Chapter 517 - 487: Chengyuan Pupil Skill

Chapter 517: Chapter 487: Chengyuan Pupil Skill

Li Yuan spent two days in Nanyuan District, using up his remaining Tide Pattern Talisman materials to create three more finished products.

He then left Shuizhou.

「Jingzhou, White Mirror Marketplace.」

As Li Yuan walked through the marketplace gates, he had already adjusted his aura.

Li Yuan strolled down the main street, inquiring about Pupil Techniques at three different shops that sold cultivation manuals.

The first shop had none. The second had a Tier Two aura-viewing skill, which wasn’t what he was looking for. The third did have one Tier Two Pupil Technique.

Just as he was exiting the third shop, a young Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator hurried over, bowing with cupped hands in greeting.

"Pavilion Master Li, our President would like to see you."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

The young cultivator was wearing the uniform of the Mingyuan Commerce Association, a robe with the association’s emblem embroidered on the chest.

"Your President is in the White Mirror Marketplace?"

"Yes. The President arrived the day before yesterday and is handling some association business here. He sensed your aura just now, Pavilion Master, and dispatched me to come and invite you."

Li Yuan followed the young cultivator through two side streets, arriving at a three-story stone building in the southeast corner of the marketplace. A plaque for the Mingyuan Commerce Association hung above the entrance, where two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment guards stood watch.

「Second-floor reception hall.」

A middle-aged man in a dark blue brocade robe stood by the window, holding a cup of Spirit Tea. He had a square face with a touch of frost at his temples, and his aura was deep and restrained. He was a Late-stage Golden Core cultivator.

The President of the Mingyuan Commerce Association.

Seeing Li Yuan enter, the President set down his teacup and strode over to greet him. He smiled and bowed with cupped hands. "Pavilion Master Li, I’ve heard so much about you. It’s a pleasure to finally meet you."

"You’re too kind, President," Li Yuan replied, returning the bow.

The two took their seats as host and guest, and an attendant served them Spirit Tea.

The President didn’t beat around the bush, getting straight to the point.

"Xu Zhang is doing a fine job at the Mist Forest Marketplace; the association is very pleased," the President said, setting down his cup. "But as I’m sure you’ve noticed, Pavilion Master Li, while the Mist Forest Marketplace is growing, it’s quickly approaching its ceiling."

Li Yuan held his teacup, saying nothing.

The President continued, "The Mist Forest Marketplace is located close to the Yunyang Marketplace, and their areas of influence overlap significantly. Further expansion would mean poaching business from the Yunyang Marketplace, which could easily lead to friction. Besides, the surrounding terrain limits the Mist Forest Marketplace, so there isn’t much room to expand."

"So, what you’re suggesting is...?"

"We open a branch," the President said, raising a single finger. "We choose a new location in Liangzhou and open an entirely new marketplace."

Li Yuan arched an eyebrow.

The President stood, retrieved a simple map of Liangzhou from a bookshelf, and spread it out on the table.

"To be frank, Liangzhou doesn’t have the best reputation in the cultivation world. It’s crawling with Demon Cultivators and the situation is chaotic, so most powers are unwilling to invest there. But look at it from another perspective: for that very reason, the competition between marketplaces in Liangzhou isn’t fierce."

The President pointed to several markers on the map.

"The White Mirror Marketplace may be large, but Jingzhou has its three great Sects and our association. A huge volume of transactions goes through internal Sect and association channels, bypassing the marketplace entirely. All the marketplace gets is the leftover business from Loose Cultivators; its potential was reached long ago. Liangzhou is different. There are no major Sects holding a monopoly, and it’s full of Loose Cultivators and smaller powers."

"Besides, even Demon Cultivators need to trade. They have a massive need to liquidate the demonic and Spiritual Materials they possess."

"Of course, we’ll keep the dealings with Demon Cultivators in the shadows. We just need to set up a black market. If things get out of hand, we can always move in and clean it up."

Li Yuan listened, then set down his teacup.

"Where would we build this branch marketplace?"

"That will require some on-site scouting," the President said with a shrug. "But I do have a suggestion. When the new marketplace opens, we could hold a Golden Core formation ceremony. We could use the news of your breakthrough to the Golden Core realm, Pavilion Master Li, to generate buzz and attract people."

Li Yuan shook his head. "I’m not holding a ceremony."

The President was taken aback.

"I’d prefer to use my Golden Core breakthrough as an excuse to hold a trade fair and an auction," said Li Yuan.

The President mused for a moment, then chuckled. "An excellent point, Pavilion Master Li. The appeal of a trade fair and an auction is much more sustainable. A ceremony creates a temporary buzz that quickly fades. But a well-run trade fair brings in a steady stream of repeat customers."

The two then proceeded to discuss the specific terms of their partnership.

The Mingyuan Commerce Association would be responsible for supply chains and logistical support, including transferring Low Tier Spiritual Materials and medicinal pills from Jingzhou and other provinces. Li Yuan would handle site selection, construction, and daily operations for the new marketplace. As for the profits, the association would take a twenty-percent cut, with the remainder going to Li Yuan.

After their negotiations concluded, Li Yuan didn’t hurry to leave.

"President, I have a question."

"Please, go ahead."

"Does the association have any Tier Three Pupil Technique cultivation manuals?"

The President considered this, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "A Pupil Technique? Those are hard to come by."

"Do you have one?"

"As a matter of fact, we do have one," the President said, rising and walking over to the bookshelf. He retrieved a jade slip from a hidden compartment on the bottom shelf.

"The Chengyuan Pupil Skill, Tier Three Low Grade." The President placed the jade slip on the table. "The association acquired it from a Loose Cultivator a few years back, but we’ve never managed to sell it."

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the jade slip. ’A green entry.’

The contents of the jade slip were perfectly preserved. The principle behind the Chengyuan Pupil Skill was to temper the eyes with Spiritual Power, creating a resonance between one’s eyesight and Divine Sense. This granted the user the ability to penetrate cover and detect hidden objects. Tier Three Low Grade was not a high rank, but it was sufficient for Li Yuan.

The President smiled. "Fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones. Consider it a friendly price."

’The market price would be at least two or three hundred, maybe even higher given its rarity.’

’Fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones really is a bargain.’

Li Yuan tossed out the Spirit Stones and put the jade slip away.

"As for the partnership, I’ll have Xu Zhang follow up with you on the details, President."

"Excellent." The President rose to see him out. "Pavilion Master Li, I look forward to a fruitful partnership."

After leaving the White Mirror Marketplace, Li Yuan didn’t continue his journey. Instead, he found a secluded cave in a patch of forest on the outskirts of the market.

He set up a Concealment Array and sat down cross-legged.

He took the Chengyuan Pupil Skill’s jade slip from his storage space and placed it in his palm.

[Detected Equipable Item: Chengyuan Pupil Skill (Complete)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Chengyuan’s Thread (Green)]

[Effect: Increases Divine Sense’s ability to penetrate concealment, detect hidden objects, and resist interference by fifty percent.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Successfully see through an Illusion Technique or Concealment Skill of the same tier one time using a Pupil Technique.]

’A green entry. Its effects are highly complementary to the Spiritual Eye Bead’s Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes.’

’But this means that not all Tier Three items come with blue entries, just like how low-priced items can sometimes have high-grade ones.’

Li Yuan temporarily unequipped his Artifact Principle Comprehension and equipped the Chengyuan Pupil Skill instead.

[Equipped: Chengyuan Pupil Skill (Complete)]

[Chengyuan’s Thread (Green) activated]

A green light shone from the equipment slot. An extremely faint, hot sensation pricked the depths of his eyes, then faded after a few breaths. The way his Divine Sense scanned didn’t seem to change, but Li Yuan could feel it—subtle traces of Spiritual Power fluctuations that he would have otherwise overlooked were now slightly clearer.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and began cultivating the Chengyuan Pupil Skill.

The introductory requirement for this Pupil Technique was to guide Spiritual Power to the ends of the meridians in one’s eyes, forming a micro-circuit of Spiritual Power at a specific acupoint behind each eyeball. Once the circuit was formed, one could channel Spiritual Power to drive their vision, achieving a basic penetration effect.

The learning speed bonus from his "Myriad Arts, True Study" and the comprehension-boosting effect of his grey entry activated simultaneously.

Spiritual Power flowed from his Dantian, converging on his eyes along the meridians of his face. Incredibly fine Spiritual Power Threads probed the acupoints behind his eyeballs, slowly weaving themselves into a micro-circuit.

He opened both eyes at once.

His vision hadn’t changed dramatically, but Li Yuan could clearly feel an unprecedented connection being forged between his eyesight and his Divine Sense. When he infused the ocular circuits with Spiritual Power, the world grew sharper. Traces of Spiritual Power fluctuations, previously hidden by the cave wall, now faintly emerged from behind the stone.

The penetration effect was extremely weak, limited to a few inches of solid matter. But this was only the introductory stage.

[Chengyuan Pupil Skill: Entry-Level]

Entry-level achieved.

Almost at the same instant, the system panel appeared.

[Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes (Blue) Permanence Condition Met]

[Condition: Cultivate a Tier Three Pupil Technique to Entry-Level]

[Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes (Blue) is now a Permanent Entry]

A flash of blue light exploded in his sea of consciousness.

A vision flooded his mind: information about a cultivator breaking an Illusion Array.

’Hidden information from the permanence process.’

After the vision faded, what remained in his mind wasn’t concrete knowledge about arrays, but an extremely subtle intuition.

An intuition for the relationship between Illusion Arrays and pupil power.

Li Yuan took a moment to perceive the changes from the permanence.

When he scanned with his Divine Sense, his vision now had an extremely faint, passive penetration effect. He didn’t need to consciously activate the Pupil Technique; the passive effect of the Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes would automatically identify a certain degree of camouflage and concealment. The upper limit of this penetration was directly proportional to his Divine Soul’s strength. At this moment, the fifty-percent boost to his Divine Soul’s strength granted by "Myriad Manifestations Rewound" was indirectly amplifying the effect of his Illusion-Breaking Spirit Eyes.

The range of his Divine Sense scan had also increased by twenty percent.

He took down the Concealment Array and stepped out of the cave.

The sky was approaching dusk, and the distant mountains cast long, dark shadows in the light of the setting sun.

Li Yuan transformed into an Escape Light and flew toward Liangzhou.