Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After Chen Yi decided to take the initiative to eliminate them, the Yuan Yang Sect acted swiftly.

The first batch of personnel and route jade slips were delivered to Wulin Market early the next morning.

On the second floor of the management office, three diagrams were spread out on a table.

One map shows the outer topography of the Ghost Mist Forest, another shows the routes taken by visiting cultivators from outside the market over the past month, and the last map shows the suspected strongholds and transit points marked by Li Yuan himself.

Chen Yi reached out and tapped on a few spots.

"Pulling these out first."

Li Yuan glanced at the order and knew that Chen Yi had arranged them according to their importance.

The outermost layer is the easiest to take down, catching them off guard. Then, before the news spreads completely, chase after them and bite into the second layer.

"Shall I lead the way?" Li Yuan asked.

"You lead the first team," Chen Yi said. "The next two teams should follow the map you gave us. If there are any deviations, contact us again using the guardian token."

Li Yuan nodded, and then led his men off.

A team of five people left the workshop and headed directly to an old mine tunnel in the southwest.

Li Yuan had been to that place once. It was on the outer edge of the mine. It looked like someone had dug there in the past, but it was abandoned later, leaving only a half-collapsed entrance and a pile of rocks. When random cultivators passed by, they would just think it was a useless old pit.

When the group arrived, it was still early.

"The entrance is below," Li Yuan said.

A Yuan Yang Sect cultivator immediately stepped forward, using his earth-elemental spiritual energy to gently push aside the large stones pressing down on them. Sure enough, a narrow, downward-sloping crack was revealed behind the stones, with a very faint layer of concealing spiritual runes affixed to the crack's opening.

It's not a proper mountain protection formation, just a simple concealment.

That's enough to deal with rogue cultivators, but it's useless against this group.

The spirit pattern analysis then began. The hidden spirit pattern was dismantled almost instantly, revealing the true secret passage behind it.

Li Yuan raised his hand, and the five people filed in.

The secret passage wasn't long; after walking only about twenty feet, a stone chamber appeared below. Before the two people inside could react, the doorway was sealed shut by a beam of spiritual light. Just as one of the Qi Refining cultivators reached for his storage bag, Li Yuan raised his hand and unleashed a fireball spell at his feet. The heat wave instantly froze the cultivator, rendering him too afraid to move.

Another person tried to escape through the side wall, but Li Yuan simply suppressed him with his spiritual power.

"Leave them alive," Li Yuan said calmly.

The search returned a small amount of information, but it was quite varied.

The package contained a spirit-sealing box, an old jade slip, several pieces of array materials engraved with numbers, a folded route map, and a bag of ash powder specifically used to conceal the fluctuations of spirit patterns.

Li Yuan didn't linger there, casually scanning the four walls of the stone chamber. Sure enough, he found a hidden compartment in a corner, containing two demonic cultivation jade slips and a half-worn, incomplete map.

The first stronghold was captured too quickly, with almost no effort.

The real trouble is in the second place.

The place was behind a low, rocky slope, with the entrance hidden among tree roots and tangled vines, and an outer layer of traps and barriers designed to provide early warning.

The interlocking restrictions outside the stone slope consist of three layers, and all three layers are at the first-tier high-grade level.

If Li Yuan hadn't had the trail map he deduced from the market, along with the supplementary route he obtained from the previous location, no normal person would have imagined that there was a hidden room beneath this place.

This time, Li Yuan's role became fully apparent.

After dismantling three arrays in succession, the entire array of magical patterns simultaneously went dark.

The panel popped up quietly.

[Spirit Rune Analysis (Green) Permanentization Progress Increased]

Current progress: 4/5

Li Yuan glanced at it, his expression unchanged.

The dark room under the stone slope was much larger than the first one, and it had two layers, inside and out.

The outer layer contained ordinary supplies, including healing pills, recovery pills, several spare magical artifacts, and a batch of dry rations and water. The inner layer was hidden deeper, with three locked boxes. When the boxes were opened, they revealed a whole stack of picture books and jade slips wrapped in oilcloth.

Just as the group had moved their things out, they heard a commotion outside.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator, accompanied by two Qi Refining cultivators in the late stage, had apparently returned to collect the goods. Upon seeing that the entrance was broken, the Foundation Establishment cultivator's expression changed drastically, and he turned to flee.

Li Yuan had anticipated this move.

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With a flick of his wrist, the Fire Python Technique shot out, its crimson flames skimming along the tree roots and rocky slope, directly blocking the opponent's retreat. The other Yuan Yang Sect cultivators didn't retreat either; they simultaneously unleashed their magical artifacts, and several beams of light pressed down, forcing the two Qi Refining cultivators behind them to lie prone on the ground.

That Foundation Establishment cultivator was no weakling; he raised his hand and unleashed a dark gray magical light, attempting to force his way through.

Li Yuan didn't get entangled with him; he first pressed his divine sense over him.

The opponent faltered for a moment, and Li Yuan was already upon him, striking him in the chest with a palm, instantly shattering his protective spiritual energy. In less than three moves, the man was slammed against the stone wall.

Li Yuan noticed that Foundation Establishment cultivators did not seem to have the ability to self-destruct their demonic energy.

After Li Yuan contacted Chen Yi and handed over the Foundation Establishment cultivator, he continued to extricate the stronghold.

The third stronghold was captured that night.

There was little resistance here, as if they had already gotten wind of it. Most of the people inside had run away, leaving behind only two boxes and an old, tattered book that they hadn't had time to move.

The panel vibrated slightly.

The conditions for making Spirit Rune Analysis (Green) permanent have been met.

Is it permanent?

Li Yuan confirmed without hesitation.

[Spirit Pattern Analysis (Green) has become a permanent entry]

A very light, cool sensation swept across my brow, like some kind of power that was originally attached to the magical artifact, sinking directly into the depths of my senses.

After clearing out the stronghold, the team brought all the spoils back to Wulinfang City overnight.

The lights in the management office's stone building were still on late into the night. Boxes were opened one by one, and supplies were inventoried item by item. Demonic cultivator jade slips, tracking disks, half-finished key seals, incomplete leyline maps, and ancient leyline fragments were all laid out on the table.

Li Yuan was also present.

This time, the information is a step further than the scattered pieces of information from last time; we can now piece it all together.

The Dark Abyss doesn't target ordinary treasures.

What they want is a way to access the deeper areas, plus something bigger.

Chen Yi flipped the ancient, incomplete book about earth veins to the middle section and pointed to a section for everyone to see.

"It is mentioned here that some ancient sects would build their core-forming environment directly near the core of a large spiritual vein."

The expressions of the people inside the room all changed.

The spiritual vein core, the condensation environment, the deep areas, and the large spiritual vein core mentioned in the previous secret letter—all these things suddenly became connected.

If the depths of those ruins are indeed connected to the core of a large spiritual vein, then what the Dark Abyss will want to fight for is not just what treasures are left in the ruins, but the most valuable spiritual vein in the entire region.

However, the spiritual vein itself cannot be moved, and if the Dark Abyss were to control it, it would benefit the Yuan Yang Sect.

The cultivators discussed the matter amongst themselves but couldn't reach a conclusion.

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the tracking device, which he could sense was an item with a green attribute.

He only mentioned it a couple of times, and this thing ended up in his hands.

After clearing out the stronghold, following up on the ruins, and killing the Foundation Establishment cultivator, Li Yuan gained nearly 10,000 contribution points, which Chen Yi was naturally satisfied with.

This object is small, resembling an old bronze plate, with a dark-colored pointer embedded in the center of its surface, surrounded by fine engravings. An ordinary cultivator would only perceive it as a magical artifact for tracking and tracing qi.

[Equipable item detected: Tracking Disc (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Pursuit (Green)]

[Effect: Increases sensitivity to auras, allowing for a greater detection range of familiar auras]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Accumulate exposure to twenty different Foundation Establishment auras (0/20)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Green entries.

It is very practical, especially in the current situation where we are constantly investigating and tracking down enemy positions; its value is not low.

After that night, the outpost quickly received a notice to increase supplies, and the shipment volume of Misty Forest Market also increased accordingly. Healing pills, recovery pills, talismans, spare magic tools, and detection equipment were almost all being shipped faster than before. This was either because the independent cultivators were consuming them themselves, or because sect teams were preparing supplies for the next round of operations.

For the first time, the market town truly resembled a frontline supply depot.

This place is no longer just a market town.

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