Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 616 Unity of the Mysterious and the Nether

The restrictions on the stone gate of the inner hall are much more complex than those on the outer hall.

This restriction is not a simple spatial lock, but a dual-attribute authentication restriction. Nested within the spiritual energy circuit are two independent verification pathways: one requires the infusion of Golden Core-level spiritual energy with a spiritual attribute to activate, and the other requires the infusion of Golden Core-level spiritual energy with a demonic attribute to activate. Both pathways must be satisfied simultaneously to lift the restriction.

The spiritual power and demonic energy within Li Yuan's nascent soul are perfectly integrated, making it a product of the fusion of spirit and demon.

Spiritual energy surged from the nascent soul, splitting into two streams. One stream, retaining its pure spiritual energy attribute, was injected into the left verification pathway.

The other stream transformed into pure demonic energy and was injected into the verification pathway on the right.

Both paths light up simultaneously.

The ban has been lifted.

The stone gate slid open to both sides.

The inner hall was half the size of the outer hall, about five zhang square. The density of the spiritual patterns on the stone walls was much higher, with spatial and demonic spiritual patterns intertwined and arranged to form a complex structure that Li Yuan had never seen before.

There is only a small stone platform in the very center of the hall.

Two items were placed on the stone platform: a jade slip and a dark gray bead about the size of a thumb.

Li Yuan first picked up the jade slip.

Divine sense probed in.

The words appeared in my mind.

"I am the seventh and last sect leader of the Xuanyou Sect. When I write this, the sect is already defunct in name only."

"The inner sanctuary's legacy was originally intended for those who would cultivate both spirit and demon. I myself tried cultivating both spirit and demon, but failed. However, if someone does succeed, we should leave something for them."

"Two items were placed in the outer hall, one spiritual and one demonic; take them separately and take what you need. Only one item was placed in the inner hall."

"After all, I'm also a demonic cultivator. Although the entrance restriction to the inner hall requires both a spiritual energy golden core and a demonic energy golden core to activate simultaneously, it doesn't stipulate that it must be the same person. If one day two non-spiritual-demonic dual cultivators team up and come in, there's only one item in the hall. Let's see if they fight for it or give it to each other. Just thinking about it is interesting."

Li Yuan continued reading.

The tone of the text became somewhat heavy.

"My path of uniting spirit and demon has failed, and I am unable to break through to the Nascent Soul stage and ascend to the upper realm."

"Then I thought of another way: spatial rifts."

"The spatial passage between the lower and upper realms was artificially created, but natural spatial rifts have always existed. If we could find a sufficiently stable rift and pass directly through it to ascend to the upper realm, we wouldn't need to reach the Nascent Soul stage."

"Initially, we planned to use the collapse core of the secret realm to open the passage, but after research, we gave up on that idea."

"I spent sixty years researching methods to stabilize spatial rifts. During that time, I took seven Golden Core elders from various sects with me to conduct experiments. Four of them died."

"After the news spread, discontent within the sect could no longer be contained. In addition, my previous research on the fusion of spirit and demon had used too many sect resources, so even as the sect leader, my suppression was only temporary."

"And I set up this site all by myself."

"As for the final outcome, I don't know. I hadn't even made the final attempt when I wrote this. If anyone reads this later, it means I either successfully ascended or failed and died in the crack."

"No matter the outcome, it's good that the legacy remains."

The contents of the jade slip have now come to an end.

Li Yuan stored the jade slip in his personal miniature world.

Pick up the dark gray bead on the stone platform.

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

Purple grade.

Touch the surface of the bead with your finger.

[Equipable item detected: Mystic Unity Bead]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Demon Mystery (Purple)]

[Effect: Permanently increases the maximum fusion limit of spiritual power and demonic energy by 30%. When casting spatial spells in the state of spiritual-demonic fusion, the power and stability are simultaneously increased by 50%. The spiritual power fused with spiritual power can be directly injected into the spatial structure to modify it.]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Successfully transforming a thousand-year-old spatial structure using the fusion of spiritual and demonic power]

Purple entry.

The effect perfectly matches its own unique characteristic of being one with the spirit and the demon.

The 30% increase in the upper limit of spirit-demon fusion means that the quality and total amount of fused spiritual power will further increase, and the 50% increase in the power and stability of spatial spells directly enhances the combat and practicality of spatial magic.

The last effect is particularly noteworthy. It allows the fusion of spiritual and demonic power to be directly injected into the spatial structure for modification.

This means that the existing spatial structure can be modified directly by using the fusion of spiritual and demonic power.

Li Yuan stored the Mysterious Netherworld Unity Pearl into his personal miniature world.

The inner palace has been explored.

All three purple legacy items are now in my possession. One spirit, one demon, and one unified.

Li Yuan returned to the entrance of the hall along the same route and leaped out from the spatial rift.

The seal closed behind him again.

He returned along the main channel of the diversion system, turning towards the settlement of the remnants at the fork in the miners' passage.

Using the Earth Escape Technique, he passed through hundreds of feet of rock layers and emerged from the ground near a fissure outside the entrance to the settlement of the remnants.

The cave system within the fissure has changed somewhat since my last visit.

Several more shacks made of rubble have been added to the original rocky outcrops against the wall. A flat stone platform has been newly carved out deep inside the cave, covered with a thin layer of spiritual soil, where a few low-grade spiritual herbs are planted, growing only moderately. The fluorescent stones on the dome have been replaced, and the light is slightly brighter than before.

The spiritual energy in Mozhou is too scarce. Even if we try our best to gather spiritual energy in the caves, the output of the spiritual fields is still very limited.

Li Yuan entered the cave and suppressed his spiritual energy fluctuations.

Several survivors emerged from the stone house, led by Steward Zhou, who appeared to be in relatively good spirits.

"Fellow Daoist Li," Steward Zhou greeted with clasped hands.

"The exploration of the Abyss Cave has been completed," Li Yuan said.

"The secret cave contains inherited items and cultivation manuals, which were set up by the last sect leader of the Xuanyou Sect. The sect leader's diary mentions that in the later stages of the sect, people died due to experiments with spatial rifts, causing internal divisions and ultimately rendering the sect defunct."

After listening, Manager Zhou remained silent for a while.

"Thank you for informing me, fellow Daoist."

There wasn't much emotion in his tone. The destruction of the Xuanyou Sect happened hundreds of years ago, and the blood ties between these survivors and the sect had long since faded to an extremely thin degree.

A young cultivator standing nearby hesitated for a moment before asking a question.

"Fellow Daoist Li, could we... perhaps leave Mozhou?"

Li Yuan glanced at him.

The young cultivator's cultivation level was only at the late stage of Qi Refining. His complexion was yellowish, clearly indicating that insufficient spiritual energy was causing his slow cultivation progress. The spiritual energy environment in Mo Zhou was far too harsh for cultivators; staying here for an extended period would essentially eliminate any chance of breakthrough.

"Where would you like to go?"

The young cultivators couldn't answer immediately. They had lived underground in Mozhou for generations and had extremely limited knowledge of the outside world. If asked where to go, they were at a loss.

Li Yuan thought about it.

"The Misty Forest Market needs manpower. The spiritual energy concentration is hundreds of times higher than in Ink City, making cultivation conditions much better. Would you like to go?"

Manager Zhou and several survivors exchanged glances.

No one objected.

"I'm willing to accept either." Manager Zhou nodded.

"Having spent hundreds of years underground in Mozhou, I would naturally be eager for a better cultivation environment."

"Then pack your things, I'll arrange for someone to pick you up."

Li Yuan contacted Ji Wenyuan using a communication token and handed over the matter of relocating the Mo Zhou survivors to Wulin Market.

Ji Wenyuan replied quickly, saying that there were available accommodations in the Waifang District that could be arranged.

After settling the resettlement of the displaced people, Li Yuanfei fled back to Wulinfang City.

The cultivation teleportation array for the Nascent Soul stage costs too many spirit stones; it's better to fly.

On the way back, he had already begun to plan the research sequence of the inherited items in his mind.

Three purple heritage items.

Mysterious Ghost Talisman Jade, Spiritual Energy type. Mysterious Ghost Demon Restriction Ring, Demonic Path type. Mysterious Ghost Unity Bead, Spiritual and Demonic Unity type.

The three items contain not only the effects of the terms, but more importantly, the inherited information accumulated by the Xuanyou Sect over hundreds of years.

After returning to Misty Forest City, the stone door to the seclusion room was closed.

Li Yuan took out three inherited items from his personal miniature world and arranged them on the stone platform.

Let's start with the Mysterious and Dark Unity Pearl.

This inner sanctuary inheritance was specially prepared for those who cultivate both spiritual and demonic arts, as the information it contains is most compatible with them.

He probed the inside of the bead with his divine sense.

The surface of the dark gray bead appears ordinary, but its internal structure is extremely intricate. Hundreds of layers of microscopic spiritual patterns are nested and arranged, each layer of spiritual patterns being composed of interwoven lines of spiritual and demonic attributes.

The two types of spirit runes are not simply arranged in parallel inside the bead, but are compressed onto the same plane through a special compression technique.

Space compression.

The Xuanyou Sect Master used his understanding of space to compress the spatial dimensions occupied by spiritual energy runes and demonic energy runes. Originally, the two types of runes were mutually exclusive, but after the space was compressed to its limit, they were forced to coexist in the same microscopic space.

The process of coexistence is the process of integration.

The two types of spirit runes permeated each other in the extremely compressed space, blurring the boundaries and eventually forming a composite spirit rune structure that was neither pure spiritual energy nor pure demonic energy.

This is the spatial compression principle of spirit-demon fusion.

I spent the whole day studying the inherited information in the Mysterious Unity Pearl.

They then turned to the two heirloom items in the outer hall.

The information contained within the Xuanling Ghost Talisman Jade leans towards spiritual power and magic.

Specifically, it describes how spiritual power can be actively imbued with spatial attributes when casting spells. The core technique involves embedding a layer of spatial runes into the spiritual power at extremely high speed in the final step of casting the spell, allowing the spell to penetrate a certain degree of physical and spiritual defenses when it hits the target.

The principle is not complicated, but the operation is extremely difficult, requiring a very profound level of control over spatial runes.

The inherited information of the Mysterious Demon Restriction Ring leans towards demonic magic.

The core technique is similar to that of the Mysterious Ghost Talisman Jade, both adding spatial attributes when casting spells, except that the driving force is changed from spiritual power to demonic energy. The characteristics of demonic energy and its compatibility with spatial runes differ, requiring a separate embedding technique.

The two outer hall inheritances serve as a contrast, one spiritual and one demonic, sharing the same underlying logic but differing in practical details.

After completing his research on the three inherited items, Li Yuan turned his attention to the fourteen jade slips he had obtained in the outer hall.

Of the fourteen spells, the four third-tier spells are the key ones.

Two third-tier spiritual spells: one is a spatial cutting spell, which is much stronger than the Sky-Splitting Slash and can create spatial cracks on the target; the other is a spatial confinement spell, which can temporarily lock the spatial structure of the target's area, making it impossible for the target to move or dodge.

Two third-tier magic spells based on demonic energy: one is the Shadow Piercing Technique, which uses demonic energy as a carrier to traverse a spatial distance in a very short time; the other is the Demonic Domain Erosion Technique, which uses demonic energy to erode the spatial structure around the target, weakening its defenses.

With the boost from the doubled analysis speed of the Myriad Laws Practice, the spiritual energy paths of the four spells were gradually digested by Li Yuan.

Space cutting technique, beginner's guide.

Forbidden spatial techniques, beginner level.

Shadow Piercing Technique, Beginner Level.

Demonic Domain Erosion Technique, Beginner Level.

Of the other ten low-level spells, Li Yuan selected two that were highly compatible with his own system for cultivation.

One is Spatial Exploration Technique, a mid-tier second-level technique that allows one to actively explore the spatial structural details of a target area. The other is Demonic Energy Condensation Technique, a high-tier second-level technique that uses demonic energy to condense and form a protective barrier with spatial properties.

Space exploration techniques, beginner level.

Demonic Qi Condensation Technique, Beginner Level.

After mastering all six new spells, Li Yuan put away the jade slip.

The secluded room fell silent.

The nascent soul's spiritual power flows naturally within the body along the path of the Nascent Soul Returning to Origin Method. The Dragon Breath Slowing Talisman remains active in the equipment slot, and the effect of reducing spiritual power release loss by 20% persists through each cycle.