Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 317: Chapter 306: Array Materials Comparison

Back in his stone house, Li Yuan took out all the Array Materials from the Demon Cultivator’s storage bag. He sorted them by type into several piles and spread them out on the table.

Stabilizing Spirit Sand, Drainage Stones, Spirit-Guiding Powder, and Array-Securing Copper Plates.

There were four types of materials, with over a dozen portions of each.

After inspecting them, Li Yuan found that the materials hadn’t been tampered with. There were no hidden Array Patterns and no Spiritual Power contamination.

They were clean and all met the required standards.

But they shouldn’t have been in the same storage bag.

In a normal procurement, the quality within a single batch should be uniform. The purity of Spiritual Sand from the same mine wouldn’t vary this much, nor would the thickness of copper plates refined by the same shop be so inconsistent.

Unless someone had deliberately taken a few items from different batches and sources and mixed them together.

The consequences of using this mix would be almost unnoticeable in daily use. Whether setting up or running an Array, the material quality at each node was within acceptable limits. The Array as a whole would function, and no problems would be apparent.

But it was a different story under a full load.

During Core Formation, the Spiritual Power load could be pushed to the Array’s design limits, placing the flow at each node under extreme stress.

At that point, the minute differences in material quality between nodes would translate into minute differences in the flow rate of Spiritual Power.

Nodes with inconsistent flow rates would generate faint oscillations. Under extreme load, these oscillations would accumulate and amplify, ultimately manifesting as an intermittent disruption in the Spiritual Qi supply.

Li Yuan gathered the materials on the table back into the storage bag and sat for a moment.

Then, Li Yuan went to the administration office to find Chen Yi.

"I encountered a Demon Cultivator while patrolling the outskirts of the market city last night. I’ve already killed him." Li Yuan placed the Demon Cultivator’s identity token and storage bag on the table.

Chen Yi took the identity token and looked it over, then opened the storage bag and glanced inside.

"A Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Cultivator, by himself?"

"Yes, with a Tier One Demon Beast. The beast was covered in Demonic Qi; he must have been controlling it."

Chen Yi nodded and pushed the identity token and storage bag back to him.

"Keep the items for yourself. Just report it for the contribution points according to the Sect’s reward system."

"There’s something in the storage bag you need to see." Li Yuan didn’t take the bag back. Instead, he took out several portions of Array Materials and placed them on the table. "Stabilizing Spirit Sand, Drainage Stones, Spirit-Guiding Powder, and Array-Securing Copper Plates."

Chen Yi’s expression shifted slightly.

The names of these materials were all too familiar.

"The materials used to set up the Core Formation platforms?"

"Correct." Li Yuan took out a high-purity and a low-purity sample of Stabilizing Spirit Sand and placed them in front of Chen Yi. "Take a look at the purity of these two."

Chen Yi picked them up and probed them with his Divine Sense, his brow furrowing.

"The difference is significant."

"They’re both within acceptable limits, but the purity levels are different."

Li Yuan also took out two samples each of the Drainage Stones and Array-Securing Copper Plates. "Individually, each sample is qualified. But if you mix materials of inconsistent quality to set up an Array, the Spiritual Power flow between nodes will become uneven under extreme load."

Chen Yi’s expression had already darkened.

"Are you suggesting that the Core Formation failures weren’t caused by a tampered Array, but by the inconsistent quality of the materials themselves?"

"I can only say that if materials of such inconsistent quality were used in the auxiliary arrays of the Core Formation platforms, problems could arise during full-load operation," Li Yuan said. "As for whether the materials actually used on the platforms have this issue, I haven’t worked with the core Array, so I can’t say for sure."

Chen Yi stood up, paced around the room for a couple of steps, and then sat back down.

"You found this batch of materials on the Demon Cultivator?"

"Yes."

Chen Yi was silent for a moment.

"I’ll report this immediately." His tone was more solemn than it had ever been when discussing official business. "I’ll also take the materials and have someone from the Sect inspect them personally."

Li Yuan pushed the storage bag containing the materials over to him and said no more.

After leaving the administration office, Li Yuan returned to his stone house.

After sitting cross-legged on his meditation cushion, he first immersed his consciousness into the Spirit Vein.

The entire Spirit Vein unfolded in his perception. The main vein, the branch veins, and the seepage toward the ore veins—everything was normal.

However, the overall flow of Spiritual Qi was still skewed.

For some reason, about forty to fifty percent of the Spiritual Qi in the main vein was continuously surging toward the Core Formation platforms, as if being drawn to them.

Li Yuan withdrew his perception from the Spirit Vein slightly and turned it toward the ore veins.

There was no change at the Evil Ore deposit. The Cultivating Evil Array was operating normally, and Purple Evil Stones were slowly forming.

His attention moved deeper, to the point where the two ore veins converged.

The changes at the junction were more pronounced than the last time he had checked.

The seepage channels on both sides of the fissure in the rock layer had mostly stabilized. The interpenetration of Fire Spiritual Power and Evil Qi had formed a fixed path. A new batch of ore had formed in the center of the fissure, nearly double the quantity of the first batch.

Li Yuan withdrew his perception and got up, heading into the mine tunnel.

Deep within the natural cavern, near the fissure where the two ore veins met, over a dozen newly formed Fire Evil Stones were scattered on the rock wall.

Li Yuan crouched down and picked them up one by one to inspect them.

The quality of this batch was much better than the first. The ratio of Fire Spiritual Power to Evil Qi was closer to one-to-one, and the color was more uniform—a steady shade between dark red and dark purple, without the inconsistent reddish or purplish hues of the first batch.

With the seepage channels stabilized, the fusion of the two types of spiritual power at the junction had become more balanced.

Li Yuan sorted the Fire Evil Stones into three grades based on their quality.

He placed the high-grade and Middle-Grade stones into a storage bag to be kept separately, ready for delivery when Ji Huaiyuan arrived. Li Yuan kept the three low-grade stones aside; he could later mix them into normal channels and sell them as Fire Element Spirit Ore, which would be more valuable than ordinary Fire Ore.

After collecting the Fire Evil Stones, Li Yuan stood at the junction for a while longer.

The second batch was ready, but Ji Huaiyuan still hadn’t come.

According to their prior agreement, Ji Huaiyuan was supposed to come and collect the goods after the first batch was produced. Now the second batch had formed, bringing the total to well over a dozen Fire Evil Stones, yet no one from the Ji family had come, nor had they sent any message.

More than ten days had passed since the first batch was produced.

The Ji family was located in the part of Liangzhou closest to Yunzhou. That area had borne the brunt of the escalating conflict in Yunzhou. Ji Huaiyuan might have been affected by the war and unable to travel, or perhaps something else had happened.

Li Yuan didn’t take the initiative to go look for him.

The Fire Evil Stones wouldn’t spoil, so he would wait for the other party to come. If they took too long, he would make other plans.

After returning to the stone house from the mine tunnel, Li Yuan sat at his table for a moment before taking out the jade slip for the Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill from his storage bag.

Now that his multi-Divine Split ability had been made permanent, a slot had opened up in his equipment bar.

Li Yuan reached out and touched the jade slip.

A panel popped up.

[Detected equippable item: Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Divine Soul Preservation (Green)]

[Effect: Reduces Divine Soul consumption by 20% when casting skills or cultivating.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Reach Great Success in one Tier Two Divine Soul Skill.]

Li Yuan confirmed the equip.

[Equipped: Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill (Complete)]

[Divine Soul Preservation (Green) is now in effect.]

Experience with the Cultivation Technique flooded his mind, and he instantly grasped the complete method for circulating the Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill. Its cultivation path was a direct successor to the Soul Condensation Skill. With his foundation of a perfected Soul Condensation Skill, the transition was almost seamless.

At the same time, a change occurred within his Divine Soul.

It hadn’t grown stronger, but its consumption had lessened.

Li Yuan maintained the simultaneous operation of three Divine Sense Lines to feel the difference.

The primary line, the Spirit Vein Monitoring Line, and the daily perception line—the way all three operated remained unchanged, yet the amount of Soul Power each line consumed was noticeably less than before.

The multi-Divine Split ability had solved the primary/secondary issue after splitting his Divine Sense, allowing multiple lines to operate stably and simultaneously without interfering with each other. Divine Soul Preservation solved the problem of consumption during operation, making each line run more efficiently.

Li Yuan closed his eyes, sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion, and began to formally cultivate the Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill.

[Concentrating Soul-Invoking Skill: Initiate (0/400)]

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