Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After the acceleration of the Zhou Tian (energy circulation) attribute is made permanent, the 50% increase in the speed of Zhou Tian circulation during cultivation will remain permanently attached, becoming part of the body just like the spiritual energy filtering.

There is one empty slot in the equipment inventory.

Li Yuan didn't rush into anything; he first sensed the changes within his body.

The spiritual energy circulated through the meridians at the exact same speed as when the Meridian Opening Pill was used, without any decrease. The pure spiritual energy completed its full cycle at an extremely fast speed, flowing into the dantian, the entire process clean and efficient.

Li Yuan regained his composure and began to consider how to use the empty equipment slots.

The most tempting option for the empty slot is the Spirit Detection Plate.

Green entry: Enhanced Spiritual Senses. Passively senses fluctuations of energy within a 30-foot radius and can penetrate a certain degree of concealment.

But that won't work.

The Spirit Detection Compass is a magical artifact issued by the Wang family, with one for each person at the vice-captain level and above.

They need to use it when they go out on patrol. He Shou also has one, and the two of them will take it out to check the surrounding situation every time they go on patrol.

The item will disappear after being equipped, which will be difficult to explain later.

The Spirit Detector can only be used by hand.

Since I'm currently patrolling the outer perimeter every day, which consumes much more physical strength than when I'm in the market, I might consider equipping myself with White Jade Rice.

However, his own qi and blood production was also quite good, and as his progress in cultivating mortal techniques improved, his physical strength also increased significantly.

Even when He Shou was on patrol, he would tell them to take a break, but they didn't need to.

Equipping both techniques simultaneously strengthens the internal organs and promotes the regeneration of qi and blood. One technique enhances resilience, while the other heals the body, significantly improving safety during patrols on the perimeter.

Li Yuan made a decision and took out the book on cultivating vital energy.

equipment.

The booklet transformed into a faint light and merged into his body. The five techniques of the Nourishing Vitality Technique in his mind became clear and distinct again, and a gentle warmth surged throughout his body, spreading from his dantian and flowing slowly along his meridians and muscles.

The effect of regenerating qi and blood has returned.

Current equipment slots: 2/2

[Equipped items: Nourishing Vitality Technique, Iron Ox Technique]

[Equipment Attributes: Internal Organ Enhancement (White), Qi and Blood Regeneration (White)]

[Permanent entries: Cleansing Body (gray), Spiritual Energy Filtering (white), Five Grains Nourishing Qi (white), Accelerated Qi Circulation (white)]

Having six entries about himself made Li Yuan feel quite at ease.

---

When Li Yuan opened his eyes in the early morning, the effect of his body's self-generated qi and blood was still in operation, and his whole body felt warm.

Li Yuan glanced at the sun, calculated the time, stretched his limbs, and pushed open the door to go out.

"Today we're heading southwest, the route is a bit longer than yesterday." He Shou glanced at everyone, "Everyone, stay alert."

The five people set off along the dirt road, heading southwest, a different direction than the previous days.

The terrain gradually undulated, the bushes grew denser, and in some places, low trees and thorns intertwined, forcing one to squeeze through sideways. The dirt road beneath our feet gradually disappeared, turning into a wasteland of weeds and gravel.

He Shou walked at the front, taking very slow steps, stopping every few steps to observe the traces around him.

Li Yuan followed behind, his fingers resting on the spirit-detecting plate in his sleeve, slowly channeling spiritual energy into it, and his senses spreading out.

The auras of the four people beside him were clearly discernible, and there were faint fluctuations from a few ordinary beasts scattered in the surrounding bushes, while further away it was quiet.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain became more complicated. A shallow, dry ditch lay across the way, its bottom overgrown with waist-high weeds, and its sides lined with dense shrubs.

He Shou stopped by the ditch, squatted down, and looked at the mud at the bottom of the ditch.

"There are claw marks..."

Before He Shou could finish speaking, Li Yuan's spirit detection disc suddenly detected a fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It's not far away, it's nearby.

To the left front, deep in the bushes, about fifteen zhang away.

A murky aura of spiritual energy was suppressed to a very low level, almost touching the ground, and remained completely still.

Li Yuan slightly raised his right hand and made a gesture towards He Shou—this was what He Shou had taught him these past few days.

He Shou's face instantly darkened, his left hand gripped the hilt of his knife, and his gaze locked onto the depths of the bushes.

The five people stopped at the same time.

Chen Qi reacted the fastest, crouching slightly and gripping his short knife in his right hand. Liu Ping and Xu Mao also reached for their magical weapons.

Instead of advancing head-on, the five men moved laterally to the right along the edge of the dry ditch, increasing their distance from the bushes.

Li Yuan's perception remained locked on that fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Fifteen zhang, eighteen zhang, twenty zhang—the distance was increasing, but the wave remained motionless, lying in place.

It wasn't until the five people moved thirty feet away that the fluctuation finally stirred.

Slowly, it retreated in the opposite direction, disappearing into the deeper bushes. The spiritual energy fluctuations weakened and eventually vanished from the edge of perception.

gone.

He Shousong loosened the hilt of his sword and exhaled.

"Ambush." ​​He Shou glanced back at Li Yuan. "This beast was lying in the bushes waiting. If your spirit detection disc hadn't spotted it beforehand, we would have followed the paw prints and run right into its mouth."

Chen Qi straightened up, glanced towards the bushes, and muttered, "Pretty smart."

"Many demonic beasts aren't stupid," He Shou patted the hilt of his sword. "Even if we don't know their cultivation levels, we shouldn't force our way in."

The five men continued their advance in a southwest direction, but their speed slowed down significantly, and the distance between them increased.

After walking for about fifteen minutes, Li Yuan's spirit detection disc detected spiritual energy fluctuations again.

Slightly to the right ahead, about twenty feet away, there were two groups.

One is large and the other is small; the larger one has a stronger spiritual energy, while the smaller one is weaker.

"There are two at the front, one big and one small," Li Yuan said in a low voice.

He Shou paused, turning his head to look at the terrain.

Ahead lay a relatively open patch of wasteland, the grass not too tall, offering a much better view than in the bushes. Two wisps of spiritual energy were slowly moving through the middle of the wasteland, heading east.

"I can see it." He Shou squinted.

In the middle of the wasteland, two gray-brown figures were faintly visible among the grass.

The two demonic beasts had not noticed the people on this side and were walking eastward along the wasteland at a slow pace.

He Shou did not order a pursuit, but instead led the group in an arc, passing through the south side of the wasteland, maintaining a sufficient distance from the two Ironback Hyenas.

After bypassing the wasteland, the five continued to venture southwest.

The terrain changed again, with low hills and gullies alternating, and the density of shrubs was higher than before.

Li Yuan's spirit-detecting compass was almost constantly in use.

Within the range of perception, two more fluctuations of spiritual energy appeared.

"It seems there are more and more monsters," Li Yuan said, then stopped moving.

He Shou noticed it too, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

Li Yuan channeled his spiritual power into the Spirit Detection Disc—on the back of the low hill, a dozen feet away, two clusters of spiritual energy fluctuations were not far apart, one of which was more condensed.

Just then, a low roar came from behind a low hill ahead.

"Two ends, middle grade and low grade."

As soon as he finished speaking, a rustling sound came from the bushes on the left side of the hill, and then a dark gray, flat figure emerged from the bottom of the bushes—it was a horned lizard.

"Another one." Chen Qi gripped his short knife tightly and leaned forward slightly.

The roars from behind the hill grew louder, accompanied by heavy footsteps, and a huge figure emerged from the top of the hill.

It has gray-black fur, broad shoulders and back, and two rows of jagged fangs protruding from a flat, large mouth.

"A swamp toad beast." He Shou's voice was low. "A mid-grade first-tier beast, with thick hide and tough flesh, not easy to fight."

A mid-grade Tier 1 Swamp Toad Beast is on the low hill, and a low-grade Tier 1 Horned Lizard is at the edge of the bushes on the left.

The two monsters were not of the same species, but they appeared at the same time in this location, blocking the five people's path forward.

"Retreat." He Shou gave the order in a low voice without hesitation.

The five people retreated slowly, their footsteps very light.

The horned lizard stared at them for a while, but didn't give chase. It turned and disappeared back into the bushes. The swamp toad on the hill roared twice, but didn't go down the slope. It remained on the hilltop, watching the five people disappear into the distance.

After retreating a hundred paces, He Shoucai stopped.

"Something's not right." He Shou looked back at the way he came, his brows furrowed.

"Since we set out, the traces of demonic beasts we've encountered have become increasingly dense, and the further southwest we go, the more numerous they become. In that area just now, there were at least seven or eight demonic beasts active within a radius of several hundred feet."

Li Yuan nodded. The detection range of the Spirit Detection Compass was limited, but the spiritual energy fluctuations he detected were already quite dense.

"We can't go any further in this direction," He Shou concluded. "Go back and report, and have the guards send a stronger team to investigate."

Chen Qi sheathed his short sword and said, "Captain He, the horned lizard ran away just now, and the swamp toad didn't chase after us either, which means these monsters weren't coming for us."

Chen Qi paused for a moment, "The five of us are more than enough to deal with low-grade first-tier monsters, and we can even beat mid-grade first-tier monsters. We've only encountered lone ones or groups of two or three along the way. Let's take this opportunity to figure out how many monsters there are in this area, hunt a few, and we'll get a good amount of materials."

Liu Ping nodded in agreement: "Chen Qi is right. These monsters are scattered in different places, not in groups. If we pick out the lone ones to fight, the risk is not high."

He Shou glanced at the two of them but did not answer immediately.

Xu Mao leaned against a low tree, shrugged upon hearing this, and remained silent.

Li Yuan spoke up: "The high density of demonic beasts indicates that something in this area is attracting them to gather, or something is driving them this way. In either case, going deeper is not something our current setup should be doing."

Chen Qi opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something.

He Shou waved his hand, his tone not harsh but decisive.

"Deputy Captain Li is right. An abnormally high density of monsters is not a good thing. If we run into a first-tier high-grade one, even the five of us might not be able to escape."

He Shou tightened his long sword around his waist.

"We can gather materials anytime, but if we lose our lives, we won't earn spirit stones. Let's go back to our base."

Chen Qi shut his mouth, a hint of resentment on his face, but he didn't argue further. Liu Ping glanced at Chen Qi, then at He Shou, and obediently followed the group.

The five people retraced their steps, but at a much faster pace than when they came.

Li Yuan kept his spirit-detecting compass on the whole way. The fluctuations of spiritual energy within his sensing range gradually decreased as the distance increased. Only after leaving the area densely populated with monsters did the surroundings quiet down again.