Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After the outer layer of the alchemy was explored, the Misty Forest Market remained calm for about ten days.

Construction on the outpost was still ongoing, and there were even more cultivators coming and going than before. The main street of the market was bustling with people almost from morning till night. The first batch of low-grade spirit herbs began to ripen in the spirit fields, and the shops and supply stalls were also bustling with activity, with profits continuing to climb.

Li Yuan hasn't been traveling far away frequently lately. He spends most of his time cultivating and patrolling the market, while also slowly digesting the things he brought back from the ruins.

He hadn't yet gone into deep study of the second-tier body-refining spell he obtained from the gray jade slip; he had only focused on streamlining its circulation and tempering pathways. Instead, he was already working on the two newly acquired ordinary spells.

One is the Pulse Probing Technique, and the other is the Dust Attraction Technique.

The former is more for exploration, mainly used to identify underground spiritual energy and the direction of earth veins. The latter is not for combat, but for subtly stirring up tiny dust, debris, and residual traces. It is not very useful on ordinary days, but it is very convenient in scenarios such as ruins, mineral veins, and tracking.

Li Yuan's decision to change these two doors was not a spur-of-the-moment decision.

The Pulse Detection Technique is useful for detecting the abnormal backflow underground, while the Dust-Attracting Technique is suitable for detailed investigation. More importantly, the newly acquired body-refining spell is directly linked to the number of spells one possesses; the more spells one has, the faster one's subsequent cultivation will be. Therefore, acquiring a few more suitable minor spells along the way is perfectly worthwhile.

Neither of the two spells was of a high level, and Li Yuan already had a solid foundation.

It didn't take more than a few days to get them all to the beginner level.

What truly caught Li Yuan's attention was the change in the prevailing atmosphere in the market.

The three captured last time possessed demonic energy, which could be easily detected by the demon-detecting array. However, none of these newly emerged individuals exuded any demonic aura.

The Demon-Detecting Array continued to operate as usual, with the nodes at the four entrances recording the fluctuations in the array's cores daily. However, after half a month, no target similar to the one from the previous one was detected.

If you only look at the demon-detecting array, the market is practically too clean.

But here's the problem.

At first, Li Yuan just paid attention, but later he simply pulled up all the records from the management office, the patrol, and the demon-detecting array.

The management office keeps records of visiting monks and temporary rentals.

The patrolling monks have records of the flow of people, conflicts, and nighttime comings and goings they observe during their daily patrols.

Although the Demon-Detecting Array cannot detect demonic cultivators now, it can still record who entered and exited through which entrance, when they stayed, and the number of times they came and went abnormally.

In addition, the market transaction records show who bought things from which shop, how much they bought, and which direction they went after buying them. Many of these records can be matched up.

Li Yuan spread these things out and spent half a day tidying them up.

Some people weren't buying pills, but rather blank jade slips and spirit-sealing boxes.

Some people don't ask about monster materials, but only where they can get old array materials, broken magic artifacts, and easy-to-disassemble mechanism components.

Two other people were the most obvious. They came three times, each time staying only one night, but each time they would leave something at a different shop, and then another person would come to pick it up the next day.

Li Yuan compiled a list of the dozen or so names and their whereabouts that he had identified, and sent a message to Chen Yi that very night.

Chen Yi replied quickly.

"Keep watching, don't make any arrests yet."

Chen Yiren arrived the following afternoon.

The two met again on the second floor of the management office. Li Yuan pushed over several volumes of compiled records, and Chen Yi looked at them while occasionally looking up to ask a few questions.

"Are you sure this guy who sells the Spirit Sealing Boxes only contacts two of them each time?"

"confirm."

"Those three from the North Gate, they live in different places, but they all went to the same secondhand shop?"

"I've been to all of them, and not to buy finished products, but to inquire about fragments of old array plates and materials used for forbidden formations."

Chen Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Don't rush to take them back. Let's clean up another layer of this market area and uncover the entire chain. I need to know who the middlemen are and who the suppliers are."

In the following days, the market continued to operate as usual on the surface.

Secretly, the Yuanyang Sect had already deployed its own forces.

Li Yuan himself was also busy.

During this period, in addition to checking the lines, he also spent his contribution points to exchange for several old texts related to the Golden Elixir.

It's not about the method of forming the elixir, but rather some basic classics and cultivation experiences before and after forming the elixir.

After seeing that old book in the ruins last time, he had already decided on his path. Now, looking at the sect's classic texts again is simply to clarify that path even more clearly.

The accounts in classical texts are more scattered than those in historical records, and unlike the latter, they do not directly address the concept of balance, but the meaning is similar.

The spiritual energy must be pure, stable, and able to withstand pressure.

The physical body cannot be weak, otherwise it will not be able to withstand the erosion of spiritual energy when the core is formed, nor will it be able to suppress the changes after the core is formed.

One's spirit must be focused and stable enough; otherwise, if one's mind is disturbed at this crucial step, all the previous efforts will be in vain.

However, they didn't mention anything about the grade of Golden Core.

After reading through several classic texts, Li Yuan didn't make any lengthy summaries; he simply re-examined his own path.

Four days later, the market finally reached a crucial juncture.

After reviewing the newly delivered records, Chen Yi finally made his decision.

"You can accept it now."

This operation was more ruthless and faster than the previous two.

"You can accept it now."

This operation was more ruthless and faster than the previous two.

Since the target wasn't the demonic cultivators, the Yuan Yang Sect didn't bother using the demon-detecting array to block them. Instead, they attacked simultaneously based on the transaction time, rendezvous route, and hiding place. Several shops in the market, a temporary stone house to the south, an abandoned shed outside the north gate, and a section of old road outside the outpost were all torn up overnight.

The intermediate cultivators reacted quickly; two of them even tried to burn the secret letters and jade slips in their hands, but unfortunately, they didn't have time.

The person was captured, but most of the belongings were left behind.

In the stone chamber behind the management office, the seized items were quickly placed on the table.

The fragment has two more pieces than last time. Although it is still not complete, it matches the fragment that was previously seized from the demonic cultivator.

There was also a fragment of a key seal, several maps marked with routes, a batch of small array materials used to break the seal and measure the earth's veins, several secret letters that were passed back and forth, and several old jade tablets engraved with special patterns.

Li Yuan stood by the table, not looking at each item individually, but listening to Chen Yi and the Yuan Yang Sect disciple next to him unpacking them one by one.

"These images show the outer route leading to the middle layer of the ruins."

"The letter mentions that 'the middle level has not been opened and is still awaiting the key seal.'"

"This document states that 'the earth vein channels are not yet stable and further exploration is needed.'"

"And this..."

When the disciple opened the last secret letter, his brows furrowed.

"A word was mentioned here."

"What word?" Chen Yi asked.

"A large spiritual vein core."

Li Yuan's eyes flickered slightly, but he remained silent, waiting for the cultivator to continue speaking.

Chen Yi placed the secret letter back on the table, pondered for a moment, and then spoke:

"The other few outer points have also been confirmed."

Li Yuan glanced at the incomplete map on the table.

"The outskirts of the Ghost Mist Forest?"

"That's right." Chen Yi nodded. "They're not large strongholds, just small places where Tibetans hide maps and materials. You can't tell the difference normally, but if we really need to break the blockade or send messages, we rely on these places for transportation."

At this point, his expression gradually calmed down.

"Now that we know where their outer chains are, there's no need to keep waiting passively."

Li Yuan looked up.

Chen Yi reached out and tapped several times on the fragmented maps and route maps on the table, his tone more direct than before.

"Why don't we take out the outer strongholds first and regain control of the momentum?"