Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 249: Chapter 241: Reclaiming the Spirit Fields

The short-bearded cultivator and his team arrived sooner than expected.

The marketplace had been in operation for less than two months. A team of six arrived from the direction of Yunyang Marketplace, led by the short-bearded cultivator himself. They had come to survey the site for the one thousand nine hundred acres of Spirit Fields.

The short-bearded cultivator brought a detailed survey map and met with Li Yuan at the marketplace’s administration office.

"One thousand nine hundred acres is a large area."

The short-bearded cultivator unrolled the map, his finger tracing a circle around the marketplace’s vicinity.

"The west and north sides of the marketplace are already largely occupied. All that’s left are the south and east."

Li Yuan glanced at the areas marked on the map.

The southern area was near the edge of the Ghost Mist Forest. The terrain was flat and the area was large enough, but there was a heavy residue of Evil Qi. The Gathering Evil Array’s coverage was mainly concentrated in the marketplace’s core, so the Evil Qi concentration on the southern edge hadn’t yet dropped to the standard required for cultivating Spirit Fields.

The eastern area had a different problem. Its Evil Qi concentration was lower than the south’s, but the terrain was very hilly. Direct cultivation was impractical; the land would have to be leveled first.

"We can probably get about eleven hundred acres from the south and eight hundred from the east, which adds up perfectly," the short-bearded cultivator said. "But both sides have issues. The south has too much Evil Qi, and the east has unsuitable terrain."

"I’ll take care of the Evil Qi and the terrain," Li Yuan said.

The short-bearded cultivator was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

The next morning, Li Yuan went to the eastern area first.

The eight-hundred-acre area spanned three low hills and two shallow gullies, with the greatest difference in elevation approaching twenty feet. Leveling this area into flat, arable land would be no small feat.

Li Yuan stood atop the highest hill and activated the Earth Transporting Skill.

The thirty-percent power boost to his earth-element techniques was now fully unleashed.

Spiritual Power poured into the ground beneath his feet. Driven by the Earth Transporting Skill, the soil and rubble of the hill began to move. Earth and stone were stripped from the hilltop, flowing along the path guided by his Spiritual Power toward the gullies on either side, filling the low-lying areas.

His range of control was much larger than before. After achieving Great Success in the True Skill of Thick Earth, the quality of his Earth Element Spiritual Power and his affinity for it had comprehensively improved. The reach of his Earth Transporting Skill expanded from its original one hundred-odd feet to over three hundred feet.

The first hill was leveled within half a day. Once the soil filled the adjacent gully, the ground was mostly even.

The second hill was larger and took up the better part of a day.

The third hill was finished by the morning of the second day.

After leveling the land, Li Yuan used the Earth Transporting Skill to till the topsoil to a depth of about three feet, turning the compacted, hard earth into soft, arable soil.

The terrain problem in the east was solved.

Next was the Evil Qi problem in the south.

Li Yuan stood on the edge of the southern area, closing his eyes to perceive his surroundings.

The perceptive ability from his Evil Vein trait was now proving crucial.

The Evil Vein was located deep to the south of the marketplace, roughly a mile away from the proposed Spirit Field site. With the Evil Vein trait active, Li Yuan could precisely sense the distribution and flow of the subterranean Evil Qi around it. His perception extended far beyond the vein itself, reaching the underground areas surrounding the marketplace.

The underground distribution of Evil Qi in the southern area was not uniform.

There were three nodes where the Evil Qi was particularly dense, like subterranean collection points. From these three nodes, the Evil Qi seeped out and spread in all directions. As long as he set up Gathering Evil Arrays at these three nodes, he could cut off the source of the seepage. This was far more efficient than laying out a large-scale array on the surface.

An ordinary Array Master would lack the ability to perceive these subterranean nodes with such precision. They could only set up arrays evenly across the surface, using quantity to make up for their lack of accuracy.

The effect was immediate after the three Gathering Evil Arrays were activated.

The Evil Qi from the three subterranean nodes was drawn out and concentrated, and the amount seeping into the surroundings rapidly decreased. The surface-level Evil Qi concentration in the southern area dropped by nearly sixty percent within half a day. By evening, it was already approaching the standard required for cultivating Spirit Fields.

In a few more days, the remaining Evil Qi would be continuously drawn out by the Gathering Evil Arrays until it was completely gone, and the concentration would fully meet the standard.

"Li Dao You, your methods are truly admirable," he remarked with emotion as he watched the Evil Qi concentration in the southern area plummet. "If it were anyone else, just setting up the arrays would have taken ten days to half a month, and they might not have even achieved such results."

Li Yuan didn’t say much.

Three days later, the Evil Qi concentration in the southern area fell below the standard threshold.

The short-bearded cultivator’s people moved in afterward.

In addition to the initial six-person survey team, more than twenty Loose Cultivator laborers arrived, along with a professional Spirit Field steward. The steward was an old, white-haired cultivator at the Late-stage of Qi Refining. It was said that he had spent his entire life tending to Spirit Fields and was exceptionally experienced.

One thousand nine hundred acres was an enormous area. Even with over twenty people working simultaneously, it wasn’t a project that could be completed in a short time.

The short-bearded cultivator occasionally muttered about how his plans to go to the Qinglan Marketplace would have to be postponed.

Li Yuan didn’t continue to monitor the progress of the land reclamation. He handed over the follow-up coordination to the administration office and returned to his stone house to cultivate.

The low-Evil Qi zones around the marketplace expanded even further thanks to the newly established Gathering Evil Arrays.

The Evil Qi concentration in the large southern and eastern areas dropped to extremely low levels. Combined with the previously reclaimed Spirit Field areas to the west and north, the low-Evil Qi zones in all four directions from the marketplace had been significantly extended.

The effects quickly became apparent.

Another group of Loose Cultivators moved in from the outskirts. These cultivators had previously found the Evil Qi around Mist Forest Marketplace too heavy and had been waiting to see what would happen. Now that the low-Evil Qi zones had expanded, living near the marketplace offered an experience similar to the outskirts of Yunyang Marketplace. Plus, with the proximity to Ghost Mist Forest and Lingxi Valley, there was no reason not to move.

The marketplace’s permanent population increased by more than twenty people within a month, and the stall rental rate rose considerably.

His days of cultivation continued as usual.

One afternoon, Li Yuan was on a routine patrol in the marketplace square.

His trait perception was constantly active within a three-foot radius.

A traveling merchant walked past Li Yuan. The storage bag on his back and the various trinkets at his waist entered the range of his perception one by one.

’Green.’

The fluctuation came from a Jade Pendant hanging at the merchant’s waist.

Li Yuan didn’t break his stride, his gaze sweeping over the traveling merchant.

He was dressed like an ordinary Loose Cultivator, with a Mid-stage Qi Refining cultivation, and was currently strolling through the square, seemingly looking for a stall.

Li Yuan made a loop and walked back, stopping beside the stall where the traveling merchant had paused.

"That Jade Pendant on your waist, is it for sale?"

The traveling merchant glanced down at his waist, a little surprised.

"This? I found it in a cave over by the Withered River Shoals. I don’t even know what it is. If Senior fancies it, just name a price."

"Thirty Spirit Stones."

The traveling merchant’s eyes lit up. Getting this much for something he’d picked up in a cave at the Withered River Shoals was far beyond his expectations.

"Done."

Li Yuan handed over the Spirit Stones and took the Jade Pendant.

Back in his stone house, he placed his finger on the surface of the Jade Pendant.

[Detectable equippable item: Soul-Calming Jade Pendant (Intact)]

[Equippable Trait Preview: Spirit Platform Stability (Green)——Reduces the probability of Qi deviation during cultivation by thirty percent, and reduces conflicts between different elemental Spiritual Powers by thirty percent.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Cultivate two Cultivation Techniques of different elements to the Perfection realm (0/2).]

’A green trait. Spirit Platform Stability.’

’Reduces the chance of Qi deviation by thirty percent, and lessens the conflict between Spiritual Powers.’

’For me, Hundred Rivers Converging to the Sea already significantly reduces conflicts between multiple techniques. The effect of Spirit Platform Stability is just an extra layer of insurance on top of that. As the number of cultivation techniques I practice grows, and their elements become more varied, an additional layer of security isn’t a bad thing.’

’The condition for permanence is to bring two Cultivation Techniques of different elements to the Perfection realm. Currently, the techniques I have at Perfection are the Spirit-Introducing Skill and the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, but both are non-elemental. My Red Fire Skill is still at the entry level, my True Skill of Thick Earth is at Great Success, and my Cyan Wood Longevity Skill is at the Adept stage. I won’t be able to meet the condition anytime soon.’

’No need to rush for now.’

Li Yuan put the Jade Pendant away and continued his cultivation.

His Soul Condensation Skill had also progressed during this time.

In the process of advancing from Proficient to Minor Achievement, Li Yuan noticed something unusual.

The cultivation speed for his Soul Condensation Skill hadn’t slowed down.

According to the normal pattern, the higher the proficiency of a Cultivation Technique, the more difficult it is to advance. Going from Entry to Adept might only take a few days, from Adept to Proficient might take ten-odd days, and from Proficient to Minor Achievement should take even longer.

But the speed of advancing the Soul Condensation Skill from Proficient to Minor Achievement was almost the same as advancing from Adept to Proficient.

Li Yuan paused his cultivation and carefully sensed the state of his Divine Soul.

His Divine Soul was much stronger than he had anticipated.

Soul Light Quenching provided long-term reinforcement; the soul-tempering effect of Evil Essence Unity continuously cleansed his soul nodes; Divine Soul Condensation increased its refinement; and his Alchemy Insights, which improved as his Alchemy skill became proficient, further enhanced his soul perception. Nourished by the cumulative effects of these traits over time, the strength of his Divine Soul had already far surpassed the normal level for an Early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

His Divine Soul was powerful enough, but he had never practiced a dedicated Divine Soul Skill before.

It was like a person born with immense strength who had never practiced martial arts. He had abundant reserves of power but lacked a systematic way to use it.

The Soul Condensation Skill was his first Divine Soul Skill. The process of cultivating it wasn’t about accumulating Soul Power from scratch, but rather about integrating his already abundant Soul Power into the cultivation technique’s operational system.

His foundation was simply too deep. The cultivation technique was merely organizing and sorting his existing accumulation, so it was naturally much faster than cultivating from the very beginning.

Li Yuan resumed his cultivation, and the panel popped up.

[Cultivation Technique: Soul Condensation Skill——Minor Achievement (0/1200)]

Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!