Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 281: Chapter 271: The Deep Layer

The outer and middle layers of the ruins had been continuously cleared for a long time.

Layer after layer of Flow Diversion Array Patterns were dismantled, and the old mechanisms were slowly untangled. After the Array Masters and Sect cultivators stripped away the circuits, false patterns, and interlocking structures originally wound around the deep layer’s entrance, a large area was finally cleared.

Once this step was complete, the two Primordial Yang Sect Golden Core cultivators personally intervened again.

When the news reached the outpost, Li Yuan was in his stone house performing Alchemy. The Pill Furnace had just gone out when a directive arrived from the outpost. The message was short, stating only that the entrance to the deep layer would be opened again today.

Li Yuan put away the jade slip and set out at once.

Many people were already standing outside when he arrived at the outpost. However, not many of them were actually allowed to enter the deep layer. Besides the two Golden Core cultivators and several Array Masters, the first auxiliary team consisted mostly of those who had been working in the outer and middle layers of the ruins recently.

Li Yuan was among them.

The scene outside the deep layer’s entrance was different from the last time.

Most of the obstructing broken walls, shattered bricks, and old mechanisms around the entrance had been cleared away.

The heavy stone door at the very front remained. The old, densely packed patterns originally wound around the outside of the door had now dimmed considerably, with only a few of the deepest main circuits desperately holding on.

The two Primordial Yang Sect Golden Core cultivators stood before the entrance, one behind the other.

Several Array Masters were positioned on both sides, performing a final check on the circuits.

As soon as Li Yuan approached, his gaze landed on the area outside the stone door that had been torn open. It hadn’t been blasted open directly. Instead, after the Array Masters had stabilized the outer Spiritual Flow, the two Golden Core cultivators had followed the cleared main channels and forcibly carved a path inward.

Chen Yi, standing on the periphery, saw Li Yuan approach and spoke in a low voice.

"Once we’re inside, look first. Don’t touch anything randomly."

Li Yuan nodded.

A moment later, a deep tremor emanated from within.

It wasn’t an explosion, but more like a vast, compressed layer of rock and Spiritual Power slowly grinding apart.

The two Golden Core cultivators didn’t smash the door directly. Instead, they followed the entrance’s main circuit, which was already mostly dismantled, and tore open the deadlocked passage inch by inch.

This process lasted for a full quarter of an hour.

Not until a final, muffled thud sounded did the distorted space ahead finally stabilize.

The passage was open.

The two Golden Core cultivators went first.

Several Array Masters followed close behind.

Li Yuan and several other auxiliary cultivators, part of the first group, followed them inside.

The moment he stepped through the entrance, the feeling of the surroundings changed instantly.

The dilapidated, ancient, and chaotic atmosphere of the middle layer of the ruins outside suddenly felt much more subdued here.

The deep-layer area wasn’t bright, but it was orderly. The stone bricks underfoot were far more intact, and the walls on either side lacked the obvious damage of the outer layers. There was no long-accumulated smell of rot in the air, only the cold, heavy atmosphere that comes from being sealed for a long time.

After walking forward for a short distance, his field of view opened up completely.

Li Yuan looked up, and the first thing to meet his eyes was a circular area.

It wasn’t a grand hall, nor did it look like a treasury.

It was more like an outer ring structure built around a central core.

The ground was paved with neat stone bricks, its edges carved with ancient, faded patterns. Broken Spiritual Power circuits were still visible at several connection points.

On the inner side of the ring were several small meditation chambers, obviously intended for people to rest, recuperate, and wait.

A little deeper in, there was a corridor.

The corridor wasn’t wide, but it was very long, turning and extending along a fixed path.

The stone walls on either side were carved with many old patterns for protecting one’s Spirit Veins. Though broken in many places, it was still clear that the structures were originally meant to stabilize the environment for Core Formation and to connect to the Spirit Veins.

Beyond that, there wasn’t much else laid out in the open.

There were no treasuries piled high with resources.

There were only a few scattered texts, dispersed on stone shelves along the outer ring and inside the meditation chambers. Some were on small tables, while others had fallen to the floor. Other than that, there were only a few old artifacts and some miscellaneous items that had long since lost their Spiritual Light.

The two Primordial Yang Sect Golden Core cultivators were also observing the area.

One of them walked a lap around the outer ring, his gaze sweeping over the vein-protection corridor and the meditation chambers, before he slowly spoke.

"A Core Formation platform."

The other Golden Core cultivator nodded.

"Judging by the layout and the vein-protection structures, this was most likely the place where that Nascent Soul Sect had its disciples undergo Core Formation."

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the nearby cultivators shifted.

A place for Core Formation.

Moreover, it was a Core Formation site prepared by a Nascent Soul Sect specifically for its own disciples.

Li Yuan didn’t interject, merely continuing to slowly examine the outer ring.

At first glance, there were no obvious Restrictions here, at least not like in the outer and middle layers, where complete Array Patterns and traps were in your face at every turn. But the moment Li Yuan released his Divine Sense, his Spirit Vein perception reacted.

’The main vein.’

’That familiar sense of connection is coming right up from underground.’

Li Yuan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

’The layer of Restriction I sensed above the main line of the large Spirit Vein before... now that I’m here, it feels like it’s completely connected. It’s not a vague guess; it’s a clear, distinct line.’

’That Restriction pressing down on the main vein leads right here.’

’In other words, a clear connection exists between the Spirit Vein and this deep-layer Core Formation District.’

’This connection isn’t just about geographical proximity; it’s a structural one. The main vein below, the Restriction above it, and the corridor and Core Formation platform here—they were all originally part of a single system.’

As he reached the other side of the outer ring, a stone wall ahead drew everyone’s attention.

There was writing on the wall: a single character, written in blood.

Li Yuan had only just glanced at it when one of the Primordial Yang Sect Golden Core cultivators beside him spoke.

"This Sect... back in its day, it wasn’t purely of the righteous path, nor was it purely of the Demon Dao."

"You could say it was both righteous and demonic."

Li Yuan turned his head to look at him.

The Golden Core cultivator’s gaze remained on the bloody character, his tone light.

"According to the records we have, this Sect was internally divided into several branches, each following its own path. Some cultivated orthodox techniques, while others cultivated fringe methods. Outwardly, they were one Sect in name, but in reality, they were more like a federation."

The other Golden Core cultivator added,

"Their collapse was probably related to that."

Li Yuan committed their words to memory.

After everyone dispersed to explore the outer parts of the deep layer, Li Yuan took advantage of his status to slowly investigate the outer ring.

In a place like this, others looked for obvious objects and surface-level structures, but Li Yuan’s inspection was far more detailed.

The High Tier perception granted by his Spirit Vein’s nurturing was always active, and his Vein-Protecting Perception Pattern had long been made permanent.

With these two abilities combined, many details in the outer area of the deep layer—details others might have missed—were slowly revealed to Li Yuan’s eyes.

For instance, the flow of residual Spiritual Power within the walls.

Some areas appeared unremarkable on the surface, yet they still held extremely faint traces of Spiritual Power within. This indicated that a complete circuit had once operated here for a long time. It had only broken later, causing the Spiritual Flow to cease, which was why these faint traces inside the walls remained to this day.

Li Yuan continued his inspection without drawing attention to himself, only slowing his pace in front of one of the outer meditation chambers.

The meditation chamber wasn’t large and was mostly empty, containing only a stone couch, an overturned wooden rack, and a dust-covered artifact in the corner. The object looked like a half-shattered incense burner for warming the soul. It had no external Spiritual Light and even had two fine cracks on its surface.

The moment Li Yuan drew near, his perception fell upon it.

’It has an entry.’

Li Yuan bent down to pick it up, and a panel popped up.

[Detectable Equippable Item: Nourishing Spirit Old Furnace (Complete)]

[Equipment Entry Preview: Spirit Platform Nurturing (Green)]

[Effect: Increases Divine Soul recovery speed by 30%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Reach Grand Completion in one Divine Soul Cultivation Method.]

[Current Equipment Slots Full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]

’A green entry.’

’The effect is very straightforward.’

’A thirty percent increase to Divine Soul recovery speed.’

Li Yuan gave it a glance and put the old furnace away for now.

This phase of the exploration didn’t last long.

The passage to the deep layer had only just been stabilized. The Primordial Yang Sect couldn’t let everyone just rummage around inside. After the first team completed a preliminary survey of the outer ring and the corridor, they began to collect the scattered texts and records, section by section.

When Li Yuan came out, he was carrying a small stack of old registers he had collected from the meditation chambers and the stone shelves on the outer ring.

According to the rules, these items had to be handed over to the Sect for centralized registration first.

After they were registered, however, most of them would be made available for exchange using contribution points.

Li Yuan was already experienced in this. He waited until the outpost had sorted through the registers, then went directly to the exchange counter.

Quite a few texts had been recovered from the outer deep layer, but the truly valuable ones hadn’t been released yet. Most of the first items made available were about preparing for Core Formation, records on vein protection, and the old Sect’s daily cultivation routines. Li Yuan immediately spotted a more complete record on Core Formation preparation.

The price was very low.

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate, exchanging his contribution points for it immediately.

Back in his stone house, Li Yuan opened the record on Core Formation preparation.

Compared to the texts he had previously seen from the ruins’ outer layer and the Sect’s own archives, this one was more complete and much closer to the actual methods of the Nascent Soul Sect. It didn’t just list what to prepare before Core Formation; it also recorded the external phenomena that would occur when the Sect’s disciples broke through to the Golden Core realm.

Li Yuan flipped through it, page by page.

Some sections described how Spiritual Waves would manifest.

Others described how the Divine Soul would fluctuate.

Still other parts specifically recorded the phenomena and risks associated with certain of the Sect’s Cultivation Techniques during Core Formation.

After finishing the record, Li Yuan closed his eyes and resumed his cultivation.

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