Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan returned to the teleportation array.

The teleportation array on the stone platform was dormant, its runes dim and lifeless. Li Yuan infused it with spiritual energy to awaken it, and the runes slowly lit up, causing spatial fluctuations to ripple above the stone platform.

After spiritual energy was injected into the positioning layer, the spatial array stone sent out a search signal in the northeast direction. A few breaths later, the teleportation stone's spatial perception detected an extremely faint response.

The signal did exist, but it was intermittent, like a lamp flickering on and off. The peer node was either in deep sleep or severely damaged, making it impossible to establish a stable transmission channel.

He changed the direction of his search, pointing southwest.

The signal received a response almost immediately.

The response was clear and stable; the remote node was in standby mode, and the frequency of spatial fluctuations closely matched the local array. The teleportation channel was formed and locked within a few breaths.

Connection established.

Li Yuan carefully examined the structure of the passage using the spatial perception of the teleportation stone. The spatial folds between the two nodes fit together perfectly, and the transmission of spiritual energy was without any disruption.

More notably, the two nodes have the exact same permission level.

In the teleportation array's permission system, higher-privilege nodes can teleport to lower-privilege nodes without permission, while lower-privilege nodes require verification. However, since these two nodes have the same permission level, they seem to be configured with some kind of peer-to-peer communication mechanism—they can freely teleport to each other without restriction.

Li Yuan did not rush to teleport.

He first made an adjustment to the control array on his local node, setting the teleportation array's receiving permission to an open state. This way, after he teleports to the other end, he can teleport back directly from there, without being unidirectionally locked on the other end.

After confirming that the settings were correct, Li Yuan stood in the center of the stone platform.

Spiritual energy was injected into the array's core, and the teleportation array began to operate at full capacity.

The light from the array patterns changed from soft to bright, and the spatial fluctuations intensified dramatically. The folded layers of space beneath the stone platform began to rotate and compress, enveloping his figure in a rapidly shrinking spatial bubble.

My vision suddenly distorted.

After about three breaths, the distortion dissipated.

Li Yuan's feet landed on a completely new piece of ground.

Beneath his feet lay smooth stone bricks, a texture completely different from the hollow stone platform of the limestone terrace. The air was dry and cold, devoid of any spiritual energy. All around was pitch black, but the spatial perception of the teleportation stone and the passive mode of Dark Insight immediately fed back information about the surrounding environment to his mind.

A sealed underground stone chamber.

It measures approximately four zhang square, twice the size of the limestone plateau cavity. The four walls have been meticulously polished, and remnants of array patterns in the style of the Xuanyou Sect remain on the surface. The dome is intact, showing no signs of collapse. In the center of the ground, there is also a circular stone platform, almost identical in size to the one at this end node.

He was standing on this very stone platform.

Li Yuan stepped down from the stone platform and first checked the condition of the teleportation array at the other end. The array patterns were intact, and the spatial crystals were embedded in the array's eyes; although their luster was dim, their structure was undamaged. This node was in much better condition than the one on the limestone plateau, requiring almost no repairs.

After confirming that the teleportation array could transmit data normally, Li Yuan began searching the stone chamber.

In the northeast corner of the stone chamber, several wooden storage boxes were piled up. The boxes had been sealed with spiritual energy and coated with a layer of moisture-proof and anti-corrosion varnish, so their condition was surprisingly good.

Li Yuan used his spiritual power to break the seal and opened it one by one.

The first box contained a batch of array materials: spirit-guiding copper sheets, spatial array stones, high-purity spirit energy crystal powder, and several pieces of high-quality spirit-guiding materials whose names he didn't know but whose spiritual energy was still well preserved. The materials' style and processing techniques were from the Xuan You Sect era, at least several hundred years old, but the spiritual energy was sealed very well, and most of them were still usable.

The second box contained a jade slip.

Li Yuan picked up the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

A Notebook on Improving Teleportation Arrays. The content describes a method for optimizing the efficiency of teleportation arrays. The author appears to be an array deacon from the Xuan You Sect; the writing is concise and records practical experience. The core point is to reduce spiritual energy loss during signal search by rearranging the spiritual energy loops of the second positioning layer of the teleportation array, thereby improving teleportation distance and connection stability.

This notebook was extremely useful for his current situation. Although the teleportation array on the limestone plateau had been repaired and restored to basic functionality, its teleportation distance and stability were still limited. If optimized using the methods in this notebook, its performance could be improved even further.

Li Yuan put the jade slip into his storage bag.

The third box was the smallest, containing only a martial arts manual bound in black animal hide.

The booklet's cover had no text, and the animal hide was made of a very special material. It was cool to the touch, and its surface had a faint, almost invisible dark purple sheen.

Li Yuan took the booklet in his hand.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Demon Fusion Technique (Complete)]

I highly recommend "Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes"! Click to enter the story world.

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Magical Origin (Purple)]

[Effect: Spiritual power and demonic energy can be converted into each other; spiritual power and demonic energy can be moderately fused; the upper limit of both spiritual power and demonic energy is increased by 10%]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Cultivation level reaches the late Golden Core stage]

Purple entry.

Li Yuan opened the booklet and read it from beginning to end.

The method has no name. The content begins on the second page, with neat handwriting and rigorous writing, resembling a carefully crafted academic treatise.

The core theme is the fusion of demonic energy and spiritual power.

The author of the cultivation method believed that demonic energy and spiritual power are not two completely opposing energies; they are essentially different manifestations of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. If a suitable method could be found to allow the two to coexist and transform into each other within a cultivator's body, the cultivator's overall strength would experience a qualitative leap.

The cultivation method details several training paths that allow demonic energy and spiritual power to merge to varying degrees. These range from the most basic coexistence without interference, to the intermediate level of mixed application, and finally to the ultimate goal of complete fusion.

The last few pages present a bold theoretical proposition: first, use demonic energy or spiritual power to condense the embryonic core, and then use spiritual power or demonic energy to complete the core formation.

If successful, the resulting golden core will possess both spiritual and demonic attributes, making it far more powerful than a regular golden core.

But the theory was immediately followed by a warning marked with cinnabar.

In practice, the embryo formed from demonic energy will violently clash with the infused spiritual power. The intensity of the conflict far exceeds the limits of the cultivator's physical body and meridians, resulting in the destruction of the elixir and death in eight or nine out of ten cases.

The theory is perfect, but the practice is disastrous.

Li Yuan closed the booklet.

This is an unfinished manual. The author found the direction, but failed to complete the final step.

Purple entry.

Spiritual energy and demonic energy can be converted into each other. Spiritual energy and demonic energy can be fused to a moderate degree. The upper limits of both spiritual energy and demonic energy are increased by 10%.

The first effect overlaps somewhat with the fire-elemental and evil-elemental conversion of "Integration of Flame and Evil," but their scopes are completely different. "Integration of Flame and Evil" is limited to the conversion between fire-elemental spiritual power and evil energy, while "Shared Origin of Demonic Spirit" and "Conversion of Spirit and Evil" cover all spiritual power and all demonic energy, thus expanding the scope to a whole new level.

The second effect is a moderate degree of fusion. This means he can simultaneously draw upon spiritual power and demonic energy in the same spell, allowing them to mix and combine for output. Previously, spiritual power and demonic energy could only be used alternately, not truly mixed.

The condition for permanent attainment is the late stage of the Golden Core realm. This means that permanent attainment is not possible in the short term.

What concerned him even more was the theoretical conception within the cultivation method.

If you combine this with the amulet you have that increases the difficulty of forming the core twice—first forming the core normally with regular spiritual power, and then gaining the opportunity to form it again after success—then you can consider the possibility of using demonic energy to condense the embryo during the second core formation.

The first Core Formation uses spiritual energy, taking a safe approach. The second Core Formation uses demonic energy, aiming for a higher potential.

But all of this is still just theoretical speculation. Even the author of the cultivation method himself couldn't complete the final step; the risk of the elixir being destroyed and the person dying was very real.

First, use spiritual energy to form a core, then proceed step by step.

After Li Yuan finished organizing the cultivation manual and the rest of his gains, he walked to the wall of the stone chamber.

He used the Earth Escape Technique, his body slowly disappeared into the stone wall, and then rose upwards.

After passing through rock layers tens of meters high, the density of the rock above suddenly decreased.

Li Yuan burst out of the ground.

Stone wasteland.

What met the eye was an endless desolation. The ground was covered with grayish-white weathered gravel, without a single tree or blade of grass. The horizon was low and empty, the gray sky pressed down overhead, and the air was so dry that there was almost no moisture.

The spiritual energy concentration is extremely low, several times thinner than the outer perimeter of the Ghost Mist Forest. Cultivation efficiency in this environment is only about 20-30% of normal.

No wonder no one had ever set foot here before.

But Li Yuan sensed something unusual.

The affinity attribute of the spiritual vein took effect at this moment. Deep beneath their feet, an extremely thin branch of the spiritual vein was slowly pulsating. The branch was only about one-tenth the thickness of the large spiritual vein in Misty Forest Market, and its depth was more than a hundred feet underground, but it definitely existed.

Beneath the surface of this desolate wasteland, where spiritual energy is almost nonexistent, lies a hidden spiritual vein.

Li Yuan recorded the terrain, coordinates, and approximate directions and depths of the spiritual vein branches of the Stone Wasteland in the jade slip.

They then returned to the underground stone chamber via the same route and teleported back to the limestone plateau node through the teleportation array.

When we returned to the market, it was almost dawn.

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on a futon and closed his eyes to cultivate.

[Conditions for permanent Spiritual Vein Affinity (Green): Cultivate for more than six hours daily for a cumulative period of thirty days (August 30th)]

The spiritual vein was just a few dozen feet away, and the 20% cultivation speed boost from its affinity was steadily taking effect. Although the progress in cultivating the technique wasn't fast, it was making solid progress every day.