Novel Full Chapter 31: Origin Condensation Skill
Chapter 31: Chapter 31: Origin Condensation Skill
Over the next few days, Demon Beast activity plummeted. The tracks found along the patrol routes were less than half of what they’d seen before. Occasionally, the Spirit Detecting Disc would pick up one or two faint fluctuations of Spiritual Qi, but they would just flash by in the distance without lingering.
The cultivators from the Wang family, however, were seen entering and leaving the main encampment with increasing frequency. Sometimes, footsteps could even be heard in the middle of the night, but no one told the outer members what they were doing or what they had discovered.
Five days later, the rotation period was over.
Li Yuan’s squad was rotated out to return to the market for a three-day rest.
He Shou remained at the main encampment to handle the handover, while Li Yuan led Xu Mao, Liu Ping, and Chen Qi down the dirt road toward the market.
After walking for about an hour, the market’s surrounding wall came into view.
The grayish-brown earthen wall looked somewhat ancient under the afternoon sun. Two guards stood at the east gate. Seeing the patrol uniforms and waist tokens on the four, they nodded and let them pass.
Once inside the market, the flow of people on the streets was even lighter than it had been half a month ago.
Several stalls on either side of East Street were empty, but the essential ones remained. Vendors selling Talismans, medicinal herbs, and miscellaneous goods were still at their usual spots. Though many buyers had left, so had many sellers, so overall profits were about the same as before.
The four of them parted ways at the entrance to East Street, each going about their own business.
Li Yuan went straight to the administration office.
The same clerk as before was sitting behind the counter on the first floor, his head bowed as he wrote something.
Li Yuan handed over his waist token. "I’m here to log my patrol records and collect my stipend."
The clerk took the waist token, flipped open a register to Li Yuan’s entry, and verified his patrol days and mission records. Then, he picked up a brush and wrote a few lines.
"Half a month’s patrol. That’s a six Spirit Stone stipend."
The clerk retrieved a cloth pouch and a stamped voucher from under the counter and handed them over.
Li Yuan accepted the items. He slid the Spirit Stones into his sleeve, then folded the voucher and tucked it into his sash.
After leaving the administration office, Li Yuan walked along West Street toward the northern alley. The simple cloth canopy at the end of the alley was still there.
Old Zhang was sitting under the canopy. Laid out on the stall before him were a few Cleaning Talismans and two Fireball Talismans—far fewer than he used to have.
Li Yuan walked up to the stall and stopped.
Old Zhang looked up. Seeing it was Li Yuan, he managed a slight smile.
"Li Dao You, it’s been a while."
"I’ve been out on patrol," Li Yuan said, squatting in front of the stall and glancing at the Talismans on display. "How’s business?"
Old Zhang shook his head and sighed.
"It’s about the same as before, but my expenses are higher now."
Old Zhang picked up a Fireball Talisman, turned it over in his hands, and set it back down.
"Still, I suppose I have it better than some others."
Li Yuan nodded but didn’t reply.
Old Zhang was quiet for a moment before suddenly asking, "Li Dao You, what’s the situation out there really like? Are there truly more and more Demon Beasts?"
"More than there used to be, but their numbers have dropped a little in the last few days," Li Yuan answered honestly. "The specifics are still under investigation."
Old Zhang grunted in acknowledgment and looked down, fiddling with the Talismans on his stall. After a moment, he spoke again, his voice a little lower.
"My grandson... you’ve seen him. He’s a teenager now. His Spirit Root isn’t bad, and he’s been learning to draw talismans from me here in the market."
Li Yuan did recall seeing him. He’d occasionally spotted a tall, skinny teenage boy with bright eyes near Old Zhang’s stall.
"Lately, the boy’s been clamoring to go out and make his own way. He says there’s no future for him cooped up in the market, that he wants to go see the world." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together. "I’ve stopped him several times. He agrees on the surface, but I can tell he doesn’t accept it in his heart."
Old Zhang looked up at Li Yuan, hesitating for a moment.
"Li Dao You, what do you think... about leaving this place for another market? Like the one over by the Li family. I heard it’s expanding and will allow us to set up stalls."
"The roads aren’t safe," Li Yuan said after a moment’s thought.
"It’s nearly a hundred li from here to the Li family’s market, and most of the journey is through the wilderness. With the Demon Beasts’ territory expanding recently, you could run into anything on the road."
Old Zhang’s brow furrowed even more deeply.
"And it might not be any better when you get there," Li Yuan added. "The Li family’s market is farther from the Yuanheng Mountain Range, but if a lot of Loose Cultivators go there, the competition will be fierce. The stall fees won’t be cheap."
Old Zhang nodded and said no more, lowering his head to continue arranging his Talismans.
Li Yuan stood up, bid Old Zhang farewell, and turned to leave the northern alley.
...
「Hidden Skills Pavilion.」
The entrance to the stone tower was the same as always. On the first floor, the guardian Cultivator was meditating with his eyes closed. He opened them at the sound of footsteps, glanced at Li Yuan’s waist token, and gave a slight nod.
After the usual questions were asked, Li Yuan walked into the Scripture Pavilion and went up to the second floor.
The shelves for Magic were much tidier than those for mundane Cultivation Techniques. The manuals were in good condition, and in front of each was a small wooden plaque stating its name, grade, and the number of Contribution Points required to redeem it.
Li Yuan started at the first row, resting his palm lightly on the edge of the bookshelf and sliding it slowly forward.
The first row: offensive Magic.
His palm slid over it, but the panel didn’t react.
He moved to the second manual. Still nothing.
The third—
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Trait Tier: Gray]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information unavailable.]
’Gray.’ Li Yuan glanced at the wooden plaque—Stone-Splitting Skill, an offensive Magic, twelve Contribution Points.
He continued sliding his hand along the shelf.
The fourth manual, no reaction. The fifth, no reaction. The sixth—
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Trait Tier: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information unavailable.]
’White.’ The plaque read: Wind Blade Skill, an offensive Magic, eight Contribution Points.
Li Yuan’s brow twitched. The Wind Blade Skill only cost eight Contribution Points, a third cheaper than the Stone-Splitting Skill, yet its Trait Tier was higher.
He kept going.
The seventh manual: a gray Trait Tier. Poisonous Miasma Skill, twenty Contribution Points.
’So the twenty-point Poisonous Miasma Skill is gray, while the eight-point Wind Blade Skill is white.’
Li Yuan checked a few more manuals, and the pattern only became more obscure.
Some of the magic manuals triggered no reaction at all. Some basic spells had a white Trait Tier, while some higher-grade, more expensive Magic were only gray.
There was no correlation between the Trait Tier and the Magic’s own grade or price.
Li Yuan finished checking the entire first row. In total, five manuals had triggered a reaction: three gray, and two white.
He moved to the second row: support Magic.
This row had far fewer manuals than the offensive section, only a dozen or so.
He placed his palm on the shelf and slid it from left to right.
The first manual, no reaction. The second, gray. The third, no reaction—
The fourth manual.
The instant his fingers made contact, a notification popped up on the panel.
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Trait Tier: Green]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information unavailable.]
’Green.’
Li Yuan’s fingers paused on the manual, lingering for a moment longer.
His gaze shifted to the wooden plaque—Origin Condensation Skill, a support Magic, twenty-eight Contribution Points.
Origin Condensation Skill was a Magic that could compress one’s Spiritual Power in a short burst. The description next to it mentioned several clever applications, such as compressing Spiritual Power to break through a cultivation bottleneck or to increase the power of other Magic, but it also noted a certain degree of risk.
Twenty-eight points. That was two points fewer than the Profound Turtle Body technique, and Li Yuan was much more inclined to get this Origin Condensation Skill anyway.
Li Yuan mentally calculated the Contribution Points he had.
’Counting the points from killing the Demon Beast in the Spirit Field, plus my monthly stipend and the one point I had left over... I’m still four points short.’
Li Yuan pulled his hand back from the manual. Not in a rush to leave, he checked the few remaining support Magic manuals. One was gray; the rest triggered no reaction.
After checking the entire second floor, he had found only this one green-tier item.
He glanced over at the mundane Cultivation Technique section again. The Profound Turtle Body was still there, but he’d read the description before and knew it wasn’t suitable for him.
Li Yuan went downstairs, nodded to the guardian, and left the Hidden Skills Pavilion.
Four points wasn’t a huge amount, but he couldn’t get them right away. There were only a few ways to earn Contribution Points: the monthly stipend, mission rewards, and special contributions. He’d have to wait until next month for his stipend, and mission rewards depended on whether any new missions were posted.
Contribution Points couldn’t be loaned or traded, but there were workarounds. Li Yuan could ask someone to buy the skill for him, and then use his own points to buy something for that person in return. However, this method was extremely cumbersome. It couldn’t be done without a trusted friend, as it would be easy to get scammed.
Back home, Li Yuan put the matter aside for the time being. He sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate.