Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 487 Tide Pattern Talisman

The stone door to the seclusion room was pushed open, and the sea breeze, carrying a damp, salty smell, rushed in.

Li Yuan came out and stretched his shoulders and neck. After mastering the basics of third-tier weapon crafting, he spent a few more days consolidating his skills and successfully crafted several second-tier magic weapons, with a much higher success rate than before.

Standing on the rocks at the edge of the island, my gaze swept across the gray sea in the distance.

We've been in the Alliance's waters for quite some time now, and we've done most of what we needed to do. There are two things left to do: First, while we're still here, we need to replenish our refining materials. While forging our natal magic weapon is still a long way off, high-grade spiritual materials are hard to find, so we should buy them if possible. Second, the permanent activation of the Spirit Eye Bead requires a third-tier eye technique; we need to see if the Alliance has any.

After completing these two tasks, he set off back to Liangzhou.

Li Yuan concealed his aura and transformed into a streak of light, rushing towards the Alliance's main island.

The main island's docks were as bustling as ever, with a significantly larger number of spirit boats moored than before the deep-sea cleanup mission. Several new temporary stalls had opened on the island, and small groups of independent cultivators squatted by the roadside trading, their noisy haggling echoing from afar.

Li Yuan went straight to the exchange counter.

The contribution points from the deep-sea cleanup mission, plus the previous balance, leave me with a little over two hundred contribution points. It's not a lot, but more than enough to exchange for a batch of refining materials.

On the jade wall at the exchange point, the list of items for weapon crafting has been updated. Compared to the last time I came, there are several new types of metal ores that are special to the sea. They are not of high grade, but their properties are stable, making them suitable as practice materials.

Li Yuan selected a batch of red copper essence, spirit silver ingots, and several pieces of good-quality sea-elemental stone. Sea-elemental stone is a water-based spiritual material that can replace fire jadeite as a fusion agent in the sea forging method, although the effect is slightly inferior, it is much cheaper.

After scanning the list of refining materials, Li Yuan turned his attention to the items related to spells and cultivation techniques.

Read it line by line.

There are many types of spells, including offensive, defensive, and support spells, as well as escape techniques and formations, but they are all water-based and sound-based. There are no eye techniques.

Li Yuan flipped through the miscellaneous category again, but found nothing there either.

Cultivators in the sea have little need for pupil techniques. Vision is extremely limited in the deep sea environment, and most methods of investigation rely on divine sense rather than eyesight. Pupil techniques have almost no market here.

If there's no exchange there, you can only try your luck at the market or go back to the mainland to look for it.

Li Yuan put the exchanged materials into his personal space and walked out of the exchange area.

As I walked along the stone path toward the dock, I noticed several familiar fluctuations of spiritual energy emanating from a teahouse ahead.

Golden Core level.

On the second-floor terrace of the teahouse, four Golden Core cultivators sat around a stone table, conversing in hushed tones. Li Yuan glanced around and recognized two of them as Fang Hai, his teammate from the deep-sea cleanup mission, and another early-stage Golden Core cultivator from the alliance. The other two were unfamiliar faces, a man and a woman, both possessing restrained auras and indicating they were in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

Fang Hai saw Li Yuan first and waved: "Fellow Daoist Li, come up and have a seat."

Li Yuan went up to the terrace and sat down in an empty seat. A waiter brought him a cup of spiritual tea, which Li Yuan accepted.

Fang Hai was chatting enthusiastically with the two unfamiliar Golden Core cultivators when he saw Li Yuan sit down. He casually introduced him, "This is Fellow Daoist Li. He single-handedly killed a third-tier shelled crab demon during the recent extermination mission."

The unfamiliar male cultivator glanced at Li Yuan and nodded. The female cultivator, however, scrutinized him for a couple more times before looking away.

Neither of them were members of the alliance; they were Golden Core cultivators from a sect in the outer sea who had come on business.

Li Yuan listened quietly for a while, holding his teacup.

The conversation shifted from the results of the clearing operation to recent changes in the situation in the sea, and then from the situation to the movements of various forces.

The male cultivator in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm put down his teacup and suddenly lowered his voice.

"Have you heard? There's been some activity on Yaoguang Island lately."

Fang Hai was taken aback: "What's that noise?"

"The spiritual energy in the secret realm is fluctuating abnormally." The male cultivator glanced around to make sure no one was watching before continuing, "The news hasn't spread yet. They say the spiritual energy concentration on the outer edge of the Yao Guang Island secret realm is fluctuating abnormally, much higher than usual."

Fang Hai frowned: "Isn't the secret realm of Yaoguang Island under the jurisdiction of the Dragon Abyss Pavilion? What did they say?"

"Dragon Abyss Pavilion has not given a public response." The male cultivator shook his head. "But it's said that they've already sent people to investigate."

The female cultivator chimed in, "The secret realm of Yaoguang Island has quite a background. Longyuan Pavilion was once a Nascent Soul power, and at its peak, it ranked among the top three in the sea area."

"And then?" Fang Hai asked.

"There's no successor." The female cultivator said calmly, "After the Nascent Soul Ancestor passed away, there was no successor. In the end, we had no choice but to open the secret realm to the public, turning it into a public resource. Various forces contributed money and effort to help maintain the operation of the secret realm. In exchange, Dragon Abyss Pavilion would sell or allocate entry slots to the public every once in a while."

Li Yuan held his teacup and silently noted down this information.

Yaoguang Island.

Previously, in the jade slip in the underwater chamber, the cultivator surnamed Zhou mentioned Yao Guang Island. He said that there was an ascension passage on Yao Guang Island in the center of the sea, with spiritual energy from the upper realm constantly flowing in.

So many years have passed, the passage must have disappeared.

However, the fact that a passage could be created on Yaoguang Island must mean that a Nascent Soul cultivator broke through and ascended to immortality there.

I just don't know what their relationship is with Longyuan Pavilion.

After the conversation shifted a few times, it gradually drifted apart. The two unfamiliar Golden Core cultivators took their leave first, and Fang Hai also had to return to handle some alliance affairs.

Li Yuan called out to Fang Hai: "Are there any weapon refiners on the island?"

Fang Hai thought for a moment: "There is one. Old Fan, early stage of Golden Core, can refine third-grade low-level magic weapons, and he runs a shop on the north side of the island. Are you looking for him?"

"I'd like to ask about my natal magic weapon."

Fang Hai nodded: "Old Fan is indeed experienced in this area; he crafted his own natal magic weapon. Go and have a talk with him."

Li Yuan thanked him and got up to walk towards the north side of the island.

Old Fan's shop wasn't big; the front was the counter, and the back connected to the weapon-refining room. A wooden sign hung at the shop entrance, engraved with a hammer and a sword, serving as its signboard.

Li Yuan pushed open the door and went in.

Behind the counter sat a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties. He was sturdy, with rough hands and numerous burns on his knuckles that he had deliberately left untreated.

Old Fan looked up, sized up Li Yuan's aura, then stood up and cupped his hands in greeting: "Fellow Daoist, are you here to buy a magic weapon or to have one custom-made?"

"Neither." Li Yuan sat down at the counter. "I want to forge my own natal magic weapon. I already have a prototype, and I would like to ask for your advice on crafting natal magic weapons."

Old Fan became interested upon hearing this, and pulled out two cups of spiritual tea from under the counter, handing one to Li Yuan.

"Ten mid-grade spirit stones."

Li Yuan handed over the spirit stones. Old Fan pondered for a moment and asked, "What are you good at, fellow Daoist? Melee or ranged? Single attribute or multiple attributes?"

"Ideally, it should have multiple attributes, leaning towards support and flexible application."

Old Fan nodded: "Crafting multi-attribute natal magic weapons is difficult, but they are highly adaptable. As for materials, I suggest starting with medium-grade spiritual materials; there's no need to go all the way up."

Why?

"A natal magic weapon is different from an ordinary magic weapon. Once an ordinary magic weapon is forged, its grade is fixed, and the only way to upgrade it is to forge it again. But a natal magic weapon is linked to the cultivation level of a Golden Core cultivator, and there are two ways to upgrade it."

Old Fan held up two fingers.

"The first method is called nurturing. It involves the cultivator using their own spiritual power to nurture the magic weapon day after day, allowing it to grow along with their cultivation level. The advantage of this method is that the magic weapon and the cultivator have an extremely high compatibility, making it easy to use. The disadvantage is that it is very slow. It would take at least ten or twenty years for a low-grade third-tier natal magic weapon to be nurtured to the middle-grade third-tier."

"The second method is called material replacement. This involves gradually replacing the original low-grade materials with higher-grade materials while keeping the core structure of the magical artifact unchanged. Each time a batch of materials is replaced, the grade of the magical artifact is upgraded."

"The advantage of this method is its speed; as long as the materials are available, an upgrade can be completed in a few months or even a few days. The disadvantage is that each replacement requires a readjustment, and it demands a higher level of crafting skill."

Old Fan took a sip of tea and continued, "Generally speaking, the first type is suitable for cultivators with slow cultivation speed and abundant lifespan. The second type is suitable for cultivators with fast cultivation speed and frequent breakthroughs."

Li Yuan had already made up his mind.

His cultivation speed far surpasses that of his peers. At this rate, the nurturing method cannot keep up with his breakthrough pace, and the growth of his magical artifact will seriously lag behind his cultivation level.

Replacing materials is a more suitable approach.

"What about the materials?"

Old Fan pulled out a roll of animal hide from under the counter and spread it out on the table. It contained diagrams of the structures of several common natal magical artifacts, with corresponding material lists labeled next to them.

"Given your situation, I suggest using Sea Essence Iron as the main framework, Spirit Silver as the spiritual energy conduction layer, and a mid-grade attribute spirit stone at the array's core." Old Fan pointed to one of the diagrams.

"This setup is cheap, costing less than three hundred mid-grade spirit stones in total. The resulting natal magic weapon won't be of very high quality, probably between low-grade and mid-grade of the third tier. But its advantage lies in its stable structure, making it less prone to problems when replacing materials later."

"Once your weapon-refining skills advance further, and you've accumulated enough high-grade spiritual materials, you can replace the Sea Essence Refined Iron with Heavenly Origin Profound Iron, the Spirit Silver with Nine Nether Silver, and the array core with high-grade spirit stones. The grade will then jump directly to the third-tier high-grade. Beyond that, it depends on what kind of top-tier materials you can find."

Li Yuan wrote down this information.

Sea Essence Iron and Spirit Silver can be found at the Alliance's exchange point, while Nine Nether Silver and Heavenly Origin Profound Iron need to be purchased from large markets on land. Attribute Spirit Stones are not lacking; I have several of good quality ones on hand.

"Thank you." Li Yuan stood up.

Old Fan waved his hand, then took out five mid-grade spirit stones and handed them to Li Yuan.

"The one you just asked is worth five dollars."

After putting away the spirit stones and leaving Lao Fan's shop, Li Yuan wandered around several shops on the main island, buying a batch of Sea Essence Iron and Spirit Silver and storing them in his personal space.

Regarding eye techniques, none were found in the shops on the main island. It's true that cultivators in the sea have very little need for eye techniques; even related texts are rare.

We'll search again when we get back to land.

Li Yuan left the main island and transformed into a beam of light, flying towards Nanyuanfang.

Arrived half a day later.

Zhou He wasn't in the shop, so Li Yuan went straight into the secret room in the backyard.

He took out the jade slip for making the Tide Pattern Talisman from his personal space, laid it on the stone platform, and took out the talisman paper and spirit ink.

With a foundation in third-tier talisman-making techniques, coupled with the assistance of a series of permanent affixes such as Ink Stability, Skillful Strokes, and Enhanced Spirit Ink, his brushstrokes became extremely steady.

The brushstrokes followed the patterns recorded in the jade slip. The first main pattern began in the center of the talisman paper, rotated outwards half a circle, and then folded back, forming a pattern resembling a whirlpool. The spiritual ink left dark blue marks on the talisman paper, the ink lines tightly bound together without any spillage.

The final stroke completes the design.

The dark blue ink on the talisman's surface flashed brightly for a moment, then subsided, transforming into an extremely restrained blue sheen. Spiritual energy began its first complete cycle within the talisman's runes, flowing in and out like the tide, its rhythm even and stable.

It became.

The third-tier mid-grade Tide Pattern Talisman was successfully made on the first attempt.

[Tier 3 Rune Crafting: Beginner to Proficient]

Li Yuan picked up the talisman from the stone platform.

Perception triggers within a three-foot range.

Blue light.

[Equipable item detected: Tide Rune (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Tide Pattern Amplification (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases the power of water-based spells by 30%, with an additional 30% increase in underwater environments; increases the spell's energy circulation efficiency by 30%]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Successfully cast thirty water-based spells in a deep-sea environment using Tide Runes as a medium]

Blue entries.

The effects are extremely well-suited to the water-based combat style, especially the additional bonuses from the underwater environment and the increased efficiency of the talisman's spiritual energy circulation, which highly aligns with my current talisman-making and water-based spell system.

The conditions for permanentization are not too demanding, they just take time.

Li Yuan stored the Tide Pattern Talisman in his personal space, not in a hurry to equip it. His equipment slots were full, and he needed to consider the priority of replacing it.

He then took out the talisman paper and spirit ink and began making the second one.

The technique was much more skillful than the first time, and the speed was much faster.

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