Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 296: Chapter 286: Fire-Guiding Formation

The fifth Foundation Establishment trade meet was underway.

When Li Yuan arrived, the courtyard was already filled with people.

There were nearly half as many people as last time. There were some new faces, and some old ones were missing.

A quick glance revealed a little over thirty people, with at least ten of them being newcomers. The attire of most of these individuals was subtly different from that of the local Liangzhou Cultivators, and the style of the storage pouches at their waists was also distinct. It was obvious they were from Yunzhou.

After it began, the first few exchanges were routine. Resources for resources, pills for Spirit Stones, Magical Artifacts for other artifacts, materials for other materials—these were all standard procedures at the trade meet. No one needed to say much; those interested simply found each other to negotiate.

Li Yuan sat down in a corner. He first sold a batch of Talismans and pills, then traded some Mid-grade Evil Stones for a few supplementary materials he needed.

During a lull in the trading, several Liangzhou Cultivators gathered around a middle-aged man from Yunzhou, peppering him with questions. The man was tall and thin and didn’t say much, but he couldn’t fend off the intense and direct curiosity of the locals.

"Exactly how many Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators are there in Yunzhou?"

The Yunzhou Cultivator thought for a moment before giving a rough estimate.

"Before the war, there were nearly a hundred Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators alone."

As soon as he said this, the expressions of the people nearby changed.

Here in Liangzhou, there were only about thirty Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators in the entire region combined. The number "nearly a hundred" was truly beyond their comprehension.

"Why so many?"

"The region is large," the man said plainly. "Yunzhou is much bigger than Liangzhou, and it has more Spirit Veins, so there are naturally more places for Loose Cultivators to find resources. Besides, Liangzhou was ravaged by the Demon Sect several times. Its foundation was severely damaged, and many Cultivation Technique resources were lost, so of course its development couldn’t keep up."

Someone next to them asked a few more follow-up questions.

"If you have so many Foundation Establishment Cultivators over there, why can’t you beat the Demon Sect?"

"What good is having more people?" The Yunzhou Cultivator gave a bitter smile. "When the Qi Shui Sect and the Evil Slaying Sect fight head-on, Loose Cultivators are caught in the middle. We can’t even escape in time, and many die in the chaotic battles. Those who managed to get out were the lucky ones."

"Besides, Loose Cultivators don’t necessarily help the Qi Shui Sect. A good number help the Demon Sect instead."

Li Yuan sat to the side, listening without interjecting.

The large number of Cultivators in Yunzhou wasn’t just because the region was vast, but also because Liangzhou had been repeatedly ravaged by the Demon Sect, severing too much of its foundation. Cultivation Techniques, pill formulas, Array inheritances—once a generation of these things was lost, it would take far more than a few decades to recover them.

The trade meet continued, and the atmosphere in the courtyard was a bit noisier than the previous times.

With more people came a greater variety of trades. Someone brought out some obscure materials from Yunzhou, which were rarely seen in Liangzhou, drawing a crowd. Others brought damaged Magical Artifacts and old pill formulas, hoping to find someone here to help repair or appraise them.

Just as Li Yuan was finishing up his trades, a middle-aged Cultivator walked over.

"Li Dao You."

Li Yuan looked up.

The man had a square face and a short beard. It was Ji Huaiyuan.

His aura was weak but still enduring, as if he had taken some sort of Lifespan Extension Pill.

"Ji Dao You," Li Yuan nodded.

Ji Huaiyuan didn’t beat around the bush. After sitting down next to him, he stated his purpose directly.

"We’ve recently discovered a source of Earth Fire near my home. It’s not deep, but its opening is unstable. I’d like to ask for Li Dao You’s help in setting up a fire-guiding Array to lead the Earth Fire to a stable location."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"A fire-guiding Array?"

"That’s right." Ji Huaiyuan nodded. "My family’s land has many small Fire Veins, and we’ve set up similar Arrays before. It’s just that the location of this newly discovered Earth Fire is a bit off, beyond the reach of our original Array. I have the Array Map for a fire-guiding Array, and the Array Materials are all prepared. All we’re missing is an Array Master."

"And the payment?"

Ji Huaiyuan reached into his storage pouch and took out a jade slip, placing it on the table.

"This."

Li Yuan’s gaze fell on the jade slip, but he didn’t pick it up immediately.

Ji Huaiyuan explained, "It’s the Meridian Guiding Skill, a Magic passed down in my family. There are many small Fire Veins near our home, so my ancestors devised this Magic for guiding the course of Earth Veins. It’s not some secret technique, but it’s not easy to buy on the open market either."

"Guiding the course of Earth Veins?"

"Correct," said Ji Huaiyuan. "It’s not just for Fire Veins; it works on other veins too. As long as the vein itself isn’t too thick and its path isn’t too deep, this Magic can be used to guide it to a certain extent."

Li Yuan’s heart stirred slightly.

’Guiding the path of a Spirit Vein tributary.’

’To others, this might just sound like an obscure support Magic. But to me, its uses go far beyond that.

The Evil Ore mine under my control is currently producing Purple Evil Stones because Spiritual Power from a large Spirit Vein is faintly seeping through the underground rock layers. This seepage is a natural occurrence, its direction and flow uncontrollable.

If I had a Magic that could guide the path of a tributary vein, it would mean I could actively direct the Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Power toward the Evil Ore mine.’

Li Yuan didn’t let any of this show on his face. He simply picked up the jade slip and glanced at it.

"Alright. When do we go?"

"We can leave right after the trade meet ends," said Ji Huaiyuan.

After the trade meet concluded, Li Yuan followed Ji Huaiyuan out of the market square, and they traveled northwest for the better part of a day.

Ji Huaiyuan didn’t take Li Yuan to the Ji family’s residence; instead, he led him to the mouth of a low-lying valley.

He could indeed feel the aura of a Fire Vein underground. When he stepped on the ground, a faint warmth seeped through the soles of his boots.

Ji Huaiyuan first showed Li Yuan the location of the Earth Fire vent.

It was a fissure on the north side of the valley. The opening wasn’t wide, but looking inside, one could see occasional flashes of dark red light from deep within. The Earth Fire vented upwards from here, but its direction was erratic and its intensity fluctuated. The most recent eruption had even scorched a patch of nearby grassland.

"This is the spot." Ji Huaiyuan pointed at the fissure. "If the Earth Fire vent were just a little further south, it would connect perfectly with my family’s original fire-channeling circuit. But its current position is off by more than twenty zhang, so it can’t reach."

Li Yuan squatted down to look inside the fissure, then extended his Divine Sense underground to investigate.

The path of the Fire Vein was very clear. It extended from the southeast and split off into a tributary that vented upwards here. The location of the tributary’s vent was indeed off-center and didn’t connect with the Ji family’s existing fire-channeling structure.

"Did you bring the Array Map?"

Ji Huaiyuan immediately took out a rolled-up Array Map and handed it over.

Li Yuan unrolled it and looked it over.

The structure of the fire-guiding Array wasn’t complicated. The core concept was to build a guiding circuit between the Earth Fire vent and the target location, drawing the Fire Vein’s Spiritual Power from the vent. The Array Hub was to be placed slightly below the center to anchor the flow of Spiritual Power for the entire Array.

The Array Map was very detailed, with the ratios of Array Materials and the positions of the nodes clearly marked. Evidently, the Ji family had experience and had set up similar Arrays before.

Li Yuan memorized the Array Map and then began to set up the Array.

The Array Materials had been prepared by the Ji family in advance: Fire Sun Stones, Spirit-Guiding Sand, and Patterned Iron Powder, all of acceptable quality. Li Yuan first determined the position for the Array Hub, then began laying out the main Array Patterns from the hub toward both ends.

The fire-guiding Array itself was a Tier One Array, so it wasn’t difficult for the current Li Yuan. However, this Array was meant to guide real Earth Fire, not ordinary Spiritual Power. The temperature and searing properties of a Fire Vein tributary were far more intense than those of a Spirit Vein.

When laying the main Array Patterns, he had to leave sufficient space for heat dissipation, and the nodes couldn’t be placed in the usual tight formation. Otherwise, the moment the Earth Fire was drawn in, the high temperature would burn through the Array Patterns.

Li Yuan followed the logic of the Array Map while making a few minor adjustments based on his own judgment.

He slightly increased the distance between two nodes and added a semi-circle of stabilizing patterns around the Array Hub to prevent it from shifting under the impact of the Earth Fire. These were small adjustments, but they were details one could only perceive with the combined insight of a perfect Tier One Array Dao and an entry-level Tier Two Array Dao.

After more than an hour, the fire-guiding Array was complete.

Finally, Li Yuan embedded a Fire Sun Stone into the Array Hub and channeled his Spiritual Power into it. The entire Array slowly lit up. The main Array Patterns extended from the hub toward both ends, and the guiding circuit spread across the ground all the way to the fissure’s opening. A moment later, the heat of the Earth Fire was drawn out along the circuit. It no longer spilled haphazardly from the fissure, but instead flowed steadily south along the path set by the Array, moving toward the Ji family’s original fire-channeling structure.

Ji Huaiyuan watched from the side. Only when the Earth Fire was being stably channeled away did a clear look of relief appear on his face.

"It’s done."

Li Yuan stood up and dusted off his hands.

At that very moment, a familiar sensory fluctuation came from the Array Hub.

The Array Hub was within three chi of him, and the panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Fire-Guiding Array Hub (Complete)]

[Equip Affix Preview: Array-Fire Resonance (Green)]

[Effect: When setting up a Fire Element Array, the Array’s power is increased by 30% and its stability is increased by 20%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Master five different Fire Element Arrays.]

Li Yuan scanned the panel, then put the Array Hub into his storage pouch and replaced it with a new Fire Sun Stone to serve as the hub. He didn’t equip it on the spot.

Ji Huaiyuan had already checked the Array’s operation. Confirming there were no issues, he handed over the promised payment.

"The Meridian Guiding Skill. Please accept it, Li Dao You."

Li Yuan accepted the jade slip. He sent his Divine Sense into it, and its contents quickly unfolded in his mind.

The Meridian Guiding Skill was a support-type technique. It wasn’t a combat Magic, nor was it a Cultivation Method, but rather a specialized, technical Magic used exclusively for guiding the path of Earth Veins.

To cast it, one first needed to lock onto the vein’s path with Divine Sense, then slowly infuse Spiritual Power along the vein’s surface. By using the interaction between the Spiritual Power and the vein, one could shift its path, bit by bit, toward the target direction.

The Magic itself wasn’t difficult. The key was having a sufficiently detailed perception of the Earth Vein and a steady output of Spiritual Power. The degree of shift couldn’t be too large, or the vein would simply snap back. It had to be shifted just a little at a time, over and over, to truly alter its course.

And it wasn’t just for Fire Veins.

Just as Ji Huaiyuan had said, it could be used on other veins as well. As long as the vein wasn’t a massive, main-trunk-level existence, it fell within the scope of this Magic.

Li Yuan put away the jade slip, his mind already calculating its future uses.

’At the Evil Ore mine, the Spirit Vein’s Spiritual Power is currently seeping naturally through the underground rock layers, with its direction and flow uncontrolled. If I use the Meridian Guiding Skill to lead a tributary of the Spirit Vein toward the Evil Ore mine, the seepage will no longer be random, but something I can actively regulate.

The production of Purple Evil Stones could be stabilized.

However, this can’t be rushed. I’ve only just obtained the Meridian Guiding Skill and first need to practice it to a basic level. Then I’ll have to find an opportunity to test it out and see how effective it really is at guiding a Spirit Vein tributary.’

After leaving the Ji family’s area, Li Yuan headed back to the market square.

Along the way, the sky gradually darkened, and the warmth lingering among the hills was mostly washed away by the night wind.

When he returned to his stone house, Li Yuan first organized and stored the materials he had traded for at the meet today, along with the Meridian Guiding Skill jade slip. Then he sat down and began to practice the Meridian Guiding Skill.

Getting started with the Magic wasn’t too difficult, especially since Li Yuan had been "equipped" with a large Spirit Vein for a long time, making his perception of Earth Veins far superior to that of an ordinary person. The basic concepts in the Meridian Guiding Skill, such as judging a vein’s path and the methods for infusing Spiritual Power, were things he could grasp seventy to eighty percent of after just one reading, with almost no need for repeated study.

What he truly needed to practice was the rhythm and control of his Spiritual Power output.

Unlike combat Magic, where you could just push all your Spiritual Power out at once, the Meridian Guiding Skill required Spiritual Power to seep slowly along the vein’s surface, like water soaking into sand—neither too fast nor too forceful. If it was too fast, the vein would repel it; too forceful, and it would damage the vein directly.

Li Yuan ran a few simulations in his stone house using his perception of the Spirit Vein, working through the Magic’s fundamental operational logic before stopping.

’To truly get the hang of it, I’ll have to find a suitable tributary vein near the mine and try it for real.’

The light in the stone house was dim, and the sounds from the market square outside had already faded.

Li Yuan put the jade slip into his storage pouch, sat cross-legged on his rush cushion, and continued his cultivation.

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