Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

[New Feature: Gray entries can now be made permanent directly, without needing to complete their associated tasks.]

Li Yuan glanced at these two new rules. He needed to make five purple entries permanent to unlock new features. He had only completed two so far; there was still a long way to go.

The ability to make gray entries permanent directly was quite useful, but he didn’t have any new items with gray entries on hand at the moment.

He withdrew his attention and checked the status of his current equipment slots.

He had five normal equipment slots, three of which were currently occupied: the Three-in-One Bead, the Teleportation Stone, and the Altar of Creation.

His two special equipment slots were both empty.

Li Yuan’s gaze lingered on the Altar of Creation for a moment.

The condition to make the Altar of Creation permanent was to successfully undergo Core Formation on a Core Formation platform. He had indeed succeeded, but the physical platform had disappeared into his equipment slot upon being equipped. As a result, no physical Core Formation platform was present during the process.

The condition was not judged as met. It was a frustratingly tricky requirement for permanization.

Li Yuan took a deep breath and pulled his attention away from the panel.

Li Yuan looked inward at his Dantian. A dark silver, shuttle-shaped embryo lay quietly within it.

After his breakthrough to the Golden Core, several new, extremely fine patterns had appeared on its dark silver surface. Deep within, a faint golden luster seemed to flow.

The embryo was still being nourished by his Golden Core, its quality slowly improving, though the process was extremely slow. At his current Cultivation in the Early-stage Golden Core, it would take a long period of continuous nurturing to push this embryo from Tier Two to the threshold of Tier Three.

’But the direction is correct. The higher my Cultivation and the purer my Spiritual Power, the higher the quality of the energy fed back into the Magical Artifact. Once I shatter and reform my core in the future, creating a Top-grade Golden Core of Spiritual Power, this embryo’s growth rate will reach another level.’

Having sorted out his thoughts, Li Yuan took out the white jade box containing the Origin Condensing Grass from the depths of his storage bag.

He opened the lid, and the fresh scent of the Tier Three Low Grade Spirit Medicine wafted out once more. He held the Origin Condensing Grass in his hand, and the panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Origin Condensing Grass (Intact)]

[Equipment Entry Preview: Three Origins Convergence (Blue)]

[Effect: Increases the degree of fusion between Essence, Qi, and Spirit; increases Essence, Qi, and Spirit by 10% each.]

[Permanization Condition Preview: Lifespan must reach 400 years when breaking through a major realm.]

A blue entry. It increased Essence, Qi, and Spirit by 10% each, while also enhancing their degree of fusion.

The permanization condition was to have a lifespan of 400 years when breaking through a major realm. His current lifespan already exceeded 800 years, but the condition was locked to the specific moment of the breakthrough. He hadn’t equipped the Origin Condensing Grass during his Core Formation, so he had missed that window.

However, shattering and reforming the core would also be considered breaking through a major realm. By then, his lifespan would far exceed 400 years, so the condition would naturally be met.

"Equip."

[Equipped: Origin Condensing Grass (Intact)]

[Three Origins Convergence (Blue) is now in effect.]

A phantom image of the Origin Condensing Grass faded into an equipment slot.

The instant it took effect, a gentle yet incredibly sustained power spread from the depths of his Dantian throughout his body. The three aspects of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, already highly coordinated by the Golden Core, were now brought even closer together.

Although a 10% increase to Essence, Qi, and Spirit didn’t sound like an exaggerated number, when applied to the foundation of the Golden Core Stage, the actual boost was quite significant. The condensation speed of his Divine Sense quickened slightly, the circulation of his Qi Blood became smoother, and the rotation of the Golden Core within his Dantian stabilized a bit.

Li Yuan then took a pair of dark cyan, snake-scale bracers from his storage bag.

[Equippable Item Detected: Snake-Scale Bracers (Intact)]

[Equipment Entry Preview: Protection (Green)]

[Effect: Automatically reduces damage taken by 10% when attacked.]

[Permanization Condition Preview: Withstand a full-power attack from a Tier Two Magical Artifact using only your physical body and take no damage (0/1).]

It was a green entry, providing a passive 10% damage reduction. To make it permanent, he’d need to create an opportunity in a real fight.

"Equip."

[Equipped: Snake-Scale Bracers (Intact)]

[Protection (Green) is now in effect.]

A phantom image of the bracers faded into an equipment slot. A faint, cushioning sensation appeared on the surface of his body. It wasn’t a shield, but a deeper, passive shock-absorption mechanism that worked between his muscles and bones.

After adjusting his equipment slots, Li Yuan closed his eyes and released his Divine Sense outward.

The world as perceived in the Early-stage Golden Core was completely different from that of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

In the Golden Core Stage, the range of his Divine Sense had tripled. The sensory net, already vast at Foundation Establishment Perfection, was now like a fishing net stretched several times its size, spreading rapidly in every direction beneath Mozhou.

His permanent blue entry, Dark Evil Insight, had also undergone a qualitative change. Its perceptual accuracy and range doubled, and its sensitivity to fluctuations in Demonic Qi rose to an entirely new level.

In the Foundation Establishment Stage, his perception of this large Spirit Vein had been limited to the direction of its main trunk and its rough scale. But now, the entire vista of the Spirit Vein unfolded clearly within his Divine Sense.

The main trunk of the Spirit Vein extended from beneath his feet into the greater depths, its scale far more massive than he had previously estimated. Countless tributaries spread out in all directions like tree roots, tightly interwoven with the surrounding geological structures.

But what truly caught his attention was the end of the Spirit Vein’s main trunk.

The main trunk did not dissipate naturally deep within the earth. Instead, it converged into an extremely dense node, pointing directly toward an unknown area shrouded in layers of seals. The aura of these seals was ancient and profound, stemming from the same source as the Restrictions he had sensed in the Profound Nether Sub-Palace.

It pointed toward the former location of the remnants.

Li Yuan committed this discovery to memory and did not probe any deeper. The strength of the seals far exceeded what he could currently handle; a forced investigation would only alert the enemy.

He stood up and walked to the edge of the nine Spirit Demon Transformation Arrays.

The Arrays were still running, continuously drawing Spiritual Qi from the Spirit Vein’s vents and converting it. His Core Formation was complete; there was no need to continue draining the Spirit Vein.

Li Yuan cut off the Spiritual Power supply to the nine Arrays one by one. The light on the Array Patterns gradually dimmed and finally went out completely. He did not dismantle the Arrays themselves, but simply sealed them up in case they were needed again in the future.

He then collected the remaining materials scattered on the ground into his storage bag and cast the Earth Escape Technique to ascend.

After passing through a sixteen-hundred-foot-thick layer of solid rock, Li Yuan returned to the Teleportation Stone chamber beneath the Stone Wilderness.

Twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones were embedded into the stone platform’s Energy Slots. A white light flared, and space distorted.

When he landed, the damp, cold air characteristic of a limestone plateau washed over him.

Liangzhou.

After returning to his stone house in the Mist Forest Marketplace, Li Yuan sealed the door and windows and fully activated the sound-insulating array.

He sat down at his desk and began to map out his next steps for Core Formation.

’This Middle Grade Demon Qi Golden Core in my body is a product of the Altar of Creation’s increased difficulty. Although its quality dropped by a grade, its existence is a means to an end, not the end itself.’

’The core value of the Altar of Creation is that after one successful Core Formation, you can perform it a second time. And now that the Demon Pill Creation is permanent, the ability to shatter and reform my core is ingrained in me. When I shatter it, the entry will ensure the process is controllable, preventing the complete destruction of my Dantian. Without this safeguard, no Cultivator would ever dare to voluntarily shatter their own Golden Core.’

’The Golden Core is the source of one’s Essence, Qi, and Spirit; shattering it is no different from suicide.’

’The path forward is clear.’

’First, I’ll shatter the Demon Qi Golden Core, then use Spiritual Power to form a new one. When I form a core with Spiritual Power, there won’t be a difficulty penalty from the Altar of Creation. Relying on my own foundation, I’ll go all-out to forge a Top-grade Golden Core.’

’As for the Double Pill Fusion Method researched by the Profound Nether Sect’s Sect Master, that’s just a possibility for now.’

’That’s why I must form a Top-grade Golden Core of Spiritual Power. That way, I won’t have to pin my hopes on the Double Pill Fusion Method, and my future will be far more expansive.’