Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

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On the way back from the abyss, Li Yuan slowed down.

With his stealth abilities fully activated, he vanished into the thick fog of the Ghost Mist Forest. His passive perception network, centered on him, extended in all directions, capturing every movement within a radius of several miles.

When they reached a point about sixty miles northwest of the market, three groups of people appeared in the sensing network almost simultaneously.

The first to enter the sensing range were two Yuan Yang Sect scouts. Both were mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators, dressed in standard gray outfits, moving swiftly along the branches high in the forest. They worked in perfect harmony, one in front of the other about fifty feet apart; the one in front was responsible for reconnaissance, while the one behind was responsible for recording the terrain.

Almost simultaneously, deep within the bushes to the northeast, Dark Insight detected a deliberately suppressed signal of demonic energy. A mid-Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator crouched at the base of a decaying giant tree, wearing an aura-concealing artifact similar to the Qi-Concealing Pills previously seized by Li Yuan. He was watching the movement of the two Yuan Yang Sect scouts through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

The Dark Abyss's sentries.

A third group appeared further west. Two monks walked along an old beast path almost entirely covered in moss. They wore greyish-white robes with gold mountain crests on the cuffs.

Tianyue Sect.

Both were at the late Foundation Establishment stage, their steps steady and their expressions composed. One of them held a compass-like magical artifact in his hand, glancing down to check it every few steps. The other frequently scanned his surroundings with his divine sense, maintaining a very wide vigilance range.

The three spies moved about within a radius of two miles, with the closest distance between them being less than one hundred feet.

The Yuan Yang Sect's scouts were the first to notice the anomaly. The scout leading the way suddenly stopped, placed his right hand on the magic weapon at his waist, and stared intently for a few moments in the direction where the Dark Abyss Society's sentries were hiding.

The demonic cultivators of the Dark Abyss Society tensed up, their fingers gripping a pitch-black talisman, ready to activate it at any moment.

But neither side made a move.

The scout didn't seem to have pinpointed the enemy's location accurately; he just instinctively sensed something was off in that direction. He gave a hand signal to his companion behind him, and the two of them changed course in unison, taking an arc to the north and moving away from the sentry's position.

The demonic cultivators of the Dark Abyss Society slowly released their fingers from the talisman, watching the two scouts disappear into the mist.

The two cultivators from Tianyue Sect never changed direction. Their route passed right through the gap between the other two groups. The cultivator holding the compass occasionally glanced up into the distance, his expression calm, as if he were completely unconcerned about the undercurrents around him.

The three parties are wary of each other, yet each exercises restraint, maintaining a delicate balance in the increasingly crowded Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan stood atop a withered tree, taking in the entire scene.

The three factions' exploration tentacles have already penetrated deep into the heart of the Ghost Mist Forest, less than a few dozen miles from the Abyss Rift. At this rate, the first team will reach the rift in ten to fifteen days at most.

He went unnoticed by anyone and continued his return towards the market.

---

When they returned to the market, Xu Zhang was already waiting outside the stone house.

"How long have you been here?"

"Half an hour." Xu Zhang followed him into the room, and before he could even sit down, he took out a jade slip from his sleeve and pushed it onto the table. "It's urgent, it just arrived."

Li Yuan took the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

Two pieces of intelligence.

First: The Tianyue Sect has reinforced its forces with an elite team in the direction of the Sunset Corridor. The leader has been identified as a late-stage Golden Core elder of the Tianyue Sect, whose Daoist name is unknown, but who possesses extremely high strength. The team is currently moving towards Liangzhou and is expected to arrive at the outpost area within three to five days.

Late stage of Golden Core.

The Yuan Yang Sect only had an elder at the early Golden Core stage stationed at the outpost. The Tian Yue Sect, on the other hand, sent a late Golden Core stage elder. This was no longer a gesture of cooperation, but rather a declaration of their intention to establish dominance.

The second piece of information carries more weight.

The identity of the Golden Core cultivator stationed in Blackwater Valley by the Fiend Demon Sect has been confirmed by the Chamber of Commerce's intelligence network. His Daoist name is Blood Fiend, he is a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and ranks second in strength within the Fiend Demon Sect. This individual is renowned for his blood refining secret techniques, his hands are stained with the blood of righteous cultivators, and he is a frequent target on the wanted lists of various sects surrounding Liangzhou.

Li Yuan put down the jade slip.

"Level of confirmation?"

"More than 80%." Xu Zhang's expression was serious. "Ten years ago, Blood Fiend massacred a small sect in southern Jingzhou. His methods were extremely cruel, and none of the more than three hundred members of the sect survived. Although the Tianyue Sect issued a kill order afterward, they have never been able to catch him. The Chamber of Commerce has been tracking his whereabouts for a long time, and this time it was confirmed through cross-referencing with informants near Blackwater Valley."

Late stage of Golden Core. Second strongest in the Demon Fiend Sect.

Meanwhile, the Yuan Yang Sect's members are at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

They're two minor realms apart.

If the late-stage Golden Core elder of Tianyue Sect didn't intervene, Yuanyang Sect would be at a significant disadvantage in terms of high-end combat power. However, Tianyue Sect's intervention wasn't to help Yuanyang Sect; they had their own objectives.

After Xu Zhang left, Li Yuan sat down at the table and reviewed the situation again.

Three Golden Core level warriors are about to clash in the direction of Ghost Mist Forest. The Yuan Yang Sect's Golden Core stage is early stage, the Tian Yue Sect's is late stage, and the Sha Mo Sect's is late stage. He himself is at the early stage of Golden Core, but his identity cannot be revealed.

---

That night, at midnight.

Li Yuan once again disappeared into the Ghost Mist Forest.

The target this time is not the Abyss Rift, but three anomalies on the northern route.

Low-lying basins, cliffs, and poisonous swamps. He had previously explored these three locations one by one during his Foundation Establishment stage, each time testing a single coordinate in isolation. The results were either fruitless or he only captured extremely brief harmonic waves of demonic energy.

His perception at the Golden Core stage gave him a completely new perspective.

He spent the entire night shuttling between the three locations. Instead of checking each one individually, he simultaneously incorporated all three into his perception network, conducting a comprehensive analysis from the perspectives of formations and earth veins.

The Earth Vein Spirit Pivot's perception penetrated the earth's surface and went deep into the rock strata dozens of feet below the three locations.

The three locations each have distinctly different geological features. The low-lying basin is composed of soft sedimentary layers, the cliffs are made of hard granite, and the poisonous swamp is a peat layer rich in humus.

But deeper still, three extremely thin ley lines extend downwards from their respective locations, eventually converging in the same direction.

Instead of flowing into the main spiritual vein, it was connected to a network of artificially modified underground passages.

The passageways show signs of ancient alteration, their style consistent with the Xuan You Sect's drainage system. The three branch lines of the earth veins are actually the final openings of this network of passageways.

External vent. Or, in other words, air vent.

Just as a massive underground structure needs ventilation ducts, this relic system left three inconspicuous vents on the surface. Normally, there is almost no energy leakage, but under certain conditions, internal energy can seep out through these three vents along the channels.

Li Yuan recorded the precise coordinates of the three outlets, the direction of the channels, and their respective geological features, and drew a simplified map of the outer route on a blank talisman paper.

The annotations on the diagrams use his own abbreviated symbols, without any textual explanation. Even if it falls into the wrong hands, all you'll see are a bunch of meaningless dots and curves.

After drawing the route map, Li Yuan returned to the top of the low-lying basin, sat cross-legged, and adjusted the accuracy of Dark Fiend Insight to the limit.

With his Dark Insight doubled during the Golden Core stage, he was able to detect deep demonic energy harmonics that were completely inaccessible during the Foundation Establishment stage. Signals that had been filtered through layers of thick rock, leaving only a fraction of their original strength, were now as clear as a pulse in his perception.

He collected signals from the three leak points simultaneously and compared their frequencies and phases one by one.

The oscillations are cyclical.

The harmonic frequencies of the three outlets are completely synchronized, and the phase difference remains constant, which proves that they do indeed belong to the same source.

Li Yuan put away the route map and returned to the market.

After returning to the stone house, he did not rest.

The window of opportunity is limited. The three Golden Core cultivators are about to clash, and the situation in Ghost Mist Forest could change drastically at any moment. Once a Golden Core cultivator enters the Abyss Rift first, the right to explore the entire ruin will be instantly locked.

The process of reconstituted elixir must be accelerated.

He took out a list of materials for Core Formation that he had accumulated from his storage bag and checked them one by one.

Two core auxiliary ingredients are still missing from the spiritual energy core formation process; these can be purchased through Xu Zhang's merchant guild channels. The formation to stabilize the dantian requires higher-quality boundary stones, which should be available at the White Mirror Market. The life-saving contingency plan in the event of core shattering is already provided by the permanent attribute of the Demon Core Creation, so no additional preparation is needed.

The chosen location is the Mo Zhou spiritual vein. When the shattered core is re-formed, the spiritual vein will be placed in a special slot, and the spiritual energy will be guided by the control authority. With the added spiritual power quality after the spiritual vein is permanently imbued with spiritual energy, the conditions for breaking through to the highest grade Golden Core are already met.

After reviewing the process, Li Yuan began his cultivation.

After breaking through to the Golden Core stage, both the total amount and quality of spiritual energy within the body undergo a qualitative change. This qualitative change, when reflected in body-refining techniques, produces immediate and noticeable effects.

As dawn broke, Li Yuan exhaled a breath of stale air and clenched his fist. His knuckles cracked repeatedly, demonstrating a significant improvement in the elasticity and resilience of his tendons.

[Golden Body Skill: Proficient → Minor Success (0/1600)]

Of the four body-refining techniques, the Golden Body Technique has finally crossed the threshold of mastery. Combined with the other three techniques, his physical strength has reached an extremely terrifying level among early-stage Golden Core cultivators.