Chapter 154 - 150: Iron Wall Pill
Li Yuan picked up the Blood Replenishing Talisman, his fingertip touching its surface.
[Detected equippable item: Blood Replenishing Talisman (Intact)]
[Entry Preview: Qi Blood Surge (White) — Qi Blood and injury recovery speed increased by 30%]
[Perma-fusion Condition Preview: Consume the heart’s blood of a Tier One Middle Grade or higher Demon Beast, drawn fifteen minutes before its death.]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace currently equipped item?]
’A white entry. Qi Blood Surge.’
’It increases Qi Blood and injury recovery by 30% simultaneously. The effect overlaps somewhat with Qi Blood self-generation, but it isn’t exactly the same. Qi Blood self-generation provides continuous, automatic recovery, while Qi Blood Surge boosts the overall speed by 30%. Stacking the two would make the effect even more significant.’
’The perma-fusion condition is to consume the heart’s blood of a Tier One Middle Grade or higher Demon Beast, drawn fifteen minutes before its death.’
’Fifteen minutes before death. This means I can’t kill it and then draw the blood; I have to take the heart’s blood while the Demon Beast is still alive, and within fifteen minutes of its death.’
’The time window is extremely narrow.’
’I’d either have to beat the Demon Beast to near-death and then draw its blood, or capture it alive and then deal with it.’
Li Yuan placed the Blood Replenishing Talisman back on the desk and picked up the Investigation Talisman.
[Detected equippable item: Investigation Talisman (Intact)]
[Entry Preview: Spiritual Sense Amplification (White) — Perception effect increased by 30%]
[Perma-fusion Condition Preview: Cultivate a perception-type Magic to the introductory realm.]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace currently equipped item?]
’A white entry. Spiritual Sense Amplification.’
’A 30% increase in perception. Simple and direct. Unlike the perception range of the Spirit Detecting Disc, this entry enhances the precision and sensitivity of my perception itself, and it isn’t limited to Magical Artifacts.’
’The perma-fusion condition is to cultivate a perception-type Magic to the introductory stage.’
Perception-type Magic wasn’t rare on the market; he had seen several kinds before when he was shopping for Magic. The condition wasn’t too harsh.
Li Yuan put the two talismans away, spread out a new sheet of talisman paper, and continued practicing.
He had already figured out the path of the blood patterns for the Blood Replenishing Talisman on the previous one, and after drawing a few more, his hand grew steadier. The Investigation Talisman was even simpler; the combination of the Sensing Pattern and Expansion Pattern posed almost no technical difficulty for him, having reached Minor Achievement in his Talisman Making Skill.
Over the course of the morning, he drew five or six of each type of Talisman.
[Blood Replenishing Talisman: Introductory (0/200)]
[Investigation Talisman: Introductory (0/200)]
He had reached the introductory level for both new Talismans.
Li Yuan put down his talisman brush, stacked the finished products neatly, and left the courtyard.
As he reached the marketplace’s notice board, his steps slowed.
Most were procurement notices: some Cultivator was looking to buy a certain Spirit Grass or ore, leaving their contact information and an offer.
Li Yuan’s gaze swept over the notes.
Most had nothing to do with him. There were requests for Red Glow Grass, for Tier Three ores, and for a certain type of Spirit Beast cub.
His gaze paused on one of them.
The note was brief. It sought one Spirit Essence Fruit, condition unimportant, price negotiable. There was no signature, only a contact address.
’Spirit Essence Fruit.’
The core ingredient for the Breaking Element Pill. Wang Lu had said before that the group of marauding cultivators had already acquired six supplementary ingredients and the conventional main ingredient; only the Spirit Essence Fruit was missing.
’If this note was posted by one of the marauders, it means they’re still active in the marketplace and haven’t found the Spirit Essence Fruit yet.’
’But it might not be them. Although the Spirit Essence Fruit is rare, it isn’t only used for refining Foundation Establishment Pills; it’s occasionally used in other pill formulas. The person who posted this note isn’t necessarily connected to the marauders.’
Li Yuan memorized the contact address on the note but didn’t tear it down. He turned and walked back.
He returned to the inn to find Wang Lu.
"There’s a situation."
Wang Lu was in his room, flipping through a thin booklet. He looked up when he heard Li Yuan’s words.
Li Yuan told him about the note on the notice board requesting a Spirit Essence Fruit.
After listening, Wang Lu was silent for a few breaths.
He closed the booklet in his hand and placed it on the desk.
"Where’s the contact address?"
Li Yuan recited the location.
Wang Lu’s brow furrowed slightly.
"That location is in the southern residential area of the marketplace. It’s not a shop or an inn, it’s a private residence."
He walked to the window and glanced outside.
"If that group really finds a Spirit Essence Fruit in the marketplace, they’ll have all the ingredients. Once they have them, they can go directly to Senior He for Alchemy. They could enter Yunyang Marketplace, have the pill refined, and leave, all without ever stepping outside."
He turned to face Li Yuan.
"We can’t make a move inside the marketplace."
His tone was a notch heavier than usual.
"I’ll go check that address."
Li Yuan grunted in acknowledgment and left the inn.
He continued south along the main street.
He had been stuck on the second step of the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill ever since reaching the introductory stage. Without the Bone Tempering Liquid to open the absorption channels in his deep muscle tissue, progress from simply infusing Spiritual Power was extremely slow. Back at the mine, Steward Liu had said that the Bone Tempering Liquid was an exclusive formula of the Li family; only they could concoct it.
Yunyang Marketplace was much larger than Qinghe Marketplace, and the Li family had a shop here as well. If he could buy Bone Tempering Liquid anywhere, it was most likely at the Li family’s store.
The style of the shops on the southern part of the main street was different from the central section. It was less orderly and uniform, and a bit more chaotic. Some signs were handwritten, and some storefronts had peeling paint that no one had bothered to fix.
But the variety was greater. Things you couldn’t find in the northern and central sections could occasionally be found here in the south.
Li Yuan walked along the street for a while, his eyes scanning the signs on both sides.
When he reached a corner, a small shop came into view.
The storefront was only as wide as a single room. The door was old, its paint somewhat faded. A wooden plaque hung over the entrance, carved with two words.
Li’s Shop.
In the bottom right corner of the plaque was an inconspicuous small character—the character for "Li"—in the exact same script as the one on the Tokens worn by the Li family’s Cultivators in the marketplace.
’The Li family’s shop.’
There was no attendant on duty at the entrance. The door was ajar, and an odor, a mix of medicine and metal, drifted out.
Li Yuan pushed the door open and walked in.
The interior of the shop was more spacious than it looked from the outside. Wooden shelves lined three of the walls, filled with various porcelain vials, jade boxes, and sealed jars.
A man in his thirties sat behind the counter, dressed in a dark gray short robe. The collar was embroidered with the same subtle pattern found on the Li family Tokens.
The top of the counter was also covered by a Spiritual Power barrier. The items on the shelves were visible but couldn’t be touched.
Seeing someone enter, the clerk glanced up.
"What are you looking for?"
"Bone Tempering Liquid."
The clerk’s gaze swept over Li Yuan, pausing for a breath on the talisman-engraved waist tag at his hip before looking away.
"We have it."
He pulled a porcelain jar from under the counter and set it on top. The mouth of the jar was sealed with wax, and a label was pasted on its side, bearing the three words for "Bone Tempering Liquid."
"Standard Bone Tempering Liquid, twenty Spirit Stones a jar. One jar is enough for a complete Body Tempering cycle."
’Twenty Spirit Stones for one jar.’
It was much more expensive than Li Yuan had expected. The three Body Refining medicinal liquids together had only cost him twenty-eight Spirit Stones, but one jar of Bone Tempering Liquid was twenty.
"Is there anything else?"
The clerk pointed to a shelf behind the counter.
The middle shelf held several porcelain vials. Their craftsmanship was much finer than ordinary pill bottles, and they had dark gold labels.
"Specially-made Iron Wall Pills. They’re pills taken in conjunction with the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill. They can replace the Bone Tempering Liquid, and their effect is even better. The Bone Tempering Liquid only opens the absorption channels in deep muscle tissue; the Iron Wall Pill not only opens the channels but also directly strengthens bone density."
He opened a crack in the barrier above the counter, took a porcelain vial from the shelf, and placed it on the countertop.
"Five pills per vial, fifty Spirit Stones."
Li Yuan took the porcelain vial.
The vial felt slightly heavy in his hand, and the stopper was sealed tightly. When he pulled it open, he saw five dark, iron-colored pills inside. Their surfaces had a faint metallic sheen, and a dull, ore-like smell wafted out when he brought it close.
He touched one of the pills at the mouth of the vial with his fingertip.
The panel popped up.
[Detected equippable item]
[Item Entry Grade: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to user. Cannot equip. Cannot view detailed information.]
Li Yuan pushed the stopper back in.
"One Iron Wall Pill will last you for seven days. During those seven days, the effects of your Body Refining will be greatly enhanced."
Li Yuan considered for a few breaths before speaking.
"I’ll take a vial of Iron Wall Pills."
The clerk pushed the vial over, and Li Yuan counted out fifty Spirit Stones, stacking them on the counter.
After counting them, the clerk swept the Spirit Stones into a drawer beneath the counter.
"Swallow the Iron Wall Pill directly. For best results, take it an hour before practicing the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill."
Li Yuan put the two items into his storage bag, nodded at the clerk, and left the shop.
He walked back to his courtyard the way he came.
He closed the courtyard gate and entered the main house.
Li Yuan sat down at the table, took the Iron Wall Pills out of his storage bag, and placed them in a row on the tabletop.
[Detected equippable item: Iron Wall Pill (Intact)]
[Entry Preview: Marrow Tempering (White) — Increases the promotional effect of all medicines on Body Refining Techniques by 30%]
[Perma-fusion Condition Preview: Cultivate an immortal-path Body Refining Technique to the great completion stage (0/1)]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace currently equipped item?]
’It can enhance the promotional effects of medicines on Body Refining Techniques, but I don’t have much opportunity to use it right now.’
’The perma-fusion condition is also quite harsh.’
Li Yuan spread out a sheet of golden talisman paper, dipped his brush in Dark Gold Spiritual Ink, and set the brush to paper.
He drew the five-ring Concentration Pattern of the Spirit-Refining Talisman in one smooth motion.
One, two, three talismans.
Two of them were successful.
Then he switched to the Fireball Talisman, the Heart-lock Talisman, and the Qi Gathering Talisman.
He also interspersed his work with a few Blood Replenishing Talismans and Investigation Talismans.
The finished products were stacked in neat piles at the corner of the table.
After nightfall, Li Yuan put down his talisman brush, took two Evil Essence Pills from his storage bag, swallowed them, and sat cross-legged to circulate his power.
Spiritual Power and Evil Qi flowed alternately through his body.
Outside the window, Yunyang Marketplace gradually quieted down, and the courtyard walls blocked out the last few footsteps from the alley.