After returning from Yunyang Marketplace, Li Yuan paid closer attention to the flow of people within the marketplace.
The frequency of his daily patrols changed from once every two days to once per day.
The passive perception of his Demon Essence Incarnation operated automatically within a thirty-zhang radius, capturing any fluctuation of Demonic Qi. Every day, Li Yuan walked a circuit along the marketplace’s main street and square, extending his perception to cover as much area as possible.
He made a discovery on the third day.
In front of a stall on the east side of the square, a male Cultivator in a grayish-brown short shirt was sorting through a pile of ore fragments.
He had a Late-stage Qi Refining cultivation, an ordinary face, and looked no different from any other mining Loose Cultivator.
But a faint, residual trace of Demonic Qi lingered deep within his body.
The concentration was even lower than that of the itinerant merchant who had self-destructed earlier—it was almost negligible. If not for his Demon Essence Incarnation’s passive perception being specifically tuned for Demonic Qi, such a trace would have been completely undetectable.
Li Yuan didn’t break his stride, walking past the man and continuing on his way.
Over the next two days, he found two more.
Three people in total, scattered across different areas of the marketplace, each with a different cover identity. One was a mining Loose Cultivator, another a passing Cultivator, and the third an itinerant merchant. They acted normally, drew no attention, and were indistinguishable from any other Loose Cultivator.
Li Yuan began to secretly monitor their movements.
The next evening, Li Yuan noticed something else.
While the mining Loose Cultivator was idly chatting with a few others in the square, the topic turned to Evil Ore.
"I heard there’s an Evil Ore vein south of the marketplace? What’s the quality like? Is it minable?"
A nearby Loose Cultivator waved his hand dismissively. "That vein belongs to Pavilion Master Li. He doesn’t let outsiders mine it."
"Not allowed? The whole vein is his?"
"The Primordial Yang Sect assigned it to him. We don’t know the specifics. Anyway, the Evil Qi over there is dense, so most people can’t enter."
The mining Loose Cultivator nodded and didn’t press the matter, letting the conversation drift to other things.
Standing at the entrance of a shop thirty zhang away, Li Yuan had heard the entire conversation clearly.
’He’s asking for information about the Evil Ore region.’
’The Evil Ore mine is where my equipped Evil Vein is located. Are they asking about it out of simple curiosity, or do they have some other purpose?’
’The Dark Abyss Association is searching for the treasury of a former Demon Sect. Is there a geographical link between the Evil Ore region and that treasury? The depths of the Ghost Mist Forest itself was once an area of Demon Sect activity. Could the source of the Evil Qi be related to them?’
’I can’t be sure, but I have to stay on high alert.’
That night, Li Yuan used his Protector Token to send a detailed report to Chen Yi.
He truthfully reported the physical descriptions, cover identities, and movement patterns of all three individuals, as well as the incident with the mining Loose Cultivator asking about the Evil Ore.
Chen Yi’s reply arrived an hour later.
"Don’t startle them for now. The itinerant merchant who self-destructed left no intel behind. This time, we need to bait more clues out of them."
"I have the inheritance for a Demon-Exploring Array. You can set up sensory nodes at the key entrances and exits of the marketplace to expand your surveillance coverage. But you can’t set up the Array overtly, or you’ll tip them off."
"I’ll have the Array materials and the inheritance jade slip sent over as soon as possible. Set it up yourself. It’ll be quieter if you do it alone rather than me sending people over."
"Oh, right, the Sect will likely be holding an auction soon. Be sure to prepare for it."
Two days later, Chen Yi sent someone to deliver the Array materials and inheritance jade slip to the Mist Forest Marketplace.
The Demon-Exploring Array.
It was an Array that specialized in sensing Demonic Qi. Its Spirit Pattern structure wasn’t complex, but it had special requirements for the material of its Array Hub. The one Chen Yi had sent was a top-quality Purifying Spirit Stone, its material pure and its Spiritual Power fluctuations stable.
Li Yuan spent a night studying the inheritance jade slip, fully absorbing the method for deploying the Array.
In the early hours of the next morning, when foot traffic in the marketplace was at its lowest, Li Yuan set up a sensory node for the Demon-Exploring Array at each of the four entrances.
The Array Foundation Stones were buried underground, and the Conductive Spirit Sand was hidden in the cracks of the stone pavement, completely invisible from the outside. The four nodes were connected to the Array Hub via interlinking Spirit Sand, and the Array Hub itself was installed within the foundation of the administration’s stone building.
Finally, he embedded the Purifying Spirit Stone serving as the Array Hub into place and infused it with Spiritual Power to activate it.
The instant the Array activated, Li Yuan’s fingers were resting on the Array Hub.
A panel popped up.
[Detected equippable item: Demon Detecting Stone (Complete)]
[Equip Trait Preview: Demonic Sense Boost (White) — Increases perception range for Demonic Qi by 30%.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Absorb Demonic Qi (Fulfilled)]
[Equip?]
’A white trait. Demonic Sense Boost.’
’Increases my perception range for Demonic Qi by thirty percent. The condition for making it permanent is to absorb Demonic Qi.’
’I’ve been absorbing Demonic Qi for a long time to cultivate the Demon Essence Skill, so the condition is met instantly.’
[Demonic Sense Boost (White) has become a permanent trait.]
The Purifying Spirit Stone from the Array Hub dissolved into white light and flowed into his body.
The passive Demonic Qi perception range of his Demon Essence Incarnation expanded from thirty zhang to nearly forty. Combined with the coverage of the Demon-Exploring Array itself, the Demonic Qi surveillance network covering the marketplace’s four entrances was now complete.
Li Yuan stood up from beside the administration building’s foundation, took out a spare Purifying Spirit Stone to replace the one he had absorbed for the Array Hub, and reactivated the Array.
The Demon-Exploring Array resumed operation.
In the days that followed, he continued both his cultivation and surveillance.
His Thick Earth True Skill continued to advance from the stage of Great Success.
One morning, as he completed the final cycle of the Thick Earth True Skill, his Spiritual Power formed a complete, self-sustaining loop within the meridian branches of his bones and muscles. Without any active guidance, the Spiritual Power now flowed along a fixed path, creating a continuous resonance with the Earth Essence in his body.
A prompt appeared on the panel.
[Cultivation Technique: Thick Earth True Skill — Perfected (0/0)]
’An Earth Element Cultivation Technique, perfected.’
Immediately after, a second prompt appeared on the panel.
[Cultivation Advancement (Green) Permanence Condition Fulfilled]
[Cultivate a new Body Refining/Cultivation Technique to Perfection (1/1)]
[Make Permanent?]
Yes.
[Cultivation Advancement (Green) has become a permanent trait.]
’The proficiency gain for all my Cultivation Techniques has increased by thirty percent. This bonus stacks with my other cultivation-related traits, so the progress of all my future techniques will be even faster.’
’The cultivation of my Red Fire Skill, which was already doubling in speed thanks to Flame Essence Refinement, now has an additional thirty percent boost from Cultivation Advancement.’
Li Yuan switched to the Red Fire Skill and began to cultivate.
’The permanence condition for Spirit Platform Stability is to cultivate two Cultivation Techniques of different elements to perfection.’
’My Thick Earth True Skill is Earth Element, so that’s one. I need to perfect another Cultivation Technique of a different element. The Spirit-Introducing Skill and the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill are both non-elemental, so they don’t meet the requirement.’
’I’ll have to cultivate the Red Fire Skill to perfection to make it permanent.’
’The doubling effect from Flame Essence Refinement was extremely significant. The proficiency growth rate for Fire Element techniques was already twice that of others, and when stacked with the thirty percent from Cultivation Advancement, fifty percent from Pure Spiritual Power, and other bonuses like Cultivation Acceleration and Cycle Acceleration, the Red Fire Skill progressed at a blistering pace.’
From Entry to Skilled took two days. From Skilled to Proficient took four.
[Cultivation Technique: Red Fire Skill — Proficient (0/800)]
His Golden Iron Body Refining Skill was also progressing simultaneously.
Boosted by the Evil Qi Body Tempering from Evil Essence Unification, the medicinal enhancement from Bone Marrow Tempering, and the synchronized effect of Spirit-Blood Dual Cultivation, his Golden Iron Body Refining Skill advanced from Proficient to Minor Achievement.
[Cultivation Technique: Golden Iron Body Refining Skill — Minor Achievement (0/1200)]
Li Yuan concluded his cultivation session, sitting cross-legged to regulate his breath.
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