Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Li Yuan stood up, calming the residual Spiritual Waves left over from absorbing the Inner Core.

After the Entry Perception enhancement was unlocked, a new line of text appeared at the bottom of the panel.

[Condition to unlock next feature: Make one purple quality entry permanent, or make five blue quality entries permanent (Current: 3/5)]

[Unlocked upon completion: Special Entry Equipment Slot ×1]

'Special entry... I wonder what's so special about it.'

Li Yuan shifted his gaze back to the conditions for unlocking the feature.

'A purple quality entry.'

Li Yuan had never seen this quality before. 'Gray, white, green, blue... and above that is purple.'

It was impossible to judge how rare purple entries were. But as the quality went from white to green and then to blue, the probability of one appearing dropped sharply. Purple would be even rarer.

'The other path is to make five blue entries permanent.'

'I already have three: Evil Essence Convergence, Essence-Shattering Foundation Establishment, and Soul Light Tempering.'

'Two more to go.'

'The only blue entries I have left are "All Rivers to the Sea" and "Aura Suppression."'

'"All Rivers to the Sea" requires mastering two mutually conflicting cultivation techniques or consuming two conflicting Tier Two pills at once. "Aura Suppression" requires lowering my aura to a mortal's level and living among mortals for a month without using any Spiritual Power.'

'Aura Suppression is achievable, but it would be a waste of a whole month.'

'I'll just keep it in mind for now. I'll decide after I see if I can find another blue entry.'

Li Yuan put away his storage pouch and headed down the main road toward Yunyang Market.

It was already evening by the time he returned to the market.

The crowd at the city gate was much smaller than it had been during the days of the Immortal Sect Assembly, but it was still busier than usual. Several new stalls had popped up on the streets, selling things like Low Tier Spirit Grass and ore fragments.

Li Yuan didn't go straight back to his courtyard, but instead walked north along the main street.

Now that his Entry Perception was enhanced, he could sense if an item had an entry within a three-foot radius. Before, he had to rely on his eyes when browsing the market; now, he just had to walk past things.

Li Yuan entered a shop and walked slowly along the shelves.

He focused his Divine Sense into a three-foot radius, coordinating it with the passive scan of his Entry Perception.

The items on the shelves flashed through his perception, one after another. Most triggered no reaction at all, just like ordinary objects.

As he reached the middle of the second row of shelves, an extremely faint fluctuation appeared in his perception.

'A white entry.'

A dusty-gray jade bottle sat in a corner of the shelf, next to a pile of identical empty bottles.

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the jade bottle.

"How much for this?"

The Shopkeeper, a middle-aged Loose Cultivator at the Mid-stage of Qi Refining, glanced up.

"A Spirit Ink Bottle? That batch was left on consignment. Old stuff. Two Spirit Stones apiece."

'Two Spirit Stones.'

"I'll take it."

Li Yuan placed the Spirit Stones on the counter and put the jade bottle in his storage pouch.

He entered a Magical Artifact Shop. A few Magical Artifacts hung on the innermost shelf. None were of particularly good quality, mostly ranging from Tier One Low Grade to Middle Grade.

Li Yuan's perception swept over each Magical Artifact. There were no fluctuations indicating an entry.

Just as he was about to leave, he felt a fluctuation from a wooden box on the bottom shelf.

'Green.'

Li Yuan squatted down and opened the wooden box.

Inside lay a rough, thumb-sized, dark yellow stone that looked completely unremarkable.

Li Yuan picked up the stone, and the fluctuation from the green entry grew clearer.

"How many Spirit Stones for this stone?"

The Shopkeeper glanced over and nodded. "A Spiritual Essence Stone. Five Spirit Stones."

With two items acquired, Li Yuan continued north along the main street, ducking into a few more shops. The Pill Shop, the Spirit Grass Shop, the Magical Artifact Shop—he visited them one by one.

Near the end of the main street's northern section, Li Yuan entered a jade slip shop.

The shop wasn't large. Two rows of wooden shelves were lined with all sorts of jade and bamboo slips. Most were copies of Low Tier Cultivation Techniques and Magic, a bewildering variety with prices ranging from tens to hundreds of Spirit Stones.

Li Yuan walked along the wooden shelves, his perception sweeping over every jade slip.

When he reached the end of the left-hand shelf, a clear fluctuation washed over him.

'Blue.'

Li Yuan stopped in his tracks.

'A blue entry.'

The fluctuation came from a corner of the bottommost shelf, where a dark gray jade slip lay half-buried under a messy pile of bamboo slips.

Li Yuan squatted down and pulled the jade slip out from the pile of bamboo slips.

The material of this jade slip was clearly different from the ordinary ones around it. It felt warm and smooth to the touch, its texture fine, its surface shimmering with a faint luster. The craftsmanship was exquisite, a cut above any other slip in the shop.

The surface of the slip was densely carved with characters. Their forms were strange, belonging to no script Li Yuan recognized.

Li Yuan turned the slip over. Both sides were covered in the same script, and he couldn't recognize a single character.

He stood up and took the jade slip to the counter.

"How much for this jade slip?"

The Shopkeeper was an old Cultivator in his fifties, at the Late-stage of Qi Refining. He looked up at the jade slip in Li Yuan's hand, his expression a bit strange.

"Ah, this one..."

He rubbed his fingers together.

"A traveling merchant left that here on consignment three years ago. The jade itself is high quality, you can tell it's no ordinary piece. But nobody recognizes the script carved on it."

He pulled a yellowed ledger from behind the counter and pointed to a record.

"We had several people try to identify it back then—experts in ancient scripts, researchers of Spirit Patterns—and none of them could make heads or tails of it. You can't even read the contents by infusing it with Divine Sense. It's like it's been sealed by some special method."

He closed the ledger.

"The jade itself is worth a bit, but since the contents are unreadable, it's only good as a decoration. It's been sitting here for three years, and no one's been interested."

"How many Spirit Stones?"

The Shopkeeper thought for a moment. "The jade is worth maybe thirty or forty Spirit Stones, but since it won't sell... if you want it, you can have it for forty."

'Forty Spirit Stones for a blue entry.'

"Deal."

Li Yuan placed the Spirit Stones on the counter and put the jade slip in his storage pouch.

The Shopkeeper took the Spirit Stones, his gaze lingering on Li Yuan for a second, but he didn't ask any questions.

Li Yuan left the jade slip shop, walked south along the main street, and returned to his rented courtyard.

He closed the courtyard gate.

Li Yuan sat at the stone table and took out the three items he had bought, laying them out in a row.

The dusty-gray jade bottle, the dark yellow stone, and the dark gray jade slip.

'First, the jade bottle.'

He placed his finger on the body of the bottle.

[Equippable item detected: Spirit Ink Bottle (Intact)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Soulstrike Sense (White) — When your Divine Soul is attacked, there is a chance to directly sense the attacker's position.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Cultivate continuously for twenty-four hours (0/24)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Do you wish to replace a current item?]

'A white entry. Soulstrike Sense.'

'It lets me sense an attacker's position when my Divine Soul is targeted.'

'The condition to make it permanent is to cultivate continuously for twenty-four hours—an entire day without stopping. With my current Spiritual Power reserves and stamina, that's not too difficult. I just need to find some time to do it all in one go.'

Li Yuan put the jade bottle aside and picked up the dark yellow stone.

[Equippable item detected: Spiritual Essence Stone (Intact)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Cultivation Technique Advancement (Green) — Increases the proficiency gain speed of all Cultivation Techniques by thirty percent.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Master one new Body Refining Technique or Cultivation Technique (0/1)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Do you wish to replace a current item?]

'A green entry. Cultivation Technique Advancement.'

'The condition to make it permanent is to master a new Body Refining Technique or Cultivation Technique. "New" means my existing techniques don't count; I have to learn one from scratch.'

'The condition isn't too demanding, but it will take time.'

Li Yuan put the stone down and picked up the last item: the dark gray jade slip.

He placed his finger on the surface of the jade slip.

The panel popped up. It had much more information than the last two items.

[Equippable item detected: Demon Essence Skill (Intact)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Demon Essence Incarnation (Blue)]

[Effect: Reduces the corrosive effect of Demonic Qi on the user. Demonic Qi can be completely absorbed without leaving a trace. Allows perception of nearby Demonic Qi; perception range increases with Divine Soul strength. Allows conversion of Spiritual Qi into Demonic Qi.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Master this demonic skill and absorb a total of twenty strands of Tier Two High Grade Demonic Qi (0/20)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Do you wish to replace a current item?]

'A blue entry.'

'Demon Essence Incarnation.'

'Four effects: reduces the corrosion of Demonic Qi, allows complete absorption of Demonic Qi without a trace, grants perception of Demonic Qi, and allows conversion of Spiritual Qi to Demonic Qi.'

Li Yuan turned the jade slip over and over, looking at the unrecognizable characters on it.

'A Demon Cultivator's technique.'

'The Shopkeeper at the jade slip shop said you can't read it even by infusing it with Divine Sense.'

'But my entry system can equip this jade slip. Maybe after I equip it, I'll be able to understand the technique directly.'

'The permanence condition has two parts: master the demonic skill and absorb a total of twenty strands of Tier Two High Grade Demonic Qi.'

'Neither condition is simple.'

'Mastering the demonic skill will take time, and Tier Two High Grade Demonic Qi isn't something you can find just lying around.'