Red Trait: Seventy-Two Transformations

"So, those four guys came looking for me earlier because they wanted to seize treasure here?"

A flash of insight crossed his mind, and Li Yun thought of Zhao Gongming and his siblings, who had called out to him earlier.

But he did not believe they genuinely wanted to join forces with him, much less share a Fortuitous Encounter with him.

More likely, there were many cultivators in this area and the dangers were considerable, so they wanted to cooperate with him. They might even have intended to use him as bait to draw attention, or as a stepping stone.

"Interesting!"

"Though I'm not sure what those four are truly thinking, I, Li Yun, will remember this."

Muttering inwardly, Li Yun glanced at the mountaintop once more before turning without hesitation and heading toward the area where the other Demonic Beasts were fighting.

Gourd Vine!

Gourds!

Those things were indeed immensely valuable, but who was Li Yun?

He was a disciple of the Saint of Supreme Purity, someone holding a Supreme Grade Innate Spiritual Treasure like the Ultimate Emperor Seal. Would he care about three gourds that might reach the rank of High-Grade Innate Spirit Treasure, or a mere High-Grade Innate Spirit Root?

Rather than wasting time on that, he might as well kill more Demonic Beasts and obtain more Traits.

Moreover, he sensed that there were many cultivators around the mountaintop, yet none had made a move. This meant either the Gourd Vine had not yet matured, or the mountaintop was protected by a great formation. Rashly approaching it would only expose him, perhaps even make him the target of everyone and place him in danger.

With that in mind, Li Yun became even less willing to head to the mountaintop now. He continued moving about the mountainside, looking for opportunities to kill wounded, dying, or unsuspecting Demonic Beasts.

As time passed, Li Yun had no idea how many Demonic Beasts he had killed, but there were already several hundred Traits in the Trait Library. Seventy percent were green, while thirty percent were blue.

"Die!"

After once again summoning Taiqing Divine Thunder to blast apart two Demonic Beasts that had both suffered heavy injuries in their fight, Li Yun let out a relieved breath.

After surveying the surrounding area, he did not plan to continue hunting. He could already sense the fluctuations at the mountaintop rapidly intensifying. If nothing unexpected happened, the gourds on the High-Grade Innate Spirit Root Gourd Vine were about to mature.

That also meant a great battle would soon be unavoidable. Demonic Beasts would likely be unable to reach that area at all; instead, it would be a battle, slaughter, and struggle among cultivators. There was a high chance that Jie Teachings Disciples, and perhaps even Chan Teachings Disciples, would be involved.

Thinking of this, Li Yun directly found a towering tree and silently climbed to its crown. Using the lush branches and leaves to conceal himself, he hid his aura while still keeping a clear view of the mountaintop.

At this point, Li Yun no longer hesitated. He directly summoned the Trait fusion and upgrade panel, then began controlling the Traits and tossing them into it for fusion and upgrades.

[Ding! Fusion successful. Obtained a blue Trait!]

[Ding! Fusion successful. Obtained a blue Trait!]

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

[...]

After a round of operations, Li Yun quickly fused all of the green Traits into blue Traits.

However, he did not stop there. These blue Traits were not particularly valuable, and he would not rashly equip them.

Immediately afterward, Li Yun began fusing and upgrading the blue Traits.

[Ding! Fusion successful. Obtained purple Trait: Gigantification!]

[Ding! Fusion successful. Obtained purple Trait: Artifact Refining Genius!]

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

[Ding! Fusion successful. Obtained purple Trait...]

With each successive operation, purple Traits continued to appear.

Before long, all of the blue Traits had been consumed in the fusion upgrades, leaving only fourteen brand-new purple Traits!

After merely glancing over them a few times, Li Yun separated several Traits he found promising and inspected them.

[Artifact Refining Genius (Purple): After equipping, your application, techniques, proficiency, and experience in the Artifact Refining Method increase tenfold!]

[Formation Master Genius (Purple): After equipping, your comprehension, insights, cultivation, application, and casting experience regarding formations increase tenfold!]

[AFK (Purple): After equipping, you may automatically select a cultivation technique or divine ability for AFK cultivation. It will continuously improve without the need for personal cultivation!]

"Not bad!"

"These three purple Traits have great value and potential."

After reading the information and descriptions of the three Traits, Li Yun nodded in satisfaction.

Next, he placed these three Traits together with the Alchemy Genius Trait in the bottommost area to ensure he would not accidentally touch them. Then his gaze fell upon the remaining eleven purple Traits.

There were several decent Traits among them, but they held little value for Li Yun. Under such circumstances, he had two choices: either keep these Traits until he gathered more purple Traits, then directly upgrade the four Traits—Alchemy Genius, Artifact Refining Genius, Formation Master Genius, and AFK.

Or he could directly attempt a fusion upgrade and gamble on the thirty percent success rate.

If it succeeded, he would obtain a red Trait. If it failed, these Traits would be ruined.

"I'll gamble!"

"Even if I fail, the remaining four purple Traits will be more than enough for the time being."

In the end, Li Yun could not suppress his craving for a red Trait. After taking a deep breath, he directly selected five Traits and tossed them into the furnace.

At once, the furnace shone brightly. Purple light mixed with a trace of red, and as time passed, the red glow grew increasingly brilliant.

Just as Li Yun thought it would succeed, the dazzling red glow suddenly dimmed, and the panel turned gray.

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

"Damn!"

Unable to stop himself from swearing, Li Yun had never expected it to fail at the very last moment.

This showed just how terrifying that seventy percent failure rate was.

But how could Li Yun possibly give up now? Without any hesitation, he threw another five purple Traits into the furnace.

After doing all that, Li Yun stopped looking at the panel. He simply closed his eyes and muttered, "Three Pure Ones, bless me. Tathagata Buddha, bless me. Jesus, bless me..."

For a moment, Li Yun prayed to everyone he knew and everyone he did not.

[Ding! Fusion successful. Congratulations on obtaining the red Trait: [Seventy-Two Transformations]]

"It worked?"

His body shuddered as Li Yun suddenly opened his eyes and looked at the panel.

[Seventy-Two Transformations (Red): Contains seventy-two spells and Transformation Art. Can transform into all things and evade the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations~]

"It's actually the Seventy-Two Transformations!"

"I've struck it rich, I've struck it rich!"

After reading the Trait information, Li Yun was overjoyed. If the circumstances had not been inappropriate, he would have wanted to throw back his head and howl at the sky.

The Seventy-Two Transformations.

One of the supreme divine abilities.

The accompanying seventy-two spells were merely bonuses, and the Transformation Art was only a minor skill. After all, it only copied appearances, not the source essence. Ordinary cultivators could not see through it, but before Great Spiritual Power Users, it was meaningless.

Yet the true value of the Seventy-Two Transformations was that it could help a cultivator avoid the three crises encountered along the path of cultivation: the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations!

These were the heavenly cleansing and trials cultivators would encounter upon reaching the Golden Immortal Realm, Grand Unity True Immortal Realm, and Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm. They were incomparably dangerous, and the slightest carelessness would result in a cultivator dying beneath the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations.

But with the Seventy-Two Transformations, things were different. It could completely evade the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations. This meant that in the future, he would have a far greater advantage in cultivation than others, and would be much safer as well, perhaps even...