Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 590 Initial Identification of Dragon Patterns

The beam of light traversed the rolling hills in the southern part of Baihe Prefecture and landed on the outskirts of the valley where the Lu family was stationed.

When Li Yuan entered the stone building, Lu Yang was on the first floor reviewing the quarterly output report of the mine. Seeing Li Yuan enter, he put down the report and stood up.

"Fellow Daoist Li, you've come at the right time. The fourth mine—"

"The mineral vein isn't urgent."

Li Yuan sat down opposite him.

"The situation deep in the mountains has been investigated."

Lu Yang's expression changed.

"The origin of the monster migration?"

"Yes, about a hundred feet underground in the eastern part of the central mountains, there is an ancient dragon's cultivation cave."

"The Dragon's Cave?"

"A fourth-order restriction envelops the remains of a fourth-order dragon. The residual demonic energy seeps out from the weak point to the surface. It's not much, but it's of extremely high grade, plus the bloodline suppression."

"The monsters you mentioned migrating southeast were driven by this aura."

Lu Yang's breathing stopped for a moment.

"The remains of a fourth-tier dragon —"

"I've examined the skeleton," Li Yuan said.

"The spiritual essence remaining in the bones is extremely faint and of little use; it should have already disappeared with the passage of time."

"The value of the dragon's remains themselves is limited, but the walls and skeleton are engraved with dragon patterns."

"The dragon pattern system is completely different from human spirit patterns. I don't have any relevant reference materials. I'd like to ask if the Lu family has any books related to the dragon race."

Lu Yang shifted his gaze from the jade slip to Li Yuan.

"have."

His tone was unusually crisp.

"The Lu family has been operating mines in Baihe Prefecture for hundreds of years, and occasionally they have unearthed fragments of ancient artifacts in the mines. Their ancestors have accumulated a considerable amount of literature, among which there are indeed records related to dragon patterns."

He got up and walked towards the back of the stone building.

"Fellow Daoist, follow me."

The Lu family's archives are located in a separate stone chamber behind the residence, with a second-level protective barrier embedded in the stone door.

Lu Yang used his spiritual power to break the seal, and the stone door opened.

The interior space was not large, about six zhang square, with layers of jade slip shelves embedded in the four walls.

The number of jade slips is quite considerable, and they are arranged in sections according to material and age. The oldest batch has a yellowed and brittle surface.

"The dragon-related items are in the third row on the east side," Lu Yang pointed in the direction.

"There aren't many, only seven or eight portions in total."

Li Yuan walked to the jade slip shelf on the east side and took them out one by one to look through them.

Most of the content consists of records and simple descriptions of the discovery of ancient artifact fragments in the mine, with fragmented information and low reference value.

The fifth jade slip is different.

The jade slip is made of an older material than the others, and has a very thin protective layer of spiritual energy on its surface, which should have been reinforced by later generations.

Divine sense probed in.

A comprehensive record of dragon vein patterns.

Unfortunately, it's incomplete.

The content presents an ancient cultivator's preliminary classification and basic interpretation of dragon-like patterns. Based on the morphological characteristics of the patterns, dragon patterns are divided into three main categories: scale patterns, sinew patterns, and bone patterns. Each category is further subdivided into several types, accompanied by simple illustrations and corresponding descriptions of their aura characteristics.

The classification system is incomplete, covering only about 20-30% of the total number of dragon patterns, and the interpretation methods only stay at the basic level, failing to touch the deeper meaning of dragon patterns.

But for Li Yuan at present, this information is of great value.

His divine sense delved deeper into the contents of the Dragon Vein Pattern Record page by page.

After reading it, Li Yuan compared the contents of the Dragon Vein Pattern Compendium with the dragon patterns he had previously recorded in the cave.

About 30% of the dragon patterns on the walls can be classified as scale patterns, about 20% as sinew patterns, and bone patterns are the fewest in number but the most complex in structure. The remaining nearly half of the dragon patterns cannot be classified into the existing three categories and may belong to categories not included in the incomplete general catalog.

The dragon patterns on the skeleton are mainly bone patterns, and their arrangement is different from that on the wall. They are more like a coherent sequence rather than scattered independent symbols.

After completing the basic classification, Li Yuan stored the results in his sea of ​​consciousness and put away the jade slip.

When I came out of the document room, Lu Yang was waiting at the door.

"Found something useful?"

"A comprehensive record of dragon vein patterns. Incomplete, but of reference value."

Lu Yang nodded, then seemed to remember something.

"There's one more thing."

He took out a jade slip from his storage bag and handed it over.

"The Lu family ancestors discovered a similar dragon-patterned fragment in an ancient mine in the west of Baihe Prefecture. They made a rubbing of it for record-keeping. The fragment itself has long since broken, but the rubbing is well preserved."

Li Yuan took the jade slip and probed it with his divine sense.

The rubbing depicts a small patch of dragon patterns on a rock face, about the size of a palm, with incomplete lines. However, the remaining portion is highly consistent in style and characteristics with the dragon patterns on the walls of the Jiaolong Cave.

The same system.

Li Yuan compared the rubbing with the dragon patterns in the cave recorded in his mind.

It doesn't contain much information, but it provides an anchor point for cross-validation.

"I'll borrow this rubbing for a while."

"Fellow Daoist, take it." Lu Yang waved his hand.

"No one would understand it even if it were placed in the archives."

He paused, looking in the direction of the recording jade slip in Li Yuan's hand.

"Fellow Daoist Li, could we perhaps take a look at the Lu family's place near the Flood Dragon Cave?"

"Can."

Li Yuan informed Lu Yang of the specific location of the cave and the route to enter.

"I haven't sealed off the weak points in the restrictions; we can just go straight in."

"Understood, thank you, fellow Daoist."

On the same day, Lu Yang gathered three Golden Core cultivators from the local area and formed an exploration team to head deep into the mountains.

Li Yuan did not accompany them.

The dragon patterns in the cave have all been recorded. What I need is time to study them, not to make another trip.

They remained at their post to continue their comparative study of the contents of the Dragon Vein Pattern Record and the rubbings of the jade slips.

The Lu family's reconnaissance team returned the following evening.

The leading Golden Core cultivator reported to Lu Yang with a complex expression, a mixture of shock and excitement. Lu Yang remained silent for a long time after listening.

That evening, Lu Yang found Li Yuan.

In the reception room on the second floor of the stone building, tea set was placed on the table, but the tea had gone cold.

Lu Yang spoke solemnly and bowed with his hands clasped.

"The Lu family owes you a great favor."

Li Yuan waved his hand.

"The migration of monsters in the mountains has already affected the operation of the mines, and you will find out about that later."

"That's true, but the location of the cave and the information about the dragon patterns were brought back by you personally risking your life to explore it." Lu Yang shook his head.

He took a jade slip from his storage bag and placed it on the table.

"This technique was obtained by the Lu family from a ruin many years ago, but they have never found a suitable person to use it."

Li Yuan looked at the jade slip.

"The Infant Condensation Technique?"

"Yes. Nascent Soul cultivation technique."

Lu Yang pushed the jade slip over, "But this cultivation method takes an extreme approach; while improving the quality of Nascent Soul formation, it will reduce the success rate of Nascent Soul formation."

His tone carried a hint of emotion.

"The cultivation technique itself is of extremely high quality, but because of the reduced success rate, its value is difficult to define. For cultivators who are confident in increasing their success rate, it is a top-grade item. For ordinary cultivators, it is equivalent to gambling with their lives. The Lu family has not produced anyone qualified to take this gamble in hundreds of years, and it has been kept at the bottom of the treasury."

Li Yuan accepted the jade slip.

Within a three-foot perception range, the words rippled.

Blue grade.

Touch the surface of the jade slip with your finger.

[Equipable item detected: Infant Condensation Technique]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Condensing Infant and Strengthening Essence (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases the success rate of condensing a Nascent Soul by 30%; greatly enhances the speed and stability of spiritual energy circulation during the condensation process]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Cultivate the Nascent Soul Technique to its highest level, and complete a full spiritual energy condensation rehearsal using this technique in an environment where the spiritual energy concentration exceeds three times the normal level (0/1)]

[Current equipment slot is full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Blue entries.

The effects are directed towards increasing the success rate of Nascent Soul Formation and improving the stability of spiritual energy. The success rate increases by 30%, and the risk of spiritual energy overflow is significantly reduced.

The technique itself reduces the success rate, but the entry perfectly compensates for this deficiency.

After combining the two methods, not only did the success rate return to normal levels, but it also increased significantly. At the same time, the core value of the technique itself in improving the quality of Nascent Soul formation was fully preserved.

Li Yuan nodded and did not refuse again.

The jade slip was stored in my personal world, but not immediately equipped. All five equipment slots are currently occupied and do not need to be replaced.

"I will continue to advance the research on the dragon pattern. I will inform the Lu family of any new developments."

"That's good." Lu Yang put down his teacup, his expression much more relaxed.

"The Lu family will also study the dragon pattern and will explain it to you later. The Lu family will also continue to monitor the cave and will send a message to you as soon as they discover anything."

After chatting for a few more minutes, Li Yuan got up to say goodbye.

It was already late at night when we left Shilou.

The starry sky in Baihe Prefecture is much clearer than that in Liang Prefecture, free from the light pollution of the market town's lanterns.

Li Yuan stopped in the open space outside the camp, took out the Nascent Soul Condensation Technique Jade Slip from his personal miniature world, and probed it with his divine sense.

The structure of the exercise is extremely precise.

The core idea is completely different from the conventional Nascent Soul formation paths recorded in the Nascent Soul advancement manuals and Nascent Soul experience manuals that Li Yuan had previously studied. The conventional path pursues stability, slowly condensing the Nascent Soul prototype with the Golden Core as the core. It has a high success rate, but the quality is limited by the grade of the Golden Core itself.

The method of Nascent Soul Condensation involves actively applying additional pressure to the nascent soul form during the condensation process, forcing it to undergo multiple rounds of spiritual energy tempering before it takes shape. Each round of tempering increases the upper limit of the nascent soul's quality, but also increases the risk of condensation failure.

Risk and quality are positively correlated. The more rounds of tempering, the higher the quality, but the greater the probability of failure.

The conditions for making the technique permanent are to cultivate it to a high level and complete a spiritual energy condensation rehearsal in an environment where the spiritual energy concentration is more than three times higher than normal.

The concentration of spiritual energy is more than three times higher.

The concentration of spiritual energy near the spatial passage in the Tianyue Mountains should be sufficient.

Li Yuan retrieved the jade slip into his personal microcosm and transformed it into a beam of light that soared into the sky.