Chapter 222 - 214: Trait Perception
Li Yuan returned to the outskirts of the Ghost Mist Forest and sorted through the Demon Beast materials in his storage bag.
The dark cyan scales, spine, ribs, fangs, and tail spike of the Jiao Linxi, along with the pelts and bones of the Tier One Demon Beasts he had killed over the past few days, filled an entire storage bag.
The quality of the scales and bones was quite good. If taken for Artifact Refining, they could be made into a decent defensive Magical Artifact.
'The Ji family specialized in Artifact Refining and even held an Artifact Refining Token. Once I get back to the market city, I can find Ji Huaiyuan and ask if these materials are enough to craft a Magical Artifact.'
But there was no hurry.
Li Yuan put away the materials, his attention falling on the dark cyan Tier Two Inner Core.
The Inner Core of a Jiao Linxi, a Tier Two Demon Beast.
'The Tier Two Divine Soul Class Demon Beast Core that Li Ze'an was selling at the trade fair—a core for a core, plus five hundred Spirit Stones.'
'I have a Tier Two Inner Core now. And while I'm not flush with Spirit Stones, I can still scrape together five hundred.'
The condition to make Soul Light Tempering permanent: consume a Tier Two or higher Divine Soul Class Demon Beast Core.
He had been stuck on this condition for a long time. The Inner Cores of Divine Soul Class Demon Beasts were extremely rare and almost never seen on the market. The one Li Ze'an had presented at the trade fair was the only known source at the moment.
Li Yuan followed the official road toward the Li family's market city.
Li Ze'an had said he could be found at the Li family's residence in their market city.
The Li family's market city was southeast of the Yunyang market city, not too far away. Li Yuan activated Divine Movement Step to speed up his travel, reaching the outskirts of the Li family's market city in about half a day.
Li Yuan entered the city and found the location based on the information he had gotten at the trade fair.
It was an off-white stone building with the Li family's insignia hanging by the entrance. Two guards at the Qi Refining Stage stood at the door, their eyes wary as they watched Li Yuan approach.
Li Yuan showed his Protector Token from the Primordial Yang Sect.
The two guards' attitudes immediately became respectful.
"I am Li Yuan, a Protector of the Primordial Yang Sect. I'm looking for Li Ze'an."
A guard quickly went inside to inform him.
In less than a quarter of an hour, Li Ze'an walked out of the stone building.
He looked just as he had at the trade fair, with refined features, dressed in a well-tailored, gray-blue robe, and wearing a Jade Pendant at his waist engraved with the character "Li."
Seeing Li Yuan, he raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Li Dao You," he said, clasping his hands in a salute toward Li Yuan. "Please, come in."
The two sat down in a reception room on the second floor of the stone building.
Li Ze'an had someone serve tea, then picked up his own cup and took a sip, waiting for Li Yuan to speak.
"The Tier Two Divine Soul Class Demon Beast Core you were selling at the trade fair, do you still have it?" Li Yuan got straight to the point.
Li Ze'an set down his teacup and nodded.
"I do. No one has come to trade for it."
Li Yuan took the Jiao Linxi's Inner Core from his storage bag and placed it on the table.
The dark cyan Inner Core shimmered with a steady luster, emitting a heavy Spiritual Wave.
Li Ze'an picked up the Inner Core, pressed a finger against its surface, and sensed its Spiritual Power density and properties.
"A Jiao Linxi's Inner Core," he said with a nod. "The quality is quite good."
He placed the Inner Core back on the table and looked at Li Yuan.
"The Inner Core is acceptable. But the terms I stated at the trade fair were a core for a core, plus five hundred Spirit Stones."
He paused for a moment.
"However, I'll change the terms. I don't need the Spirit Stones. Just give me the Jiao Linxi's meat and some of its materials."
Li Yuan glanced at him. "What do you need the meat for?"
"Feed for my Cyan Cloud Clam."
Li Ze'an's tone was casual. "The meat of a Tier Two Demon Beast is excellent feed for a Spirit Beast. The Jade Beads the Cyan Cloud Clam produces will be of higher quality after eating it. Jiao Linxi meat has a high concentration of Spiritual Power, so it's perfect."
The Li family controlled a Tier Two Demon Beast, a Cyan Cloud Clam, that needed high-quality feed. The Jiao Linxi's meat was a perfect fit.
"You can have all the Jiao Linxi meat," Li Yuan said. "I'll also add a batch of bones and pelts from Tier One Demon Beasts."
Li Ze'an thought for a moment.
"All of the Jiao Linxi meat, plus the bones of the Tier One Demon Beasts—I don't need the pelts. Give me some fangs and a few of the Jiao Linxi's scales instead."
"Three scales," Li Yuan said.
Li Ze'an nodded.
"Deal."
He took a black jade box from his storage bag, placed it on the table, and opened the lid.
A dark purple Inner Core lay quietly on a velvet cushion, its surface covered in extremely fine, silvery patterns. A condensed wave of Divine Soul power emanated from it, much clearer than what he had sensed from a distance at the trade fair.
The Inner Core of a Tier Two Divine Soul Class Demon Beast.
Li Yuan took out the Jiao Linxi's Inner Core, all of its meat, the bones and fangs of the Tier One Demon Beasts, and three Jiao Linxi scales, laying them out on the table one by one.
Li Ze'an inspected each item, confirming the quality and quantity were correct before nodding.
The two exchanged the items.
Li Yuan put the black jade box into his storage bag and stood up to leave.
Li Ze'an escorted him to the entrance of the stone building and clasped his hands in a salute.
"A pleasure doing business with you."
Li Yuan nodded, left the stone building, and walked along the street toward the city gate.
After leaving the Li family's market city, he found a secluded hillside and sat down.
He took the black jade box from his storage bag and opened the lid.
The dark purple Inner Core grew slightly warm in his palm. A continuous wave of Divine Soul power radiated from it, creating a faint resonance with Li Yuan's own Divine Soul.
Li Yuan put the Inner Core into his mouth.
The moment the Inner Core entered his stomach, an extremely condensed stream of Divine Soul power erupted from within him.
It was not burning hot, nor was it freezing cold, but a form of extremely pure mental impact.
The Divine Soul power surged along a special pathway straight to the point between his eyebrows, violently colliding with his own Divine Soul.
The foundation he had built from four layers of Divine Soul enhancement—the Soul Mirror's Soul Light Tempering, his insights from Alchemy, Divine Soul Condensation, and the Soul Condensation Skill—all came into play at this moment. When the Inner Core's Divine Soul power slammed against the outer wall of his Divine Soul, the wall stood firm as a rock, not shaking in the slightest.
The force of the impact was caught by the outer wall of his Divine Soul and then slowly absorbed.
The Divine Soul power integrated into his Divine Soul layer by layer, seeping from the outer wall to the core, saturating every corner of it.
Its density was increasing.
Its condensation was improving.
The clarity of his perception was expanding.
This process lasted for about a quarter of an hour.
After the Divine Soul power from the Inner Core was completely absorbed, Li Yuan opened his eyes.
His Divine Sense spread outward, its range now even greater than before. Within a radius of a hundred zhang, the position and state of every blade of grass, every rock, and every insect were rendered in perfect detail.
The panel popped up.
[Soul Light Tempering (Blue) permanentization condition has been met]
[Make permanent?]
'Yes.'
[Permanentization successful]
[Soul Light Tempering (Blue) has become a permanent entry]
[Equipment consumed]
The blue entry was now permanent.
Soul Light Tempering—enhances Divine Soul strength and control finesse. Base enhancement of ten percent, maximum of fifty percent.
This entry had previously been in an equipped state, and its effect was already active. After becoming permanent, the effect was locked in and no longer occupied an equipment slot.
At the same time, the line of small text at the bottom of the panel flickered.
[Condition met: Make two or more blue-grade entries permanent (2/2)]
[Condition met]
[Unlocking new function...]
[New function unlocked: Enhanced Entry Perception]
With a thought, Li Yuan had the panel expand to show the detailed description.
[Enhanced Entry Perception]
[Original function: Upon touching an item, you can perceive whether it has an entry and the entry's grade.]
[Enhanced: Perception range expanded. Direct touch is no longer required. You can now perceive if an item has an entry and its grade from close range (within three chi).]
'No more touching.'
'I can sense things within three chi.'
Li Yuan reached for his storage bag and, with a thought, tried to perceive the items inside.
The information about the items in the storage bag was much clearer than before. Items that previously required individual touch to inspect could now be vaguely perceived through the space of the storage bag—items with entries emitted an extremely faint, special fluctuation that set them apart from ordinary objects.
Although the perception through the storage bag was not as clear as direct perception within three chi, he could at least roughly determine which items had entries and which did not.
'In the future, when I'm browsing stalls or attending trade fairs, I won't have to touch every single item. I'll naturally be able to sense which things are worth paying attention to just by getting close.'
Li Yuan dismissed the panel and stood up.
The condition of making two blue entries permanent was now met. Primordial Core Foundation Establishment and Soul Light Tempering; one was made permanent during his Foundation Establishment, and the other just now.
A new function was unlocked.
Enhanced Entry Perception.