Chapter 173 - 169: Hidden Scale Beast Hide
Early the next morning, Li Yuan went out to purchase materials for making talismans.
There were fewer people in the stall area than in previous days, but conversely, the line at the entrance to the Secret Realm had grown longer.
The ten-Spirit Stone entrance fee was not enough to deter the Loose Cultivators hoping to strike it rich. Especially after news spread in recent days that people were constantly bringing valuable items out of the Secret Realm, even more were willing to go inside and try their luck.
Li Yuan walked up to the materials stall he usually frequented. The owner was a scrawny old man who had previously set up a stall in the Yunyang market before moving to the periphery of the Secret Realm, specializing in business with the Loose Cultivators coming and going from inside.
"Two portions of cinnabar ink, one of lightning-struck wood powder. Do you have the Spirit-Attracting Sand for Replenishing Talismans?"
"The Spirit-Attracting Sand is sold out. I’ll get more in the day after tomorrow. I have the cinnabar ink and lightning-struck wood powder."
Li Yuan paid the Spirit Stones and put the materials into his storage bag.
As he turned to walk back, two Loose Cultivators who had just emerged from the Secret Realm were squatting by the side of the road, gnawing on dry rations. They spoke quite loudly as they ate.
"...There are a lot more Demon Beasts inside than last month, especially in the forest to the north. There used to be only scattered Tier One Low Grade beasts, but this time I went in and ran into three Tier One Middle Grade beasts clustered together. I almost didn’t get away."
"You got off easy. I heard a cultivator at the Qi Refining Sixth Level went in yesterday, ran into a Tier One Top Grade Demon Beast in the northern sector, and didn’t even have a chance to run."
"How could a Tier One Top Grade beast be in the northern sector?"
"Who knows? It probably came from the deeper regions. Something doesn’t feel right in there lately; the Demon Beasts are becoming more and more agitated."
The other Loose Cultivator lowered his voice. "The death toll has definitely gone up. Far fewer Cultivators are coming out."
Li Yuan walked past them without breaking stride.
The Demon Beasts in the Secret Realm were growing rampant, and the death toll was rising. This inevitably made Li Yuan think of the Li family.
The faces in the stall area were changing more and more quickly.
Li Yuan had taken note while buying materials that several of the regular stall owners from last month were already gone.
The short, stout Loose Cultivator who sold beast bones was gone, and the old woman who sold assorted medicines was no longer there either. They had been replaced by a few new faces.
Li Yuan walked a full circuit of the stall area, stopping at a spot in a corner on the eastern side.
A young Loose Cultivator was squatting on the ground with a piece of coarse cloth spread out before him. A few items were scattered sparsely across it.
A grayish-white segment of a beast’s horn, two unlabeled bottles of pills, a fist-sized piece of ore, and a rolled-up animal hide.
Li Yuan’s gaze fell upon the animal hide.
The hide was rolled into a cylinder and tied with a grass rope. The exposed portion was dark gray and had a fine, scaly pattern on its surface. It felt dry and coarse to the touch.
It was a single, complete piece, with no damage or signs of being pieced together.
Translucent text appeared.
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Attribute Rarity: White]
"How much for this hide?" Li Yuan asked, squatting down.
The young Loose Cultivator looked up. A scratch that had yet to fully heal ran diagonally across his face from the corner of his forehead to his cheekbone. It looked like the work of a Demon Beast.
"Brought it out from the Secret Realm. I skinned it from a Hidden Scale Beast. Took me quite a bit of effort."
He held up two fingers. "Twenty Spirit Stones."
"Ten."
"Fifteen. Can’t go any lower."
Li Yuan paid the Spirit Stones, and the panel appeared.
[Equippable Item Detected: Hidden Scale Beast Hide (Complete)]
[Equipment Attribute Preview: Perceptive Concealment (White) — Enhances the ability to perceive malice from other living beings such as Cultivators and Demon Beasts; allows for the voluntary reduction of one’s own presence by up to thirty percent.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Consume the eyes of nine different Demon Beasts of Tier One Low Grade or higher.]
[Equip?]
’A White attribute with a perception-based effect that’s both offensive and defensive. The malice perception compensates for the shortcomings of a general sense of danger. A sense of danger is passively triggered and has a vague range, while malice perception is far more specific, pointing directly at hostile beings.’
’Reducing my presence, on the other hand, complements my aura Concealment. Aura Concealment suppresses my Cultivation aura, while reducing my presence suppresses the degree to which I attract attention as a whole.’
’The permanence condition is extremely simple. The eyes of nine different Tier One Low Grade Demon Beasts. I already have the necessary Demon Beast materials in my storage bag. If I’m short, I can easily buy whatever I need to make up the difference in the stall area.’
Back at his shop, Li Yuan closed the door.
He took the bottle of dark golden pills from the depths of his storage bag, tipped out the single highest-quality Blood Coagulation Pill, and placed it in his palm.
’All five of my equipment slots are full. To equip the Blood Coagulation Pill, I’ll have to unequip something.’
Li Yuan unequipped the Soul Nourishing Pill.
He then equipped the Blood Coagulation Pill.
[Equipped Successfully]
[Attribute Acquired: Spirit-Blood Dual Cultivation (Green)]
[Attribute Effect: When cultivating Spiritual Power, Qi Blood can be circulated simultaneously. When cultivating Qi Blood, Spiritual Power can be circulated simultaneously.]
The moment the attribute took effect, Li Yuan felt a change.
A faint but distinct link had formed between the Spiritual Power in his Dantian and the Qi Blood in the meridians throughout his body. It was as if a canal had been dug between two separate rivers, allowing their waters to intermingle.
He activated his Spirit-Introducing Skill, and Spiritual Power surged from his Dantian, beginning its circulation through his meridians.
Unlike before, as the Spiritual Power circulated through his meridians, his Qi Blood also began to stir. It was not being passively swept along by the Spiritual Power; it was actively flowing with it, its speed and rhythm synchronized.
Li Yuan noticed a detail.
The path his Qi Blood took as it circulated with his Spiritual Power almost perfectly coincided with the micro-meridians he had opened up using the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill.
The Spiritual Power followed the major meridians while the Qi Blood followed the micro-meridians. The two ran in parallel without conflict, converging at each meridian node before separating again, forming an intertwined yet unmingled cycle.
This circulatory pattern was consistent with the direction required by the Strengthening Grass’s permanence condition, which was for Qi Blood to form a complete circuit through all meridians.
The Blood Coagulation Pill’s attribute couldn’t have established the complete Qi Blood circuit on its own; rather, it was leveraging the paths already cleared by the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill, causing the Qi Blood to run through the now-unobstructed micro-meridians.
Li Yuan cultivated for an hour. Once he had smoothed out the rhythmic link between his Spiritual Power and Qi Blood, he ceased his practice and rose to his feet.
In the afternoon, he resumed making talismans.
That evening, Wang Lu arrived.
He wasn’t in as much of a hurry as before. His footsteps were normal, and his expression was a bit calmer than last time, but the exhaustion in his eyes had not faded.
"The Li family has been frequently entering and exiting the Secret Realm lately."
Wang Lu sat on the stool, holding the cup of water Li Yuan had handed him.
"Not just one or two people—they’re going in batches. People go in every day, and people come out every day. And among them are several Late-stage Qi Refining experts."
"What for?" Li Yuan asked.
"I’m not sure." Wang Lu shook his head.
"They might be looking for something, or they could be setting something up. After what happened to Uncle Qu, the Li family’s activities in this area have picked up noticeably. There are a lot more Li family Cultivators around the outskirts of the Secret Realm than there were before."
Wang Lu didn’t elaborate on the topic, instead standing up and brushing down his clothes.
"Reinforcements haven’t arrived. You guys just stay put and don’t wander off. I’ll come back if I get any new information."
And with that, he left.
Li Yuan closed the door and sat back down on his plank bed.
Li Yuan activated his Spirit-Introducing Skill, and both his Spiritual Power and Qi Blood began to circulate through his meridians simultaneously.
The attribute from the Blood Coagulation Pill made the interaction between the two increasingly fluid, and every cultivation session deepened this synergistic coordination.
His practice of the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill benefited from this as well. When his Qi Blood, driven by his Spiritual Power, passed through the parts of his body being tempered by the skill, its cleansing effect was significantly stronger than when he practiced Body Refining alone.
Two Cultivation Techniques, one for Spiritual Power and one for the physical body, were now linked together by the attribute from the Blood Coagulation Pill.