Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 292: Chapter 282: Proficient in Tier 2 Alchemy

That evening, after Li Yuan finished his Alchemy, he went to the mine as usual.

The Cultivating Evil Array had now entered a self-sustaining phase. On a normal day, even without many additional inputs, the mine itself could continuously produce Mid-grade Evil Stones. Li Yuan had recently made it a habit to check on it periodically. This was partly to collect the stones and partly to guard against any new misalignments between the Cultivating Evil Array and the mine.

But this time, the moment he walked into the natural cavern, his steps paused.

Something was wrong over at the Array Hub.

Li Yuan strode over, his gaze falling on the newly solidified Evil Stone in the very center, and his expression immediately darkened.

That was no ordinary Mid-grade Evil Stone.

It wasn’t particularly large, but its entire body was purple. It wasn’t a hint of purple on the surface, but a deep, dark purple that seemed to permeate it from the inside out. More critically, the Evil Qi within was extremely condensed, so much so that it hardly resembled a normal product of the mine. Holding it, even the surrounding air seemed to be weighed down.

Li Yuan didn’t touch it immediately. He first bent down to inspect the Array Hub and the main Spirit Patterns around it.

The Cultivating Evil Array was operating normally.

The Spirit Patterns between the several Array Hubs were not in disarray, and the flow of Evil Qi in the main circuit had not deviated. In other words, the Array hadn’t malfunctioned, nor had someone secretly tampered with it.

’Then where did this purple Evil Stone come from?’

Li Yuan squatted beside the Array Hub, extending both his Divine Sense and his Evil Qi perception downwards, following the Array Hub to peer bit by bit into the depths of the mine.

Upon looking, he quickly identified the problem.

It wasn’t that the Evil Qi had gone awry, but that a trace of Spiritual Power, something that should not have been there, was seeping through the underground rock layers.

That trace of Spiritual Power was extremely faint. If Li Yuan weren’t currently in control of a large-scale Spirit Vein while also personally managing this Evil Ore mine, he would have never been able to detect it.

It didn’t pour in from the surface, nor was it Spiritual Power injected into the mine by some Cultivator. Instead, the large-scale Spirit Vein was slowly seeping over to the Evil Ore mine’s side through the finest cracks in the underground rock layers.

The amount was minuscule.

But when this wisp of Spiritual Power landed near the main circuit of the Cultivating Evil Array, it wasn’t repelled by the Evil Qi. Instead, it created an unexpected resonance with the most condensed portion of Evil Qi in the mine.

’In the short term, this is clearly a good thing.’

The Cultivating Evil Array hadn’t broken down, and the mine hadn’t spun out of control. On the contrary, it had produced something a grade higher than a Mid-grade Evil Stone.

But as for the long term, it was still too early to say.

This was because the change wasn’t something he had deliberately engineered. It was something that had occurred on its own when the Spiritual Power from the large-scale Spirit Vein weakly seeped through the rock layers and collided with the Evil Qi.

If the flow of Spiritual Power were to increase, or if the resonance were to expand to the entire mine, no one knew yet if it would throw the original Evil Qi structure into chaos.

Li Yuan put away the purple Evil Stone, lingered by the Array Hub for a few more moments, and then collected the few Mid-grade Evil Stones that had been produced that day.

After returning to the stone house, he continued with his Alchemy.

Li Yuan had more or less figured out the method for the Vessel Continuation Pill.

On this day, Li Yuan placed two newly refined Vessel Continuation Pills into a jade bottle, then extinguished the last layer of fire in the Pill Furnace.

On the table lay his identification token and a newly exchanged pill formula.

The Gathering Essence Pill.

This was the second Tier Two pill formula he had just exchanged for at the outpost, at the cost of a considerable amount of contribution points.

Compared to the Vessel Continuation Pill, the Gathering Essence Pill was a cultivation-assisting pill.

Li Yuan first spread out the formula, reading it page by page.

The main ingredients of the Gathering Essence Pill weren’t particularly obscure, but the combination philosophy was clearly more sophisticated than that of the Vessel Continuation Pill. Several of the main ingredients themselves possessed properties that promoted Spiritual Power growth, and two of them were even deeply related to Qi Blood.

If refined well, not only could the pill stimulate the circulation of Spiritual Power after being consumed, but it could also convert a portion of consumed Qi Blood into a boost for Spiritual Power growth.

Only a single lamp was lit in the stone house. The Pill Furnace sat in the center, with the main ingredients, auxiliary ingredients, and pre-portioned Medicinal Guide Spirit Liquid laid out beside it in order. After sitting down, Li Yuan first closed his eyes and mentally reviewed the pill formula before raising his hand to ignite the fire.

The first batch did not go quickly.

The initial stage of refining the Gathering Essence Pill was relatively easy to control; the difficult part was the latter half. Once the main ingredients that promoted Spiritual Power growth had completely dissolved, the Pill Liquid itself would begin to swell, as if trying to push its way out of the furnace.

If the Pill Fire wasn’t strong enough to suppress it at this point, the Pill Liquid would dissipate. But if the pressure was too intense, the active properties within—which were supposed to be preserved to promote Spiritual Power—would be scorched away.

Li Yuan proceeded with extreme care through the first half. Only when the Pill Liquid had completely dissolved and a faint cyan medicinal mist began to rise inside the furnace did he retract the fire by a layer.

But the medicinal properties of the Gathering Essence Pill were ultimately more volatile than he had anticipated.

In just two breaths, the entire mass of Pill Liquid exploded into a cloud of grayish powder inside the furnace.

The first batch: a failure.

It wasn’t until the fifth batch that Li Yuan succeeded in Solidifying the Pill.

When he opened the furnace, the medicinal fragrance was noticeably purer than in the previous batches.

A faint cyan pill dropped onto the jade plate. Its surface had a fine luster, with no scorch marks or collapses. Li Yuan reached out and picked one up. Giving it a gentle pinch, he found the pill’s body was firm. It was a success, inside and out.

The fifth batch yielded three pills.

The panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Gathering Essence Pill (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Essence Convergence (Green)]

[Effect: Increases Spiritual Power cultivation speed by 50%. Can actively consume Qi Blood to enhance Spiritual Power growth.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Break through to the next realm and achieve the Entry stage in a Tier Two Body Refining Technique.]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]

Li Yuan scanned the panel, his gaze pausing for a moment on the permanence conditions.

Break through to the next realm.

Achieve the Entry stage in a Tier Two Body Refining Technique.

His Nameless Body Refining Technique was already at Minor Achievement, so the Tier Two Body Refining requirement was not an obstacle for him. The real bottleneck was the first condition. For the trait to become permanent, he still had to wait for his Cultivation to take another step forward.

’But this is already enough.’

Succeeding with the Gathering Essence Pill meant he had now successfully refined his third type of Tier Two pill. The blue trait that had been occupying an equipment slot for so long could finally be made permanent.

Li Yuan first placed the three Gathering Essence Pills into a jade bottle, then called out the panel.

[Permanence condition for Pill Refinement Mastery (Blue) has been met.]

[Make permanent?]

Li Yuan didn’t hesitate and confirmed it directly.

[Pill Refinement Mastery (Blue) has become a permanent trait.]

The moment the panel closed, it felt as though a heavy hammer had struck the depths of his sea of consciousness.

It wasn’t a sharp pain, nor was it a shock. Instead, it was as if all the Alchemy Dao experience he had accumulated bit by bit over these days was being hammered back into his foundation from start to finish. His judgments on ingredient temperatures, Pill Collection timing, layering of medicinal properties, and the conflicts and harmonies between main and auxiliary ingredients—all of which were once just an experienced feel developed through repeated practice—now felt as if they were forcibly welded into his very being.

In the days that followed, Li Yuan did not stop his Alchemy.

He already had a solid foundation with the Vessel Continuation Pill, and he had just succeeded with the Gathering Essence Pill. His Tier Two Alchemy skill slowly advanced through the cumulative experience of continuously firing up the furnace. Every day in the stone house, either the Pill Fire was rising and falling in the furnace or medicinal ingredients were spread out on the table. Jade bottles and dregs took turns filling half the stone desk.

It is worth noting that a new change finally arrived.

On this day, just as Li Yuan finished refining a batch of Gathering Essence Pills and suppressed the residual fire at the bottom of the furnace, the panel popped up again.

[Skill: Tier Two Alchemy — Proficient (0/400)]

Tier Two Alchemy, Proficient.

Li Yuan looked up at the few sets of ingredients on the table that had yet to enter the furnace. He didn’t immediately start the next batch, but instead took a moment to solidify this new level of understanding.

At the Entry stage, his success in refining Tier Two pills relied more on brute-forcing it with his perfect Tier One foundation. He succeeded in many areas because his understanding of pharmacology was correct, his control of the heat wasn’t too far off, and he had the help of "Pill Refinement Mastery" and "Pill Principle Comprehension."

But after reaching the Proficient stage, many things started to change.

For example, with the same main ingredient, he used to have to pick it up, examine it, and cross-reference the formula and his notes to confirm whether its nature was volatile or stable. Now, the moment the ingredient landed in his palm, a rough outline would already form in his mind: where its medicinal properties would activate, which other ingredient it might clash with, and whether it was better to force it with high heat or nurture it with low heat after entering the furnace.

Another example was the Pill Fire.

Previously, when refining Tier Two pills, Li Yuan had to focus most of his mental energy on just keeping the furnace from exploding. Now, sending the same ball of Pill Fire in, he could already divert a portion of his attention to observe the sequence of contraction between the surface and the interior of the Pill Liquid. He was no longer forced to desperately salvage the situation the moment a deviation occurred.

By now, it was late at night outside the stone house.

The residual heat in the furnace had not yet dissipated. On the table, the corners of the newly unfurled Bone Tempering Pill formula glowed a faint yellow in the lamplight. Li Yuan placed the jade bottles containing the pills into his storage bag one by one, then reached out and pulled the formula scroll back in front of him.

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