Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

That evening, after refining the pills, Li Yuan went to the mine as usual.

The Qi Cultivation Array has now entered a self-circulating phase. Even without much additional investment, the ore vein itself can continuously produce mid-grade Qi stones. Li Yuan has been going down to check on it every now and then, partly to collect stones and partly to prevent any new deviations from the Qi Cultivation Array and the ore vein.

But this time, as soon as he stepped into the natural cavity, he paused.

Something's not right at the core of the formation.

Li Yuan strode over, his gaze falling on the newly formed evil stone in the center, and his expression immediately darkened.

That's not an ordinary mid-grade evil stone.

It wasn't particularly large, but it was entirely purple. Not just a hint of purple on the surface, but a deep, dark purple layer pressed down from the inside out. More importantly, the malevolent energy within it was extremely concentrated, almost unlike anything found in ordinary mineral veins. Holding it in your hand felt like the surrounding air was being compressed.

Li Yuan did not touch it immediately, but first bent down to look at the array core and the main patterns around it.

The Pei Sha Formation is functioning normally.

The spiritual patterns between the key points of the formation were not disordered, and the direction of the evil energy flowing in the main circuit was not deviated. In other words, the formation was not broken, nor had someone outside secretly tampered with it.

So how did this purple evil stone come about?

Li Yuan squatted down beside the array's core, suppressing both his divine sense and his perception of malevolent energy, and peered deeper into the mine through the array's core.

Upon closer inspection, the problem was quickly identified.

It wasn't that the malevolent energy had gone wrong, but rather that a trace of spiritual energy, which shouldn't have been present here, had seeped into the underground stone layers.

That trace of spiritual energy was extremely weak; if Li Yuan hadn't been in charge of both a large spiritual vein and personally managing this evil mine, he would never have been able to detect it.

It didn't come from the surface, nor was it spiritual energy injected into the mine by a cultivator. Instead, it was a large spiritual vein that slowly seeped into the evil mine through the finest cracks in the underground stone layers.

The quantity is extremely small.

However, this wisp of spiritual energy, after landing near the main loop of the Qi-cultivating array, was not repelled by the evil energy. Instead, it collided with the most concentrated part of the evil energy in the ore vein, creating an unexpected resonance.

In the short term, this is clearly a good thing.

The Qi-cultivation array was not damaged, and the mineral vein did not go out of control. On the contrary, it produced something of a higher grade than mid-grade Qi stones.

But what the long-term prospects are remains to be seen.

This change wasn't something I deliberately created; rather, it was caused by the spiritual energy of a large spiritual vein seeping into the underground stone layers and colliding with the malevolent energy.

If the spiritual energy seepage increases later, or the resonance range expands to the entire mine vein, will it disrupt the original evil energy structure? No one knows yet.

Li Yuan put away the purple evil stone, looked at the array eye for a while longer, and then took away the few new mid-grade evil stones that appeared today.

After returning to the stone house, he continued refining elixirs.

Li Yuan had already figured out the method for using the Meridian Continuation Pill.

On this day, Li Yuan put the two newly refined Meridian Continuation Pills into a jade bottle, and then extinguished the last layer of fire in the furnace.

On the table were the identity token and the newly acquired prescription.

Gathering Essence Pill.

This was the second second-tier pill formula that he had just obtained from the outpost after making considerable contributions.

Compared to the Meridian Continuation Pill, the Yuan Gathering Pill is a cultivation pill.

Li Yuan first spread out the prescription and read through it page by page.

The main ingredients of the Gathering Essence Pill are not particularly obscure, but its formulation is clearly more sophisticated than that of the Pulse Continuation Pill. Several of the main ingredients themselves possess medicinal properties that promote the growth of spiritual energy, and two of them are also closely related to qi and blood.

If refined properly, the pills, once ingested, can not only promote the circulation of spiritual energy, but also convert a portion of the consumed blood and qi into an aid to the growth of spiritual energy.

Only one lamp was lit in the stone house. The alchemy furnace was placed in the center, with the main ingredient, auxiliary ingredients, and pre-divided medicinal liquids arranged around it. After Li Yuan sat down, he first closed his eyes and reviewed the alchemy formula in his mind before raising his hand to start the fire.

The first batch didn't move very quickly.

The first part of the Gathering Yuan Pill is relatively easy to compress, but the second half is difficult. Once the main ingredients that promote the growth of spiritual power are fully dissolved, the liquid itself will begin to bulge upwards, as if it is pushing outwards in the furnace.

If the fire in the pill is not suppressed enough at this time, the medicinal liquid will dissipate first; if it is suppressed too much, the vitality that should be reserved to drive spiritual power will be forcibly burned to death.

Li Yuan proceeded meticulously for the first half, only reducing the fire slightly after the elixir had completely dissolved and a layer of pale blue medicinal mist began to rise from the furnace. (He had developed a love for reading, starting with cola novels.)

However, the effects of the Juyuan Pill were more potent than he had anticipated.

In less than two breaths, the entire mass of liquid exploded into a cloud of grayish foam in the furnace.

The first batch of pills was wasted.

It wasn't until the fifth batch that Li Yuan successfully condensed the elixir.

When the furnace was opened, the aroma of the medicine was noticeably more authentic than the previous two furnaces.

The pale blue pill fell into the jade plate, its surface still bearing a fine luster, without any burnt spots or collapse. Li Yuan reached out and picked one up, gently twisting it; the pill was firm and solid, perfectly formed inside and out.

The fifth batch produced three pills.

The panel then pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Gathering Essence Pill (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Gathering Essence and Unifying (Green)]

[Effect: Increases spiritual energy cultivation speed by 50%, and allows for autonomous consumption of Qi and Blood to enhance spiritual energy growth]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Break through a realm and reach the entry level of the second-tier body refining technique]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Li Yuan scanned the panel, his gaze lingering for a moment on the section on permanentization conditions.

Break through to a new level.

The second-stage body-refining technique has reached the entry level.

The Nameless Body Refining Technique is now at a minor level of mastery, and the second-tier body refining stage is not an obstacle for him. The real bottleneck is the previous stage. For the entry to truly be completed, he still needs to take another step forward in his cultivation.

But that's enough.

The Gathering Yuan Pill was successfully completed, meaning that he had successfully refined the third different type of second-tier pill. The blue attribute that had been sitting in his equipment inventory for so long was finally ready to be displayed.

Li Yuan first put the three Gathering Yuan Pills into the jade bottle, and then summoned the control panel.

The conditions for permanent refinement (blue) of the Dan Cheng skill have been met.

Is it permanent?

Li Yuan confirmed without hesitation.

The "Dan Cheng Jing Xiu (Blue)" entry has become a permanent term.

The moment the panel fell, it felt as if a heavy hammer had been placed on the depths of his mind.

It wasn't a stinging pain, nor an impact, but rather a force that had re-established the alchemical experience I had painstakingly accumulated over the years into my very foundation. Those judgments about the timing of medicinal herbs, the timing of elixirs, the layering of medicinal properties, and the compatibility or incompatibility of primary and secondary herbs—which were originally just the intuition honed through repeated practice—now felt as if they had been forcibly welded into my very being.

In the days that followed, Li Yuan did not stop refining pills.

The foundation for the Qi-Regenerating Pill was already laid, and the Qi-Gathering Pill had just been completed. The second-order alchemy skill was gradually improving through this continuous accumulation of experience in the furnace. Every day, the stone house was filled with the rising and falling of the alchemical fire in the furnace, or the spread of medicinal herbs on the table, with jade bottles and residues alternating to fill half of the stone table.

What needs to be written is that new changes have finally arrived.

On this day, Li Yuan had just finished refining a batch of Gathering Yuan Pills and suppressed the remaining fire at the bottom of the furnace when the panel popped up again.

[Skill: Second-tier Alchemy - Proficient (0/400)]

Second-order alchemy, proficient.

Li Yuan looked up at the few portions of medicinal herbs on the table that had not yet been put into the furnace. Instead of starting another batch immediately, he first focused on solidifying the newly arrived herbs.

When he first started, he relied more on his first-order perfect foundation to push himself forward when refining second-order pills. He succeeded in many places because the pharmacology was correct, the timing of the fire was not too far off, and the refinement of the pills and his understanding of the principles of pill refining helped him.

But once you become proficient, many things start to change.

For example, when he first started learning, he would need to pick up the same main ingredient and examine it carefully, comparing it with the prescription and his notes to confirm whether it was more drying or saturating. Now, as soon as the herb is in his hand, he can already visualize where its properties begin, which ingredient it can easily counteract, and whether it is better to use a high flame to force it out or a low flame to nourish it after it is put into the furnace.

Another example is alchemical fire.

Previously, when refining second-tier pills, Li Yuan had to focus most of his attention on preventing the batch from exploding. Now, with the same ball of pill fire, he can extract some of his attention to observe the order in which the surface and interior of the medicinal liquid converge, instead of having to bite the bullet and put out the fire if something goes wrong.

It was already late at night outside the stone house.

The residual heat from the furnace hadn't dissipated yet, and the edges of the newly unfolded Bone Tempering Pill formula on the table were faintly yellowed by the lamplight. Li Yuan placed the jade bottles containing the pills one by one into his storage bag, then reached out and pulled the rolled-up formula back to face him.