Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Outside the outpost, the night was very dark.

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators were drawn from the market, outposts, and the outskirts of the ruins, and quickly spread out along the branch where the incident occurred.

When Li Yuan arrived, Chen Yi was assigning people to tasks.

Upon seeing Li Yuan arrive, Chen Yi raised his head and spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I'd like to trouble you with the outer edge of the north side."

"Yes."

Li Yuan responded and turned to leave.

When Li Yuan arrived at the designated location, the spiritual energy fluctuations deep within the branch ahead were becoming increasingly chaotic.

Not long after, an extremely fierce aura suddenly erupted in the area where people were trapped.

Li Yuan stood behind the outer stone slope and looked inside. Although there was some distance between them and his divine sense couldn't reach the very core, the pressure from the wave was still enough to make it clear that the layers were distinct.

Late stage of foundation building.

Moreover, they are not people who have just entered the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

When the opponent's spiritual energy burst forth, it did not spread outwards in a shallow, diffuse manner, but rather pressed outwards in large swaths.

The surrounding spiritual energy nodes, which had been trapped by the array, trembled violently after being struck by this force. A muffled thud came from deep within the stone wall, and rubble fell down along the cracks.

"The person inside is insane."

Not far away, another Yuan Yang Foundation Establishment cultivator muttered a curse under his breath.

Li Yuan didn't respond, only staring into the depths of the branch vein.

The late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator ahead was clearly the tough nut to crack in this trap. The trap array set up by the Yuan Yang Sect had already closed, but the opponent did not cower inside and wait to die. Instead, he bravely resisted the array and the encirclement, charging outwards.

A moment later, there was another loud bang from inside.

A dark, illusory Dharma wheel suddenly surged up from the depths of the branch vein, crashing violently towards the edge of the trapping formation. The outer edge of the Dharma wheel was covered with a layer of constantly churning demonic energy. When it collided with the restriction, it was not the ordinary explosion of spiritual energy clashing together, but like a heavy hammer hitting thick iron. First, it shook the entire stone layer, and then it exploded into circles of chaotic ripples.

Li Yuan's eyes twitched slightly.

This person is indeed strong, but seems to be a bit weaker than me. With the enhancement of my various attributes, the power of my spells far surpasses that of the opponent, but I have fewer tricks up my sleeve.

The opponent didn't choose to force their way in randomly; instead, they specifically targeted several points in the trapping formation that had already been forced to glow. Those areas had already absorbed a lot of impact, and with the full force of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, a clear crack was immediately torn open at the edge of the trapping formation.

In that instant, the situation inside completely descended into chaos.

The Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Yuan Yang Sect, who had been forming a layered encirclement, began to press towards the crack. The other two trapped demonic cultivators also seized the opportunity to move. One charged diagonally to the left, trying to use the chaos to widen the crack further. The other was even more ruthless, directly slamming a palm-sized black demonic artifact against his chest and frantically pouring his spiritual power into it.

The next moment, dense blood patterns appeared on the surface of the demonic artifact.

"retreat!"

Someone inside shouted angrily.

But it was too late.

The demonic cultivator lunged forward, and the entire demonic artifact exploded in front of him.

What erupted was not simple spiritual energy, but a chaotic blackish-red torrent carrying a bloody stench, rushing out through the cracks and fissures in the stone wall. Several Yuan Yang Sect cultivators nearby were forcibly forced back, and the seal that was about to close again was disrupted once more.

The demonic cultivator who had detonated the magic weapon used the explosion to plunge into the smoke and rubble, his whereabouts becoming unclear.

The outer perimeter of the perimeter was immediately tightened.

Li Yuan didn't move, remaining stationed on his section of the northern outer edge.

Just then, Li Yuan felt a faint, cold scent brush against his nose.

The search term was brought up at almost the same time.

Amidst the chaotic spiritual energy, demonic energy, and exploding debris and dust ahead, many residual auras that were originally difficult to distinguish were suddenly pulled out into different layers.

It was easy to distinguish which marks were left by the Yuan Yang Sect cultivators who had just rushed over, which were old marks left by the late Foundation Establishment stage demonic cultivator when he broke through the formation, and which were the bloody remnants from the self-destructing demonic artifact.

Amidst this chaotic atmosphere, a new one is quietly emerging from an inconspicuous crack on the north side.

Li Yuan's eyes darkened, and he had already darted away.

Just as Li Yuan rushed over, he saw a gray-black shadow flash by in front of him, the whole person like a shadow smeared on the stone wall, rushing out along the crack.

It is the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Moreover, they are skilled at stealth.

The other party clearly noticed that someone was chasing them. Without pausing for a moment, they used a few protruding rocks as cover and turned forward again, trying to slip into the outer forest from the other side of the crevice.

At the end of the crack was a rocky area on the edge of an outer forest.

After bursting out of the crevice, the demonic cultivator finally glanced back. Li Yuan caught up at that moment and saw his appearance clearly. He was a gaunt man, his robes were gray-black, and half of the sleeve had been torn by the turbulent currents within the formation. There was also a fresh, bloody gash on his exposed arm.

Their eyes met, and a ruthless glint flashed in the demonic cultivator's eyes.

He knew he had been bitten.

The next moment, instead of continuing to flee blindly, the opponent raised his hand and flicked three short, black needles straight at Li Yuan's face. The needles were almost invisible in the darkness, only revealing a cold, gleaming light as they flew close.

Li Yuan stumbled, his shoulder slumped to the side, and three short needles flew past his face, embedding themselves in the stone behind him. A wisp of bluish-black smoke immediately rose from the stone, and in the blink of an eye, three small holes were etched into it.

poisonous.

As Li Yuan dodged, golden light shone from the edge of his palm, and a golden blade technique shot straight out.

The demonic cultivator raised his hand and cast a layer of hazy protective light, but it was pierced by the Golden Blade Technique. A long gash was cut open on his side by the Golden Blade Technique, and blood immediately seeped out.

The demonic cultivator showed a hint of surprise on his face.

As soon as the demonic cultivator was injured, he immediately turned and fled, his movements becoming noticeably more chaotic than before.

Without hesitation, Li Yuan raised his hand and unleashed a fire arrow, which pierced the ground in front of him.

The moment the fire arrow hit the ground, it exploded with a deafening roar, hurling up grass roots, loose soil, and several thin stones. The demonic cultivator, who had just begun his escape technique and hadn't fully buried himself, was forced out by the blast and rolled awkwardly to the side.

Li Yuan's Fire Python Technique followed closely behind.

This time, the opponent had no room to dodge completely. The fire python's head struck his back first, then the entire fiery shadow twisted forward, flipping half of his body over. The demonic cultivator screamed in agony as his robes and flesh on his back charred and tore. His body rolled several feet before barely coming to a stop, his breath extremely weak.

Li Yuan had already reached him, and the Golden Blade Technique slit open his throat.

Fresh blood spurted out.

The demonic cultivator's eyes widened suddenly, his fingers scrambled haphazardly across the ground before falling back down.

The outer woods fell silent again.

Li Yuan didn't immediately go forward to search the corpse. Instead, he first used his divine sense to scan the surroundings. After confirming that there were no other ambush auras nearby, he walked over and collected the other party's storage bag and the black blade that had fallen to the ground.

This person's cultivation level was only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment, but he carried quite a few things. In addition to common magical materials and a few small items for concealment, his storage bag also contained two old discs used for detecting branch veins, a rough topographical sketch, and several black bone fragments used for short-range communication.

Li Yuan only needed one glance to know that this person was not just some small fry who rushed in with the main group, but someone who had specifically done scouting and preparations for escape.

He packed everything up and turned to head towards the outpost.

By the time Li Yuan returned to the outpost with the body and the storage bag, it was almost dawn.

The major battle on the other side of the branch has also come to an end.

The most troublesome late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator was eventually captured. Although the opponent did disrupt the situation for a while when he charged into the formation, the Yuan Yang Sect arrived quickly and their encirclement and killing were ruthless, and in the end, they managed to suppress him alive.

The other person who detonated the magical artifact used the explosion to break through the sealing line and managed to tear a hole and escape.

Outside the outpost, several monks were carrying the wounded and sorting through the battlefield supplies. The air was thick with a suffocating smell of medicine, blood, and burnt food.

Chen Yi met everyone in the main hall.

Almost everyone involved in the encirclement and outer perimeter defenses had arrived; those with more serious injuries sat down, while the rest stood on either side. After handing over the corpse and storage bag he had brought back, Li Yuan also joined the crowd.

Chen Yi's face darkened, and he first explained the result.

"Deep within a branch vein, three people are caught in the net."

One person was captured.

"One person detonates the magical artifact and escapes amidst the chaos."

"The third person escaped to the outskirts but was intercepted and killed."

Someone in the hall glanced at Li Yuan but didn't say anything.

Chen Yi continued speaking without deliberately dragging out the atmosphere.

"The identity of the captured person has been confirmed. He is one of the core leaders of the Dark Abyss Society, and is in the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

As soon as he said that, the hall became even quieter.

Chen Yi added, "After the person was captured, we've already pried some information out of them. The Demonic Sect's investigation of the spiritual veins is more systematic than we initially estimated."

He paused here, his gaze sweeping over the crowd.

"According to this person, there are suspected Golden Core level demonic cultivators involved in the shadows."

As soon as these words were spoken, the expressions of the people in the hall changed.

No matter how chaotic things are on the front lines, as long as the enemy's core remains at the Foundation Establishment level, there's still room for maneuver. But if there really is a Golden Core level demonic cultivator watching from behind, then many things will have to be recalculated.

Chen Yi didn't give everyone much time to process the information before quickly returning to the topic of the post-war inventory.

A considerable amount was seized this time.

The old discs used for probing the branches, short-range communication bone fragments, fragments of magical artifacts, array materials, magical materials, and some items that were clearly prepared specifically for the deeper layers and spiritual veins were all placed one by one on the long table in front.

Li Yuan's gaze swept over several of the items, finally settling on a dark cyan disc.

The disc wasn't large, with seven tiny grooves embedded in its edge and layers upon layers of extremely fine engravings in the center. At first glance, it didn't look like a magical artifact for combat; rather, it seemed to be a tool specifically designed to coordinate multiple array patterns and connect different nodes.

More importantly, the panel popped up as soon as it landed within Li Yuan's three-foot perception range.

Since the item had already been handed over to the sect and no longer belonged to him, only the most basic notification appeared.

[Equipable item detected]

[Item Attribute Level: Green]

[Note: Items not belonging to the user cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

Green entries.

Moreover, it is clearly biased towards the purpose of array formations.

Li Yuan's gaze lingered for only a moment before shifting away.

The steward in charge of the inventory quickly pulled this item out separately and whispered a few words to Chen Yi.

After listening, Chen Yi turned to look at the array cultivators in the arena, and finally his gaze fell on Li Yuan.

"This item is for use in array formations."

"Take it first."

A deacon then brought over the dark blue disc.

Once the item is acquired, ownership changes, and the panel immediately pops up completely.

[Equipable item detected: Array Core (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Synergy (Green)]

[Effect: Significantly enhances the ability to deploy multi-layered and chain formations]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Participate in breaking five different second-tier or higher formations or restrictions (0/5)]

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

Li Yuan glanced at the panel and put away the array pivot plate first, without replacing it on the spot.

This thing is very useful, especially since we'll definitely need to dismantle more layers of restrictions and chain formations in the deeper parts of the ruins. It's just that my equipment inventory is currently full, so I'll have to go back and check how and when to change it.

After the announcement, the crowd slowly dispersed.

When Li Yuan returned to the stone house, it was already mostly daylight.

He placed the array mechanism on the table, and then took out the items that the early Foundation Establishment stage demon cultivator had brought back from his storage bag, arranging them one by one.

Outside the window, voices began to rise, and the market began its daily hustle and bustle once again. Inside the stone house, however, there was still a trace of chill left over from the chase that night. The dark blue disc on the table lay quietly in the morning light, its surface covered with layers of fine engravings.