Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After reporting to Wang De, Li Yuan received a reply saying he would be notified later.

At the same time, Wang De also said that he would pay attention to which rogue cultivators had similar jade pendants, but these things are not easy to check, and it is impossible to directly search them.

Back home, Li Yuan took all the spirit stones out of his sleeve and counted them on the table.

The monthly salary he had just received, the patrol allowance, the share of the monster hunt, and the spirit stones found on the body of the thief cultivator were all piled up on the table.

In particular, the forty-eight spirit stones were obtained from the Jiexiu.

Li Yuan put the spirit stone into his sleeve, left his residence, and walked along East Street to North Alley.

First, I went to a stall run by a random cultivator selling talismans.

"Three Spirit Shield Talismans, three Fire Serpent Talismans, and two Swiftness Talismans."

It's not that I don't want to buy from Lao Zhang's stall, but that I don't need Lao Zhang's talismans right now.

The stall owner quoted a price, and Li Yuan took out spirit stones and neatly stuffed the talisman into his sleeve.

He went to Old Sun's stall again and bought two Rejuvenation Pills, which are pills used to quickly recover from injuries.

The pills and talismans cost a total of fifteen spirit stones, which is equivalent to five months' salary for an ordinary patrol officer.

Because of their royal contracts, the inspectors earned even less than some independent cultivators.

After walking half a block along East Street, Li Yuan stopped in front of a stall.

The spirit-gathering ring is still there.

The bronze-yellow ring, mottled with rust and half-hidden spirit patterns, sits unremarkable in the corner of the stall.

"How much is this?" Li Yuan pointed to the Spirit Gathering Ring.

The stall owner was the same lean, middle-aged rogue cultivator from last time. He looked up at Li Yuan and recognized him as the person who had asked about the price before.

"Still fifteen yuan."

"Thirteen yuan," Li Yuan said.

"No, fifteen yuan, fair and square."

"fourteen."

The stall owner rubbed his hands together, hesitated for a moment, and then gritted his teeth.

"become."

Li Yuan took out fourteen spirit stones and arranged them on the cloth, then put the spirit-gathering ring into his sleeve.

After returning to his residence, Li Yuan bolted the door, sat on the edge of the bed, and took out the Spirit Gathering Ring.

[Equipable item detected: Spirit Gathering Ring (Complete)]

[Entry Preview: Spiritual Energy Gathering (White) - Increases the range of spiritual energy absorption and the speed of spiritual energy inflow during cultivation]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Absorb the spiritual energy from ten spirit stones while equipped (0/10)]

[Current equipment slot is full (2/2). Replace current equipment?]

Spiritual energy converges. This expands the area for spiritual energy absorption and increases the speed at which spiritual energy flows in.

The effect is not as good as your existing spiritual energy filtering and circulation acceleration, but it can be stacked with them.

Moreover, the conditions for permanentization are extremely simple—absorbing the spiritual energy from ten spirit stones.

If you absorb the spiritual energy from ten spirit stones quickly, you can complete the task in just a few days.

Once this attribute becomes permanent, it becomes the fifth permanent attribute of white quality or higher, unlocking the third equipment slot.

With a thought, Li Yuan dismounted from the Iron Ox Technique.

Currently, the boost from the Spirit Energy Condensation attribute is much higher than that from Strengthening the Internal Organs.

Then equip the Spirit Gathering Ring.

The copper ring transformed into a dim yellow light and disappeared into the wrist, causing a slight warmth to spread across the wrist.

The next instant, Li Yuan sensed a subtle change in the surrounding spiritual energy, and the range he could perceive expanded.

Previously, when cultivating, spiritual energy would surge in from all directions, within a radius of about two or three zhang around the body. Now, that radius has expanded outwards, with spiritual energy now converging towards the body at a radius of about four or five zhang.

The influx has accelerated somewhat, but the extent is limited.

Compared to the immediate effects of spiritual energy filtering and accelerated circulation, the benefits of spiritual energy gathering are indeed not very strong.

That's enough.

Li Yuan took out a spirit stone, held it in his hand, sat cross-legged, and began to cultivate.

In the latter half of the night, the spirit stone in Li Yuan's hand turned dull and gray, its spiritual energy completely drained.

[Aura Gathering (White) Permanentization Progress: 3/10]

After absorbing three spirit stones, the progress is only at level three. At this rate, I still need seven more. No rush, I can absorb more on the way.

Then Li Yuan stood up and stood in the empty space inside the room.

The fifth form of Yangyuan Gong – Returning to the Origin.

Once, twice, three times.

After reaching the fifth level of Qi Refining, the cultivation of ordinary martial arts techniques became much faster.

A prompt appeared on the panel.

[Nourishing Vital Energy Technique: Proficient (0/800)]

Li Yuan finished his practice and stood still, letting out a long breath. These days he had focused on spiritual energy cultivation and neglected the practice of mortal techniques.

But it only took almost a month, which wasn't slow.

Unlike the changes that occur when one masters Iron Ox Kung Fu, the most direct feeling after mastering Yangyuan Kung Fu is that the activity of Qi and blood changes.

Previously, the flow of Qi and blood in the body was like a quiet river, flowing wherever it went. Now it's like there are countless undercurrents in the river; the Qi and blood no longer dissipate when they reach the fingertips, but instead automatically swirl, forming a small circulation at the end.

Li Yuan put away the panel and sat down cross-legged again.

Holding the spirit stone, he activated the Spirit Guiding Technique to continue advancing the permanentization of the Spirit Gathering Ring.

……

The next morning, outside the east gate of the market.

As dawn broke, the air carried a damp, cool, grassy scent.

When Li Yuan arrived, a considerable number of people had already gathered at the meeting point.

The three patrol teams, along with the Wang family members, totaled about thirty people, who stood in twos and threes by the roadside.

Li Yuan spotted He Shou at a glance. He was standing at the front of the group, whispering something to a member of the Wang family wearing a gray-blue robe.

Li Yuan's gaze swept across the crowd, pausing briefly at the back.

Fanghe.

Fang He also saw Li Yuan and nodded to him.

Li Yuan walked over and stood beside the Fang River.

"You're here too?"

"Hmm." Fang He stretched his neck. "It just so happens that they're from the demon-hunting team, so they have experience in this area."

Li Yuan glanced at the line again but didn't see Zhou Dazhuang.

After a while, everyone arrived.

A person stepped forward at the very front of the line.

He was in his forties, tall and thin, with a cold and aloof face. His gray-blue robe was made of better material than those of the other royal family members, and he wore a long sword at his waist with a dark silver scabbard without any extra decoration.

His aura was calm and restrained, but Li Yuan could sense that this person's aura surpassed that of everyone else present.

The captain of the guard team, a member of the Wang family, is said to have a cultivation level of the ninth level of Qi Refining, which is two levels higher than that of Wang De, the captain of the patrol team.

"Set off."

The sound wasn't loud, but the surrounding conversations immediately quieted down.

The procession began to move, advancing southwest along the dirt road south of the market.

Li Yuan had walked this road more than once. The first half overlapped with the previous patrol route, with weeds growing on both sides of the dirt road and scattered low shrubs swaying slightly in the morning breeze.

Li Yuan held a spirit stone in his hand. Even on the road, Li Yuan was absorbing the spiritual energy from the spirit stone, but it was not as fast as cultivation.

After walking for about half an hour, the dirt road came to an end.

The group didn't stop, continuing southwestward, stepping over gravel and weeds. The terrain began to undulate, the bushes grew denser, and in some places thorns and low trees intertwined, requiring them to squeeze through sideways.

The captain of the guard team walked at the front, his steps slow but steady, as if he were very familiar with the route, and he did not hesitate at each fork in the road.

Li Yuan noticed that the team's route was not chosen randomly.

Instead of cutting straight towards the Yuanheng Mountains, it follows an arc, intentionally avoiding certain areas.