Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 272: Chapter 262: Main Spirit Vein

In the days after returning from Yunyang Market, Li Yuan went down into the mine once each day.

Sometimes, he would just sit cross-legged in the hollow cavity for an hour. Other times, he would slowly walk along a few of the branching tunnels, examining the backflows and nodes in greater detail.

The more stable the ore vein became, the more conspicuous the network of Spiritual Power hidden deeper within grew.

It was no longer just a vague outline that might or might not have been there.

It was real.

It was buried deep, obscured by something that prevented a full view, but he could already feel its immense size and weight. Compared to the branch of the Spirit Vein he had found in the underground cavern, this deeper network was far larger and more complete.

「Three more days passed.」 The Evil Vein’s perception had gradually expanded, and his senses finally became clear enough.

This time, Li Yuan didn’t rely solely on maps and intuition. He reviewed everything he had noted down before: the backflow of the Earth Vein, the locations of the severed branch veins, the direction of the ancient ruins, and the position of the remnant Spirit Vein branch from the underground cavern.

A path slowly began to form in his mind.

Li Yuan set out one night.

He alternated between using the Vein-Probing Art, his Divine Sense, and his Evil Vein perception. Whenever he came across what looked like a cave entrance, he would stop to confirm it again and again.

Finally, Li Yuan stopped at one such entrance.

Based on the abnormal backflow indicated by his Evil Vein and the results of the Vein-Probing Art, he finally confirmed that the entrance was here.

The first half of the route was similar to his previous trip to the underground cavern. But once he moved past the collapsed layer of rock and ventured deeper, the path changed.

Li Yuan felt his way inward for most of the night before finally stopping behind a low rock formation.

There was no path ahead.

At least, not on the surface.

Yet, according to his Evil Vein perception, the outline of the main Spirit Vein was right behind this wall, and much clearer than before.

Li Yuan crouched down, pressed his fingertips to the edge of the rock formation, and channeled his Vein-Probing Art into it bit by bit. A moment later, with a sweep of his hand, he used the Earth Transporting Skill to slice into an inconspicuous, loose section to the side.

Earth and rock slid away silently.

Behind it, a narrow crack was revealed, only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

The Spiritual Power was faintly seeping out from here.

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate. After suppressing his aura, he squeezed inside.

Beyond the narrow crack lay a subterranean space even deeper and quieter than the last cavern. It wasn’t very wide, resembling the flattened belly of a stone beast. Faint flickers of Spiritual Radiance occasionally flashed across the surrounding grayish-white stone walls. The deeper he went, the purer and thicker the Spiritual Power became.

After walking another few hundred feet, the space finally opened up before him.

Li Yuan stopped, his gaze narrowing slightly.

He saw the main vein.

It wasn’t the whole thing—just the exposed edge of a section of the main vein. But even this fragment was several times larger than the branch vein he had seen before. The Spiritual Qi no longer seeped out in fine threads; it was a heavy presence pressed between the layers of rock and earth, like a vast, silent, subterranean river.

This was a part of a large-scale Spirit Vein’s main body.

Instead of approaching immediately, Li Yuan first surveyed the surroundings.

Soon, he sensed that something was wrong.

The area around the main vein was not untouched.

The first anomaly was a few small branch veins splitting off from the main vein’s edge. These branches should have been pure with Spiritual Qi, yet the edges of two of them held extremely faint traces of Demonic Qi.

The Demonic Qi was faint and not recent, but it was definitely not natural.

’The Dark Abyss Association, or someone from the Demon Sect, has definitely been here.’

The second anomaly was more troublesome.

At several points where the branch veins connected to the main vein, there were hidden Restrictions.

They weren’t the obvious sort, laid bare for all to see; they were concealed within the rock strata and the flow of Spiritual Power. If Li Yuan’s Array Dao hadn’t reached the Great Success stage, and if he didn’t possess his Spirit Pattern analysis ability and a much clearer Divine Sense, he would have likely dismissed them as natural geological blockages.

But now, with a closer look, he could tell they were anything but natural.

These Restrictions were man-made, and their patterns and style were very similar to the old Restrictions deep within the ruins.

Li Yuan crouched down and carefully examined the edge of one of the branch veins for a moment, his expression gradually growing grim.

’This Restriction isn’t just for blocking the path.’

’To be more precise, it’s one-way.’

Someone from the outside who found the right path could follow certain branch veins to get in. But once they were inside, if they tried to use their senses to locate the main vein, the Restriction would sever both their perception and any Spiritual Power feedback.

’So you can enter the branch veins, but you can’t trace them back to the main vein.’

That explained a lot.

Li Yuan didn’t rush to dismantle them.

This wasn’t like the outer layers of the ruins, where he could dismantle things and slowly fix them. The main vein was right here, with branch veins, Restrictions, faults, and even deeper areas all tangled together. One wrong move, and there was no telling what kind of chain reaction he might trigger.

He continued to move slowly along the edge.

When he reached a slightly deeper position, Li Yuan saw the third abnormality.

Above the main vein, there were also Restrictions.

This layer of Restrictions was even more concealed and far larger. It wasn’t sealing the entrance to a specific branch vein; it was like a vast net cast over the entire section of the main vein. It was normally invisible, revealing only a hint of its pattern when he applied both his Divine Sense and Spirit Pattern analysis simultaneously.

’It’s not designed to block people... it’s meant to obscure, isolate, and even cut off any external probing of the main vein’s true flow and scale.’

Li Yuan stood in place, watching for a long time, not making any rash moves.

At this point, the situation had become perfectly clear.

The main vein of a large-scale Spirit Vein was right here.

’The Dark Abyss Association and the Demon Sect have at least reached the periphery, maybe even entered and exited through the branch veins a few times. But it’s clear they haven’t fully figured this place out yet. Otherwise, they wouldn’t still be buying equipment to probe for Spiritual Qi outside, nor would they still be repeatedly testing the Earth Vein and the deeper parts of the ruins.’

And the reason this main vein had remained hidden for so long was not just due to the complex terrain and geological faults, but also because it was already sealed by layer after layer of old Restrictions.

Li Yuan once again committed the positions of the surrounding branch veins and Restrictions to memory.

By combining his knowledge of the severed branch veins, the ore vein’s abnormal backflow, the direction of the ruins, and the location of the exposed main vein before him, the entire subterranean Spirit Vein finally coalesced into a complete picture within his perception.

[Conditions for Full Survey of Spirit Vein Met]

[Equippable Object Detected: Large-scale Spirit Vein (Complete)]

[Special Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Vein Nurturing (Purple)]

[Effect: Increases Spiritual Power quality by 50%. Enables passive Spiritual Power regeneration at 30% of the active recovery rate (stacks with active recovery). Enables automatic cultivation at 50% of your normal cultivation speed (stacks with normal cultivation).]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Break through to the Golden Core Realm while on the large-scale Spirit Vein, or reach the Nascent Soul Realm.]

[Note: Must be equipped in the Special Equipment slot.]

Li Yuan’s gaze sharpened.

’This means my little tour just now wasn’t just about seeing the main vein. According to the special equipment’s judgment, I’ve already mapped out enough critical parts of the entire Spirit Vein. At least, as far as the system panel is concerned, this counts as a complete survey.’

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