Chapter 276 - 266: Wood Spirit Pill

Chapter 276: Chapter 266: Wood Spirit Pill

The Mist Forest Marketplace was getting more crowded.

Shortly after dawn, people were already starting to line up at the four entrances.

The southern entrance was mostly filled with Loose Cultivators returning from the Ghost Mist Forest. They were covered in grime, carried the stench of blood, and their storage bags were filled with Demon Beast materials, ores, and assorted herbs.

The crowd entering from the north was more varied: small-time merchants, visitors from Lingxi Valley, professional procurers, and even Array Masters trying to make a living with their Array Materials and old Magical Artifacts.

You could even see Demon Cultivators on the streets.

These individuals were no longer as secretive as they once were. Most wore the robes of ordinary Cultivators when entering the marketplace; only their auras were a bit more somber. They followed the rules when buying Magical Artifacts, purchasing pills, or selling materials. As long as they didn’t start any fights within the marketplace, the patrolling Cultivators wouldn’t go out of their way to stop them.

Li Yuan stood on the second floor of the management office, watching the scene below for a while before looking away.

On the table lay two sets of documents: one was the entrance and exit registry, and the other contained the transaction logs submitted by the shops over the past few days.

In addition, there was news from outside the marketplace.

The recent clashes between the Wang family and the Li family had lessened considerably.

Li Yuan spared it only a glance, not dwelling on the matter.

Instead, he pulled another stack of ledgers toward him and began to sort through the recent evidence of Demon Cultivator activity.

A while back, during a procurement trip to the Yunyang Marketplace, Li Yuan had spotted two Demon Cultivators in a small shop selling investigative Magical Artifacts.

The two of them appeared inconspicuous, but they weren’t buying ordinary combat-type Magical Artifacts. Instead, they purchased items like Spirit Testing Discs, Pulse-Examining Needles, and Spirit-Revealing Thin Mirrors.

Back then, Li Yuan had only made a mental note of their appearances.

Looking back now, he found he could match their descriptions to the list of Demon Cultivators who had been openly entering and exiting the Mist Forest Marketplace recently.

Li Yuan jotted down the builds, aura characteristics, and the time he had noted back in the Yunyang Marketplace, then cross-referenced each detail with the local marketplace’s registry and transaction records.

The list wasn’t long, and there were few conclusive matches. But for the ones that did match, a problem became apparent.

These Demon Cultivators were very good at concealing their auras.

Relying solely on the marketplace’s original Demon-Exploring Array, one would likely only detect a vague anomaly at best.

When some of them passed under the Array Hubs, the Array Patterns would only stir faintly—a disturbance not much greater than what an ordinary Cultivator would cause.

If he hadn’t been reviewing the records after the fact, they would have been allowed to pass without notice.

But Li Yuan was different.

With his amplified demonic senses and his Demon Essence Incarnation, coupled with his own significant exposure to Demonic Qi, Li Yuan was no stranger to such things.

The subtle anomalies that others failed to notice could not escape Li Yuan’s perception.

It wasn’t that those people lacked Demonic Qi; it was just suppressed more deeply, intertwined with their normal Spiritual Power.

After studying the lists for half a day, Li Yuan consolidated them and singled out a few individuals.

These people had one thing in common.

They were all buying pulse-examining instruments, as well as spirit-detecting Magical Artifacts.

Li Yuan tapped his finger on the ledger page. He had already reached a conclusion.

’The Demon Sect hasn’t given up its search for the Spirit Vein.’

’Just because the Dark Abyss Association can operate openly in the marketplace doesn’t mean they’ve given up on the Spirit Vein.’

Li Yuan compiled a new list with the names he had singled out and their corresponding transaction records, then went straight to the front outpost.

Chen Yi had been spending most of his time at the front outpost lately, rarely visiting the Mist Forest Marketplace. When Li Yuan arrived, he found Chen Yi standing before an Array Map, speaking with two Array Masters. Upon seeing Li Yuan, Chen Yi waved his hand to dismiss the other two.

"Another lead?" Chen Yi asked.

Li Yuan handed over the ledger.

"These people have been buying pulse-examining instruments and spirit-detecting Magical Artifacts over the last few days. I saw two of them at the Yunyang Marketplace."

Chen Yi took it and flipped through a few pages, his expression slowly turning grim.

After reading it, Chen Yi placed the ledger on the table.

"I’m aware of the situation. Don’t make a move on them yet. Keep them under surveillance in the marketplace. It would be best if you can connect all the dots—their Magical Artifact purchases, their living quarters, and everyone they’ve contacted."

After leaving Chen Yi, Li Yuan made another trip to the Yunyang Marketplace.

The purpose of the trip was twofold: partly to restock supplies for the marketplace, and partly to gauge the current situation in the Yunyang Marketplace.

The Yunyang Marketplace was even more chaotic than it had been a short while ago.

The streets were fuller, with more unfamiliar faces. The inns, Spirit Stations, and the area of temporary housing on the marketplace’s periphery were all more packed than before.

Not long after entering the marketplace, Li Yuan overheard several people in a teahouse talking about matters in the neighboring Yunzhou.

The Qi Shui Sect and the Evil Slaying Sect had officially gone to war. It was a true, all-out conflict for their very headquarters and territories.

Yunzhou was no longer safe, and many Cultivators had begun to flee the region.

As Li Yuan made his way through the market, he did indeed see many who didn’t seem to be local Cultivators.

Their clothing, accents, and habits when buying Magical Artifacts and pills were somewhat different from those in Liangzhou.

Some were buying multiple long-distance travel maps in one go, while others were purchasing entire batches of Healing Pills and protective Magical Artifacts.

These matters were unrelated to his current tasks, so Li Yuan simply took note of them without probing further.

Once inside the marketplace, Li Yuan went about his usual business of restocking its depleted supplies.

He bought separate batches of common pills, Low Tier talisman paper, and some old Array Materials that would be useful on the front lines. Once he had purchased most of what he needed, Li Yuan headed over to the Pill Shops and old bookstores.

This time, Li Yuan bought two items related to the Alchemy Dao.

A Wood Spirit Pill formula.

A book on alchemy experiences.

The formula wasn’t too expensive, and the book wasn’t thick; both were clearly just introductory materials.

Upon returning to the Mist Forest Marketplace, Li Yuan immediately opened the book on alchemy experiences.

The book’s contents were straightforward, focusing on the most fundamental and error-prone aspects of Alchemy: the proper order of ingredients, heat control, how to suppress conflicting medicinal properties, and why the medicinal liquid might dissipate before congealing into a pill. Many of the explanations were far more detailed than what he had managed to figure out on his own.

As he read, Li Yuan also spread out the pill formula he had bought.

He then fired up his cauldron and began practicing Alchemy.

Several days later, the panel finally vibrated gently.

[Skill: Tier One Alchemy—Minor Achievement (0/1200)]

His Tier One Alchemy had reached the Minor Achievement stage.

Li Yuan glanced at the notification but didn’t stop, continuing to refine the last batch of pills.

This batch yielded only two pills, but their quality was clearly superior to those he had managed to produce through trial and error before.

Li Yuan reached for one of the pills. The panel immediately popped up.

[Detected Equippable Item: Wood Spirit Pill (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Medicinal Property Identification (White)]

[Effect: Enhances ability to identify the medicinal properties of herbs.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Consume ten of this pill (0/10)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]

’A white-rarity trait.’

’The effect is simple, but very practical.’

’It would be useful for Alchemy, identifying herbs, and sorting materials. This trait would be even more valuable if I end up pursuing that Skill for refining pills with blood essence to fortify the body.’

’I’ve already refined plenty of Wood Spirit Pills over the past few days, more than enough. I just need to consume ten of them in succession to make this white-rarity trait permanent.’