Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

In the days following the conclusion of the outpost's investigation, an eerie calm remained in the direction of the branch temple deep within the Ghost Mist Forest.

On the surface, the Tianyue Sect and the Yuanyang Sect have ceased their activities, but in reality, their blockade is even more stringent than before.

Li Yuan didn't touch the branch hall line again. He already had the jade bead; what was most worthwhile to continue exploring was the supply network left behind by the Demon Fiend Sect in the northern Ghost Mist Forest.

Especially the third transit station—that was the last piece of the puzzle for the remaining intelligence on the northern front.

……

The supply of the Demon Sect's northern route has been suspended for more than ten days.

It was late at night when Li Yuan left the market. He disguised himself with the sinister face of a demonic cultivator, and tuned his demonic energy frequency to the standard harmonics of the Dark Abyss Society.

The target this time is the third transit station.

Li Yuan used the Earth Escape Technique, his body sinking into the ground.

Spiritual energy enveloped his body as he traversed the rock strata, his speed significantly increased compared to before. The permanent "Earth Escape Speed" attribute activated the instant the Earth Escape Technique was cast, increasing the efficiency of each burst of spiritual energy propulsion by ten percent.

Li Yuan deliberately conducted two tests during the journey.

While maintaining the original output, the escape speed was significantly increased;

Despite reducing the consumption of spiritual energy, the speed was still comparable to when he used his full strength in the past.

The effect has been confirmed. With the same spiritual energy consumption, the Earth Escape Technique's duration has increased by approximately 10%. For long-distance stealth, this bonus translates to less spiritual energy consumption and a greater safety radius.

About half an hour later, Li Yuan's senses reached the target area.

The third transit station was located underground on a rocky, barren slope. The entrance was hidden at the base of a broken boulder, the gap between the boulder and the ground covered by dead branches and loose soil.

Li Yuan did not rush in directly from underground, but instead emerged from the ground fifty feet outside the transfer station and used Dark Insight to scan first.

Two clusters of demonic energy signals.

Both were in the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment; one was sitting inside the cave, while the other was pacing back and forth near the cave entrance.

There are only two people left.

Last time, the pale-faced man said there were five people on duty at the third transfer station. Now there are only two left; the other three have either been reassigned or evacuated on their own after supplies stopped.

Li Yuan approached from the front.

The release of demonic energy triggered the sensor array surrounding the cave entrance. This sensor array is the same type as the one at the first transfer station, and it only responds to the specific frequency of demonic energy from the Dark Abyss.

Alert lifted.

He pushed aside the dead branches and walked down the sloping, narrow path.

A thin, dark-skinned demonic cultivator sat on a straw mat, polishing a magical artifact. He merely raised his eyelids when Li Yuan entered. Another, shorter, stouter demonic cultivator was dozing against the cave entrance. Startled awake by the footsteps, he rubbed his eyes and mumbled a question.

"Who?"

"We came from the north." Li Yuan's voice was hoarse and husky, characteristic of demonic cultivators, as he tossed a small bag of spirit stones on the ground. "Can I borrow a place to rest?"

The dark-skinned, thin demonic cultivator glanced at the spirit stone bag, then at Li Yuan's face and the fluctuations of demonic energy around him. He didn't say anything more and continued to polish his magic weapon.

The short, stout demonic cultivator was more talkative. He'd probably been cooped up here for too long and wanted to chat with any new faces he saw.

"You came from the north? Wasn't the northern route shut down?"

"It stopped, that's why we went around this way." Li Yuan sat down against the wall. "Any new information from upstairs?"

The short, fat demonic cultivator curled his lip.

"What new news? It's just me and Lao Zhao left, and the higher-ups aren't even bothering to send any communications. But there is one thing: people from Yuanzong are coming to pick up the goods tomorrow."

Li Yuan slightly raised his eyes.

"Yuanzong?"

"It's not the Yuan Sect itself." The short, stout demonic cultivator waved his hand. "It's one of their peripheral forces, a family in Lingzhou, what's it called, the Li family or the Lu family? The Yuan Sect wouldn't personally do this kind of errand-running work; they always send their subordinate families to do it."

"What are we exchanging?"

"The same old routine. We provide demonic energy array stones and a few copies of cultivation techniques, while they provide spiritual herbs and refining materials. The quantity isn't large, just a few boxes. After the exchange, this station will be closed; the higher-ups said there's no need to maintain it anymore."

Lingzhou. A subordinate family of Yuanzong.

Li Yuan mentally compared this information with what he had previously intercepted from the Golden Core communication jade slip of the Demon Fiend Sect. The Demon Fiend Sect had extended an invitation to the Yuan Sect, which neither gave a clear response nor refused. It now seemed that the cooperation between the two sides had already been secretly facilitated by peripheral families.

"How do we contact the people from Yuanzong?" Li Yuan asked casually.

The dark-skinned, thin demonic cultivator then interjected.

"Demonic energy transmission... Following the updates has never been so enjoyable. But the frequency they use is different from ours."

He picked up a broken jade slip fragment from the ground and gestured with it in the air.

"You know the Dark Abyss Society's communication frequency; it's a standard three-segment pulse. The outer forces of the Abyss Sect use a continuous wave. It's not segmented; it's a single, constant line. If you don't understand this format, you won't be able to decipher it even if you receive it."

Continuous wave transmission. Constant frequency, no segmentation.

This was completely different from the Dark Abyss Society's three-stage pulse transmission. Li Yuan memorized the characteristics of this method of communication. This information would be crucial if he ever needed to eavesdrop on or forge communications from the Abyss Sect.

The short, fat demonic cultivator mentioned it again.

"By the way, since you're from the north, have you heard about the Dry Bone Ridge?"

"What is it?"

"Northwest of Ghost Mist Forest, at Bone Ridge." The short, stout demonic cultivator lowered his voice, a hint of excitement on his face, "An entrance has been discovered underground, said to be the ruins of the Xuan You Sect. But the entrance is sealed off by several layers of restrictions, even Golden Core cultivators can't get in at the third-tier high-grade level."

"Who discovered it?"

"I don't know. Anyway, after the news reached the higher-ups, they didn't say how to handle it. I guess they want to wait and see if the Yuan Sect has any experts who can break the barrier."

Dry Bone Ridge. A high-grade, third-tier restriction. Ruins of the Xuan You Sect.

Li Yuan calmly combined this information with the information he already had in his mind.

At this point, the complete supply chain along the northern route of Ghost Mist Forest was finally complete in his mind.

Starting from the northern branch altar, the supply route passes through the outer perimeter of the Dry Bone Ridge and enters the northern route of the Ghost Mist Forest. The first transit station is responsible for receiving and distributing supplies, the second transit station is responsible for transit and temporary storage, and the third transit station is responsible for exchanging supplies with external forces. The three stations are linked together to form a hidden supply chain that runs through the northern part of the Ghost Mist Forest.

The second transit station has now been shut down, and the third transit station will also be withdrawn after tomorrow's transactions. The northern route is effectively cut off.

They chatted for about half an hour.

The short, stout demonic cultivator yawned and shrank back onto the straw mat to lie down. The thin, dark-skinned man also put down his magical artifact, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes to rest.

Li Yuan leaned against the wall, also adopting a posture of resting with his eyes closed.

The cave fell silent.

He waited for about fifteen minutes.

Both demonic cultivators' breathing became even. The short, stout one was already snoring softly, while the thin, dark-skinned one, though not fast asleep, was clearly in a semi-dormant state.

Li Yuan opened his eyes.

Bring your two right fingers together.

Sky-Splitting Slash.

The first gray crack skimmed across the ground, silently slicing through the short, stout demonic cultivator's throat. His snoring abruptly ceased, his body twitched once, and then he remained motionless.

The dark-skinned, thin demonic cultivator's ears twitched, and he abruptly opened his eyes the instant the crack sliced ​​through the air. Before he could even raise his magical artifact, a second crack had already pierced through his forehead.

The two were separated by only a breath.

Li Yuan withdrew his spiritual power and stood up.

First, clean out the storage bags.

The two Foundation Establishment mid-stage demonic cultivators were more wealthy than the guards at the second transfer station. They possessed approximately fifty mid-grade spirit stones, several low-level magic artifacts, and some daily necessities.

The wooden boxes in the corner mostly contained magic energy array stones and cultivation technique rubbings for tomorrow's transaction.

Li Yuan checked them one by one.

When I turned over to the last wooden box, my fingertips touched a talisman the size of my palm.

The talisman's material differs from ordinary talisman paper; its surface gleams with a dark red sheen, and its edges are sealed with demonic energy. Its design is neat and its patterns intricate, a standard product of the Demonic Fiend Sect.

He broke the seal on the demonic energy.

The front of the talisman is engraved with a complex locking array pattern, and its function is very clear: after being attached to the target, it can completely block the opponent's spiritual power circulation for a certain period of time.

Second-tier spirit-locking talisman.

This is a standard item used by the Demonic Sect to bind prisoners alive, sealing their spiritual power to prevent them from escaping or self-destructing. This type of talisman is standard issue to the Demonic Sect's enforcement and interrogation teams; keeping one at the outer transit station is likely just in case.

Li Yuan put the spirit-locking talisman into his storage bag.

He then used the Flaming Fiend Flame to incinerate the corpses and destroy all traces inside and outside the transfer station.

As we emerged from the cave, the night air was crisp and cool on the barren, rocky slope.

Of the three transit points, one was left alive, one was completely wiped out but intelligence was seized, and the other was completely wiped out but supplies were seized. He now had information on every link in the northern route, from its starting point to its end.

Li Yuan used the Earth Escape Technique to sink underground and return towards the market.