Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Back in the market town, while Li Yuan was cultivating at night, his spiritual vein perception suddenly detected an aura that did not belong to the normal fluctuations of the mine vein and the main vein.

The aura of a second-tier demon beast.

Li Yuan immediately stopped his practice and got up to prepare.

Under the perception of the spiritual veins, the residual aura of ordinary beasts was filtered out one by one, leaving only that deep and cold fluctuation, the location of which was clearer than last night.

Slightly to the east, near a patch of fallen old tree roots.

Li Yuan slowed his steps, moving forward while his body remained close to the shadow of a thick, ancient tree.

When he was less than ten feet away from his target, he finally saw it.

A large, grayish-white lizard lay beneath the fallen log, about two zhang long, its entire body covered in fine grayish-white scales. Most striking were the two short, curved horns on its head, their tips gleaming with a pale blue-green light, like two pieces of icicles that had not yet melted.

The Frosthorn Lizard is a mid-grade Tier 2 creature.

A water-type monster, skilled in ambush, with tough hide armor, its weak points are the area where the scales meet on its neck and abdomen.

The horned lizard seemed to sense something as well, its body, which was lying under the fallen tree, tensed slightly, and its vertical pupils slowly turned toward Li Yuan's direction.

Li Yuan didn't give it time to react.

The moment the Fire Serpent Technique condensed in his palm, crimson flames shot out from his fingertips.

At the peak of the Fire Python Technique, there's no longer a need to consciously guide its trajectory. The fire python forms extremely quickly, its body thick and sturdy, shooting straight from Li Yuan's palm towards the neck of the Frosthorn Lizard.

With a muffled boom, crimson flames exploded on the gray-white scales.

The horned lizard let out a miserable scream as a large patch of scales on the back of its neck cracked from the intense heat, revealing charred flesh beneath. It frantically shook its body, trying to shake off the flames, while its two horns simultaneously emitted a chilling aura that froze the bark of several nearby trees into a layer of white frost.

When the cold air hit Li Yuan, the protective spiritual membrane of the Three Elements automatically rose up, blocking most of it.

Li Yuan did not retreat, and raised his hand to unleash another Golden Blade Technique.

The golden light cleaved through the remaining chill, cutting straight down to the neck of the Frosthorned Lizard.

That was precisely the weak point marked in the tracking entry. The Golden Blade Technique precisely cut into the thinnest part of the scale armor, slicing a foot deep, and blood gushed out.

The horned lizard's struggles immediately weakened.

It tried to pull back, but the two severe injuries to the back of its neck and the area below its neck combined made it unable to hold on any longer. It pawed at the ground a few times, slammed its tail heavily onto the fallen log, and then its whole body tilted to one side, twitched for a moment, and then stopped moving.

From the start to the end, it took less than ten breaths.

Li Yuan stood still, breathing steadily, and barely sweating.

Li Yuan stepped forward to collect the body.

The scales, bones, horns, and demon blood of the Frosthorn Lizard are all useful. In particular, the two horns are excellent materials for crafting water-attribute magic weapons, and can be exchanged for a lot of spirit stones in the market.

When they cut into the abdominal cavity, an inner elixir was removed.

The color is bluish-white, and it is smaller than the Rock Armor Fire Python one. When you hold it in your hand, a cool sensation seeps into your palm.

Li Yuan swallowed the inner elixir directly.

After the inner core entered the stomach, a cool force rushed along the stomach wall into the meridians. The Unifying of Evil Qi immediately took effect, separating and digesting the evil qi components separately, while the remaining demonic power was received by the River of Blood and Qi and the medicinal essence, slowly seeping down along the flesh and bones.

The panel then popped up.

[Iron-Tough Bones (Green) Permanentization Progress: 1/3]

Li Yuan put all the materials about the Frosthorn Lizard into his storage bag, then scanned the surrounding area to make sure no other monsters had been disturbed before turning around and walking back.

Instead of returning to the market town, they went to the core of the spiritual vein.

Instead of cultivating, they began to dismantle the restrictions on the underground passage.

Along the teleportation structure from the core node of the main vein to the area beneath the Core Formation Platform, there are several layers of restrictions. These restrictions were set up by the old sect to control access to the teleportation structure and prevent unauthorized individuals from directly accessing the Core Formation area from underground.

The old sects have long since perished, but the restrictions are still in effect.

Li Yuan started with the outermost layer.

The outermost layer of restrictions was located next to the core node of the main vein, not far from where he usually cultivated. The structure of this layer of restrictions was relatively simple, mainly for identification and sealing functions, and the array patterns were not complicated.

Although it is not complicated, the restriction itself is of a high grade, and theoretically Li Yuan has no chance of breaking it.

However, the spiritual vein perception allowed Li Yuan to see the details of the restriction clearly.

Using his second-order array-mastery skills and spiritual vein perception, Li Yuan first clearly understood the primary and secondary relationships of the entire restriction layer, and then found the most crucial points.

Don't rush when dismantling.

These restrictions and the teleportation structure are connected. If they are forcibly removed, the restrictions will break, and the teleportation structure may also be damaged. They must be removed one by one, peeling the restrictions off the teleportation structure bit by bit.

Overnight, most of the outermost layer of restrictions was removed.

The following night, Li Yuan came again and cleaned up the remaining outermost layer before starting work on the second layer.

The second layer is more complex than the first, with more key points and a tighter nesting relationship between the array patterns. However, it is still within Li Yuan's capabilities; it just requires more time.

After several nights, the second layer of restrictions was slowly dismantled.

Two layers of the blockade along the teleportation route were opened, bringing us one step closer to the Core Formation Platform.

The changes in the market area have been quite noticeable during this period.

Cultivators from Yunzhou continue to flock in.

The war between the Qishui Sect and the Shamo Sect showed no signs of abating; on the contrary, it intensified, and waves of rogue cultivators fled towards Liangzhou. The Misty Forest Market, with its reputation as an outpost and historical site, became the preferred stop for many.

The main street of the market is now packed with people from morning till night.

What was originally a commercial area with only a dozen or so shops has now expanded to more than thirty. There are countless temporary stalls, stretching from the main street all the way to the alleyways of the surrounding residential areas.

With more people, consumption also increases.

Elixirs, talismans, magical artifacts, and materials are circulating several times faster than they did six months ago. The market's daily revenue has already surpassed previous records and continues to rise.

As the manager of the market, Li Yuan's profits naturally increased accordingly.

Management fees, stall fees, and transaction commissions—these daily incomes combined amount to a considerable sum of spirit stones each month. Add to that the output from spirit fields, the returns from evil ore, the sales of purple evil stones, and the continuous shipments of talismans and pills, and with several resource lines simultaneously generating revenue, Li Yuan's personal spirit stone reserves and pill material inventory are growing rapidly.

Li Yuan began to consciously save some resources separately and no longer use them for daily consumption.

After reading through various Core Formation texts, he had a general idea of ​​the resources needed for Core Formation. High-grade pill materials, array materials to aid Core Formation, pills to stabilize the foundation, and protective measures that might be needed during the breakthrough—none of these things were cheap. It was always better to stock up in advance than to scramble at the last minute.

The body training did not stop.

Every two or three days, Li Yuan would take a Body Refining Pill and use it in conjunction with Bone Refining Ointment to continue advancing the Nameless Body Refining Technique.

The effects of the Body Strengthening Pill, which was listed in my equipment inventory, were becoming increasingly apparent. Previously, when I took Body Strengthening Pills, some stagnant impurities would always remain after the medicinal power entered my body, slowing down subsequent absorption. Now, after each pill, those impurities are gradually peeled away by the Body Strengthening Pill, slowly being expelled from my meridians and flesh.

His proficiency in the Nameless Body Refining Technique steadily improved through this continuous refinement.

He had already completed most of the latter half of the Lesser Completion stage and was getting closer and closer to the Greater Completion stage. Li Yuan could clearly feel that each time he circulated the technique, the upper limit of his bones and skin's ability to withstand spiritual energy was gradually expanding. The layer of spiritual light protecting his body was also thicker than when he first broke through to Lesser Completion, and its coverage area had expanded from barely covering his torso to extending to the extremities.

During his cultivation, Li Yuan did not give up refining pills.

On the evening of the fifth day, Li Yuan had just put the last batch of Gathering Yuan Pills into the jade bottle when the panel popped up.

[Skill: Second-Tier Alchemy - Proficient (0/800)]

Li Yuan put down the jade bottle, looked at the two words on the panel, and did not act immediately.

proficient.

The difference between being proficient and mastering alchemy is not just an increase in the success rate and quality of the pills, but a change in how the mind is allocated throughout the entire process.

When he was skilled, Li Yuan still needed to focus most of his attention on the furnace when refining second-tier pills, watching every step of the medicinal liquid's changes, and making immediate adjustments if there was even the slightest deviation. He had to be tense the whole time, allowing no room for distraction.

After mastering the skill, many judgments that previously required close monitoring to make correctly began to become instinctive.

The properties of the medicine, when to adjust the heat, and when the main and auxiliary medicines will start to clash—these things no longer need to be looked at or thought about one by one, but will naturally emerge during the alchemy process.

The most direct change was that Li Yuan found that he could spare some of his attention to observe other details while refining pills.

For example, in the final moment before the elixir solidifies, are the surface and inner layers of the elixir converging at the exact same time? For example, when the fire penetrates from the furnace wall to the center, are there any slight deviations in the heat distribution?

I never had the time to look at these things before, but now I can glance at them without affecting normal operations.

Li Yuan put away the alchemy furnace, cleaned the table, and sat for a while longer.

The intense alchemy practice during this period not only advanced the art of alchemy, but also pushed the proficiency of the Soul Condensation Technique to its limit through continuous mental exertion and recovery.

Another notification on the panel had also lit up earlier.

[Cultivation Technique: Soul Condensation Technique - Perfected]

After the cultivation of the divine soul was perfected, the nurturing of the spiritual platform also met the conditions for permanence. With a thought, Li Yuan made it permanent.

Li Yuan got up and stretched, then sat cross-legged on the futon and began his daily cultivation.

As spiritual energy circulated through the meridians, the changes that had been ongoing for a long time were once again clearly perceived.

Although the high-grade spirit stone is only temporarily attached and does not occupy an equipment slot, the permanent progress of that blue attribute increases every time you use your cultivation.

Having been attached to the large spiritual vein for a long time, its automatic cultivation has never stopped. During the day, while refining pills, setting up formations, and handling market affairs, the automatic cultivation of the spiritual vein also runs silently in the background, which means that Li Yuan cultivates at half the normal speed every day compared to others.

In addition, the efficient cultivation during meditation near the core of the spiritual vein at night has steadily propelled the permanentization of the high-grade spirit stones forward.

Although we haven't arrived yet, the distance is already getting shorter.

After cultivating until late at night, Li Yuan stopped his practice and went to check the output of the mine.

After the guiding method was used to continuously divert the flow, the seepage from the spiritual vein branches towards the evil ore remained stable. The production frequency of purple evil stones has increased somewhat compared to the beginning, and now a batch can be harvested every three or four days.

When Li Yuan entered the natural cavity, several more pieces of purple evil stone indeed condensed near the array's core.

He collected the evil stones one by one, and when he reached the last one, his senses suddenly reacted as soon as he touched it.

The feel of this purple amber stone is different from the previous one.

It's not a difference in size and weight, but rather that the internal state of fusion between malevolent energy and spiritual power has deepened to a higher level.

Although the previous Purple Fiend Stone had a near one-to-one ratio of fiendish energy to spiritual energy, the two still maintained their own boundaries, like two colors of sand mixed together, which, although uniform, could still be distinguished.

This one is different.

The malevolent energy and spiritual power were no longer merely mixed, but had begun to merge to some extent. The boundary between the two became blurred in certain places, like two liquids seeping together.

Li Yuan took out the Purple Fiend Stone separately and carefully probed it with his divine sense.

The integration is not deep; this trend only appears at a few nodes inside the evil stone.

But the trend itself speaks volumes. With the continuous channeling of energy through the meridians, the amount of spiritual energy seeping into the malevolent ore is increasing, and the mutual permeation between malevolent energy and spiritual energy is deepening.

[Equipable item detected: Purple Fiend Stone (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Resonance (Green)]

[Effect: Malevolent energy and spiritual energy can be slightly converted into each other; during combat, any malevolent energy encountered can be converted into one's own.]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Complete a full breakthrough in an environment where both malevolent energy and spiritual energy coexist]

Green entries.

Li Yuan stared at the panel for a couple of breaths.

Malevolent energy and spiritual energy can be slightly converted into each other.

The conditions for permanentization are also clear: a complete breakthrough must be achieved in an environment where both malevolent energy and spiritual energy coexist.

Beneath his feet lay a fiendish mine, and not far away lay a large spiritual vein. An environment where fiendish energy and spiritual power coexisted was readily available. If he could complete a breakthrough in his cultivation level here, he could achieve permanent mastery.

Li Yuan put the Purple Fiend Stone into his storage bag, without equipping it on the spot.

When we emerged from the mine tunnel, the sky was already beginning to lighten.

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