Red Affix: Seventy-Two Transformations

"So those four earlier came looking for me just to seize the treasure here?"

A flash of insight struck Li Yun as he thought back to Zhao Gongming and his siblings who had called out to him earlier.

But he didn't believe they genuinely wanted to join forces with him, much less share a fortuitous encounter.

More likely, with so many cultivators in this area and no small amount of danger, they wanted him as a partner—or even as a decoy to draw attention, a stepping stone.

"Interesting!"

"Though I'm not sure of their exact intentions, I, Li Yun, will remember this."

Muttering to himself, Li Yun glanced once more at the mountaintop region, then turned without hesitation and headed toward the areas where other demonic beasts were locked in slaughter.

A gourd vine!

Gourds!

These things were indeed of immense value, but who was Li Yun?

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

With that mindset, he'd rather kill more demonic beasts and acquire affixes.

Besides, he sensed many cultivators on the mountaintop, yet no one had made a move. That meant either the gourds weren't ripe yet, or the mountaintop was protected by a great formation. Rushing in recklessly would only expose himself, make him a target, and put him in danger.

With that thought, Li Yun had no intention of heading to the mountaintop now. He continued roaming the mid-mountain area, seizing opportunities to blast injured, dying, or unwary demonic beasts to death.

As time passed, Li Yun lost count of how many beasts he had killed, but the affix library already held several hundred affixes—seventy percent green, thirty percent blue.

"Die~"

Summoning the Taiqing Divine Thunder once more, he obliterated two demonic beasts that had mutually wounded each other, then let out a relieved breath.

Looking around, he decided not to continue hunting. He could feel the fluctuations from the mountaintop rapidly intensifying. Barring surprises, the gourds on that High-Grade Innate Spirit Root gourd vine were about to ripen.

That meant a great battle was inevitable soon. The demonic beasts likely wouldn't even reach that area—it would be a fight between cultivators, slaughter and contention. And chances were high that disciples of the Jie Teachings, even the Chan Teachings, would be among them.

Thinking this, Li Yun found a towering ancient tree, silently slipped onto its branches, and used the dense foliage to conceal his figure and hide his aura, while still keeping a clear view of the mountaintop.

Without further delay, Li Yun summoned the affix fusion and upgrade panel, then began tossing affixes into it for fusion and upgrading.

[Ding! Fusion successful, obtained Blue Affix!]

[Ding! Fusion successful, obtained Blue Affix!]

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

[...]

After a flurry of operations, Li Yun quickly fused all the green affixes into blue ones.

But he didn't stop there—these blue affixes weren't valuable enough, and he wouldn't equip them rashly.

Next, Li Yun manipulated the blue affixes for fusion and upgrade.

[Ding! Fusion successful, obtained Purple Affix: Gigantification!]

[Ding! Fusion successful, obtained Purple Affix: Artifact Refining Genius!]

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

[Ding! Fusion successful, obtained Purple Affix...]

With each operation, purple affixes kept appearing.

Before long, all the blue affixes were consumed in fusion upgrades, leaving only fourteen brand-new purple affixes.

With just a few glances, Li Yun set aside the ones he fancied into a separate area for inspection.

[Artifact Refining Genius (Purple): After equipping, increases the application, skill, proficiency, and experience of Artifact Refining Methods by ten times.]

[Formation Master Genius (Purple): After equipping, increases comprehension, insight, cultivation, application, and experience of formations by ten times.]

[Idle Cultivation (Purple): After equipping, automatically selects a cultivation technique or divine ability for idle training, allowing continuous improvement without active cultivation.]

"Not bad!"

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

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

He then placed these three affixes, along with the Alchemy Genius affix, at the very bottom of the panel to avoid accidental touches, and turned his attention to the remaining eleven purple affixes.

A few of them were decent, but for Li Yun, they held little value. In this situation, he had two choices: keep these affixes and later gather more purple ones to upgrade the four affixes—Alchemy Genius, Artifact Refining Genius, Formation Master Genius, and Idle Cultivation—or directly attempt fusion and gamble on that thirty percent success rate.

If it succeeded, he'd get a Red Affix. If it failed, these affixes would be wasted.

"I'll gamble!"

"Even if I fail, the remaining four purple affixes are more than enough for short-term use."

In the end, Li Yun couldn't suppress his craving for a Red Affix. Taking a deep breath, he selected five affixes and tossed them into the furnace.

Instantly, the furnace blazed with light—purple tinged with a hint of red. As time passed, the red grew more brilliant.

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

[Ding! Fusion failed!]

"Fuck!"

Unable to hold back the curse, Li Yun never imagined he'd fail at the very last moment.

This just showed how terrifying a seventy percent failure rate truly was.

But now that things had come to this, how could Li Yun possibly give up? Without any hesitation, he directly tossed in another five Purple Affixes.

After doing all this, Li Yun no longer looked at the panel. He simply closed his eyes and silently recited: "Three Pure Ones bless me, Tathagata Buddha bless me, Jesus bless me..."

For a moment, whether he knew them or not, Li Yun prayed to every single one.

[Ding! Fusion successful. Congratulations on obtaining Red Affix: [Seventy-Two Transformations]]

"It worked?"

His body jolted. Li Yun snapped his eyes open and stared at the panel.

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

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

"Jackpot, jackpot~"

After reading the affix information, Li Yun was now overjoyed. If not for the inappropriate setting, he might have even wanted to roar up at the sky.

The Seventy-Two Transformations.

One of the top-tier divine abilities.

The seventy-two supporting spells were merely a bonus, and the transformation arts were only a minor trick—after all, they only mimicked the form without the essence. Ordinary cultivators couldn't see through them, but before Great Spiritual Power Users, they held no meaning whatsoever.

But the true value of the Seventy-Two Transformations lay in its ability to evade the three crises a cultivator would encounter on their path of cultivation: the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations!

These were the heavenly baptisms and trials a cultivator faced upon reaching the Golden Immortal Realm, Grand Unity True Immortal Realm, and Great Luo Golden Immortal Realm. They were incomparably dangerous, and with the slightest misstep, a cultivator would perish under the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations.

But with the Seventy-Two Transformations, it was different. It could completely evade the existence of the Three Disasters, Nine Calamities, and Twelve Tribulations. This meant that in the future, he would have a far greater advantage in cultivation compared to others, and even be far safer—perhaps even...