Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

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In a side hall of the management office, Ji Wenchuan placed the newly compiled personnel roster on the table.

"This morning, the sect dispatched two more deacons and fifteen patrol team members to the outposts." Ji Wenchuan pointed to the names crossed off on the roster. "As of now, the number of people officially employed by the Yuan Yang Sect in the market is less than 20% of what it used to be. The patrol team has the biggest shortage."

Li Yuan picked up the roster and glanced at it.

The sect's higher-ups have clearly devoted all their energy to the search deep within the Ghost Mist Forest. As long as things don't go wrong in their rear base like the market town, they don't have enough manpower to maintain high-pressure management.

A power vacuum naturally needs to be filled.

"Have members of the Wang family join the patrol team." Li Yuan pushed the roster back. "And you can pick a few clever rogue cultivators from the South District to fill the positions of those two stewards, responsible for daily registration and shop coordination. Nominally, they'll still be managing on behalf of the sect, but in reality, we'll set the rules."

Ji Wenchuan nodded in agreement, put away the roster, and left.

Li Yuan then opened another ledger on the table.

This is the total revenue statement for the market last month. The output of the Fire Fiend Stone Essence Mine is stable, and the Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce delivers large quantities of goods on time every month. After Sun Henian's talisman shop expanded, its wholesale business now covers three small markets in the surrounding area. Coupled with the huge profits from the Soul-Gathering Pills brought by the two acres of Soul-Gathering Grass, all three sectors are performing well simultaneously.

Net income for the month: 310 mid-grade spirit stones.

The figures are quite impressive. This level of monthly income already surpasses the total revenue of many medium-sized cultivation families. With this stable source of income, the large quantities of rare auxiliary materials and formation materials needed for subsequent Core Formation can be directly sourced using spirit stones, eliminating the need for the meticulous budgeting of the past.

Li Yuan closed the ledger.

Hurried footsteps came from outside the courtyard gate. Chen Yi strode into the side hall, his expression unusually anxious.

"Something's happened." Chen Yi sat down at the table, picked up the teapot, poured himself a cup of cold tea, and gulped it down.

"News from the outpost. The western exploration team encountered a large-scale attack by a group of second-tier demonic beasts about eighty miles into the territory. Two early Foundation Establishment stage cultivators were killed, and part of the team was scattered. They have now retreated to the safe zone sixty miles away."

He put down his teacup and quickened his pace.

"The exploration team on the east side is also not at peace. Although they haven't encountered a large group of demonic beasts, they discovered the ruins of what appears to be a man-made structure deep underground. The team leader judged that there might be a dangerous restriction below and dared not venture further. They have already sent a letter to the forward outpost requesting reinforcements, asking for more people proficient in formations."

Li Yuan listened without showing any emotion.

"What do you need the market for?"

"Emergency allocation of supplies." Chen Yi tapped the table. "Pills, talismans, antidotes, and array repair materials. Take as much as you can. The sect will settle accounts at normal market prices, with no delays. The exploration team needs to establish a firm foothold in the forest; the supply line cannot be interrupted."

"Get it ready by this evening and have it delivered to the outpost." Li Yuan readily agreed.

"Thank you." Chen Yi stood up and left in a hurry.

Watching Chen Yi's figure disappear outside the courtyard gate, Li Yuan leaned back in his chair and fell into deep thought.

The sect had deployed personnel to the maximum extent possible from its outposts and exploration teams, yet it had never included him, a market manager whose combat strength far surpassed that of his peers, in any combat unit. This seemed reasonable on the surface, given that he was the logistics director.

But there is one thing that is very unreasonable.

In order to complete his mission in the Valley of Withered Bones, he activated the Profound Nether Pearl, which possessed a genuine Golden Core level aura. Although it was only for a brief moment, in the current tense situation where all parties were on edge, this aura would inevitably be detected by those who were interested.

However, the Dark Abyss Society did not respond to this.

Li Yuan composed himself and closed his eyes.

The spiritual vein's affinity and sensory network silently extended underground, following the branch of the main spiritual vein of the market town, all the way to the east side of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Deep underground, hundreds of feet below the surface, he detected several clusters of spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the exploration team on the east side. Given his familiarity with the underground terrain, he immediately pinpointed their location.

It is located near the ruins of the Xuanyou Branch Hall.

However, the exploration team did not find the true entrance to the branch hall. The so-called architectural remains they discovered were merely some abandoned diversion channels and sentry stone foundations located very shallowly on the perimeter of the branch hall. The true core formation and the jade bead were hidden behind a deeper and more concealed folded space.

They won't find the core in the short term, but if they keep digging, they'll eventually reach the edge of the restrictions.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, got up and walked out of the side hall.

He had to prepare the supplies Chen Yi needed.

During the preparation period, Li Yuan went to the East District, to Sun Henian's shop.

The shop was packed with independent cultivators and members of demon-hunting teams who came to make purchases, and the shop assistants were busy as bees. In the tense situation, life-saving items had become the most sought-after commodities.

Sun Henian was bent over the table, his talisman brush moving swiftly and rapidly, outlining the last few array patterns. As the last stroke fell, a flash of spiritual light appeared on the surface of the talisman paper, then steadily subsided.

"Master Li," Sun Henian put down his pen, wiped the sweat from his forehead, "I'm sorry you had to deal with the pressure from the front lines."

"I need a batch of high-grade defensive talismans; the sect urgently needs them," Li Yuan explained his purpose.

"Yes." Sun Henian pointed to a stack of talismans on the shelf next to him. "These are the spirit shield talismans I recently improved. They use powdered second-tier armored rhinoceros hide as the ink base. The activation speed is twice as fast as those on the market. Although the defense limit hasn't increased much, its advantage lies in its instant activation, which can block a fatal blow."

Li Yuan walked over and picked up the topmost spirit shield talisman to examine it.

The rune structure has indeed been simplified considerably, sacrificing durability for activation speed, making it very useful in the ever-changing chaos of battle.

The panel popped up the moment the fingertip touched the talisman.

[Equipable item detected: Spirit Shield Charm (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Power Shield (White)]

[Effect: Automatically generates a thin spiritual energy shield when attacked, which shatters after absorbing a small amount of damage]

[Preview of Permanentization Requirements: You already possess one permanent defensive affix (met)]

The conditions have been met.

This is an extremely pure passive defense mechanism that requires no reaction time. Although it's just a white attribute and absorbs limited damage, in a life-or-death battle, even the slightest buffer is enough for him to turn the tables.

Li Yuan took out a jade slip from his storage bag and placed it on the table.

"This is the recipe for the Fiend Blade Talisman, suitable for melee fiend-type cultivators. I'll trade this for your batch of Spirit Shield Talismans."

Sun Henian's eyes lit up, and he quickly picked up the jade slip and placed it on his forehead. A moment later, he put down the jade slip, his face beaming with joy.

"This rune is ingeniously designed and makes extremely good use of malevolent energy. Master Li, I've made a profit on this deal. You can take all of these Spirit Shield Talismans, and I'll provide you with fifty more every month for free."

Li Yuan did not refuse and put all the spirit shield talismans on the shelf into his storage bag, while taking out one and putting it into his equipment slot.

"equipment."

[Spiritual Shield (White) has become a permanent item]

The illusory image of the talisman flickered briefly in the equipment slot before disappearing, freeing up the empty space again.

There were no obvious changes on his body surface, but Li Yuan could sense that in addition to the shock-absorbing protection and the magic rune protection, there was another extremely sensitive spiritual energy triggering mechanism. Once an external force approached at high speed, this mechanism would instantly draw a tiny bit of spiritual energy and condense it into a shield on his body surface.

Another card has been added to the deck.

After leaving the talisman shop, Li Yuan went to the medicine warehouse and obtained enough pills, which he then handed over to the person Chen Yi had sent to collect them.

By the time all this was done, it was already dark.

Li Yuan returned to the stone house without lighting a lamp. His active concealment ability, "Hidden and Unseen," was fully activated, and his figure instantly blended into the darkness.

He left the market without a sound and entered the Ghost Mist Forest once again.

The target was the suspicious locations previously provided by the demonic cultivator surnamed Qian. The last investigation yielded nothing, but something felt off. The Dark Abyss Society wouldn't have designated those locations without reason.

An hour later, he arrived at the low-lying basin covered with vines.

He hovered in mid-air, concealing all his aura, and the Dark Fiend Insight's perception network slowly opened in its most refined mode.

The night wind rustled softly through the bare trees.

At first, there was still nothing. But after waiting for nearly two incense sticks' worth of time, the edge of Dark Fiend's perception network detected an extremely faint tremor.

It is not a naturally occurring fluctuation of spiritual energy, but rather a kind of demonic energy harmonic wave that has been deliberately compressed and encrypted.

Someone is transmitting their voice covertly.

The source of the fluctuation was neither on the surface of the basin nor in the shallow underground, but rather seeping from a deeper place, seemingly separated by some kind of spatial barrier. If it weren't for the fact that his own aura interference had been greatly reduced by his stealth ability, coupled with the absolute sensitivity of Dark Fiend Insight to demonic energy, he would have had no way of noticing this insignificant tremor.

Li Yuan did not approach.

He stopped in place, and five lines of divine sense extended out like gossamer threads, precisely attaching themselves to that wisp of demonic energy harmonic wave, imprinting the frequency, rhythm, and fluctuations of the wave into his mind word for word.

This method of encrypted, covert transmission is extremely complex. It cannot be understood by listening directly; the original content can only be deduced through specific techniques.

The telepathic transmission lasted for about 15 minutes, then abruptly disappeared and never reappeared.

Li Yuan noted down the last trace of fluctuation and immediately turned back to the market.