Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Chapter 119: Chapter 115: Making the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill Permanent

The next day, after learning from Steward Liu that the trade fair was being held, Li Yuan left the mining site with a batch of Talismans.

There were more people in the stone hollow than last time. The number of itinerant merchants was about the same, but there was a noticeable new wave of Loose Cultivators, many of whom had unfamiliar faces, as if they had traveled from farther away.

Li Yuan squatted down in his usual spot and laid out his Talismans.

Twenty Fireball Talismans, eight Rejuvenation Talismans, four Vajra Talismans, and a stack each of Cleaning Talismans and Exorcism Talismans.

Before long, the Chen family elder came down from the high rock.

The white-haired, white-bearded old man walked up to Li Yuan. His gaze first fell on the Vajra Talismans. He picked one up, turned it over, and then looked at the Rejuvenation Talismans.

"You have Vajra Talismans now, too."

"I’ve only just started making them. The quality is average."

The Chen family elder paid it no mind. He stacked the Vajra Talismans and Rejuvenation Talismans together, then gathered up the Fireball Talismans.

"I’ll take them all."

He took Spirit Stones from his storage bag and stacked them on the ground.

After counting the Spirit Stones, the Chen family elder pulled a rolled-up animal hide from his robes and placed it beside the stones.

"Like I said last time, here’s a new crafting method for you."

Li Yuan picked up the hide and unrolled it.

Detoxification Talisman. A Tier One Low Grade Talisman. When used, it can slowly expel toxins from the body, effective against pill toxins, medicinal dregs, and the corrosion of certain negative energies.

Li Yuan scanned the crafting method from beginning to end, then rolled up the hide and put it away.

"There’s one other thing." The Chen family elder lowered his voice.

"You don’t have to do the talisman crafting assignments anymore."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

The Chen family elder took a few Spirit Stones from his sleeve and handed them over.

"I’ve signed an agreement with the Wang family. The Chen family will provide manpower to help the Wang family defend the strongholds and mining sites in this area, and in return, the Wang family will provide the Chen family with protection and supplies."

"We no longer need to purchase Talismans now."

He pushed the Spirit Stones in front of Li Yuan.

"These few Spirit Stones are extra compensation for you."

Li Yuan put the Spirit Stones away.

"If you need Talismans in the future, you can still find me."

The Chen family elder nodded.

"But of course."

After the transaction was complete, Li Yuan didn’t leave immediately. He walked around the area and took the opportunity to restock on talisman-crafting materials and daily necessities.

As he reached the middle of the area, a few Loose Cultivators were gathered around a large rock, talking in voices that weren’t quiet.

A dark, thin Loose Cultivator in his forties was squatting on the ground, his hands tucked into his sleeves, his face a mask of gloom.

"...Life’s truly become impossible. The day before yesterday, I went out to gather herbs. I hadn’t even gone five li before I ran into two Gray Iguanas. Nearly lost my life right there."

A short, stout Loose Cultivator next to him picked up the conversation.

"You can count yourself lucky. Last month, those few Loose Cultivator settlements at the southern foot of the mountain were cleaned out. Not by Demon Beasts, but by people. Seven or eight Cultivators snuck over in the middle of the night, took everything of value, and killed anyone who resisted."

"Where did those bandits come from?"

"Who knows." The short, stout Loose Cultivator spread his hands. "These days, Demon Beasts come, bandits come, and you can’t even outrun them on your own two feet."

The dark, thin Loose Cultivator sighed.

"I heard Old Chen has already signed with the Wang family and taken his whole family over."

"Not just Old Chen." Another, slightly older Loose Cultivator leaned in, lowering his voice. "That Loose Cultivator named Zhou in the eastern woods also joined them, and that whole nest from Zhaojiagou. All of them signed short-term contracts. Trade your labor and service for a safe place to stay."

The dark, thin Loose Cultivator curled his lip.

"Signing a contract is selling yourself. From then on, you have to listen to their every command, what to do and what not to do."

"And if you don’t sign?" the short, stout Loose Cultivator retorted. "You think you can handle it on your own? Can you really survive?"

No one replied.

After a moment of silence, the older Loose Cultivator spoke again.

"It’s not just Loose Cultivators seeking refuge, but small families too. The He family, the Liu family, the Sun family, one after another, they’re all siding with the Wang family. I heard the Wang family has taken in seven or eight small families now, broken them all up, and reorganized them."

The short, stout Loose Cultivator hissed in a sharp breath.

"After all this commotion is over, the Wang family will probably be a lot bigger than before."

As they spoke, the Chen family elder’s voice came from the high rock.

The old man stood atop the rock and cupped his hands in a salute to the people in the area.

"Everyone, the Chen family is purchasing all kinds of medicinal materials in large quantities. Regardless of variety, regardless of grade, as long as it’s a Spirit Medicine, we’ll buy as much as you have. The price is twenty percent higher than the market rate."

The Loose Cultivators in the area all looked over.

Someone muttered, "What’s the Chen family up to, hoarding so many medicinal materials?"

The Chen family elder didn’t explain, but continued on to his second announcement.

"Additionally, if anyone has news of Realm-Breaking Pills, I hope you will inform me."

His gaze swept across the area.

"There is a junior in my family whose Cultivation is at the Qi Refining Sixth Level. His talent is excellent, and he has now reached the cusp of breaking through to the Qi Refining Seventh Level. If any fellow Daoist has a pill that can assist in a breakthrough, regardless of the type, the Chen family is willing to purchase it at a high price."

A Loose Cultivator shouted from the crowd.

"Breaking from the Qi Refining Sixth Level to the Seventh Level needs a pill? Can’t he break through just by cultivating? If his talent is really so good, won’t he get there eventually just by cultivating slowly?"

Someone next to him immediately chimed in.

"That’s easy for you to say. The sixth to seventh level of Qi Refining is a major hurdle. Who knows how many years it would take to get through it with just cultivation alone. With the help of a pill, it’s better to break through sooner rather than later."

The Loose Cultivator who had shouted was unconvinced.

"So what if he breaks through early? It’ll still be just as difficult to reach Foundation Establishment in the future."

"It’s not the same." The older Loose Cultivator shook his head, his tone much more serious than before.

"Breaking through early versus breaking through late makes a huge difference."

He held up a hand, ticking off points on his fingers as he spoke.

"A Cultivator’s Qi Blood starts to decline around the age of forty. The higher one’s Cultivation, the later this decline begins. At sixty, your Qi Blood is only at seventy or eighty percent of its peak. By the time you’re a hundred, you don’t even have half left."

"When attempting Foundation Establishment, Qi Blood is the foundation. The more abundant your Qi Blood, the greater the Spiritual Power impact you can withstand during the process, and the higher your success rate."

The dark, thin Loose Cultivator was stunned by this explanation.

"So, you’re saying the earlier you break through to the later stages, the greater your chances of reaching Foundation Establishment in the future?"

"It’s not just about the chances." The older Loose Cultivator lowered his hand.

"There’s also lifespan. After reaching Foundation Establishment, your lifespan increases, but the base increase is calculated from your remaining lifespan at the moment you break through. Between someone who reaches Foundation Establishment at twenty and someone who does it at one hundred, there’s already an eighty-year difference in remaining lifespan. The total difference in lifespan increase after Foundation Establishment is even greater."

The area fell silent for a while.

The short, stout Loose Cultivator clicked his tongue.

"In the end, it all comes down to resources. Without resources, even the greatest talent is useless. The young master of the Chen family can afford to take a Realm-Breaking Pill because his family can support him. As for us Loose Cultivators, the Spirit Stones we save up all year aren’t even enough to buy one."

The conversation gradually died down, and the Loose Cultivators returned to their own stalls, each sighing to themselves.

Li Yuan hadn’t interjected a single word. Leaning against the stone wall, he listened to the entire conversation before getting up and leaving the hollow.

On the way back to the mining site, walking up the gravel slope, Li Yuan took out the animal hide with the crafting method for the Detoxification Talisman and looked it over again.

The arrangement of the Spirit Patterns wasn’t too complex. It used a combination of Purification Patterns and Guiding Patterns, following a path that was primarily Water Element, leaning toward Wood Element.

He rolled up the hide, put it away, and quickened his pace.

It was already afternoon when he returned to the mining site.

Li Yuan went straight back to his small house and closed the door.

He took out the last three jars of Body Refining medicinal liquid from his storage bag.

The third round. Iron Bone Liquid, Xuanjia Soup, and Red Marrow Juice.

He started with the Iron Bone Liquid.

He broke the wax seal on the jar’s mouth, and a pungent, acrid smell rushed out. After pouring it into a wooden basin and diluting it with water, Li Yuan undressed and sat inside.

The sensation of the third round was different from the first two.

The medicinal power seeped into his skin much faster than in the previous two rounds. After two medicinal baths, his skin and muscles had significantly less resistance to the medicinal power, and his pores seemed to be actively absorbing it.

It wasn’t that the medicinal power had weakened, but that his body had been properly conditioned by the first two rounds. The parts that could accept the power had increased, while the parts that rejected it had decreased.

Four hours later, the medicinal liquid was depleted.

Li Yuan stood up, cast a Cleaning Skill, and changed into clean clothes.

Next, he opened the Xuanjia Soup.

Heat poured from the surface of his skin straight into his bones, and a sore, swelling sensation spread through his joints. In this third round, bone absorption was also more efficient than before, and the Spiritual Power penetrated deeper into the crevices of his bones.

Last was the Red Marrow Juice.

The gentlest and most deeply penetrating of the three. The medicinal power drilled along the bone crevices into the marrow, and the faint, bone-deep warmth lasted for a long time before slowly fading.

The third round for all three medicinal liquids was complete.

Three different formulas, each for three complete Body Tempering cycles.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed board and took out the animal-hide booklet for the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill from the depths of his storage bag.

With a thought, he unequipped the Soul Mirror.

Equip Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.

The panel appeared.

[Condition for making "Medicinal Power Refinement (White)" permanent has been met]

[Make permanent?]

Li Yuan’s mind stirred.

’Yes.’

[Permanence successful]

["Medicinal Power Refinement (White)" has become a permanent entry]

[Equipment consumed]

The animal hide in his fingers transformed into a faint white light and sank into his body.

The change wasn’t as immediately apparent as with other entries; it was something more internal.

Li Yuan fished an Evil Essence Pill from his storage bag and popped it into his mouth.

The moment the pill entered his stomach, the difference became clear.

Previously, after the medicinal power of an Evil Essence Pill dispersed in his stomach, about twenty to thirty percent of it would be wasted—his body couldn’t absorb it completely in time, and medicinal dregs and excess Evil Qi would remain in his organs, requiring extra time to cleanse.

Now, that twenty to thirty percent of waste had almost completely disappeared.

After the medicinal power dispersed, the active ingredients were absorbed faster and more thoroughly. As the medicinal dregs formed, they were simultaneously pushed toward the surface of his skin, never lingering in his organs.

The side effects were also smaller. The biggest problem with the Evil Essence Pill was that the Evil Qi damaged the organs. Although this Evil Qi didn’t affect him much now, the impact was reduced even further with this new entry.

The sky outside the window was already completely dark.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and circulated the Spirit-Introducing Skill.

Spiritual Qi surged into his body. Pure Spiritual Power acted first to purge the impurities, allowing the clean Spiritual Power to sink into his Dantian.