Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 603 Dragon Gathering Place

The streaking light swept across the gray-blue sea and landed on an unnamed reef island.

The reef island is small, only a few dozen feet in circumference, with only a few black rocks protruding above the water. Among the rocks is a natural cave formed by a depression, just big enough to fit a person.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged in the stone cave and began to circulate his spiritual energy to refine his primordial essence.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the sea area is much lower than in Liangzhou, but it has the advantage of having very few impurities. The spiritual energy carried by the sea breeze is mainly water-based and has a high purity, which can be helpful for cultivating body-refining techniques.

The practice lasted all day.

The next morning, Li Yuan finished his practice.

I sensed the state of the meridians in my body.

The auxiliary cultivation of the Protective Meridian Warming Spirit Pill has been ongoing for sixty days since the first dose. Throughout the entire process, the cultivation has been carried out under high load using the Spirit Body Forging Technique, and there has been no substantial damage to the meridians despite the continuous high-frequency spiritual energy impact.

The conditions for making the "Warm Spirit Tempering Meridians" entry permanent are: continuously using this pill to assist in cultivating the body-refining technique for a cumulative period of sixty days, and during this period, the meridians are not substantially damaged.

The conditions are met.

The Protective Vein Warming Pill is in the equipment slot.

Spiritual energy is infused.

Permanent startup.

The pills in the equipment slots dissipated, and green light spread throughout the body along the meridians.

The image reveals the complete pharmacological mechanism of the Protective Vein Warming Spirit Pill. It shows how the pulsed release of the warming spirit vine resonates with the natural spiritual energy membrane layer on the inner wall of the meridians, and how the resonance frequency permanently alters the microstructure of the inner wall of the meridians after long-term use, enabling it to gain far greater resistance to impact while maintaining its flexibility.

The image disappeared.

The body has been tempered and refined, and the permanent transformation is now complete.

Li Yuan sensed the changes after the process became permanent.

The texture of the inner walls of the meridians is different now. Previously, the protective film formed by the Meridian-Protecting and Warming Pill was an external layer, but now the properties of the protective film have been integrated into the structure of the meridians themselves.

The body-refining technique's tempering precision is permanently increased by 50%, and the self-healing speed of the meridians after high-load operation is permanently increased by 50%.

Both effects are permanent passive buffs and do not require medication to maintain.

However, one can still continue to refine and consume the Protective Vein Warming Pill. The effects of the pill and the permanent affixes are cumulative; the protective strength after taking the pill will be increased on top of the permanent buff.

Li Yuan got up and left the reef island.

The light rose into the sky and flew towards the depths of the eastern sea.

The location of the dragon's gathering place is clearly marked on the topographic map provided by the demon toad. It is at the easternmost point of the sea, near the boundary with the outer sea.

The flight lasted two days.

The color of the sea gradually changed from grayish-blue to deep black. The depth of the seawater was increasing rapidly, and the fluctuations of spiritual energy underwater were becoming increasingly complex.

The currents are dense and change direction frequently. The underwater reefs are distributed in an extremely chaotic manner, with reefs of varying sizes resembling an inverted stone forest.

Li Yuan stopped his escape light atop a towering black reef that rose above the water.

The permanent entry for the Demon Tracker identifies underwater scents.

The aura of a dragon.

Dense. Abundant. Coming from hundreds of feet below the surface, and there was more than one.

The auras of at least three or four dragons intertwined, with one of the third-tier auras being particularly clear.

Li Yuan suppressed his spiritual energy fluctuations, simultaneously activating the Hidden Trace Technique and the Shadow Escape Technique.

Instead of diving directly underwater, he stood atop the reef and used his divine sense to probe the underwater world.

The permanent extension of the communication sensory system, which increased the range of divine sense detection by 50%, came into play at this moment. Divine sense penetrated the seawater and extended downwards, capturing the outline of the dragon's movements hundreds of feet deep.

Four dragons.

Three creatures, each about five zhang long, covered in dark blue scales, swam slowly among the underwater reefs. Their aura strength ranged from low to mid-grade of the second rank.

The fourth one was larger, about seven zhang in length, with deep black scales, and perched atop a giant reef. It was a high-grade, third-tier creature.

Of the four dragons, only the fourth one emitted a third-order fluctuation.

The other three are all second-order and lack intelligence.

The fourth is the person you can communicate with.

Li Yuan dispelled the Shadow Escape Technique, but retained the ability to suppress spiritual energy fluctuations through stealth.

The beam of light descended slowly underwater at a normal speed.

Enter the water.

As they approached the area where the dragons were active, the three mindless dragons came closer.

The deep blue scales gleamed coldly in the dark seawater. The three dragons turned towards Li Yuan at the same time, their vertical pupils devoid of any emotion, only displaying the instinctive killing intent of predators facing their prey.

Three dragons swam toward Li Yuan's location at an extremely fast speed.

Li Yuan neither dodged nor attacked.

He activated the Dragon Blood Tempering Technique, releasing the accumulated dragon blood energy within his body to the surface.

A rich aura of dragon blood emanated from Li Yuan's body. Although the quality of the blood aura was far inferior to that of a true dragon bloodline, the concentration accumulated over many years of cultivation was enough for his kin's instincts to recognize it.

The three dragons suddenly slowed down when they were about ten zhang away.

The murderous intent in his vertical pupils wavered noticeably.

The bloodline suppression wasn't strong enough to make them submit, but it was enough for their instincts to tell that the human in front of them carried the aura of their own kind.

The three dragons stopped a thousand feet away, slowly circling around Li Yuan, neither approaching nor leaving.

The fourth dragon, perched on the giant reef, moved.

Its massive, dark black body slid down the reef, flicked its tail fin, and silently swam toward Li Yuan.

Stop when you get within five zhang (approximately 10 meters).

A pair of vertical pupils gleamed with a dark golden light in the dark seawater, scrutinizing Li Yuan.

A moment later, a deep voice came through the sound of spiritual energy fluctuations.

"Humans?"

The voice was rough, the words concise, and there was a clear lack of familiarity with the language. The third-tier dragon's intelligence had only recently been awakened, and its language abilities were limited.

"My name is Li Yuan, a rogue cultivator," Li Yuan replied using his spiritual power.

"I came here for the dragon pattern."

"Dragon pattern?"

The dragon's vertical pupils contracted slightly.

"You understand dragon patterns?"

"I know a little."

Li Yuan used his spiritual power to condense a small section of the deciphered skeletal dragon pattern sequence in his sea of ​​consciousness in front of him.

Dozens of dragon-shaped symbols emerged from the seawater, arranged in a manner completely consistent with the original sequence on the skeleton.

The deep black dragon's vertical pupils stared intently at the symbols.

Its body leaned slightly forward, and the tip of its nose was almost covered with a sequence of symbols formed by the condensation of spiritual energy.

"Where did you get it?"

"Deep within the mountains of Baihe Prefecture lies the cultivation cave of an ancient fourth-tier dragon. The skeleton and walls of the cave are covered with dragon patterns."

The dragon remained silent for a long time.

The hostility in her vertical pupils slowly faded, replaced by a complex emotion.

"A fourth-order skeleton —"

It repeated itself softly, its tone tinged with emotion.

The dragon looked at Li Yuan again.

What do you want?

"I have deciphered nearly 90% of the sequence of the skeletal dragon pattern, and the remaining 10% or so are high-level combination symbols."

Li Yuan adjusted the dragon pattern symbols that appeared in front of him, marking the parts that had not been deciphered.

"I want to exchange the deciphered content with you to complete the remaining parts."

The dragon lowered its head to examine the undeciphered symbols.

Its vertical pupils, illuminated by a dark golden light, swept over each symbol one by one, its gaze lingering longer on certain symbols.

"I know most of these."

There was a hint of hesitation in its tone.

"But not all."

"Is there a gap in your dragon pattern heritage?"

"Some things are lost with each generation."

The dragon's voice was deep and resonant.

"Only fourth-tier demon kings in our clan will have dragon patterns born in their bodies, and then their offspring will inherit a portion of them. This process is repeated generation after generation, resulting in a significant loss of dragon patterns."

It turned its head and glanced at the three mindless members of its kind in the distance.

"They don't even have intelligence, let alone know what dragon patterns are."

"Our bloodline has been passed down for countless generations, and by the time it reaches me, there is probably not much left."

Li Yuan has something that Jiaolong doesn't know, and Jiaolong knows something that Li Yuan can't deduce. The two complement each other, and it is very likely that they can piece together a complete sequence.

Li Yuandao said, "After the exchange, both sides can make up for the missing parts."

The dragon's vertical pupils lit up for a moment.

"What are your conditions?"

"Information exchange. I will give you the method for deciphering dragon patterns from a human perspective, including the comparison system and deductive logic I use. You will give me the known dragon pattern information in your bloodline."

The dragon pondered for a moment.

"Human decoding methods?"

"Dragon patterns and human spirit patterns share a common underlying logic. I deduced the unknown symbols by cross-referencing the two systems. This method can also help you fill in the missing parts of your bloodline inheritance."

A flash of understanding crossed the dragon's vertical pupils.

It slowly circled in the seawater, its tail fin cutting through the current, stirring up a silent undercurrent.

"Can."

The exchange of information was completed in the next half hour.

The dragon transmitted the known dragon pattern information within its bloodline to Li Yuan one by one through spiritual energy fluctuations. The method of transmission was not verbal description, but rather the direct injection of the complete information of the dragon pattern symbols into Li Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness using the unique aura frequency of the dragon's bloodline.

Li Yuan compared this information with the existing skeletal dragon pattern sequence in his sea of ​​consciousness one by one.

There are over forty symbols in the dragon bloodline inheritance that Li Yuan had previously failed to decipher. Most of them belong to the higher-level combination symbols in the later part of the skeletal dragon pattern sequence, and highly overlap with the remaining more than 10% of the unknown parts in the sequence.

Conversely, among the thousands of symbols that Li Yuan deduced through the human spirit pattern system, more than twenty were lost in the inheritance of the dragon bloodline.

After complementing each other, the complete sequence of the skeletal dragon pattern was pieced together in Li Yuan's sea of ​​consciousness.

100%.

Li Yuan then inscribed the cross-referencing method and deductive logic he used in the form of a jade slip and handed it over to Jiaolong.

The dragon took the jade slip, and the hostility in its vertical pupils had completely disappeared.

"You are the first human to come here and discuss dragon patterns with us."

It glanced at Li Yuan.

"He is also the only human who can understand dragon patterns."

Until we meet again.

Li Yuan cupped his hands in greeting.

The dragon responded by gently slapping the water's surface with its tail fin, then turned and swam into the depths with its massive, dark body.

Three mindless dragons followed behind it and quickly disappeared into the dark sea.

Li Yuan emerged from the water and rose into the sky as a beam of light.

The swift light advanced at full speed towards Liangzhou.

The complete sequence of the skeletal dragon pattern quietly unfolded in the sea of ​​consciousness.

That ancient dragon's technique can finally be fully deciphered.

The streaks of light swept across the sky above Shuizhou, passed through the desolate zone, and the hills in eastern Liangzhou came into view.

The outline of Wulin Market emerged in the twilight.

Upon landing, we entered the main gate of the market.