Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The night was still and stagnant.

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on a futon, his blood and spiritual energy circulating throughout his body. Four lines of divine sense were laid out methodically. The main line was connected to the resonance channel of the Spiritual Vein Affinity Technique, breathing in the rich spiritual energy surging from the ground, while the other three lines were respectively attached to the furnace fire control, external warning, and spiritual vein monitoring.

Midnight had passed when a slight sluggishness was felt in the spiritual thread hanging on the spiritual vein.

Without opening his eyes, Li Yuan directly increased the perception precision of that divine sense line to the highest level, extending it outwards along the edge of the main vein.

The source of the stagnation is located in the area slightly east of the periphery of the ruins.

That wasn't the main branch of the spiritual vein, but rather an underground rock layer covered by small tributaries. Previous explorations had revealed traces of demonic cultivation activity in that area, with some demonic energy remaining on the surface.

But the perception at this moment is completely different.

The demonic energy does not remain on the surface, but seeps out from deep underground.

Perception probed downwards along the cracks in the rock strata. The wisps of demonic energy were extremely faint, yet continuous, as if something deep underground was constantly exhaling. The demonic energy and the spiritual energy from the tributaries of the spiritual veins converged and repelled each other in the underground rock strata, which was the real reason for the stagnation.

It's not a residue.

It is the source of life.

Li Yuan extinguished the spiritual flames beneath the alchemy furnace, stood up, changed into a dark-colored robe, and pushed open the door to walk into the night.

It conceals its presence without a trace, hides its pulse and energy, and conceals its spiritual energy.

The triple shielding activated simultaneously. Li Yuan's aura plummeted to freezing point in an instant, and even the faint fluctuations of spiritual energy flowing through his meridians were suppressed within his body by an invisible force field.

Instead of going through the main gate of the market, he darted over and climbed over a section of old wall in the southern expansion area.

Heading east and avoiding the patrol team's route, Li Yuan soon arrived at the eastern part of the ruins.

All around was quiet, with only the soft rustling of the night wind through the withered trees. There was nothing unusual on the ground; there was no trace of demonic energy emanating from it, nor any spiritual light indicating the operation of any formation.

Looking around, they quickly found a natural fissure in the ground covered by withered vines at the foot of a mountain wall not far away.

The gap was extremely narrow, allowing only one person to barely squeeze through sideways.

He squeezed sideways into the crevice and quietly descended along the winding rock passage. When he encountered narrow, impassable corners, he used micro-control magic to manipulate the golden blade, silently cutting along the rock wall, turning the obstacles into stone dust bit by bit.

It took Li Yuan fifteen minutes to reach the fault line.

Suddenly, a natural underground cave, no more than five zhang in diameter, appeared below.

In the center of the cave, the ground was artificially leveled and engraved with a circle of intricate black patterns.

A dark purple luster flowed within the array's patterns, rising and falling like breath. The chilling energy that lingered in the surrounding rock strata was drawn in by the array, compressed and transformed at the center of the patterns, ultimately becoming pure demonic energy, which was then slowly released through the cracks above.

A small magic-gathering array.

Li Yuan pressed himself against the rock wall at the top of the cave, his gaze sweeping over the details around the formation.

The array patterns were deeply embedded in the rock, and the edges of the stone had been eroded by demonic energy over a long period of time, turning into a grayish-brown powder. This level of erosion could not have been formed in just a few days.

It has been running for at least a month.

The Dark Abyss's infiltration and deployment around the Misty Forest Market had already begun long before the night raid on the Core Formation Platform. This Demon Gathering Array was merely a hidden stake in their vast network, used to subtly alter the surrounding environment or to provide demonic energy support for certain specific operations.

Li Yuan turned his gaze to the center of the formation.

A cultivator dressed in a gray robe sat cross-legged beside the array's core, his eyes slightly closed and his breathing deep and even.

Mid-stage of foundation building.

The gray-robed cultivator's face was gaunt, his skin an unnatural bluish-gray, and he was surrounded by demonic energy, clearly the result of years of practicing demonic techniques. He seemed completely oblivious to the commotion around him, utterly immersed in the nourishing demonic energy gathered by the array.

Li Yuan made no extra movements.

He loosened his grip on the rock wall, and his body, like a weightless stone, fell silently from the cave ceiling.

When Li Yuan was only about ten feet away from the gray-robed cultivator's head, he suddenly exerted his strength.

No magic was used.

The flow of Qi and blood surged within his body, the Three Elements Protection was instantly activated, and the powerful physical strength brought by the solidified bone structure was poured into his right leg.

The gray-robed cultivator finally sensed the danger the moment Li Yuan exerted his power. He suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils contracted sharply, and his withered hands instinctively rose upwards, instantly forming a dense black demonic energy shield above his head.

late.

Li Yuan slammed his right foot hard onto the demonic energy shield.

"Click."

The demonic energy shield, strong enough to withstand a full-force attack from a cultivator of the same level, shattered like glass the instant it made contact. The immense force did not falter in the slightest, piercing through the fragments of the shield and slamming heavily onto the gray-robed cultivator's chest.

The dull sound of bones cracking echoed within the cave.

The gray-robed cultivator's chest caved in instantly, his robe billowed out on his back, and he was forcefully driven into the underground rock by this terrifying force.

Blood gushed from his mouth and nose, and the light in his eyes quickly faded.

One blow kills.

Fighting with your bare hands is indeed much more satisfying than using magic.

Li Yuan landed on the ground, not even glancing at the corpse beneath his feet, and directly bent down to pull off the storage bag from the gray-robed cultivator's waist.

He forcefully broke through the remaining marks on the storage bag with his divine sense and scanned the items inside.

The space wasn't large, but it contained several bottles of demonic pills that emitted a foul stench, a few jade slips recording cultivation techniques, a short, sinister-looking blade, and a pile of unused array materials.

Drainage stone, solidifying copper sheet, and spirit-repelling sand.

The materials found on the demonic cultivator who had been killed earlier and was carrying a first-tier demonic beast were roughly the same as those found on him; they were all basic items used to set up or repair formations.

Li Yuan put away the storage bag and turned to walk towards the small demon-gathering array that was still in operation.

The core of the formation is a dark purple crystal embedded in a groove in the ground.

Li Yuan crouched down, probing the array patterns with his divine sense to find the nodes of the spiritual energy return path. He didn't violently smash the array directly, as that would trigger a violent backlash and explosion of demonic energy, which would most likely attract the attention of those on the ground.

Spiritual energy overflowed from his fingertips, transforming into sharp needles that precisely pierced several key intersections of the array patterns.

Cut off the supply of spiritual energy.

Block the flow of demonic energy.

Strip the energy-concentrating circuit.

In just over ten breaths, the array patterns that had been shimmering with a dark purple luster completely dimmed, and the suction force that drew in demonic energy also dissipated.

Li Yuan reached out and grabbed the dark purple crystal at the core of the formation, then exerted a little force to pry it out of the rock groove.

The crystal felt cool to the touch, and it seemed as if black mist was swirling inside.

The panel pops up the moment it touches the surface.

[Equipable item detected: Demon Gathering Array Eye (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Magic Gathering and Draining (Green)]

[Effect: Can actively attract, gather, and guide surrounding demonic energy; simultaneously enhances the ability to identify demonic energy nodes, demonic array loops, and the direction of underground demonic energy seepage.]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Personally set up three node arrays related to demonic energy]

Green entries.

Li Yuan glanced at the effect description. It guides and directs demonic energy, while also enhancing the ability to identify the pathways of demonic energy.

This term is not very useful for righteous cultivators, but for him, who also cultivates demonic energy techniques and possesses the [Demonic Energy Avatar] and [Unification of Evil Energy], it can play a significant role in certain circumstances.

In particular, the ability to identify the direction of underground demonic energy seepage is perfect for identifying the spies that the Dark Abyss might have planted around the market.

After storing the crystal in his storage bag, Li Yuan spent another quarter of an hour thoroughly cleaning up the battle traces and array remnants inside the cave.

Li Yuan walked to the table, poured himself a glass of cold water and drank it, then sat cross-legged on the futon again.

The four lines of divine consciousness dispersed once more.

The main storyline shifts back to the alchemy furnace, where the faint flames of spiritual energy reignite. The remaining storylines continue to focus on the spiritual veins and the surrounding warning systems.

Business as usual.

The writing prodigy says: Read this book!