Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Read Chapter 401, "Golden Core Level Seizure," now to begin today's exciting read.

The storage bags on the four corpses were removed one by one.

The Golden Core cultivator's storage bag was sealed with three layers of demonic energy, its quality far surpassing that of a Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator. Li Yuan gently brushed it with Golden Core-level demonic energy, and the seals shattered one by one.

The moment the storage bag was opened, the sheer number of items inside made him raise an eyebrow slightly.

Mid-grade spirit stones. Neatly stacked, totaling over two thousand. The wealth of a Golden Core cultivator is indeed on a completely different level.

Several bottles of third-tier pills were found. The jade bottles were sealed with the dark markings of the Demonic Sect, and upon opening, they emitted a rich medicinal fragrance. Li Yuan examined each one: there were Demonic Essence Pills to restore demonic energy, Demonic Armor Powder to strengthen the body, and a bottle of dark red pills he didn't recognize. The bottle had no name on it, but its medicinal properties were extremely concentrated, and its grade was at least mid-grade third tier.

A third-tier defensive magic artifact. It's a palm-sized black disc with dense defensive array patterns engraved on its surface. When activated, it can deploy a demonic energy shield in front of the user. While not top-tier in quality, it's a practical life-saving measure for Golden Core cultivators.

A high-grade communication jade slip from the Demon Slayer Sect. The seal is several times thicker than that of ordinary communication jade slips, and a large number of unerased communication records remain inside.

A jet-black token. Its material is unknown, its surface is as smooth as a mirror, and a twisted magic symbol is engraved on the front, while the back is blank.

The three late-stage Foundation Establishment followers had far fewer items in their storage bags. There were less than three hundred scattered spirit stones, a few second-tier magic artifacts, and some daily consumable pills and talismans.

Li Yuan categorized and organized all the spoils. Spirit stones were kept as spirit stones, elixirs as elixirs, and magical artifacts and intelligence items were placed separately.

At the end of the inventory, he found two items in the hidden compartment of the Golden Core cultivator's storage bag.

The first item was a palm-sized, jet-black mirror. The mirror did not reflect light and emitted a very faint fluctuation of demonic energy.

Word perception triggers within a three-foot range.

[Equipable item detected: Dark Elemental Mirror (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Dark Magic Concealment (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases maximum demonic energy by 30%; increases demonic energy power by 30%]

[Preview of Permanentization Requirements: Mastery of a third-tier demonic cultivation technique (Not yet met)]

Blue text. Both effects are related to demonic energy.

A 30% increase in the maximum amount of demonic energy means that the capacity of the Demonic Energy Golden Core can be expanded, allowing for longer battles and higher-intensity spell output.

A 30% increase in demonic energy power directly enhances the destructive power of all demonic energy spells.

The condition for permanentization is reaching the pinnacle of a third-tier demonic cultivation technique. Currently, he doesn't even have a third-tier demonic cultivation technique, making it a long way off.

Li Yuan put the black magic mirror deep into his storage bag.

The second item was a folded animal hide.

The animal hide, when unfolded, was about a foot square, with a pattern drawn on its surface in dark red ink. The pattern resembled a top-down view of some kind of terrain, with winding lines extending from the center outwards, branching into countless tiny tributaries at the ends.

Li Yuan stared at the picture for a moment.

The direction of the lines, the angle of the forks, and the density distribution of the branches all felt extremely familiar to him.

He retrieved his mental records of his perception of the large spiritual veins in Mozhou.

The direction of the main vein, the branching pattern of the branches, and the diffusion pattern at the end are highly consistent with the patterns on the animal hide.

Not entirely identical. The pattern on the animal hide was much simpler than the spiritual vein form he actually perceived; many details were omitted, retaining only the core trunk and major branches. However, the overall outline was almost identical.

As Mr. Shen once said, the second key to the Deep Abyss Cave is a pattern.

Is the shape of the spiritual vein that pattern?

Li Yuan folded the animal hide back up and put it into his storage bag.

This hypothesis cannot be fully confirmed at present. The shape and pattern of the spiritual veins is only the closest possibility; there may be other interpretations.

Furthermore, the progress on the other two keys is unclear. The first key is most likely the jade bead in the Xuan You branch hall, which is currently being watched by the array masters of the Tian Yue Sect. The clues for the third key are completely blank.

All three keys are essential; there's no time to rush it.

Li Yuan put aside this thought and picked up the advanced communication jade slip.

After the demonic seal was broken, the internal communication records were perfectly preserved. The Golden Core cultivator clearly hadn't developed the habit of promptly deleting communication records; nearly two months' worth of messages and communications were all stored in the jade slip.

Li Yuan browsed through each item one by one.

Most of these are daily instructions and intelligence exchanges within the Demon Sect, involving personnel movements, resource allocation, and monitoring reports on surrounding forces in various branch sects.

Two records in particular caught his attention.

One of the encrypted records mentioned Yuanzong's name.

The content is an internal notice issued by the Demonic Demon Sect's main altar to its various branch altars:

They have already extended an invitation to Yuanzong through an intermediary to probe his attitude toward Tianyue Sect's involvement in Liangzhou.

Yuanzong has not yet officially responded, but has not explicitly rejected the proposal.

The main altar has instructed all branch altars to refrain from any conflict with the Yuanzong cultivators for the time being.

To avoid affecting the contact process.

The second encrypted record contained detailed instructions regarding the operation in Mozhou. The instructions explicitly mentioned the Abyss Cavern and required the Golden Core cultivator to compare and verify the fragmented map he carried with the terrain after finding the entrance to the cavern in Mozhou.

A fragment of a map that I carry with me.

It was that animal hide.

The Demon Sect is also searching for the three keys. They know at least that the second key is related to a certain pattern, and they possess a fragment of the diagram.

However, this Golden Core cultivator failed to complete the mission. Before he could even enter the flow system to compare the terrain, he had already died in Li Yuan's ambush.

There's another noteworthy item in the communication log. At the very bottom is a record of a cultivation technique, a third-tier demonic cultivation method.

The cultivation technique is called the Profound Netherworld Fiend Technique. It is a low-grade, third-tier technique. The cultivation method involves using fiendish energy as a base to refine demonic energy, gradually purifying the demonic energy within the body to a higher purity. It is suitable for demonic cultivators at the Golden Core stage and above. The entry threshold is not too high, but advancement is extremely difficult.

Li Yuan copied the entire contents of the cultivation technique onto his blank jade slip.

The Profound Netherworld Fiend Technique. A third-tier demonic cultivation technique. The condition for the Black Demon Mirror to become permanent is precisely reaching the pinnacle of a third-tier demonic cultivation technique. Although the path from beginner to mastery is long, at least there is direction now.

The seizures have been counted.

The body was burned to destroy evidence, and the scene was cleaned up.

Return to Liangzhou via the teleportation array.

Upon returning to the market, Li Yuan did not rest but immediately began high-intensity array training.

Among the spoils from the slaying of the Golden Core cultivator was a batch of extremely high-quality array materials. These included dark-attribute array stones, spirit pattern solidification liquid, fragments of third-tier array plates, plus previously accumulated materials and old Xuan You Sect items exchanged from the remnants of the sect. The total amount was sufficient to support a round of intensive practical training.

The training method Li Yuan chose was not simply to repeat the same formation, but to carry out a second comprehensive reconstruction of the entire formation system of the market.

The last reconstruction established a three-layered defense system. This time, the goal is to optimize and upgrade the three-layered system, incorporating the nested spatial folding scheme learned from the Tianyue Sect's third-tier monitoring array into our own array design.

The outermost early warning detection array was disassembled and repositioned. The new array structure uses a three-layer nested node system, with each node simultaneously undertaking the functions of data acquisition, filtering, and transmission, resulting in an efficiency improvement of nearly 40% compared to the old version.

The middle layer of the defensive array remained largely unchanged, but a new spiritual energy buffer structure was added at key points to improve the shield's resilience when subjected to impacts.

The innermost concealment array was completely overturned and rebuilt. Li Yuan directly applied the principle of spatial folding to the core structure of the concealment array, allowing the core area to produce an effect similar to dimensional shift after the array is activated, completely disappearing from external perception.

The reconstruction of each layer of the array involves a large amount of calculation, trial and error, and calibration. If a node position is offset by even a fraction, the efficiency of the entire layer of the array may decrease by 30%. If the direction of a spirit rune is wrong, a vortex will appear in the transmission of spirit power between two adjacent nodes.

Li Yuan took a full seven days.

Over the course of seven days, they spent their days setting up and dismantling formations, and their nights cultivating their techniques and refining pills, with only occasional time spent handling market affairs. Their sleep was compressed to less than two hours a day, relying entirely on the physical strength of a Golden Core cultivator and the automatic recovery of their spiritual veins to keep going.

On the evening of the seventh day, the last node returned to its original position.

The overall formation system of the market has undergone its second comprehensive reconstruction. The new three-layer defense system is at least 50% more effective than the first version, the warning range has been expanded by two miles, the defensive resilience has increased by 30%, and the concealment effect has reached a whole new level.

A panel pops up.

[Formation Mastery: Tier 3 Beginner → Tier 3 Proficient (0/400)]

Level 3 proficiency.

The leap from beginner to expert wasn't built on theoretical knowledge. Seven days of intensive hands-on practice, the inspiration from the Tianyue Sect's third-tier formation, and the tactile experience gained from hundreds of disassemblies and reconstructions all combined to propel him over this threshold.

Third-tier proficiency means that he can independently set up most third-tier low-grade formations and has a basic understanding of the structure of third-tier mid-grade formations.

After the formation was reconstructed, Li Yuan did not rest immediately.

He remembered the second-tier hallucinogenic spell he had purchased at the Yunyang Market Fair, so he took advantage of the night to leave the market and head to the outskirts of Ghost Mist Forest to test it.

Half an hour later, a second-tier low-grade mist-patterned wolf entered the perception range.

Li Yuan did not appear in person, but instead used his divine sense to lock onto the other party from more than ten feet away, and slowly activated the illusion technique.

When the spiritual power of a Golden Core cultivator is poured into a second-tier spell, the minor spell, which was originally only suitable for the Foundation Establishment level, suddenly gains an indescribable sense of oppression.

Li Yuan then stopped injecting his divine sense.

Three breaths later, the Mist-Patterned Wolf suddenly awoke and angrily thrashed about in all directions.

Li Yuan stood behind the shadow of the tree, lost in thought.

Even a second-tier demonic beast, with its strong spiritual senses, could be affected for three breaths. If it were a Foundation Establishment cultivator, caught completely off guard, they would only sink deeper into the trap.

He raised his hand and tried twice more, adjusting the strength and angle of his spiritual infusion. The second attempt lasted four breaths, while the third completely trapped the Mist-Patterned Wolf in an illusion, from which it remained until it was killed by a fireball.

[Hallucination Spell: Beginner → Proficient (0/400)]

Li Yuan withdrew his divine sense, and had a general idea of ​​the situation.

Just then, Dark Fiend's passive sensing network intercepted an encrypted message.

The demonic energy frequency was consistent with the internal communication of the Demonic Sect. The signal came from the northern direction of the Ghost Mist Forest, and after automatic decryption, the content was restored word by word.

Urgent notice.

The treasure-hunting team heading towards Mozhou has been confirmed wiped out. The Golden Core members have been missing for over ten days and are presumed dead. The second transit station on the northern route has lost contact; the personnel on duty are unaccounted for. The monitoring array surrounding the Xuan Stone mine has triggered an abnormal alarm, suspected of being compromised.

The Demonic Sect headquarters hereby issues the following order: Effective immediately, all operations from all outer outposts towards Mozhou are suspended. The northern supply route is completely halted. The threat level towards Mozhou is raised to the highest level. All outposts are placed on Level 1 alert; leaving the defensive perimeter is prohibited unless absolutely necessary.

The report concluded with the statement: "The headquarters is investigating the cause of death of its Golden Core members. Preliminary assessment indicates that at least one hostile Golden Core cultivator exists in the direction of Mo Zhou. All outposts must remain highly vigilant. If any suspicious targets are discovered, report them immediately and do not make contact without authorization."

Li Yuan stored the intercepted intelligence in a jade slip.

The Demon Sect was badly hurt.

The treasure-hunting team was wiped out, the Golden Core members went missing, the transit station was raided, and the mine was alerted—they suffered a series of heavy blows in just over a month. They were aware that there was a Golden Core-level threat in the direction of Mozhou, but they had no idea who this threat was, where it came from, or what its purpose was.

Supply lines to the north have been suspended. This means that the Dark Abyss strongholds in northern Ghost Mist Forest will lose logistical support in the short term. Without supplies, those strongholds can only maintain operations for one to two months at most.

The underground tunnel being excavated at the Xuan Shi mine will also be halted due to the interruption of supplies.

The Demonic Sect's plans in the Mozhou region have been completely disrupted.