Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

During his morning cultivation, a signal from the spiritual vein monitoring line woke Li Yuan up.

The aura of demonic beasts in the northern section of the branch vein has increased even more than yesterday.

Li Yuan suppressed his senses and scanned the area carefully.

There are more than thirty of them near the spiritual vein alone.

The vast majority of them were still first-tier, scattered near the sections of rock strata where the spiritual energy was most concentrated in the branch veins. Some were absorbing spiritual energy, while others were wandering around looking for food. However, mixed among the auras of these first-tier demonic beasts, there was a distinctly deeper fluctuation.

There's also a second-tier one.

Li Yuan expanded his perception range even further.

In areas outside the northern section of the branch vein, the scattered auras of demonic beasts have increased significantly compared to half a month ago. In the depths of the distant Ghost Mist Forest, several even more distant auras can be faintly detected moving towards the spiritual vein.

Li Yuan shifted his perception towards the center of the spiritual vein.

Near the ruins of the Alchemy Platform.

In the area surrounding the Core Formation Platform, Li Yuan sensed something else.

Demonic energy.

There is more than one, distributed in a range from north to east of the outer perimeter of the ruins. The concentration is not high, but the coverage area is not small.

These demonic energies weren't carried by cultivators; they were more like traces left on the ground and in the rock strata, as if someone had been active in that area.

Li Yuan memorized the distribution of demonic energy in that area and withdrew his senses.

That morning, the task of clearing out the outpost was delivered to the management office.

"The number of monsters in the northern section of the branch has surged, affecting the patrol teams' normal patrol routes." Chen Yi handed over the mission document. "The outpost requests that the market area organize a joint extermination operation to reduce their numbers."

How many people?

"The market will send out two or three Foundation Establishment cultivators," Chen Yi said. "You will lead the team as the market manager."

Li Yuan took the task document, glanced at it, and nodded.

That afternoon, Li Yuan selected two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the market. Both were independent cultivators from Yunzhou who had performed relatively well in the market recently and had experience hunting demonic beasts.

After the cultivators from Yunzhou flocked over, there were many more independent cultivators who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage, as well as many families who had reached the Foundation Establishment stage. All of these were taken in by the Yuanyang Sect.

After the group assembled outside the north gate of the market, Li Yuan gave a brief explanation of the situation.

After the group set off, they headed north along the small path on the outskirts of Ghost Mist Forest.

Once you enter the middle level, the presence of monsters becomes more frequent.

The ground was covered with paw prints and feces, and several animal trails had been trampled into the bushes. A strong, fishy smell filled the air.

The first wave of encounters occurred on the outer periphery of the northern section of the branch.

The five first-tier mid-grade demonic beasts were a pack of gray-maned wolves. They were a size larger than ordinary wild wolves, with dark gray fur and pale green eyes.

Upon spotting the cultivator, the wolves did not flee; instead, they lowered their bodies and flanked him in a fan shape.

Li Yuan did not make a move.

Two Foundation Establishment cultivators were the first to step forward, one unleashing a fire spell and the other using the Golden Blade Technique to fire a barrage of attacks from a distance.

The cultivators from Yunzhou had no local businesses, so they were very keen on earning spirit stones.

The five gray-maned wolves died instantly.

In the next hour, they encountered three waves of monsters.

It doesn't require much effort.

When the team took a short break on a high ground, Li Yuan glanced towards the dense forest to the north.

The aura of the second-tier demon beast remained in that area, unaffected by the fighting.

"You all rest here, I'll go explore to the north," Li Yuan said to the others, then walked alone into the dense forest.

After entering the dense forest, Li Yuan suppressed his concealment to the lowest level, lightened his steps, and moved towards the direction of the aura that his spiritual vein perception had locked onto in advance.

It took Li Yuan about fifteen minutes to maneuver to the downwind side of the second-tier demon beast.

It is a black-backed leopard.

It was about 1.5 feet long, with a row of black, hard spikes standing upright on its back, and thick limbs. It lay dozing on a boulder. Its breathing was steady, and it did not notice Li Yuan's approach.

Li Yuan stopped fifty feet away and observed for a few moments.

The black leopard's aura was enveloped in a thin layer of demonic energy.

It's another demonic beast imbued with demonic energy.

Without much thought, Li Yuan made his move.

The Fire Serpent Technique materialized in his palm, its crimson flames dazzlingly bright in the night. Once formed, the fire serpent lunged straight at the Black-spineed Leopard's head.

The Black-backed Leopard roared, and an invisible sound wave passed through the fire python. The fire python's power did not diminish at all and exploded on its head.

Then the black leopard let out a miserable howl, half of its head was charred black, its body stiffened for a moment, and then it fell heavily to the ground, its limbs twitching a few times before it stopped moving.

Li Yuan stepped forward, squatted down, and began to deal with the monster's corpse.

Take the inner elixir first.

A dark inner core, about the size of a thumb, was taken from the Black-backed Leopard's abdominal cavity, its surface faintly glowing with spiritual light. Li Yuan swallowed it directly.

After the inner elixir entered the abdomen, it dissolved, and a heavy demonic power surged into the meridians. The "Demon Essence Returns to One" technique took the lead, stripping away and absorbing the demonic energy mixed in with the demonic power, along with the layer of foreign demonic energy. The remaining pure demonic power was received by the River of Qi and Blood, and dispersed throughout the body along the channels of the Dharma Gate, slowly transforming into Qi and Blood and trace amounts of spiritual power.

His cultivation level and blood energy both increased slightly.

The difference may be small, but it adds up.

Li Yuan then began dismantling the monster materials.

The black-backed leopard's fur, spines, and bones are all useful. Li Yuan peeled them off one by one, his movements very practiced.

He paused when he got to the spine.

The spine of the black-backed leopard is of excellent quality.

The entire spine is intact and without cracks, the bone is dense and hard, and traces of the essence and blood of the demon beast remain inside. Holding it in your hand, you can feel the solid power contained in the bone itself, like an iron rod that has been repeatedly tempered.

Li Yuan removed the entire spine intact and held it in his hand.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Tier 2 Beast Spine (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Bone Structure Solidification (Green)]

[Effect: Increases physical strength by 30%]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Cultivate two second-tier body-refining techniques and reach proficiency in both]

Green attribute: Physical strength increased by 30%.

The effect is direct and practical, without any additional conditions or incremental mechanisms; it is simply a pure increase in physical hardness.

The condition for permanentization is to cultivate two second-tier body-refining techniques and reach proficiency in both.

He possesses two second-tier body-refining techniques. The Nameless Body Refining Technique is now at its peak, surpassing proficiency. The Iron Wall Body Refining Technique is only at the beginner level of the second tier, still some distance from proficiency.

Once you've mastered the second stage of the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique, the conditions will be met.

Li Yuan put the beast spine into his storage bag, not equipping it on the spot. He needed to allocate the space in his equipment slots properly; he'd check on it later when he got back.

After finishing collecting the materials, Li Yuan patrolled the area near where the Black Ridge Leopard had fallen.

Scattered on the ground were numerous dung and claw marks from demonic beasts, and the nearby bushes were trampled into a mess. Mixed in with these traces were wisps of faint, lingering demonic energy.

It wasn't just a black-backed leopard.

The numerous demonic beasts passing by were all covered with varying degrees of faint demonic energy. Some were denser, while others were almost imperceptible, but they were definitely present.

The Dark Abyss's infiltration of monsters into this area is intensifying.

Li Yuan memorized the distribution of demonic energy in the area, then turned and walked back towards the direction where the group was resting.

The team then went west to clear out another batch of first-tier monsters and returned to the market before sunset.

That evening, Li Yuan returned to the stone house and sat cross-legged on the futon.

Three spiritual pathways activated simultaneously. The main pathway operated on the second stage of the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique, its spiritual energy splitting into fine streams that flowed along the meridians into the bones and skin, penetrating layer by layer. The second pathway was attached to the spiritual meridians, and the third pathway covered everyday perception.

The medicinal power of the inner core he had ingested while hunting the black-spined leopard during the day had not yet been fully digested, and his blood and qi were still slowly circulating, transforming the remaining demonic power into blood and qi. Taking advantage of this residual power circulating in his body, Li Yuan used the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique to guide his spiritual power to conduct a deeper cleansing of his bones and skin.