Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The expansion project of Yunyangfang Market has entered its most intensive phase.

Construction was underway simultaneously on expansion zones in three directions: the south, east, and northwest corners. Dozens of cultivators were using earth and wood magic to move stones, but the number of array masters was far from sufficient, and a large number of ley line arrays, defensive arrays, and linked early warning arrays were piled up in Li Yuan's hands.

Li Yuan did not refuse.

The more work the better.

Besides contributing, each of the array's key points contributes to the progress of the permanent conditions for the earth's vein resonance.

On the evening of the third day, when he buried the hundredth array eye in the northwest corner expansion zone, the panel popped up.

The conditions for permanent Earth Vein Resonance (Green) have been met.

Earth Vein Resonance (Green) has become a permanent term.

The phantom of the ley stone disappeared from the equipment slot, freeing up an empty space.

Li Yuan stood above the newly backfilled array points, his feet firmly planted on the compacted soil.

In the following days, he continued to deploy his forces in Yunyangfang Market.

The scale of the joint defense formation in Yunyangfang is much larger than that in Wulinfang.

The most obvious difference lies in the scheduling level.

The formation of the Misty Forest Market is a planar structure, with all nodes directly connected to the central hub, manually deployed by the market owner or formation master. The Cloud Sun Market, on the other hand, adopts a hybrid architecture of regional autonomy plus central control. Each expanded area has an independent sub-array network that can operate its basic defenses on its own. It only requests support from the central hub when it encounters an attack that exceeds the sub-array's capacity.

During the deployment process, Li Yuan carefully noted down this idea of ​​zoned scheduling.

This architecture also applies to the Fog Forest Market. Once we return, we can consider upgrading the market's joint defense system from a single-layer planar structure to a zoned autonomous structure, delegating the defense of the South and East districts to the sub-arrays for automatic handling, while we only need to keep an eye on the central hub.

On the afternoon of the fifth day, Li Yuan was carving array patterns in a deep hole in the eastern expansion zone when a figure appeared above the hole.

"Master Li".

Li Yuan looked up.

Sun Tong stood at the edge of the opening, his gray Taoist robe covered in dust from his journey, and his face looked even thinner than at the trade fair.

Li Yuan leaped out of the deep hole and brushed the dirt off his hands.

"What do you want?"

Sun Tong glanced around and lowered his voice.

"I'd like to change the previous terms."

Li Yuan looked at him without saying a word.

Sun Tong took a deep breath and took out a new bamboo slip from his sleeve, handing it over.

"Besides the location and opening method of the Jade Marrow Secret Chamber, I can also provide the coordinates and restricted structures of several other material storage locations of the Sun family." He pointed to the bamboo slips.

"There were four places in total, all of which were left unemptied during the evacuation. I roughly remember what was stored inside: spirit stones, low-grade materials, a few common spiritual herbs, and some refining waste."

Sun Tong paused. "But I can't guarantee these four locations are still intact. I don't know if the demonic cultivators found these hidden warehouses after they occupied our base. They might have been completely emptied, or they might still be there."

"What are the conditions?"

"The spirit stones and the right to reside remain unchanged," Sun Tong said. "There is only one additional condition. In the future, once I have gathered some of the materials for the Shangyuan Pill—not all of them, just the Jade Marrow Mushroom—Master Li will help me refine it once. I will only take one of them."

Li Yuan took the bamboo slip and scanned it with his divine sense.

The four hidden storage locations are scattered across different parts of the Sun family's original residence; some are underground, while others are hidden in building mezzanines. The restrictive structures vary, but none are particularly complex, and he can easily break them with his current mastery of formations.

The main ingredient of Shangyuan Dan is scarce, but if the most precious jade marrow Ganoderma lucidum is available, then most of the problem is solved.

Even if half of the information about the hidden warehouses is false, the rest is enough to cover the costs.

"Okay, but if you collect all the Jade Marrow Mushrooms, it may take me some time to gather the other materials." Li Yuan put the bamboo slips into his storage bag.

Sun Tong breathed a sigh of relief, bowed again, and hurriedly left.

After completing the deployment mission that day, Li Yuan did not return to Wulinfang City, but instead set off directly for the southwest of Yunzhou.

The Sun family's original residence was located in a narrow valley called Duan Valley.

Li Yuan followed the route marked on the bamboo slip, passing through vast stretches of abandoned farmland and withered forests corrupted by demonic energy, and arrived at the outer edge of the Broken Valley before nightfall.

Large scorched marks from magical spells still remained on the stone walls on both sides of the valley entrance, and shattered fragments of array plates and broken magical artifacts were scattered on the ground. The Sun family's protective array had clearly been breached head-on here.

The traces of the battle have not yet disappeared.

Instead of entering through the valley entrance, Li Yuan went around to the side of the valley and climbed over a hidden crevice in the rocks.

The triple shielding was fully activated. The pressure was icy.

Dark Fiend's passive perception was the first to detect the anomaly.

Deep within the valley, an extremely faint fluctuation of demonic energy was slowly pulsating. The frequency of the fluctuation was very regular, like the rhythm of demonic energy circulating in the meridians of a cultivator while meditating in place.

Someone is guarding it.

Li Yuan was not surprised. After the Sun family's stronghold was breached, the Dark Abyss would most likely send people to stay behind and loot the remaining supplies. The Jade Marrow Fungus's secret chamber was well hidden, and the demonic cultivators might not have found it, but the stronghold itself had certainly been searched.

Someone is guarding it.

Li Yuan was not surprised. After the Sun family's stronghold was breached, the Dark Abyss would most likely send people to stay behind and loot the remaining supplies. The Jade Marrow Fungus's secret chamber was well hidden, and the demonic cultivators might not have found it, but the stronghold itself had certainly been searched.

He slowed his pace and moved closer to the direction of the demonic energy fluctuations along the shadow of the valley wall.

The passive perception of the earth's vein resonance came into play at this moment. All the vibrations within ten feet were clearly audible, and about thirty feet ahead, a human-shaped weight was pressing down on the rocks, its breathing rhythm perfectly matching the pulsation of demonic energy.

Li Yuan bypassed a stone house that had collapsed halfway, and finally his eyes caught sight of his target.

A cultivator dressed in a gray-black robe sat cross-legged beside a ruin, his back against a half-broken wall, his eyes slightly closed. A thin layer of black demonic energy surrounded him, and his face was ashen.

Mid-stage of foundation building.

His cultivation level was comparable to that of the demonic cultivator guarding the formation that was killed in the underground cave earlier.

Li Yuan did not hesitate.

He emerged silently from the shadows of the rock face, his blood and qi surging violently within him. He activated the dual blue body-refining techniques of Medicine Refining True Body and Iron Bones Golden Body at full power, instantly covering his body with a protective spiritual energy membrane of the Three Elements.

When the distance closed to ten zhang, the demonic cultivator finally reacted.

He suddenly opened his eyes, his pupils contracted sharply, and his hands instinctively pushed forward, a thick black demonic energy transforming into a sharp cone that rushed towards Li Yuan's face.

Li Yuan clenched his right fist and thrust it straight at the demonic energy cone.

The fist struck the tip of the demonic energy cone, which shattered instantly upon contact, sending fragments of demonic energy flying to both sides. The force of the punch, undiminished, slammed into the demonic cultivator's chest with a violent surge of blood energy.

The demonic cultivator crossed his palms, and a layer of demonic energy shield opened up in front of him.

"Click."

The shield shattered.

Li Yuan's fist pierced through the shards of the shield and slammed heavily into the demonic cultivator's chest. The sternum caved in beneath his fist, and broken bone fragments pierced into his internal organs. The demonic cultivator's body was thrown back by the immense force, crashing into the crumbling wall behind him and causing half of the stone wall to collapse.

The falling rubble covered the body.

Li Yuan stepped forward and pulled the demonic cultivator's storage bag from the rubble.

He forcibly erased the remaining marks with his divine sense and dumped the items inside onto the ground.

Several bottles of demonic pills, a short sword exuding yin energy, dozens of low-grade spirit stones, several mid-grade spirit stones, and some scattered array materials.

There was also a round shield about the size of a palm.

The round shield was entirely black, its surface covered with dense, dark purple magical runes. The runes were extremely fine, unlike a mass-produced, crude item; it seemed more like a masterpiece crafted by a high-level magical cultivator.

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the round shield.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Magic-inlaid Round Shield (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Magic Rune Protection (Green)]

[Effect: When attacked by magic, a layer of magic rune shield is automatically activated to absorb part of the damage; the shield strength is positively correlated with the user's physical strength. After the magic rune shield is consumed, it takes one hour to replenish, or it can be replenished faster by consuming magic energy.]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Withstand more than 30 spell attacks within one month]

Green entries.

The strength of the shield is positively correlated with the strength of one's own body.

In the hands of an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, this round shield would at best provide a thin layer of extra protection. But when worn by him, the actual strength of the shield would be amplified to an extremely exaggerated level by the body refinement attributes.

Li Yuan brought up his equipment inventory and unequipped the Hidden Vein Concealment skill.

"equipment."

[Equipped: Magic-Enchanted Round Shield (Complete)]

[Magic Rune Protection (Green) in effect]

The condition for permanent status is surviving thirty spell attacks within a month. This condition isn't too demanding, but it requires actively seeking out attacks or intentionally allowing yourself to be hit by enemy spells during combat. Given the current situation and the frequency of cleanup missions, accumulating thirty attacks within a month is not impossible.

Li Yuan put the remaining spoils into his storage bag and turned to walk towards the secret room marked by Sun Tong.