Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan sat at the table, with two jade slips and a handwritten note spread out in front of him.

The jade slip on the left was an archive he had compiled after deciphering the Dark Abyss Society's intelligence, while the one on the right was the Xuan You Branch Hall's investigation record. The notebook contained key excerpts from the few remaining passages in the disciple's diary.

He arranged the three clues side by side on the table.

Article 1: The core of the Hall Mist Array. The massive array occupying the very center of the hall has a fist-sized jade bead embedded in its core. The bead's surface is riddled with cracks, its spiritual energy nearly depleted, yet an unknown, crimson energy is continuously pouring into it. Simultaneously, the array itself is constantly drawing energy from the jade bead to maintain the release of the ghostly mist.

Article 2: The location of the branch hall. The entire main hall is located directly below the large spiritual vein of the market, almost completely overlapping vertically. There may have once been a network of spiritual energy conduits connecting the two, but these conduits have long since broken and become blocked.

Article 3: Disciple's Diary. A record written in panic by a disciple of the Xuanyou Sect—the sect leader extracted spiritual veins to cultivate something in order to break through to the Nascent Soul stage and ascend to immortality.

The Dark Abyss Society's intelligence report explicitly states that the thing both the Yuan Yang Sect and the Sha Mo Sect are searching for is called the Earthly Elemental Spirit Embryo. The report also concludes with the four characters: "Remnants of the Xuan You Sect."

The Earthly Spirit Embryo is nurtured by absorbing spiritual veins.

The sect leader of the Xuanyou Sect extracted spiritual veins to cultivate something.

The branch hall formation is located directly below a large spiritual vein, with its core jade bead infused with crimson energy.

All three clues point in the same direction.

The jade bead may be the nurturing medium for the Earthly Spirit Embryo, or even a part of it. The energy of the spiritual vein was once transported downwards through a network of conduits to power the array, which then infused the jade bead with that energy. The purpose of the entire system is to use the power of the spiritual vein to nurture what is inside the jade bead.

However, the disciple's log states that the sect leader's goal is to ascend to the Nascent Soul stage, while the function of the Earthly Essence Spirit Embryo is to assist in the formation of the Golden Core and Nascent Soul. There is a whole major realm between the two, which doesn't make logical sense.

Either the information in the disciple's log is incomplete, or the Earthly Spirit Embryo has other unknown uses.

Li Yuan inscribed the analytical conclusions of the three clues into a new jade slip and sealed it deep inside his storage bag.

The existing information is still insufficient, and making forced inferences will only mislead our judgment. Let's put this matter aside for now and supplement it when new clues emerge.

He put away the jade slips and notes on the table and closed his eyes to practice his cultivation technique.

The cultivation path of the Concentration and Soul Guiding Technique unfolded within the sea of ​​consciousness.

He had been practicing this soul cultivation technique for a long time, focusing on the condensation and stabilization of divine sense. Since the five lines of divine sense were formed, the progress of the Concentration and Guiding Soul Technique had been accelerating—the lines of divine sense themselves were the ultimate control over the divine soul, and in turn, they were continuously honing the foundation of the Concentration and Guiding Soul Technique.

At this moment, the last bottleneck of the cultivation technique shattered silently in the sea of ​​consciousness.

A panel pops up.

[Concentration and Soul Guiding Technique: Perfected]

The five lines of divine consciousness resonated subtly at the same moment before returning to normal. The boundaries of the sea of ​​divine consciousness did not change significantly, but the density within it was one level higher than before.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and sensed the changes.

The operation of divine sense became smoother, and the multi-line parallel control that originally required deliberate concentration to complete became almost instinctive.

He didn't dwell on the matter for long. He got up, walked to the window, and looked towards the main street of the market in the distance.

It's time to seriously consider forming the Golden Core.

Li Yuan sat back down at the table, took out the jade slip containing the Golden Elixir Classic, and turned to the pages he had previously marked.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit unite to form a pill; its grade depends on the degree of fusion and the total amount of each. Auxiliary methods only affect the success rate, not the quality. Natural treasures used to improve quality start at a cost of a thousand mid-grade spirit stones.

He closed the book and pondered in his heart.

You can choose to increase the difficulty of forming the Golden Core during the Foundation Establishment stage. The cost is a 30% reduction in the success rate, but the reward is that you can form the Golden Core again after it is formed.

If you choose to increase the difficulty, you can basically reliably obtain a top-grade Golden Core after successfully forming your Golden Core. Since the quality is guaranteed, there's no need to bother searching for those ridiculously expensive rare and precious materials that can improve quality.

With a tap of the fingertip, one is instantly transported to the wonderful world of Chapter 363, "The Core Formation Plan".

There is only one type of thing you need to prepare: auxiliary spiritual materials to increase the success rate.

The ancient texts clearly state that the difficulty of achieving the Golden Core stage is no less than, and may even be greater than, that of Foundation Establishment. While Foundation Establishment has universal auxiliary pills like the Foundation Establishment Pill, there are none for Core Formation. Each cultivator's cultivation system, spiritual power attributes, and the ratio of essence, energy, and spirit are different, and the auxiliary methods they can use also vary. They can only find spiritual materials suitable for their own circumstances.

However, thanks to the safety net mechanism of the entry system, the backlash damage during Core Formation won't be too severe. The worst outcome is failure to form the Core, but it won't result in the annihilation of the dantian or the rupture of meridians—a truly catastrophic end.

First, collect two key auxiliary materials to attempt the Core Formation. As for whether to increase the difficulty, we'll decide based on the specific situation later.

Finding a suitable location for Core Formation is another issue that needs to be addressed.

The ideal location is the large spiritual vein beneath the market town. The spiritual vein is rich in energy, and I have the added benefit of being compatible with it. In addition, the earth vein's spiritual hub has complete control over the underground environment, making it the optimal solution in every aspect.

However, above the spiritual vein lies the ruins, where disciples of the Yuan Yang Sect are still guarding and renovating.

It generally takes more than a month to form a core. Even if you can perfectly control your breath, you can't guarantee that you won't make a mistake because you haven't tried it before.

This isn't urgent; we'll figure out a solution gradually.

After clarifying the general direction of his plan to form the Golden Core, Li Yuan got up and walked out of the stone house.

All the materials for the embryo of the natal magic weapon have been gathered.

Three ounces of black iron essence, half a pound of flowing silver ore, a piece of nephrite, and a portion of flame heart sand. The four items were placed in different jade boxes and neatly stacked in the storage bag.

He went straight to Ji Huaiyuan's weapon-refining shop in the southern district.

In the backyard, Ji Huaiyuan was squatting on the ground fiddling with a small refining furnace, with wisps of blue smoke rising from its opening.

"All the materials are gathered."

Li Yuan placed the four jade boxes on the stone table and opened them one by one.

Ji Huaiyuan put down his work and walked to the table.

He first picked up the black iron essence, rubbed it between his fingers, and then brought it to his nose to smell it. Then he picked up the flowing silver ore, weighed it in his hand, and scratched the surface with his fingernail.

"The materials are all good." Ji Huaiyuan nodded after checking the four materials one by one. "It's enough."

He put the materials back into the jade box and looked up at Li Yuan.

"Is the essence and blood ready?"

"You can pick it up now."

Li Yuan raised his right hand and channeled his spiritual energy to force out a drop of essence blood. The blood bead seeped from his fingertip, its color deeper than ordinary blood, with a faint spiritual light flowing within it.

Ji Huaiyuan took out a palm-sized jade bowl from his sleeve, caught the essence blood, and sealed it with his spiritual power.

"Essence blood is the spiritual core of your natal magic weapon. During the refining process, I will integrate it into the internal structure of the magic weapon's embryo. From then on, this magic weapon will be connected to your mind and spirit, and will become a part of your body."

He carefully put the jade bowl away and added another sentence.

"The process of crafting a magical artifact embryo takes longer than that of a finished artifact. A finished artifact is formed in one go, and its functions are fixed. An embryo is different. All the spiritual energy channels and material interfaces must have room for expansion. Every step must be repeatedly adjusted, and if there is even a slight deviation, it cannot be modified later."

"how long?"

"Fifteen days if it goes quickly, twenty days if it goes slowly." Ji Huaiyuan waved his hand. "Go back and get back to your work. I'll let you know when it's done."

Li Yuan thanked them and turned to leave the weapon-refining shop.

On his way back to the stone house, he passed through the main street of the market. The number of shops on both sides of the street had more than doubled compared to six months ago, and the density of people had increased visibly. There were long queues in front of the Mingyuan Chamber of Commerce's branch shops, and Sun Henian's talisman shop was packed with people.

Li Yuan did not linger and went straight back to the stone house.

The doors and windows were sealed off, and he sat cross-legged on a prayer mat.

The natal magic weapon will be given to Ji Huaiyuan, and it will take fifteen to twenty days to retrieve it. This period is perfect for advancing the cultivation of spatial magic and accumulating other techniques.

He closed his eyes, circulated his spiritual energy, and immersed his consciousness in a state of cultivation.

The spatial rifts created by the Sky-Splitting Slash silently opened and closed in front of his fingertips, over and over again.