Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The next morning, the five set off along the new route.

Today's route is a little further west than yesterday's, and the terrain is even more desolate.

After walking for about half an hour, the terrain began to sink, and a shallow ditch about two zhang wide appeared in front of us. The bottom of the ditch was covered with withered yellow weeds, and there were low slopes on both sides.

The five walked along the edge of the shallow ditch. He Shou, who was in front, suddenly stopped and listened for a few moments.

Li Yuan also stopped, not because of the feedback from the spirit detection disc—but because of the sound.

In the distance, from the direction where the shallow ditch extends, a faint sound came from.

The sound of metal clashing was short and frequent.

Interspersed with shouts, it was impossible to make out what they were shouting, but the tone was very urgent.

He Shou placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and said something in a low voice.

"A fight broke out."

Chen Qi heard it too, leaned forward slightly, and already held the short knife in his hand.

Li Yuan poured his spiritual power into the spirit-detecting disc, pushing its sensing range to its limit. He couldn't sense anything; the sound traveled much farther than the spirit-detecting disc could.

"Nothing was detected."

He Shou leaned half his body out from the edge of the ditch and glanced in the direction of the sound.

About a hundred feet ahead in the shallow ditch, several figures were chasing and fighting on the wasteland.

The people behind were chasing hard, while those in front were running in a mess. Their formation was scattered, and it didn't look like an organized confrontation at all. It looked more like a group of people chasing another group of people.

He Shou narrowed his eyes.

His gaze wasn't on the people running in the lead, but rather fixed on a figure among the people chasing behind.

The man was wearing a dark brown short jacket, with a gray-black cloth strap tied around his left arm. One end of the strap swung in the wind, revealing a crooked symbol embroidered on it—like an outstretched bird's claw.

"Crow's Claw Gang".

He Shou's voice was very low.

Li Yuan glanced at him.

He Shou had previously taught how to identify those who had undergone tribulation. The most basic method was to look at the markings, but there were many other methods as well.

To identify each other, members of a robbery gang usually wear uniform insignia on their bodies, in concealed locations—armbands, waist buckles, and hidden buckles in boots, each with its own unique identifier.

Of course, this was only a preliminary identification, to prevent colleagues from making immediate moves, and there were also code words used to confirm each other's identities, but He Shou was unaware of these.

Some robbery gangs don't wear identification badges to avoid being recognized by the security team, but this may make them targets for other gangs.

The Crow Claw Gang uses gray-black armbands embroidered with bird claw patterns, which are tied to their left arms.

"Four chasing three." He Shou's gaze shifted from the pursuing crowd, quickly scanning the surrounding terrain. "They're chasing the cultivators who have been robbed; the ones who are running away are the rogue cultivators."

He Shou turned around and glanced at the four people behind him.

"The Crow Claw Gang is a long-established group that robs cultivators. Their area of ​​operation was originally in the southern part of the Yuanheng Mountains, but in recent months they have moved quite a bit north. This group is on the wanted list."

He Shoujiang drew half of his long sword from its sheath.

"The leader's aura is around the fourth level of Qi Refining, and the other three are at the second or third level of Qi Refining, so they're not tough opponents. Five of us can take on four, and if those three rogue cultivators have the strength to help, it shouldn't be a problem."

"Furthermore, if we let the Jie Xiu escape and are discovered when we return, we won't be able to explain ourselves."

He Shou glanced at Li Yuan.

"To fight or not to fight?"

"Shoot them, leave no survivors."

He Shou was the first to move.

Cutting diagonally along the low slope of the shallow ditch, the spiritual energy fluctuations gradually diminished, heading straight for the last cultivator in pursuit.

Li Yuan followed closely behind, but instead of walking along the bottom of the ditch, he stepped on the gravel along the edge of the ditch and went around it from the side, thus increasing the distance between him and He Shou.

Chen Qi and Liu Ping circled around from the other side, while Xu Mao provided support from the rear.

The pursuit continued a hundred feet ahead.

Four cultivators were chasing three rogue cultivators. One of the rogue cultivators was already too exhausted to run. His clothes were torn in several places, his right arm was hanging limply, and blood was flowing down from his sleeve. His pace was getting slower and slower.

The other two rogue cultivators supported him on either side, dragging and pulling him forward.

The cultivator at the forefront raised his hand and threw out a spiritual bullet, which caused the gravel under the feet of the rogue cultivator to explode. The three of them staggered and almost fell.

Just as Jie Xiu was about to deliver another blow, He Shou arrived and unleashed a wind blade technique.

The cultivator reacted quickly, sensing the fluctuation of spiritual energy. He dodged to the side, but a large piece of skin and flesh was still sliced ​​off his face, revealing his teeth.

"Someone's there!"

Jie Xiu's shout made his three companions in front turn around at the same time.

The leader of the Jie Xiu was not tall, but had a tough face. He had a gray-black armband tied around his left arm, and his gaze immediately fell on He Shou's guard uniform.

"People of the market, let's go!"

The leader of the cultivators quickly realized that he had consumed a lot of spiritual energy and could not fight them head-on, so he shouted and prepared to retreat.

But it was too late.

Li Yuan circled around to the side and positioned himself, gathering spiritual energy in his palm and slightly activating the Condensing Yuan Technique, pressing a layer of fireball firmly into his palm.

The dark red ball of light left his hand and headed straight for the side of the leading cultivator.

The cultivator sensed the fluctuation of spiritual energy, twisted his body sharply, took out a narrow-bladed short knife, and held it horizontally in front of him to block.

The fireball struck the blade with an impact far exceeding the cultivator's expectations.

The narrow-bladed dagger was jolted backward, his hand on his hand split open, and the aftershocks of the flames swept across his chest and left arm, charring most of the gray-black armband and leaving a charred patch on the front of his robe.

Jie Xiu staggered back three steps, a look of horror flashing across his face.

He was at the fourth level of Qi Refining. The aura fluctuations of the patrolman opposite him seemed to be only slightly stronger than his own, but the power of this fireball did not seem to be something that someone of the same level could produce.

Li Yuan gave him no time to catch his breath; a second fireball had already formed in his palm.

At the same time, Chen Qi and Liu Ping charged in from the left flank, and the two of them worked together to entangle a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator.

Behind them, He Shou had already forced the first cultivator he had stopped to the edge of the ditch. The fourth level of Qi Refining was completely crushing the third level of Qi Refining.

The situation shifted to one side in a very short time.

Of the four cultivators, one was being suppressed by He Shou, one was being entangled by Chen Qi and Liu Ping, and one was being forced to retreat repeatedly by Li Yuan's fireball.

The remaining one—a Qi Refining Level 2 cultivator, the weakest of the four—glanced at the situation, turned and ran, chewing on something, his speed far exceeding that of others at the same level.

Xu Mao intercepted from behind, and an ice spike shot out, embedding itself in the back of the fleeing Jie Xiu, seemingly blocked by something.

The man staggered but didn't fall. In a few breaths, he disappeared into the bushes in the distance. Xu Mao thought for a moment and didn't chase after him.

The remaining three cultivators had no chance of escaping.

He Shou's side was the first to finish. A wind blade struck Jie Xiu's shoulder, severing an arm. Jie Xiu screamed and fell to his knees, only to be kicked over by He Shou, who then delivered another blow, killing him instantly.

The situation was similar for Chen Qi and Liu Ping; the Jie Xiu was killed on the spot under the combined attack of the two.

The leader of the bandits was also dealt with by Li Yuan.

The second fireball struck the spiritual energy shield he had hastily erected, shattering it and sending him sprawling to the ground in the aftershocks of the flames.

Jie Xiu rolled twice, trying to get up, but Li Yuan had already walked up to him, the crimson light of the third fireball in his palm reflecting on Jie Xiu's face.

Jie Xiu's narrow-bladed dagger fell two steps away, his arm was burned, and his spiritual power was almost exhausted.

He looked up at Li Yuan, his lips twitched, but he didn't say anything.

He Shou walked over from behind, his knife still stained with blood. He glanced at the leader of the robbers on the ground, then looked at Li Yuan with a hint of surprise.

"The Crow Claw Gang members, on the wanted list."

"They've dealt with it. No need to leave any survivors; you won't get anything out of them."

He Shou then drew his knife and finished him off, and the fireball on Li Yuan's palm slowly dissipated.