Chapter 206 - 200: All Materials Gathered
It was already completely dark by the time Li Yuan returned to Yunyang Market.
The guards at the city gate gave him a couple of extra looks, scanned his Spirit Stone pass, found nothing unusual, and let him through.
Back in his courtyard with the door closed, Li Yuan took out the spoils from his storage bag one by one to take inventory.
Combined, the two rogue cultivators’ storage bags contained: over two hundred Spirit Stones, several bottles of pills—two bottles of Breaking Evil Pills, one bottle of Replenishing Essence Pills, and a bottle of unidentifiable dark-colored pills.
The sturdy cultivator’s short blade was well-made, but it had no entry, so there was no point in keeping it.
The lanky man had three spares of the dark sphere, a type of one-time-use offensive Magical Artifact. They were powerful, but gone after one use.
Li Yuan hadn’t taken much from the Li family cultivator, only the Spirit Stones and pills.
Once he finished counting, he put the Spirit Stones back into his storage bag and placed the pills on the corner of the table, sorted by type.
Selling the short blade and the dark spheres would probably fetch thirty to forty Spirit Stones.
After teaching Han Qing the next morning, Li Yuan went out to run some errands.
He first went to the Loose Cultivator gathering area to sell the short blade and spheres, exchanging them for several dozen Spirit Stones. Then, he visited a few medicine shops on the main street to inquire about the market for Nine-Turn Lingzhi.
Neither of the two large medicine emporiums had any Nine-Turn Lingzhi in stock. The clerk explained that it only grew in a few places, and very little of it entered the market each year. Sometimes, not a single stalk would be seen for months on end.
Li Yuan left the medicine shop and walked back along the main street.
As he reached the entrance to a side alley, he remembered the bronze Token Pill Refiner He had given him.
The underground trade fair.
The first session was tonight, in the basement of the teahouse at the end of East Street.
Nights in Yunyang Market were much quieter than the days, but not deserted. The Spirit Lamps on the main street were lit, and occasionally a Loose Cultivator would walk by. The sound of an Inspector General’s footsteps could be heard approaching from the distance, then fading away.
When evening came, Li Yuan walked east along the main street and turned onto East Street.
The teahouse at the end of East Street was still lit. Two or three Loose Cultivators were drinking tea in the first-floor seating area, and the Shopkeeper was dozing off behind the counter.
Li Yuan walked into a narrow alley beside the teahouse. At the end of the alley was an inconspicuous wooden door, half-worn, with most of its paint peeled off.
A man stood in front of the door.
He was in his forties, burly, and wore a black short shirt. His arms were crossed over his chest, and his face was expressionless. His Cultivation was at the Qi Refining Eighth Level.
Li Yuan flashed the bronze Token.
The gatekeeper glanced at the runes on the Token, his expression growing slightly more respectful.
He nodded and took something from a shelf behind him, handing it over.
It was a mask.
A dark gray mask that covered the entire face, leaving only the eyes exposed. The inside of the mask was engraved with fine Spirit Patterns, and it felt cool to the touch.
"Once you put it on, it can conceal your aura," the gatekeeper said in a muffled voice.
Li Yuan placed the mask over his face.
The moment the mask touched his face, the Spirit Patterns on the inside activated. An extremely fine barrier of Spiritual Power expanded from the edges of the mask, covering his entire head and neck.
His aura was significantly suppressed.
His features were also completely hidden. The dark gray mask was featureless.
The gatekeeper pushed open the wooden door and stepped aside to let him pass.
Li Yuan walked in.
Behind the wooden door was a stone staircase leading down. The staircase wasn’t long; after a dozen or so steps, it opened into an underground secret chamber.
The chamber was more spacious than expected. It was about fifty to sixty feet across, enclosed by stone walls. A few Spirit Stones were embedded in the ceiling for illumination, providing dim but sufficient light.
In the center of the chamber was a long table covered with a black velvet cloth. About a dozen people stood around the table, all wearing the same dark gray masks.
Only a hint of their auras could be sensed, their faces were hidden, and their voices were slightly distorted by the Spirit Patterns inside the masks.
Many items were already laid out on the table: a few bottles of pills, several ore fragments, two or three bamboo scrolls, a few stalks of Spirit Grass, and some scattered Magical Artifact components.
Next to each item was a small wooden plaque with its name, a brief description, and the price.
Li Yuan walked slowly along the table, his gaze sweeping over the items.
Most were standard cultivation resources, with grades ranging from Tier One Low Grade to Tier One Middle Grade. The prices were a bit lower than the market rate, but not by much.
When he reached the middle of the table, Li Yuan’s gaze froze.
A Lingzhi.
It was housed in a sealed jade box with the lid half-open, allowing a view of the Lingzhi inside.
It had a dark golden cap with nine distinct rings on its surface. Each ring represented ten years of growth. Nine rings meant ninety years old.
A Nine-Turn Lingzhi.
The quality was excellent. The cap was intact, with no signs of insect damage or other harm, and its dark golden luster was deep and reserved. The Spiritual Wave it emitted was pure, indicating its medicinal effects should be at the Top Grade level.
The wooden plaque next to it read: Nine-Turn Lingzhi, 90 years, 1,300 Spirit Stones.
One thousand three hundred.
Almost twenty percent below market price.
Li Yuan glanced at it twice before immediately buying it.
With the Nine-Turn Lingzhi in his possession, he had now gathered all the materials for the Breaking Element Pill.
Only about a hundred Spirit Stones remained in his storage bag.
He continued walking.
At the end of the table were a few miscellaneous items: a dark ore, a half-worn flying dagger, and a palm-sized Jade Pendant.
The moment Li Yuan’s finger touched the Jade Pendant, the panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Entry Level: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to user. Cannot equip. Cannot view detailed information.]
A white entry.
The Jade Pendant’s craftsmanship wasn’t particularly fine. It was made of a dark cyan jade, with a few simple Spirit Patterns carved on its surface.
The wooden plaque next to it read: Qi Blood Jade Pendant, aids in Qi Blood circulation, 80 Spirit Stones.
Li Yuan thought for a moment, counted out the Spirit Stones, placed them on the table, and put the Jade Pendant into his storage bag.
He stayed in the secret chamber for a while longer but found nothing else worth buying.
Li Yuan walked back up the stone steps, removed his mask at the door to return it to the gatekeeper, and left the narrow alley.
The night wind blew against his face, and the aura that the mask had concealed returned to normal.
He returned to his courtyard and closed the door.
Li Yuan took the Qi Blood Jade Pendant from his storage bag and placed it on the table.
His fingertip touched the surface of the Jade Pendant.
[Equippable Item Detected: Qi Blood Jade Pendant (Complete)]
[Equipment Entry Preview: Precise Qi Blood Control (White) — Increases precision of Qi Blood control by 30%, reduces consumption during Qi Blood circulation by 20%]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Achieve a full cycle of Qi Blood circulation, and master one Body Refining Technique to the entry level (0/2)]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]
A white entry. Precise Qi Blood Control.
Increases precision of Qi Blood control by thirty percent, and reduces circulation consumption by twenty percent.
’There are two permanence conditions. The first is achieving a full cycle of Qi Blood circulation—when I made my Qi Blood permanent, it was confirmed that the full cycle was complete. So that condition is met.’
’The second is mastering one Body Refining Technique to the entry level—my Iron Wall Body Refining Skill has already reached Great Success, which is far beyond the entry level. That condition is met too.’
’Both conditions are met.’
With a thought, Li Yuan unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.
He equipped the Qi Blood Jade Pendant.
The panel immediately popped up again.
[Permanence conditions for Precise Qi Blood Control (White) have been met.]
[Make permanent?]
Yes.
[Permanence successful.]
[Precise Qi Blood Control (White) has become a permanent entry.]
[Equipment consumed.]
The Qi Blood Jade Pendant dissolved into a ray of dark cyan light between his fingers and entered his body.
The change was subtle but clear. As his Qi Blood flowed through his meridians, the consumption at every turn and every node was reduced. The total flow of Qi Blood hadn’t changed, but the effective flow had increased.
Previously, twenty percent of his Qi Blood was wasted during circulation due to various minor losses. Now, that waste was drastically reduced.
This would directly benefit his practice of Body Refining Techniques. The efficiency of Qi Blood tempering during the circulation of the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill was now higher.
Li Yuan continued to circulate his technique.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body. The Pure Spiritual Power expelled impurities, and the concentrated Spiritual Power sank into his Dantian.
The condensed Spiritual Essence from the Spirit Absorption Pill boosted his cultivation speed by fifty percent. The Spiritual Power advancement from the Realm-Breaking Pill added another twenty percent.
The dual spirit-blood cultivation from the Blood Coagulation Pill made his Qi Blood circulate in sync. The permanent entry for Precise Qi Blood Control further increased the efficiency of his Qi Blood circulation.
Under these multiple buffs, the Spiritual Power gained from each full cycle was extremely significant.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian accumulated cycle after cycle.
The Dantian capacity of a Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivator was immense, and his permanent entries for Spiritual Essence Expansion and Spiritual Power Condensation had pushed both his capacity and density to a level far beyond his peers.
But even the greatest capacity has its limits.
As he completed the twelfth cycle, Li Yuan felt a change.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian was no longer sinking.
It was full.
Spiritual Power had filled every corner of his Dantian, and its density had reached its limit. Any more would cause it to overflow.
The Great Perfection of Qi Refining.
The limit of the Qi Refining Stage.
The Spiritual Power in his Dantian had reached the highest density this realm could contain. The next step wasn’t an increase in quantity, but a change in quality.
From gaseous to liquid.
From Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment.
The panel flickered.
[Cultivation: Great Perfection of Qi Refining]
Li Yuan opened his eyes.
He raised a hand, clenched it into a fist, then relaxed it.
The texture of the Spiritual Power within him felt completely different than before. Every wisp of it was condensed to the extreme.
The next step was Foundation Establishment.