Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

At the center of the stone platform floated a fist-sized Jade Bead.

The Jade Bead was milky white, with a radiant light circulating within, exuding a gentle warmth. But upon closer inspection, its surface bore several extremely fine cracks, like the crazing on porcelain.

The Array on the stone platform was doing two things: first, it used the remaining Array Patterns to continuously channel energy back into the Jade Bead, barely preventing its internal structure from deteriorating further. Second, it drew a tiny amount of power from the Jade Bead to maintain the entire mist array’s minimal operation.

Occasionally, a wisp of grayish-white mist would still escape from the gaps in the Array Patterns.

This was not a truly self-sufficient cycle. It was more like a damaged system forced into a state of barely clinging to life after its external power supply was severed. The Jade Bead was still sustaining the Array, and the Array was doing its best to replenish the Jade Bead, but the replenishment fell far short of the consumption. That was why the cracks on the bead’s surface persisted.

The two Array Masters walked up to the stone platform, each carefully observing the structure of the Array Patterns from a different angle.

The elder Array Master pondered for a moment before speaking.

"We can’t break the Array by force."

The younger Array Master nodded, adding, "The cracks on the Jade Bead’s surface indicate a loss in its internal Spiritual Power circulation. The bead is only maintaining its current state thanks to this Array continuously repairing it. If we break the Array too quickly, the Jade Bead will lose its external energy support, and its internal Spiritual Power circulation will collapse in an instant. The cracks will spread rapidly, and the entire bead will shatter."

"We must dismantle it slowly," the elder Array Master concluded. "Start from the perimeter, peeling it away layer by layer, while simultaneously using our own Spiritual Power to replace the Array in sustaining the Jade Bead. This process can’t be rushed. We must proceed one layer at a time."

He turned his head to look at the Celestial Peak Sect disciple leading the team.

"Go back and report to the Master. We’ll need more array materials and at least two more Array Masters to work in shifts. At the current rate, it will take at least fifteen to twenty days to retrieve the Jade Bead completely."

Just then, a series of alarms popped up in Li Yuan’s perception net.

On the outskirts of the Abyssal Rift Valley, the three monitoring array nodes he had previously set up were triggered almost simultaneously.

Eastern node: An extremely strong Spiritual Power fluctuation was rapidly approaching the rift valley, its speed far exceeding the limit of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator. Golden Core Level. The aura’s characteristics matched the Spiritual Power Attribute of a Primordial Yang Sect disciple.

Southern node: Another equally powerful aura approached from the opposite direction. This aura was sinister and potent, roiling with Demonic Qi. The pressure of a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator radiated in all directions, completely unconcealed.

Evil Slaying Sect. Blood Slaughter Zhenren.

The Golden Core Cultivators from two directions arrived almost simultaneously.

Then, a third change occurred.

The frequency of the Spiritual Power pulses at the bottom of the valley suddenly spiked.

The pulse interval he had previously recorded was about once every hundred breaths. After the stone gate was opened, the operational state of the Array inside the Sub-Palace changed. The channel for Spiritual Power exchange between the Jade Bead and the outside world was no longer completely sealed, and a trace amount of energy began to leak out.

The pulse frequency surged from once every hundred breaths to once every thirty-odd breaths, almost three times the original rate.

To the Demon Beasts in the heart of the Ghost Mist Forest, this sudden change was like a clap of thunder. A chorus of beastly roars rose and fell in the distance, and the auras of the Tier Two Demon Beasts became even more frenzied.

But the Demon Beasts’ reaction wasn’t the point.

The point was that the two Golden Core Cultivators had undoubtedly also sensed this pulse shift.

They were here.

A violent tremor came from the direction of the underground Sub-Palace’s entrance.

A sudden explosion boomed from the direction of the passage, and rubble rained down from the ceiling. The entire underground space shook violently, and dust cascaded from the dome.

An incredibly potent tide of Demonic Qi surged from the passage, flooding the grand hall like a flash flood.

Blood Slaughter Zhenren had arrived.

The Demonic Qi pressure from the Late-stage Golden Core Cultivator swept across the hall. The faces of all the Foundation Establishment Cultivators present paled simultaneously. Several of them felt their legs go weak, and they stumbled back a few steps involuntarily.

"The Defensive Array is activating!" the elder Array Master roared.

At the passage entrance, the remnant Defensive Arrays on either side of the stone gate flared to life. Several dark-red barriers of Spiritual Power shot out from the walls, managing to block the mouth of the passage just in time.

BOOM!

The shockwave of Demonic Qi slammed into the Spiritual Power barriers, which instantly fractured. But the Array’s designer was, after all, an Array Master of the Profound Nether Sect. Even after centuries of decay, its remaining defensive power was still considerable. Though the barriers cracked, they didn’t shatter, barely holding the torrent of Demonic Qi outside the hall.

Immediately after, a second aura surged from deeper within the passage.

Spiritual Power Attribute. Golden Core Level. Primordial Yang Sect.

The Early-stage Golden Core elder from the Primordial Yang Sect had arrived as well. His aura was far less blatant than Blood Slaughter Zhenren’s, but his cultivation was still at the Golden Core Level, his Spiritual Power fluctuations stable and profound.

A third aura pressed down from above.

Xuan Pu Master’s Late-stage Golden Core pressure descended like an invisible mountain, blanketing the entire underground region from high above the rift valley.

Three Golden Core Level auras collided, intertwined, and faced off at the entrance to the underground Sub-Palace.

Outside the Spiritual Power barriers, three figures appeared one after another in the passage.

Xuan Pu Master stood at the forefront. His grayish-white Daoist robes were dusted with a few specks of rubble, his expression placid.

The Early-stage Golden Core elder from the Primordial Yang Sect stood behind him and to the right, his face tense. His lips moved slightly, as if he were communicating with someone further back via sound transmission.

Blood Slaughter Zhenren stood at the other end of the passage.

He was burly, at least a head taller than an average person. A mane of straw-colored hair hung loosely over his shoulders. His facial features were gaunt and sunken, his eyes a deep, dark red with a bloody light swirling faintly in their depths. His entire body reeked with the thick stench of blood, and Demonic Qi churned across his skin like a living black flame.