Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan took out the Dark Demon Token he had obtained from the box and examined it carefully in his hand.

The Dark Fiend's perception network silently spread out, covering the entire market town and an area several miles around it.

Night was falling.

The fluctuations of spiritual energy within the market gradually subsided, and cultivators returned to their residences to cultivate or rest. Only the footsteps of the patrol teams and the occasional clanging of magical artifacts remained on the main street.

About half an hour later, a very subtle vibration of demonic energy was transmitted back from the edge of the perception network.

It's not inside the market town, but on the outskirts of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and accurately locked onto the location.

To the northeast of Ghost Mist Forest, about forty miles from the market town, a very faint demonic aura pulsed at a familiar, rhythmic frequency before quickly dissipating.

The mole gave the signal.

Li Yuan did not move.

He remained seated on the prayer mat, focusing all his senses on the interior of the market.

Sure enough, a moment later, a very subtle fluctuation of spiritual energy emanated from a courtyard in the southern part of the market. Someone was suppressing their aura and quietly leaving their residence.

That direction leads to the area where independent cultivators live.

Li Yuan's senses tracked the figure. The other party's concealment was excellent, and their spiritual power was extremely well concealed. If it weren't for Dark Fiend's extremely high sensitivity to fluctuations in demonic energy, an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would have no way of noticing anything unusual.

The man didn't go through any of the market gates, but instead climbed over a secluded corner of the south wall and quickly moved northeast, hugging the tree line.

Li Yuan did not get up. With the perception strength of Dark Fiend Insight, even if he let them go a few miles ahead, he would not lose them.

His senses were firmly locked onto the other party's movements, while he also diverted some of his attention to scan the more distant areas surrounding the market.

To the northeast, deep within the Ghost Mist Forest, three extremely faint wisps of demonic energy were slowly approaching.

The backup has arrived.

Li Yuan waited for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

Within the perception network, the traitor who had infiltrated the market met with three wisps of demonic energy in a fog-shrouded mountain hollow. The exchange between the two sides was extremely brief; Li Yuan could sense items being passed between them, but in very small quantities.

This was expected.

The materials that the Dark Abyss Society wants to collect are already in huge demand due to the daily transactions at the Misty Forest Market. With the market's expansion and the surge in the number of cultivators, the demand for various array auxiliary materials and ores far exceeds the supply. Even if an insider wanted to hoard goods for the Dark Abyss Society, the amount they could acquire would be extremely limited.

The handover was completed quickly.

The traitor returned to the market area by the same route, while the three demonic cultivators, carrying the small amount of materials they had collected, retreated deeper into the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan then stood up.

The triple shielding activated simultaneously. Spiritual energy was drawn back to the deepest part of the body, and the aura completely vanished into nothingness.

Instead of using the door, he silently climbed out of the window at the back of the stone house, his figure disappearing into the night like a falling leaf.

The three demonic cultivators retreated quickly, but under Li Yuan's tracking, their route was clearly discernible.

The enemy was clearly very familiar with this route; every turn and every pause for reconnaissance followed a fixed pattern. Li Yuan remained three miles away, using the dense fog and canopy of the Ghost Mist Forest to conceal himself, trailing behind like an invisible shadow.

After traveling about seventy miles, the three demonic cultivators stopped in a valley filled with scattered rocks.

Li Yuan concealed himself deep within the canopy of a giant tree in the distance, suppressing his senses to a minimum, relying solely on the passive mode of Dark Insight to detect any movement ahead.

The leading demonic cultivator took out an item from his robes.

Dark Fiend clearly sensed that the thing was emitting an extremely dense spatial fluctuation, mixed with demonic energy.

Token.

The leading demonic cultivator raised the token and pushed it towards a huge bluish-gray rock wall in the center of the valley.

The surface of the rock wall remained unchanged, without any light or sound.

However, Li Yuan's spatial perception clearly captured that momentary anomaly. The spatial structure on the rock wall surface rippled with an extremely subtle ripple at the point where the token touched it.

The three demonic cultivators walked towards that spot one by one.

One by one, they disappeared silently, as if swallowed by the rock wall.

The entire process takes no more than three breaths.

The valley returned to its deathly silence.

Li Yuan concealed his presence and waited motionless on the treetop for the entire time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

After confirming that there were no more demonic energy fluctuations around him, he fell from the tree and silently walked to the grayish-blue rock wall.

He didn't reach out to touch it, but stood three steps away, carefully scanning the surface of the rock wall with his enhanced spatial perception from the teleportation stone.

The folds in the space had completely smoothed out. The rock face looked exactly like ordinary mountain rocks, without even a trace of residual spiritual energy.

But Li Yuan knew that the three demonic cultivators had disappeared from this very spot.

As before, the demonic cultivators stealthily entered a spatial node base.

As before, the demonic cultivators stealthily entered a spatial node base.

After memorizing the location, Li Yuan did not linger for a moment.

They turned around and quickly retreated along the route they had come from.

As soon as Li Yuan stepped out of the stone house at dawn, a spirit farmer jogged up to greet him.

"Master Li, the Soul-Slaying Grass in the Yin Sha Isolation Zone has sprouted."

Lingnong, beaming with excitement, wiped the sweat from his brow. "The first batch of seedlings sprouted last night and are growing exceptionally well, almost twice as fast as we expected."

Li Yuan nodded and followed Ling Nong toward the spirit field.

At the very edge of the three thousand acres of spirit fields, an area of ​​about two acres was surrounded by four array plates. The surface of the array plates swirled with a gray-black light, constantly drawing up the evil energy from the depths of the earth, creating a cold and gloomy environment in this area that was completely different from the surrounding spirit fields.

The air inside the quarantine zone was several times colder than outside, and the soil had a dark bluish-green hue, exuding a faint sense of gloom.

Li Yuan walked into the isolation area and squatted down.

On the surface of the soil, clusters of tiny grayish-green seedlings are emerging from the mud. The leaves are narrow and pointed, with a faint hint of dark red at the edges, the unique color of the Soul-Slaying Grass.

He reached out and pinched the tip of a seedling's leaf, channeling his spiritual energy into its roots.

The roots have penetrated very deep, reaching the layer of malevolent energy at the bottom of the isolation zone, greedily absorbing the yin energy. However, the seedlings are growing too rapidly, and the spiritual energy circulation between the roots and leaves is not yet stable enough. The tips of the leaves of several seedlings have already begun to wither and curl slightly.

Li Yuan loosened his fingers, pressed his palms onto the soil, and began to circulate the Green Wood Longevity Technique.

Driven by a perfected cultivation technique, an extremely gentle wood-elemental spiritual energy seeped from the palm into the soil, slowly flowing along the roots of each seedling. The wood-elemental spiritual energy did not clash with the malevolent energy; instead, it acted like a flexible skeleton, restoring the disordered spiritual energy circulation within the seedlings to its proper place.

The withered leaf tips began to unfurl at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Li Yuan then switched to the Proficient Soil Cultivation Technique, slightly diluting and harmonizing the overly concentrated malevolent energy in the soil, making the spiritual energy distribution more even.

With the two methods combined, the seedlings in the entire isolation area looked more vibrant, and the dark red veins on their leaves became clearer.

Lingnong, standing to the side, was dumbfounded.

"Master, this technique can be used like this?"

"Wood-based cultivation techniques are inherently adept at nurturing all things." Li Yuan stood up, patted the soil off his hands, and said, "Reduce the concentration of malevolent energy in the isolation zone by another ten percent, so the seedlings don't absorb it too quickly. Also, notify me every three days so I can come and adjust it once."

Ling Nong nodded repeatedly and wrote down the instructions on a bamboo slip he carried with him.

Li Yuan left the spirit field and went straight back to the stone house.

On the table was a bundle of dried and processed Soul-Slaying Grass. This was a wild product that Lingnong had collected yesterday from a natural Yin-Yang cave next to the trial planting area. The quantity was not large, but the quality was acceptable, enough to refine a batch of Soul-Gathering Pills.

Li Yuan sealed the doors and windows, activating the soundproofing array.

The alchemy furnace was lit, and he added the Soul-Slaying Grass along with the other three auxiliary ingredients in sequence.

Four divine sense lines instantly spread out, two locking the fire vents at the bottom of the furnace, precisely controlling the temperature of the elixir fire. The other two wrapped around the outside of the furnace wall, monitoring the fusion progress of the medicinal liquid and the flow of spiritual energy inside the furnace in real time.

The fifth line of consciousness did not participate in controlling the fire, but instead probed into the furnace cavity, sticking tightly to the surface of the medicinal liquid.

The refining requirements for the Soul-Gathering Pill are extremely stringent. The Soul-Gathering Grass has a cold and violent medicinal property, and it will produce a violent rejection reaction when combined with the auxiliary ingredients. If you are not careful, the entire batch of medicinal liquid will explode. Li Yuan used his fifth spiritual sense line to specifically monitor the fluctuations of the medicinal properties. Once a sign of rejection appeared, he immediately intervened with a small amount of wood-attribute spiritual power to soothe it.

The medicinal liquid inside the furnace gradually changed from its initial grayish-green color to a deep dark purple. The medicinal properties of the Soul-Slaying Grass were fully activated in the high temperature, slowly blending with the spiritual power of the auxiliary herbs.

About an hour later, a muffled hum came from inside the furnace.

"It's done."

Li Yuan raised his hand and lifted the furnace lid, and four round, dark gray pills flew onto the jade plate. The surface of the pills was covered with a very thin layer of evil patterns, and a faint, flowing dark purple luster could be seen inside.

The quality is above average.

Li Yuan picked up a Qi-Condensing Pill.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Condensing Qi Pill (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Soul-Sealing Barrier (Green)]

[Effect: Increases the speed of condensing evil spells by 20%, and increases the power of evil energy spells by 20%]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Continuous use of the Soul-Sealing Pill for fifteen days (0/15)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Green entries.

The speed and power of casting Sha-type spells are each increased by 20%, with direct and practical effects. Having already mastered the Demonic Yuan Technique, Sha-type spells are already a common practice. With this addition, Sha-type output in actual combat will reach another level.

The condition for permanent effect is continuous consumption for fifteen days. With the current reserves and production of Soul-Slaying Grass, this is not a problem at all.

[The "Heart-Concentrating Wall (Green)" is in effect.]

The moment the entry took effect, the pent-up malevolent energy deep within his dantian trembled slightly. The malevolent spiritual power, which originally required deliberate condensation to take shape, became much smoother at this moment, as if an invisible mold was assisting in shaping it.

Li Yuan put the second Ning Sha Pill into his mouth and swallowed it.

The cool medicinal power dissolved in the abdomen, seeping into the dantian along the meridians, creating a subtle resonance with the effect of the "Sha Ning Xin Bi" (煞凝心壁) entry.

[Conditions for permanent application of the Soul-Sealing Wall (Green): Take Soul-Sealing Pills continuously for 15 days (May 1th)]

Li Yuan put the remaining Ning Sha Pills into the jade bottle.

One per day, becomes permanent after fifteen days.

After cleaning up the alchemy furnace, Li Yuan headed to the management office.

Chen Yi was not there. On the table was a thick output summary document, which the management office had prepared for him to review.

Li Yuan opened the document and scanned it page by page.

Firestone's monthly production data ranks first. Since the second mining site started operation, coupled with the improved quality of the deep veins in the confluence zone, the overall output of Firestone has more than doubled compared to the previous month. The mining team on the Wang family's side has fully entered a stable operating state, with minimal fluctuations in daily output.

Regarding talismans, the talisman shop's production capacity increased significantly after Sun Henian's arrival. The inventory of first-tier attack and defense talismans was ample, enough to cover the daily rotation consumption of the cultivators stationed in the market. While the production of second-tier talismans was not high, stable shipments had begun.

The supply of elixirs is equally encouraging. After several months of accumulation, the medicinal herbs produced in the spirit fields have established a stable production cycle. First-tier elixirs can completely cover the daily consumption of all resident cultivators and refugee cultivators, with a slight surplus.

Li Yuan turned to the last page, his gaze lingering there.

The inventory curve for basic talisman paper has shown a significant downward inflection point in the past half month. At the same time, the consumption rate of mid-grade spirit ink far exceeds the procurement rate, and the inventory has dropped below the warning line.

The reason is not hard to understand.

The market continued to see an influx of people, and Sun's talisman shop was operating at full capacity, but it still relied on external procurement for talisman paper and spirit ink. Wulin Market itself did not produce these two items, and relied entirely on purchasing them piecemeal from Yunyang Market and passing caravans.

The drawbacks of piecemeal purchasing were fully exposed after the surge in production capacity—the volume couldn't keep up.

Li Yuan closed the document and summoned the steward.

"Go to Yunyang Market and find Yonghe Trading Company and Luji Paper Mill to discuss long-term supply."

The steward took out a jade slip to record the information.

"Basic talisman paper will be supplied monthly, with no less than three thousand sheets per month. Twenty bottles of mid-grade spirit ink will be supplied monthly, with quality no lower than the average market price in Yunyang Market." Li Yuan listed the conditions one by one. "The price can be 10% higher than the market price, but timely and sufficient delivery must be guaranteed. Penalties for breach of contract will be written into the contract."

The deacon swiftly inscribed the terms into the jade slip.

"Furthermore," Li Yuan added, "if Yonghe Trading Company can't handle this volume, we'll find another supplier to share the burden. We'd rather have another supplier than let the production line run out of supplies."

"clear."

The steward carefully put away the jade slip and quickly left.

Li Yuan sat in the management office for a while longer, reviewed the recent security patrol records, and after confirming that there were no signs of new demonic cultivation activities outside the market, he got up and left.

Back in the stone house, he took out a Qi Condensation Pill from his storage bag and placed it on the corner of the table.

Tomorrow's portion.

He then sat cross-legged on the futon, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his demonic energy.

The effects of the "Sha Qi Condensing Heart Wall" skill were extremely noticeable during cultivation. The speed at which Sha Qi condensed in the meridians was nearly 20% faster than before. Sha Qi cones that previously required repeated compression to form could now achieve the same density with just one condensation.

Moonlight streamed through the cracks in the window and fell onto the ground, leaving only the faint hum of spiritual energy circulating during cultivation inside the stone house.

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