Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 294: Chapter 284: Lockdown

On the third day after the Core Formation Platform was opened, the Primordial Yang Sect officially issued a lockdown order.

The entire outer perimeter of the Core Formation District was redrawn. The few Arrays that had been set up temporarily were now replaced with formal Restrictions and permanent guards.

An additional layer of identification Arrays was added to both ends of the corridor leading to the core gate.

The list of approved personnel was drafted at the outpost, and Li Yuan was on it.

When Chen Yi delivered the list, he mentioned it in passing.

"Your clearance is a half-step higher than a typical Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s. You can move freely in the outer ring, and while you’ll need to report in advance to enter the core district, you won’t be denied entry."

Li Yuan took the list and scanned it. There were just over a dozen names in total, and among the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, only five had received this level of clearance.

"When will the Core Formation Platform be usable?" Li Yuan asked.

Chen Yi shook his head.

"It’s still too early. The supporting Arrays are all destroyed and have to be rebuilt from scratch.

We’ll have to request another batch of Array Materials from our superiors. It could take half a year, maybe a full year. No one can say for sure."

This was not surprising.

The notes on Core Formation he had read before stated clearly that the platform couldn’t be used just by sitting on it; it required a complete set of auxiliary Arrays to be activated.

That set of auxiliary Arrays had been destroyed when the ruins collapsed. Now, only some old, fragmented patterns remained embedded in the stone walls and floor, completely incapable of supporting a full operation.

If the Primordial Yang Sect wanted to use this Core Formation Platform, they still had a lot of work to do.

After Chen Yi left, Li Yuan didn’t immediately attend to the marketplace’s affairs. Instead, he returned to his stone house.

The moment the door was shut, he took the Purple Evil Stone from his storage pouch.

He had only given it a cursory glance when he took it from the ore vein last time. This was the first time he was examining it seriously.

The entire Evil Stone was a deep purple and felt quite heavy in his palm. Its surface lacked the coarse texture of an ordinary Mid-grade Evil Stone; instead, it faintly shimmered with a delicate luster similar to that of a Spirit Stone.

Li Yuan first probed it with his Divine Sense.

The Evil Qi was extremely condensed, its density far exceeding that of a Mid-grade Evil Stone, just as he had observed before. But after a more detailed inspection this time, another change became apparent.

The stone didn’t just contain Evil Qi.

There was Spiritual Power as well.

The two did not repel each other. Instead, they seemed to have been compressed together by some force, forming an extremely stable state of coexistence. Li Yuan pushed his Divine Sense deeper, trying to discern the respective proportions of Evil Qi and Spiritual Power.

It was close to a two-to-three ratio.

This was even more precise than his rough estimate back in the ore vein.

The Evil Qi and Spiritual Power were intertwined but not chaotic, like two threads of different colors tightly twisted together.

Li Yuan withdrew his Divine Sense and placed the Purple Evil Stone on the table.

Last time, it was just a single piece that had coincidentally formed after a slight seepage of the Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Power into the Evil Ore. Looking at it again, the influence of the seepage was clearly deepening. The proportion of Spiritual Power had increased from a small fraction to nearly forty percent, indicating that the flow from the Spirit Vein toward the Evil Ore within the underground rock layers was still ongoing, and more stable than before.

For now, this seepage seemed to be having a positive effect on the Evil Ore.

The quality of the Purple Evil Stone was clearly higher than a Mid-grade Evil Stone, and its internal structure was also more stable. It didn’t seem like the product of an uncontrolled process.

But whether this would continue to intensify, and at what point it might cause problems, was still impossible to say.

Li Yuan put the Purple Evil Stone away, not dwelling on it any further.

In the afternoon, Li Yuan made a trip to the administration office.

The atmosphere in the marketplace had recently become even more oppressive than before. The Dark Abyss Association’s activities were growing bolder.

A few days ago, they were just setting up stalls on the edge of the marketplace to sell Lifespan Extension Pills. Now, they had begun to expand in more directions.

Inside the administration office, a Cultivator responsible for patrolling the outer areas was speaking with another person. His voice wasn’t loud, but he wasn’t deliberately lowering it either.

"The Dark Abyss Association posted another notice, publicly recruiting Array Masters. The price they’re offering is double what it was last time."

"Array Masters? Are they that desperate for Array Masters?"

"Not just Array Masters. They’re also recruiting Cultivators whose lifespans are nearing their end. The offer is a Lifespan Extension Pill plus High-Tier pill ingredients. They give half upfront and the other half when the job is done."

"I heard they even managed to recruit a few Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

Li Yuan sat to the side, flipping through today’s entry and exit log without joining the conversation.

He had heard a lot of similar news these past few days. The Dark Abyss Association wasn’t just poaching people around Mist Forest Marketplace; there were reportedly movements at Yunyang Marketplace as well. They had even covered several more remote gathering points for Loose Cultivators.

Rumors of them buying Array Materials and lifespan-extending medicinal herbs at high prices were also spreading throughout the marketplace. The prices of several supplementary herbs that weren’t originally considered rare had already risen by thirty percent in the last few days.

Li Yuan closed the logbook and got up to handle a few routine matters.

Only after night fell did he return to his stone house, close the door, and sit down.

He didn’t begin cultivating immediately. Instead, he closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the large Spirit Vein.

Everything within the Spirit Vein’s range unfolded as usual. The main vein, the branch veins, the old fault lines, and the flow of Spiritual Power in the underground rock layers were all clearly reflected in his mind.

Li Yuan’s focus wasn’t on the ore vein. He followed the main vein all the way up until he reached that familiar location.

Directly beneath the Core Formation Platform.

The teleportation structure he had confirmed last time was still there, and the Restrictions were unchanged. Although many more personnel and new Arrays had been added to the Core Formation District above since the core gate was opened, all of those things were on the surface and inside the ruins; they hadn’t affected this underground layer.

Li Yuan slowly traced the edges of the teleportation structure with his mind.

The entrance was near a core node of the main vein. The path passed through several transfer points sealed by old Restrictions and ultimately led to a sealed space directly beneath the Core Formation Platform. He had already determined the entire route and its length, and the structure itself showed no signs of collapse or fracture.

’It’s definitely feasible.’

’But the problems are also obvious.’

Li Yuan stopped at a Restriction node in the middle of the teleportation structure and examined it carefully.

Although the path was clear, if he actually used it, the Spiritual Wave from the Spiritual Power in his meridians could not be completely concealed.

Especially when the teleportation structure was operating, Spiritual Power would spread to both ends along the old circuits.

If the fluctuations of his aura were detected, it wouldn’t just be a matter of exposing a hidden path; it would lead to a great deal of unnecessary trouble.

’Concealing my aura.’

’That’s the first problem that must be solved.’

Although he had the permanent trait "Traceless Stealth," which could greatly mask his aura, the Spiritual Power fluctuations within his meridians were not entirely the same as his external aura. Traceless Stealth suppressed the aura he emitted, but once the teleportation structure was activated, the fluctuations generated by Spiritual Power flowing through the old circuits would leak from the structure itself. Simply masking his own presence might not be enough.

’I need a method that can also suppress the fluctuations within my meridians.’

’Stabilizing the nodes.’

’That’s the second problem. Although the old Restrictions along the teleportation structure are still functioning, once someone uses it, the flow of Spiritual Power in the circuit will inevitably leave traces at the nodes. If the Sect inspects the underground structure in the future and discovers that a certain node shows signs of recent activation, it would be very difficult to explain.’

Li Yuan withdrew his consciousness from the Spirit Vein and opened his eyes.

’No need to rush. There probably won’t be any problems until I’m about to break the final Restriction.’

Li Yuan stood up, stretched his muscles, and sat back down on the cattail mat to begin his cultivation.

The next day, a document was delivered from the administration office.

It wasn’t a routine marketplace matter, but had been forwarded from the outpost.

The Cultivator who delivered the document placed it on the table and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Pavilion Master, this is the accusation the Wang family submitted to the outpost regarding the Li family. The outpost has forwarded a copy to the administration office for our records, as is standard procedure."

Li Yuan reached out and opened it.

The document was not long, but its wording was quite deliberate.

It didn’t directly name names or accuse the Li family of colluding with the Demon Sect, but instead used a series of euphemisms. On a certain date, a suspicious aura had appeared near a certain stronghold of the Li family, and so on.

After reading it, Li Yuan closed the document.

This move by the Wang family wasn’t brilliant, but it was practical. The Li family was already under the Sect’s watch. The previous incident of using a branch vein as bait had brought the Li family’s old connections with the Demon Sect to light, and the Sect was already investigating them covertly. The Secret Realm had also cast suspicion on the Li family.

For the Wang family to submit an accusation from the side at this time, regardless of how much substance it contained, was like striking another blow on an existing crack.

Moreover, the accusation was filed through proper channels. Once the outpost received it, it had to be archived, and it would naturally be brought up during any subsequent investigation.

Li Yuan placed the document back on the table without saying much.

This was not something he could control, nor did he need to. He had no deep relationship with the Li family to begin with; breaking their Array was just a job he was paid for. How the Li family and the Wang family fought, and how the Sect investigated, was none of his business.

After handling the affairs at the administration office, Li Yuan returned to his stone house and continued to cultivate.

Spiritual Power circulated through his meridians, and the Spiritual Power in his Dantian was as calm and steady as ever. The progress of making the blue trait from the Top-Grade Spirit Stone permanent continued to advance slowly with each completed cycle. The large Spirit Vein was equipped in his special slot, and his automatic cultivation and Spiritual Power recovery never ceased.

Late at night, Li Yuan stopped his cultivation, rose, and went to meditate near the Spirit Vein Core.

The depths of the molten layer were as quiet as always, with only the gentle flow of the main vein’s Spiritual Radiance.

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