Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

It was already late at night when we left Kugu Ridge.

Li Yuan walked along an old hunting trail on the west side of the Ghost Mist Forest, his pace unhurried, maintaining the aura and rhythm befitting a late-stage Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator. The path was lined with dense trees, their branches rustling against each other in the night wind. Occasionally, small stones would tumble down the slope, disappearing into the deeper darkness.

The passive perception of Dark Fiend Insight is always present all around.

The two extremely faint demonic energy signals remained suspended in the distance after he left the rendezvous point, neither approaching nor disengaging. The other party was clearly very experienced, always keeping the distance around three hundred feet, neither too close to expose him nor too far to catch up immediately if the target deviated from the planned route.

Two individuals at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment.

Li Yuan's gaze remained calm, but he already had a general idea of ​​what was going on.

Even a regular market supervisor, even at the late Foundation Establishment stage, would find it difficult to detect two equally skilled trackers deliberately concealing their auras at this distance. The fact that they dared to follow him like this clearly indicated they believed he wouldn't be able to detect them.

Unfortunately, he followed the wrong person.

Li Yuan's body suddenly sank, and he silently disappeared into the ground.

Earth Escape Technique.

After more than twenty breaths.

Two clusters of demonic energy signals arrived at Li Yuan's location one after the other.

The person in front stopped first, seemingly noticing that the target's aura had suddenly stopped, and lowered their voice.

Where are they?

The person behind caught up as well, his brows furrowing as he scanned the valley with his divine sense.

"It disappeared after entering the valley. A concealment artifact?"

"Doesn't look like it..."

Before they could finish speaking, the loose gravel road surface instantly froze over, and a layer of azure ice surged up from the ground, freezing their lower bodies in place. The biting cold seeped upwards along their meridians, even forcibly slowing down the flow of their protective demonic energy.

Freeze spell.

The icy power didn't just stay on the surface of their bodies; it spread along the meridians where the demonic energy was most concentrated, like a thin but sticky ice film covering the surface of their spiritual veins, making it even harder for the two of them to break free from their already frozen bodies.

Li Yuan emerged from underground, looked at the terrified faces of the two people who couldn't even utter a word, raised his hand and pointed, making the cold air even more intense.

[Ice Seal: Mastery → Minor Success]

A moment later, Li Yuan walked to the two corpses, first scanning the surroundings repeatedly with his divine sense to confirm that there was no third person, before bending down to clean up the spoils.

The first person didn't have much in their storage bag.

Dozens of mid-grade spirit stones, a first-tier high-grade bone blade magic weapon, several bottles of healing and energy-restoring pills, plus a few common demonic talismans. Judging from the setup, they do indeed seem to be members of a small team carrying out surveillance and cleanup tasks on the outskirts of the Demonic Sect.

The second person's storage bag was noticeably thicker.

There were nearly a hundred mid-grade spirit stones, and a second-tier low-grade short spear magic weapon. The most eye-catching item was a black wooden box at the bottom of the storage bag. The box was covered with two layers of spirit-sealing talismans, clearly intended for storing important items.

Li Yuan tore open the seal and opened the wooden box.

Several items were neatly arranged inside.

Three array plates engraved with intricate array patterns, two animal hide scrolls recording the direction of the array patterns, a small bottle of ancient remnants that had been ground into powder, and a fist-sized, jet-black ore.

Li Yuan first picked up the three array plates.

The fragments were made of ancient materials, with severely worn edges. Although the spirit patterns on the surface were incomplete, their structure was still clearly different from common demonic arrays, leaning more towards some ancient sect system. The array patterns on the two animal hides were also very sophisticated. Although they were only partially copied, the connection ideas of many nodes were similar to the fragments of the Xuan You Sect that he had previously obtained.

These items were clearly not just random trinkets.

The members of the Demon Fiend Sect are consciously collecting array materials that share the same origin as those of the Profound Nether Sect.

After examining the array plate fragments and animal hide scrolls one by one, Li Yuan put them into his storage bag before turning his attention to the dark ore.

There was a forbidden seal on the ore, which Li Yuan casually wiped away.

The surface of the ore was cool and smooth, like a piece of solidified, unyielding black jade. Within a three-foot radius, the perception of the term was immediately triggered.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Void Stone (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Void Companion (Blue)]

[Effect: Gain a personal space based on current cultivation level; greatly enhance perception and application of spatial power]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Absorb 100000 Low-Grade Spirit Stones (0/100,000)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Blue entries.

Li Yuan's gaze narrowed slightly.

The value of personal space is self-evident.

If the equipment is successfully equipped, the most important items will no longer need to be carried through the storage bag, but will be stored directly in an independent space bound to the user.

In terms of both security and concealment, it far surpasses ordinary storage artifacts.

The second effect was what concerned him more.

The perception and application of spatial forces have been greatly enhanced.

This means that the cutting precision of the Sky-Splitting Slash, as well as the control over earth-遁 (earth-遁) and teleportation techniques, may be further improved.

If you come across more spatial spells or artifacts in the future, this entry will become even more important.

The conditions for permanentization are also straightforward.

One hundred thousand low-grade spirit stones, which translates to only one thousand mid-grade spirit stones. It's a considerable amount, but with his current resources, it's still within his means.

Li Yuan carried the Void Stone with him. After being sealed, this thing possesses spatial power and cannot be stored in a storage bag.

After cleaning the wooden box, Li Yuan continued to check the items the two men carried close to their bodies.

He quickly pulled out a communication jade slip from the inner pocket of the leader's shirt.

The jade slip was of ordinary material, not the kind of high-level encryption carrier that had been specially refined before, but its surface was covered with a layer of fine and regular demonic energy pulses, which was a common internal encryption method used by the Demonic Sect.

Li Yuan held the jade slip in his palm, circulated his Demonic Yuan Technique, and slowly injected a wisp of demonic energy with a similar frequency into it.

A moment later, the encryption layer was silently peeled away.

There are four records in total.

After reading it, Li Yuan slowly put the jade slip away.

The Demon Sect has already noticed the problem.

After Chen Yi received the intelligence, the Yuan Yang Sect acted swiftly, eliminating two key nodes on the western front in a short period. The Sha Mo Sect believed this efficiency was not a mere coincidence, but rather that someone had leaked inside information.

These two trackers are most likely the first step in the investigation.

However, they no longer have the chance to bring the message back.

Li Yuan raised his hand and flicked out a wisp of fiery flame.

The flames landed on the corpses and the surrounding blood-stained rubble, spreading rapidly but making little noise. Moments later, the two corpses were burned to ashes, along with the remaining bloodstains and footprints on the ground. He then used his spiritual power to disperse the broken ice, cleaning up the lingering traces of cold air in the narrow valley.

After confirming that there were no further clues at the scene, Li Yuan turned and left.

Silent all night.

The next day, outside the outpost.

It was still that same remote, old spot, surrounded by knee-high weeds, with mist drifting in the distance. Chen Yi arrived right on time. After landing, he glanced at Li Yuan and noticed that the other man's expression was more somber than usual.

"Something happened?" he asked in a low voice.

"The Demon Sect has reacted."

Without wasting any words, Li Yuan handed over a neatly arranged jade slip.

The contents of the jade slip were edited, retaining only the core intelligence related to the investigation of the Demon Sect: the identity of the stalker, the surveillance orders against him, and the notification that two rendezvous points on the western front within the Demon Sect had been destroyed, suspected intelligence leaks, and external communications had been suspended.

As for the Void Stone, the fragments of the array plate, and the animal skin scroll—things closely related to his subsequent plans—he omitted them all.

Chen Yi took the jade slip, probed it with his divine sense, and his expression gradually darkened.

"They reacted so quickly?"

"It's faster than expected," Li Yuan said. "After the two rendezvous points on the western front were shut down, the news has already reached the internal authorities. They now suspect that someone has access to the roster and have begun tracing back along that line."

Chen Yi frowned and remained silent for a few breaths.

Then he took out a long wooden box from his storage bag and handed it over.

"This is the reward from above. The intelligence you sent back earlier was very valuable. These are materials for Core Formation. If there is any further progress, the sect will continue to increase the reward."

Li Yuan took the wooden box, but did not open it on the spot. He put it directly into his storage bag.

The acquisition of the first Core Formation material signifies a deeper level of cooperation with the Yuan Yang Sect. At least in the eyes of the sect behind Chen Yi, he is no longer a dispensable informant, but someone who can reliably provide high-value intelligence.

This is a good thing for him.

But it also means that every subsequent submission must be handled with greater care and tact.

They needed to get the Yuan Yang Sect to keep increasing their stakes, but they couldn't reveal their true trump cards and objectives.

"There's one more thing," Li Yuan said, looking at Chen Yi. "The fact that the Demon Sect has suspended external communications doesn't mean they've stopped their operations in Liangzhou. With the rendezvous points shrinking, they're more likely to break up their resource collection and personnel exchanges into more fragmented and covert channels."

Chen Yi nodded.

"I understand. I will remind the sect that the next round of inspections should not only focus on the obvious contact points, but also pay attention to those scattered channels."

Li Yuan didn't elaborate further.

Information such as the third-tier barrier-breaking talisman, fragments of the Xuan You Sect's array formations, and the Demon Fiend Sect's continued acquisition of ancient array auxiliary materials cannot be handed over for the time being. At least not now. Those are the capital he needs to further his strategic planning, and also a buffer that he must maintain between himself and the Yuan Yang Sect.

The two exchanged a few more whispered words, and after confirming that there were no new tasks assigned for the time being, they went their separate ways.

Back to the stone house.

As soon as the door closed, the concealment array was activated, immediately isolating the surrounding spiritual energy fluctuations.

Li Yuan first took out the wooden box, opened it, and took a look.

Inside, a pale golden medicinal herb was quietly sealed in a spirit jade box. The surface of the herb had fine cloud-like patterns flowing around it. Its medicinal properties were mild yet solid, and it was indeed a high-quality material for forming a core.

The jade slip for Core Formation says this thing can increase the success rate by 30%.

Li Yuan carefully put it away again and continued his cultivation.

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