Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 268: Chapter 258: Mid-grade Evil Stone

The next day, Chen Yi came to the marketplace in person.

He looked relatively calm when he walked in.

"The Evil Slaying Sect is here."

The Evil Slaying Sect was the same Demon Sect that had clashed with the Qi Shui Sect. It was almost certain they were the power behind the Dark Abyss Association.

Li Yuan put down the account book in his hands and looked at him.

"How many?"

"Several groups of Foundation Establishment Cultivators have arrived." Chen Yi paused. "The critical part is, a Golden Core Cultivator is here, too."

"They haven’t actually pushed into the ruins yet, just stopped at the outskirts of the deep Ghost Mist Forest. It’s as if they’re watching, and also as if they’re waiting."

A Golden Core Cultivator from the Evil Slaying Sect.

As those words were spoken, the room fell silent for a moment.

Chen Yi continued, "The Sect has already reported this, and higher-level Cultivators are on their way. For the next few days, the marketplace, the outpost, and the entrance to the ruins will all operate on a war footing."

"If any Loose Cultivators want to leave, let them. Don’t stop those who are willing to stay to do business and accept missions, either."

"As for you, your priority is to keep the marketplace stable."

Li Yuan nodded.

Over the next two days, the Mist Forest Marketplace was completely transformed.

The usual sounds of laughter and haggling on the main street diminished considerably, replaced by waves of people transporting supplies. Healing Pills, Replenishing Essence Pills, Talismans, Defense Array materials, standard-issue Magical Artifacts, and protective spiritual robes—almost everything was being sent to the outpost by the crate.

Some Loose Cultivators began to withdraw as well.

But at the same time, even more supplies and people flooded in.

Trading houses sent for more Shopkeepers and clerks, apothecaries temporarily raised their prices for Spirit Grass and Demon Beast materials, and lines even formed in front of the Magical Artifact repair shops. The marketplace was like a suddenly tightened cogwheel; while the idle chatter on the surface had vanished, it now turned faster than ever before.

The outpost, too, had entered a state of partial lockdown.

Li Yuan visited once and saw that three new temporary defensive lines had been set up outside.

That evening, a presence suddenly emanated from the south, so heavy it felt suffocating.

This presence wasn’t deliberately unleashed, yet it was like an invisible hand pressing down, extending from the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest all the way to the edge of the outpost. The marketplace, the outpost, and even the surrounding forestlands fell silent in that instant. The Cultivators still moving supplies stopped what they were doing and looked south.

Li Yuan stood on a high platform on the outpost’s perimeter, his expression hardening.

The next moment, another equally steady and profound presence rose from within the outpost to meet it.

The two presences, one to the south and one to the north, had yet to collide, but the surrounding Spiritual Power was already in turmoil.

A large clearing had already been made south of the outpost, and it now seemed to be forcibly split in two by invisible forces.

Li Yuan moved closer. As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, his eyesight was excellent, and the scene before him was perfectly clear.

A wide clearing had been forcibly carved out of the Ghost Mist Forest. At either end of the clearing stood a group of people.

On one side was the Primordial Yang Sect.

They were not great in number, and only one person stood at the very front.

It was a middle-aged Cultivator in a crimson-gold robe, standing in mid-air with his hands clasped behind his back. He wasn’t deliberately releasing any pressure, yet the Spiritual Power all around seemed to revolve around him naturally. Behind him were several Foundation Establishment Cultivators and a row of deployed array artifacts.

On the other side were the people of the Evil Slaying Sect.

At their front, too, was a single person. He wore a wide-sleeved black robe, his features obscured as he stood within a faint gray mist. The mist did not expand, yet it seemed to drain the color from the plants and trees within several yards of him. Behind him were a dozen or so Cultivators of varying strengths, clearly there to provide backup.

Neither side made a move.

Yet the space between them in the clearing seemed to have been forcibly torn apart by two invisible forces. Above, the clouds hung low, the gravel on the ground trembled faintly, and nearby broken branches would silently disintegrate into dust.

Li Yuan stood at the edge of the high slope, his gaze fixed.

’So this is Golden Core.’

’No flashy Magic, no earth-shattering explosions. Just two people standing there, and they’ve already seized complete control of the area’s presence.’

Down in the clearing, the Golden Core Cultivator from the Primordial Yang Sect finally spoke. His voice wasn’t loud, but it carried clearly all the way up to the slope.

"The Ghost Mist Forest is within the territory of my Primordial Yang Sect, and the ruins are within the borders of Liangzhou. You people from the Evil Slaying Sect have extended your reach too far."

The black-robed Cultivator opposite let out a laugh.

"Just because you of the Primordial Yang Sect found it first, that makes it yours?"

"Ruins are inanimate; they belong to the capable. Besides, didn’t you yourselves admit there were remnants of a Demon Sect inside?"

Soon, the Golden Core Cultivator from the Primordial Yang Sect stopped talking and simply took a step forward.

As he took that step, everyone on the slope felt a jolt run through them.

It wasn’t an earthquake, but it felt as if the Spiritual Power of the entire region had been struck by a massive hammer. For a moment, the air above the clearing visibly distorted.

The Golden Core Cultivator from the Evil Slaying Sect opposite him also raised a hand.

The gray mist billowed, and the force that had just been pressed across the clearing was abruptly halted. Several old trees nearby exploded on the spot, but the splinters and shredded leaves didn’t scatter. They were pinned in mid-air, like a stagnant gray curtain.

Li Yuan’s pupils constricted slightly.

’This wasn’t powerful in the same way as the battles between Foundation Establishment Cultivators he’d seen before; this was a completely different level. In the hands of a Golden Core Cultivator, Spiritual Power was no longer just a force circulating within their body, but something that could directly change the flow of Spiritual Power in the world around them.’

’No wonder everyone considers Core Formation a watershed moment.’

’No matter how strong a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is, they are ultimately just borrowing power. A Golden Core Cultivator, by contrast, seems to truly hammer their own power into the region itself.’

The two Golden Core Cultivators continued their standoff, but a true fight never broke out.

After returning to the marketplace, Li Yuan also went to inspect his Evil Ore mine.

With war preparations tightening, other matters had to be put aside, but the Evil Vein, on the other hand, gave him a pleasant surprise.

The Cultivation Array set up earlier had been operating slowly. After the Tier Two Evil Pill fed its energy back into the vein, the higher-quality Evil Stones in the mine’s depths had been gradually accumulating. After several months, the changes were finally starting to become apparent.

The moment Li Yuan stepped inside, his Evil Vein Sense immediately gave him feedback.

It was not his imagination.

One of the Evil Stones had crossed the threshold.

A Mid-grade Evil Stone.

There weren’t many, but this was enough to prove his previous cultivation efforts had not been in vain. The Evil Vein hadn’t produced a Mid-grade Evil Stone out of thin air; rather, his method of slow nurturing and the feedback from the Evil Pill was finally starting to yield results.

Li Yuan stood before the rock face. He didn’t act rashly, but instead scanned the entire mine, inside and out, one more time.

As this first Mid-grade Evil Stone stabilized, the entire vein’s energy signature seemed to deepen. It could absorb more Evil Qi, and the backflow was smoother. The most direct change was that the low-Evil Qi zone south of the marketplace expanded even further, and even a few Spirit Fields on the unstable fringes had completely settled down.

But Li Yuan knew this wasn’t the end of it.

’Having the first Mid-grade Evil Stone doesn’t mean the entire Evil Vein is now capable of producing them reliably. This is just a milestone; there’s still a long way to go before it’s a permanent feature.’

He didn’t dwell on it, simply raising a hand and drawing out the Mid-grade Evil Stone.

At the same time, he equipped his Evil Cultivation Stone.

With a surge of Spiritual Power from his palm, the Evil Qi within the Mid-grade Evil Stone was slowly drawn out by the Array Hub. The process was not fast, but it was steady. When the last wisp of mid-grade Evil Qi was completely absorbed, a panel popped up.

[Permanent Status Conditions Met for Evil Qi Sense (White)]

[Make Permanent?]

Li Yuan confirmed it immediately.

[Permanent Status: Success]

[Evil Qi Sense (White) is now a permanent trait.]

[Equipped item consumed.]

A faint, cool sensation swept across the edge of his sea of consciousness before dispersing into his senses.

The next moment, when he perceived the entire mine again, the sensation was noticeably clearer. It wasn’t just the overall awareness granted by the special Evil Vein equipment; his ability to discern the Evil Qi itself was now more refined. He could distinguish more clearly where it was dense, where it was scattered, and where impure qi had mixed in.

’In a place like the Ghost Mist Forest, this is an incredibly practical ability.’

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