Chapter 189 - 184: Breaking Charm
That morning, Li Yuan went to the Loose Cultivator gathering area to restock on Spirit Grass.
The stall area was much livelier than it had been a few days ago. There were several new faces among the stall owners, and the variety of goods for sale had increased.
As he passed by an ore stall, the owner was in a spirited conversation with a nearby Loose Cultivator.
"...They found an ore vein over in the Ghost Mist Forest. Have you guys heard?"
"The Ghost Mist Forest? Isn’t that place shrouded in fog year-round? Who would dare go there?"
"They didn’t dare to before."
The ore stall owner flipped over a grayish-blue piece of ore in his hand.
"But things are different now."
"The Primordial Yang Sect sent people over and secured the area around the ore vein. They cleared out a batch of the surrounding Demon Beasts, and the fog has been partially suppressed by an Array. It’s much safer to go in and out than before."
He pointed north.
"The vein produces Spirit Iron ore. The grade isn’t particularly high, but there’s a lot of it. The Primordial Yang Sect’s rule is that anyone can go mine it. You just have to hand over thirty percent of the ore you dig up to the sect, and you can keep the rest."
The Loose Cultivator next to him clicked his tongue. "Hand over only thirty percent? That’s a great deal, isn’t it?"
The ore stall owner patted the ore in his hand. "It’s a good deal, sure, but it’s also dangerous. It is the Ghost Mist Forest, after all."
"Plus, it’s a bit of a long walk. It takes over half a day to get there from Yunyang Market."
A few Loose Cultivators discussed it for a while. Some were tempted, while others shook their heads, feeling it wasn’t worth the risk.
Li Yuan overheard the conversation but didn’t linger. He bought his Spirit Grass and returned to his courtyard.
In the afternoon, he made Talismans.
After drawing over ten Fireball Talismans and a few Rejuvenation Talismans, there was a knock on the courtyard gate.
Li Yuan put down his talisman brush and walked to the entrance.
He opened the gate to find a cultivator in his thirties standing outside.
The man was on the leaner side with a shrewd face and quick, darting eyes. He wore a dark blue short robe of decent material, and a finely crafted storage pouch hung from his waist.
His Cultivation was at the Qi Refining Seventh Level.
The visitor cupped his hands in a salute to Li Yuan.
"Li Dao You? The Talisman Maker registered with the Purple Abyss Trading Company?"
"I am."
"My surname is Lu." He smiled, his gaze sweeping over the courtyard. "I have a job I’d like to discuss with you."
Li Yuan let him into the courtyard.
The cultivator named Lu sat down on a stone stool and got straight to the point.
"Li Dao You, do you know how to make Breaking Charms?"
"I do not."
The cultivator named Lu showed no surprise, as if he had expected this answer.
He took out a roll of beast hide from his storage pouch and placed it on the table.
"This is the crafting method for the Breaking Charm."
Li Yuan glanced at him but didn’t reach for it.
The cultivator named Lu pushed the beast hide toward Li Yuan.
"The terms are simple. I give you the crafting method, and you make twenty Breaking Charms for me within three days. All the Talismans you make are mine, but you get to keep the method."
He held up one finger.
"If you can’t produce twenty of them in three days, you will pay me fifty Spirit Stones as a usage fee for the method."
Li Yuan shifted his gaze from the cultivator named Lu to the beast hide scroll on the table.
"Who provides the materials?"
"You do." The cultivator named Lu spread his hands. "The materials for Breaking Charms aren’t exceptionally expensive, but they aren’t cheap either."
He counted on his fingers.
"Assuming a thirty to forty percent success rate, the material cost for drawing twenty Breaking Charms will be around fifty Spirit Stones."
A material cost of fifty Spirit Stones, twenty Talismans in three days. And if he failed, he’d have to pay an additional fifty.
’The risk isn’t small.’
’But the reward is also right there.’
’The crafting method for the Breaking Charm. It’s a Tier One Middle Grade Combat Talisman, and its crafting method is rarely circulated on the market. If I can learn it, it’ll be a long-term source of income, whether for my own use or for sale.’
’With my Great Success level in talisman making, I should be able to do it. But the success rate is hard to predict; the failure rate for a new type of Talisman is usually very high for the first few attempts.’
Li Yuan rolled up the beast hide and looked at the cultivator named Lu.
"Deal."
The cultivator named Lu smiled.
"Excellent. I’ll be back in three days to collect the goods."
He stood up, gave Li Yuan another salute, and turned to leave the courtyard.
Li Yuan closed the gate and immediately went out to buy materials.
Breaking Charms required metallic talisman paper. The Materials Shop on the main street sold it for one Spirit Stone per sheet, with a twenty percent discount for bulk purchases.
Back in the courtyard, he organized the materials.
The texture of the metallic talisman paper was completely different from ordinary talisman paper.
The surface had an extremely fine metallic sheen. It felt slightly heavy in his hand and was much stiffer than Cyan Pattern Paper. When he infused it with Spiritual Power, he could feel the Spirit Iron powder within the paper resonating, indicating excellent conductivity.
The barrier-breaking Spiritual Ink was dark gray and about twenty percent thicker than ordinary Spiritual Ink. It clung firmly to the brush tip when dipped.
Li Yuan spread out the first sheet of metallic talisman paper, dipped his brush in the barrier-breaking Spiritual Ink, and began to draw.
The barrier-breaking pattern.
Spiritual Power seeped from the brush tip into the talisman paper, following the path marked on the crafting method.
The path of the barrier-breaking pattern was somewhat similar to the Fire Gathering Pattern of a Fireball Talisman; both followed a gather-then-release principle. However, the gathering method was different. The Fire Gathering Pattern spread out over a surface before contracting, whereas the barrier-breaking pattern was a linear thrust, forcing Spiritual Power forward through an extremely narrow channel.
It had similarities to the linear conduction of the Golden Blade Talisman. His foundation in Metal Element Magic and talisman making was proving useful here.
After completing the barrier-breaking pattern, he moved on to the Piercing Pattern.
The Piercing Pattern demanded high precision. The Spiritual Power had to be compressed into a minuscule cone at the end of the pattern. The diameter of the cone’s tip could not be thicker than a strand of hair, or its piercing effect would be greatly diminished.
Li Yuan slowly compressed his Spiritual Power. The precision he’d gained from mastering the Micro-Control Spiritual Skill came into play, allowing for extremely fine distribution of Spiritual Power at his fingertips.
The cone took shape.
He contained the power.
A layer of dark silver light surfaced on the Talisman, cold and sharp. Unlike the silvery-white of the Golden Blade Talisman, this was deeper and darker, carrying a sense of oppression.
’Success.’
Li Yuan placed the Talisman on the table and touched it with his fingertip.
A panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected: Breaking Charm (Complete)]
[Equipment Affix Preview: Barrier Penetration (White) — Increases penetration effect against Spiritual Power defenses by thirty percent.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Break an Array one time (0/1)]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]
A white affix. Barrier Penetration.
It increased the penetration effect against Spiritual Power defenses by thirty percent. Whether it was a spiritual shield, a Protective Spirit Light, or an Array barrier, its piercing capability would be boosted by thirty percent.
The condition for permanence was to break an Array one time.
’I did blow up the stone platform of that Bloodthirsty Stone Array in the Secret Realm before, and the Array was indeed destroyed. But I wasn’t equipped with a Breaking Charm at the time, so it doesn’t count.’
’Next time I encounter an Array, I’ll just equip this before breaking it.’
Li Yuan put the finished product away and spread out a second sheet of metallic talisman paper.
By nightfall, he had drawn twelve and succeeded with seven. The success rate was close to sixty percent.
It was better than he had expected. His foundation with the Golden Blade Talisman and the Micro-Control Spiritual Skill had truly been a great help.
He spent the entire next day making Talismans, and by noon, he had completed all twenty.
Li Yuan didn’t stop. He made one more, which he planned to keep in his storage pouch to equip.
He neatly stacked the twenty Breaking Charms and placed them on the corner of the table.
On the afternoon of the third day, the cultivator named Lu arrived right on time.
He examined the twenty Breaking Charms one by one, pressing a finger onto the surface of each before nodding.
"Not bad. To master a new Tier One Middle Grade Talisman in just three days, and the quality is decent too."
He stored the Talismans in his storage pouch and saluted Li Yuan.
"If I have more work in the future, I’ll come find you again."
With that, he turned and left.
Li Yuan closed the gate and carefully put away the beast hide scroll with the Breaking Charm’s crafting method.
That evening, Li Yuan took out the last Iron Wall Pill from his storage pouch.
He popped the pill into his mouth, and a searing heat erupted from the pit of his stomach. The dual enhancement from his marrow tempering and Spirit Liquid nourishment fully amplified the pill’s effects.
He began to circulate the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.
Spiritual Power poured into the depths of his muscles, and the dual spirit-blood cultivation from the Blood Coagulation Pill made his Qi Blood circulate in sync. The absorption channels from the mastery stage had been permanently widened, allowing Spiritual Power to seep in much faster than before.
One cycle, two cycles, three cycles.
Under the enhancement of his marrow tempering, the effect of the Iron Wall Pill was nearly sixty percent stronger than usual. As his muscle fibers were repeatedly flushed by Spiritual Power and Qi Blood, their density continuously increased, and the toughness of his fascia and periosteum grew as well.
After finishing his cultivation, Li Yuan stretched his limbs and felt the changes in his body.
The accelerating effect of the Iron Wall Pill was truly significant. Without it, his daily progress in the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill was only thirty to forty percent of what it was now. With the Iron Wall Pill combined with his marrow tempering and Spirit Liquid nourishment, his progress nearly doubled in the same amount of time.
He was out of Iron Wall Pills.
’I’ll buy more next time I go to the Li Family Shop.’
Li Yuan switched back to the Spirit-Introducing Skill and continued his cultivation. Spiritual Qi surged into his body, while Spiritual Power and Qi Blood flowed alternately through his meridians.
Outside the courtyard walls, Yunyang Market gradually grew quiet.