Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

The next morning, Li Yuan set off to return to the outskirts of the Secret Realm.

The agreement he’d made with Pill Refiner He was not yet complete.

The settlement hadn’t changed much since he’d left. The stall area still had the same stalls, the dirt road was still the same dirt road, and the rhythm of Loose Cultivators coming and going was about the same.

The door boards of Wang’s Shop were open. Old Sun was sitting behind the counter, dozing off, and the residual heat from the Pill Furnace drifted out from the back room.

The sound of Li Yuan entering the shop startled Old Sun awake.

"You’re back?" Old Sun rubbed his eyes.

"Yes. The contract is terminated."

Old Sun paused for a moment, then nodded. "Good that it’s terminated."

There was no need for more words. Old Sun had come from a Loose Cultivator background and had a natural aversion to things like contracts. He wasn’t surprised that Li Yuan had terminated his.

"What about the shop?" Old Sun asked.

"It’ll stay open as usual. I’ll make Talismans elsewhere, and we’ll split the Spirit Stones we earn."

Li Yuan said, "The Wang family isn’t concerning themselves with this place for now. We’ll see what happens when their reinforcements arrive. I’m a Loose Cultivator now, but my cooperation with the Talisman Hall is still on, just under less favorable terms."

Old Sun grunted in acknowledgment and asked no more questions.

Li Yuan stayed in the room behind the shop for a while, then went out to find the settlement’s Inspector General.

The Inspector General on the outskirts of the Secret Realm was stationed there by the Primordial Yang Sect, responsible for maintaining order, registering residents, and collecting rent.

There were two types of residences in the settlement. One was the first-come, first-served shacks, which were free but in poor condition. The other was officially registered courtyards, for which one paid a monthly rent in Spirit Stones, and which were protected by a Restriction from the Primordial Yang Sect.

Previously, Li Yuan had lived in the room behind Wang’s Shop, which was considered the Wang family’s territory. Now that the contract was terminated, it wasn’t appropriate to continue living in their shop. He would have to move out sooner or later.

The Inspector General’s duty post was in a stone house at the southern entrance of the settlement. A Primordial Yang Sect outer disciple in his twenties sat inside, a registration book and a wooden box for collecting Spirit Stones placed before him.

"Renting a courtyard?" The disciple looked up at Li Yuan. "There are vacant ones. Two available in the third row to the east, five Spirit Stones a month, comes with a basic Restriction. There are also some on the west side, closer to the Secret Realm entrance. Eight a month, and the Restriction is better."

"The one in the east."

Five Spirit Stones a month wasn’t expensive.

Li Yuan paid two months’ rent and received an access Token and a key.

The courtyard wasn’t large, consisting of a main house and a side house, enclosed by a gray stone wall with a wooden gate.

Inside the main house were a bed board, a table, and a chair. The side house was empty and could be used as a storeroom or an Alchemy room. A faint Spiritual Wave emanated from the top of the walls—the basic Restriction set by the Primordial Yang Sect, capable of blocking forced entry by Cultivators below Mid-stage Qi Refining.

Li Yuan moved his luggage over, then transferred his Talisman-making materials and tools from Wang’s Shop to the new courtyard. The Pill Furnace was too heavy, so he left it at the shop for now, planning to go back and use it when he needed to perform Alchemy.

Once he was settled, Li Yuan closed the courtyard gate, spread out a sheet of talisman paper, and continued to draw the Soul-Refining Talismans.

He had already delivered the first batch for Pill Refiner He, but there were three more to go. Thirty-five talismans every ten days—he couldn’t break the rhythm.

When he went out to buy Spiritual Ink the next day, Li Yuan noticed there were more people in the settlement.

Not Loose Cultivators, but disciples of the Primordial Yang Sect.

Three young Cultivators in the standard gray-and-white robes of the Primordial Yang Sect were wandering around the settlement. Their Cultivation wasn’t high, around the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining, but their aura was distinctly different from that of Loose Cultivators. Their posture as they walked carried a disciplined air unique to sect disciples.

They didn’t stop in the stall area, but instead walked a lap around the edge of the settlement, as if on patrol or observing something.

In addition to these three, the number of Primordial Yang Sect disciples at the entrance to the Secret Realm had increased from two to four.

The foot traffic in the settlement was also much heavier than in previous days. Newly built shacks now extended a ways down both sides of the dirt road, and some Loose Cultivators were laying out cloths directly on the roadside to set up stalls.

Li Yuan glanced over but didn’t stare.

The Primordial Yang Sect sending more people might be related to the situation inside the Secret Realm, or it could just be a routine tightening of control. Either way, it had little to do with him.

He returned to his courtyard, closed the gate, and continued making Talismans.

The Soul-Refining Talisman was a Tier One Top Grade Talisman. Every stroke required precise control of Spiritual Power and a stable output of Divine Soul. Before his Talisman Making Skill reached Great Success, drawing a single Soul-Refining Talisman demanded his full concentration. He couldn’t afford any distractions, as the slightest deviation would waste a sheet of talisman paper.

But in recent days, Li Yuan had clearly felt a change.

The feel of the talisman brush on the paper was becoming smoother and smoother. The speed, depth, and direction of Spiritual Power seeping from the brush tip into the paper—none of these parameters required conscious control anymore. It was as if his fingers had memorized all the paths; he only needed to make the first stroke, and the rest would follow naturally.

The connections between Spirit Patterns went from "requiring careful alignment" to "fitting together naturally." The flow, turns, and conclusion of the Spiritual Ink on the paper—every step was perfect.

That evening, as Li Yuan finished the last Soul-Refining Talisman of the day, a subtle but clear sense of enlightenment spread from his fingertips through his entire body the moment he lifted the brush.

It was like a thin membrane had been pierced.

The relationship between his Spiritual Power and the talisman paper had undergone a qualitative change during the process. Before, it was about control; his Spiritual Power followed the commands of his will, proceeding step-by-step according to the Spell.

Now, it was about guidance. His Spiritual Power knew where to go, and he only needed to give it a gentle nudge.

[Tier One Talisman Making Skill—Great Success (1/3200)]

Great Success.

Li Yuan put down his talisman brush and flexed his fingers.

The most direct change after reaching Great Success was the success rate. It was now at seventy to eighty percent.

A higher success rate meant that the same amount of materials could produce more finished products.

The amount of materials Pill Refiner He provided was calculated based on a fifty to sixty percent success rate. For thirty-five talismans in ten days, he had given a total of sixty-five sheets.

Now that his success rate was over seventy percent, Pill Refiner He wouldn’t check on the extra finished products or the saved materials one by one.

What he wanted were thirty-five acceptable Soul-Refining Talismans. As long as the quantity and quality standards were met, that was all that mattered.

Li Yuan stacked the completed Soul-Refining Talismans on his desk. Their quality was even a little better than before. The Spirit Patterns were more uniform and intricate, the Spiritual Power was contained more cleanly, and the overall Spiritual Power density of the Talismans had also increased a notch.

He put the leftover talisman paper and Spiritual Ink into his storage bag, adding them to what he had already accumulated.

Every little bit counted. Over a few batches, he could save a considerable amount of materials. Whether he used them himself or sold them for Spirit Stones, it was a win-win.

Li Yuan cleared his desk, sat down on the bed board, and began to cultivate by circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill.

The Blood Coagulation Pill’s dual-cultivation effect circulated his Spiritual Power and Qi Blood in tandem. The Spirit Absorption Pill’s Spiritual Essence condensation increased his cultivation speed by fifty percent, while the Realm-Breaking Pill’s refinement stacked on another twenty percent boost to his Spiritual Power’s growth.

Under these multiple buffs, the Spiritual Power gained from each circulatory cycle was considerable.

Ten days later, Li Yuan took thirty-five Soul-Refining Talismans to Pill Refiner He’s courtyard.

The Restriction recognized his Token, an opening appeared, and Li Yuan pushed the gate open and went inside.

The courtyard was unchanged from his last visit: the stone table and stools, the wooden chest in the corner, the medicinal fragrance wafting from the main house’s doorway. Pill Refiner He was still sitting in the same bamboo chair, holding a white porcelain teacup, looking as if he had never moved.

Li Yuan placed the cloth bundle of Talismans on the stone table, untied the drawstring, and revealed thirty-five Soul-Refining Talismans stacked neatly inside.

Pill Refiner He put down his teacup, reached out, and pulled a few talismans from the stack, holding them up to examine.

He gently swiped a finger across the surface of a talisman, sending his Spiritual Power into the Spirit Patterns to inspect the internal structure.

After looking at three of them, Pill Refiner He placed the Talismans back into the stack and looked up at Li Yuan.

"You terminated your contract with the Wang family?"

Li Yuan wasn’t surprised that he knew.

"I did."

"That’s for the best." Pill Refiner He took a sip of his tea, his tone as light as if he were commenting on the weather. "Saves you from being pulled in two directions."

He casually drew two more Talismans from the stack, examined the details of the Spirit Patterns, and nodded.

"The quality is better than the last batch."

It wasn’t just a polite compliment. After his Talisman Making Skill reached Great Success, the precision of the Spirit Patterns and the density of the Spiritual Power in his Soul-Refining Talismans had risen to a new level. An expert could see the difference at a glance.

Pill Refiner He put the Talismans away, leaned back in his chair, and rested his hands on the armrests.

"At this level of quality, the Realm-Breaking Pill I advanced you will be paid off after one more batch."

Li Yuan nodded.

The Realm-Breaking Pill was quite valuable. At the original quality standard, it would have taken four batches of Soul-Refining Talismans to pay for it. Now that the quality had improved, three batches were sufficient. The next batch would serve as the final payment.

"The materials are over there." Pill Refiner He gestured with his chin toward the wooden chest in the corner.

Li Yuan walked over, opened the chest, and checked the type and quantity of the materials. Talisman paper, Spiritual Ink, Spirit-Attracting Sand, Soul-Stabilizing Powder—it was the same configuration as before, and the quality was still half a grade better than what was available on the market.

Just as he was about to lift the wooden chest, he heard a soft whoosh from behind him.

Something traced an arc through the air, flying toward him.

Li Yuan reached out and caught it.

A medicinal pill.

It was the size of his thumb pad, light brown all over, with a dull luster and no Spirit Patterns flowing on its surface. Its appearance was unremarkable.

No translucent text appeared.

No entry.

Li Yuan placed the pill in his palm and glanced at it. It was an ordinary cultivation-assisting pill with a weak Spiritual Power fluctuation, the common sort you could buy in a market pharmacy for a dozen or so Spirit Stones a bottle.

It could raise one’s Cultivation a little, but the effect was limited.

"A Qi Gathering Pill. Consider it a bonus."

Pill Refiner He’s voice came from behind. "The requirements for this next batch are changing. Thirty talismans in one week. Once this batch is done, the contract is finished. I have business elsewhere and need to leave."

Thirty talismans in one week was a faster pace than thirty-five in ten days. It averaged out to more than four a day. With his Great Success rate, he would need to draw five to six talismans daily to guarantee the output. The workload was significant, but not impossible.

"Alright." Li Yuan put the Qi Gathering Pill into his storage bag and lifted the wooden chest.

Pill Refiner He said no more and picked up his teacup again.

Li Yuan placed the wooden chest into his storage bag, walked out of the courtyard gate, and the Restriction closed behind him.

Returning to his rented courtyard, Li Yuan put down the wooden chest and took inventory of the materials.

The quantity was even more generous than before. Pill Refiner He had probably noticed that improved quality meant a higher success rate, yet instead of reducing the amount of materials, he had actually given a few extra sets.

’Hard to say if he did it on purpose or was just too lazy to recalculate. But the result is the same—the extra materials are mine.’

Li Yuan spread out a sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in ink, and began to draw the first one.

’One week, thirty talismans.’

’Not difficult.’