Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The five quickened their pace and turned back towards their base.

It took almost an hour to get there, but less than half an hour to return.

Upon arriving at the main location, He Shou went straight to find the person in charge.

Not long after, He Shou came out, his face even more somber than when he set out.

Once back at the base, He Shoucai finally spoke.

"It's not just our group." He Shou leaned against the door frame, his hand on the hilt of his knife, his voice low.

"Other patrol groups encountered similar situations today. One group even ran right into three mid-tier Tier 1 monsters. They fought for a while before retreating, with two injured and one dead."

Liu Ping's voice sounded somewhat panicked: "Someone's dead?"

"He died, mainly because the fight attracted other monsters, forcing him to run away."

He Shou stretched his neck. "The higher-ups have already reported it to the Wang family. Captain Wang of the guard team has decided to send out a team tonight to investigate and find out exactly how many of these demonic beasts have gathered and where they are located."

"Go tonight?" Chen Qi frowned.

"The Wang family is leading the team," He Shou said, glancing at everyone.

"This has nothing to do with us. Our mission remains the same. We'll continue patrolling tomorrow."

After saying that, He Shou waved his hand, telling everyone to rest.

After nightfall, the outpost quieted down.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed and first circulated the Spirit Guiding Technique several times. The spiritual energy entered his body as pure as water, and the circulation of energy was very fast.

After finishing his practice, Li Yuan's consciousness stirred, and the panel appeared.

His gaze swept over the rows of realm, cultivation techniques, and equipment, finally landing on the spells section.

【法术：火球术-精通（589/800），神行步-熟练（123/400），灵罩术-熟练（39/400），冰锥术-入门（189/200）】

Li Yuan was stunned for a moment.

The proficiency level of Fireball jumped from less than 100 to nearly 600.

The maximum level for the mastery stage is 800, and I've already completed most of it.

The increases in the other spells weren't as dramatic, but they were still significantly higher than when I last checked.

After thinking for a moment, Li Yuan understood the reason.

He had practiced fireball for several years before this, and his basic skills were already very solid. All he lacked was practical experience.

These days of patrols have made up for this shortcoming.

The foundation built up through daily practice is fully activated in actual combat, like adding the last bit of firewood to a pot of water that's about to boil.

Li Yuan put away the panel and closed his eyes to rest.

The next day, at the crack of dawn, the five men left their post.

He Shou led the team along the southern route, in the same direction as yesterday, but instead of heading directly southwest, they first followed the usual route along the southern line for a while to observe the situation.

After walking more than two miles from the station, Li Yuan noticed something unusual.

Quiet.

Yesterday, on the same stretch of road, the spirit-detecting disc detected at least two or three fluctuations of spiritual energy. Today, as spiritual energy flowed into the copper disc and its perception expanded, the area within a radius of thirty feet was completely clear, with even the faint aura of ordinary beasts greatly diminished.

He Shou clearly noticed this as well, and slowed his pace.

"The number of demonic beasts has decreased, which may be because the Wang family's team has cleared them out." He Shou breathed a sigh of relief, but did not let his guard down.

They continued walking forward for a while, and the situation remained the same. Occasionally, the spirit-detecting compass would catch one or two extremely faint fluctuations of spiritual energy, which were far away and fleeting, like something flashing by in the distance.

"There were at least five or six of them around here yesterday, but they're all gone today." He Shou stopped on a high ground, his gaze sweeping over the undulating bushes around him.

The five men continued to advance southwest along the route.

Because there were few monsters nearby, He Shou decided to extend the route further outwards, even further than yesterday.

After walking for nearly an hour, the terrain became even more desolate. There were no more paths underfoot, only gravel and thorns. The bushes also became sparse, replaced by large patches of wild grass and exposed rocks.

They encountered three groups of independent cultivators on the way.

The first group consisted of two lone cultivators, carrying large and small bags. They walked quickly, and upon seeing the five people dressed in patrol and guard uniforms, they bowed slightly from a distance and left without saying a word.

The second group was a small team of three, their auras ranging from the second to third level of Qi Refining. They looked like a demon-hunting team or a herb-gathering team of independent cultivators. He Shou stepped forward and asked a few questions, but the other party waved his hand and said that they hadn't encountered anything unusual, but recently the herbs in this area had become increasingly scarce, so they didn't want to stay here any longer.

The third group encountered the largest number of independent cultivators, four people. The leader was a burly man in his forties with high cheekbones, a scar on his nose, wearing worn leather armor, and carrying a long-handled axe on his back. His aura was around the third level of Qi Refining.

He Shou stopped them and asked them a few questions.

The burly man was quite talkative and had a loud voice.

"You've come to ask too? The Wang family just sent someone to ask as well. I told them that the number of times we've gone into the mountains this month is half that of last month. The monsters sometimes run this way and sometimes that way, it's unpredictable."

He Shou asked, "What do you think happened?"

The burly man scratched the back of his head.

"How would I know? Anyway, the Yuanheng Mountains have never been peaceful. It wouldn't be fun if a beast tide broke out one day."

"A beast tide?" Liu Ping asked.

"Heh, I was just saying." The burly man waved his hand, but the expression on his face didn't seem like he was joking. "If there really is a beast tide, who in these markets can withstand it? But judging from this situation, it doesn't seem like a sign of a beast tide, but rather like something is stirring things up in the mountains."

The burly man paused here, looked around, and lowered his voice.

"To be honest, I don't want to stay here anymore. I heard that the market in the south, near the Li family's place, is going to be expanded and they'll allow us to set up stalls. The roads there are also easier to travel on than here. I'm planning to go and take a look."

He Shou didn't ask any more questions, nodded, and indicated that they could leave.

The burly man led his men away, and He Shou stood there watching them go in the distance, not moving for a long time.

After continuing southwest for a while, the spirit detection disc detected a fluctuation of spiritual energy.

Slightly to the left ahead, about twenty feet away, there was a lone demon beast.

The spiritual energy intensity is not high, roughly at the level of a low-grade first rank.

He Shou glanced at Li Yuan, and Li Yuan nodded.

The five people spread out, their coordination improving based on the experience they had developed over the past few days.

Although it was only a first-tier low-grade item, He Shou still insisted on following the instructions.

Li Yuan circled around to the side, and once his field of vision opened up, he could see his target clearly—a grayish-brown ironback hyena, not very large, less than two feet tall at the shoulder, squatting next to a bare rock and gnawing on something.

The five men completed the encirclement in the bushes.

At He Shou's command, Li Yuan's fireball spell was used first.

A crimson ball of light shot out, heading straight for the Ironspine Hyena's flank. The hyena reacted quickly, but the fireball was even faster, leaving a charred mark on the hyena's body in the blink of an eye.

Liu Ping and Chen Qi attacked from both flanks, slaying the wounded and howling hyenas with a knife and a sword respectively.

It happened in just a few breaths.

While dismantling the monster, He Shou suddenly paused for a moment.

He Shou squatted down on the hyena's belly, and after the tip of his knife cut through a layer of flesh, he didn't continue cutting downwards. Instead, he turned the knife horizontally and carefully pushed it into the abdominal cavity.

"Look at this."

Li Yuan leaned closer, his gaze falling into the hyena's dissected abdominal cavity.

The stomach was pierced by the tip of the knife, revealing a dark red mass mixed with the surrounding food residue, but its color was clearly different, in addition to partially digested chunks of meat and bone fragments.

He Shou used the tip of his knife to pick out the dark red thing and placed it on a nearby stone.

Half a pill.

To be precise, it was half a pill that had been pitted and eroded by gastric juices. Most of the outer skin had peeled off, revealing the dark red core inside, which still had a faint medicinal fragrance.

"Either it was eaten from the bodies of rogue cultivators they killed, or it was fed to them by others."

He Shouzheng was about to continue speaking when Chen Qi took over the conversation.

"Demonic beasts don't usually eat pills. At least I've never seen a demonic beast eat pills. Many pills are specifically for human use. Perhaps more intelligent beings would choose which ones to eat."

"Moreover, the probability of a low-grade demonic beast killing a rogue cultivator is not high. Currently, the rogue cultivators who can survive outside all have some skills."

"And I didn't see any meat in the stomach."

He Shou wrapped the half pill in cloth, put it in his pocket, and didn't say anything more.

"Go back and report."

On the way back, the five of them walked quite slowly.

Li Yuan followed behind He Shou, his fingers resting on the spirit-detecting disc hidden in his sleeve.

Spiritual energy slowly flowed in, and his senses continued to expand, but his mind was occupied with other things.

Entry.

Since I transmigrated, I've permanently acquired four stats, and two are currently in my equipment inventory. Six stats may sound like a lot, but they're still a bit insufficient in practice.

Currently, there are no empty equipment slots; both are occupied—the internal organ strengthening skill of the Iron Ox Technique and the Qi and Blood self-generation skill of the Nourishing Essence Technique.

The Iron Ox Skill has reached mastery, while the Nourishing Vitality Skill is still in the proficiency stage. Only by perfecting both of these mundane skills can the strengthening of the internal organs be permanent, and the self-generation of Qi and blood also requires the Nourishing Vitality Skill to be perfected, plus twenty-four hours of accumulated practice. Neither can be completed in a short period of time.

Therefore, we need to find the next batch of entries that are easy to permanently generate.

So far, among the items Li Yuan has come into contact with, quite a few can provide entries, but few are truly worth investing in.

The Spirit Detection Compass is a green-labeled item that expands spiritual perception, passively allowing one to perceive up to 30 feet – a very powerful effect, but its permanence requires possessing divine sense, which is practically impossible before Foundation Establishment.

The molted skin of the Ironscale Serpent had a white attribute; I saw it on East Street last time, and it cost twelve spirit stones. I don't know the effect of the attribute, as I haven't equipped it and can't see the detailed information, but molted snake skin itself is a good material for refining weapons and making talismans, so the attribute is most likely related to defense or physical enhancement.

The Spirit Gathering Ring, with its white label, costs fifteen spirit stones; its very name suggests it aids in cultivation.

Storage bags can provide green attributes, but the price starts at least at fifty or sixty spirit stones.

Besides these, Li Yuan also came into contact with some items that could trigger the surface reaction during his patrols and inspections. Some spirit grains, a few mortal cultivation manuals, and the occasional ore he encountered, most of which had gray entries and a few had white entries, nothing particularly remarkable.

And now I have accumulated quite a few contribution points.

I've accumulated contribution points from my previous monthly salary and quest rewards over time. The spells and techniques in the Scripture Pavilion can be exchanged for contribution points, and the Cleansing spell manual has already proven that spell-type items can be equipped.

Iron Bull functional equipment, Yuan-nourishing functional equipment, and spellbooks can also be equipped.

Do manuals on cultivation techniques also have entries?

The spells he possessed—Fireball, Swift Step, Spirit Barrier, and Ice Spike—were all basic spells originally issued by the Wang family. The original owner had already learned them all, and he didn't know where the manuals had gone.

But there should be other spells available for exchange in the Hidden Skill Pavilion.

Li Yuan mentally listed the possible options: first, exclude spells he had already learned; second, the price couldn't be too outrageous; and finally, it should be a practical spell that he could learn, use, and gain affixes from.

Whether I have enough contribution points is another question; I'll have to go to the Hidden Merit Pavilion in person after I return to the market to find out.

With that thought in mind, Li Yuan snapped out of his reverie.

The patrol post ahead came into view, its silhouette appearing hazy in the twilight.

He Shou quickened his pace, heading straight towards the main camp, with the half-eaten pill wrapped in cloth tucked into his pocket.