Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

The lease on the Seclusion Chamber had expired.

Li Yuan packed his things, removed the Token from its slot, and the stone door slowly slid open.

When the Primordial Yang Sect disciple on duty at the alley entrance saw Li Yuan emerge, he clasped his hands in a respectful salute. His attitude was much more deferential than when Li Yuan had gone in.

Li Yuan walked south along the main street, returning to the courtyard he was renting.

He pushed open the gate. Everything in the courtyard was just as he had left it.

A thin layer of dust covered the stone table and stools, and the talisman paper he had previously laid out on the table had been blown to the ground by the wind.

Just as he finished tidying up, a knock came from the courtyard gate.

The knocks were neither rushed nor slow, evenly spaced.

Li Yuan walked to the entrance and opened the gate.

Pill Refiner He was standing outside.

He looked the same as always, with a lean face. His hands were tucked into his sleeves, and his gaze lingered on Li Yuan for two full breaths.

Then, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Congratulations on reaching Foundation Establishment, Li Dao You."

Li Yuan opened the gate wider and stepped aside to let him in.

Pill Refiner He walked into the courtyard and sat on a stone stool. Li Yuan sat down opposite him.

"When did you break through, my friend?" Pill Refiner He asked.

"Five days ago."

Pill Refiner He nodded, not pressing for details.

He paused for a moment.

"What are your plans now?"

Li Yuan thought for a moment.

"First, I’ll stabilize my Cultivation and get used to using Spiritual Power at the Foundation Establishment Stage. Then I’ll continue with Talisman Making and Alchemy."

Pill Refiner He shook his head.

"I’m not asking about your training schedule."

He drew a line on the tabletop with his finger.

"The path after Foundation Establishment is completely different from the Qi Refining Stage. A Loose Cultivator in the Qi Refining Stage can just hole up and train alone, never interacting with anyone. As long as they don’t run into any opportunistic robbers, they can get by."

He lifted his finger from the table.

"But that won’t work after Foundation Establishment."

He looked at Li Yuan.

"The sheer volume of resources a Foundation Establishment Cultivator needs is on a completely different level than the Qi Refining Stage."

"Tier Two pills, Tier Two Magical Artifacts, Foundation Establishment Stage Cultivation Techniques and Magic, high-quality Spirit Grass and ores."

"These things cost more than ten times as much as their Tier One counterparts, and most of them can’t even be bought in ordinary markets."

Li Yuan didn’t argue. He was already well aware of this.

Pill Refiner He continued.

"There aren’t many Foundation Establishment Cultivators in this area, as you probably already know."

"An elder from the Primordial Yang Sect told me."

"Mhm." Pill Refiner He pulled his hands back and rubbed his fingertips together.

He glanced at Li Yuan.

"Because there are so few Foundation Establishment Cultivators, it’s difficult to satisfy our various needs. For example, if I need Artifact Refining done, only Ji Huaiyuan and one other Foundation Establishment Cultivator can currently craft Tier Two Magical Artifacts. I have no choice but to go to them."

"Of course, there are benefits too. With so few Foundation Establishment Cultivators, there’s less competition, so relationships are generally amicable."

"That’s why we Foundation Establishment Cultivators have a circle."

"It’s not a formal organization, just a group of peers who meet regularly to exchange information, trade goods, and occasionally cooperate on certain tasks."

He took a Token from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

The Token was smaller than an Inspector General’s, dark gray in color, with a simple rune carved on the surface and a smooth back. The craftsmanship wasn’t refined, but the structure of the Spirit Pattern was meticulously done.

"This is the communication Token for our circle. It will activate automatically when it’s time, and you’ll receive a notification for the gathering. We mostly trade items, but we also occasionally exchange cultivation insights and news."

He pushed the Token toward Li Yuan.

Li Yuan picked up the Token and turned it over in his hands.

Unlike the bronze token Pill Refiner He had previously given him for the underground auction, the rune on this Token was simpler, and its Spiritual Wave was much fainter.

Li Yuan put the Token into his storage pouch.

’I’ve only just reached Foundation Establishment and don’t have much to my name, but this is a good opportunity to broaden my horizons.’

Pill Refiner He nodded and stood up.

"Just keep the Token safe. You’ll be notified when the time comes."

With that, he pushed open the gate and left.

Li Yuan watched the gate close, gathered the Spiritual Ink and talisman paper from the table, and sat on the wooden bed.

He sat cross-legged and began to circulate his technique.

As the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill activated, liquefied Spiritual Power flowed through his meridians.

The concentration of Spiritual Qi in the courtyard was much lower than in the Seclusion Chamber, but it was still far better than in the outer market area. Although the amount of Spiritual Power accumulated with each cycle was less than in the chamber, it was still a steady gain.

Then, he switched to the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.

Spiritual Power followed the Cultivation Technique’s path, pouring deep into his muscles.

The penetration depth of the liquefied Spiritual Power as it infused his muscles was on a completely different level than it had been during the Qi Refining Stage.

At the Great Success stage, he could already temper his bone membranes and internal organs. Now, the subtlety of the liquefied Spiritual Power made the tempering coverage even more complete, filling even the tiniest corners that Spiritual Power couldn’t previously reach.

After the Spiritual Power completed its first cycle, Li Yuan felt a change.

It wasn’t a sudden leap, but a sense of natural progression.

The tempering progress he had accumulated for so long at the Great Success stage, boosted by the liquefied Spiritual Power from his Foundation Establishment, finally crushed the last barrier.

Muscles, fascia, bones, bone membranes, internal organs—every part of his body that could be tempered by the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill had reached the absolute limit of a Tier One technique.

When Spiritual Power was infused, his body no longer passively accepted it, but actively resonated with it.

His muscle fibers, bone density, and organ resilience all reached the highest level this Cultivation Technique could achieve.

The panel popped up.

[Cultivation Technique: Iron Wall Body Refining Skill — Perfection (3200/3200)]

Perfection.

The reason was similar to how his Tier One Talisman Making Skill had reached Perfection—the leap in Spiritual Power quality after reaching Foundation Establishment had simply steamrolled past the upper limits of a Tier One Body Refining Technique.

The gap between Great Success and Perfection, which would have normally required a long period of accumulation to cross, was filled in a single step by the subtlety and penetration depth of his liquefied Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan clenched his fist.

His sense of strength had risen another level from the Great Success stage. But the more crucial change wasn’t in power, but in coordination.

Every part of his physical body had been tempered to its peak. The transfer of force from his fist to his arm, to his shoulder, through his torso and hips, down to his legs—there were no weak links in the chain.

The panel immediately displayed a second message.

The Spiritual Membrane Protection trait from the Spirit Iron Armor, and the Bone Marrow Tempering trait from the Iron Wall Pill.

The conditions for both traits were met simultaneously.

Li Yuan took the Spirit Iron Armor and the Iron Wall Pill from his storage pouch and equipped them.

[Conditions to make Bone Marrow Tempering (White) permanent have been met]

[Make permanent?]

Yes.

[Permanence successful]

[Bone Marrow Tempering (White) is now a permanent trait]

[Equipment consumed]

The effect of making the Bone Marrow Tempering trait permanent wasn’t immediately obvious; its benefits would only manifest after consuming pills.

[Conditions to make Spiritual Membrane Protection (White) permanent have been met]

[Spiritual Membrane Protection (White) is now a permanent trait]

[Equipment consumed]

An extremely thin film of Spiritual Power immediately formed on the surface of his skin.

The film was colorless and transparent, invisible to the naked eye, but his Divine Sense could clearly perceive its existence.

It was like a layer of cicada wing wrapped around his skin—thin, yet resilient.

The panel immediately displayed a new prompt.

[Combinable trait set detected]

[Scale Armor Body Protection (White) + Iron Film Body Protection (White) + Spiritual Membrane Protection (White)]

Fuse.

[Fusion complete]

[Permanent trait acquired: Three Elements Body Protection (Green)]

[Three Elements Body Protection (Green)]

[Effect: Greatly increases skin defense, resisting most toxins and negative effects; greatly increases meridian toughness; automatically forms a protective Spiritual Power film on the body’s surface, reducing damage taken by 20% and resisting corrosive attacks; when attacked, the protective film can be temporarily strengthened for one breath.]

The three separate defensive traits had merged into one, completing his defensive system.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, circulating the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill.

Liquefied Spiritual Power flowed through his meridians. Each cycle slowly increased his Spiritual Power, and the amount of liquefied Spiritual Power in his Dantian grew.

He interspersed the Soul Condensation Skill between cycles of the Cyan Wood Longevity Skill. With each compression and expansion, his Divine Soul grew more and more solid.

Outside the courtyard walls, the Yunyang Market gradually quieted down.