After his break in the marketplace ended, Li Yuan met up with He Shou outside the east gate. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Xu Mao and Liu Ping were already there. Chen Qi arrived a moment later, rushing out of the marketplace, panting as he offered a quick salute.

Lin Xiaowu was still recovering from his injuries, so the patrol was still a five-man team. He Shou spoke as they walked.

"The patrol route has been adjusted."

He Shou unfolded a document and pointed to the route marked on it.

"We used to patrol from the south of the marketplace to the east of the Spirit Field District. Now, the route has shifted westward."

Li Yuan leaned in for a look. The new route had been shifted entirely toward the Yuanheng Mountain Range, with its westernmost point nearly a mile farther out than before.

"The area we have to cover is much larger," Xu Mao said, frowning.

"It’s not just us. The other patrol teams’ routes have also been shifted west."

He Shou folded the document and tucked it into his robes.

"The higher-ups want to push the patrol perimeter toward the Yuanheng Mountain Range, increasing our coverage of the outer regions."

Chen Qi interjected, "Aren’t there fewer Demon Beasts? So why are they pushing the patrols out that way?"

He Shou shook his head, not answering directly.

"There’s one more thing."

He Shou pulled another document from a cloth pouch at his waist. This one was thinner than the one about the route change and was stamped with the Wang family’s seal.

"The Wang family has issued a collection order. It requires all patrol teams to look for several specific herbs during their patrols. If we find any, we are to collect them, and they’ll be exchanged for Contribution Points based on quantity."

He Shou handed the document to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan took it and scanned the contents. It listed the names and identifying features of seven or eight herbs, along with collection requirements and their exchange rates for Contribution Points.

Cold Dew Grass, Cyan Vein Vine, Bloodline Orchid, Stone Marrow Mushroom...

The list of herbs Old Sun had given him came to Li Yuan’s mind.

There was almost no overlap between the herbs on the two lists.

Old Sun wanted common herbs for refining Tier One pills, like Cyan Jade Grass and Red Root Vine, which mostly grew in the low shrubs of the outer regions or in the ditches bordering the fields.

The herbs the Wang family wanted were different. Cold Dew Grass grew in damp, shaded valleys; Cyan Vein Vine clung to the trunks of tall trees; and Bloodline Orchid could only survive in areas with high concentrations of Spiritual Qi. The habitats for all these herbs tended to be deeper inside the Yuanheng Mountain Range.

The chances of finding them along the patrol routes in the outer perimeter of the marketplace were slim.

Li Yuan handed the document back to He Shou without asking any questions.

After reaching the main outpost, the five of them briefly restocked their supplies and set out along the new route.

As the route shifted westward, the terrain became noticeably different.

The scrub brush grew shorter and denser, and more loose stones littered the ground. The yellow soil underfoot gradually gave way to grayish-white gravel. The silhouette of the distant Yuanheng Mountain Range appeared closer than it had on the old patrol route, its gray-blue ridges forming a barrier across the horizon.

Compared to before, traces of Demon Beasts were indeed far scarcer.

They walked for nearly two hours and only found three or four sets of tracks, all of them old. The edges of the claw prints in the dirt were dry, cracked, and pale, and the droppings were hard and caked. They looked to be at least three to five days old; there wasn’t a single fresh sign.

"Last time we were on the southern route, we’d run into seven or eight Spiritual Qi fluctuations in half a day. We haven’t detected a single one so far today," Li Yuan murmured.

The moment he finished speaking, Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc picked up a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.

Straight ahead, to the left at the bottom of a gentle slope, about two hundred and fifty feet away.

It was a dense mass of Spiritual Qi, stronger than a Tier One Low Grade creature.

"Ahead and to the left, two hundred fifty feet. One Middle Grade," Li Yuan said, his voice low.

He Shou’s expression hardened, and all five of them crouched down at once.

Looking down from the top of the low ridge, their line of sight was much clearer than it had been in the scrub.

Below the gentle slope, behind a few large rocks, a dark green figure was moving slowly along a dry creek bed.

It was large, standing nearly three feet tall at the shoulder. Its limbs were thick and powerful, and its body was covered in dark green scales. A long tail dragged behind it, the tip swollen into a spiky, hammer-like club.

A Thorny-tailed Lizard.

A Tier One Middle Grade beast. It was larger than the lizard Demon Beast they had killed in the Spirit Field District. The bone spikes on its tail were a natural weapon, capable of tearing the flesh from a similarly sized Demon Beast with a single swipe.

He Shou gave a hand signal, and the five of them spread out.

Li Yuan took his position at the edge of the ridge, raising his right hand slightly as Spiritual Power gathered in his palm.

The opening stance for his Fireball Technique was the same as always; it took no more than two breaths to mobilize the Spiritual Power and form the spell.

But this time, the feeling of the Spiritual Power converging in his palm was different.

Now that his Spiritual Power was more refined, Li Yuan could feel the temperature and power of the Fireball Technique increasing as well.

Li Yuan tried guiding the energy with the method for his Origin Condensation Skill, activating it slightly to gently compress the Spiritual Power in his palm another degree.

The crimson, fist-sized ball of light in his palm darkened a shade.

Li Yuan released it, and the Fireball shot from his hand, much faster than before.

Like a projectile, the dark red ball of light shot in a straight line toward the Thorny-tailed Lizard in the creek bed, moving much faster than any of his fireballs before.

The Thorny-tailed Lizard was busy digging under rocks and only jerked its head up when the fluctuation of Spiritual Qi was almost upon it.

THUMP.

The impact was muffled, but the resulting explosion was significant.

Dark red flames exploded against the Thorny-tailed Lizard’s flank.

The blast tore a bowl-sized hole in the thick scales on the lizard’s flank. Charred scales peeled back, revealing muscle tissue seared to the color of charcoal. Dark red blood welled from the wound, thick with the smell of burning.

’One shot. A single Fireball did that much damage.’

’Last time, hunting that lizard Demon Beast in the Spirit Field District, it took three Fireballs and Zhou Dazhuang’s melee attacks to take it down.’

The Thorny-tailed Lizard let out a piercing shriek and whipped its tail violently toward Li Yuan. The bone spikes at its tip sliced an arc through the air, but the distance was too great, and it struck nothing but empty space.

On the left flank, He Shou and Chen Qi moved at the same time.

He Shou’s long saber hacked at the lizard’s hind leg joint, while Chen Qi’s short blade, following the path of the explosion, plunged accurately into the wound in its abdomen.

The Thorny-tailed Lizard struggled to swing its tail in a counterattack, but the severe wound on its flank made its movements a fraction of a second too slow.

Li Yuan didn’t waste any time. A second Fireball was already forming in his palm.

He didn’t compress this one—it was just a standard Fireball. The crimson sphere flew from his hand and smashed directly into the Thorny-tailed Lizard’s open mouth.

Another muffled explosion. The Thorny-tailed Lizard’s thick neck bulged violently, then thick smoke billowed from its nostrils and the corners of its mouth.

Its limbs spasmed a few times, and its thorny tail twitched, slapping against the gravel before falling still.

From the first Fireball to the end, no more than twenty breaths had passed.

He Shou stood up from beside the lizard’s body, wiped the blood from his saber on its scales, and then his gaze fell upon the bowl-sized crater on its flank.

Faint wisps of smoke still curled from the wound’s charred edges, where the scales had been peeled back. The injury was at least two inches deep.

He Shou’s gaze shifted from the wound to Li Yuan, pausing for a moment on his right hand.

"That Fireball Technique of yours..." He Shou trailed off for a moment. "It’s more than just a little bit stronger than last time."

During their previous patrols, He Shou had seen Li Yuan fight several times and knew he was quite impressive for someone at the Qi Refining Fourth Level.

But this was beyond ’impressive.’

"I’ve been practicing the Origin Condensation Skill," Li Yuan said, shaking the lingering heat from his palm. "I compressed the Spiritual Power a little."

He Shou raised an eyebrow.

"The Origin Condensation Skill?"

He Shou looked Li Yuan up and down, his tone suddenly growing serious.

"But I have to warn you about something. When you’re using the Origin Condensation Skill to compress Spiritual Power, don’t overdo it. You got away with it this time, but what about next time?"

"Unless it’s a crisis, there’s no need to take that risk."

He Shou crouched beside the lizard’s corpse and pointed with the tip of his saber at the bowl-sized crater.

"If you compress it too much and the Spiritual Power detonates, it’s no joke."

"You could rupture your meridians and damage your internal organs. A light injury will take months to heal. A severe one will cripple your cultivation completely. There was a guy in the guard corps who practiced the Origin Condensation Skill. He thought he could handle it and pushed it to the limit every time. One day, he went too far. The Spiritual Power detonated right in his Dantian, and he was crippled on the spot."

Li Yuan nodded, showing he understood.

’My cultivation has improved since the last time, and with the dual enhancement from my more refined Spiritual Power and the Origin Condensation Skill, the Fireball Technique has become this powerful.’

He Shou grunted in acknowledgment and said no more.

The five of them crouched down and began to butcher the Thorny-tailed Lizard.

A Tier One Middle Grade beast yielded a good amount of materials. The bone spikes from its tail were excellent for Artifact Refining, and while a patch of the scales had been blasted away, the rest was perfectly intact.

During the butchering process, Li Yuan’s fingers brushed against the scales, the bone spikes, the tail club, and various other materials.

The panel remained quiet, showing no reaction whatsoever.

’It’s the same as before. The dismantled scraps don’t meet the conditions to become equipment.’

They handed all the materials over to He Shou to be processed through the guard corps’ channels. Since Li Yuan had contributed the most this time, he would receive the largest share.

By the time the five of them started back along the same path, the sun was already sinking in the west.

On the way back, He Shou shared a few words as they walked.

"I have some other news for you. The Wang family pulled several groups from the main outpost, formed them into three small teams led by their own family members, and has already sent them into the Yuanheng Mountain Range."

Liu Ping, walking behind, asked, "Why are they going into the mountains?"

"They didn’t say," He Shou replied, shaking his head.

"But judging from the deployment, it’s a large number of people with a lot of supplies. It doesn’t look like a short-term scouting mission. It’s more like they’re planning to stay in the mountains for a while."

Chen Qi chimed in from the side, "Is it related to that collection order? Aren’t all those herbs the kind that only grow in the mountains?"

He Shou shot Chen Qi a glance but didn’t answer.

Dusk had already fallen by the time the five of them returned to the outpost.

He Shou went to the main outpost to hand in the patrol records and the Demon Beast materials, while the others returned to their own quarters.