Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 741 The Demonic Dragon’s First Journey

The western border of Tianheng Domain, the boundary of the Demon Dragon Domain.

The streaking light swept in from the direction of the Tianheng Domain and stopped in front of the border mountain range.

There were no checkpoints at the border between the two regions. The mountain range stretched for tens of thousands of miles, its peaks covered in snow and its waist shrouded in mist. After crossing the mountain ridge, the spiritual energy was infused with the blood energy of demonic beasts.

Li Yuan landed on the mountain ridge, his senses spreading out.

Within five thousand feet, three demonic beast auras swept past from the other side of the mountain range. Two were at the Nascent Soul stage, and one was at the late Nascent Soul stage, flying south.

The Demon Dragon Domain is ruled by the demon race, with a Void Refinement Great Demon residing there. It is said that pure-blooded true dragons also inhabit the domain, and humans are not permitted to enter.

Li Yuan did not enter in human form.

As the demonic humanoid transformation technique was activated, the dragon bloodline within his body immediately responded. A 50% concentration of dragon blood energy surged into his skin, causing dark gold scales to emerge and spread along his limbs. The permanent "Reverse Scale Transformation" attribute overlapped with the perfected demonic humanoid transformation technique, and after a few breaths, his humanoid form completely vanished.

A dark golden dragon appeared on the mountain ridge.

Dragon horns extended from the sides of its forehead, its four limbs and claws were tucked into its sides, and its tail scales bore a ridge. It concealed its presence, suppressing the fluctuations of its Nascent Soul level spiritual power, revealing only the aura of a demonic beast with dragon blood.

On the surface, it appears to be a powerful dragon demon in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm.

Li Yuan transformed into a dark golden beam of light, crossed the mountain ridge, and entered the Demon Dragon Domain.

The Demon Dragon Domain is much larger than the Heavenly Balance Domain.

The mountains and rivers were filled with demonic energy, and the traces of demonic beast territories were everywhere. As the light swept across the plains, several groups of low-level demonic beasts ran and hunted below, completely ignoring the sky above.

Half a day later, a huge stone city appeared ahead.

The stone city was built against the mountain, with dark red rocks forming city walls that were dozens of feet high. The city gates were wide open, with no guards, only a very faint barrier of demonic energy covering the entrance.

Li Yuan approached in his dragon form, and a barrier of demonic energy swept over his entire body, allowing him to pass directly.

The city's layout is not like that of a human-run market town.

Inside the stone city was a huge natural cave, which had been transformed into layers of activity space. The cave walls were embedded with glowing minerals, and demon cultivators moved through it, some in human form, some in half-beast form, and some who remained completely in beast form.

Li Yuan transformed back into human form, retaining only the aura of his dragon bloodline.

Many powerful demons in the demon race prefer to walk in human form and are not conspicuous.

He found an information station in the middle layer of the cave.

Behind the stone table lay a tiger demon, a late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator with a tiger-striped face and a burly build, dozing off.

Li Yuan walked closer.

The tiger demon opened one eye, its vertical pupil sweeping over, and twitched its nose.

"A dragon?"

Li Yuan nodded.

The tiger demon sat up: "What do you want?"

"Which power has jurisdiction over this area?"

"The Heavenly Dragon Palace," the tiger demon said. "The entire Demon Dragon Domain is under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dragon Palace. You came from outside?"

Li Yuan nodded.

"The Heavenly Dragon Palace is not a sect, but a force composed of demonic beasts with dragon bloodlines. The palace master is a True Dragon at the Refinement Void stage, and several Nascent Soul stage demons are in charge of various areas. Flood Dragons, Flood Lizards, Chi Dragons, and Ying Dragons are all considered collateral branches of the dragon race."

The tiger demon glanced at Li Yuan.

"You are a dragon, which gives you an advantage in the Heavenly Dragon Palace's territory. You are much stronger than us tigers."

Li Yuan didn't respond, but asked about the location of the market and accommodations, then asked, "Are there any jobs available lately?"

The tiger demon pulled out a stack of animal hide scrolls and threw them on the table.

"Check out the mission list for the Heavenly Dragon Palace."

Li Yuan picked up the scroll.

Most of them involved hunting, mining, and escorting. One of them caught his attention.

We are recruiting array masters skilled in spatial manipulation to set up spatial arrays in the mines under the jurisdiction of the Heavenly Dragon Palace. The rewards are generous, but only those with Nascent Soul level array mastery are eligible.

How do I accept this quest?

The tiger demon glanced at him and said, "Go to the Mining Bureau on the third floor and register. They need to test your array formation skills."

Li Yuan packed up the scroll and headed towards the third level of the cave.

The mining office was located on the east side of the third floor, with its stone door open.

Inside, a powerful demon in the early stages of the Nascent Soul realm, in the form of a dragon, sat looking troubled over several pieces of ore. Upon seeing Li Yuan enter, it looked up.

"Here to accept the formation mission?"

"right."

The great demon dragon sized up Li Yuan for a few breaths.

"Spatial arrays? You really know how?"

"Try it and you'll see."

The blueprints depict a spatial stabilization array used to reinforce the walls deep within a mine. It's at a fourth-tier level, with a solid foundation, but a few nodes are not quite right.

Li Yuan glanced at the blueprints and pointed to two nodes: "These two spiritual energy loops can be modified."

The great demon Chilong looked down at Li Yuan, then looked up at him.

"You change it."

Li Yuan took the magic brush and drew a new loop path in the blank space next to the drawing.

The great demon dragon stared at it for a long time, then slapped the table.

"Okay, the task is yours."

He then took out an even larger sheet of paper and handed it to him.

"This is the complete array plan for the mine. The main focus is on spatial stability, supplemented by the guidance of the mineral vein's spiritual energy. Take a look first, and go to the mine for an on-site inspection tomorrow."

Li Yuan took the blueprints and put them into his storage bag.

After leaving the mining office, Li Yuan went to the market.

The demon market was chaotic. Goods were piled on stone platforms, sellers squatted beside them, and buyers squatted opposite them, haggling by shouting.

The medicine area is located on the west side of the market and is not large in scale.

Li Yuan walked around the three shops and bought two prescriptions.

The first one is the Demon Essence Strengthening Meridian Pill. Its main ingredients are Demon Essence Grass and Beast Vein Essence, supplemented with Meridian-Condensing Spirit Grass. It is specifically used to stabilize the meridians and prevent demonic energy from flooding the meridians during the cultivation of demonic beast-based techniques.

The second item is the Dragon Marrow Nourishing Pill. Its main ingredients are Dragon Marrow Grass and Flood Dragon Blood Elixir, supplemented with Nourishing Essence Grass. It is specifically used to nourish the blood and qi during dragon bloodline cultivation, improving blood circulation efficiency.

The materials needed for both pill formulas can be gathered in the market.

After finishing his shopping, Li Yuan sat down at a tea stall next to the medicine shop.

The tea stall owner was an old tortoise demon, in the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm, who brewed a spiritual tea imbued with demonic energy.

Li Yuan ordered a pot of tea and listened to the idle chatter of the demons at the next table while he drank.

A bull demon was complaining to a wolf demon: "The Heavenly Dragon Palace is collecting goods again. Every year at this time, they gather a huge amount of things to send to the Dragon Clan—spirit ore, spirit herbs, magical artifacts—piled up like mountains."

The wolf demon scoffed, "Does the dragon race even consider these things?"

"Who knows. Anyway, the things they send over aren't very useful to us; most of them are things only dragons can use." The bull demon took a sip of tea. "But the Heavenly Dragon Palace doesn't lose out. Every time they deliver goods, they hold a large trade fair. Things returned by the dragons and miscellaneous items collected from various places are all laid out for us to choose from."

The wolf demon became interested: "When?"

"It will be soon, in less than a month."

Li Yuan wrote down this message.

The bull demon and the wolf demon exchanged a few more words, subtly criticizing the tortoise and tiger clans. The two demons exchanged a glance and shook their heads in unison.

After finishing his tea, Li Yuan got up and left.

He rented a stone chamber on the outskirts of the market, about ten zhang in circumference, with a separate alchemy room. The rent was calculated daily, and he paid one month's rent in advance.

The stone gate was closed.

Li Yuan set up the alchemy furnace and first refined the Demon Essence Strengthening Pill.

The demon essence grass was put into the furnace, followed by the beast vein essence, and auxiliary medicines were added in batches.

Extracting the elixir.

Three Demon Essence Strengthening Pills lay at the bottom of the furnace, their surfaces gleaming with a pale blue luster.

Within a three-foot perception range, white text rippled.

Li Yuan picked one up.

[Equipable item detected: Demon Essence Strengthening Pill]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Demon Vein Strengthening - White]

[Effect: Increases meridian stability when practicing demonic beast-type cultivation techniques.]

Li Yuan put the pill into his equipment slot.

The elixir vanished in his palm, and a stream of white light flowed into his meridians.

[Permanentization complete]

【Demon Vein Strengthening - White】

[Effect: Increases meridian stability when practicing demonic beast-type cultivation techniques.]

Next, refine the Dragon Marrow Nourishing Essence Pill.

After the dragon marrow grass was placed in the furnace, the fire was lowered. As soon as the dragon blood elixir was injected, the medicinal power surged, and the core of the pill trembled slightly as it took shape.

Extracting the elixir.

Two Dragon Marrow Nourishing Pills, their surfaces a dark gold with a hint of blue.

[Equipable item detected: Dragon Marrow Nourishing Pill]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Dragon Marrow Warm - White]

[Effect: Increases the efficiency of blood and qi cultivation when practicing dragon bloodline-based techniques.]

Add to equipment slot.

[Permanentization complete]

【Dragon Marrow Slightly Warm - White】

[Effect: Increases the efficiency of blood and qi cultivation when practicing dragon bloodline-based techniques.]

After the alchemy furnace was extinguished, Li Yuan cleaned the stone platform and sat down cross-legged.

The Condensing Essence and Transforming Emptiness Technique is activated.

The core of the Nascent Soul realm rose slightly, its spiritual energy pulsating in sync with the natural frequency of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. The circulation of the three-attribute spiritual energy continued, and the timing of the Azure Flow Nourishing the Meridians did not stop.

The practice continued until dawn.

The next day, Li Yuan left the stone chamber and transformed into a dark golden light, flying towards the mine.

The mine is located about three hundred miles east of Stone City, nestled in the belly of a giant mountain. The mountain's surface is covered with silver veins, from which spatial spiritual energy seeps out.

The mine entrance was about ten zhang wide, and the inner walls were inlaid with silver crystals. The great demon dragon was already waiting at the entrance.

"We're here." The great dragon demon pointed into the cave. "The surface layer of the mine has been almost completely mined. The deeper veins are of higher quality, but the spatial spiritual energy is too concentrated, and we can't advance using ordinary methods. We need you to use a spatial array to stabilize the walls so we can continue mining inwards."

Li Yuan nodded and walked into the mine.

The surface of the mine is wide and flat, with signs of mining visible everywhere. The deeper you go, the narrower the passage becomes, and the denser the silver crystals on the walls become.

At a depth of about 500 zhang, the passage ended at a silver rock wall. The rock wall had an extremely high density of crystals, almost forming a continuous sheet.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the space suddenly increased.

After the Empty Condensation Meridian Guiding Technique was perfected, the auxiliary meridians suddenly inhaled, and a large amount of spatial spiritual energy surged into the body.

Li Yuan raised his hand.

The spatial cutting technique unleashed a perfectly rounded blade, slicing into the rock face. The silver crystal silently split open, revealing a clean cut. Rock fragments and crystalline debris fell to the ground, exposing a deeper vein of minerals beyond.

One cut, two cuts, three cuts.

The passage extends through the rock face.

After fifty paces, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

It was a natural cave, about sixty feet in diameter. The four walls were inlaid with silver crystals, several times denser than the surface. Silver light flowed slowly across the surface of the crystals, and the spatial spiritual energy was almost solidified.

In the corner of the cave, in three natural recesses, the walls of the space are extremely thin, and the light and shadow of another space can be faintly seen through the interior.

A naturally independent space.

Li Yuan stopped at the entrance of the cave. His senses were compressed to less than two thousand feet by the dense spatial spiritual energy, but the direction of the mineral veins, the distribution of crystals, the pressure points on the walls, and the location of natural fissures were still reflected in his sea of ​​consciousness.

The "Myriad Images Retrospective" records the structure of deep mine tunnels.

The great demon dragon followed behind, its eyes shining as it looked at the four walls of the cave.

"The quality is even higher than expected." He rubbed his paws together. "If this entire vein is mined, it will be enough for the Heavenly Dragon Palace to use for more than ten years."

Li Yuan remained silent, his gaze sweeping over the three natural, independent entrances to the space.

Spatial spiritual energy surged out from the entrance, washing the surrounding walls until they shimmered with silver light.

There's more deep inside the mine.

Li Yuan withdrew his gaze and took out the array diagram.