Novel Full Chapter 69 - 68: Marrow Vitality
Chapter 69: Chapter 68: Marrow Vitality
By the time Li Yuan returned to the guard garrison, dusk had already fallen.
Li Yuan didn’t head straight back to his quarters. Instead, he first went to the guard team’s trading post.
The trading post here at the guard garrison wasn’t large—just a row of wooden shelves and a long table. It was mostly used for consignments and purchase requests on a typical day.
It wasn’t very crowded today. The table was mostly covered with Demon Beast materials—bones, hides, teeth, and sinews—all sorted into categories.
Li Yuan walked along the table, letting his fingers occasionally brush across a few items.
No reaction.
As he reached the middle of the table, a guard was dumping a pile of miscellaneous materials onto it. The pile contained a few beast bones, a coiled snakeskin, and a complete, grayish-cyan spine. Its vertebrae were all connected, and it was nearly two feet long, with bits of uncleaned membrane still clinging to the surface.
Li Yuan placed his fingers on it.
The panel immediately appeared.
[Detected Equipable Item: Cyan Rock Snake Spine (Complete)]
[Item Trait Tier: White]
’A White trait.’
Li Yuan paused for a moment, then picked up the spine, pretending to inspect the quality of the material.
The guard selling the items glanced at him.
"That’s from a Cyan Rock Serpent. A complete spine. Another squad brought it back yesterday. It’s Tier One Low Grade. You could trade it for a few Spirit Stones at an Artifact Refining shop."
"Three stones," Li Yuan offered.
"You’ve got some nerve," the guard chuckled. "Four stones."
Li Yuan turned the spine over. The vertebrae were intact and unbroken. It was indeed a good piece of material.
"Deal."
Four Spirit Stones landed on the table. The guard scooped them up quickly and swept his other materials to the side.
"Want to take a look at anything else? A new batch of wolf fangs just came in."
"No, thanks."
Li Yuan tucked the Cyan Rock Snake Spine into his sleeve and headed back to his quarters.
A light was still on in the courtyard. He Shou stood by the wooden table, and upon seeing Li Yuan return, he tossed a cloth pouch over.
"The materials from those few low-to-mid-grade Demon Beasts we killed a few days ago have been sold. This is your share."
Li Yuan caught it and felt its weight.
After speaking, He Shou looked up at Li Yuan again.
"Reinforcements from other posts should be transferring over tomorrow."
Li Yuan nodded. That wasn’t bad news.
The guard teams had been running themselves ragged lately; they were definitely short-staffed. Once the new people arrived, the rotations would ease up a bit.
"Alright, I understand."
He Shou grunted in acknowledgment and turned to busy himself with other matters.
Li Yuan carried the pouch back to his quarters.
Once the door was shut, the room fell silent.
Li Yuan emptied the Spirit Stones from the pouch onto the table, adding them to the ones he’d received earlier. He counted them one by one; the pile was getting quite large.
Thirty-four stones. He had to admit, the perks of being in the guard team were substantial.
But that was also because Li Yuan had contributed the most and thus received the largest share. Plus, with the recent Demon Beast unrest, there was no shortage of them to hunt.
Besides, his squad had been lucky. Aside from Liu Cheng, they hadn’t suffered any major casualties, whereas deaths were not uncommon in other squads.
After he finished counting, Li Yuan took out several herbs from another small pouch.
He had gathered them over the past few days: Cyan Jade Grass, Red Root Vine, and two stalks of ordinary-quality Cold Dew Grass. It wasn’t much, but Old Sun was always buying. Taking these to him would probably get him a few pills in return.
Li Yuan wrapped the herbs separately and set them on the corner of the table.
Once that was done, he placed the Cyan Rock Snake Spine on the table.
The vertebrae were grayish-cyan and slender, resembling a stiff, coiled whip.
[Detected Equipable Item: Cyan Rock Snake Spine (Complete)]
[Trait Preview: Marrow Vitality (White) — Increases Qi Blood enhancement speed by 20% and recovery speed by 20%]
[Permanence Condition Preview: While in a state of significant Qi Blood deficiency, restore Qi Blood to a replete state. Cumulative: three times (0/3)]
Li Yuan didn’t bother reading further. With a thought, he equipped it.
He hadn’t equipped a new item since making the Flame Snake Tube permanent, so this was the perfect time to equip the Cyan Rock Snake Spine.
’The condition for making it permanent doesn’t seem too difficult. I might as well equip it and work on that.’
The moment he finished equipping it, a gentle warmth began to seep out from deep within his spine.
It didn’t originate in his abdomen or limbs, but spread slowly up his entire back, eventually diffusing into his shoulders and neck, his waist and hips, and throughout the rest of his body.
Li Yuan stood up and stretched his shoulders and back.
His joints felt looser. The already abundant Qi Blood flowing through his muscles felt as if it had been nudged to a slightly faster, smoother rhythm.
He wasted no time, sitting down cross-legged and beginning to circulate his Nourishing Essence Skill.
Li Yuan had also been gorging on Demon Beast Flesh for the past few days. He had already met the fifty-jin requirement for his Flame Marrow Tempering, and the total volume of Qi Blood in his body had risen significantly, making the circulation of his Nourishing Essence Skill even smoother.
During the first cycle of circulation, his Qi Blood flowed steadily through his meridians. But by the latter half of the Guiyuan Form, a noticeable portion of the warmth in his body was siphoned away.
His shoulders and back felt lighter, and a sense of emptiness followed in his chest and abdomen.
But this emptiness lasted only a moment before the depleted Qi Blood replenished itself at an astonishing speed.
’My total Qi Blood is quite high, and I have several traits helping with recovery. It’s actually not that easy to deplete my Qi Blood to a significant degree.’
Li Yuan didn’t stop, continuing with a second and third cycle.
The night deepened, and the only sound in the room was his even, heavy breathing.
Sweat gradually beaded on Li Yuan’s temples.
After another full cycle, an emptiness spread across Li Yuan’s back. His limbs felt slightly heavy, and the warmth in his chest finally dropped significantly.
’This should be enough.’
As time passed, his Qi Blood slowly recovered. Warmth returned to his back, and strength soon flowed back into his fingertips.
Li Yuan opened his eyes and glanced at the panel.
[Marrow Vitality (White) Permanence Progress: 1/3]
’One down.’
Li Yuan exhaled and continued.
He had experience now, and his rhythm for the second attempt was more precise.
He kept at it until after midnight, and the second attempt was also a success.
[Marrow Vitality (White) Permanence Progress: 2/3]
Li Yuan stopped and raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his chin.
His proficiency with the Nourishing Essence Skill had increased more than usual.
Not just by a little, but by a visibly significant amount.
With the Marrow Vitality trait equipped, his cultivation speed with the Nourishing Essence Skill had become much faster.
This was especially true for the Guiyuan Form and Blood Storage Form; their circulation was a whole level smoother than before.
He glanced at the sky. The first light of dawn was already showing outside the window, but the room remained quiet.
Li Yuan sat on his bed, the back of his shirt soaked through with sweat. Fortunately, his Cleansing Physique gradually wicked away the moisture, and the fabric became dry again.
He looked down at the panel.
[Marrow Vitality (White) Permanence Progress: 2/3]
’Just one more to go.’
Li Yuan reached back and pressed his spine. It was still warm, and the flow of his Qi Blood was steady.
’This trait is a perfect fit for me.’
Even without making it permanent, the boost it gave to his Nourishing Essence Skill alone was worth the four Spirit Stones.
The next day, things became much easier after the reinforcements arrived.
The Wang family had transferred people over from another one of their outposts, and there were also peripheral members drawn from elsewhere. The garrison was suddenly full of new faces. A portion of the patrol duties that had been weighing on the veteran teams was now distributed among the newcomers.
With the arrival of people from other posts, they didn’t have to go out today. Instead, it was He Shou’s squad’s turn for garrison duty.