Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan held the jade slip for the Guiyuan Longevity Skill in his hand.

Ownership had already been transferred when he bought it yesterday. The moment he touched it again, a complete information panel popped up.

[Detected equippable item: Guiyuan Longevity Skill (Complete)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Guiyuan Immortality (Blue)]

[Effect: Your strength is unaffected by the passage of your lifespan. Slightly enhances Essence, Qi, and Spirit. The closer you are to the end of your lifespan, the greater the enhancement, up to a maximum of 30%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Reach a total lifespan of 400 years.]

’A blue entry.’

Li Yuan’s gaze lingered on the effect description for a long time.

Your strength is unaffected by the passage of your lifespan.

At first glance, this effect seemed unremarkable, but upon closer thought, it was incredibly valuable.

When Cultivators reached their twilight years, their Qi Blood would wane, their Spiritual Power would be depleted, and their Divine Sense would scatter, causing their combat strength to slowly decline.

The closer they got to the limit of their lifespan, the more drastic the decline.

With this entry, no matter how old he got, his strength would remain constant.

The second part was even better. The closer he got to the end of his lifespan, the greater the enhancement, up to a maximum of thirty percent.

This meant the older he got, the stronger he would become. Other Cultivators merely struggled to hang on in their final years, but he would be thirty percent stronger than he was in his prime.

As for the permanence condition, it was to reach a total lifespan of four hundred years.

He currently had three hundred and eighty years, so he was still twenty years short.

It wasn’t a huge gap, but it was impossible to make up in a short time. He had already used a Lifespan Extension Pill of this type and couldn’t use it again.

Other lifespan-extending methods were either absurdly expensive or impossible to find.

However, one’s remaining lifespan would double and a fixed amount would be added upon reaching Core Formation, so he would definitely be able to cross the four-hundred-year threshold then.

Li Yuan unequipped his Vein Hiding and Breath Concealment and equipped the Guiyuan Longevity Skill.

’Equip.’

[Equipped: Guiyuan Longevity Skill (Complete)]

[Guiyuan Immortality (Blue) is now active.]

[Guiyuan Immortality (Blue) Permanence Condition: Reach a total lifespan of 400 years (Current: 380/400)]

The instant the entry took effect, his internal Spiritual Power, Qi Blood, and Divine Sense all underwent an extremely subtle change. The change wasn’t intense or abrupt; it was more like a layer of extremely thin lubricant seeping into the gaps between the workings of his essence, qi, and spirit, increasing the coordination of the entire system by a fraction.

It was faint, but it was definitely there.

Li Yuan stretched his limbs, sensing the state of his body.

There was no obvious change in his combat strength. He was still far from the end of his lifespan, so only the faintest trace of the thirty percent maximum enhancement had manifested.

’But this is just the beginning.’

For the next few days, Li Yuan cultivated the Guiyuan Longevity Skill while also consuming Condensing Evil Pills...

That afternoon, Li Yuan finished his routine cultivation in the cavern and returned to the surface.

Just as he stepped into the stone house, his Dark Evil Insight’s sensory web once again captured that familiar pulse of Demonic Qi.

’The mole is sending another message.’

Li Yuan closed his eyes, focusing all his perception on that faint thread of Demonic Qi.

This time, the pulses lasted longer than before, carrying more information.

As he received it, he simultaneously translated it in his mind, cross-referencing it with the Demonic Qi code library he had already mastered.

The gist of the intelligence gradually became clear.

The Dark Abyss Association was demanding the continued collection of specific materials, in quantities greater than last time. At the same time, the intelligence mentioned a handover point, requesting that the collected materials be sent there.

The location’s description was still vague, using the Dark Abyss Association’s internal code names. However, after Li Yuan compared the directional information within the code name with the locations from the fragmented map he had previously obtained from the disciple’s log, he found that they roughly matched.

One of the points marked on the fragmented map was in that direction.

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate.

After nightfall, with his triple-layered concealment fully active, he silently left the market and headed straight for the location marked on the fragmented map.

「Four hours later.」

Deep within the Ghost Mist Forest lay a low-lying area covered with dead vines and shrubs.

Li Yuan hid in the canopy of an ancient tree a thousand feet away, pushing the passive perception of his Dark Evil Insight to its limit and compressing his own aura until it was nearly nonexistent.

At the edge of the low-lying area, two figures emerged from the northern treeline, one after the other.

The one in the lead was a Demon Cultivator in a black robe, his aura around the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. The person following behind was completely wrapped in a cloak, but the Spiritual Wave emanating from him was extremely familiar.

It wasn’t Demonic Qi, but pure Spiritual Qi.

Moreover, the way his spiritual power circulated showed the clear characteristics of a Primordial Yang Sect Cultivation Technique.

Li Yuan’s pupils contracted slightly.

’Someone from the Primordial Yang Sect.’

The two met in the center of the low-lying area. The cloaked Cultivator took out a storage pouch from his robes and handed it to the black-robed Demon Cultivator. The Demon Cultivator took it, opened it for a quick inspection, and nodded. He then pulled a few Spirit Stones from his own storage pouch and tossed them to the other man.

The entire exchange was brief and efficient, with no unnecessary conversation.

Li Yuan’s attention was locked tightly on the cloaked Cultivator.

The man’s Spiritual Wave was at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment, and his aura’s characteristics were completely different from the mole he had sensed in the ruins previously.

’It’s not the same person.’

’There’s more than one person within the Primordial Yang Sect trading with Demon Cultivators.’

After the exchange was complete, the cloaked Cultivator turned and disappeared into the northern treeline. Li Yuan didn’t follow him, instead locking his focus onto the two Demon Cultivators.

Carrying the materials, the two Demon Cultivators moved quickly to the southeast along an animal trail through the forest.

Li Yuan shadowed them from about a mile away.

After traveling for over fifty li, the pair stopped in front of a raised stone knoll.

The lead Demon Cultivator took out a Token from his robes and walked to a moss-covered rock face on the north side of the knoll.

’The same method.’

He pressed the Token against the surface of the rock wall, and a spatial fluctuation flashed. The two Demon Cultivators walked into the rock face one after the other and vanished.

Li Yuan waited in the distant treetop for the time it takes an incense stick to burn. Only after confirming that no one else was coming or going did he silently land on the ground.

He walked to the north side of the stone knoll and stopped three paces away.

His spatial sense, enhanced by the Teleportation Stone, swept over the rock face. The spatial ripples had completely smoothed out, leaving it indistinguishable from ordinary rock.

He crouched down, left a hidden mark on the ground, and then precisely measured the knoll’s position relative to the surrounding landmarks.

After returning to his stone house, Li Yuan took out the jade slip where he had recorded the locations from the fragmented map and added the newly discovered vanishing point from that night.

Two vanishing points.

The first was the cliff face in the valley he had discovered several days ago while tailing a Demon Cultivator, which corresponded to a point on the fragmented map.

The second was the stone knoll he found tonight, which was not on the fragmented map.

’A new node.’

Li Yuan put the jade slip away, sat down at the table, and took out the last Condensing Evil Pill from his storage pouch.

The fifteenth one.

The pill dissolved in his mouth, its cool medicinal power spreading through his meridians and creating one last resonance with the Evil Qi deep within his Dantian.

A panel popped up.

[Permanence Condition for Condensed Evil Heart-Wall (Green) has been met.]

[Condensed Evil Heart-Wall (Green) has become a permanent entry.]

In his equipment panel, the phantom image of the Condensing Evil Pill instantly vanished, freeing up a slot.

The moment the entry became permanent, the mass of settled Evil Qi deep in his Dantian underwent a fundamental transformation. The condensing effect that had previously required the aid of the Condensing Evil Pill to maintain was now completely internalized, becoming a part of him. The flow of Evil Qi through his meridians became perfectly natural, without the slightest hint of sluggishness.

Li Yuan formed an Evil Qi Cone in his palm.

Its formation speed was a full twenty percent faster than before it became permanent, and the density and sharpness of the Evil Qi had also noticeably improved.

More importantly, his state of mind while cultivating Evil Magic became extremely stable.

After reaching Great Success in the Demon Essence Skill, he had always needed to deliberately suppress the Demonic Qi’s corrosion of his mind every time he circulated it. But now, that corrosive feeling had all but vanished. The Evil Qi in his body moved as if it were an extension of his own limbs, with no more risk of backlash.

Li Yuan dispersed the Evil Qi in his palm and pulled up his equipment panel.

’No rush to fill the empty slot for now.’

He sat cross-legged on his rush cushion, closed his eyes, and began to sort through the information he had gathered that night.

There were at least two people within the Primordial Yang Sect trading with the Dark Abyss Association. One was the mole hiding in the market, responsible for passing on intelligence and small amounts of materials. The other was the Foundation Establishment Cultivator he had seen with his own eyes tonight, who conducted a face-to-face materials exchange directly with a Demon Cultivator.

It was unclear if the two were connected.

But one thing was certain: the Dark Abyss Association’s infiltration of this area ran deeper than he had previously estimated.