Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The number of people in Wulin Market is increasing.

Just after dawn, people were already lining up at the four entrances.

The southern area is mostly populated by rogue cultivators returning from the Ghost Mist Forest, their bodies covered in mud and blood, their storage bags filled with monster materials, ores, and miscellaneous medicinal herbs.

Those coming from the north were even more diverse: some were small business owners, some came from Lingxi Valley, some came specifically to collect goods, and some were array masters who brought array materials and old magic artifacts to make a living.

You can still see demonic cultivators on the streets.

These people no longer try to hide themselves like before. When entering the market, most of them wear the robes of normal cultivators, though their aura is somewhat gloomy. They behave properly when buying magical artifacts, pills, or selling materials. As long as they don't make a move in the market, the patrolling cultivators won't specifically stop them.

Li Yuan stood on the second floor of the management office and looked down for a while before turning his gaze away.

There were two documents on the table: one was the entrance and exit registration, and the other was the transaction record submitted by the shops in recent days.

In addition to this, there was also news from outside the market area.

The Wang and Li families have been clashing less recently.

Li Yuan only glanced at it and didn't linger on the matter.

Instead, he pulled another stack of booklets on the table in front of him and began to examine the recent traces of demonic cultivation.

When Li Yuan went to Yunyang Market to make purchases some time ago, he saw two demonic cultivators in a small shop selling magical artifacts.

The two looked unassuming, but what they bought were not ordinary magical artifacts for fighting, but rather things like spirit testing plates, pulse detection needles, and spirit-illuminating mirrors.

At the time, Li Yuan only remembered the appearance.

Looking back now, it matches perfectly with the list of demonic cultivators who have been publicly seen entering and leaving the Misty Forest Market in recent days.

Li Yuan wrote down the physical characteristics, aura features, and time of the people he had noted down at Yunyang Market, and then compared them one by one with the registration and transaction records at the market.

The list isn't long, and there aren't many that actually match, but once a match is made, problems arise.

These demonic cultivators concealed their aura very well.

If you rely solely on the original demon-detecting array in the market, you'll likely only get a vague anomaly.

When some people pass under the array's key nodes, the array patterns only move slightly, with a commotion not much greater than that of ordinary cultivators.

If the records hadn't been checked afterward, it might have been let off the hook entirely.

But Li Yuan is different.

With the amplification of demonic senses and the incarnation of demonic energy, plus the fact that Li Yuan himself had already come into contact with a lot of demonic energy, he was no stranger to these kinds of things.

The subtle difference that others couldn't see was impossible for Li Yuan to hide.

Those people did have demonic energy, but it was suppressed deeper and intertwined with normal spiritual energy.

After looking at the lists for half a day, Li Yuan combined several lists together and then singled out a few individuals.

These people have one thing in common.

Everyone is buying pulse-detecting devices and spirit-testing artifacts.

Li Yuan tapped a page on the booklet with his finger, already having reached a conclusion in his mind.

The Demonic Sect has not given up investigating the spiritual veins.

The fact that the Dark Abyss Society can openly conduct business in the market does not mean that they have given up on the Spirit Vein.

Li Yuan compiled the names of the selected individuals and their corresponding transaction records into a list and went directly to the outpost.

Chen Yi had spent most of his time at the outpost these past few days, and had come to the Misty Forest Market less often. When Li Yuan arrived, Chen Yi was standing in front of an array diagram talking to two array masters. Upon seeing Li Yuan, he waved his hand, signaling the other two to step back.

"Is there a cable again?" Chen Yi asked.

Li Yuan handed over the booklet in his hand.

"These people have been buying pulse-detecting devices and spirit-testing artifacts these past few days. I've never enjoyed following the updates on Cola Novels so much. I've seen two of them in Yunyang Market."

Chen Yi took it, looked down and flipped through a few pages, his expression gradually darkening.

After reading it, Chen Yi put the booklet on the table.

"I understand. Don't make any moves yet, keep an eye on things in the market. It would be best if we could connect the purchase of the ritual implements, the residence, and the people they contacted."

After Li Yuan left, he went to Yunyang Market again.

This trip was partly to restock the market, and partly to check the situation in Yunyang Market.

Yunyang Market is more chaotic than it was a while ago.

There were more people on the streets, and more unfamiliar faces. The inns, spirit stations, and temporary lodgings on the outskirts of the market were all more crowded than before.

Not long after Li Yuan entered the neighborhood, he overheard several people talking about Yunzhou, the neighboring town, in a teahouse.

The Qishui Sect and the Shamo Sect have officially started fighting, and they are truly fighting over their sects and territories.

The situation in Yunzhou is not very stable, and many cultivators have already begun to leave.

Along the way, Li Yuan did see quite a few people who didn't seem to be local cultivators.

Their clothing, accent, and habits of buying magical artifacts and elixirs are somewhat different from those in Liangzhou.

Some people bought several travel maps at once, while others bought whole batches of healing pills and protective magic items.

These matters were unrelated to his current affairs, so Li Yuan only jotted them down casually and didn't ask any further questions.

After entering the workshop, Li Yuan continued to replenish the missing items in the market as usual.

Li Yuan bought a batch of commonly used pills, low-level talisman paper, and some old array materials that could be used on the front lines. After he had finished purchasing most of them, Li Yuan went to the pill shop and the used bookstore.

This time, Li Yuan acquired two items related to alchemy.

A recipe for the Wood Spirit Pill.

A book on Taoist alchemy.

The prescriptions weren't too expensive, and the book wasn't thick either; they were clearly just basic information.

After returning to Wulin Market, Li Yuan first opened the book on alchemy experience.

The book doesn't contain fancy content; it covers the most basic and error-prone aspects of alchemy. It explains the order of medicinal ingredients, the control of heat, how to suppress conflicting medicinal properties, and why the medicinal liquid disperses before the elixir is formed. Many of these points are more detailed than what I had figured out on my own before.

As Li Yuan looked at the prescriptions, he also spread out the pill formulas he had bought.

Then they started refining elixirs.

A few days later, the panel finally gave a slight jolt.

[Skill: First-tier Alchemy - Minor Success (0/1200)]

The first-order alchemy technique has reached a minor level of mastery.

Li Yuan glanced at it, but didn't stop, continuing to refine the last batch of pills.

This batch produced only two pills, but their quality was noticeably better than the ones I had painstakingly found a few days ago.

Li Yuan reached for one of the pills. A control panel immediately popped up.

[Equipable item detected: Wood Spirit Pill (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Medicine Identification (White)]

[Effect: Improves the ability to identify the medicinal properties of herbs]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Consume ten of these pills (0/10)]

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

White entries.

The effect is simple, but very practical.

This knowledge can be applied to alchemy, identifying medicinal herbs, and classifying materials. It will be especially valuable if I were to later encounter the method of refining elixirs with essence and blood to nourish my physical body.

I've already refined quite a few Wood Spirit Pills these past few days, enough to permanently imbue this white mark. All I need to do is take ten more in succession.