Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After the stone house cultivation was completed, Ji Huaiyuan sent someone to deliver a message that the embryonic form of the magic weapon was ready.

Li Yuan put down the jade slip in his hand and went straight to the weapon-refining shop in the South District.

In the backyard, Ji Huaiyuan stood beside a cooled-down forging furnace with its opening sealed. On the stone table next to it was a wooden box about a foot and a half long.

"Open it and take a look." Ji Huaiyuan pushed the wooden box over.

Li Yuan opened the box lid.

Inside the box was a thick layer of soft jade cotton, upon which lay a long, spindle-shaped embryo of a magical artifact. Its overall color was dark silver, and the surface faintly revealed fine patterns formed by the fusion of black iron essence and flowing silver ore. The embryo was unsharpened and unshaped, with rounded ends and a smooth surface, resembling an elongated metal egg.

It looks like nothing at all, but that's precisely why it can become anything.

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the embryo.

It was warm to the touch, and a faint pulse could be felt at his fingertips. That was the spiritual core formed inside the embryo by the life essence he had previously dripped into it, synchronizing with his heartbeat at an extremely slow frequency.

A panel pops up.

[Special item detected: Embryo of Destiny Artifact (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Primal Resonance (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases total spiritual power by 30%; the deeper the resonance between the magical artifact and its owner's spiritual power, the greater the additional increase in total spiritual power (up to 50%).]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Nourishing the Embryo with Semen and Blood for Sixty Days (0/60)]

Blue entries.

His total spiritual power increased by 30%, and the deeper the resonance, the more it could be stacked, up to a maximum of 50%. In addition, there was a 20% increase in spiritual power reserves from Foundation Establishment and Qi Consolidation, as well as the mutual conversion of fire and evil spiritual power—once fully stacked, his total effective spiritual power would far exceed that of cultivators of the same level by several times.

An additional notification popped up on the panel.

[Your personal magical artifact occupies a special equipment slot. Once equipped, the artifact remains in physical form and does not disappear due to permanentization.]

Special Equipment Slot. Separate from the five regular equipment slots, it does not occupy any existing slots.

My current special equipment slot is equipped with a large spiritual vein. I will replace it with my natal magic weapon and make it permanent.

"equipment."

[Equipped: Natal Artifact Embryo (Complete) - Special Slot]

[Original Resonance (Blue) in effect]

[Conditions for Permanentizing Origin Resonance (Blue): Nourish the embryo with essence and blood for sixty days (0/60)]

The moment the spell took effect, the spiritual energy stored in my dantian suddenly expanded by 30%. It felt like a water tank that was already full had suddenly grown larger, gaining a significant amount of extra capacity out of thin air. The leeway in the circulation of spiritual energy was noticeably improved, and I felt much more confident when casting spells.

Li Yuan stored the embryo in his storage bag. His natal magical artifact didn't need to be held constantly; the connection to his essence and blood core was unaffected by distance. Just fifteen minutes a day to nourish it with his essence and blood was enough to advance its permanent form.

"Thank you, Senior Ji."

Ji Huaiyuan waved his hand, picked up the teacup, and took a sip.

"Nourishing the body takes time; one drop of essence and blood a day is enough. Don't be greedy and damage your foundation."

Li Yuan nodded, turned around and left the weapon-refining shop.

That night, at midnight.

Dark Fiend's perception network suddenly detected four rapidly moving clusters of demonic energy on the northeastern periphery of the market.

They arrived very quickly.

Four figures flew close to the ground along the treeline of the Ghost Mist Forest, their auras suppressed to an extremely low level, deliberately choosing routes through areas with the thickest fog. If it weren't for Dark Fiend's exceptionally high sensitivity to fluctuations in demonic energy, ordinary warning arrays would not have been able to detect them at this distance.

All four were at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and the intensity and frequency of their demonic energy fluctuations were almost identical, indicating that they had received uniform training.

The formation was tight, and they headed straight for the outskirts of the market.

The Dark Abyss Society's revenge has arrived.

With the liaison point destroyed and all three resident demonic cultivators wiped out, the Dark Abyss Society couldn't possibly remain silent. However, this response came a few days later than Li Yuan had anticipated, likely due to the time spent rebuilding the communication network.

Li Yuan stood up from the prayer mat.

The triple concealment activated instantly, and the aura vanished.

Teleportation technique.

Space tore silently open before him, and his figure vanished from the stone house, appearing the next instant beside the defensive array on the northeastern outskirts of the market. The ten-zhang displacement distance precisely placed him at the pre-set interception position.

The four demonic cultivators were less than two hundred feet away from the outer edge of the market.

Li Yuan did not wait for them to reach the front of the defensive line.

He raised his right hand, rapidly compressing his spiritual energy and channeling it into the space in front of his fingertips.

Sky-Splitting Slash.

A five-foot-long gray fissure extended from the fingertip, silently sweeping forward. The fissure moved with incredible speed, slicing a fleeting, transparent line through the thick fog.

The demonic cultivators at the forefront had no time to react.

The rift sliced ​​across his protective magical light, tearing it apart like paper. Then the rift swept past his waist and abdomen, severing his body in two. His upper body remained in a flying posture as it slid forward several feet before crashing to the ground.

The second demonic cultivator followed closely behind, less than five zhang away from the first. The residual force of the rift was still present; the end of the gray spatial fissure swept across his left shoulder, severing his entire left arm at the root.

The demonic cultivator let out a miserable howl and tumbled to the ground.

Flames suddenly erupted in Li Yuan's palm.

With the Flame Demon Integration fully activated, crimson flames rapidly condensed in mid-air into a ten-foot-long fire python, carrying a scorching shockwave as it crashed towards the one-armed demonic cultivator.

The instant the fire python struck, the slowing effect of the Netherworld's Slowing Force caused the remaining demonic energy within the demonic cultivator's body to suddenly freeze, even slowing his rolling movements by half a beat. The flames engulfed him completely, and his screams quickly faded away in the inferno.

The two collapsed, within three breaths of each other.

The two demonic cultivators behind them stopped abruptly at the same time.

They witnessed the deaths of their two companions—a silent spatial rift and an unstoppable fire python, leaving them no chance to retaliate.

In less than three breaths, both died.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned and fled at full speed into the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan did not pursue.

He first walked to the two corpses, and after confirming that they were completely dead, he took the storage bag.

Then he turned to face the direction he had fled.

Teleportation technique.

Space tore open, and his figure vanished.

When he reappeared, he had already cut to the flank of the two fleeing demonic cultivators' escape route. His presence was completely concealed in the thick fog, and his opponents didn't even realize that he had caught up with them.

Li Yuan conjured a cone of malevolent energy in his right hand and flicked it out.

The fiery aura cone, imbued with the combined power of four-tenths of the fiery aura and the penetrating effect of the spirit-piercing sharpness, pierced through the thick fog and headed straight for the back of the demonic cultivator on the right.

The demonic cultivator sensed the killing intent behind him at the last moment and suddenly dodged to the side. The spike of murderous energy grazed his ribs, slicing off a piece of flesh.

He gritted his teeth and activated his demonic energy to protect himself, causing his entire body to radiate demonic light. At the same time, he turned around and unleashed a pitch-black shield of demonic energy.

The murderous aura in Li Yuan's palm instantly transformed into crimson flames.

Flame and Fiery Qi are one.

A fiery cone formed from fire-elemental spiritual energy shot out immediately after the cone of malevolent energy. The demonic cultivator's shield was a defensive structure temporarily adjusted to counter malevolent energy, and its defensive efficiency dropped sharply when facing fire-elemental attacks.

The fiery cone pierced through the shield wall and penetrated the demonic cultivator's chest.

The effect of the Netherworld's Slowing Force activated the instant the Flame Cone struck, causing the demonic energy within the demon cultivator's body to stagnate. He opened his mouth, trying to activate some life-saving technique, but his spiritual power was trapped in his meridians like mud, unable to be lifted.

Li Yuan's third strike arrived.

The malevolent energy pierced through his throat.

The third body fell down.

The fourth demonic cultivator was the fastest, and had already pulled ahead by nearly a hundred feet.

Li Yuan remained calm. He used the teleportation technique again. Under the triple concealment, his opponent had no idea that someone was chasing him.

After several shifts, Li Yuan had moved to a position less than twenty feet behind the fourth demonic cultivator.

Sky-Splitting Slash.

A five-foot-long spatial rift shot out from the fingertip, slicing across the demonic cultivator's back.

The demonic cultivator's protective demonic light was torn apart, and a deep, bone-revealing gash appeared on his back. He screamed and rolled to the ground, struggling to get up.

A spike of malevolent energy pierced his crown chakra.

All four were killed.

Li Yuan withdrew his breath, took the storage bags from the third and fourth corpses, and then returned to the outskirts of the market along the same route.

Inside the stone house, four storage bags were placed on the table.

He broke open the marks one by one and poured out the contents to sort them.

There were fewer than two hundred mid-grade spirit stones in total, scattered around. Several bottles of demonic pills, of mixed types. A few pieces of decent-quality evil crystals, which could be used as auxiliary materials for array formations.

There are also a large quantity of ores and array materials, the types of which highly overlap with the items in the acquisition mission previously released by Yuanyang Sect.

These demonic cultivators attacked the market, yet they carried materials that the Yuan Yang Sect was acquiring. Either they had just left from a base and hadn't had time to transfer their supplies, or these materials were war supplies stockpiled by the Dark Abyss Society.

Overall, there's nothing particularly good about it.

But at the bottom of the third demonic cultivator's storage bag, Li Yuan felt a flat metal object.

A token.

The token's appearance and craftsmanship were quite similar to the Dark Demon Token he possessed, both being made of black metal with twisted magic runes engraved on the surface. However, the difference became immediately apparent when they were held in hand and compared.

The Dark Demon Token is made of a denser material with more intricate patterns, and its internal concentration of demonic energy is at least three times higher. In contrast, this token is clearly crudely made, with uneven depths of demonic runes and a thinner internal concentration of demonic energy.

Lower-level version.

The Dark Abyss Society has a hierarchical system of authority. Ordinary demon cultivators are issued low-level tokens, while the Dark Demon Token in his hand is clearly a higher-level item.

In the following days, Li Yuan added three Netherworld Locking Arrays around the market as fixed defensive structures.

The three formations are positioned on the outer perimeter in the northeast, east, and southeast directions, covering the most likely attack routes of the demonic cultivators. The formations are normally dormant and do not consume spiritual energy; they are automatically activated once a target with demonic energy fluctuations exceeding a certain threshold enters the area.

Three days after the formation was completed, Chen Yi came to visit.

"The sect has a mission and would like your help."

Chen Yi sat in the stone house, his expression more formal than usual.

"The sect has a mission and would like your help."

Chen Yi sat in the stone house, his expression more formal than usual.

"What mission?"

"The specifics haven't been finalized yet; the higher-ups are still planning it. But I can tell you the reward in advance—an item that can also increase the success rate of Core Formation."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

Chen Yi did not avoid his gaze.

"Your killing of four Foundation Establishment demonic cultivators on the outskirts of the market has been reported. There was no reward, but your combat strength assessment has been significantly increased."

He paused.

"There are more and more matters that Golden Core cultivators find inconvenient to handle personally. With combat power far exceeding that of others of the same level, you are the most suitable candidate."

Li Yuan neither immediately agreed nor refused.

"We'll talk about it when the specifics come out."

Chen Yi nodded and stood up, saying something before leaving.

"I won't let you suffer any losses."

The door to the stone house closed, and Li Yuan sat back down at the table.

Items that increase the success rate of Core Formation are indeed useful to him.

He retrieved the embryo of his natal magical artifact, channeled his spiritual power to force out a drop of essence blood, and slowly let it seep into the surface of the embryo. The essence blood seeped in along the dark silver patterns, creating a faint resonance with the spiritual core inside.

[Conditions for Permanentizing Origin Resonance (Blue): Nourish the embryo with essence and blood for sixty days (3/60)]