Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 540 Abyss Mineral Vein

Half a month later, in the southeast of the sea area.

Five streaks of light flew close to the sea surface, their altitude reduced to less than three zhang above the crest of a wave. The sea breeze, carrying salty, pungent moisture, rushed towards them, but the spiritual energy shield of the streaks kept the moisture at bay.

Li Yuan was positioned on the left flank of the group, with the late-stage Golden Core cultivator on his right. An older cultivator led the way. Two other early-stage Golden Core cultivators were at the rear and right flank, respectively. The five of them advanced towards the target sea area in a loose cone formation.

"The outer perimeter of the stronghold is fifteen miles ahead." The old cultivator's voice transmission reached everyone's ears. "The activity range of the three third-tier demonic beasts covers a five-mile radius around the stronghold. Entering this area will result in being detected. According to the previously agreed plan, Old Zhao and I will hold off two of the third-tier beasts, while Fellow Daoist Li will take charge of the third. The rest of you will clear out the second-tier and first-tier beasts."

Li Yuan nodded.

The group slowed down, and the light gradually disappeared below the sea surface.

The resistance of the seawater caused the flight speed to drop sharply, but the green permanent affix for Water Escape and the white permanent affix for Water Movement Speed ​​were both effective at the same time, making the underwater movement speed much faster than that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.

The underwater topography gradually unfolded in my consciousness.

Scattered auras of demonic beasts began to appear in the sea ahead.

Small, low-grade first-tier sea creatures roamed among the coral reefs in considerable numbers. Their range marked the outer boundary of the stronghold.

The old monk raised his hand and made a gesture, and the group dispersed.

Li Yuanchao detoured to the left, bypassing a large coral reef, and approached the stronghold from the northwest.

The Concealment Technique was activated, suppressing the aura to an extremely low level. The Spirit Wave Concealment and Dark Demon Concealment were activated simultaneously, compressing the spread of spiritual energy fluctuations in the seawater to within three feet of the body.

As they approached the core area of ​​the stronghold, the topography of the seabed suddenly changed.

A deep underwater rift, about ten feet deep, stretched out before them. Numerous caves dotted the rock walls on either side of the rift, from which the aura of demonic beasts emanated intensely. At the bottom of the rift was a narrow crevice in the rock, from which faint glimmers of spiritual light could be seen.

Mineral vein.

This was the real target of the attack.

The auras of three tier-three demonic beasts were distributed in three directions of the rift valley. One was in the cave on the west side, one was on the rock wall on the east side, and one was near the rock crevice at the bottom of the rift valley.

The old monk's voice transmission arrived: "Make your move."

Several spiritual energy shockwaves erupted simultaneously from the seawater.

The old cultivator and the late-stage Golden Core cultivator surnamed Zhao charged towards the third-tier demonic beasts on the west and east sides respectively, their spiritual energy fluctuations instantly igniting the entire rift valley area. Two early-stage Golden Core cultivators descended from above the rift valley, launching an attack on the second-tier demonic beast horde.

Li Yuan rushed towards the bottom of the rift valley.

At the bottom of the rift, the third-tier demonic beast was a black-scaled serpent, about five zhang long, its entire body covered in jet-black scales, with crimson eyes. Sensing the burst of spiritual energy, the black-scaled serpent suddenly raised its head from beside the rock crevice, its vertical pupils revealing a ferocious glint.

The serpent opened its mouth, and a concentrated stream of water-based spiritual energy shot out, heading straight for Li Yuan's face.

Li Yuan dodged to the side. The water-based spiritual energy ray grazed past him and struck the rock wall behind him, piercing through it and leaving a hole the size of a bowl.

Third-tier mid-grade monster, water-type.

Sky-Splitting Slash.

A dark golden blade of light condensed before his right palm. With the initial forging of the spiritual essence becoming permanent, the spell's formation speed increased by 50%, taking less than half a breath from condensation to completion. The permanent effect of the "Bone-Corroding Cold Edge" attribute automatically imbued the blade of light with demonic energy.

The blade's edge slashed towards the serpent's head.

The serpent had no time to dodge; the blade's edge struck its head squarely. The dark golden spatial blade sliced ​​through the serpent's scales and penetrated deep into its skull. Demonic energy seeped in and spread along the wound into the skull.

The serpent's body convulsed violently twice before collapsing at the bottom of the rift.

solve.

Li Yuan withdrew his spiritual power and glanced across the rift valley.

The battle above continued. The third-tier demonic beasts on the west side, which the old cultivator had been holding back, had been severely injured. The progress on the Zhao-surname cultivator's side was slightly slower, while the third-tier demonic beasts on the east side were struggling desperately. The second-tier demonic beast horde collapsed under the combined suppression of two early-stage Golden Core cultivators, and a large number of first-tier demonic beasts scattered and fled.

But there was an unexpected turn of events.

Above the eastern cliff face of the rift valley, a cultivator surnamed Zhao was locked in combat with a giant, high-grade, third-tier sea turtle. The turtle's shell was extremely sturdy, and Zhao's attacks repeatedly left only white marks on it.

During a lull in their fight, the sea turtle's gaze swept across the bottom of the rift and landed on the serpent's corpse.

A hint of fear flashed in the sea turtle's eyes.

The next instant, the turtle gave up resisting, suddenly retracted into its shell, and the entire shell was launched outwards toward the outside of the rift.

escaped.

Extremely fast. The turtle shell spun and propelled itself through the seawater, using the water flow to reduce drag, and in the blink of an eye, it rushed out of the rift valley.

After chasing for two breaths, the cultivator surnamed Zhao gave up and turned to wipe out the remaining second-tier demonic beasts.

No one else chased after them.

A third-tier superior-grade sea turtle possesses extremely strong defensive capabilities, making pursuit in open waters quite risky. The stronghold has already been captured, and the mine entrance has been exposed; there's no need to take on additional risks for a fleeing monster.

Li Yuan did not pursue them.

But the instant the sea turtle was launched out of the rift, a wisp of Li Yuan's extremely fine spiritual energy silently adhered to the outer surface of the turtle's shell.

Breath marker.

The fusion of spiritual perception and clarity made the spiritual energy mark extremely accurate, almost undetectable on the rough surface of the turtle shell. The mark's spiritual energy intensity was extremely low, and its duration was limited, but enough for Li Yuan to track the turtle's whereabouts within a certain range.

The battle was brought to a close in about an hour.

After the demonic beasts in the rift valley were cleared away and the demonic beast materials were collected, the entrance to the mineral vein was exposed. The old cultivator led his people into the rock crevice for preliminary exploration, confirming the scale and quality of the mineral vein.

Li Yuan did not participate in the exploration.

"I'll go check the outer perimeter to make sure there are no monsters that have escaped."

The old monk nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Li Yuan transformed into a streak of water-colored light and chased after the direction the sea turtle had fled.

The aura marker was clearly discernible in his divine sense. The sea turtle was fleeing in the direction of southeast, moving very fast, and had already left the stronghold by nearly a hundred miles.

As time passed, the turtle gradually slowed down, and its direction changed from fleeing in a straight line to traveling along a specific route. The route was not random, but rather it moved in a fixed direction while avoiding certain areas.

Another half hour passed, and the sea turtle's speed dropped to a normal swimming level.

A massive underwater mountain range appeared ahead.

The mountain range rose abruptly from the seabed, its peaks rising and falling in a natural barrier in the deep sea. The range was larger than any other seabed formation Li Yuan had ever seen before, stretching for dozens of miles, with its highest peaks still fifty or sixty feet above the surface.

The sea turtle swam into a narrow canyon in the mountains.

Li Yuan stopped at the edge of the mountain range.

The divine sense passed through the canyon entrance and entered the interior of the mountains.

The aura of a demonic beast.

A strong aura of demonic beasts.

The density was so great that Li Yuan frowned slightly.

Within the mountain range's canyon system, a vast population of demonic beasts dwells. The auras of first, second, and third-tier demonic beasts mingle together, forming a dense area of ​​demonic energy. A rough estimate suggests at least ten third-tier beasts, dozens of second-tier beasts, and countless first-tier beasts.

They are not scattered wild clusters, but rather distributed in an organized manner.

A gathering point for monster forces, similar to an alliance.

As the divine sense probed, an extremely heavy aura emanated from the deepest part of the mountain range.

A fourth-tier demonic beast. Equivalent to the Nascent Soul level.

The characteristics of this aura were completely different from those of the human Nascent Soul cultivators he had sensed at the Nascent Soul Ceremony in the Tianyue Mountains. The spiritual energy fluctuations of human Nascent Soul cultivators were calm and restrained, and even when deliberately released, they carried the unique regularity of their cultivation system. This aura of a demonic beast, however, was primal, rough, and full of oppressive power, like the breath of an ancient behemoth lurking in the abyss.

Li Yuan immediately withdrew his divine sense.

Turn around and return along the same route you came from.

Upon returning to the outpost, the old monk and the others had already completed the initial exploration of the mineral vein.

"After checking the area, there were no monsters that escaped." Li Yuan's tone was normal.

The old monk nodded and began allocating mining rights for the vein.

Li Yuan received his due share without saying anything more.

After the meeting, everyone went their separate ways.

As the light streaked out of the sea, Li Yuan glanced back at the depths beneath the surface to the southeast.

The location of the mountain range, the size of the monster alliance, and the existence of Nascent Soul level monsters.

This information is worth far more than a mineral vein.

But now is not the time to deal with this information.

Transforming into a beam of light, it flew towards the teleportation array.