Chapter 211 - 204: Entry Fusion
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion in the center of the stone chamber, slowly exhaling a breath of turbid air.
The turbid air carried a faint trace of cyan-white Spiritual Light, which floated two inches through the air before dissipating.
In the center of his Dantian, a core of light cyan, liquid Spiritual Power quietly rotated. The liquid Spiritual Power circulated through his meridians and returned to his Dantian, its speed several times faster than during the Qi Refining Stage.
Li Yuan closed his eyes, sensing the changes within his body.
The most direct change was the total amount of his Spiritual Power. At the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, the Spiritual Power in his Dantian had reached its gaseous limit, but compared to now, that amount was simply not worth mentioning.
The density of liquid Spiritual Power was several times that of its gaseous form, allowing a Dantian of the same size to hold many times more.
The carrying capacity of his meridians had also leaped to a new level. The pressure of liquid Spiritual Power flowing through them far exceeded that of its gaseous state, yet he felt no discomfort whatsoever.
The change in his Divine Soul was the most obvious.
The moment his Foundation Establishment succeeded, an extremely subtle power surged from his Dantian, following a special path straight to the point between his eyebrows.
His Divine Soul was washed over by this power, causing its outer wall to thicken by another layer. But the more crucial change was not in its thickness, but in its nature.
The way his Divine Soul perceived things had changed.
In the Qi Refining Stage, perceiving with the Divine Soul was like fumbling with one’s hands—he could only sense things within touching range, and the sensation was vague, limited, and required deliberate focus.
But now, things were different.
After Foundation Establishment, the strength of his Divine Soul had skyrocketed, and he had naturally awakened his Divine Sense.
Without any need for deliberate activation, his Divine Sense automatically spread outward, bringing everything within a radius of dozens of zhang into his perception.
The four walls of the stone chamber, the Array Foundation Stones embedded within them, the flow of Spiritual Power from the Spirit Gathering Array, the structure of the restriction’s Spirit Patterns behind the stone door—it was all laid bare before him.
It was far clearer than his Spiritual Sense Boost and Concealment Awareness combined.
Spiritual Sense Boost and Concealment Awareness were still active, but their effects were further magnified by his Divine Sense. His previous ability to only sense aura fluctuations and malice could now, when layered with Divine Sense, even distinguish the fine textures of those aura fluctuations.
Next was his lifespan.
Li Yuan could now perceive his own remaining lifespan.
The lifespan of someone in the Qi Refining Stage was capped at around one hundred and twenty years. Li Yuan was in his early twenties, meaning he had about a hundred years left.
After Foundation Establishment, his lifespan limit had reached two hundred and seventy years.
He could live for at least another two hundred and fifty years.
His permanent attribute, "Immutable Qi Blood," prevented his Qi Blood from decaying with age. Coupled with the massive increase in lifespan from Foundation Establishment, this meant his body would remain in its peak state for all the years to come.
Li Yuan opened his eyes. He raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, then relaxed it.
His sense of strength was a huge leap above what it was at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining. This wasn’t just due to the increase in Spiritual Power; the scouring of his physical body by liquid Spiritual Power during Foundation Establishment had also strengthened him to a degree. With the foundation of his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill at the Great Success level, combined with the scouring from Foundation Establishment, his physical fortitude had reached a new plateau.
Li Yuan turned his attention to the system panel.
A new line of text had appeared on the panel.
[New Function Unlocked: Attribute Fusion]
Li Yuan focused his thoughts, and a large amount of information appeared in his mind.
A moment later, Li Yuan came back to his senses and began to process the information he had received.
Only permanently acquired attributes could be used in a fusion. The resulting attribute would contain all the effects of the original attributes, and would either enhance them or add new functions.
Furthermore, fused attributes were automatically permanent, their grade might increase, and they could be fused again with other attributes.
Several groups of fusible attribute combinations immediately popped up on the panel, highlighted for his attention.
Evil Qi Affinity (Green), Evil Qi Body Tempering (White), Evil Qi Gathering (White).
Three Evil Qi-related attributes.
Qi Blood Self-Generation (White), Qi Blood Resurgence (White), Spinal Vitality (White).
Three Qi Blood recovery-type attributes.
Aura Obfuscation (White), Aura Concealment (Green).
Two aura concealment-type attributes.
Without hesitation, Li Yuan started with the first group: the three Evil Qi-related attributes.
Evil Qi Affinity, Evil Qi Body Tempering, and Evil Qi Gathering. These three attributes were a crucial part of his cultivation system, responsible for the collection, storage, and utilization of Evil Qi.
’Fuse.’
The panel flashed.
[Fusion Complete]
[Permanent Attribute Acquired: Evil Essence Symbiosis (Blue)]
[Evil Essence Symbiosis (Blue)]
[Effect: Greatly reduces the negative effects of Evil Qi; can convert impurities in the body into Evil Qi and store them; automatically gathers surrounding Evil Qi during cultivation; can actively absorb Evil Qi to temper the physical body and greatly strengthen it; Evil Qi can be temporarily converted into Spiritual Power for use.]
He could feel the change immediately.
The small amount of Evil Qi stored in his body became much more docile, and the sense of separation between it and his Spiritual Power mostly vanished. Evil Qi was no longer just fuel for tempering his body; it had become an energy reserve that could be interconverted with Spiritual Power.
Li Yuan tried converting a trace of Evil Qi into Spiritual Power.
The process was incredibly smooth. The Evil Qi circulated through his body once, and as it passed through his Dantian, it naturally transformed into a wisp of liquid Spiritual Power, merging into his Spiritual Power core.
The conversion efficiency wasn’t particularly high—about thirty percent of the Evil Qi could be converted into ten percent Spiritual Power. But its advantage lay in the widespread availability of Evil Qi.
Second group. ’Fuse.’
[Fusion Complete]
[Permanent Attribute Acquired: River of Qi Blood (Green)]
[River of Qi Blood (Green)]
[Effect: Greatly increases Qi Blood recovery speed; greatly accelerates Qi Blood enhancement speed; greatly accelerates the healing speed of external and internal injuries; when Qi Blood is abundant, the automatic overflow nourishes the surrounding meridians and organs, slowly strengthening the physical body.]
Third group. ’Fuse.’
[Fusion Complete]
[Permanent Attribute Acquired: Traceless Breath (Green)]
[Traceless Breath (Green)]
[Effect: Can greatly reduce and conceal one’s own aura, with the level being adjustable; has an extremely strong concealment effect against perception from those at the same or lower cultivation levels; reduces one’s presence when concealed, making it difficult to be noticed.]
All three fusions were complete.
The attribute list on the panel was now much more concise. The eight scattered attributes from before had become three, and the effect of each was a huge improvement over the originals.
Li Yuan scanned the entire attribute list on the panel, confirming that nothing was missed.
Then, he turned his attention to another matter.
’After my Foundation Establishment breakthrough, the permanent acquisition conditions for several attributes should have been met.’
First, "Element-Breaking Foundation Establishment," the attribute from the Breaking Element Pill.
[Permanent Acquisition Condition for Element-Breaking Foundation Establishment (Blue) has been met]
[Permanently Acquire?]
[Permanent Acquisition Successful]
[Element-Breaking Foundation Establishment (Blue) has become a permanent attribute]
[Item Consumed]
A Blue attribute, permanently acquired.
Its triple effect was now permanently locked in. The first effect—a thirty percent increase in the probability of a successful Foundation Establishment breakthrough—was now useless to him.
But the latter two effects were still useful.
A thirty percent reduction in the backlash from a failed breakthrough, without damaging his foundation, provided a safeguard for future breakthroughs.
And the second effect—making his Spiritual Power more refined and increasing its flow speed by fifty percent—was the most direct and immediate benefit.
Second, "Spiritual Sense Expansion."
Li Yuan took the Spirit Detecting Disc out of his storage bag.
The permanent acquisition condition for this attribute was to possess Divine Sense. Having awakened it naturally after Foundation Establishment, the condition was met.
[Permanent Acquisition Successful]
[Spiritual Sense Expansion (Green) has become a permanent attribute]
The range of his Divine Sense abruptly expanded. Its original range of dozens of zhang was pushed outward by nearly thirty to forty percent, to the point where he could clearly perceive the auras of the two Primordial Yang Sect disciples on guard duty in the alley outside his stone chamber.
Third, "Spiritual Power Advancement."
The permanent acquisition condition was to attempt a breakthrough into a major realm. Foundation Establishment was a major realm breakthrough, so the condition was met.
Equip, permanently acquire.
[Spiritual Power Advancement (Green) has become a permanent attribute]
The attribute’s effect was a twenty percent increase to the speed of his Spiritual Power’s circulation, recovery, and improvement. The flow of his liquid Spiritual Power through his meridians sped up once again.
Fourth, "Aura Amplification."
The permanent acquisition condition was to possess spiritual pressure. A Foundation Establishment Cultivator naturally possessed spiritual pressure, so the condition was met.
[Aura Amplification (White) has become a permanent attribute]
The attribute’s effect was the ability to actively increase his aura’s intensity by up to fifty percent. Paired with the concealment effect of "Traceless Breath," his control over contracting and expanding his aura reached a new level.
All four attributes had been made permanent.
Li Yuan turned his attention back to the panel.
Previously, the text had read: Permanently acquire two Blue-grade or higher attributes and reach the Foundation Establishment Stage to unlock the Attribute Fusion function.
Now, it had changed.
[Condition to be Met: Permanently acquire two Blue-grade or higher attributes (1/2)]
[Note: Attributes upgraded to Blue grade through fusion do not count toward this progress.]
[Function Unlocked Upon Completion: Expand Attribute Perception Function]
The cultivation requirement had disappeared, and the function to be unlocked was no longer the sixth equipment slot, but the "Expand Attribute Perception Function."
’Just one more Blue attribute to go.’
The permanent acquisition condition for "Soul Light Tempering" was to consume a Tier Two, Divine Soul Class Demon Beast Core or accumulate one hundred years of experience.
The condition for "All Rivers Return to the Sea" was to master two mutually conflicting cultivation techniques to the point of perfection, or to consume two mutually conflicting Tier Two pills at the same time.
The condition for "Aura Elimination" was to reduce his aura to the level of a mortal and live among mortals for one month without using any Spiritual Power.
The permanent acquisition conditions for the three Blue attributes were all difficult and would be hard to achieve in the short term.
’No need to dwell on it for now.’ Li Yuan dismissed the panel, stood up, and stretched his limbs.
The Spirit Gathering Array in the stone chamber was still running, and the Spiritual Qi concentration was slowly recovering. He had consumed too much Spiritual Qi during Foundation Establishment, and the Array needed time to replenish it.
The restriction on the stone door was still active, and its soundproofing effect was perfect.
Li Yuan sat down on the meditation cushion again and began to circulate the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.
Spiritual Power surged from his Dantian, following the path outlined by the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.
The path was completely different from that of the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
The Spirit-Introducing Skill’s Spiritual Power circulation path was one of gathering. Spiritual Qi flowed in from the outside world, converged in the Dantian via the meridians, and was then compressed, refined, and settled. The whole process was like pouring water into a container, pursuing quantity and density.
The Cyan Wood Longevity Skill’s path was cyclical. Spiritual Power started from the Dantian, flowed through the meridians to the extremities of his limbs, absorbed external Spiritual Qi at those points, and then returned to the Dantian, completing a grand cycle. During this cycle, the Spiritual Power was constantly infused with the properties of Wood Spiritual Power, and its quality slowly changed.
The first cycle felt clumsy, but thankfully, all the meridians in his body were open. Coupled with the boosts from his various attributes, the second cycle went much more smoothly.
As the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill circulated, an extremely gentle Wood Spiritual Power seeped into his meridians and organs. This was not a scouring, but a nourishment. Under the infusion of the Wood Spiritual Power, the walls of his meridians became more pliable.
A deeper change lay in his life force.
After cultivating for a few cycles, Li Yuan could feel the life force within him growing. This was not an increase at the level of his Qi Blood. It was something else, something more fundamental, more foundational.
It was as if his body’s rate of aging had slowed by another fraction.
Foundation Establishment itself had more than doubled his lifespan, and the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill further delayed his aging on top of that. The "Longevity" in the technique’s name was no empty boast; the core of this cultivation technique was to use Wood Spiritual Power to nourish life force, extend lifespan, and enhance recovery.
The permanent attribute "Immutable Qi Blood" prevented his Qi Blood from decaying with age, and this was now stacked with the continuous nourishment of his life force from the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill. Both worked in the same direction: one locked his Qi Blood in a state of non-decay, while the other extended his lifespan itself.
His "Spirit-Blood Dual Cultivation" attribute also activated. As the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill circulated, his Qi Blood automatically moved in sync with his Spiritual Power. The bonuses from "Spiritual Power Advancement" and "Element-Breaking Foundation Establishment" boosted the circulation efficiency. The "Cycle Acceleration" attribute caused the circulation speed to gradually increase the longer he cultivated.
"Pure Spiritual Power" automatically filtered out impurities from the Spiritual Qi, and "Spiritual Qi Convergence" expanded his absorption range. With multiple attributes stacked together, even though he had just started practicing the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill, its operational efficiency was already a huge step above that of an ordinary Foundation Establishment Cultivator’s technique of the same level.
Li Yuan continued to cultivate, one cycle after another.