Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

For the next few days, Li Yuan's life revolved around making talismans and cultivating.

Fireball talismans were drawn one after another, with a success rate consistently above 60%.

With five or six sheets produced daily, finished products are steadily accumulating.

That afternoon, Li Yuan was drawing the fourth fireball talisman at his desk.

The overlapping of the fire-gathering patterns was halfway complete, and the pen tip was just about to press down—

hum.

A deep tremor came from the perimeter of the mine.

Feedback from the investigation formation.

Li Yuan stopped his wrist, and a small patch of spiritual ink bleed onto the paper. This one was ruined.

He put down the talisman brush and listened intently for a moment.

No alarm sounded immediately outside.

According to normal procedures, once the detection array detects an approaching cultivator or demon beast, the person on duty should immediately confirm the signal and issue a warning.

But it was quiet outside for several breaths, and there was no sound at all.

Li Yuan frowned, pushed open the door, and walked out.

Today, the person on duty to investigate the formation is a cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining in the team, surnamed Qian. He doesn't talk much and is quite conscientious in his work.

At this moment, the cultivator surnamed Qian was squatting next to the core stone pillar of the array, with one hand on the stone pillar and the other hand frantically pouring spiritual energy into it.

His face was filled with guilt.

The spiritual patterns on the array stone pillars flashed twice, then a blinding red light shone, and a sharp buzzing sound suddenly resounded throughout the entire mine.

alarm.

The alarm was several breaths too late.

The cultivator surnamed Qian was startled by the commotion and stood up abruptly, blurting out a sentence.

"Someone's approaching! Several of them!"

Li Yuan no longer looks at him.

His gaze fell on the gap in the earthen wall on the north side of the mine.

Seven people.

Seven figures were rapidly approaching along the gravel slope, moving at a considerable speed. They spread out in formation, pressing towards the mine in a semi-encircling manner.

It was less than eighty feet from the earthen wall.

The leader was a tall, thin man in his early thirties, wearing a dark brown, narrow-sleeved short robe, with a narrow-bladed long knife at his waist, the scabbard wrapped with a dark leather band.

Sixth level of Qi Refining.

He was in the same rank as Li Yuan.

The other six people were scattered on either side of him, their cultivation levels varying greatly, the highest being the fifth level of Qi Refining and the lowest only the third level.

The leader's gaze was already fixed on the direction of the mine, and his hand was already on the hilt of his knife.

Li Yuan took a step and headed towards the gap in the earthen wall.

Before he could even reach the gap, the leader on the other side had already made his move.

The tall, thin man drew his sword with lightning speed. The moment the blade left its sheath, it was enveloped in a hazy, spiritual light. With a flick of his wrist, a burst of sword energy shot out, slashing straight toward Li Yuan.

Start the attack from sixty feet away.

The blade energy was fast; a grayish-white arc of light drew a shallow line across the gravel ground and sliced ​​through the air with a hiss.

Li Yuan stepped aside to let him pass.

The blade's energy swept past him two inches from the outside of his right shoulder, slamming into the earthen wall behind him and sending up a shower of broken earth.

Li Yuan raised his right hand, and a burst of firelight gathered in his palm.

Fireball.

The crimson fireball was compressed into the size of a fist in his palm and then released.

With the added bonus of the Fireball Technique's rapid activation, the condensation speed was 20% faster than normal. The precise activation was precisely where it was, and the aim was flawless.

But the other party was sixty feet away.

Li Yuan didn't expect this shot to hit; he was just trying to force the opponent to change direction.

Sure enough, the tall, thin man dodged to the side, and the fireball grazed past his left side, slamming into the gravel behind him and exploding into a burst of fire, sending debris flying.

But his dodge disrupted his rhythm.

This is exactly what Li Yuan wanted.

A flash of fire appeared beneath her feet as she activated her Fire Release technique, propelling her straight out of the opening and crashing head-on into the tall, thin man.

The distance between them decreased from sixty zhang to fifteen zhang in just a few breaths.

Li Yuan raised his right hand again, and the second fireball was already launched.

This shot was completely unpretentious, aimed straight at the tall, thin man's chest.

The tall, thin man reacted quickly, holding his narrow-bladed longsword horizontally in front of him. A burst of spiritual light appeared on the blade as he took the blow head-on.

boom.

Sparks exploded on the blade, and the tall, thin man flew back four or five steps, his boots leaving two white marks on the gravel.

A tingling vibration came from the web of his hand, followed by a tearing pain.

Upon closer inspection, a one-inch cut had already appeared.

The fireball's impact was far greater than he had anticipated.

The tall, thin man steadied himself, and his gaze changed.

He looked at the cultivator of the same level in front of him, a hint of doubt flashing in his eyes.

Their cultivation level was similar to mine, so the power of their spells shouldn't be this great.

But he didn't have much time to think.

Li Yuan had already advanced to within ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Fire Arrow Technique is released.

laugh.

The bullet shot straight through the gap between the two men, heading towards the tall, thin man's right shoulder. At this distance, the accuracy was almost guaranteed; the trajectory of the bullet showed no deviation.

The tall, thin man was forced to dodge to the side, his blade pointing downwards in an attempt to use the energy of the blade to deflect the fire.

The blade energy and the fire line collided in mid-air, sparks flying everywhere.

The fire was deflected, but it did not dissipate. Its remaining force grazed the outside of the tall, thin man's right arm, leaving a scorch mark on his arm. The flesh, protected by spiritual energy, was burned and rolled up.

The tall, thin man grunted and pulled his right arm back.

Before he could adjust his posture, the second fire arrow had already arrived.

This time, the ball was hit in the leg.

The tall, thin man had no choice but to abandon his counterattack, leaping sideways to barely avoid the attack. He stumbled upon landing, but the tip of the knife braced himself against the ground to steady himself.

From the start of the battle until now, only a few breaths have passed.

He failed to make a single cut.

Just as he was about to draw his knife and fight again, he caught a glimpse of what was happening to his side out of the corner of his eye—

The people from the mine have arrived.

The cultivator surnamed Lü led three people out of the gap in the earthen wall. Sun Liang followed at the back, his steps unsteady but clutching a magical artifact in his hand. Manager Liu also came around from behind the wooden shed, holding a short sword. Although his aura was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, his positioning was skillful, directly blocking the enemy's flank retreat.

The six intruders were entangled by the miners.

The difference in cultivation level was obvious. The highest among the attackers was only at the fifth level of Qi Refining, while the rest were all at the third or fourth level. They were at a disadvantage against the people from the mine. Moreover, their leader had been suppressed by Li Yuan alone, and their morale had already plummeted.

The two sides clashed, and spiritual light flashed wildly on the rubble-covered ground.

The tall, thin man glanced at the battle, his face darkening completely.

"withdraw!"

A loud shout.

The tall, thin man suddenly channeled all his sword energy into his feet, sending rubble flying. He used the recoil to propel himself backward, leaping more than ten feet in a single bound.

Upon hearing the order, his six men also began to break away from the battle and run away.

The miners gave chase.

A cultivator surnamed Lü pierced the calf of a Qi Refining Level 3 cultivator with a spear. The man fell to the ground and was held down by a cultivator surnamed Qian who arrived from behind.

Manager Liu caught up with another Qi Refining Level 4 cultivator. His short sword struck the man's back, breaking through the defensive aura. The man groaned and fell to the ground, where Manager Liu stepped on him.

A flash of fire appeared beneath Li Yuan's feet as he activated his Fire Release technique and chased after the tall, thin man in the direction he had retreated.

The fire arrow flew from his palm and shot towards the tall, thin man's back.

The tall, thin cultivator screamed as he was thrown to the ground by the flames, rolling twice on the rubble. His entire back was charred, and he was barely breathing.

Li Yuan turned around and walked back.

The ground was a mess of gravel.

Several invading cultivators were pinned to the ground, their hands and feet bound with spiritual ropes, and they lay face down among the rubble.

Including those whose calves were pierced and those who were cleaved by short swords, along with the tall, thin cultivator, a total of four remained, while three escaped.

No one at the mine was seriously injured. The cultivator surnamed Lü had a shallow cut on his arm, and Manager Liu's short sword had a small chip, but the rest were fine.

Li Yuan walked up to the bound attackers, squatted down, and began collecting their spoils.

None of these people had storage bags on them. The first person only had a few spirit stones, half a bottle of medicine, and some miscellaneous items.

The second one had more items; it contained two bottles of pills and a roll of animal hide.

The third and fourth were also turned over one by one, and everything was dumped out and piled on the gravel ground.

There weren't many spirit stones, just a dozen or so scattered around. There were also a few bottles of pills, a few parts of magical artifacts, and some loose ores and herbs.

They're all poor bastards.

Gather everything together in one place, and we'll take a closer look later.

Then Li Yuan turned his head and looked at the tall, thin cultivator, who was already lifeless.

Manager Liu walked over, squatted down beside him, glanced at the pile of spoils, and then looked at the four people tied to the ground.

"What should we do?"

Li Yuan stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Keep him locked up for now, we'll talk about it when the Wang family arrives."