Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 262: Chapter 252: Outpost and Underground Disturbance

The news of the outpost’s construction came much faster than most people in the marketplace had expected.

After confirming the existence of the ruins in the Ghost Mist Forest, the Primordial Yang Sect didn’t delay. Just a few days later, the first batch of personnel and materials was transported from Yunyang Marketplace.

Chen Yi had also been running back and forth these past few days.

When he came to the marketplace, he mentioned it briefly to Li Yuan.

"The Sect has changed its mind. They originally wanted to take things slow. But now that the ruins have been exposed, the outpost must be established first. Only with a stable foothold can we manage the subsequent development and exploration."

Li Yuan nodded and didn’t ask any further questions.

After construction began on the outpost, the changes in the marketplace became more obvious with each passing day.

As for the shops, foot traffic continued to increase. Of the few originally vacant storefronts, three more were rented out this month. One sold common Healing Elixirs, another handled Magical Artifact repairs, and a third specialized in buying Demon Beast materials and ores.

The demon beast hunting and supply sector grew even faster.

Even before the outpost was fully built, many demon beast hunting teams had already started using the Mist Forest Marketplace as a transit point. Some came to buy Talismans, others to restock on Replenishing Essence Pills, and still others directly hired temporary workers or sought guides in the marketplace.

The number of resident Cultivators was also on the rise. Some rented stone houses, while others built simple shacks on the edge of the marketplace, all just to be a little closer to the trading post and the Ghost Mist Forest.

As for Array maintenance, what was once a job confined to the marketplace’s interior was now gradually extending to the periphery.

With the Demon-Exploring Arrays, Gathering Evil Arrays, warning nodes, and the temporary protective arrays set up around the outpost’s construction site, the maintenance team was nearly running out of manpower.

The ledger sent over by the management office at the end of the month was noticeably thicker than the previous month’s.

Li Yuan scanned through it, not lingering on specific numbers, but only glancing at the changes.

Profits were on a steady upward trend.

Li Yuan put down the ledger and took a walk around the southern Spirit Fields and the outskirts of the marketplace.

After being nourished by the Cultivation Array and the feedback from the Tier Two Evil Pill, the Evil Vein’s throughput was slightly stronger than before. Under Li Yuan’s control, this small increase translated to a slight reduction of Evil Qi in the marketplace’s vicinity.

As he walked toward the area to the south, near the ore vein, Li Yuan’s pace slowed.

That underground anomaly had appeared again.

Before, it was merely faint and intermittent. But now, as his perception of the Evil Vein had sharpened over the past few days, the fluctuations had also become much clearer.

Instead of stopping to probe it forcefully, Li Yuan walked slowly along the perimeter, gradually spreading out his perception.

He went from the south of the ore vein to the southeast of the marketplace, then circled around toward the west.

After completing his circuit, he returned to his stone house, immediately spread out a simple map of the Ghost Mist Forest, and marked all the anomalous locations he had detected.

The location of the Evil Ore was already known.

The location of the outpost had also been decided by the Sect.

The direction of the ruins was even more obvious.

Li Yuan connected the three points, and his gaze focused.

The area where the anomalous feedback was strongest was situated precisely between the three, and they could roughly be connected in a straight line.

The line wasn’t perfectly straight, deviating somewhat in the middle, but in a terrain like the Ghost Mist Forest, it was already extremely conspicuous.

At the same time, the Sect was also making a new move. The second round of exploration into the ruins had been scheduled.

This time, more people were coming, and the preparations were more thorough.

The last expedition was just to confirm the ruins’ existence and scout the periphery; this time, the clear objective was to push deeper inside. Chen Yi came to the marketplace a day early to go over the personnel arrangements and mission objectives.

"This time, we’re not just looking at the outer areas, we’re going to push a fair bit deeper," he said. "The Sect has assigned new Array Masters and also brought several items for breaking Restrictions."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"Any new movements from the Dark Abyss Association?"

"Yes, but nothing major," Chen Yi said. "It’s like they found the door but haven’t figured out how to open it. They’ve rummaged through several outer areas, but they haven’t been able to enter the deeper levels. This means they couldn’t get past the Restrictions inside either."

This wasn’t surprising.

The ruins were originally left behind by an old Sect and later modified by the Demon Sect. It was a layered maze; even though many parts were dilapidated, its Restrictions couldn’t be broken through brute force alone.

On the day of departure, the team gathered at the marketplace first, as before.

This time, the team included several more Array Cultivators and two Foundation Establishment Cultivators specializing in clearing obstacles. They also brought several crates of materials and single-use Restriction-breaking tools. Li Yuan was in the team as usual. He wasn’t in charge, but no one treated him as just an ordinary follower.

After entering the Ghost Mist Forest, the route was much the same as last time.

Everyone was familiar with the first half, so they advanced quickly. The team only truly slowed down when they reached the excavated area on the outskirts of the ruins.

The pit was still there, but the surrounding area was tidier than before. The Primordial Yang Sect had clearly sent people in advance to clean up the messy traces left behind last time, and they had also set up temporary warning arrays in the vicinity.

Upon entering the underground passage, Li Yuan immediately noticed a difference.

This time, they weren’t exploring the path that the Dark Abyss Association had mostly swept through. Instead, they cut into a newly opened passage from the side. The area had originally been blocked by rubble and a collapsed old wall, which no one had tried to force through last time. Now that the Sect had cleared the obstruction, a more complete band of Restrictions was revealed behind it.

Gray-white Spirit Patterns covered the walls and floor, glowing with an extremely faint light in many places. Compared to the fragmented Restrictions on the outer layer that had been violently broken last time, the ones here were clearly much more intact.

Chen Yi stood at the front and said in a low voice, "The Dark Abyss Association really didn’t make it this far."

No one replied; all attention was focused on the Restrictions.

An Array Master from the Primordial Yang Sect stepped forward to investigate first. He swept the area several times with his Divine Sense, his brow furrowing deeper and deeper.

"There are three layers. The outermost is an identification Restriction, the middle is a mechanism trigger, and the innermost is a lock."

"Can it be dismantled?" Chen Yi asked.

"Yes, but it will be slow."

Li Yuan stood to the side, not speaking immediately. With a thought, he equipped the Breaking Ban Cone.

When Li Yuan looked at the Restrictions again, his perception of them changed instantly.

The gray-white Spirit Patterns, which had previously been a jumbled mess, now seemed to resolve into distinct layers within his perception. Which parts were identification patterns, which were connected to the mechanisms, which Spirit Patterns were merely a cover, and which ones truly held the Restriction’s core—all of this suddenly became much clearer.

He took two steps forward and pointed to an inconspicuous spot in the corner of the wall.

"This isn’t a lock, it’s a guide."

The Array Master froze, looking where he pointed. After a moment of careful probing with his Divine Sense, his expression changed completely.

"He’s right."

Then, on another side, Li Yuan pointed out a mechanism circuit hidden beneath the lock pattern.

After he was correct twice in a row, the way the others looked at him changed.

Chen Yi, however, showed no surprise. He simply said, "You help out."

With his Spirit Pattern Analysis, Li Yuan’s role in breaking the Restriction immediately became apparent.

After breaking through two consecutive layers, the final lock was finally revealed.

The style of the Spirit Patterns was more ancient, and they were more complete.

An Array Master sucked in a breath. "Tier One Top Grade."

Li Yuan didn’t let his focus waver, continuing to trace the Spirit Patterns inward.

After the group worked together to dismantle it for another quarter of an hour, the final pattern finally loosened.

The wall silently split open, revealing a crack.

At that moment, a notification popped up on his panel.

[Spirit Pattern Analysis (Green) Permanence Progress Increased]

[Current Progress: 1/5]

The path behind the wall wasn’t wide; it was a relatively well-preserved stone corridor.

Unlike the looted and ransacked areas from before, this place had clearly seen few visitors. The dust on the ground was thicker, and the Spirit Patterns on the walls were more intact. After walking for more than a thousand feet, the space ahead suddenly opened up.

It was another outer-layer area, not particularly large in scale, but completely different from the storehouses and halls they had seen last time.

Rows of stone platforms lined both sides, with grooves of various sizes embedded in their surfaces. Some grooves still bore traces of scorching and liquid medicine stains. The side rooms further in contained stone cabinets, Pill Furnace pedestals, and herb racks. Although most were empty, their purpose was obvious at a glance.

It wasn’t a main hall or a treasury, but more like an outer area that had once been dedicated to processing medicinal herbs, refining elixirs, and storing objects related to the Alchemy Dao.

Chen Yi walked in and looked around, his expression turning thoughtful.

"Finally, we’ve found somewhere decent."

The expressions of several team members relaxed a bit. The entire journey so far had been either breaking Restrictions or walking through empty halls. Although it confirmed the ruins hadn’t been completely picked clean, it would have been demoralizing to find nothing at all.

Li Yuan stood at the entrance, sweeping the surroundings with his Divine Sense.

There were still residual Restrictions here, more intricate than the ones outside. It was clear the area had not yet been fully explored.

But at least one thing was now very clear: although the Dark Abyss Association had arrived here first, at most they had only found the entrance and some of the outer paths. They hadn’t yet had time to crack open a truly complete, new area.

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