Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

"continue."

Qu Bo gave a speech, and the group tightened their formation again.

Li Yuan landed slightly behind, reached into the Flame Serpent Tube inside his robe, and equipped it with a thought.

[Acquired entry: Precision (White)]

The deeper you go into the mine, the darker the red color of the walls becomes, with many places showing dark mineral patterns, as if they had been burned for many years and then thoroughly soaked by the smoldering air. The wooden frames on both sides have long since rotted away to only half their original state, and you can occasionally step on broken iron spikes and hollow wooden handles among the rubble.

Li Yuan glanced around and asked, "What was this hole dug for before?"

"A fire-attribute mineral vein." Qu Bo didn't turn around, illuminating the fork in the road ahead with his lantern, his voice low. "It's been around for a long time. It was originally dug by a group of demonic cultivators who mined jade yang stone."

"Later, the Yuanyang Sect drove those people away, and the mines were almost completely depleted. After that, the area gradually became more populated, and several markets and towns were established one after another."

Qu Bo spoke as he walked forward.

The mine tunnel rounded a bend, and suddenly narrowed ahead.

Qu Bo stopped in his tracks and raised his hand to stop the guards in front of him.

"Don't move."

Everyone tensed up.

As the light slanted, the dark shadows on the cave ceiling swayed.

Li Yuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

That's not a rock.

A grayish-white, beast-shaped shadow was lying above, with thick, long limbs, a high arched back, and a head protruding forward. Half of its face was rotten and only the outline remained, but a row of thin, long fangs could still be seen.

It was a whole size larger than the previous ghost, its claws pressed against the top of the stone, and its tail dragged down like a tattered rope blackened by smoke.

What's even more striking is that silhouette.

Qu Bo stared at it for a couple of breaths, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"The outline is somewhat reminiscent of that second-tier superior-grade Mountain-Splitting Mastiff from the deep mountains."

No sooner had Qu Bo finished speaking than he flicked the lamp upwards in his hand, "Step back!"

The beast-shaped ghost pounced down at the same moment.

There was no wind, only a sudden chill pressing down on his face. The hairs on the back of the leading guard stood on end, and he stumbled backward, not even having time to form a spell.

Li Yuan was faster than him.

The palm sank, and the fire line instantly solidified.

laugh.

The first fire arrow grazed the shoulder of the guard monk and aimed straight for the ghost's left eye. The beast-shaped ghost veered off course mid-air, and the fire arrow only passed by the side of its face, leaving a thin scorch mark.

He didn't die, but he was still knocked unconscious.

The second one arrived right away.

This time, the aim was even better. With a flash of light, it pierced directly into its open mouth. The ghost's head snapped back, letting out a piercing, teeth-grinding screech.

He Shou and the other two guards then made their move, unleashing several spells simultaneously.

A surge of yin energy filled the mine tunnels, which were suddenly teeming with chaotic, gray-white shadows.

The beast-shaped ghost stubbornly fell to the ground despite the flames, acting more like a living monster than a ghost, attacking purely on instinct.

With a stomp of its front paws, it left four shallow scratches on the stone ground. Just as it was about to charge again, Qu Bo had already taken a step ahead.

The flame in the lamp, which was originally only the size of a bean, suddenly shot up half a foot after he lifted it.

The flames didn't spread out; instead, they twisted into a line and lashed out like a whip.

Snapped.

The beast-shaped ghost was instantly whipped away, crashing heavily against the cave wall. A large gash appeared on its grayish-white body, from which a torrent of yin energy billowed out.

Qu Bo didn't give it a chance to struggle, and pressed it down again.

As the fire line pressed down, the entire ghost was crushed as if by a branding iron. Before it could even finish its hiss, it shattered into a chaotic mass of gray smoke, which flowed down the stone wall.

For a moment, only heavy breathing could be heard in the mine tunnel.

The first guard, a cultivator, turned pale and wiped his forehead; his palms were covered in cold sweat.

He Shou stared at the still dissipating yin energy and whispered, "First-grade, high-level."

"Almost there." Qu Bo put away the lamp, and the flame shrank back. "If it's nurtured for a while longer, it might just be on the verge of reaching the second tier."

Master Zhou also stepped forward to take a look, squatted down, and used a short ruler to brush away the black ash on the ground.

"The beast-like form is more complete, and the yin energy is more concentrated," he said. "Things raised in this mine are much stronger than those scattered outside."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a soft rustling sound came from deeper into the mine.

It didn't feel like footsteps; it felt more like something was quickly brushing against the stone wall.

Qu Bo stood up, picked up his lantern, and shone it forward.

"It's not over yet, push it further in."

This time, the ghost seemed to have been startled by what had just happened.

They had only walked about ten paces when a dog-shaped shadow darted out from behind the collapsed wooden frame on the left. It wasn't large, but it was fast, pouncing on their legs as soon as it appeared.

Li Yuan raised his hand and fired a fire arrow.

The fire shot out straight, instantly piercing the ghost's chest. The thing was stunned in mid-air and fell to the ground, already mostly broken apart.

Immediately afterwards, two more emerged from the pile of rubble on the right.

One looked like an ape, the other like a badger, their tattered silhouettes shrouded in gray mist, and they pounced at different times.

Li Yuan shifted his stance, giving way half a body length, while his fire arrow technique barely stopped. One thin line of fire after another was fired out. In the narrow mine tunnel, there was no need for fancy variations; as long as it was fast and accurate enough, these things could be pinned down halfway.

Fireball is powerful, but this place isn't suitable for randomly throwing things.

Fire Arrow spells are actually quite suitable.

It consumes little energy, acts quickly, and moves forward line by line, making it more efficient than anything else.

The other guards also joined the fight.

Another rat-shaped ghost crawled out of a crack in the rocks at its feet. Just as it raised its head, a spark exploded in front of its forehead. Its whole body leaned back, twitched twice, and then went still.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, seven or eight ghosts were cleared out of the mine tunnel.

Most of them are of the lower-middle grade of the first rank.

Occasionally, there might be two more troublesome ones, but they can't withstand the abundance of fire magic on this side.

The people around him became more and more stable in the fight. Li Yuan raised his hand and killed another wolf-shaped ghost. The panel in front of him flashed by.

[Precise (White) Permanentization Progress: 56/100]

[Spell: Fire Arrow - Beginner (71/200)]

The Fire Arrow spell proficiency increased quite quickly. Fire Arrow already had the foundation of Fireball, and the Precision modifier could further accelerate the increase in proficiency for ranged spells.

Li Yuan looked away, but didn't stop walking; he continued forward.

After walking a little further in, the mine tunnel suddenly widened.

The path ahead was no longer a straight tunnel, but a nearly circular cavity, as large as two or three rooms, had collapsed out. There were fewer pebbles on the ground, but many more carvings, one inside the other, of varying depths, and in some places, broken stone grooves and metal bases were embedded.

In the very center is a half-collapsed stone platform.

The countertop was black, with cracks along the edges from being repeatedly baked at high temperatures, looking as if something large had been placed on it. Several recesses nearby were empty, filled only with whitish debris and a layer of black ash.

Master Zhou's pace quickened immediately.

As the array plate was pushed forward, the fine needles trembled even more violently.

He walked halfway around the stone platform, first looking at the ground, then at the surrounding cave walls, without even saying a word. Only after touching several patterns did he slowly exhale.

"The person who set up the formation is much more skilled than me, but their methods are a bit rough; they're probably in a rush."

"It's neither a node of the main formation nor a node of a smaller formation within the main formation; it's a different formation altogether."

He Shou frowned: "Then what is this?"

"An alchemy array." Master Zhou squatted beside the stone platform, running his fingertip along a pattern and touching out a layer of black ash. "It borrows the residual energy of the fire vein and follows the alchemy method. These patterns and stone troughs on the ground are all for suppressing the fire, locking the medicine, and stabilizing the furnace."

Qu Bo shone his lantern on the empty slots.

"The materials are gone."

"They were taken long ago," Master Zhou nodded. "And they took them very cleanly; neither the main materials nor the auxiliary materials are there, and they didn't even bother to cover them up. Look at these stone troughs; they didn't even bother to fill them with ash after they were pulled out."

Master Zhou walked to the other side, picked up a short ruler and poked at the ground, picking up a layer of grayish-white powder.

"They also used a lot of dark-colored ingredients."

Qu Bo glanced at it: "Yin attribute material?"

"That's right." Master Zhou rubbed the powder, and his fingertips were immediately covered with a layer of sticky ash. "Fire vein alchemy should follow the pure yang path, but so many yin things have been mixed in here. It's either for making unorthodox pills or for using this formation for other purposes."

He Shou turned his head and glanced at the back of the mine tunnel.

"Did those ghosts come from here?"

"Most likely." Master Zhou stood up and glanced around. "Soul binding, yin nourishment, and array filling are all old techniques. The array is ruined, and the materials have been removed. These things weren't completely dispersed, so they're left in the cave."

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the stone wall on the left.

There were several deep scratch marks over there, at least half a foot long. A little further up, there were another kind of finer, more numerous marks, like those scratched out by something in a frenzy. Further away, a stone ridge had been smashed open, the break extending all the way to the ground.

It wasn't left behind by one thing.

Qu Bo obviously saw it too, and went over with a lantern to shine it on.

Several kinds.

"Hmm." Master Zhou walked around the wall. "There are big ones and small ones, and their shapes are different. This place has probably trapped more than one demon beast, or rather, more than one type."

He Shou frowned as he listened.

An abandoned mine shaft, deep within which lies a pill-refining array, mixed with yin materials and so many beast-shaped yin spirits—something strange about it.

Master Zhou was so engrossed in watching that he placed the array plate back in the center of the stone platform to make sure there were no other hidden slots before stopping.

"That's enough of what we've seen. Let's get out of here."

The group did not linger and retreated the way they came.