Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan changed into his dark gray short-sleeved shirt in the sheltered spot on the rocky platform.

The fabric was rougher than his usual patrol uniform, and the dark pattern on the collar could be felt by hand. The pattern embroidered with dark silk thread looked like some kind of curled-up animal, which was not noticeable unless you looked closely.

The token was clipped to his waist; its bronze surface was cool to the touch, and the character "Li" on the front flashed briefly in the morning light.

After the disguise mask was applied to the face, a thin layer of gray light immediately appeared on the skin as spiritual energy was poured in. The contours of the face changed, the cheekbones lowered, and the jawline softened, making it roughly similar to the face of the previous corpse.

It feels rough to the touch, like there's a dry cloth film between your fingers.

Li Yuan moved his mouth and eyebrows a few times, and the mask changed accordingly without falling off, but his expression was slightly stiff.

Li Yuan rolled up his old patrol uniform and waist tag and put them into his storage bag.

"I'm leaving. You all follow the main force."

Song Tiezhu took the items, nodded, and didn't ask any further questions.

Li Yuan turned around and walked down the narrow slope on the south side of the rock platform, heading alone towards the direction of the scattered cultivator market.

They encountered a monster on the way, which Li Yuan easily dealt with.

Upon arriving at the market town for rogue cultivators, I noticed that the walls surrounding it looked rather unreliable.

From a distance, it looked like a cluster of houses and wooden sheds of varying heights squeezed between two low hills. Several dilapidated earthen walls crookedly formed half a circle, broken in several places, and in some places had collapsed into mounds of earth, with no one repairing them.

Two wooden stakes stood at the entrance, their positions where lanterns or flags should have been hung were empty, with only a few blackened rope ends swaying in the wind.

There was no one guarding the gate.

Li Yuan walked in, and under his feet was a bumpy dirt road, with most of the stalls on both sides empty.

Occasionally, one or two cloth stalls could be seen still standing, with some scattered items displayed on the surface, but no one was watching over them. The doors of several shops were nailed shut, and the cracks were stuffed with dust and withered leaves.

There weren't many people on the street.

A few scattered cultivators walked hurriedly, their eyes barely glancing to the side. A middle-aged woman carrying a cloth bag turned out of an alley, nearly bumping into Li Yuan. She quickly stepped aside and walked away without looking up.

There was a mixed smell in the air: the bitterness of herbs, the burnt smell of stove ash, and a faint stench of decay wafting from some direction.

Li Yuan walked along the main street, his eyes constantly scanning both sides.

The master craftsman lives on the east side of the market, towards the inside, with an anvil at his door.

When Li Yuan reached the fork in the road where a dead end led to his target, he spotted it.

At the end of the alley was a low house with gray brick walls. A half-person-high anvil stood at the door, its surface covered with pits and dents left by hammering.

"This weapon-refining master's place isn't very nice," Li Yuan thought to himself.

The door was ajar, and a faint metallic clanging sound could be heard from inside.

Li Yuan stopped in front of the door, straightened his short clothes, and knocked on the door frame twice.

The metallic clanging stopped.

After a few moments, the door was opened from the inside.

A man in his fifties was standing behind the door.

He wasn't tall, but his shoulders were very broad, as if they were being stretched open by two iron plates. His hands were large and his knuckles were covered with calluses.

His complexion was dark, and the wrinkles on his forehead were as deep as if carved by a knife. His eyes were not large, but his pupils were very bright.

The aura of a fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining.

Those eyes lingered on Li Yuan for a moment, first looking at the dark patterns on his collar, then at the token at his waist, before finally settling back on Li Yuan's face.

There was a brief silence.

When will the east wind come?

"After the Frost's Descent".

The old man's gaze lingered on Li Yuan's face for another moment.

Li Yuan's expression remained unchanged. The mask remained firmly on his face, his spiritual energy sustained, and the surface simulation was flawless.

"Come in and speak." The old man stepped aside, making half a step.

Li Yuan did not go in.

"No need to go in, let's go. The monsters on the road have already been cleared out, now is the safest time to go out."

The old man frowned.

"So urgent?"

"The sooner you leave, the better," Li Yuan said briefly.

The old man stared at him for a couple of moments, then turned and went into the house without asking any more questions.

The sound of rummaging through things came from inside. Not long after, the old man came out again, this time carrying a storage bag.

"Walk."

The two walked out of the market along the same route they had come from.

Li Yuan walked in front, with the old man following half a step behind. Their pace was not slow, but they always maintained a slight distance and did not walk side by side.

On the way, I encountered several other wandering monks who were also heading out.

Some carried large bags and bundles, some were in groups of two or three, and there was a lone female cultivator carrying a medicine box, her steps almost jogging.

After seeing the Li family attire and waist tag on Li Yuan, these people glanced at him briefly before quickly looking away and continuing on their way.

Two independent cultivators even stepped aside to make way for them.

After leaving the market town, the road ahead opened up considerably.

On the dirt road between the low hills, you can see the scattered cultivators who were previously met by other teams heading north in groups of three or five.

The old man slowed his pace slightly, his gaze sweeping over the rogue cultivators.

"Why do we go this way?"

His voice was a bit deeper than before.

"Lijiafang Market is in the south."

Li Yuan did not turn around.

"Go north for a while, bypass that area densely populated with monsters, and then turn around."

Read the full text of Chapter 85, "Storage Bag," for free here: [link missing].

The old man didn't reply immediately, but his pace noticeably slowed down a bit.

After walking about two hundred feet, a figure appeared on the low slope ahead.

Qu Bo.

He stood at the top of the slope, with a Wang family cultivator beside him. Both of them looked in this direction at the same time.

The old man stopped in his tracks.

His gaze first fell on Qu Bo's clothes and aura, then suddenly turned to Li Yuan.

"You are not a member of the Li family."

It's not a question.

Li Yuan stopped, turned around, and said nothing.

Qu Bo had already come down the slope, walking slowly.

"Don't be nervous, no one is going to do anything to you."

The old man's expression darkened, and he took a step back.

"You belong to the royal family."

"Yes." Qu Bo stopped five steps away and looked at him. "Qinghe Market, the Wang family."

The old man's eyes darted around, scanning the surrounding terrain. Ahead were Qu Bo and the Wang family cultivators, behind them were the stream of rogue cultivators heading north, and to the left and right were low hills with sloping sides.

Can't run away.

His gaze returned to Qu Bo, his lips pressed tightly together.

"What do you want?"

Qu Bo didn't urge him; his tone was as if he were discussing a business deal.

"Whatever conditions the Li family offered you, I'll give them double."

The old man was stunned for a moment.

Clearly, they hadn't expected the other person to say that.

"Spirit stones, materials, cultivation resources, ores and raw materials for refining magical artifacts—whatever the Li family gives you, I'll double."

Qu Bo glanced at him.

"You've probably heard of the Wang family's weapon-refining workshop. It's larger than the Li family's and has more mines. Whatever grade of materials you need, as long as we have them, we can provide them."

The old man's expression changed several times; the wariness in his eyes hadn't completely subsided, but his tense shoulders relaxed a little.

After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"When the Li family approached me, they didn't give me many options."

His voice carried a suppressed anger that had been building up for a long time.

"The market town for independent cultivators has been besieged by demonic beasts for so long. I don't know how to fight, I only know how to craft magical artifacts. The Li family came and said they would help me get out, on the condition that I make some magical artifacts for them. Could I say no?"

"After they finished, they didn't take me away right away. They said they were going to use me here, and I'm stuck in this lousy place."

Qu Bo didn't reply, he just looked at him.

The old man exhaled, his gaze shifting back and forth between Qu Bo and Li Yuan.

"How do you calculate double?"

Qu Bo gave a number.

After listening, the old man remained silent for a few moments, and finally nodded.

"OK."

His tone wasn't exactly cheerful, but it didn't show much hesitation either.

Qu Bo nodded and turned to walk towards the top of the slope, and the team behind him started moving.

Qu Bo did not travel with the main group; he led the weapon-refining master and Li Yuan alone towards Qinghefang City.

The pace was not slow; Li Yuan could feel a slight breeze pulling him along, making it much faster than usual.

By the time the outline of Qinghefang Market's walls came into view, the sun was already setting.

There were a few more people at the entrance of the market than when we set out. Several inspectors stood by the gate to register people, and the cultivators brought back from the market lined up to walk inside.

Qu Bo did not immediately enter the market. He stopped in the shadow of a low wall outside the gate and waved to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan walked over and handed his mask and clothes to Uncle Qu.

Qu Bo took the items and stuffed them into his storage bag. He leaned against the wall, a rare look of relaxation on his face.

"Well done."

He counted on his fingers.

"We disguised ourselves to pick up the people, and everything went smoothly. We also found half a pill in the stomach of a monster on the road earlier; that was you. We cleared out quite a few monsters along the way, and no one in your team was seriously injured."

Qu Bo glanced at Li Yuan.

"The reward of spirit stones and contribution points will be distributed together, you won't be shortchanged."

Qu Bo pointed to the storage bag on Li Yuan's body.

"Here, take this first."

Qu Bo's tone was casual.

"Also, you don't need to go back to the guard team for now. Go back to the patrol team instead."

Li Yuan reached for the storage bag, and the moment his fingertips touched the surface, a panel appeared.

[Equipable item detected: Storage Bag (Complete)]

[Entry Preview: Spatial Awareness (Green) - Enhanced ability to perceive space, capable of detecting spatial fluctuations and anomalies]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Contact with Spatial Fluctuations (0/1)]

[Current equipment slot (3/3), replace current equipment?]

Green entries.

Spatial perception—enhancing the perception of space. Permanent conditions only require exposure to spatial fluctuations once.

The conditions seem simple; you only need to do it once.

However, spatial fluctuations are not something you can encounter casually.

It's almost impossible for cultivators in the Qi Refining stage to come into contact with spatial powers, as that's a much higher level of existence. Unless they encounter a natural spatial rift or a spatial disturbance caused by a special magical artifact or formation, this condition simply cannot be met in the short term.

Li Yuan put the storage bag into his pocket.

Don't equip it yet, save it.

Spatial fluctuations can't be rushed; we'll deal with them when they happen.