Novel Full Chapter 12: Patrol
Chapter 12: Chapter 12: Patrol
The deputy captain’s token hung heavy at his waist. It was a size larger than his old one and felt thicker to the touch.
But that was it.
The clerk had been right. This "deputy captain" was just a title; he had no one under his command.
Most of the original Inspector Generals had been transferred to the guard detail to fill their ranks. The ones who remained each had their own patrol zones, which Li Yuan had no authority over and no use for.
The real trouble was that while his staff had shrunk, the workload hadn’t.
This morning, he had just finished resolving a dispute between two stall owners on East Street over their locations. In the afternoon, the administration office called him over to verify the registration information for a new batch of Loose Cultivators who had entered the marketplace.
After a full day of running around, the sky was already growing dark by the time he returned to his cabin.
Li Yuan sat on the edge of his bed, catching his breath. ’This deputy captain gig is even less relaxing than my old job,’ he mused.
After resting for a moment, Li Yuan got up. He stood in the empty space in his room, assumed a stance, and began practicing the Iron Bull Skill.
The third form of the Iron Bull Skill was called "Iron Bull’s Burden." It involved extending both arms forward, palms down, and guiding Qi Blood to the limbs in coordination with a deep, slow breathing rhythm.
This form was more physically demanding than the first two. With each breath, he had to push Qi Blood from his abdomen out to his shoulders, arms, legs, and feet, then draw it back from his extremities, repeating the cycle over and over.
Thanks to his "Viscera Fortification" trait, his perception of Qi Blood was far clearer than a mortal’s. Coupled with the full set of the Iron Bull Skill’s Spells being crystal clear in his mind, Li Yuan’s practice was smooth, albeit exhausting.
About an hour later, Li Yuan concluded his practice. His arms were a bit sore and his back was slightly sweaty, but his "Clean Body" trait immediately kicked in, and the sweat stains on his clothes vanished.
With a thought, his status panel appeared:
[Iron Bull Skill: Novice (43/200)]
The progress was slow, much slower than before he had even reached the Novice stage. Mortal cultivation techniques ultimately relied on repetitive physical practice. The comprehension bonus from his "equipped" skill only saved him the time it would have taken to figure things out; he still had to put in the hard work himself.
Dismissing the panel, Li Yuan did not continue practicing the Iron Bull Skill. Instead, he sat down cross-legged and began to circulate the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
Spiritual Qi surged in from all directions, rendered pure and free of impurities by his "Spiritual Qi Filtration" trait. The "Circulation Acceleration" trait then drove the Spiritual Power to race through his meridians.
After breaking through to the Qi Refining Fourth Level, his Dantian’s capacity was nearly double what it had been at the third level. It was still far from being filled with Spiritual Power.
The amount of Spiritual Power that gathered in his Dantian after each circulatory cycle was substantial. He was refilling his reserves several times faster than he had been at the peak of the third level.
The proficiency of his Spirit-Introducing Skill was also slowly increasing; the numbers on the panel crept upward bit by bit.
Li Yuan had been practicing this Cultivation Technique for a while now. He was already past the middle stage of Minor Achievement, but Great Success was still a long way off.
After cultivating for four hours, Li Yuan stopped his practice.
His internal Spiritual Power was a little more abundant than before he started, but he was still far from reaching his limit.
The sheer capacity of a Qi Refining Fourth Level Dantian was no joke; it would take a significant amount of time to fill it completely.
Li Yuan wasn’t worried. He got up, poured himself a bowl of cool water, and took a sip.
’As long as my Cultivation is improving steadily, that’s what matters. The Iron Bull Skill is slow, but it’s still progressing. There’s no need to worry about either of them, and getting anxious won’t speed things up.’
The things that truly required his attention were two other matters.
The first was medicinal pills.
The condition to make the effect of the Meridian Opening Pill permanent was to consume ten pills of the same or higher grade.
The Meridian Opening Pill was a Tier One Low Grade pill, which meant the requirement was for other Tier One Low Grade pills.
A single Meridian Opening Pill cost two to three Spirit Stones in the marketplace. Ten of them would cost twenty to thirty Spirit Stones—he’d have to save his entire monthly stipend for nearly half a year to afford that.
However, if he could find a cheaper Tier One Low Grade pill to substitute, he could bring the cost down significantly.
After all, the permanent enhancement condition specified "pills of the same or higher grade"; it didn’t say they had to be Meridian Opening Pills.
Over the past few days on patrol, Li Yuan had been keeping a close eye on the price of pills in the marketplace, especially those sold by Loose Cultivators.
The results were not promising.
There were plenty of types of Tier One Low Grade pills, with common ones being Purification Pills, Qi Nourishing Pills, and Origin Condensing Powder.
The Qi Nourishing Pill used to be the cheapest, at one and a half Spirit Stones each, making it the most commonly used pill among low-level Loose Cultivators.
But not anymore.
Demon Beast activity had become frequent in the Yuanheng Mountain Range, so the number of Loose Cultivators willing to enter the mountains to gather herbs had plummeted. The easily accessible herbs at the foot of the outer mountains had also been picked clean. With fewer resources at the source, the price of herbs in the marketplace naturally rose.
When herbs went up, so did pills.
The price of a Qi Nourishing Pill rose from one and a half Spirit Stones to over two.
Origin Condensing Powder hadn’t seen much of a price hike, but the stuff was expensive to begin with—three Spirit Stones a piece, roughly the same as a Meridian Opening Pill. There was no point in using it as a substitute.
A couple of days ago, Li Yuan even made a special trip to the Wang family’s shop in the marketplace. The shop had a full stock of pills, but their prices were even higher than the outdoor stalls run by Loose Cultivators.
The Wang family’s goods were never cheap. You paid a premium for consistent quality and a guarantee against fakes.
After running around in circles, Li Yuan had to face reality: he wasn’t going to find any cheap Tier One Low Grade pills anytime soon.
He could forget about making the Meridian Opening Pill’s effect permanent for now. He would just have to diligently save up Spirit Stones.
The second was mortal cultivation techniques.
The condition to make the Iron Bull Skill permanent was to master two mortal cultivation techniques to the level of Perfection. He only had the Iron Bull Skill, so he needed to find another.
But Li Yuan didn’t want to buy just any technique.
The other day at a stall on East Street, he had flipped through several mortal cultivation technique manuals in a row—the Golden Jade Skill, the Bone Strengthening Skill, and others—but his system panel hadn’t reacted at all. Only the Iron Bull Skill was equippable, and it only had a white-grade trait.
This meant that not all mortal cultivation techniques could be equipped, and even among those that could, not all of them came with traits.
If he spent several Spirit Stones on a manual only to find he couldn’t equip the technique, it would be a poor investment. It was better to spend more time searching for one that came with a trait.
’Besides, I still have a long way to go before I master the Iron Bull Skill. No need to rush this.’
With that thought, Li Yuan set down the water bowl, settled back into a cross-legged position, and began circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill again.
The moonlight shifted outside the window, leaving only the sound of steady breathing inside the cabin.
—
For the next few days, Li Yuan maintained a steady routine.
During the day, he patrolled the marketplace and handled all sorts of trivial matters.
At night, he returned to his cabin, practiced the Iron Bull Skill for two hours, and then cultivated the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
The deputy captain’s job was definitely more work than his previous one.
Before, an Inspector General only had to manage his own assigned area. If trouble arose, he could just report it to the captain and forget about it. Now, with the manpower shortage, Li Yuan had to handle many things himself.
When newly arrived Loose Cultivators clashed with local vendors, Li Yuan went to mediate.
When a Loose Cultivator set up a makeshift shelter in a corner of the marketplace and was reported, Li Yuan went to persuade them to leave.
The administration office also dumped a few extra registration tasks on him, requiring Li Yuan to verify the identities of new Loose Cultivators entering the marketplace.
Every day after his patrol, when he returned to his cabin, he always felt more exhausted than he had as a regular Inspector General.
Fortunately, his cultivation wasn’t being neglected.
The proficiency of his Spirit-Introducing Skill climbed steadily. With the two traits "Spiritual Qi Filtration" and "Circulation Acceleration" working in tandem, his efficiency was leagues above that of an ordinary Qi Refining Fourth Level Cultivator. The Spiritual Power in his Dantian grew more abundant by the day, and he was still nowhere near a bottleneck.
The Iron Bull Skill was also progressing, just much more slowly.
[Iron Bull Skill: Novice (132/200)]
He had nearly mastered the third form and was just beginning to explore the fourth: "Iron Bull’s Pawing Hoof."
This form placed extreme demands on his lower body strength. His legs would be sore and trembling after every practice session. Even with the aid of his "Viscera Fortification" trait, he couldn’t endure practicing it for long.
Mortal cultivation techniques, in the end, were all about tempering the physical body through endless repetition. There were no shortcuts.
As for the pills and the mortal cultivation technique, Li Yuan kept an eye out for them in between his patrol duties.
Tier One Low Grade pills were either out of stock or had their prices jacked up, just as Li Yuan had observed before.
One vendor had a few Qi Nourishing Pills on display, but he was asking for two and a half Spirit Stones a piece—even more expensive than last month.
"Are herb prices still on the rise?" Li Yuan asked casually.
The vendor sighed and gestured emphatically. "There are fewer and fewer places to gather herbs in the mountains. A few days ago, two more herb-gathering Loose Cultivators ran into a Demon Beast on the outskirts. One died, one was injured. Who dares to venture deeper in now?"
Li Yuan didn’t press further. He just nodded and walked away.
The reduced herb supply was driving up pill prices, a situation that wasn’t likely to improve anytime soon.
He had no luck on the mortal cultivation technique front, either.
Over the last few days, Li Yuan had examined many manuals at various stalls during his patrols. He’d flipped through seven or eight different mortal cultivation techniques, but the system panel hadn’t lit up once.
Either he didn’t meet the requirements to equip them, or they were simply impossible to equip.
The only one that prompted a reaction was a Jade Statue Skill manual he’d seen in the hands of a Loose Cultivator.
But it only offered a gray-grade trait, and the asking price was five Spirit Stones. Li Yuan couldn’t afford it at the moment.
’No rush,’ he thought. ’It’ll be a long time before I master the Iron Bull Skill anyway. I can just take my time searching.’