Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 502 The Liquidation of Guifang

Wulin Market.

When Li Yuan's escape light landed in the backyard of the market, it was just past noon.

The two cultivators on patrol saw him at the end of the corridor and bowed respectfully. Li Yuan nodded, walked straight into the secluded cultivation room, and closed the stone door.

Do the most important thing first.

Take out the spatial folding bead from your personal space.

The thumb-sized spirit jade bead lay quietly in the palm of the hand, its surface's spatial patterns subtly shifting under the contact of spiritual energy. This bead was given to them by Zhou Mingyuan from the ruins of the Dry Bone Ridge; it had a blue inscription and a subtle spatial folding pattern.

There is only one condition for permanentization: traversing a spatial rift once.

When evacuating from Dry Bone Ridge, I had already passed through the spatial rift. The conditions had long been met.

With the new feature, the conditions for permanentization can be met even without equipment.

A panel pops up.

[Conditions for the permanentization of Spatial Folding Microphysics (Blue) have been met]

[Spatial Folding Microstructure (Blue) has become a permanent term]

A blue light exploded in his mind's eye, and the spatial folding bead shattered and dissipated in his palm, turning into specks of spiritual light that merged into his body.

A scene flashed into my mind.

A stone chamber. The candlelight was dim.

A gaunt old man sat in front of a stone platform. His face was aged, his temples were completely white, and his eyes were sunken, but there was still a glint in his eyes.

Li Yuan recognized the face.

This old man appeared when Lingmo Kongna was becoming permanent, only he looked much older.

He is suspected to be the sect leader of the Xuanyou Sect.

On the stone platform in front of the old man lay several scrolls of bamboo slips and a broken jade tablet, with fragments of spatial materials scattered around. He flipped through the bamboo slips, muttering to himself as if talking to himself.

"Time is running out."

The old man put down the bamboo slips and pinched his brow with his withered fingers.

"The side effects of the spirit-demon fusion research are more severe than expected. Lifespan is being reduced too quickly; if this continues, I'm afraid I won't last more than fifty years."

He was silent for a moment, then sighed.

"It's becoming increasingly difficult to take action. With the clash between the spiritual and demonic forces, our combat strength has been reduced by nearly half."

The old man stood up and walked to a wall in the corner of the stone chamber. Embedded in the wall was an extremely complex array diagram, with dense array patterns. Li Yuan recognized at a glance that there were many variations of spatial array patterns among them.

"To research these things, the sect has already consumed forty or fifty percent of its resources." The old man's gaze slowly moved across the array diagram. "With my cultivation level, I can still suppress those discontented voices, but they are still a hidden danger. They don't believe I can succeed, they think that the fusion of spirit and demon is a dead end, and they don't believe I can break through to the Nascent Soul stage."

The old man remained silent for a long time.

The only sound in the stone chamber was the faint crackling of the candlelight.

Finally, the old man's gaze fell on a label at the very top of the array diagram.

"However, opening a passage to the upper realm doesn't necessarily require reaching the Nascent Soul stage—"

"Perhaps there is a way in the higher realms to allow me to fuse my spirit and demonic nature."

The sound was extremely soft, and the image then blurred, transitioning into research information on spatial magic.

The information is extremely rich yet highly condensed. The core content involves the transformation relationship between spatial folding and spatial rifts, as well as the theoretical deduction of forcibly tearing open a stable spatial channel using special materials and array structures without relying on the cultivation level of a Nascent Soul cultivator.

The theoretical deduction is incomplete.

The image disappeared.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and sat quietly for a moment.

Li Yuan stored this information deep in his mind, stopped thinking about it, and began to deal with the practical matters at hand.

He took out all the artifacts he had searched in the Dry Bone Ridge ruins from his personal space and arranged them neatly on the stone platform.

More than a dozen items were sorted one by one.

The first category consists of items with descriptive attributes. The Netherworld Mirror and the Mysterious Netherworld Restriction Token, along with the items Zhou Mingyuan gave us that don't have descriptive attributes, will also need to be dealt with separately. We need to find an opportunity to equip these two and make them permanent.

The second category consists of fragments engraved with array patterns. These include tattered array flags, spirit stone fragments covered in patterns, and a few relatively well-preserved jade slips. The array patterns on these items belong to the unique spatial system of the Xuan You Sect. Although the artifacts themselves are no longer functional, the structure of the array patterns can be used for research. In particular, the restriction patterns on the spirit stone fragments are logically consistent with the grand restriction at the entrance of the Kugu Ridge branch hall, providing valuable reference for understanding high-level spatial restrictions.

The third category consists of artifacts with no research value or bibliographic entries. These include bronze tripods, jade tablets, and the outer shells of several broken magical artifacts. These items are useless to Li Yuan, but to outsiders, the relics of the Xuan You Sect themselves have collection and research value. Selling them at auction as remnants of an ancient sect could fetch a sum of spirit stones.

Sorting complete.

Li Yuan stored the three types of items in different locations within his personal space, and then took out the Small Pearl Earth Spirit Embryo separately.

A dull bead the size of a fingernail lay in the palm of the hand, its luminescence so faint as to be almost invisible.

Purple entry: Primordial Resonance.

The effects are astonishing: when breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, the efficiency of drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth increases by 50%, the loss of spiritual power is greatly reduced, and lifespan is increased by an additional 300 years after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage.

However, the conditions for permanent attainment are equally outrageous: one must reach the late stage of the Golden Core realm and cultivate for three hundred years.

I am currently in the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, and there is still a distance to go before reaching the late stage. Even if I break through to the late stage, three hundred years of cultivation time is not something that can be achieved in a short period of time.

More importantly, purple affixes take up inventory slots. There are five equipment slots, and each slot is extremely valuable. Putting a purple affix that cannot be permanently upgraded in the short term into an inventory slot means locking that equipment slot indefinitely.

Not cost-effective.

Li Yuan sealed the Little Pearl Earth Spirit Embryo separately in the deepest part of his personal space and left it for the time being.

Next comes cultivation.

He retrieved the remaining third-tier demon beast essence blood from his personal space.

The blood essence from the third-tier carapace crab demon and the third-tier ice serpent demon hunted during the deep-sea cleanup mission was partially used when learning the beginner's Dragon Blood Tempering Technique. The remaining blood essence has been purified and sealed, and is of excellent quality.

Li Yuan placed the first sample of blood essence on his palm and activated the Dragon Blood Tempering Technique.

The dark red liquid seeped into the skin, and a scorching power spread throughout the body along the meridians. After entering the initial stage, the pathways for the essence blood to penetrate were now open, no longer requiring the groping and trial-and-error process of the first time. Spiritual energy guided the essence blood to circulate repeatedly in the skin and bones, each cycle pressing the life force of the demon beast's essence blood into deeper layers of the muscle tissue.

The permanent body-refining attributes such as "Medicinal Refinement of True Body" and "Iron Bones and Golden Body" operate simultaneously, steadily inheriting the tempering effects of essence and blood. The learning speed bonus from "Mastering All Techniques" continues to exert its power.

The first portion of essence and blood was exhausted, so a second portion was taken out.

The second essence blood came from a third-tier ice serpent demon, with a predominantly cold attribute. As the essence blood seeped into the body, its icy power clashed with the residual warmth of the previous shelled crab demon's essence blood. The life force of these two different types of demons collided and merged deep within the body, resulting in a more intense tempering effect on the physical form than essence blood of a single attribute.

A tingling or sore sensation came through my meridians, which then subsided.

The technique of alternating tempering with dual-attribute essence blood was honed through repeated practice. The speed at which the essence blood seeped in increased, and the depth of tempering became more and more thorough.

As the last drop of essence and blood was completely absorbed by the skin.

Li Yuan clenched his fist. The power he felt in his palm was completely different from when he first entered the sect. The faint dark red lines on the surface of his skin had become more intricate, and when he used his spiritual power to sense it, he could perceive an extremely fine defensive network forming beneath his skin.

[Dragon Blood Tempering Technique: Beginner → Proficient]

His physical strength has improved significantly from the beginner level, and his recovery speed has also increased considerably.

During this period, Li Yuan did not deliberately cultivate the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique. However, as time went on, his proficiency in the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique slowly accumulated.

The cultivation level of this second-tier body-refining technique had already been hovering at the late stage of the Great Completion realm for a long time. The essence blood tempering of the Dragon Blood Tempering Body Technique, through its comprehensive strengthening of the physical body, indirectly filled the last gap between the Great Completion and Perfection of the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique.

A panel pops up.

[Iron Wall Body Refining Technique: Great Success → Perfection]

After perfecting the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique, the body's basic defense reached the limit of a second-tier body refining method. Further improvement would require a third-tier body refining method.

Li Yuan finished his practice, stood up, and pushed open the stone door of the secluded meditation room.

As dusk approached in the market, the patrol team's lights flickered on the main street.

When they arrived at the main hall, Ji Wenyuan was already waiting at the door, holding a stack of documents in his hands.

"Master, some problems have arisen in the market while you were away."

Li Yuan sat down in the main seat, and Ji Wenyuan placed the document on the table, opened the first page, and described the situation in the market.

After he finished speaking, Ji Wenyuan made one last comment.

"The news about the ruins of the Dry Bone Ridge has spread. All forces know that a masked demonic cultivator helped Zhou Mingyuan steal the Earthly Essence Embryo. However, the news has been distorted after a few days. Now, the outside world is saying that the masked demonic cultivator is a late-stage Golden Core cultivator with strange methods and is suspected of mastering spatial magic."

Li Yuan picked up his teacup, took a sip, and made no comment.

The more chaotic the news, the better. The truth is drowned out by all sorts of outrageous speculations.

"There's one more thing," Ji Wenyuan said in a low voice. "Recently, quite a few unfamiliar faces have appeared around the market. They have different auras; some are rogue cultivators, while others look like disciples of sects. The patrol teams have detected suspicious spiritual energy fluctuations several times on the outskirts, but they only circled around the market's border before leaving."

"Eyeliner." Li Yuan put down his teacup.

"That should be it." Ji Wenyuan nodded. "All forces are watching the whereabouts of the masked demonic cultivator, and several markets in Liangzhou have been targeted. Wulin Market is not a priority, but it hasn't been overlooked either."

Li Yuan thought for a moment: "Increase patrols, but don't actively drive them away. Let them see; they won't see anything."

Ji Wenyuan agreed, then hesitated for a moment.

"There's one more thing, but I'm not sure if I should tell the shop owner."

"explain."

"In the past few days, quite a few cultivators with strong auras have passed through Liangzhou, all heading towards the Yuanyang Sect's mountain gate." Ji Wenyuan's tone became cautious. "I had the patrol team observe them from a distance several times. The auras of those cultivators are roughly at the Golden Core level. I can't distinguish them exactly, but I know they are stronger than normal Foundation Establishment cultivators."

"There are quite a few; in total, there are probably seven or eight."

Li Yuan paused slightly in the hand holding the teacup.

Seven or eight Golden Core cultivators rushed to the Yuan Yang Sect's mountain gate at the same time; this was no ordinary visit.

"Understood." Li Yuan put down his teacup, got up, and walked out of the main hall.

Ji Wenyuan bowed behind him and turned to arrange the patrol.

Li Yuan returned to his secluded chamber, closed the stone door, and sat down cross-legged.

Yuanyang Sect.

Zhou Mingyuan ran away with the Earthly Spirit Embryo. Since the various forces could not catch the masked demonic cultivator, they naturally turned their attention to the Yuan Yang Sect.

The gathering of seven or eight Golden Core cultivators at the Yuan Yang Sect's mountain gate clearly revealed their intentions.