Chapter 453 - 426: Two-Pronged Sprint

Chapter 453: Chapter 426: Two-Pronged Sprint

After dealing with the Array Disc fragments confiscated from the stalkers, Li Yuan turned his attention back to a clue he had previously set aside.

The source of the Array Dao materials in the two stalkers’ storage bags was extremely clear. Ancient array dust, fragments of old artifacts from the Profound Nether Sect, and beast-hide scrolls of Array Patterns—these weren’t things you could just pick up in the wilderness. There had to be a stable supply channel.

Li Yuan pulled up the passive sensory data from the Spirit Detective Talisman network covering the marketplace and its surrounding areas. He then worked backward along the timeline to trace the two stalkers’ movements before they entered the marketplace.

The permanent trait for Trace Pursuit came into play. Although most of the Spiritual Power trail the two had left when entering the marketplace had already dissipated, the remaining directional signature was still discernible.

The trail pointed to the west side of the marketplace.

The west district was the oldest part of the marketplace, filled with old storefronts mostly running small businesses operated by Qi Refining Cultivators. Pill and sundry shops, old goods recycling, consignment sales of Spiritual Materials—it was a chaotic mix of good and bad.

Li Yuan walked down the main street of the west district, his Dark Evil Insight’s passive perception sweeping over every shop.

As he reached the last storefront at the end of the street, his perception caught a faint anomaly.

It was a small antique consignment shop with a faded sign. The characters on the sign were mottled, but the two words "Shiyi Studio" were barely discernible. The storefront was tiny, and the wooden shelf by the entrance held a few dusty old Magical Artifacts and several mediocre-quality ore rocks, looking utterly unremarkable.

The anomaly wasn’t in the shop itself, but in the backyard.

Dark Evil Insight penetrated the mud wall behind the shop and detected an extremely faint but unique residue of Spiritual Power in the backyard cellar. The frequency signature of the residue was homologous with the Profound Nether Sect’s array inscription system.

Li Yuan didn’t go in immediately.

He circled around to a tea stall across from Shiyi Studio, sat down, and ordered a pot of coarse tea, his gaze casually sweeping over the shop across the street.

The shopkeeper was an old, stooped Cultivator at the peak of Qi Refining. His hair was graying, his complexion sallow, and his murky eyes were half-closed as he dozed in a chair behind the counter.

Judging by his aura, the old Cultivator had been stuck at the peak of Qi Refining for a very long time. He most likely lacked the aptitude and resources for Foundation Establishment and was destined to live out his days in the Qi Refining Stage. Such Cultivators were a dime a dozen in the marketplace, surviving on meager skills and inventory, not worth a second glance from anyone.

But the contents of his backyard cellar indicated he wasn’t as simple as he appeared on the surface.

Li Yuan drank half a pot of tea, observing impassively for about two hours.

During this time, two Loose Cultivators entered the shop to browse, but both left after a cursory look around. The old Cultivator remained half-asleep in his chair the entire time, showing no signs of anything unusual.

Then, after two hours, the old Cultivator suddenly opened his eyes and moved.

He got up, walked to the back of the shop, took a worn cloth bag from the wall, and began stuffing things into it. First came a few jade slips from under the counter, then a small sealed wooden box, and finally, a small piece of ore he retrieved from a hidden compartment.

His movements were unhurried, but every item was taken from a hidden spot and was not part of his daily business inventory.

’He’s packing to run.’

Li Yuan put down his teacup and stood up. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

He crossed the street, pushed open the wooden door of Shiyi Studio, and walked inside.

Hearing the door, the old Cultivator’s hands froze mid-motion. He turned to see Li Yuan, a flicker of vigilance in his murky eyes, which was quickly replaced by a plastered-on smile.

"Pavilion Master, have a look. I’ve got some..."

Li Yuan cut him off, took out the marketplace administration Token, and flashed it. "Routine inspection. The storeroom behind the shop needs to be opened for examination."

The old Cultivator’s smile froze.

"L-Lord Pavilion Master, my humble shop has always operated legally, there’s nothing..."

"Open the door."

The old Cultivator’s lips moved twice, but in the end, he offered no further argument. He took a rusty bronze key from his waist, hunched over as he walked to the backyard, and opened the iron-barred gate to the cellar entrance.

Li Yuan followed him down.

The cellar wasn’t large, about two zhang square. It had mud walls and a floor paved with rough stone slabs. A low table sat in the very center, with several wooden boxes on it.

Li Yuan opened the first wooden box.

Inside were a dozen or so Array fragments of various sizes, neatly stacked. The material and Array Pattern style of the fragments were a perfect match for the Profound Nether Sect, and the Spiritual Power residue on their surfaces was identical to the Homogeneous Materials he had previously acquired from various sources.

The second wooden box contained a batch of finely ground ancient array dust, separated into more than ten small porcelain vials.

At the bottom of the third wooden box, under a layer of old cotton cloth, lay a round bead the size of a pigeon’s egg.

The bead was dark gray and covered with extremely fine Array Patterns. The direction and density of the patterns were unlike any Magical Artifact he had ever seen, more closely resembling the core component of some kind of miniature array.

The trait perception triggered within a three-foot range.

Li Yuan picked up the bead, and the panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Profound Nether Micro Array Bead (Complete)]

[Equip Trait Preview: Array Base Retrospection (Green)]

[Effect: Upon contact with an Array, you can trace back the energy trajectory of its most recent activation, obtaining information such as its Spiritual Power spectrum and source direction.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Retrospect five different Tier One Arrays (0/5)]

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

’A green trait. The effect is extremely practical.’

’The ability to trace back an Array’s most recent activation trajectory means no Array will be a black box to me anymore. Who activated it, what the Spiritual Power spectrum looks like, where the source direction is—I’ll see it all at a glance.’

The permanence condition was to retrospect five different Tier One Arrays. The marketplace’s internal Defensive Array system contained a large number of basic Tier One Arrays; he could just pick any five to meet the condition.

Li Yuan put the Micro Array Bead into his storage bag and turned to face the old Cultivator.

The old Cultivator was huddled in a corner of the cellar, his face ashen.

"Where did you get this stuff?"

The old Cultivator opened his mouth, his voice trembling.

"Th-thirty years ago, I... I was mining on the outskirts of the Ghost Mist Forest. Back then, the Ghost Mist Forest wasn’t as dangerous as it is now, and there were a lot of abandoned mines in the outer areas. One time, I dug into a collapsed underground chamber, and it was full of these fragments."

"Who did you sell them to?"

"A-all sorts of people." The old Cultivator kept his head down, not daring to look Li Yuan in the eye. "There were Loose Cultivators who collect old things, merchants in the antique business, and... and also some people whose origins were a bit unclear."

"People whose origins were a bit unclear," Li Yuan repeated.

The old Cultivator shuddered.

"I don’t know who they were. They came once every few months and offered thirty percent more than anyone else, asking only for fragments and dust related to Arrays. I was just doing business, I really don’t know who they are..."

"How do they contact you?"

"They left a communication jade slip." The old Cultivator fumbled in his robes and produced an extremely ordinary-looking white jade slip, handing it over with trembling hands.

Li Yuan took the jade slip and extended his Divine Sense into it.

Inside was only a single piece of information: a fixed communication frequency code. The code’s format was a standard three-part pulse.

’The Evil Slaying Sect’s contact method.’

’It all added up. The old Cultivator had accidentally unearthed a batch of fragments and remains from a Profound Nether Sect Sub-Palace thirty years ago. He was then targeted by an outer channel of the Evil Slaying Sect and served as a long-term, small-time supplier. He probably didn’t know the true identity of his buyers, nor did he care, as long as he got his Spirit Stones.’

’But after the Evil Slaying Sect issued its investigation notice, this bottom-rung supplier most likely received some kind of hint, sensed the danger, and was preparing to bolt.’

"All of this is being confiscated." Li Yuan organized the three wooden boxes in the cellar and took them, along with the communication jade slip. "After the investigation is complete, if there are no issues, you will be compensated at market price."

The old Cultivator collapsed onto the ground, nodding repeatedly.

Li Yuan left Shiyi Studio and returned to his stone house.

He took the Micro Array Bead from his storage bag and placed it on the table.

"Equip Profound Nether Micro Array Bead."

[Equipped: Profound Nether Micro Array Bead (Complete)]

[Array Base Retrospection (Green) is now active.]

A phantom image of the Micro Array Bead sank into an equipment slot, and Li Yuan immediately felt a new, special dimension of perception added to his Divine Sense. The space around him seemed to become somewhat transparent, and the flow of Spiritual Power from the Concealment Array on the stone house’s walls appeared clearly in his mind.

Li Yuan stood up and walked out of the stone house.

The marketplace’s Defensive Array system covered the entire complex, consisting of three layers from the periphery to the core. The basic arrays of the bottom layer were mostly Tier One, personally set up by him or under his guidance by Ji Wenchuan.

He walked to an array node just inside the marketplace’s north gate and placed his palm on the Array Hub.

The effect of Array Base Retrospection activated.

An extremely fine perception seeped from his palm into the Array Hub. Like a video playing in reverse, the energy trajectory of the Array’s most recent activation replayed completely in his mind. Spiritual Power radiated outward from the Array Hub along twelve main lines, jumped sequentially across twenty-four nodes, and finally formed a stable warning barrier within a thirty-zhang radius.

The path of every circuit, the energy distribution ratio at each node, and the spectral characteristics of the Spiritual Power upon activation—it was all laid bare.

The panel popped up.

[Array Base Retrospection (Green) Permanence Progress: 1/5]

Li Yuan withdrew his palm.

The amount of information provided by this retrospection far exceeded a simple Divine Sense scan. He not only saw the Array’s static structure but also the fine details of its energy flow during dynamic operation. These details were extremely helpful for understanding the underlying logic of array design.

He proceeded to the core nodes of several other Tier One Arrays within the marketplace.

A moment later, the retrospections were complete.

[Array Base Retrospection (Green) Permanence Condition Fulfilled (5/5)]

"Make permanent."

[Array Base Retrospection (Green) has become a permanent trait.]

The phantom image of the Micro Array Bead shattered in the equipment slot, turning into green specks of light that merged into his body. The slot was now free.

From now on, just by touching any Array, he could trace back the complete energy trajectory of its most recent activation. For someone like him who constantly dealt with all sorts of Arrays, the strategic value of this trait was immeasurable.