Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Li Yuan walked deeper along the corridor, his Dark Evil Insight’s perception network blanketing the entire ruin. The corridor was about ten zhang long, and the density of the Spirit Patterns on its walls gradually transitioned from the standard format of a stone chamber to a more densely packed and intricate structure.

The end of the corridor split into three forks, each leading to a separate stone chamber. The entrance to each stone chamber was covered by a Tier Two Restriction.

Li Yuan stopped before the first Restriction.

The permanent trait from Array Base Retrospection activated, and his perception seeped into the Restriction’s surface.

The Restriction’s structure shared the same origin as the ones he had seen at the Spirit Vein Core in Mozhou and the entrance to the Abyssal Grotto, but its tier had been deliberately suppressed. The arrangement of the Spirit Patterns, the connection logic of the nodes—they all possessed the fundamental framework of a Tier Three or even a High Tier Restriction, yet it was deliberately run on the energy density of a Tier Two.

It wasn’t that they were incapable of making it a higher tier—they simply couldn’t.

Li Yuan extended his perception into the stone chamber behind the Restriction.

Spatial power.

A dense spatial power continuously leaked from within the stone chamber, like a slowly breathing living creature. This energy was completely different from conventional Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi. It couldn’t be guided or constrained by the Array’s Spirit Patterns; instead, it would conflict with the complex, multi-layered energy circuits of a High Tier Restriction.

The higher the tier of the Restriction, the more complex the Spirit Pattern circuits, and the more intense the conflict with the spatial power would be. A Tier Three Restriction couldn’t operate stably at all in such a concentration of spatial power; its Spirit Pattern circuits would constantly deviate under the interference of the spatial field until they collapsed.

Li Yuan raised his right hand. Using the precise micro-spatial cutting of his perfected Void-Rending Slash, he severed the connections between three key nodes in the Restriction’s Spirit Patterns.

The Restriction dissipated without a sound.

The door to the first stone chamber slid open to both sides on its own.

The scene inside the stone chamber was unexpected.

It didn’t look like a laboratory or a treasure room, but more like a study. Stone shelves were embedded in three of the walls, neatly stacked with over a hundred jade slips and dozens of beast-hide Scrolls. A wide stone table stood in the center of the chamber. Carved onto its surface was an extremely complex master diagram of an Array. Although the Spirit Patterns were extinguished, the structure was complete.

The concentration of spatial power inside the chamber far exceeded that in the corridor. A very faint glimmer appeared on the surface of Li Yuan’s skin—the spatial power was creating a weak resonant reaction with the Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi in his body.

He walked to the stone table first and swept his Divine Sense over the Array’s master diagram on its surface.

The master diagram was exceptionally large, involving over three hundred Spirit Pattern nodes and more than forty main circuits. Judging by its structural characteristics, this was the complete design for a Tier Three Top Grade Array.

But the function of this Array was different from any known offensive, defensive, or auxiliary Array.

At the core of the master diagram were two nested rings. The outer ring was driven by Spiritual Power, the inner by Demonic Qi. Between the two rings were twelve connecting channels, densely packed with extremely fine conversion nodes.

An upgraded version of the Spirit Demon Transformation Array.

But its scale and precision far surpassed the crude Spirit Demon Transformation Array in the Spirit Vein Core region of Mozhou.

Li Yuan took the jade slips from the shelves one by one, quickly scanning their contents.

Most of the jade slips contained research notes. The handwriting was neat and concise, the phrasing rigorous—the typical work of a scholar. The notes’ content focused on a single theme: the fundamental fusion of Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi.

A core idea appeared repeatedly in the notes.

Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi were of the same origin at their most fundamental energy structure. If their common underlying structure could be found and activated, a true Spirit-Demon Unity could be achieved.

And what was being experimented with now in this stone chamber was using spatial power to fuse the two.

The latter half of the notes recorded a large amount of experimental data and failed cases. Over several decades, the Sect Master of the Profound Nether Sect had conducted hundreds of Spirit Demon fusion experiments, the vast majority ending in failure.

The handwriting on the last page was clearly much messier than the previous ones, as if written in a hurry.

“Spatial power makes the fusion and application of the two far more difficult than expected. I had intended to use minuscule spatial seals to continuously compress the Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi, but this forced compression instead causes even larger spatial rifts.”

The notes ended there.

Li Yuan put all the jade slips into his personal space and turned to the second stone chamber.

Within a three-chi radius, his trait perception triggered continuously.

Li Yuan inspected the items on the stone shelf one by one.

A completely black medicinal pill with extremely fine Spirit Patterns flowing across its surface.

[Equippable Item Detected: Spirit-Demon Condensing Essence Pill (Intact)]

[Trait Preview: Spirit-Demon Affinity (White)]

[Effect: Reduces meridian strain by 10% when Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi are circulated simultaneously.]

[Permanence Condition: Simultaneously cultivate one cycle of a Spiritual Power and a Demonic Qi Cultivation Technique (0/1)]

‘A white trait. The condition is extremely simple.’

Li Yuan equipped it on the spot, circulating one cycle of Spiritual Power and one cycle of Demonic Qi.

[Spirit-Demon Affinity (White) has become a permanent trait.]

The second item on the stone shelf was a fragment of a bronze mirror engraved with Spirit Patterns.

[Equippable Item Detected: Profound Nether Fragmented Mirror (Intact)]

[Trait Preview: Spatial Microsense (White)]

[Effect: Slightly increases perception accuracy of spatial fluctuations within a three-zhang radius.]

[Permanence Condition: Cast a spatial-type Magic once (0/1)]

‘A white trait.’ Li Yuan equipped it and took one step using the Teleportation Skill.

[Spatial Microsense (White) has become a permanent trait.]

The remaining items had no traits. After clearing out the second stone chamber, Li Yuan walked toward the third.

The Restriction on the third stone chamber was even more substantial than the previous two.

After the stone door slid open, a wave of spatial power so dense it had almost solidified washed over him.

The concentration of spatial power inside this chamber was several times that of the first two. The moment Li Yuan stepped into the chamber, the spatial resonance on his body’s surface became extremely intense. The faint glimmer on his skin transformed into a silver halo clearly visible to the naked eye.

The chamber was larger than the first two, about five zhang square. The Spirit Patterns on the four walls had been corroded beyond recognition by the spatial power, leaving only faint traces. In the center of the floor was a circular recess, about two chi in diameter and half a chi deep.

A stone rested in the recess.

The stone was about the size of a fist, irregularly shaped, and grayish-white, looking utterly unremarkable. But the spatial power was pouring out from this very stone in a constant stream.

What was more peculiar was that, besides the spatial power, two completely different types of energy remained within the stone.

Spiritual Power. Demonic Qi.

The three energies intertwined inside the stone, forming an extremely complex dynamic equilibrium.

Within a three-chi radius, his trait perception triggered.

Purple.

Li Yuan walked to the recess, squatted down, and slowly extended his right hand toward the stone.

He stopped when his fingertips were about an inch from the stone’s surface.

At this distance, his spatial perception caught a detail. The stone and the recess weren’t simply placed together; they were fixed to each other by a set of extremely precise spatial anchors.

The spatial power emerging from the stone spread out in all directions along the patterns at the bottom of the recess, maintaining the spatial stability of the entire chamber and even the whole ruin.

Touching or taking the stone would disrupt this system of anchors.

The moment the anchors broke, hundreds of years of accumulated spatial power within the stone would be violently released in a very short time, creating a spatial fluctuation of considerable range.

The energy signature of the fluctuation was extremely unique. Any Cultivator with a certain degree of sensitivity to spatial power could detect it from several li away.

‘The Golden Cores over at Skeleton Ridge are fighting. They might discover this.’

But Li Yuan didn’t stop.

‘With my Late-stage Golden Core Cultivation, supplemented by my comprehensive traits, even if it’s just a Low Grade Demon Pill, there’s nothing to fear even if someone detects the disturbance.’

He pressed his right hand onto the stone’s surface.

The panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Spirit Demon Source Stone (Intact)]

[Trait Preview: Spirit-Demon Void Containment (Purple)]

[Effect: Increases the fusion degree of Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi by 10%; increases the upper limit after fusion by 10%; increases the effect of spatial Magic by 30%. The deeper your mastery of space-related abilities, the more the fusion degree and upper limit will increase, up to a maximum of 30%.]

[Permanence Condition: Break through a major realm in a state of Spirit-Demon Unity; or complete a full Spirit-Demon Dual System Magic clash within a spatial rift.]

‘A purple trait.’

‘Its effects are similar to Spirit-Demon Homogeny, but on a completely different level. Spirit-Demon Homogeny provides mutual conversion and a moderate degree of fusion between Spiritual Power and Demonic Qi.’

‘Spirit-Demon Void Containment, on the other hand, further enhances the fusion degree and the post-fusion energy ceiling on top of that. Moreover, the increase in fusion degree is directly linked to the depth of one’s mastery over spatial power.’

‘The deeper the mastery of space-related matters, the more the fusion degree and upper limit will increase, up to a maximum of 30%.’

‘It can also enhance the effects of spatial Magic.’

‘He currently possesses a perfected Void-Rending Slash, a perfected Teleportation Skill, a permanent Teleportation Stone, a permanent Void-Aura Attendant, and the Nascent Soul perspective from the Profound Nether Bead. Among Golden Core Stage Cultivators, it would be almost impossible to find another with his level of mastery over spatial power.’

‘The permanence condition has two options, and satisfying either one is enough. Break through a major realm in a state of Spirit-Demon Unity, or complete a Spirit-Demon Dual System Magic clash within a spatial rift.’

‘The first condition points to shattering his core and re-condensing it, or breaking through to the Nascent Soul realm. The second condition points to the spatial rift right at the entrance of these ruins.’

Li Yuan’s fingers closed, and he pulled the Spirit Demon Source Stone from the recess.

The anchors broke.

The instant the stone left the recess, hundreds of years of accumulated spatial power spewed violently from the broken anchors. The entire stone chamber trembled violently at that moment. The remaining traces of Spirit Patterns on the walls completely shattered and dissipated in the spatial fluctuation. Several spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the floor, spreading out from the recess in all directions.

‘The spatial fluctuation is spreading outward. Perhaps those Golden Cores have already sensed it. I can’t perceive the outside world from within this space.’

Li Yuan left the third stone chamber.

He hurried back along the corridor to the first stone chamber at the entrance, sweeping the iron box on the stone table and the remaining jade slips and beast-hide Scrolls from the shelves into his personal space.

He returned to the front of the spatial rift.

The rift had shrunk a little more due to the spatial fluctuation from the Source Stone’s removal, but the part he had previously propped open with his Void-Rending Slash remained the width of two fists.

Teleportation Skill.

No wind-up. Instantaneous passage.

His feet landed on the other side of the rock formation.

Behind him, the spatial rift began to contract rapidly, having lost the continuous supply from the Source Stone.

In his passive perception, several auras were moving toward his direction from deep in the distant night sky.