Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

After returning to Nanyuan District from the seabed, Li Yuan inspected the three newly purchased small Spirit Veins one by one in his sea-facing stone chamber before absorbing them all.

The Water Element Spirit Vein had the greatest Spiritual Qi flow, and its quality was indeed excellent. The Mixed Spiritual Vein, with its jumble of attributes, wasn’t particularly useful but offered stability. The one skewed toward the Metal Element had the smallest flow, but it was better than nothing.

These three Spirit Veins, added to the three already in his body, brought his total to six portable Spirit Veins. His Spiritual Qi supply nearly doubled as a result.

The triangular Spirit Vein cycle within his body automatically restructured itself with the addition of the new veins, expanding into a more complex, web-like network. The six Spirit Veins now pulled on and resonated with one another, further purifying the Spiritual Qi. Both its concentration and the efficiency with which it could be called upon rose to a new level.

The strain on his body increased slightly, but it remained within the tolerance of his Late-stage Golden Core cultivation.

Continuing to search the ocean for Spirit Veins was no longer cost-effective. The process of scouring the seabed was simply too time-consuming.

From now on, if he needed more Spirit Veins, it would be more practical to purchase them through the proper channels.

Li Yuan decided not to leave Nanyuan District, but to enter seclusion right there.

He began by circulating the Profound Nether Killing Skill.

The six portable Spirit Veins provided a continuous supply of Spiritual Qi. Through an interconversion effect stemming from the common origin of demonic and spiritual energy, it was directly transformed into Demonic Qi and funneled into the Demon Qi Golden Core within his Dantian.

His cultivation efficiency reached an absurd level.

On the third day of his seclusion, the density of the ghostly light patterns on the surface of his Demon Qi Golden Core had visibly increased yet again.

The passive effects that consolidated his essence were working in tandem, and the solidity of his Golden Core slowly climbed. Although it was still a Low Grade core, the density of its internal crystal lattice was already approaching the threshold for Middle Grade.

「The ninth day of seclusion.」

An extremely deep hum emanated from the depths of his Dantian.

This was not the violent restructuring of a Golden Core breakthrough, but a far more subtle and contained transformation. At that instant, all the ghostly light patterns on the surface of the Demon Qi Golden Core lit up simultaneously. The gaps between them filled with an extremely thin film of dark purple light, making the entire surface of the core appear seamless and whole. It was now impossible to discern the individual patterns.

The circulation path for the Profound Nether Killing Skill completed its final, spontaneous optimization within his meridians. The flow of Demonic Qi no longer required conscious guidance; a perfect, self-sustaining cycle had formed between his Dantian and meridians. The Demonic Qi now ebbed and flowed as naturally as breathing.

[Profound Nether Killing Skill: Great Success → Completion]

Completion.

Cultivating a Tier Three Low Grade Demon Cultivator technique to Completion meant he had pushed his Demonic Qi cultivation method to the very limit of its current stage. Empowered by the completed Profound Nether Killing Skill, the purity and density of his Low Grade Golden Core were pushed to the absolute maximum allowed by its grade.

The dark purple film of light on the Golden Core’s surface seemed to flow faintly, like a thin shell of liquid metal. Though it was only Low Grade, the compression from the completed technique had pushed the actual quality of its Demonic Qi infinitely close to the threshold of Middle Grade.

But the changes didn’t stop there.

Li Yuan took a moment to feel the changes within his body before switching his cultivation focus to the Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill.

Four of his six portable Spirit Veins were of the Water Element. The great ocean lay just outside his sea-facing stone chamber, and the ambient energy from the undersea Spirit Veins created a natural training ground for water cultivators. His Water Spirit Essence trait increased the quality of his Water Spiritual Power by thirty percent, while Tidal Pressure increased its condensation speed by another ten percent.

He had previously cultivated the Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill to the level of proficiency, and was only a small amount of accumulation away from reaching Minor Achievement.

In this near-perfect environment for Water Element cultivation, that small gap was quickly closed.

「The eleventh day of seclusion.」

[Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill: Proficiency → Minor Achievement]

He continued to progress after reaching Minor Achievement, and by the twentieth day, he achieved Great Success.

[Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill: Minor Achievement → Great Success]

Great Success.

As the cultivation technique broke through, another notification popped up on his panel.

Sea-Essence Short Sword.

Permanence Condition: Tier Two Water Element Cultivation Technique at Great Success.

Condition met.

[Tide Forging Pattern (Green) has become a permanent entry.]

The phantom of the Sea-Essence Short Sword flashed for an instant in his equipment slot, then vanished, transforming into a green mote of light that merged with his body.

When refining artifacts with Water Element Spiritual Materials, the compatibility between the Artifact Embryo and the Spirit Pattern would be enhanced, and the finished product would possess a faint Water Element affinity. From this day forward, whenever he performed Artifact Refining on any Water Element Magical Artifact, the arrangement and activation of its Spirit Patterns would be smoother, and the final product’s quality would be consistently higher.

The moment the mote of light merged into his body, the notification on the panel didn’t disappear.

New information surfaced.

[Entry Fusion Detected]

[Water Spirit Essence (Green) + Tidal Pressure (Green) + Tide Forging Pattern (Green) + Water Vein Overview (Green) → Tidal Surge Unification (Blue)]

’Four into one.’

The four permanent Water Element entries lit up at once, transforming into four streams of multicolored light within his sea of consciousness that intertwined and wove together. The green streams of light spun faster and faster, compressing tighter and tighter, until they merged into a single entity with a silent tremor. Their color leaped from green to a deep, profound blue.

[Tidal Surge Unification (Blue) Effects: Increases Water Spiritual Power quality by fifty percent, increases condensation speed of Water Magic by twenty percent, enables sustainable replenishment of Spiritual Power in water, permanently increases compatibility for Artifact Refining with Water Element Spiritual Materials. Water Magic inflicts Water Erosion on hit.]

Li Yuan closed his eyes, sensing the earth-shattering changes within his body.

The quality of his Water Spiritual Power had increased from a thirty percent bonus to fifty percent; the extra twenty percent was a gain from the fusion process. The condensation speed of his Water Magic rose from ten percent to twenty percent. And the effect of replenishing Spiritual Power in water, which previously required him to be in an oceanic environment, now worked passively as long as any water was nearby.

The final effect was entirely new: Water Magic now inflicted Water Erosion on hit.

Unlike the Demonic Qi corrosion from the Ghostly Erosion Short Dagger, the mechanism behind Water Erosion was to continuously release Water Spiritual Power at the point of impact, disrupting the target’s own Spiritual Power from healing the wound.

When stacked with the meridian-freezing effects of his completed Ice Seal Skill and the Frozen Veins Seal, this double dose of continuous disruption would be utterly vile for any opponent he hit.

Ice to freeze the meridians; water to erode their Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and performed a full Grand Circulation.

Under the enhancement of Tidal Surge Unification, the Water Spiritual Power in his meridians reached an exceptionally high degree of purity. Combined with the efficiency of his Great Success-level Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill and the constant supply from his six portable Spirit Veins, his Water Element cultivation and combat prowess took an integrated leap forward.

With that, his seclusion came to an end.

Li Yuan pushed open the door to the stone chamber.

A sea breeze rushed to greet him, thick with the salty tang of the ocean. There were a few more merchant ships at the Nanyuan District docks now than before he had entered seclusion. Sailors bustled about on deck, loading cargo and making final preparations for the voyage to the upcoming trade fair.

He stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, facing the sea.

’The Profound Nether Killing Skill is at Completion, with the Demon Essence Incarnation providing its boons. The Cold Stream Spirit Fusion Skill is at Great Success, the Tide Forging Pattern has been made permanent, and four Water Element entries have fused into Tidal Surge Unification.’

’The gains from this seclusion have far exceeded my expectations.’

’My Teleportation Skill is at Great Success, just one step from Completion. Void-Rending Slash is already complete. I’m rapidly approaching the permanence condition for that purple entry from the Teleportation Stone.’

Li Yuan turned and walked toward the docks.

’Time to head back.’