Over the years, Lu Xuan had completely analyzed the characteristics of the silver spear. Its telescopic property actually came from the material itself. The runes on it were merely a simple auxiliary function. Lu Xuan simply reforged it, creating a lightning-attribute magic weapon called the Thunder Spear.
Having an offense is one thing, but having a defense is another. Lu Xuan initially planned to create a shield-type defensive magic item. Later, he thought that was too rudimentary and decided it would be better to simply create a defensive robe.
Defensive magical artifacts are much harder to craft than offensive ones. You need to consider more factors. Whether it's spell damage of various attributes, direct physical damage, or attacks at the spiritual or soul level, it's almost impossible for a single magical artifact to excel in every aspect.
He modified his Valyrian steel light armor, making it more form-fitting. He also engraved various rune systems on it to ensure its defensive capabilities.
However, there's one drawback. Lu Xuan's current runes are only at the energy conversion level. To make the runes effective, he still needs to actively inject spiritual power. In other words, for the runes on the inner armor to take effect, he has to constantly supply them with spiritual power.
There are descriptions of innate runes in cultivation novels. Runes themselves are a form of power; they do not require the infusion of spiritual energy, and are effective simply by their existence.
Lu Xuan isn't capable of that level yet. It's unlikely he'll achieve it anytime soon. The key issue is that he hasn't found any spirit stones or other treasures for storing spiritual energy in this world. He could only use moonlight to refine and nurture some spirit jade, storing some spiritual energy within it. Then he inlaid the spirit jade into his inner armor as the energy source for the entire rune system.
This way, he wouldn't need to constantly replenish his spiritual energy in the inner armor. He only needed to replenish it once every three days to ensure the runes functioned properly. In the event of an unexpected attack, the runes could automatically activate and block the attack for him.
Valyrian steel's properties allow it to withstand most physical and magical attacks. However, it struggles against mental and soul-level attacks. The soul level, in particular, is Lu Xuan's weakness.
After all, the soul is far too sensitive and dangerous. Lu Xuan dared not touch it lightly. So far, he had never attempted any cultivation methods, such as astral projection. He had a vague feeling that it wasn't a good choice.
Lu Xuan's choice was to strengthen his cultivation of the visualization techniques within the Daoist tradition that nourish the soul. No matter what methods the enemy employs, as long as his soul is strong enough, he can always cope.
The last magical artifact he crafted was a pair of boots. Lu Xuan was actually capable of flying on a sword. However, perhaps due to insufficient cultivation, while the speed was fast, it consumed too much spiritual energy. Therefore, he crafted a pair of boots to assist him in using the Shrinking Earth Technique, enhancing his mobility.
Storage space cannot be crafted yet. It requires extremely rare materials with spatial properties to create. Lu Xuan doesn't have any on hand, so he has to abandon the idea for now. Anyway, there's still space in the imaginary space's orbit, so there's no rush.
While these crafting techniques sound simple, they actually consumed a tremendous amount of Lu Xuan's time and energy. Six years had passed since he completed the entire set of equipment crafting. The main challenge was the various rune systems; Lu Xuan had to learn through trial and error, experimenting and practicing simultaneously, which naturally took a considerable amount of time.
However, after this period of practice, Lu Xuan's unique rune system was officially established. In the future, other operations would be performed with ease, requiring less time.
During these six years, he didn't neglect his own cultivation. Bathing in the moonlight every night allowed his cultivation to increase rapidly. And a year ago, he broke through another bottleneck. He didn't know the cultivation levels in this world. But he could feel that the spiritual energy in his body was already like liquid. The quality and quantity of his spiritual energy had surpassed his level in the Ice and Fire World by ten, even twenty or thirty times.
Lu Xuan estimated that, according to the standards in online novels, his current level would be at the late Foundation Establishment stage. The next step was to prepare for Core Formation. However, Core Formation required a fortuitous opportunity, and even more so, abundant spiritual energy. Lu Xuan felt that the small spiritual vein in this valley probably couldn't support it.
Moreover, having reached this level of cultivation, he needs time to digest and adapt. He won't seek further breakthroughs in the short term.
Lu Xuan's cultivation had improved, and his two spirit pets, the white fox and the green snake, had also made considerable progress. These two creatures not only had a Qi cultivation method specially crafted for them by Lu Xuan, but they also bathed in moonlight with him every day. This was ten or even a hundred times more effective than them relying on instinct to absorb moonlight. Their rapid increase in cultivation was therefore only natural.
First, let's talk about the little fox. Although this little guy is playful, he never misses his daily cultivation. A year ago, it grew its third tail. After that, its cultivation stagnated. Lu Xuan guessed that the little guy might have reached a bottleneck in its transformation. However, he had no experience with this, so he could only let the little fox rely on its instincts and bloodline inheritance to figure it out on its own. Only when it refined its transverse bone and could communicate normally could Lu Xuan be of assistance to the town mayor.
Now, let's talk about the Green Snake. The Green Snake already had its own fortuitous opportunities. It occupied a small spiritual vein on its own and even awakened a bit of cold-attribute supernatural power. After Lu Xuan enlightened it, its cultivation also experienced a period of explosive growth.
It seems that snakes have a harder time transforming into human form than foxes. Among demons, foxes and weasels seem to transform more easily, followed by snakes. Other demons, such as wolf demons and fox demons, find it much more difficult to transform.
However, the Green Snake had awakened quite a few supernatural abilities. This gave Lu Xuan a pleasant surprise.
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Chapter 343 Listening to Music
A cyan bracelet appeared on Lu Xuan's right hand. This was one of the newly awakened supernatural abilities of the Green Snake. It seemed to stem from its dissatisfaction that Lu Xuan always took only the White Fox with him when he went out, leaving her behind. The first supernatural ability the Green Snake awakened was the ability to transform its size. It transformed into a cyan bracelet, which wrapped around Lu Xuan's wrist, allowing it to follow him wherever he went.
Secondly, under the influence of the icy pool, the Green Serpent can use some cold-attribute supernatural abilities, including the most basic ice arrow attack. Besides using its breath to defend itself, it can also secrete a cold poison, much like the Xuanming Divine Palm in *The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber*. This poison can invade the internal organs, erode the opponent's spiritual power, and spread continuously, making it extremely powerful.
In contrast, the little fox's supernatural power is a simple illusion. This is also a standard supernatural power for the fox clan. The little fox seems to have focused most of its energy on refining its horizontal bones in preparation for its human form. Its supernatural powers are considerably weaker. However, seeing that it can grow three tails, one can tell that this little guy's talent is definitely not bad.
He spent six years cultivating diligently at home, but his enemies never came knocking. Lu Xuan felt that they probably wouldn't seek revenge. This meant that his True Sun Fire still had a certain deterrent effect back then.
With a flick of his right hand, a flame the size of a walnut appeared in Lu Xuan's palm. As Lu Xuan's thoughts shifted, the flame transformed into a small fox, then into a small snake, lifelike and exceptionally agile. This was the result of Lu Xuan's cultivation of the True Fire of the Sun over the past six years.
He can now control it flexibly, like a walnut-sized ball of true sunlight. If he were to encounter a situation like that again, he wouldn't lose control.
His cultivation level, magical artifacts, and supernatural abilities had all reached a bottleneck. Lu Xuan felt it was time for him to go out and explore. Although his system differed from most Qi cultivators, he believed that learning from others could always inspire him. Therefore, he ultimately decided to leave the mountains and travel the world.
The little fox and the green snake were extremely excited about this. Ever since their intelligence had increased, they had longed for the outside world more and more. Upon hearing that they were going out, they naturally jumped and danced with excitement.
"Alright, you two, stop getting excited. If you keep jumping, I'll leave you here to guard the house."
"......"
After mentioning to the villagers of Lu Family Village that he was going on a journey, Lu Xuan, accompanied by his two spirit pets, left the valley where he had lived for nearly ten years.
...............
Apart from Lu Family Village, Lu Xuan had not left the valley for ten years, and had not even been to the nearest county town in his real life.
He was beginning to understand why cultivators in those stories could stay in the mountains for decades or even centuries. Cultivation, especially when one wasn't encountering a bottleneck and was making continuous progress, even felt somewhat addictive to him. He felt this mindset was slightly abnormal. This was one of the reasons he decided to come out and clear his head.
Because life in Lu Family Village was still quite good. At least everyone had enough to eat and wear. This gave Lu Xuan the illusion that this was a peaceful and prosperous era. You have to understand that in feudal times, it was extremely rare for people in such remote mountain villages to be able to have enough to eat and wear.
But once he entered the county town, he realized his mistake. The town was bustling with people, a lively scene indeed. However, most faces lacked the radiant glow of a prosperous era. Lu Xuan, on the other hand, had risen from the bottom to become emperor.
He could tell at a glance that the people passing by were emaciated and their faces were numb. Most of them looked worried and overwhelmed by life's hardships. More importantly, he saw a group of burly men wielding swords and holding wanted posters on the street. They were arresting people all over the place.
Why not assume they were government troops? Because Lu Xuan witnessed firsthand the two groups of bounty hunters engaging in a real fight right there in the street. After the battle, four corpses were left behind. Only then did several men in official uniforms come out and drag the bodies away.
What is this? The cops whitewashing?? Lu Xuan looked at the indifferent crowd around him with a pained expression. For the first time, he felt that the world was quite different from what he had imagined.
It wasn't that there weren't wealthy people; even in this small town, there were still quite a few brothels. Lu Xuan didn't hesitate and went straight in.
Don't get me wrong, Lu Xuan didn't really care about the business here. It's just that the inns outside were... well, let's just say they were terrible. On the other hand, the red-light district in town was at least a place where he could sit and relax. And you could usually hear some gossip about things from those kinds of places.
This street was clearly geared towards the wealthy. Even the inns had girls singing in the lobby. Lu Xuan's clothes, while not adorned with gold and silver or fine silks, were exquisitely tailored, and the materials were unlike anything these country bumpkins had ever seen. Therefore, the innkeeper noticed him as soon as he entered.
"Oh, sir. Please come in. Are you here for a meal or to stay the night? We happen to have a superior room available."