Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 543 The Search for the Abyss and the Exchange of Documents

After finishing his morning meditation, Li Yuan sat in his secluded meditation room and habitually sensed the movement of the demonic energy tracking mark.

The markings have changed.

Now, the mark has shifted in position, and the direction of the shift is clear, moving towards the border between Jingzhou and Lingzhou.

It seems that the Tianyue Sect did not attack this outpost and did not alert the enemy.

They moved slowly and deliberately kept their breathing low, but their direction was very clear.

Li Yuan stood up, transformed into a beam of light, left the Misty Forest Market, and flew towards Jingzhou.

The stealth technique was activated, its aura suppressed to the late Foundation Establishment stage. The flight altitude of the escape light was kept low, and its speed was deliberately slowed down, proceeding along the wild paths often used by rogue cultivators.

The signals from the demonic energy tracking mark guided the way.

Li Yuan landed about thirty miles away from the marked location and proceeded through the mountains and forests.

About an hour later, the divine sense detected the target.

A small settlement built against the mountainside on a barren hillside.

It's not a village, it's a stockade.

Four or five stone houses, surrounded by a wooden fence, looked like a hunter's camp in the wilderness. It was extremely small; without spatial detection techniques, one's divine sense would be unable to accurately perceive its existence in this densely vegetated mountain area.

The village appeared ordinary on the outside, but the probe waves detected anomalies underground.

About fifteen zhang underground, there is a man-made tunnel that extends quite a distance eastward. At the end of the tunnel is a sizable space, and the characteristics of the spiritual energy fluctuations inside are highly consistent with those of the Yuanzong secret sentries previously discovered in the western border of Jingzhou.

The village itself was just a cover; the real stronghold was underground.

There are three auras inside the village.

The black-robed male cultivator whose demonic energy tracking mark was located was in the late Foundation Establishment stage, his aura concealed, and he remained motionless deep within the underground stronghold.

Two other auras, also at the late Foundation Establishment stage, carrying familiar demonic characteristics, moved slowly within the village.

The three gathered, and this base had clearly been operating for a long time.

There is no Golden Elixir.

Li Yuan found a spot in the mountains and forests behind a rock with a wide view and squatted down. He concealed himself and compressed his aura to an extremely low level, keeping his spiritual energy fluctuations within three feet of his body.

The situation in the village slowly became clear.

An underground transportation map gradually took shape in my mind.

The main tunnel extends eastward from the western entrance of the village, forking at a depth of forty zhang underground. One branch leads south to the core area of ​​the stronghold, while the other continues eastward, presumably to another exit.

Li Yuan meticulously organized this intelligence, storing it in a blank jade slip. The information included the route of the underground tunnels, the approximate size of the stronghold, and...

The number of cultivators, their aura characteristics, and their patterns of coming and going were all clearly marked.

Li Yuan did not make a move.

It would be more appropriate to leave this matter to the Tianyue Sect.

He transformed into a streak of light and fled, retrieving a communication token on a hill fifty miles away from the village.

"Master Xuanpu, there is an outer transit base of the Yuan Sect at the border of Jingzhou and Lingzhou. I have information on its location, underground structure, and personnel, and I am sending it to you via telegram."

The information on the jade slip was sent out through a communication array.

Xuanpu's reply came quickly.

"Great stuff. We've been keeping an eye on this lead for a while but haven't been able to pinpoint its location. Your intelligence fills that gap perfectly. Contribution points will be settled as usual, with an extra 20% this time."

After a brief pause, Xuanpu continued his message.

"There's another matter I'd like to ask Fellow Daoist Li directly about the Nascent Soul cultivation manual. Are you interested?"

Li Yuan paused slightly.

I asked them about it before, and Xuanpu replied that it was only possible to exchange for it through deep cooperation. This time, they brought it up on their own initiative.

"Of course I'm interested, but I remember we said before that we needed a deeper level of cooperation."

"The situation has changed somewhat, so following the original rules is no longer feasible."

Xuanpu remained silent for about half a breath.

"For the past ten years or so, the sect leader has been preparing to break through to the Nascent Soul stage. Over these years, we Golden Core elders have been handling all the affairs, big and small. The sect leader will occasionally mention it, but we are the ones who make the decisions on daily cooperation."

"A result has been reached in recent discussions, and it's possible to redeem it."

"To be frank, if you succeed in the Nascent Soul stage, receiving the scriptures isn't a big deal; if you fail, you can still use the scriptures to do someone a favor."

Xuanpu always spoke directly, "Fellow Daoist Li's current contribution points are still a bit short of the number of classic texts, but the value of the intelligence from Jingzhou this time is not low. If you complete a few more missions..."

"understood."

After receiving the message, Li Yuan flew back towards the direction of Wulin Market.

Return to Misty Forest Market and enter the secluded meditation room.

Li Yuan sat down and took out the Longevity Jade Pendant from his personal space.

This jade pendant has always been kept in my personal space. The blue inscription attached to it prolongs life. The condition for making it permanent is to accumulate three life-consuming spells or techniques of level two or above and reach perfection.

Take out the Tianyue Sect's contribution exchange catalog, find the spell exchange section, and search for spells that consume lifespan.

There are several categories in the catalog.

Life Flame Tracing Technique, Tier 2 High-Grade: By consuming a small amount of lifespan, it tracks the causal traces of a target, allowing it to trace the target's movements after leaving. It also includes the attribute "Causal Insight".

The Longevity Flame Reversal Technique, a second-tier superior skill, consumes a small amount of lifespan to briefly rewind the afterimages of recent events in a specific area, presenting a blurry image. It has no description.

Both are within the range of points that can be redeemed with the current contribution points. I'm still short of contribution points to redeem the Nascent Soul Scripture, so I'll take these two first.

The communication token was sent out, and in less than an hour, the disciples arranged by Xuanpu delivered two magic jade slips to the Misty Forest Market.

Li Yuan took the jade slip and held it in his palm.

The moment the jade slip containing the Life Flame Tracing Technique touched his finger, a fluctuation of green text emanated from it.

[Equipable item detected: Lifefire Pursuit]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Causal Insight (Green)]

[Effect: Reduces mental energy consumption by 20% when casting spells that consume lifespan; slightly improves the accuracy of intuitive discernment of causal clues]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Successfully trace the causal links of ten different targets using spells that consume lifespan (0/10)]

The other jade slip containing the Longevity Flame Reversal Technique showed no wording upon being touched; it was purely a record of the spell.

Li Yuan then began to study the contents of the two spells.

Life Flame Pursuit Technique, Beginner Level.

The Art of Reversing Time and Space: Beginner's Guide

To make the Longevity Jade Pendant permanent, three life-consuming spells need to be perfected. Divination is one of them, but it is currently not yet mastered. With Life Flame Tracing Technique, Longevity Flame Reversal Technique, and Divination Technique combined, the three spells are complete, meeting the quantity requirement. The next step is to gradually increase their proficiency.

Li Yuan put away the jade slip and sat down cross-legged in the secluded cultivation room.

Operating the Heavenly Divination Technique.

The celestial synesthesia automatically amplified the effect, offsetting the depletion of lifespan. The intuitive understanding of cause and effect through divination operated in sync with the spiritual connection between the hexagrams, and the combined clarity of the divination and the insightful understanding of cause and effect further refined the precision of perception.

The divination target: the movements of the black-robed male cultivator.

Cause and effect clues slowly emerged in my consciousness.

The mark is stable, and the other party won't easily leave that stronghold in the short term. The Tianyue Sect's investigation forces are approaching, and there are faint signs that the causal lines between the two sides are converging, but it's still early.

Li Yuan accepted the divination result and opened his eyes.

He stood up and pushed open the stone door of the seclusion room.

Ji Wenyuan was walking from the backyard, holding a newly arrived delivery slip in his hand.

"Master, Tianyue Sect has sent another batch of supplies today, half of which are spiritual materials and half are talisman materials."

"Enter the warehouse and store it according to the original categories."

"Okay." Ji Wenyuan paused for a moment. "Also, a message came from Qinghe Market saying that the second phase of expansion has been completed. Please go and check if the formation needs to be adjusted."

I'll make time to go there in the next couple of days.

Li Yuan walked out of the main hall and stood on the main street of the market, his gaze sweeping over the passing cultivators.

The flow of people in Wulin Market is more than double what it was two years ago, and the quality of various shops has also improved significantly. Xu Zhang, accompanied by several guards, patrols the main street with a steady gait, demonstrating his increasing proficiency in handling daily affairs.

Everything that needs to be taken care of is operating normally.

The direction ahead is clear: continue accumulating contribution points, and exchange them for Nascent Soul texts when you have enough; at the same time, increase your proficiency in the Life Flame Tracing Technique and the Life Flame Reversal Technique to advance the conditions for making the Life Jade Pendant permanent; the cultivation of the three spiritual veins in the Spirit Pivot Ore should also be put on the agenda, choose the right route, and proceed one by one.

Li Yuan turned around and went back to the secluded room.