Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Li Yuan left his home to deliver goods to the Purple Abyss Trading Company.

As he walked north along the main street, he passed the market administration office and saw a new notice posted on the stone wall.

The notice was written on the Primordial Yang Sect’s standard yellow paper. The calligraphy was neat, and it was stamped with the red seal of the Primordial Yang Sect’s Foreign Affairs Hall.

The content was brief.

The gist of it was that the Primordial Yang Sect had decided to rebuild the loose cultivator market. They were now recruiting guards from the Yunyang Market and surrounding areas to be responsible for the daily maintenance, order, and security patrols of the loose cultivator market.

The guards would be assigned and managed by the Primordial Yang Sect. Their salary would be paid in Spirit Stones, and all market profits would be turned over to the sect.

The registration location and requirements were listed at the bottom of the notice. The Cultivation requirement was Mid-stage Qi Refining or higher, and applicants had to pass a review.

Three or four Loose Cultivators were gathered in front of the notice, huddled together reading it.

After reading it, a tall, thin Loose Cultivator sneered. With his hands tucked into his sleeves, he turned to speak to the person next to him.

"Rebuild the loose cultivator market? Is anyone even left there?"

A short, stout Loose Cultivator next to him rubbed his chin.

"Last I heard, the loose cultivator market is practically a ruin. The Li family and the Wang family recruited a huge batch of people from there one after the other, and almost everyone who was left has fled."

The tall, thin man shook his head. "Guarding a godforsaken place like that? It’s not worth it, no matter how many Spirit Stones they offer. It’s out in the middle of nowhere. If you run into Demon Beasts or rogue cultivators, shouting for help won’t do you any good."

The short, stout Loose Cultivator agreed. "Exactly. When the Demon Beasts rampaged before, even the proper markets were almost overrun, let alone a mere gathering point for loose cultivators."

The two of them walked away, muttering and shaking their heads.

Li Yuan was about to continue on his way when a voice came from behind him.

"You can’t really say that."

Li Yuan turned to look.

The speaker was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a worn-out, brown short robe. He was carrying two bulging cloth sacks on his shoulder.

A traveling merchant.

His Cultivation was low, only Qi Refining Fourth Level.

The traveling merchant shifted the sacks to his other shoulder, glanced at the notice, and then grinned in Li Yuan’s direction.

"There are still people over at the loose cultivator market."

He set the sacks on the ground and dusted off his hands.

"I just made a trip there last month. It’s true it’s not as bustling as it used to be, but it’s not completely deserted either."

He gestured with one hand.

"The Li family and the Wang family did recruit a large number of Cultivators from the loose cultivator market one after the other, that’s true. Most of those who left had some decent Cultivation; basically everyone at Mid-stage Qi Refining and above was cherry-picked."

"But there are still quite a few Loose Cultivators left—those with low Cultivation, those who were unwilling to sign contracts, or those who were simply too lazy to move. They’ve stayed there all this time."

He raised a finger.

"Besides, the Primordial Yang Sect sent a few disciples over to maintain order. It wasn’t many, but they were flying the sect’s banner. And after the Wang and Li families finished poaching everyone, the surrounding Demon Beasts have quieted down too."

He rubbed his nose.

"The number of Demon Beasts isn’t increasing, which has actually attracted a lot of demon-hunting teams. When those teams go in for a run, they always bring something out. And once the hunting teams arrived, they needed to buy Talismans and Spirit Pills, so the loose cultivator market started to see some business again."

He bent down and hoisted the sacks back onto his shoulder.

"It’s more or less stabilized. But it’s nowhere near its former scale. It’s just a small market now, with a few dozen people."

After speaking, the traveling merchant smiled at Li Yuan and headed south along the main street, carrying his sacks.

Li Yuan watched the traveling merchant’s back recede into the distance, then turned and continued toward the Purple Abyss Trading Company.

’The rebuilding of the loose cultivator market doesn’t have much to do with me. That place is too far from Yunyang Market; it’s not worth it to go be a guard.’

’However, once the loose cultivator market stabilizes, it’ll be another option if I need to go over there to buy materials or sell Talismans in the future.’

He arrived at the Purple Abyss Trading Company, handed the Talismans to Shopkeeper Han, collected the Spirit Stones, and returned to his courtyard.

He continued making Talismans in the afternoon and cultivated at night.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed board, circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill.

Spiritual Qi surged into his body. The Pure Spiritual Power expelled impurities, and the condensed Spiritual Power sank into his Dantian.

The Spiritual Essence concentration from the Spirit Absorption Pill boosted his cultivation speed by fifty percent, and the Spiritual Power advancement from the Realm-Breaking Pill added another twenty percent. His courtyard was near a branch of a Spirit Vein, making the Spiritual Qi abundant, so the accumulation from each cycle was extremely solid.

As he completed the third cycle, Li Yuan felt a change.

The Spiritual Power in his Dantian was no longer sinking.

It wasn’t a lack of Spiritual Power; his Dantian was full. The Spiritual Power had filled every corner, and any more would cause it to overflow. The pressure on the walls of his Dantian reached its limit. Spiritual Power churned within, and a dull, bloating pain spread from his abdomen to his limbs.

The bottleneck of the Qi Refining Eighth Level.

It had come faster than he expected.

The Spirit Absorption Pill, the Realm-Breaking Pill, Pure Spiritual Power, Spiritual Power Condensation, and Spiritual Essence Concentration—with these multiple bonuses stacked together, and the fact that he hadn’t encountered any bottlenecks along the way...

His Cultivation advancement speed far surpassed that of an ordinary person.

It hadn’t taken long at all to go from the Qi Refining Eighth Level to hitting the bottleneck.

Li Yuan did not hesitate.

He circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill with all his might.

Driven by the Cultivation Technique, the density of the Spiritual Power in his Dantian skyrocketed.

The permanent trait for Spiritual Power Condensation activated in sync, further compressing the already saturated Spiritual Power. The pressure on the walls of his Dantian surged violently.

Before the Spirit-Introducing Skill even reached its limit, he heard a silent, crisp CRACK. The bottleneck had been successfully broken.

Spiritual Power poured down from the opening like a flood breaking through a dam. The new space in his Dantian was a size larger than before, and the Spiritual Power spread out rapidly as it rushed in.

At the same time, all the meridians in his body expanded under the impact of the Spiritual Power. The capacity of the meridian walls increased once again, and the speed of Spiritual Power circulation was now more than thirty percent faster than before the breakthrough.

The meridian nodes for the ninth level of the Spirit-Introducing Skill were completely activated by the torrent of Spiritual Power from the breakthrough.

Li Yuan slowly withdrew his power, exhaling a breath of turbid air.

Qi Refining Ninth Level.

The peak of the Qi Refining Stage.

The next step was Foundation Establishment.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, raised his hand to make a fist, then released it.

’The change is even greater than when I went from the seventh to the eighth level.’

His total Spiritual Power had increased by fifty percent. The capacity of his Dantian had expanded significantly during the breakthrough. Coupled with the permanent traits for Spiritual Essence Expansion and Spiritual Power Condensation, the total amount of Spiritual Power his Dantian could now hold was nearly double what it was at the Qi Refining Eighth Level.

The capacity of his meridians had also reached a new level. The speed at which Spiritual Power completed a full cycle was thirty percent faster than at the eighth level, and it flowed unimpeded everywhere.

The increase in the power of his Magic was the most direct. Li Yuan raised his hand and condensed a Fireball, but did not release it.

The Fireball spun in his palm. It was a size larger than when he was at the eighth level, its Spiritual Power density was higher, and its color had changed from crimson to a deep, orange-tinged red. Heat radiated from his palm, causing the edges of the Talisman paper on his desk to curl slightly.

He extinguished the Fireball.

A Fireball Technique at the Qi Refining Ninth Level, combined with the permanent traits of "Flame Marrow Body Tempering" and "Rapid Fire Magic," was more than thirty percent stronger than at the Qi Refining Eighth Level.

His Divine Soul had also changed. The shockwave of Spiritual Power from the breakthrough had affected his Divine Soul, thickening its outer wall by another layer.

With the triple enhancements from the Soul Mirror, his insights from Alchemy, and Divine Soul Tempering, the clarity and range of his perception had expanded once again.

With a thought, Li Yuan adjusted the degree to which he concealed his aura.

He suppressed his Qi Refining Ninth Level aura. With a thirty percent suppression, his apparent level was around the sixth or seventh level of Qi Refining. The permanent trait for Aura Concealment operated in sync, smoothing out the suppressed aura even further.

From the outside, he still looked like a Loose Cultivator in the mid-to-late Qi Refining Stage.

With another thought, he unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill. From his storage bag, he took out a Soul Nourishing Pill and equipped it.

The condition to make the Soul Nourishing Pill’s effect permanent was to reach the Qi Refining Ninth Level, a condition Li Yuan now met.

A panel promptly popped up.

[Soul Power Replenishment (White) Permanence Condition Met]

[Make Permanent?]

Yes.

[Permanence Successful]

[Soul Power Replenishment (White) has become a Permanent Trait]

[Equipment Consumed]