Novel Full Chapter 65 - 64: Red Fire Skill
Chapter 65: Chapter 64: Red Fire Skill
Back at his residence, Li Yuan neatly arranged several items on the table.
The Red Fire Skill, the Fire Escape Skill, and the recently crafted Fireball Talisman. The lamplight fell on the corners of the pages, making the paper appear slightly yellow.
[Detected Equipable Item: Fire Escape Skill]
[Trait Preview: Fire Element Conversion (White) — When casting Fire Element Magic, reduces Spiritual Power Attribute conversion loss and slightly increases conversion speed.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Travel a cumulative total of fifty li using the Fire Escape Skill.]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
Li Yuan’s gaze lingered on those few lines of text. He didn’t act hastily.
A typical Cultivator’s Spiritual Power would align with the attribute of their primary Cultivation Technique. If they cultivated a Wood Element technique, their Spiritual Power would mostly carry a wood attribute; if they cultivated a Metal Element technique, its circulation would be sharper.
It wasn’t impossible to cast Magic of other attributes, but one had to temporarily convert their Spiritual Power first. The faster the conversion and the lower the loss, the more smoothly the Magic would form.
The techniques Li Yuan had been practicing these days—the Spirit-Introducing Skill, which was not aligned with any of the five elements, and the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, which focused on harmonizing the meridians—were both attribute-neutral Cultivation Techniques.
Therefore, if he wanted to use the Fireball Technique, he would have to convert his Spiritual Power into Fire Attribute Spiritual Power before casting.
The conversion was fast, but no matter how fast, it still took a little time.
The Fire Element Conversion trait was meant to shore up this weakness.
Li Yuan set the Fire Escape Skill aside, opened the Red Fire Skill manual, and sat down cross-legged.
’First, I’ll give it a try.’
Li Yuan didn’t unequip the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill. ’The Rivers Converging to the Sea trait is still useful. I’ll first test if this new Cultivation Technique conflicts with the two I’m already practicing.’
After reading it thoroughly, Li Yuan began to cultivate it.
As his Spiritual Power circulated according to the Red Fire Skill’s path, the tranquil energy in his Dantian immediately grew warmer. Wherever the Fire Spiritual Power passed, his meridians swelled slightly before slowly contracting again.
Li Yuan closed his eyes and circulated it for another two cycles.
’This Cultivation Technique can strengthen my meridians.’
After trying about ten more times, Li Yuan finally let out a breath.
’Basically, it doesn’t have any obvious conflicts with the two Cultivation Techniques I’m already practicing.’
’As for potential conflicts, I can’t tell yet. It’s also possible that the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill and its Rivers Converging to the Sea trait have neutralized them.’
’The Red Fire Skill is viable and certainly useful, but its cultivation speed isn’t fast.’
’If I were to really practice all three Cultivation Techniques at once, my progress would be too slow.’
’The Spirit-Introducing Skill and the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill complement each other, but the Red Fire Skill doesn’t.’
Therefore, Li Yuan only planned to temporarily cultivate the Red Fire Skill until he reached the entry-level, which would be enough to make the Fireball Technique permanent.
Li Yuan closed his eyes again, focusing on circulating the Red Fire Skill over and over.
Several hours later, a slight tremor ran through Li Yuan’s shoulders and back. The strand of Fire Spiritual Power inside him had finally taken root. His Spiritual Power could now flow freely along the path of the Red Fire Skill.
[Cultivation Technique: Red Fire Skill - Entry (0/200)]
Li Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at the Fireball Talisman on the table.
Then, he unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill.
[Detected Equipable Item: Fireball Talisman]
[Trait Preview: Swift Fire Casting (White) — Increases casting speed when using Fire Element Magic.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Cultivate a Fire Element Cultivation Technique to the entry level.]
[Equip?]
Li Yuan confirmed it immediately.
[Swift Fire Casting (White) permanence condition has been met.]
[Make permanent?]
With a thought, Li Yuan confirmed his choice. The just-equipped Fireball Talisman was instantly freed up.
Just as he picked up the cold tea from the table and took a sip, there was a knock at his courtyard gate.
"Deputy Li, Captain Wang wants to see you."
It was Zhao Hu’s voice.
Li Yuan got up and opened the door. Zhao Hu was standing at the entrance, carrying the chill of the night air on him.
Li Yuan nodded, pulled the door closed behind him, and followed Zhao Hu toward the patrol team’s station.
The marketplace was almost silent at night compared to the daytime. More than half the shops along the street were closed, and there were no stalls. Only a few Spirit Lamps were still lit.
Wang De sat behind his desk with a stack of wooden plaques and scrolls beside him. Seeing Li Yuan enter, he didn’t beat around the bush.
Wang De pulled a temporary waist token from the desk and tapped it with his finger.
"First, you’re being pulled from the patrol team. You’re temporarily reassigned to the guard team to assist He Shou. You’ll have the title of deputy captain."
"Normally, with your current Cultivation, it wouldn’t be out of the question for you to serve as a temporary captain. But you don’t have much experience with the guard team, so you’ll start as deputy captain."
Li Yuan took the waist token. It was cool to the touch.
Wang De looked at him and added,
"This time, the risks will actually be lower than before."
Li Yuan looked up.
Wang De picked up a scroll from the desk and casually opened it.
"The family is preparing to send another batch of people here to Qinghe Marketplace. Not just from the main branch, but also peripheral members from other locations. It won’t be a small number."
"With more people, we can’t just live cooped up within the walls. The nearby Demon Beasts have to be cleared out, and the marketplace needs to expand outward."
"Expand the marketplace?"
"Mhm." Wang De closed the scroll. "Our situation isn’t great either, but that Loose Cultivator marketplace over there is about to collapse. They have plenty of Demon Beasts, and no one is organizing any clearing efforts. But there are a lot of Loose Cultivators inside. Qinghe Marketplace is planning to pull over everyone they can—shops, people, you name it. We’ll make room for them first and figure out the rest later."
After listening, Li Yuan asked just one question.
"So we’re clearing out the Demon Beasts first."
"Correct," Wang De said. "The guard team is short-handed for clearing out the Demon Beasts, so they need people. It’ll only be busy for the first few days. Things will get much easier once the reinforcements arrive."
"Unlike last time, you’re being officially requisitioned by the guard team this time. Your monthly salary and benefits will be based on their standards. You’re at the Qi Refining Fifth Level now, so that’s twenty-five Spirit Stones and twenty-five contribution points a month."
Wang De continued,
"Don’t worry about the contribution points from the last mountain expedition. It’s still being processed. It seems the family found out something."
Li Yuan tucked the waist token into his sleeve.
"Understood."
Wang De waved a hand dismissively and looked down, continuing to flip through the roster.
"Go on. Get some rest tonight."
Li Yuan turned and left the room.