Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After completing his cultivation of the Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Technique, Li Yuan began to cultivate the Demon Shadow Step.

After three consecutive days of intensive practice, the execution of the Shadow Step changed from deliberate control to a conditioned reflex.

【Shadow Step: Mastery → Minor Success】

Once mastered, the Shadow Step's teleportation distance stabilizes at around three zhang (approximately 13 meters), with extremely fast casting speed and almost zero pre-cast animation. Combined with the aura suppression of the Shadow Step, it allows for short-distance movement without being detected.

Li Yuan did not linger on the Shadow Step, but instead focused all his energy on the Sky-Splitting Slash.

The Sky-Splitting Slash technique has been perfected for a long time. The significant enhancement of spatial perception after the Void Spirit was permanently attached to him brought about a qualitative change in the precision of his control. In addition, with the strength of his divine sense in the late Golden Core stage and the assistance of the Nascent Soul perspective from the Mysterious Nether Pearl, each use of the Sky-Splitting Slash was approaching a certain limit.

The final step from mastery to perfection is not a matter of power, but a matter of perception.

The essence of the Sky-Splitting Slash is to tear open a rift in space.

In the advanced stage, the direction, length, and curvature of the crack can be controlled, but the thickness and depth of the crack itself cannot be precisely controlled. After the crack is torn open, the spatial cross-section on both sides is rough and irregular, and the cut surface is like wood split by a blunt knife, with a lot of burrs and fragments.

A perfect finish means that the cross-section of the crack becomes as smooth as a mirror.

The evening of the fifth day.

He drew an arc with his right index finger. A gray crack bloomed from his fingertip, tracing a half-zhang long arc in the air before disappearing silently.

This time, the spatial cross-sections on both sides of the rift were like silk cut by an extremely sharp blade, flat, smooth, and without a single rough edge.

[Sky-Splitting Slash: Mastery → Perfection]

Once perfected, the Sky-Splitting Slash is no longer just an offensive spell.

Li Yuan raised his right hand, his fingertips hovering about an inch above the surface of the stone table.

Extremely fine gray cracks appeared from the fingertips, less than a hair's width and precisely controlled to two inches in length. The cracks moved horizontally along the tabletop, and wherever they passed, the stone surface was as if precisely cut by an invisible carving knife, leaving a groove half an inch deep and as wide as a hair.

The two sides of the groove are as smooth as a mirror.

Li Yuan continued to wield the knife along the groove. Under his control, the crack made two right-angle turns, drawing a neat L-shape.

Its precision far surpasses that of any pattern engraving tool.

The most difficult part of inscribing array formations is not designing the direction of the spirit runes, but accurately engraving them onto the array's core material. The harder and denser the material, the greater the difficulty of engraving. The density of spirit runes in a third-order array is several times that of a second-order array, requiring extremely high precision, which ordinary array engraving tools often cannot handle.

However, the spatial cutting after the Rift Slash is fully completed is not limited by the hardness of the material.

Li Yuan took out a fragment of a third-tier spiritual material from his storage bag and used the micro-cracks of the Sky-Splitting Slash to try and engrave a few basic spiritual runes on the surface of the fragment.

The cut surfaces are perfect. The depth is uniform, the direction is precise, and the connection between the spirit pattern nodes is flawless.

The value of this new skill is immeasurable.

Li Yuan finished his work, packed up the goods from the trade route in his storage bag, and left the market.

First, go to Yunyang.

The trading area of ​​Yunyang Market was still bustling with people. Li Yuan spent half a day completing the procurement and delivery for Liangzhou, and also replenished a batch of goods that were in short supply in Jingzhou and Shuizhou from several spirit material shops.

After leaving Yunyang, we arrived at Baijingfang City via a teleportation array.

The transaction in Jingzhou went smoothly. The 5% discount on the tokens further reduced the procurement costs, and the seafood spiritual materials consigned by several shops had been sold out. The spirit stones were already stored on the counter, waiting for him to collect them.

After finishing his business in Jingzhou, Li Yuan returned to Mozhou via a teleportation array.

At the entrance to the settlement, Old Shen sat on the stone bench as usual, whittling his wooden cane.

"Mr. Shen." Li Yuan sat down opposite him.

"How much of the Xuanyou Sect's legacy, particularly in terms of magical artifacts and talismans, remains?"

Old Shen paused for a moment while whittling the wooden cane.

"There aren't many talismans and formations left to be passed down." He shook his head. "We've been barely surviving here for hundreds of years, but fewer and fewer people know how to use them, and many things are slowly being lost because they're no longer useful."

"Where are the ritual implements?"

"Magic artifacts are better than talismans; at least they contain minerals." Old Shen rummaged through an old wooden box beside him and took out two rolls of animal hides and two pieces of something wrapped in coarse cloth.

"These two volumes are records of the inheritance of weapon crafting techniques. They are not complete techniques, but rather the notes of the craftsmen in the sect's weapon crafting hall back then, recording some forging methods and spirit pattern configurations for special spiritual materials."

"There are also two more methods for crafting magical artifacts inside, and I also have two artifact prototypes here."

He opened the coarse cloth bundle.

Two unfinished ritual implements lay quietly on the cloth.

The first item was a short dagger. The dagger was entirely black, about seven inches long, with an uncut blade, and its surface was covered with dense forging patterns. The style of the forging patterns was unlike any magical artifact Li Yuan had ever seen; the lines were somber and sharp, with faint dark red dots of light flickering at the joints.

Xuanyou Sect's demonic forging materials.

The second item is a palm-sized disc. The disc is grayish-white, with a warm, jade-like texture, and an unfinished set of spirit patterns is engraved on the front. The pattern's direction is similar to the standard configuration of spirit vein detection artifacts, but there are many unconventional modifications in the details.

The prototype of the Xuanyou Sect's spiritual artifact.

"The main forging of these two items is about 80-90% complete," Old Shen said, pointing to the dark red spots on the short dagger.

"The dagger's demonic forging material is the sect's unique Nether Corrosion Iron, which has extremely high hardness and affinity for demonic energy. However, the final sharpening and activation of the spirit runes require a weapon-refining technique of level two or higher to complete. The spirit plate is the same; most of the spirit runes have been engraved, but the finishing touches are not yet finished."

"I'll take it with me, refine it, and return it to you."

Old Shen waved his hand.

"What else? You can refine it for yourself. These things are just scrap metal in my hands."

Li Yuan carefully put away the two artifact blanks and two scrolls of weapon-making techniques, bid farewell to Elder Shen, and left Mozhou.

After crossing the high mountain range and traversing the desolate area, we landed at Luoxia Port and headed straight for Nanyuanfang along the coastline.

The wharf in Nanyuanfang was much busier than when I last visited.

A dozen or so merchant ships of varying sizes were crammed into the harbor, with several large, deep-draft sailing ships occupying the best berths. The number of monks and sailors on the dock had more than doubled, and the cacophony of hawking and haggling never ceased from morning till night.

The most eye-catching thing is a huge notice that has been newly hung on the west side of the dock.

The notice, written in extremely bold handwriting, stated: "The Kunpeng Island Alliance and the Tianyue Sect are jointly hosting the Inner Sea Trade Conference, and sincerely invite cultivators and merchants from all sides to participate. The conference will be held on the main island of Kunpeng Island, deep within the Inner Sea."

Below the notice were densely packed meeting instructions and flight route information.

Trade fair.

After glancing at the notice, Li Yuan entered the trading area to sell the terrestrial spiritual materials he had brought from Jingzhou and Liangzhou in batches. The prices remained considerable, and the scarcity of terrestrial resources in Shuizhou remained unchanged.

After selling all the seafood materials, Li Yuan took them to the top-level stone chamber.

Zhou He is making tea.

"Have you heard about the trade fair?" Zhou He poured him a cup of tea.

"I just saw the notice."

"It's a joint effort between the Kunpeng Island Alliance and the Tianyue Sect. It's a large-scale project; I've heard that even some long-established island powers from the deep sea that don't usually show their faces will participate. There must be a lot of good stuff." Zhou He took a sip of tea.

"Would you be interested in taking a look?"

"When are we leaving?"

"It's still early, at least another month or two. The main thing is that we need time to get to our destination."

Zhou He put down his teacup, his expression turning serious.

"However, there's something I need to warn you about. Many of those small merchant ships at the dock are unlicensed boats operating under the guise of passenger transport. Not only are they unfamiliar with the routes, but they also prey on passengers halfway through the journey every year. The deep waters of the inland sea are complex, with frequent appearances of monsters, and small boats simply cannot withstand the danger."

"Will Nanyuanfang arrange a large ship?"

"Yes. I've partnered with some old friends on a large merchant ship. You can travel with us; it'll be safe."

Li Yuan nodded.

After bidding farewell to Zhou He, Li Yuan used his token to enter the weapon-refining workshop on the middle floor of Nanyuanfang.

The two medium-sized furnaces inside the stone chamber remained unchanged. Li Yuan lit the spiritual fire and took out the two blanks provided by Elder Shen, placing them on the workbench.

After reviewing the weapon-refining manuals, Li Yuan began refining his weapon.

First, make the Dark Erosion Short Dagger.

The main body of the dagger has been forged, and the forging patterns of the Nether Corrosion Iron are arranged with extreme precision, exhibiting a very high affinity for demonic energy. Li Yuan, with his second-tier weapon-refining perfection, took over the subsequent processes. He first used the micro-cracks created by the perfected Sky-Splitting Slash to precisely cut the last set of spirit pattern channels on the surface of the dagger, and then activated all the forging pattern nodes by infusing demonic energy.

A moment later, a dark, cold light suddenly appeared on the surface of the dagger.

It became.

Within a three-foot radius, the entry perception is triggered.

[Equipable item detected: Shadow Dagger (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Bone-Piercing Cold Blade (Green)]

[Effect: The spell attack is inflicted with demonic energy erosion, which continuously drains the opponent's spiritual power protectively at the wound site after it hits; the erosion effect is doubled against cultivators below the Golden Core stage.]

[Permanentization Condition: Kill or severely injure three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators (0/3)]

Green attribute. The attack inflicts demonic energy erosion, continuously draining the opponent's spiritual energy protective barrier upon hit. The effect is doubled against cultivators below the Golden Core stage.

Li Yuan put the Shadowy Dagger into his personal space and began to refine the second artifact.

The process of making the Mysterious Ghost Disc is simpler than that of the Short Dagger. The spirit pattern structure of the spirit-type weapon blank is more auxiliary, and does not involve offensive energy circuits. Therefore, the precision requirements of the spirit pattern are higher, but the spiritual power load is lower.

Li Yuan used the micro-cracks from the Sky-Splitting Slash to fill in the missing segments of spirit patterns on the surface of the spirit disc, and then activated all the nodes one by one with his spiritual power.

A faint grayish-white luster appeared on the surface of the spirit disc, and the energy circuits within the spirit patterns began to operate on their own.

It became.

[Equipable item detected: Mystic Ghost Disc (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Vein Sensing (White)]

[Effect: While possessing this item, increases sensitivity to spiritual vein fluctuations within a 30-foot radius by 20%; allows for a rough assessment of the spiritual vein's grade and trajectory]

[Permanentization condition: Accumulate 15 spiritual vein detections (0/15)]

White entry. The effect is primarily supportive, further enhancing the ability to perceive and judge spiritual veins. Overlaying existing permanent spiritual vein-related entries such as Water Vein Overview, Vein Pattern Sensing, and Earth Vein Resonance further strengthens the ability to detect spiritual veins.

The condition for permanentization is to cumulatively detect fifteen spiritual veins. Given his frequent travels between Shuizhou and Mozhou, he could easily accumulate progress by simply scanning along the way.

Both magical artifacts have been successfully crafted.

Li Yuan extinguished the furnace, tidied up the weapon-refining workshop, and walked out of the stone chamber.

On the sea outside Nanyuanfang, the sun was setting. Merchant ships on the dock cast scattered shadows in the afterglow, and several sailors were tidying up the mooring lines on the deck, preparing for the upcoming voyage to the trade fair.