evil Array in the mining area.

The two-layered nested structure covers the mine entrance and a surrounding area of ​​fifty feet. The array's foundation stone is directly replaced with malevolent ore, saving on procurement costs. After the malevolent energy gathering array is activated, the concentration of malevolent energy near the mine entrance drops to a level that ordinary cultivators can withstand.

After setting up the formation, Li Yuan returned to the market.

After a few more days of cultivation, Li Ze'an arrived.

It wasn't just the Li family who came; there were two people in total.

The first one is Li Ze'an himself. He wears a gray-blue robe and has a dignified appearance, just like before.

The second person Li Yuan recognized was the array master from the Yuan Yang Sect, whom he had met before when he came to the market to set up the Gathering Evil Array. He was in the early Foundation Establishment stage, had a face in his forties, and a calm expression.

"Fellow Daoist Li," Li Ze'an bowed respectfully. "Preparations for Lingxi Valley are complete; we depart today."

The cooperation was agreed upon at the previous trade fair. Li Ze'an planned to clear out a region of demonic beasts in Lingxi Valley, and Li Yuan would help with the task, in exchange for the Crimson Flame Condensing Yuan Pill.

"This is Senior Brother Zhou from the Yuan Yang Sect, whose mastery of array formations is very high," Li Ze'an introduced the array master. "After clearing out the demonic beasts, Senior Brother Zhou was responsible for setting up array formations in that area."

The formation master nodded to Li Yuan. "Fellow Daoist Li, I've long admired you."

The group departed from the market and flew westward.

Lingxi Valley is located on the west side of Ghost Mist Forest, about a half-day's journey from the market.

Activating the Windwalking Escape Technique, the three flew above the thick fog, with withered trees and rocks on the ground rushing past beneath their feet.

About two hours later, the terrain began to change.

The withered trees and the thick, grayish-white fog gradually thinned, replaced by lush forests and clear streams. The malevolent energy in the air had almost disappeared, and the concentration of spiritual energy was actually much higher than in the Ghost Mist Forest.

Lingxi Valley.

In stark contrast to the desolate and gloomy Ghost Mist Forest, the environment of Spirit Rhinoceros Valley is like another world. The verdant valley is flanked by steep cliffs covered with various spiritual herbs and vines. At the bottom of the valley flows a wide stream with crystal-clear water, where the shadows of spiritual fish can occasionally be seen.

The concentration of spiritual energy was 20-30% higher than in the market.

A person was standing at the entrance of the valley.

The female cultivator, in her early thirties and at the early Foundation Establishment stage, wore a light blue dress and had a short sword hanging at her waist. She had delicate features and a cold expression.

Li Ze'an landed and nodded to the female cultivator. "Fellow Daoist Zhao, everyone is here."

The female cultivator glanced at Li Yuan and the array master, said nothing more, and turned to walk into the valley. Readers are hotly debating: What exactly happened? Join the discussion at Cola Novels.

Four Foundation Establishment cultivators walked deeper into the valley along the stream at the bottom.

Deep within Lingxi Valley, monsters roamed frequently. The further one ventured, the denser the spiritual herbs became along the stream banks, and the more numerous the traces of monsters appeared. Hoofprints, claw marks, and droppings littered the ground, while rubbing hairs clung to the tree trunks.

"It's this area."

He pointed to a wide-open valley ahead. Low hills lined both sides of the valley, with a flat meadow in the middle and a natural pool of emerald green water in the center.

"The Li family plans to build a breeding ground for spirit beasts here. The terrain is suitable, the spiritual energy is abundant, and the water source is plentiful. However, this area is inhabited by demonic beasts and needs to be cleared away first."

His consciousness extended forward.

"We've scouted this area before. There's at least one low-grade second-tier water-attribute demon beast, and several first-tier demon beasts. The second-tier one is the main target."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a muffled splashing sound came from the direction of the pool.

A huge whirlpool rose in the center of the pool, and a massive figure emerged from the water.

It was about two zhang long, covered in bluish-gray scales, with short, thick limbs and webbed toes. Its head was flat, and a pair of vertical pupils emerged from above the water, coldly staring at the four people on the shore.

Its tail slapped heavily on the water's surface, splashing up a large spray of water.

Blue-scaled Water Lizard. A second-tier, low-grade water-type monster.

Li Ze'an took a step back and glanced at Li Yuan and the female cultivator surnamed Zhao.

"Fellow Daoist Li, Fellow Daoist Zhao, please."

Li Yuan raised his right hand.

Fire Python Technique.

A crimson fire serpent shot out from his palm, trailing a scorching wave of air as it hurtled straight into the center of the pool.

The vertical pupils of the blue-scaled water lizard suddenly contracted, and its body sank into the water. The fire snake skimmed across the surface of the water, steaming up a large cloud of white mist.

Violent waves surged in the pool. The blue-scaled water lizard suddenly leaped out of the water, opened its mouth wide, and shot out a ball of light blue spiritual energy, heading straight for Li Yuan.

The female cultivator surnamed Zhao drew her short sword at the same moment.

A sharp sword aura slashed at the waist and abdomen of the blue-scaled water lizard from the side, forcing it to twist and dodge in mid-air. The water-type spiritual energy ball in its mouth deviated from its direction and crashed into the rocks on the shore, exploding and sending fragments flying.

Li Yuan seized the moment when the Azure Scaled Water Lizard twisted in mid-air and unleashed his second Fire Python Technique.

The fire serpent crashed head-on into the belly of the blue-scaled water lizard.

The scales on its belly were thinner than those on its back. The fire serpent's scorching left a charred mark on the scales. The blue-scaled water lizard let out a roar and fell back into the pool.

The female cultivator surnamed Zhao did not stop; she unleashed three consecutive sword strikes into the water, cutting three deep trenches into the pool.

The blue-scaled water lizard dodged two sword strikes in the water, but the third sword strike cut into the base of its tail, shattering its scales and staining the surrounding pool red with blood.

Li Yuan unleashed three consecutive fireballs into the water, the shockwaves from which sent the water soaring several meters high. The intense heat of the flames created a cloud of white mist on the surface, forcing the blue-scaled water lizard to leap out of the water.

This time, it did not choose to fight again, but turned and fled into the depths of the valley.

The female cultivator surnamed Zhao intercepted it from the front, thrusting her short sword three times in quick succession, her sword energy sealing off the green-scaled water lizard's retreat.

Li Yuan raised his right hand, activated the Condensing Yuan Technique, and highly compressed his spiritual energy.

Fire Python Technique.

This fire serpent was twice as thick as the previous one, and its spiritual energy density reached an extremely high level with the blessing of the Condensation Technique. It collided head-on with the head of the Azure Scale Water Lizard.

boom.

Fire serpents exploded on the scales on its head, and scorching flames poured in through the gaps between the scales. The blue-scaled water lizard's body arched violently, its limbs convulsed, and a roar was squeezed out of its throat.

At the same moment, the female cultivator surnamed Zhao's short sword pierced the abdominal wound of the blue-scaled water lizard, and the sword energy exploded inside its body.

The blue-scaled water lizard's body crashed heavily to the ground, its limbs outstretched, and its breath dissipated.

Second-tier, low-grade water-attribute monster, kill.

Li Ze'an and the formation master walked up from behind.

"Thank you both for your hard work." Li Ze'an glanced at the corpse of the blue-scaled water lizard and nodded. "The distribution of the spoils will be settled after everything is cleared out."

The female cultivator surnamed Zhao sheathed her sword and remained silent.

The four continued clearing out the remaining first-tier demonic beasts around the valley. First-tier demonic beasts were nothing to the four Foundation Establishment cultivators, and they cleared them away in about half an hour.

As darkness fell, the four found a sheltered spot on the edge of the valley to rest.

The spoils were piled up to one side, and the carcass of the blue-scaled water lizard had not yet been dismantled.

"There's no rush to allocate the resources," Li Ze'an said. "We need to continue pushing deeper into the area tomorrow, and then we'll handle everything in a unified manner after all the cleanup is complete."

Li Yuan nodded and sat down cross-legged to cultivate.

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