Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The mining operation lasted for more than half a month.

Li Yuan maintained a low-energy environment deep within the mine, and the excavation team's progress was much faster than expected. A new spirit iron ore vein was discovered in the deeper area, with a grade 20% higher than that in the shallower areas and larger reserves.

During breaks from digging, Li Yuan practiced making talismans in the Ghost Mist Forest.

The success rate of the Spirit Water Talisman has stabilized at around 50%, and the drawing of first-tier talismans is a piece of cake. With the support of liquid spiritual power after Foundation Establishment, the Fireball Talisman has reached the pinnacle of first-tier quality.

That afternoon, Li Yuan finished drawing a fireball talisman, and a rich crimson glow appeared on the surface of the talisman.

The panel popped up.

【Talisman: Fireball Talisman - Perfect (3200/3200)】

The fireball talisman is complete.

With the Fireball spell perfected and the Fireball talisman perfected, the Fireball system has reached its pinnacle in both spells and talismans.

A second notification then popped up on the panel.

Skillful strokes. White text. Permanent status requires reaching perfection in any talisman-making technique and its corresponding spell.

Fireball spell completed, Fireball talisman completed. The conditions are met.

Li Yuan equipped the Azure Spirit Talisman Brush.

The conditions for the permanent effect of "Masterful Writing (White)" have been met.

Is it permanent?

Yes.

[Permanentization successful]

The phrase "skillful writing" has become a permanent entry.

[Equipment consumed]

The speed of talisman making increases by 10%, and the spiritual energy consumption decreases by 10%. The effect isn't significant, but it's a permanent passive bonus, and the cumulative benefits over time are considerable.

Li Yuan organized his equipment inventory and continued his cultivation.

A few days later, the excavation team advanced to the deepest part of the vein.

That morning, a disciple of the Yuanyang Sect rushed out of the mine and found Li Yuan, who was cultivating in an open space.

"Senior, we've found some strange ores at the deepest part of the mine. The senior brother leading the team asked me to invite you to take a look."

Li Yuan followed him into the mine shaft and walked along the main tunnel all the way to the deepest part.

The excavation team stopped in front of a newly carved rock face. The cross-section of the rock face revealed a mineral they had never seen before, dark purple in color, with a very faint black sheen on its surface.

Li Yuan walked to the rock wall and probed the inside of the ore with his divine sense.

A familiar scent emanated from the ore.

Demonic energy.

It's not malevolent energy, it's demonic energy.

During his cultivation of the Demonic Yuan Technique, Li Yuan had become extremely familiar with the characteristics of demonic energy. While malevolent energy is cold and heavy, demonic energy possesses a unique corrosive and penetrating quality; their textures are completely different.

This dark purple ore contains a considerable concentration of demonic energy.

"What is this thing?" asked a Yuan Yang Sect disciple standing nearby.

"I'm not sure. Don't touch it yet, wait for me to inform Elder Chen."

Li Yuan conveyed the situation to Chen Yi using the Dharma Protector Token.

In less than half a day, Chen Yi arrived at the mine with several Yuan Yang Sect cultivators.

After examining the dark purple ore, Chen Yi's expression turned serious.

"Demonic stones, demonic energy stones, and the like." His voice was very low.

He turned and looked into the depths of the mine.

"There may be more beneath this vein."

Chen Yi immediately ordered a halt to excavation and sealed off the area deep within the mine.

Several Yuan Yang Sect cultivators set up restrictions and warning arrays at the entrance of the mine tunnel to prevent anyone from entering.

"These ores cannot be allowed to leave the area," Chen Yi told Li Yuan. "If they fall into the hands of demonic cultivators, they become cultivation resources; if they fall into the hands of ordinary cultivators, they become poison. The Yuan Yang Sect will send people to handle this; until then, no one is allowed to approach this area."

Li Yuan nodded.

The mineral vein mission is now complete.

Chen Yi calculated the final contribution point reward for the mission, and Li Yuan's guardian token had more than a thousand contribution points added.

Li Yuan put away the token and left the mine.

The next step is weapon crafting.

The storage bag contained materials from two second-tier demonic beasts. Although some of the scales and bones of the Flood Dragon Lizard had been given away during the transaction, a considerable amount remained. The carapace and bones of the Fiend Armor Giant Dung Beetle, however, were completely preserved.

The Ji family is skilled in weapon crafting and possesses a weapon crafting token.

Li Yuan returned to Yunyang Market to pack up, and set off early the next morning towards the Ji family.

The Ji family's residence was located on the edge of Liangzhou, about 300 li away from Yunyangfang.

After mastering the basics of Windwalking Escape Technique, the travel speed is more than twice as fast as Divine Speed ​​Step. Spiritual energy condenses at the soles of the feet to form a support, and the body rises to a height of ten zhang, flying southwest along the mountain range.

The wind whistled past my ears, and the trees and hills on the ground rushed past beneath my feet.

After flying for about half a day, the terrain ahead began to change.

The mountains gradually flattened, the forests thinned out, and scattered farmland and villages came into view. The further southwest one went, the fewer people there were, and the concentration of spiritual energy gradually decreased.

The Ji family's fortified village appeared at the foot of a low mountain.

It wasn't large, a size smaller than the Wang family's fortified village. Gray stone walls enclosed a courtyard about sixty feet in circumference, with several stone buildings scattered within. On the low hill behind the fortified village were two entrances to cave dwellings, with simple lanterns bearing spiritual patterns hanging at the entrances.

The surrounding area is indeed remote. There are no other cultivator settlements within a radius of several miles, and the nearest market town is over a hundred miles away.

Li Yuan landed and walked to the gate of the fortified village.

The monk on duty recognized him and quickly went inside to report.

Less than fifteen minutes later, Ji Huaiyuan emerged from the fortified village.

The old man looked better than when they last met, and his steps were more steady. He smiled when he saw Li Yuan.

"Fellow Daoist Li, please come in."

The two took their seats in the main hall.

Li Yuan got straight to the point, taking out the monster materials from his storage bag and placing them on the table.

The carapace, bones, tentacles, and horny flaps of the mouthparts of the giant dung beetle, along with the remaining scales and ribs of the lizard, were laid out one by one, filling half a table.

Ji Huaiyuan picked up each material and examined it carefully, pressing it with his fingers to feel its texture and spiritual energy density, and occasionally bringing it to his nose to smell its aroma.

After checking for about fifteen minutes, Ji Huaiyuan put down the materials and nodded.

"The shell of the Giant Dung Beetle is of excellent quality. After being soaked in baleful energy, its hardness far exceeds that of ordinary second-tier materials, making it an excellent choice for crafting defensive magical artifacts. The scales and bones of the Scaled Dragon Lizard are also good and can be used as auxiliary materials."

He turned over several pieces of shell and then looked at the cross-section of the bones.

"The materials are enough to forge a second-grade low-level magic weapon; the quality shouldn't be bad."

He paused for a moment and looked at Li Yuan.

"However, if you are willing to include the inner core of a demon beast in the refining process, the effect will be even better. The spiritual power contained in the inner core can seep into the skeleton of the magic weapon during the refining process, increasing the magic weapon's affinity and upper limit of spiritual power."

"Inner alchemy?"

"The inner core of the Giant Demon Armored Beast," Ji Huaiyuan said. "This kind of demonic beast feeds on demonic energy, and the spiritual power in its inner core carries the characteristics of demonic energy. If you use it to refine a magical artifact, the artifact itself will naturally be compatible with demonic energy, which should be very suitable for you."

Li Yuan thought about it.

The inner core of the Giant Dung Beetle has no description, so keeping it would only allow you to sell it for spirit stones. However, if you use it to refine magical artifacts, it could significantly improve their quality, making it far more useful than simply exchanging it for spirit stones.

"I'll give you the inner core."

Ji Huaiyuan nodded and carefully put away the inner core.

"What type of magical artifact do you wish to forge, fellow Daoist?"

Before Li Yuan could speak, Ji Huaiyuan shared his thoughts.

"I have a suggestion."

He picked up a piece of the giant dung beetle's shell and tapped it lightly twice on the table.

"Fellow Daoist cultivates the technique of killing energy, and has stored a large amount of killing energy in his body. If you were to forge a magical artifact that could collect and utilize killing energy, you would have an extremely flexible means of attack in battle."

He put the shell down.

"The shell of the Giant Dung Beetle is inherently compatible with malevolent energy, and combined with the malevolent energy properties of its inner core, the magical artifacts forged from it naturally possess the ability to absorb and release malevolent energy. It can passively collect and store the surrounding malevolent energy in normal times, and then concentrate and release the stored malevolent energy to attack the enemy during battle."

A ritual implement for collecting and manipulating malevolent energy.

This is equivalent to turning some of the passive effects of the "Reunion of Evil Elements" into a weapon that can be actively controlled.

"Okay," Li Yuan said.

Ji Huaiyuan's eyes lit up, as if he had encountered a topic that interested him.

"Alright. The materials and inner core are all ready. I'll start the furnace in the next couple of days. It will take about seven to ten days. You can stay at the Ji family's place."

"Although the materials are mid-grade second-tier, I plan to forge a low-grade second-tier magic weapon. This will almost guarantee success, if you have no objections."

Li Yuan nodded, and then Ji Huaiyuan arranged for a Ji family disciple to take Li Yuan to a guest room to settle in.

The guest rooms were small but clean and tidy, with views of the low hills behind the fortified village from the windows. The spiritual energy concentration was average, somewhat lower than that of Yunyang Market, but much better than ordinary places.

After settling in, the Ji family disciples took Li Yuan on a tour of the fortified village.

The Ji family is not large, with fewer than thirty cultivators in the clan, most of whom are at the Qi Refining stage. Their core business is weapon crafting, and there is a weapon crafting room in the low hill behind the fortress, where the furnace fire burns year-round.

Besides crafting weapons, the Ji family also runs small businesses such as mining spirit mines and cultivating spirit herbs to maintain the family's daily operations.

When they reached the east side of the fortified village, the Ji family disciple pointed to a side hall.

"This is where the finished magical artifacts are stored at home. Senior Li can take a look if he needs them."

Li Yuan walked into the side hall.

Several rows of wooden shelves displayed various magical artifacts, mostly first-tier, with a few low-grade second-tier items. Swords, knives, shields, armor, rings, beads—all kinds were present.

Li Yuan walked around the wooden frame, but his perception of the terms did not detect any fluctuations.

There are no magical artifacts with specific inscriptions.

However, Li Yuan's goal was not to find entries, but to supplement his combat methods.

Currently, I don't have any official magical artifacts, so I rely entirely on spells for damage output.

Although the spell's power is not bad, it's good to have it as a supplementary means.

Anyway, the efficiency of earning spirit stones after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage is now far greater than before.

Li Yuan chose a set of first-grade high-quality magic artifacts.

A spirit fire sword, fire attribute, crimson blade, three feet two inches long, perfectly complementing the fire elemental bonus of the Flame Marrow Body. A black iron shield, a defensive magic weapon, can be activated with spiritual power to form a shield, complementing the Three Elements Body Protection system.

The two magical artifacts cost a total of eight hundred spirit stones.

Li Yuan put away the magical artifact and returned to his room to continue his cultivation.