Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 300: Chapter 289: Breaking the Restriction (2)

The market’s main street was now crowded with people from morning to night.

The commercial district, which originally had only a dozen or so storefronts, had now expanded to over thirty. There were also countless temporary stalls, lining the streets from the main thoroughfare all the way to the alley entrances of the outer residential area.

With more people came more spending.

Pills, Talismans, Magical Artifacts, materials—all sorts of goods were changing hands several times faster than they had half a year ago. The market’s daily revenue had long since surpassed its previous record and was still climbing.

As the market’s manager, Li Yuan’s income naturally rose with its success.

Management fees, stall fees, and a cut of transactions—this daily income added up to a considerable sum of Spirit Stones each month. Combined with the output from the Spirit Fields, returns from the Evil Ore, sales of Purple Evil Stones, and the steady supply of Talismans and pills, multiple streams of resources were replenishing his coffers. Li Yuan’s personal reserves of Spirit Stones and alchemy ingredients were growing rapidly.

Li Yuan began to consciously set aside a portion of his resources, no longer using them for daily expenses.

After reading various texts on Core Formation, he already had a rough outline in his mind of the materials required. High-Tier alchemy ingredients, Array Materials to aid in Core Formation, pills to stabilize his foundation, and protective measures for the breakthrough itself—none of these came cheap. Stockpiling them in advance was far better than scrambling to find them at the last minute.

He didn’t stop his Body Refining, either.

Every two or three days, Li Yuan would take a Body Refining pill and, using a Bone-Refining Spirit Ointment, continue to advance his Nameless Body Refining Technique.

The effect of the [Medicinal Tempered Physique] trait in his equipment slot was becoming increasingly obvious. Previously, when he took a Body Refining pill, the medicinal power would always leave behind some stagnant impurities that, over time, would slow down subsequent absorption. Now, after each pill, [Medicinal Tempered Physique] would strip those impurities away, slowly expelling them from his meridians and flesh.

With this constant refinement, his proficiency in the Nameless Body Refining Technique steadily increased.

He was more than halfway through the latter part of the Minor Achievement stage, drawing ever closer to the threshold of Great Success. Li Yuan could clearly feel that every time he circulated the Skill, the upper limit of Spiritual Power his bones and skin could withstand expanded just a little. The protective layer of Spiritual Light on his body was also thicker than when he had first reached Minor Achievement. Its coverage, which had once barely shielded his torso, could now extend to the tips of his limbs.

Li Yuan didn’t neglect his Alchemy during his cultivation, either.

On the evening of the fifth day, just as Li Yuan finished storing the last batch of Gathering Essence Pills in a jade vial, the panel appeared.

[Technique: Tier Two Alchemy — Mastered (0/800)]

Li Yuan set down the jade vial and stared at the word on the panel, not moving.

Mastered.

The leap from Proficient to Mastered wasn’t just about a higher success rate or better quality pills; it represented a fundamental change in how he allocated his focus during the alchemy process.

At the Proficient level, Li Yuan still had to concentrate most of his focus on the furnace when refining Tier Two pills, watching every change in the Pill Liquid and correcting the slightest deviation immediately. He had to remain tense throughout the entire process, with no room for distraction.

But now that he had Mastered it, many of the judgments that once required his full attention had become instinctual.

The trajectory of the medicinal properties, the right moment to adjust the heat, the point at which the primary and secondary ingredients would begin to conflict—he no longer needed to consciously watch for and consider each of these things. The knowledge now surfaced naturally during the alchemy process.

The most immediate change was that Li Yuan found he could now divert a portion of his focus to observe other details while performing alchemy.

For instance, in the final moment before the Pill Liquid solidified, he could check if the outer and inner layers were coalescing in perfect sync. Or when the Pill Fire permeated from the furnace walls toward the center, he could sense if there were any minute deviations in heat distribution.

He never had the spare capacity to notice such things before, but now he could give them a passing glance without disrupting the main process.

Li Yuan put away the Pill Furnace, cleaned his workbench, and sat for another moment.

This period of intense alchemy had not only advanced his Alchemy technique, but the constant cycle of spiritual exertion and recovery had also pushed his proficiency in the Soul Condensation Skill to its limit.

Another notification on the panel had lit up a short while earlier.

[Cultivation Technique: Soul Condensation Skill — Complete]

Once the Divine Soul Skill was Complete, the [Nurtured Spirit Platform] trait also met the conditions for permanency. With a thought, Li Yuan made it permanent.

Li Yuan stood up and stretched, then sat cross-legged on his meditation cushion and began his daily cultivation.

As Spiritual Power circulated through his meridians, he once again clearly perceived the change that had been ongoing for a long time.

Although the Top Grade Spirit Stone was only a temporary attachment and didn’t take up an equipment slot, the blue trait’s progress toward permanency advanced every time he circulated his energy.

Having the large Spirit Vein equipped for so long meant his automatic cultivation had never ceased. While he spent his days on alchemy, array-setting, and managing the market’s affairs, the [Spirit-Nurturing Vein]’s auto-cultivation ran silently in the background. This meant that every day, Li Yuan cultivated an additional amount equivalent to half a normal session’s progress more than others.

Combined with his highly efficient cultivation sessions at night near the Spirit Vein Core, the Top Grade Spirit Stone’s progress toward permanency was constantly and steadily advancing.

It wasn’t there yet, but the goal was getting closer.

After cultivating late into the night, Li Yuan ceased his technique and went to the ore vein to check on its output.

Thanks to the continuous diversion from the Meridian Guiding Skill, the seepage from the Spirit Vein’s tributary toward the Evil Ore remained stable. The production rate of Purple Evil Stones had increased again from its initial frequency; he could now harvest a new batch every three to four days.

When Li Yuan entered the natural cavern, he found that, as expected, several more Purple Evil Stones had formed near the Array Hub.

He collected the Evil Stones one by one. As his fingers touched the last one, his senses suddenly reacted.

This Purple Evil Stone felt different from the others.

It wasn’t a difference in size or weight, but in the deeper level of fusion between the Evil Qi and Spiritual Power within it.

Previous Purple Evil Stones had a near one-to-one ratio of Evil Qi to Spiritual Power, but the two energies remained distinct, like two different colors of sand mixed together—evenly distributed, but still separate.

This one was different.

The Evil Qi and Spiritual Power weren’t just mixed; they were beginning to fuse to a certain degree. In some places, the boundary between them had blurred, as if two liquids were seeping into one another.

Li Yuan took this particular Purple Evil Stone out and carefully probed it with his Divine Sense.

The fusion wasn’t deep; the tendency only appeared at a few nodes within the Evil Stone.

But the trend itself was telling. With the continuous channeling from the Meridian Guiding Skill, the amount of Spiritual Power from the Spirit Vein seeping into the Evil Ore was increasing, and the interpenetration of Evil Qi and Spiritual Power was growing deeper.

[Equippable Item Detected: Purple Evil Stone (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Evil Spirit Resonance (Green)]

[Effect: Evil Qi and Spiritual Power can be converted into one another to a small degree. During combat, you can convert ambient Evil Qi you come into contact with for your own use.]

[Permanency Condition Preview: Complete one full realm breakthrough in an environment where both Evil Qi and Spiritual Power are present.]

’A green trait.’

Li Yuan stared at the panel for two breaths.

’Evil Qi and Spiritual Power can be converted into one another to a small degree.’

’The permanency condition is also very clear. Complete one full realm breakthrough in an environment where both Evil Qi and Spiritual Power are present.’

’I’m standing right above an Evil Ore, and a large Spirit Vein isn’t far away. A ready-made environment where both Evil Qi and Spiritual Power exist. All I have to do is complete a realm breakthrough here, and I can make the trait permanent.’

Li Yuan put the Purple Evil Stone into his storage bag without equipping it on the spot.

By the time he emerged from the mine tunnel, the sky was already beginning to brighten.

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