Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Her gaze swept across everyone present.

"I want to trade for a complete Tier Two Defensive Array."

A Tier Two Defensive Array.

This was no small request. The value of a Tier Two Array far exceeded a Tier One, with the materials and setup costs adding up to at least ten thousand Spirit Stones. Although the annual income from a five-hundred-acre Spirit Field was stable, it paled in comparison to a Tier Two Array.

A silence fell over the room.

Chen Yi spoke up. "I don’t have a complete Tier Two Defensive Array, but I do have a Tier One Top Grade composite Defensive Array. Its effect is close to that of a Tier Two Low Grade one. If you’re willing, you can have this array in exchange for your item, but you’ll need to add three hundred Spirit Stones."

The female cultivator considered it for a moment, then nodded. "Agreed."

And so, the second deal was struck.

Next, the cultivator from the Li family spoke again.

"I have one more item to sell."

He took a black jade box from his storage pouch and placed it on the tabletop.

"An Inner Core from a Tier Two Divine Soul-type Demon Beast."

He opened the jade box.

Inside the box lay an Inner Core the size of a pigeon’s egg. It was a deep, dark purple, with extremely fine silver patterns flowing across its surface. A highly condensed pulse of Divine Soul energy emanated from the Inner Core, tugging at the Divine Sense of everyone present.

"I’m not accepting Spirit Stones." The Li family cultivator closed the jade box and looked around at everyone present.

"Core for core. I want an Inner Core from a Tier Two Demon Beast; Fire or Water Attribute will do. In addition, the other party will need to pay a difference of five hundred Spirit Stones."

Core for core, and you still had to pay extra.

The terms weren’t outrageous, but they weren’t cheap either. A Tier Two Demon Beast’s Inner Core was already valuable in itself; with an extra five hundred Spirit Stones on top, the total cost was considerable.

No one present responded immediately.

Li Yuan spoke up. "What’s the market price for an Inner Core from a Tier Two Divine Soul-type Demon Beast?"

The Li family cultivator glanced at Li Yuan. It was the first time Li Yuan had spoken today, and everyone present turned to look at him.

"Few people have a need for the Inner Core of a Divine Soul-type Demon Beast, but the supply is even smaller." The Li family cultivator’s tone was flat. "Tier Two Divine Soul-type Inner Cores are extremely rare on the market. They have a price, but no supply. If I had to name a price, it would be over ten thousand Spirit Stones."

Li Yuan did a quick mental calculation of his finances.

’It was nowhere near enough.’

’Even ignoring the Spirit Stones, I don’t have a Tier Two Demon Beast’s Inner Core to trade with.’

Seeing that no one was responding, the Li family cultivator put the jade box back into his storage pouch.

"No rush. If anyone meets the conditions, you can find me at the Li family’s place in the market. My name is Li Ze’an."

His tone was very casual, as if he didn’t care whether he sold the Inner Core or not.

The trade meet continued.

A few more small-scale trades were made—pills for Spirit Grass, Cultivation Techniques for ores, and so on. Li Yuan didn’t participate, watching quietly from the side.

As the meet moved into its latter half, a cultivator who hadn’t spoken before suddenly took a rolled-up beast skin scroll from his storage pouch and placed it on the table.

It was the short-bearded cultivator. He hadn’t spoken since selling the mining rights to the Spirit Iron vein earlier, and now he had brought out something new.

"The Evil Spirit Transformation Skill." He pushed the beast skin scroll toward the center of the table. "It’s a Skill related to Evil Qi."

He gave a brief introduction.

"This Skill has two main effects. First, you can use Evil Qi to strengthen your Divine Soul, increasing its refinement and attack power. Second, you can use Evil Qi to infuse ores and Magical Artifacts, changing their Spiritual Power Attribute and imbuing them with the properties of Evil Qi."

He looked around at the people present.

"It’s useless to most cultivators; anyone who messes with Evil Qi is asking for trouble. But if someone has a natural affinity for Evil Qi, or has practiced a related Cultivation Technique, then this Skill is very valuable."

Li Yuan’s gaze fell on the beast skin scroll.

’Strengthen the Divine Soul with Evil Qi. Infuse ores and Magical Artifacts with Evil Qi.’

’To me, both of those effects are extremely useful.’

’My Evil Essence Symbiosis makes me immune to the negative effects of Evil Qi, and I even have a large amount stored in my body. If I can use Evil Qi to strengthen my Divine Soul, it’s like opening up a whole new path for its reinforcement.’

’And infusing Magical Artifacts with Evil Qi would be a direct boost to my combat power.’

Li Yuan reached out his hand toward the beast skin scroll.

"May I take a look?"

The short-bearded cultivator nodded.

Li Yuan picked up the beast skin scroll, his fingers touching the cover.

The panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected]

[Item Entry Grade: Green]

[Note: This is not your item. Cannot equip. Cannot view detailed information.]

’A green-grade entry.’

Li Yuan flipped through a couple of pages of the scroll, pretending to read the contents while his mind raced with calculations.

’An Evil Qi Skill with a green-grade entry. This is extremely valuable to me.’

’The question is, what can I trade for it?’

’I don’t have enough Spirit Stones. I only just reached Foundation Establishment, and I have less than five hundred on hand.’

Li Yuan closed the scroll and looked at the short-bearded cultivator.

"What’s the price?"

"Fifteen hundred Spirit Stones," the short-bearded cultivator named his price. "Or an item of equivalent value in trade."

’Fifteen hundred.’

’I haven’t had time to build up my wealth since reaching Foundation Establishment. I don’t have enough right now.’

After a moment’s thought, he took a dark gray jade Token from his storage pouch and placed it on the tabletop.

’A Ji family Artifact Refining Token.’

"This grants the bearer one free artifact refinement from the Ji family," Li Yuan said.

The gazes of several people present landed on the Token.

"An artifact refining slot from the Ji family?"

He glanced at Ji Huaiyuan.

Ji Huaiyuan nodded. "It’s real. I personally gave both of the Tokens in Li Dao You’s hands to him."

The short-bearded cultivator pondered for a few moments.

The Ji family’s artifact refining craftsmanship had an excellent reputation in this area. A free artifact refinement—the actual value of this Token was no less than eleven hundred Spirit Stones.

But it still fell short of the fifteen-hundred-stone asking price.

Li Yuan took out a few hundred more Spirit Stones from his storage pouch and stacked them next to the Token.

"The Token plus these Spirit Stones."

The short-bearded cultivator pulled the Spirit Stones and the Token toward himself and nodded.

"Deal."

He pushed the beast skin scroll of the Evil Spirit Transformation Skill across to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan put the scroll into his storage pouch.

The trade meet continued for a while longer. After a few more small deals were made, Chen Yi announced its end.

The attendees rose and began to depart one by one.

Li Yuan walked up the stone steps, left the alley, and headed back along the main street.

The foot traffic on the main street was still heavy; the excitement of the Immortal Gate Convention was still ongoing.

Li Yuan passed through the crowd, returned to his courtyard, and closed the door.

He took the beast skin scroll of the Evil Spirit Transformation Skill from his storage pouch and placed it on the tabletop.

His fingertip touched the cover, and the panel popped up again.

This time, the scroll was his.

[Equippable Item Detected: Evil Spirit Transformation Skill (Complete)]

[Equipment Entry Preview: Evil Soul Tempering (Green)—Can absorb Evil Qi to promote Cultivation growth]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Use one hundred Evil Stones and absorb all the Evil Qi within them (0/100)]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]

’A green-grade entry. Evil Soul Tempering.’

’It can absorb Evil Qi to advance my Cultivation.’

’This means Evil Qi has another use—it can be directly converted into Cultivation.’

The permanence condition was to use one hundred Evil Stones and absorb all their Evil Qi.

’There’s an Evil Stone vein in the Ghost Mist Forest mines; I’ve dug there before. One hundred Evil Stones isn’t that many. It’ll just take some time to go dig them up.’

Li Yuan put the scroll away and sat down on the wooden bed.

’Not a bad haul for today.’