Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 490 Array Dao Third-Order Minor Success

Life at Kugu Ridge was more leisurely than Li Yuan had expected.

The Golden Core cultivators from all sides maintained a tacit understanding, occasionally probing each other's auras.

Despite the probing, neither side wanted to be the first to break the balance. The daily affairs of the outpost were handled by the Foundation Establishment disciples, and Li Yuan's daily schedule consisted of cultivation, patrolling, and more cultivation.

With more free time, Li Yuan began to think about how to make use of it.

The Way of Arrays is currently the most worthwhile area to invest in. While my third-tier mastery of the Way of Arrays is still some distance from minor mastery, the 30% proficiency bonus from the Array Rhyme attribute in my equipment slots has been passively active. However, without actual research and array-setting practice, relying solely on passive bonuses is too slow for progress.

Li Yuan took out the Yuan Yang Sect token and used his contribution points to exchange for several books on formations.

That afternoon, the jade slip arrived in my hands.

Li Yuan examined each item in his hand.

The five jade slips are all classic texts that expound on the Dao of Array Formation from different perspectives.

When the third jade slip was picked up, the senses within a three-foot radius were triggered.

Green light.

[Equipable item detected: Formation Manual (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Array of Glimmering Light (Green)]

[Effect: Increases the speed of understanding the underlying principles of formations by 50%, and makes it easier to perceive the implicit connections between formation patterns]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Continuous Research on the Array for Thirty Days]

The green entry indicates that its intended effect perfectly aligns with current needs.

Temporarily remove the "Understanding the Principles of Weapons" from the equipment slot and replace it with this "Formation Manual".

[Equipped: Formation Manual (Complete)]

[Array-like micro-light (green) is in effect]

The moment the green light merged into the equipment slot, Li Yuan opened the jade slip in his hand again.

The changes were immediately apparent.

The logic of the array patterns in the jade slip, which previously required repeated contemplation to understand, now became much clearer. It wasn't that he understood the entire content directly, but rather that subtle insights kept emerging during the reading process, and the previously vague outlines suddenly became clear.

The intuitive judgment of array rhyme entries and the improved speed of understanding array principles combined to make studying array classics much more efficient than before.

Li Yuan read through all the contents of the five jade slips, and then began to practice setting up formations on the open ground outside the outpost.

The fourth day of being stationed at the site.

A late-stage Foundation Establishment disciple from the Yuanyang Sect delivered a communication jade slip from Zhou Mingyuan.

Li Yuan took the jade slip and probed it with his spiritual energy.

Zhou Mingyuan's voice came from the jade slip: "Fellow Daoist Li, I heard you've been researching formations lately?"

Li Yuan gave an affirmative reply, and the message was transmitted again through the jade slip.

"I've heard of Fellow Daoist Li's mastery of formations before. After reaching the Golden Core stage, are you capable of setting up a third-tier formation?"

Li Yuan replied: Okay.

That afternoon, Zhou Mingyuan personally visited Kugu Ridge.

Inside the stone house where they were stationed, Zhou Mingyuan sat across from the stone table, his expression more serious than when they last met.

"The situation at Kugu Ridge is more tense than I expected," Zhou Mingyuan said bluntly.

Li Yuan didn't respond, waiting for him to continue.

"I originally only wanted to ask Fellow Daoist Li to stay here and keep things under control. But since Fellow Daoist Li's mastery of array formations is sufficient to set up a third-order array, I would like to propose a new arrangement."

Zhou Mingyuan took out a roll of blueprints from his storage bag and spread it on the stone table.

The blueprints depicted the overall structure of a formation. It consisted of three nested layers: an outer detection array, a middle early warning array, and an inner defensive array. All three layers shared a single spiritual energy circulation path, interconnected by the core formation.

"A mid-grade, third-tier composite detection and protection array," Zhou Mingyuan said, pointing to the blueprints. "After this array is set up, all spiritual energy fluctuations within a few miles of Dry Bone Ridge will be captured by the array and transmitted to the array operator in real time. At the same time, the inner protective array can be automatically activated when attacked, providing at least a quarter of an hour of defensive buffer for the cultivators stationed there."

"A quarter of an hour is enough time for me to get from the sect to the Bone Ridge." Zhou Mingyuan looked up at Li Yuan. "The sect will provide all the array blueprints and materials. I will also send three Foundation Establishment array masters to assist. Fellow Daoist Li will be in charge of overall command."

"Once the formation is completed, your mission of guarding the area will be finished."

Looking at the array structure on the blueprints, Li Yuan had already made a judgment in his mind.

Moreover, setting up an array is the most direct way to improve one's array skills.

"Can."

Zhou Mingyuan breathed a sigh of relief and arranged for someone to deliver the array materials and three Foundation Establishment array masters to the Dry Bone Ridge that same day.

The array materials filled an entire stone house. Array flags, array plates, array eye stones, spiritual energy guiding wires, and spirit stones of various attributes were plentiful, with most of them ranging from high-grade second tier to low-grade third tier.

The three Foundation Establishment array masters were all inner disciples of the Yuanyang Sect, with solid basic skills, but their understanding of third-order arrays was still very limited.

Li Yuan spread the blueprints on the ground and explained the overall structure and the spiritual energy circulation paths of each layer of the formation to the three Foundation Establishment array masters.

The three Foundation Establishment array masters nodded repeatedly, each accepting their tasks and beginning their work.

The deployment work began on the open ground surrounding the outpost.

Li Yuan personally surveyed the geomantic veins and spiritual energy distribution around the Dry Bone Ridge, and made several adjustments to the array structure on the blueprints based on the actual terrain. The design on the blueprints was an ideal solution based on flat terrain; the undulations of the actual terrain and the offset of the geomantic veins needed to be corrected when setting up the array.

All of these revisions were completed by Li Yuan alone.

The intuitive judgment granted by the array's incantation played a crucial role in this process. Whenever he inserted an array flag into a new node, the direction of the spiritual energy connection between that node and its surrounding nodes would automatically appear in his mind. Without the need for repeated calculations and verifications, his intuition had already provided the optimal adjustment.

The effect of the array's faint light continued to operate. With each new node set up and each adjustment of the spiritual energy circuit, Li Yuan's understanding of the underlying principles of the third-order array deepened.

During the formation process, the three Foundation Establishment Formation Masters frequently encountered problems.

Li Yuan always gets straight to the point in just a few words.

The three Foundation Establishment array masters were initially a little reserved, but after discovering that Li Yuan's guidance always solved problems accurately, their attitude quickly changed from respect to gratitude.

The process of giving guidance to others is itself a form of learning.

Expressing one's existing knowledge in words requires transforming vague intuition into clear logic. This transformation process, in turn, deepened Li Yuan's understanding of the principles of formations.

The deployment work continued to advance over time.

The twentieth day of setting up the formation.

Li Yuan is debugging the last few auxiliary nodes of the inner protective array.

With his right hand pressed on the array eye stone, spiritual energy circulated along the array's patterns for a complete cycle. Every node, every guiding line, and every turn in the circuit was clearly presented in his perception.

This clarity is completely different from anything I've experienced before.

It wasn't based on intuition from the rhyme entries of the array, nor on the added benefit of understanding the subtle light of the array principles, but rather on a sense of clarity that arose from the very core of one's being.

The array patterns are no longer lines carved into rocks, but natural paths for the flow of spiritual energy. The nodes are no longer artificially set anchor points, but inevitable locations where spiritual energy converges.

At this moment, the underlying logic of the formation merged with Li Yuan's own spiritual perception.

The system panel pops up.

[Third-Tier Array Dao: Proficient → Minor Success]

Immediately following, a second notification was issued.

[Conditions for making the "Array Rhythm (Blue)" permanent have been met]

[Condition: Third-order array formation has reached minor completion]

【Array Rhythm (Blue) has become a permanent entry】

A blue light exploded in his mind.

A scene flashed into my mind; it was about setting up a spiritual vein array.

Permanently hide information.

As the image faded, Li Yuan opened his eyes.

What settled in his mind was not only the specific method of connecting the array eye to the spiritual veins, but also an additional understanding of the hierarchical relationship between the array eye, the spiritual veins, and the earth veins. This understanding filled a gap in his previous cultivation of array formations, pushing the design concept of arrays from two-dimensional to three-dimensional.