Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Zanggong Pavilion.

The entrance to the stone building was no different from before, and the monk guarding the first floor was resting with his eyes closed.

Li Yuan handed over the waist tag and the document stamped with Wang Jiayin's seal.

The guard took the document, glanced at it twice, and then looked up at Li Yuan.

"On the third floor?"

"right."

The guard turned the document over to the back, and after confirming that it was correct, he took out a dark silver token from his waist.

"You can only stay on the third floor for one hour. After you've made your selection, come register with me."

The token felt slightly heavy in my hand, much thicker than a regular waist token, with a small "three" engraved on its surface.

Li Yuan took the token, went up the wooden stairs to the second floor, passed the familiar bookshelves, and walked to the end of the second floor against the wall.

A narrow door was embedded in the wall. There was no handle on the door panel, only a groove in the center, the shape of which matched the token.

Li Yuan inserted the token into the groove, and the narrow door slid open silently inward.

Behind the door is a narrower wooden ladder, only wide enough for one person to pass through.

Li Yuan climbed the wooden ladder, and after a dozen or so steps, his view suddenly opened up.

The third floor was almost half the size of the second floor. There were only two rows of bookshelves, one against the east wall and one against the north wall. There weren't many books and scrolls on the shelves, but they were arranged very neatly, with each book separated by a half-foot gap.

Like on the second floor, each booklet has a wooden plaque in front of it, indicating its name and grade.

The first book, Azure Nether Sword Manual, is a cultivation technique for immortality. It only has the first three levels, corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages of Qi Refining.

Li Yuan touched the panel with his finger, but there was no response.

The second book, Blazing Sun Palm, is a cultivation technique; touching it with a finger leaves the panel silent.

The third book, "Azure Water True Technique," is an incomplete cultivation method. The interface is unresponsive.

The fourth book, "Cloud-Splitting Finger," is a complete guide to immortal cultivation techniques.

[Equipable item detected... Attribute level: Gray...]

It's gray, but at least it's reacting.

Li Yuan didn't stop and continued onward.

As you follow the clues, the pattern becomes clearer and clearer.

The booklets marked as "fragmented," "incomplete," or "first few layers" on the wooden signs have no effect when touched. Only the booklets marked as "complete" have the potential to trigger a notification on the screen.

Moreover, not all full-length books can be triggered; some booklets marked as full-length also have no effect.

Li Yuan turned to the bookshelf on the north wall.

There were fewer books on the north wall than on the east wall, only eight.

Touch each finger one by one from left to right.

The first book... the second book... the third book...

The fourth book—Mysterious Light Slash, a cultivation technique, the entire book.

The moment your finger touches the screen, a notification pops up.

[Equipable item detected]

[Item Attribute Level: Blue]

[Note: Items not belonging to the user cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

blue.

Li Yuan's fingers lingered on the booklet for a while before continuing to touch the back.

The last book, "The Hundred Meridians Return to Origin Technique," is a complete cultivation method for immortality.

The moment your fingers touched it—

[Equipable item detected]

[Item Attribute Level: Blue]

[Note: Items not belonging to the user cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

It's blue again, two blues, one a spell, the other a cultivation technique.

The wooden plaque for the Xuan Guang Zhan (Mystic Light Slash) reads: "Cultivation Spell, Offensive Type. It can condense spiritual energy into a blade of light; its power increases with the purity of the spiritual energy. It can be used at both long and short ranges."

The wooden plaque for the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique reads: "Cultivation Technique, Foundation Support Type, can be cultivated up to the ninth level of Qi Refining. It can harmonize the meridians, regulate all meridians, and can be cultivated in parallel with most other techniques to improve the efficiency of spiritual energy circulation."

After thinking for a moment, Li Yuan chose the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique.

Firstly, the Spirit Guiding Technique only covers the first to seventh levels of Qi Refining. Once you reach the later stages of Qi Refining, you'll have to ask the Wang family for the subsequent techniques.

Secondly, Li Yuan prefers techniques that can enhance his own abilities to magic spells.

The guard on the first floor saw Li Yuan come down and his gaze fell on the booklet in Li Yuan's hand. He opened the register.

"The Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique?" The guard on the first floor said, seeing the booklet Li Yuan handed over.

Is there a problem?

"There's no problem, it's just that fewer people choose this one. This technique is more basic, and most people prefer to choose more advanced techniques and spells."

"Of course, a basic level does not mean a low quality."

The guard explained, then had Li Yuan sign and put his fingerprint on the token before returning it.

Li Yuan put the booklet into his sleeve and left the Library.

Walking east along West Street, the crowds in the market were even larger than a few days ago. However, most of the new faces were not independent cultivators, but itinerant merchants—traveling groups of merchants carrying large and small bags and storage bags hanging from their waists, walking on the street in groups of three or five.

When we reached the middle of East Street, a group of itinerant merchants were resting under a crooked tree. There were seven or eight of them, dressed in different ways, some wearing leather armor, some wrapped in hemp robes, each carrying a water bag, some sitting and some squatting.

One of the bald, burly men had the loudest voice; he was gulping down water from a water bag while talking.

"...Have you heard about that demon-hunting team that came from the south?"

"Which one?" a tall, thin man next to him asked.

"The team led by the guy surnamed Ma, a dozen or so people, ran through the middle section of the mountains." The bald, burly man put down his water bag and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

The bald, burly man plugged the kettle. "They found the remains of a second-tier demonic beast in a valley."

"Wreckage? Dead?"

"He's dead. His entire chest cavity was ripped open, his inner core was gone, and his body was covered in bite marks and claw marks."

The bald, muscular man gestured.

"Boss Ma said that the wounds looked like someone had been bitten to death by their own kind, but something was off."

"Something's not right?"

The bald, burly man lowered his voice, but his voice was naturally loud, and everyone around him could hear him clearly.

"It's quite rare for second-tier demonic beasts to fight each other. They all have fixed territories and don't lack food, unless they're about to break through."

"Moreover, Boss Ma said that the monster's wounds were distributed too evenly, with wounds on its chest, back, limbs, and abdomen. It didn't look like the wounds from a direct battle, but rather like the wounds from several monsters attacking it at the same time."

"Several Tier 2 beasts ganging up on one Tier 2 beast?" The tall, thin man stroked his chin. "What grudge could they have?"

"Who knows?" The bald, burly man shrugged. "Some people say it wasn't a fight, but that someone was controlling a demonic beast to do it, but that's nonsense. Who can control a second-tier demonic beast?"

A middle-aged woman who had been silent for a while suddenly spoke up: "No matter what the reason, the presence of the remains of a second-tier demon beast proves that the middle section is very dangerous. Although taking the southern detour is two days longer, at least we don't have to worry about being scared."

"That's right." The bald, burly man took a sip of water. "These days, fewer and fewer independent cultivators are taking the middle section; they're all going around to the southern section."

Second-tier demonic beasts correspond to the combat power of Foundation Establishment stage cultivators, and are not something that Qi Refining stage cultivators can deal with.

The route I patrolled in the Yuanheng Mountains was only the outer perimeter, which was even shallower than the middle and southern sections they mentioned. There were very few first-grade high-level demonic beasts there, because most of the demonic beasts roaming around the market were mid-to-low-grade. So I naturally had to start by investigating the outer perimeter.

Li Yuan kept this information in mind and continued walking along East Street towards North Alley.

It was already afternoon when the patrol route was completed.

Back at his residence, Li Yuan bolted the door and sat down on the edge of the bed.

He took out the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Manual from his sleeve and unwrapped the seal.

The booklet is thicker than the booklet for the Condensing Essence Technique, with fine paper and neat handwriting. Each step of the incantation is accompanied by a detailed diagram of the meridian pathways, drawn with greater precision than the booklets for the Spirit Guiding Technique and the Condensing Essence Technique.

The moment a finger touches the booklet, a panel pops up with complete information.

[Equipable item detected: Hundred Meridians Return to Origin Technique (Complete)]

[Entry Preview: All Rivers Flow into the Sea (Blue) - The flow of all spiritual energy, blood, and mana within the body is automatically coordinated and optimized. Conflicts between different cultivation methods are reduced, and the overall efficiency when multiple cultivation methods and different spells are used simultaneously is significantly improved.]

[Permanentization Requirements: Cultivate two conflicting cultivation techniques to perfection / Simultaneously consume two second-tier pills with conflicting attributes (completing either one is sufficient)]

[Current equipment slot is full (3/3). Replace current equipment?]

All rivers flow into the sea, a blue entry.

Automatic coordination and optimization reduce conflicts and improve the overall efficiency of multiple skills and spells operating simultaneously.

There are two options for permanentization; you must choose one.

The first requirement is to cultivate two immortal cultivation techniques with conflicting attributes to perfection. Currently, I only have the Spirit Guiding Technique, and I don't have a second one, let alone one with conflicting attributes.

The second rule is to simultaneously consume two second-tier pills with conflicting attributes. Second-tier pills are suitable for the Foundation Establishment stage and are not cheap.

Neither path is feasible in the short term, but the effect of the affix itself does not need to be permanent to take effect; it can be used as soon as it is equipped.

With a thought, Li Yuan first removed the Flame Serpent Tube.

The accuracy of the Flame Serpent Tube's entry is only at level nine; permanentization is still a long way off, so it's temporarily taking a backseat.

Equip the Hundred Meridians Return to Origin Technique.

The booklet transformed into a deep blue light and merged into his body.

The feeling of information flooding my mind was more intense than ever before.

The Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique is not a set of movements like the Iron Ox Skill, nor is it a technique for compressing spiritual energy like the Condensing Yuan Technique. Instead, it is a complete system of meridian harmonization—how to allow energy from different sources to coexist harmoniously within the body, how to clear conflicting points, and how to allow multiple spiritual energy pathways to operate simultaneously without interfering with each other.

Then, changes occurred within the body.

It's not a specific location that feels hot or cold, but rather a holistic change, like a band that was out of tune suddenly finding the same beat.

The spiritual energy circulation route of the Spirit Guiding Technique and the blood and qi circulation route of ordinary cultivation methods originally followed two different meridian pathways. Most of the time, they did not interfere with each other, but at a few shared meridian nodes, spiritual energy and blood and qi would briefly converge.

In the past, every time they converged, there was a very subtle sense of pause—when the spiritual energy reached that point, it had to wait for the blood and qi to pass first, or when the blood and qi reached that point, they would be deflected by the flow of spiritual energy, and only after the direction was slightly adjusted could they continue.

It's so subtle that you wouldn't notice it normally, but it definitely exists.

Now those stumbles have disappeared.

The rhythms of spiritual energy and blood circulation automatically align. When passing through shared nodes, they no longer avoid each other, but instead flow like two parallel rivers, each following its own course, with the water surface level and the flow rate consistent.

It works not only on spirit-guiding techniques and mortal cultivation methods, but also on magic.

Li Yuan tried to activate his magic.

The initial casting rhythm of Fireball and Ice Spike, two spells with different attributes, has become much smoother. Previously, when switching from Fireball to Ice Spike, the spiritual energy had to undergo a brief conversion process, adjusting from a fire-attribute frequency to an ice-attribute frequency. Now, this conversion is almost instantaneous; the spiritual energy is like a fluid that can change shape at any time, flowing wherever it is directed.

The entire body was like a recalibrated machine, with every spiritual energy circuit, every blood and qi channel, and every shared meridian node aligned perfectly. Idleness and friction were minimized.

Li Yuan took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, then began to circulate the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique.

After equipping the cultivation technique, the complete formula was instilled into his mind, but the physical training still had to be done step by step.

Guided by the incantation, Li Yuan started from the dantian and combed through the twelve meridians one by one.

When his spiritual energy reached the Lung Meridian of Hand-Taiyin, he sensed a familiar node.

This point is also where spiritual energy must pass through when the Spirit Guiding Technique is activated. The two techniques converge here, and the direction of spiritual energy almost overlaps.

The same applies to the following meridians.

The spiritual energy circulation path of the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique largely overlaps with that of the Spirit Guiding Technique, but the two paths differ at each point where the meridians fork.

The Spirit Guiding Technique has a simple and direct route—follow the main meridian, pass through the nodes, and enter the dantian. It is fast and efficient, but precisely because it only follows the main meridian, it cannot clear the impurities remaining in the branch meridians.

This is the biggest drawback of the Spirit Guiding Technique. It allows for rapid cultivation, but the spiritual energy is mixed and becomes more pronounced as you progress.

The method of returning all meridians to their origin is different.

Its route branches off a wisp of spiritual energy at each fork, which travels a short distance along the branch meridian, drawing in the spiritual energy within that branch and returning it to the main trunk. After completing a full circuit, it's not just the spiritual energy in the main meridian that's circulating; dozens of meridians, large and small, are all operating synchronously.

The speed was much slower than the Spirit Guiding Technique, but after completing one cycle, Li Yuan clearly felt that the spiritual energy entering his dantian was more condensed and of higher quality than when he was using the Spirit Guiding Technique.

After one cycle, the total amount of spiritual energy absorbed by the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique was indeed less than that of the Spirit Guiding Technique, and the speed was also slower, but the difference was not significant.

The improvement in spiritual energy quality brought about by the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique is something that the Spirit Guiding Technique can never achieve.

Feeling the flow of spiritual energy within his body, Li Yuan continued to cultivate the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique.