Chapter 197 - 191: Spiritual Essence Jade Plate
The resistance when infusing Spiritual Power deep into his muscles lessened once more. The absorption channels opened at the Mastery stage continued to widen, and the depth and speed of the Spiritual Power’s infiltration steadily increased.
The proficiency of his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill was moving toward Minor Achievement.
「A few more days passed.」
Every morning, he spent two to four hours teaching Han Qing Talisman Making. In the afternoon, he made talismans himself. In the evening, he practiced Alchemy, and at night, he cultivated.
Han Qing’s progress was a little faster than he’d anticipated. After his fundamentals were corrected, he could already draw a complete Fire Gathering Pattern. Though the quality left much to be desired, at least it no longer dissipated.
The experience he gained in Talisman Making from teaching continued to grow at a faster rate than when he practiced on his own.
After teaching Han Qing each day, when he went back to drawing his own talismans, his proficiency increased nearly thirty percent faster than before.
One evening, Li Yuan was circulating the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.
Spiritual Power flowed along the technique’s path, infusing the deep layers of his muscles. As he reached the latter half of the fourth cycle, a subtle change occurred.
The Spiritual Power circulating deep within his muscles no longer needed to be constantly driven by the technique.
It felt similar to when his Iron Bull Skill had reached Perfection. At that stage, his organs began to absorb Qi Blood automatically. Now, his deep muscle layers were accepting Spiritual Power automatically.
Once the Spiritual Power was infused, his muscle fibers actively drew it into deeper levels. It seeped from the muscle fibers to the fascia and then to the periosteum, layer by layer, without needing any external push.
The panel flickered.
[Cultivation Technique: Iron Wall Body Refining Skill - Minor Achievement (0/1600)]
’Minor Achievement.’
The permanence condition for the Spirit Absorption Pill required one Cultivation Method and one Body Refining Technique to both reach Great Success.
His Spirit-Introducing Skill was already at Perfection. The Iron Wall Body Refining Skill was now at Minor Achievement, still a good distance away from Great Success.
’But the direction is right.’
Li Yuan ceased the technique and stretched his limbs.
After his Iron Wall Body Refining Skill reached Minor Achievement, the strength of his physical body rose to another level. The sense of power when he clenched his fist was immense, and the density of the muscle beneath his skin was significantly higher than it had been at the Mastery stage.
That evening, Zhou Tie arrived.
"There’s a gathering tomorrow night. You in?"
’The second gathering for the artisan circle.’
"I’m in."
The next evening, Li Yuan followed Zhou Tie and Shen Yue to a teahouse on East Street.
The private room on the second floor was the same as last time. A long table was covered with a coarse cloth, on which various items for trade were displayed. A few more people had shown up than before, numbering about twenty-five or twenty-six in total.
Li Yuan walked slowly along the table, his gaze sweeping over the items on its surface.
Most of the items were similar to last time, consisting mainly of materials and finished products: Spirit Grass, ores, medicinal pills, and Magical Artifact components, with grades ranging from Tier One Low Grade to Tier One Middle Grade.
As he reached the middle of the table, his gaze fell upon a bamboo scroll.
The wooden plaque next to the scroll read: Soul Condensation Skill. A Tier One Low Grade Divine Soul Cultivation Technique.
Cultivating it continuously strengthens one’s Divine Soul, improving perception as well as offensive and defensive capabilities.
’A Divine Soul Skill.’
Li Yuan had been looking for something just like this. The permanence condition for his Soul Stabbing Skill was to cultivate a Divine Soul Skill to the Entry-Level.
It wasn’t surprising to see a Divine Soul Skill in the artisan circle. Talisman Making, Alchemy, and Artifact Refining all required a strong Divine Soul. This was especially true for Talisman Making and Alchemy; the stronger one’s Divine Soul, the more precise their perception of Spiritual Power and medicinal efficacy, and the better their craft.
Artisans had a much greater need for Divine Soul Skills than ordinary Loose Cultivators.
"How much for this scroll?" Li Yuan asked, tipping his chin toward a Cultivator standing beside the bamboo scroll.
The Cultivator was a Pill Refiner in his forties with a kind face.
"The Soul Condensation Skill. Forty Spirit Stones."
The price wasn’t too steep. Divine Soul Skills were rarer on the market than ordinary Magic, but its Tier One Low Grade rank wasn’t particularly high, making forty Spirit Stones a reasonable price.
"Thirty-five."
"Thirty-eight."
"Deal."
He set down the Spirit Stones and put away the bamboo scroll.
Li Yuan continued on his way.
When he reached the end of the table, near the corner, his fingers habitually came to rest on an item placed at the edge.
It was a palm-sized jade disk.
The jade was a dark cyan color, its edge carved with a circle of intricate Spirit Patterns. The craftsmanship was far more refined than that of an ordinary Magical Artifact. A small, dark red bead was embedded in the center of the disk, emitting a faint glow.
The instant his fingertip touched the surface of the jade disk, the panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Affix Tier: Green]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped or viewed in detail.]
’Green.’
Li Yuan’s finger lingered on the jade disk for an extra moment.
He picked up the jade disk and turned it over. The back was smooth and unmarked. The Spirit Patterns on the front were exquisitely carved, indicating a high level of quality.
There was no wooden plaque or price tag next to it.
Standing near the jade disk was a gaunt-faced Cultivator in his fifties. His fingers were stained with Spiritual Ink—the hands of a Talisman Maker. His Cultivation was at the Qi Refining Seventh Level.
Li Yuan glanced at him. "Is this for sale?"
The gaunt Cultivator glanced down at the jade disk in Li Yuan’s hand, then paused to think.
"That thing? I brought it back from a Secret Realm. I have no idea what it is. I tried infusing it with Spiritual Power, but nothing happened. It’s just taking up space, so I might as well sell it."
"How much?"
"You make an offer."
Li Yuan turned the jade disk over in his hands a couple of times, feigning uncertainty.
"Thirty?"
The gaunt Cultivator tilted his head. "The craftsmanship of the Spirit Patterns is good. Thirty is too low. Fifty."
"Forty."
"Forty-five. That’s as low as I’ll go."
"Deal."
He placed forty-five Spirit Stones on the table and tucked the jade disk into his storage bag.
Li Yuan didn’t linger at the gathering for much longer. After one more tour around the room, he bid farewell and left.
He returned to his courtyard and shut the door.
’I’ll look at this first. The permanence condition for the Soul Stabbing Skill requires a Divine Soul Skill at the Entry-Level.’
’Then I’ll check out the jade disk with the green affix.’
Li Yuan unrolled the bamboo scroll, spreading it across the table and began to read.
The cultivation Skill for the Soul Condensation Skill was completely different from ordinary Spiritual Power techniques. It didn’t follow the meridians or involve the Dantian; the object of cultivation was the Divine Soul itself.
The core method involved concentrating one’s consciousness on the Divine Soul node between the eyebrows, then repeatedly condensing and expanding the power of the Divine Soul in a specific way, as if forging a piece of iron.
Tighten, release, tighten again, release again. Each cycle increased the density of the Divine Soul by a sliver.
Li Yuan gave it a try, following the Spell on the bamboo scroll.
He focused his consciousness between his eyebrows.
The power of his Divine Soul surged from the depths of his consciousness, gathering at the node between his eyebrows. Then, following the Spell’s guidance, he compressed the gathered power inward.
The compression process was somewhat strenuous, but not overly difficult.
The long-term reinforcement of his Divine Soul from the Soul Mirror and his insights from Alchemy had made its strength far exceed that of his peers. The resistance he felt during compression was significantly less than what the Spell described.
After compressing it to its limit, he slowly released it.
The power of his Divine Soul unfurled from its compressed state, its density increasing by a sliver as it rebounded.
One cycle, complete.
After a few more cycles, he grew more and more accustomed to the process.
The panel popped up.
[Cultivation Technique: Soul Condensation Skill - Entry-Level (0/200)]
’Entry-Level.’
Now that he had a Divine Soul Skill at the Entry-Level, the permanence condition for the Soul Stabbing Skill was fulfilled.
Li Yuan put away the bamboo scroll for the Soul Condensation Skill and took the dark cyan jade disk out of his storage bag.
His fingertip touched the disk’s surface.
[Equippable Item Detected: Spiritual Essence Jade Disk (Complete)]
[Equipment Affix Preview: Spiritual Essence Refinement (Green) — When making talismans, the quality of the finished product is increased by twenty percent.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Assist in the creation of three hundred talismans using this item (0/300)]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]