Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

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Li Yuan walked back the way he came towards the fog wall.

After walking about a hundred paces, their pace slowed down.

Previously, I had been busy traveling and gathering evil energy, so my practice of the Ice Cone Technique was intermittent.

The Ghost Mist Forest was perfect. There was no one around, the thick fog obscured visibility, and any spells cast wouldn't attract attention.

With a thought, he removed the evil stone and equipped himself with the ice cone talisman.

Li Yuan stopped, raised his right hand, palm facing forward.

Spiritual energy surged from the dantian and flowed along the meridians into the right arm.

Ice pick technique.

An icicle, about the thickness of a finger, solidified in front of my palm, its surface gleaming with a cold, bluish-white sheen.

Li Yuan threw the ice spike into the thick fog ahead. The ice spike cut through the fog, flew about ten feet, and then embedded itself in the trunk of a dead tree with a muffled thud, causing a patch of white frost to burst open on the bark.

Second shot, third shot, fourth shot.

Li Yuan practiced as he walked out. Every few steps, he would fire an ice spike, the speed was not fast but the rhythm was steady.

The Ice Cone Technique isn't very powerful once you get the basics down, but it's quick to activate and consumes little spiritual energy.

In the thick fog of Ghost Mist Forest, the blue-white light of the Ice Cone spell was extremely conspicuous, like cold needles piercing into the gray-white fog wall.

By the time he fired around the thirtieth shot, Li Yuan's touch had become more consistent. The ice spikes were forming much faster than at the beginning, and the loss of spiritual energy in converting into water-based energy was also decreasing.

Keep fighting.

The fiftieth shot, the seventieth shot, the hundredth shot.

The spiritual energy consumption wasn't significant. The permanent attributes of Spiritual Energy Replenishment and Spiritual Energy Surge continued to operate, and the spiritual energy that was released was slowly replenished during the intervals.

The Ice Cone Technique itself consumes little energy; after a hundred uses, the spiritual power in the dantian is reduced by less than 20%.

Ice Spike: Proficient (233/400)

I've mastered the ice pick technique.

Li Yuan continued walking out and continued fighting.

On the two-hundredth shot, Li Yuan fired the last ice spike, which embedded itself in the branch of a shrub, and white frost spread outwards from the point of impact.

The panel popped up.

The conditions for making the Cold Wave Amplification (White) permanent have been met.

Is it permanent?

Yes.

[Permanentization successful]

The "cold wave increase (white)" has become a permanent entry.

[Equipment consumed]

The casting speed and power of water-attribute spells have been permanently increased by 10%.

Li Yuan raised his hand and fired another ice pick to test it out.

The icicle took shape a little faster than before, and it was also a bit larger.

The increase in power isn't particularly noticeable on a single cast, but it adds up over time, especially when casting spells consecutively, where the difference becomes apparent.

Continue walking towards the fog wall.

After walking about a hundred paces, the fog ahead suddenly thickened.

It didn't gradually thicken; it suddenly thickened. It was like stepping through a gauze curtain into a solid wall, where you couldn't see anything beyond three zhang (approximately 10 meters).

The range of spiritual amplification was compressed to within twenty feet.

Li Yuan slowed his pace.

wrong.

I was walking outwards, and the fog should have thinned as I went further out. Why is it getting thicker instead?

The keen senses suddenly reacted.

It wasn't malicious. It was an extremely cold and sinister aura coming from directly in front.

Rich, heavy, with a cloying, rotten sweetness.

It was completely different from the low-grade first-tier Yin spirits we had encountered before.

Those low-grade first-order Yin spirits had a faint and fleeting aura, like a lamp that was about to go out.

The aura was heavy, like a piece of iron soaking in ice water.

Tier 1, Medium Grade.

Deep within the thick fog, a dark gray light was slowly approaching.

It wasn't a fist-sized, grayish-white ball of light like a low-grade first-tier item, but rather a dark gray mist ball the size of a human head.

Inside the fog sphere, a distorted face could be vaguely seen, its features much clearer than those of a low-grade first-tier face, its mouth open, revealing a dark abyss.

A mid-grade, first-tier Yin spirit.

Just right.

Li Yuan did not use the fireball spell.

The condition for making the Divine Refining Talisman permanent is "to use pure divine soul power to attack and kill a mid-grade first-tier Yin Soul".

Fireball is a spiritual spell, not a soul attack.

Soul Piercing Technique is the one.

With a thought, Li Yuan removed the Bloodthirsty Stone, took out a Spirit Refining Talisman from his storage bag, and equipped it.

[Equipment Successfully]

[Acquired entry: Soul Tempering (Green)]

Then Li Yuan focused his attention on the space between his eyebrows.

A wisp of divine soul power surged from the depths of consciousness, converging along the path of the Soul Piercing Technique to the divine soul node between the eyebrows.

The soul light tempering from the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, the insights gained from alchemy, and the soul condensation from the Divine Talisman—these three layers of soul enhancement are stacked together, resulting in a soul needle density far exceeding that of ordinary late-stage Qi Refining cultivators.

The magic needle takes shape in the center of the forehead.

Extremely fine and sharp, like an invisible ice needle suspended at the edge of consciousness.

The ghost had already drifted within ten feet.

The surface of the dark gray fog churned, and the distorted face turned toward Li Yuan.

His mouth opened even wider, and a powerful surge of soul-erosion gushed out, rushing towards Li Yuan's soul.

Li Yuan's soul remained completely still.

The enhanced divine soul's strength after the triple reinforcement is far beyond what a mid-grade first-tier Yin Soul can shake.

Soul Piercing Technique.

The spirit needle shot out from between the eyebrows.

Formless and colorless, without any fluctuation of spiritual energy or shimmering light, a needle formed from pure divine soul power pierced through the thick fog, through the churning dark gray mist on the surface of the Yin spirit, and went straight for its core.

The core of the ghost is right in the center of that distorted face—between the two empty eye sockets.

The moment the spirit needle pierced through, the entire sphere of mist containing the Yin spirit trembled violently.

The mouth on that face closed, then opened again, emitting a silent roar. Dark gray mist rapidly dissipated from the surface of the mist sphere, like air leaking from a punctured balloon.

But he did not die.

A mid-grade first-tier Yin spirit is far stronger than a low-grade first-tier spirit. A Soul Piercing Technique pierced its outer layer, but failed to hit its core.

The sphere of ghostly mist contracted rapidly, shrinking from the size of a human head to the size of a fist, its density increasing dramatically. The face became even more distorted and ferocious, its mouth agape to its limit, and an even more powerful shockwave of divine soul rushed towards Li Yuan.

The outer wall of Li Yuan's soul was hit by the shockwave, and it trembled slightly, but it did not break.

The second Soul Piercing Technique.

This time, Li Yuan did not rush to shoot. Instead, he concentrated the Divine Soul Needle between his eyebrows for two more breaths, making the density nearly 30% higher than the first shot.

The magic needle shot out.

It pierced through the surface of the now-condensed, denser fog sphere and went straight into the core of the Yin spirit.

This time it hit the mark.

The sphere of ghostly mist exploded from the middle.

The dark gray mist dissipated in all directions. The distorted face flashed for a moment as it collapsed, then shattered into countless tiny gray-white specks of light, which drifted away in the thick fog.

The evil spirit vanished.

The panel popped up.

The conditions for permanent Soul Tempering (Green) have been met.

Is it permanent?

Yes.

[Permanentization successful]

[Soul Tempering (Green) has become a permanent entry]

[Equipment consumed]

The Divine Refining Talisman transformed into a pale golden light deep within his consciousness and merged into his soul.

The refinement of the divine soul has been permanently increased by 20%, and the damage from divine soul attacks has been permanently reduced by 20%.

With the added effects of the Soul-Illuminating Mirror's soul-light tempering and alchemy insights, the strength of his soul reached a new level.

The dense fog around them gradually thinned after the ghostly spirits vanished, no longer as thick as before. The ghostly spirits' effect on increasing the density of the ghostly fog disappeared.

Li Yuan continued walking out.

Half an hour later, a gray-white wall of mist appeared in front of them.

Pass through the fog wall and emerge from the Ghost Fog Forest.

The sunlight was shining down from above, and it was a bit dazzling.

There were hardly any people left on the open ground outside the fog wall; most of the rogue cultivators and demon-hunting teams we had seen earlier had already left.

Li Yuan hurried along the official road toward Yunyangfang Market.

After walking for most of the day, the gray-brown city walls of Yunyangfang came into view.

As Li Yuan entered the city, he noticed that the city gate was much more lively than usual.

The number of independent cultivators queuing to enter the city was nearly double the usual amount, stretching from the city gate for dozens of feet. Two more Yuan Yang Sect disciples were added to guard each side of the city gate, making a total of six people, twice the usual number.

The independent cultivators in the group whispered amongst themselves, their voices buzzing.

"...The recruitment of disciples for the Yuan Yang Sect has officially begun. Haven't you heard?"

"I saw the notice posted this morning, first thing this morning."

"Can independent cultivators participate?"

"Yes, it's possible. It's clearly written on the notice."

"You know that the Yuanyang Sect has two channels. The first is to discover children with spiritual roots from a young age and send them to the Yuanyang Sect for training."

"The second point is this: recruiting independent cultivators, with no age or background restrictions. As long as you pass the assessment, you can become a disciple of the Yuan Yang Sect."

"What will be assessed?"

"I don't know, the notice didn't specify anything. It only said that the registration location was at the market management office, and the assessment would be in ten days."

"Ten days? We need to prepare quickly."

"What are you preparing for? What level can you pass the exam with only three levels of Qi Refining?"

"What if!"

The monks in line were discussing amongst themselves; some were excited, some were disdainful, and some seemed thoughtful.

Li Yuan paid the entrance fee and entered the city.

There were many more people on the main street than usual, and the atmosphere was quite different.

On ordinary days, most of the independent cultivators would keep their heads down and hurry along the road or squat in front of their stalls and busy themselves. Today, however, many people were standing by the roadside chatting, gathered in groups of three or five, and talking about the Yuan Yang Sect's recruitment of disciples.

A large crowd had gathered at the entrance of the market management office. A new notice was posted on the stone wall, with neat handwriting and the red seal of the Yuanyang Sect.

Li Yuan didn't go over to look; he walked past the crowd.

The Yuan Yang Sect's recruitment of disciples was not of much concern to him. Joining a sect meant being bound by its rules, and Li Yuan, who had just broken off his contract with the Wang family, had little interest in such matters.

Back in the courtyard, I closed the door.

Li Yuan took out the last Iron Wall Pill from his storage bag.

The pill exploded in the mouth with a burning sensation from the bottom of the stomach. The combined effects of bone marrow tempering and spiritual fluid enhancement amplified the medicinal properties.

The Iron Wall Body Refining Technique was activated.

Spiritual energy flows into the deep layers of the muscles along the path of the cultivation technique, and the dual cultivation of spirit and blood in the Blood Coagulation Pill allows qi and blood to run in sync.

Spiritual energy flows into the deep layers of the muscles along the path of the cultivation technique, and the dual cultivation of spirit and blood in the Blood Coagulation Pill allows qi and blood to run in sync.

Once, twice, three times.

The proficiency level of the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique continues to advance.

The Yunyang Market outside the courtyard wall was much noisier than usual. The rogue cultivators were stirred up by the news of the Yuanyang Sect recruiting disciples, and conversations could be heard everywhere.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, his breathing even, and his spiritual energy and blood circulated continuously within his body.