Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After returning to the market, Li Yuan cleaned up the seized items in the stone house.

The two late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators didn't have much in their storage bags. There were a little over forty mid-grade spirit stones, a few first-tier magic artifacts, and some daily necessities.

There is only one thing worth noting.

Hidden in a compartment of the demonic cultivator's storage bag was a communication jade slip. After the demonic seal was broken, three unerased communication records were found inside.

The first two are routine scheduling instructions and are not of much value.

The third item is an encrypted notification.

The message is brief: With supplies to the northern route suspended, the outer outposts have reached their limits in terms of self-sufficiency. Headquarters has decided to replan the infiltration route, bypassing the northern route and instead taking the western route. The western route enters through the Bone Ridge northwest of Ghost Mist Forest, and an advance team has been dispatched to scout the route. Outposts with spare capacity can move towards Bone Ridge and await further instructions.

Dry Bone Ridge.

Li Yuan combined this report with the information he had previously obtained.

The short, stout demonic cultivator at the third transit station mentioned that a possible entrance to the Xuan You Sect ruins had been discovered underground in the Dry Bone Ridge, but it was sealed off by a high-grade third-tier restriction. The Fiend Demon Sect did not react at the time, probably because the northern route was still operational and they were not in a hurry to open up a new route.

But now the northern route is cut off. The second transit station has been destroyed, the third transit station has been withdrawn, and the supply chain is completely paralyzed. The Demon Sect has no choice but to find another way out, and the Bone Ridge happens to be located at a key node on the western route.

The pretense of replanning the infiltration route is a lie; the real purpose is to target the Kuguling site.

The entrance to the ruins was sealed off by a high-grade third-tier restriction, preventing even Golden Core cultivators from entering. However, the Demonic Fiend Sect's methods didn't stop there; they had already made contact with the Abyss Sect, and no one could say for sure whether the Abyss Sect had someone behind them capable of breaking high-grade third-tier restrictions.

Considering the righteous-style monitoring array discovered above the entrance to the Bone Ridge last time, it's clear that the Demonic Sect isn't the only one eyeing that area.

Once the western route is formed, Kugu Ridge is likely to transform from a hidden site into a focal point of power struggles among various parties.

Li Yuan put the communication jade slip into his storage bag.

That night, he set off again.

Using Earth Escape Technique, he sank underground and headed northwest along the route he had taken to Dry Bone Ridge last time. The slight speed boost from Earth Escape reduced the journey time by about 10%, and he arrived in less than an hour.

Once it emerged from the ground, Dark Fiend's perception network was fully deployed.

The surface of Dry Bone Ridge was exactly the same as when I last visited. Barren slopes covered with rubble, withered grass and stunted trees, and weathered rock layers that looked deathly pale under the moonlight.

Li Yuan focused his senses on the entrance area of ​​the ruins, which was forty feet underground.

The third-tier superior-grade restriction remained steadfast. The triple seals were layered upon each other, showing no signs of being touched or tested. The spiritual energy fluctuations on the surface of the restriction were as stable as ever, indicating that no one had attempted to break it since the last visit.

He then shifted his perception to a crevice in the rock strata ten feet above the entrance.

The hidden formation is still there.

The three key nodes have hardly changed compared to the last scan.

Apart from that, there were no new formations, new footprints, or new spiritual energy remnants around the entire area of ​​the Dry Bone Ridge.

Other factions know about this place, but have not yet taken action.

The advance team of the Demon Sect may still be on its way, or it may have arrived nearby but not yet approached the core area.

Li Yuan did not linger. After confirming that there were no changes in the surrounding area, he sneaked back to the market town via the same route.

In the following days, Li Yuan shifted his focus of cultivation to the Xuanming Sha Gong.

This third-tier, low-grade demonic cultivation technique was copied from the communication jade slip of the Golden Core cultivator of the Demonic Fiend Sect. The technique uses demonic energy as a base to refine demonic energy, gradually increasing the purity of the demonic energy within the body. The entry threshold is not high, but advancement is extremely difficult.

For Li Yuan, the issue of barriers to entry does not exist.

The affinity of evil energy provided by the return of evil energy to one, the fusion of the fire attribute of evil energy in the unity of fire and evil, the 30% condensation bonus of demonic energy, and the foundation of demonic energy circulation laid by the perfection of the Demonic Energy Technique, all these multiple attributes and the foundation of the technique are superimposed together, making it easy to get started with the Xuanming Evil Technique.

Five days passed, and the Xuanming Sha Gong had progressed from beginner to proficient. The demonic energy that had settled in his dantian had become noticeably more condensed. After adding the demonic energy condensation attribute, the quality of the demonic energy golden core was continuously improving at a speed that was imperceptible to the naked eye but was undeniably real.

[Mysterious Netherworld Fiend Technique: From Beginner to Proficient]

It took five days for a cultivator to go from novice to proficient in a third-tier cultivation technique. For an ordinary cultivator, it would take months or even years to master a third-tier cultivation technique, but with the Golden Core stage cultivation and the cumulative effect of multiple attributes, this time was compressed to the extreme.

After mastering the Xuanming Sha Gong, the efficiency of purifying demonic energy within his body reached a new level. After each cycle of circulation, the demonic energy settling in his dantian became even more condensed than before. Superimposed on the demonic energy condensation entries, the quality of the demonic energy golden core was slowly but steadily improving.

Meanwhile, the condition for making the Dark Element Mirror permanent is that a third-tier demonic cultivation technique reaches mastery. There is still a long way to go from proficiency to mastery, but the direction has been found.

During his breaks from cultivation, Li Yuan turned his attention back to the market.

Monthly ledgers show that market revenue continues to climb. The ongoing influx of independent cultivators and low-level cultivators has provided a stable consumer base, while the supply shortage of Condensing Qi Pills has further boosted profits. The spirit stone reserves in the warehouse have already exceeded a new figure.

Li Yuan found Xu Zhang.

"The market area needs to be expanded."

Xu Zhang was clearly prepared, taking out a written plan from his sleeve and spreading it on the table.

"The Chamber of Commerce agrees. The shantytown south of the market has already spontaneously extended more than 200 zhang outwards, and it will become chaotic if it is not planned. I suggest expanding towards Lingxi Valley, where the terrain is flat and water resources are abundant, making it suitable for large-scale construction."

Li Yuan glanced at the plan and nodded.

"While expanding, I want to open a shop in the new district."

"What shop?"

"Essences, magical artifacts, and talismans. They're all registered under the Chamber of Commerce, called Yuanmingzhai."

Xu Zhang was slightly taken aback, but then he understood.

The shop is registered under the Chamber of Commerce to avoid drawing attention to the market owner himself. It wouldn't look good if the market manager personally ran a shop, and it would easily attract unnecessary inquiries. But being registered under the Chamber of Commerce is different; the Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce is a business, so having another shop is perfectly normal.

"Where's the source of the goods?" Xu Zhang asked.

"I'll provide the space. You just need to take care of the shop and the manpower."

Xu Zhang thought for a moment and nodded.

"Sure. The Chamber of Commerce already has two shops in the market, so adding another one won't be out of place. As for manpower, I'll transfer two people from the main shop. The purchase and sale of goods will be handled through the Chamber of Commerce's internal accounts, so outsiders won't notice anything amiss."

How will the profits be distributed?

"The Chamber of Commerce will take 20%."

"One and a half percent."

"make a deal."

After the matter of Yuanmingzhai was settled, Li Yuan returned to the stone house.

After sitting cross-legged, he divided his divine sense into eight threads and controlled them simultaneously.

The first spiritual line guides the flow of spiritual energy through the Xuanming Sha Gong. The second controls the temperature of the medicinal liquid within the alchemy furnace. The third manipulates the talisman brush to draw spiritual patterns on the talisman paper. The fourth monitors the fusion state of the ore in the refining furnace. The fifth to eighth lines are respectively responsible for the passive perception of Dark Sha Insight, the real-time monitoring of the market's defensive formation, and two backup emergency lines.

Eight lines operate in parallel. Each line operates stably without interfering with the others.

The strength of his divine sense at the Golden Core stage, coupled with the permanent ability to use his divine sense for multiple tasks, makes his multitasking capabilities far surpass those of his peers. Eight divine sense lines are currently his stable upper limit; adding one more would result in a decrease in accuracy. However, eight are sufficient to handle all his daily needs.

Cultivation, alchemy, talisman making, and weapon crafting were all carried out simultaneously. This increased efficiency by at least three times compared to completing them one by one.

A few days later, Li Yuan traveled to Mozhou via a teleportation array.

Near the core node of the spiritual vein, the nourishing nest of the jade bead is still operating stably.

He sensed the repair status inside the pearl using the Earth Vein Spirit Pivot.

The first phase of repairs is basically complete.

The eight shallow energy cavities have all closed. The corresponding surface cracks have been reduced by nearly 70%, and the two shallowest cracks have almost completely disappeared, leaving only very faint traces. Of the twelve main channels of spiritual energy circulation inside the bead, one and a half of the four broken channels have been repaired, and spiritual energy can now circulate locally along the repaired main channels.

However, the damage in the middle and deep layers remained almost unchanged.

The penetration depth of the residual powder as a medium is limited; the energy of the spiritual vein, after being transformed by the powder, can only reach the outer edge of the middle layer of the bead at most. Going deeper, the energy loss during the conduction process increases dramatically, and by the time it reaches the void, very little remains.

The second stage of repair requires higher quality homologous auxiliary materials, or a new medium that can directly deliver spiritual energy to the vicinity of the bead's core.

Li Yuan recalibrated the parameters for nourishing the nest, focusing the direction of the spiritual vein energy penetration towards the two cavities closest to the outer edge in the middle layer, attempting to expand the effective depth of the medium through continuous penetration.

The effect is limited, but it's better than nothing.

Before leaving Mozhou, he lingered near the core of the spiritual vein for a while, using the earth vein spiritual pivot to sense the energy fluctuations in the direction of the sealed area.

Everything is stable and there are no abnormalities.

Return to the market