Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 273: Chapter 263: Spirit Vein Restriction

It was quiet deep within the subterranean karst layer.

Between the grayish-white stone walls, the Spiritual Radiance seeping from the edge of the main vein was like an extremely faint mist, flowing slowly along the ground. Li Yuan stood his ground, not moving immediately, and scanned his surroundings once more.

After confirming there were no issues, Li Yuan calmed his mind and summoned the panel.

In the special equipment slot, the Evil Vein was still there.

He hadn’t unequipped this thing ever since he got it.

The absorption of Evil Qi, the nurturing of his aptitude, the circulation of the ore vein—many changes had been built up bit by bit because of it.

Without hesitation, Li Yuan raised his hand and confirmed.

[Special Equipment Unequipped: Evil Vein]

The special equipment slot was suddenly empty.

Immediately after, Li Yuan equipped the large-scale Spirit Vein.

[Special Equipment Equipped: Large-Scale Spirit Vein]

[Spirit Vein Nourishment (Purple) is now in effect.]

The moment the panel faded, the changes came all at once.

The first thing to react was his Dantian.

The liquid Spiritual Power settled within his Dantian trembled slightly, as if it had been passed through a filter.

It didn’t surge or rush wildly. Instead, that peculiar sense of stagnation that had always been present was forcefully washed away, becoming much fainter.

The Spiritual Power was still his own, but its quality was now much purer, and it flowed more smoothly and stably.

The second change followed right after.

Before Li Yuan even had a chance to circulate his techniques, his Spiritual Power began to regenerate on its own. The speed wasn’t fast, but the effect was clear. It was as if a stable channel of reflux had suddenly appeared between his Dantian and his meridians; even when he stood still, his depleted Spiritual Power was slowly being replenished.

The third change was the most subtle, yet also the most bizarre.

The edge of his sea of consciousness stirred, as if an extremely faint power had begun to circulate on its own along a familiar path.

It wasn’t a disturbance to his Divine Soul, much less an external invasion. It was as if someone had taken over his cultivation for him—quiet, slow, but constantly in motion.

Li Yuan stood in place for several breaths before opening his eyes again.

He didn’t waste time on idle speculation. His Divine Sense immediately unfurled, extending outwards along the main vein and into the surrounding rock strata.

In the next moment, the world in his perception changed dramatically.

If before he was piecing together a puzzle bit by bit using his vein-prospecting technique, Divine Sense, and existing judgments, it was now as if the entire picture had lit up at once.

As long as it was within the Spirit Vein’s coverage, all Spiritual Power fluctuations were far clearer.

The paths of the several branch veins underground, which one turned behind a fault line, which one veered toward the ruins—everything was crystal clear.

The cross-sections of the surrounding rock layers were no longer just blurry outlines.

He could distinguish at a glance where there was a natural collapse, where it seemed to have been scoured by ancient Spiritual Power, and where it was interspersed with rock layers richer in Spiritual Qi.

Further away, the familiar reflux of Evil Qi from the direction of the ore vein also came into his perception.

That was the reflux trajectory formed by the long-term operation of the Evil Ore Cultivation Array and the entire Evil Vein. Now, even from so far away, the Spirit Vein’s perception could still capture it clearly.

There was something in the direction of the ruins as well.

It wasn’t a complete Array, but some residual fluctuations. It was like the lingering traces left after an old Restriction had been dismantled, or like circuits in the deeper layers that had yet to fully dissipate. The fluctuation was hidden behind a deeper layer of rock, normally hard to pinpoint, but now it was as if he could see its shadow through a translucent stone wall.

A hundred zhang away, a faint wisp of demonic qi suddenly flashed.

Li Yuan’s Divine Sense followed it, and he saw a small Demon Beast dart through a crevice in the stone wall, vanishing in a flick of its tail.

At the same time, a more stable, humanoid aura flitted past from another direction.

A hundred zhang away, a Cultivator was passing by.

The person was clearly just passing through a fork in the outer tunnels and hadn’t truly reached the main vein. Yet under the perception of the Spirit Vein, the trajectory of their aura was still clearly revealed.

Li Yuan remained motionless, but his gaze sharpened slightly.

He continued to follow the main vein upwards with his perception.

Soon, the layer of Restriction he had noticed before appeared again. Only this time, it was much clearer than before.

The Restriction wasn’t just placed on a single section of rock. Instead, it followed the path of the main vein above, spreading out like a thin net, and ultimately disappearing in the direction of the ruins.

Li Yuan observed for a moment and came to a conclusion.

’Above this Restriction, it most likely leads somewhere.’

’Based on the location, that place should be the deep ruins.’

’It’s not completely confirmed, but the direction is more or less correct. The main vein, the Restriction, the deep ruins—there’s clearly a connection between the three.’

Li Yuan slowly exhaled.

At this point, a trade-off presented itself.

There was only one special equipment slot.

The Evil Vein couldn’t be equipped at the same time as the large-scale Spirit Vein, so he could only choose one.

’There was no question which one to choose.’

’For now, I’ll use the large-scale Spirit Vein for cultivation.’

’As for the Evil Ore, the real-world cultivation can continue as usual. There’s no conflict.’

With his mind made up, Li Yuan used the Spirit Vein’s perception to carefully inspect the area around the main vein once more.

This time, many things he had only vaguely understood finally revealed their secrets.

The layers of Restriction on the periphery of the main vein were indeed used to lock it.

They didn’t simply seal it off, but rather concealed the true core of the main vein deeper within, making it difficult for outside perception to follow the branch veins all the way in.

What was more troublesome was that they also included a one-way diversion structure.

Spiritual Power from some branch veins could be drawn out, and one could even follow them along the edges. But if one tried to use those branches to trace back to the main vein’s core, their perception would be led astray. It was like walking down a seemingly correct path only to be looped back to the periphery.

Seeing this, Li Yuan understood the situation.

’The Dark Abyss Association and the Demon Sect have most likely only found the edges of the Spirit Vein.’

’They know there’s something here, and they have indeed entered and exited along the branch veins, perhaps even conducting a few explorations. But they probably haven’t fully grasped the core of the main vein yet.’

’Otherwise, they wouldn’t be repeatedly buying vein-prospecting tools outside, nor would they still be circling around the old routes.’

Having seen pretty much everything there was to see, Li Yuan didn’t linger.

He withdrew his Divine Sense, exited the karst layer the way he came, and returned to the outside. On the way back to the marketplace, the effect of the Spirit Vein’s nourishment continued. The Spiritual Power in his Dantian was purer than usual, its recovery never ceased, and the sensation of slow circulation at the edge of his sea of consciousness was also ever-present.

「By the time he returned to Mist Forest Marketplace, it was evening.」

Li Yuan first returned to his stone house, then went to check on the ore vein to the south.

Several Mid-grade Evil Stones had now formed in the ore vein, and the Cultivating Evil Array was running more smoothly than before. The foundation of the entire Evil Vein was clearly much stronger. But it was still a step away from a true breakthrough.

He had Mid-grade Evil Stones now.

But the overall grade of the ore vein had yet to truly reach that threshold.

Li Yuan stood in the mine shaft for a while without lingering, having already rearranged his priorities in his mind.

’I’ll keep the large-scale Spirit Vein equipped for cultivation.’

’The Evil Ore cultivation, on the other hand, needs to be my top priority from now on.’

’Two paths: one to strengthen myself, one to nurture the ore vein. Neither can stop.’

As night fell, the Evil Qi in the depths of the mine shaft slowly flowed back.

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