Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes

Inside the management office of the Mist Forest Marketplace, Li Yuan set down the stack of reporting jade slips from his desk.

Ever since the Golden Core cultivators from the Primordial Yang Sect and the Demon Sect faced off above the Ghost Mist Forest, the regional situation had taken a bizarre turn. The Demon Cultivators of the Dark Abyss Association were no longer concentrating their forces to assault the Primordial Yang Sect’s outposts and resource points. In the last ten-plus days, attacks on powers directly affiliated with the Primordial Yang Sect had plummeted by nearly eighty percent.

The members of the Dark Abyss Association had split up, specifically targeting the resource points of cultivator families and Foundation Establishment Loose Cultivators.

Li Yuan pushed the jade slips aside, stood up, and left the management office, returning to his stone house.

As night fell, the Breath-Sensing Array on the marketplace’s periphery pulsed with a faint, steady light.

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion. Five Divine Sense Lines spread out evenly in his mind, each independent of the others. The main line swiftly guided the Spiritual Power within him, channeling it along the circulation path of the Tier Two Iron Wall Body Refining Skill to permeate his limbs and bones.

Ever since mastering this Body Refining Technique, Li Yuan had set aside some of his energy each day to repeatedly hone it.

His Spiritual Power was forcibly broken down into dozens of exceptionally sharp streams. They flowed through the gaps beneath his skin and fascia, ruthlessly drilling into the surface of his bones. Each surge of Spiritual Power brought with it the aching pain of muscle fibers tearing and rapidly knitting back together.

「The next day at noon.」

Li Yuan was in his shop in the expansion district, checking a new batch of acquired Demon Beast materials, when one of his Divine Sense Lines—positioned about a mile outside the south gate—detected an unusual disturbance.

A large party of cultivators was approaching the marketplace along a dilapidated trade route.

There were over a hundred of them, and their procession included dozens of heavy, beast-drawn carts laden with supplies. More importantly, he could sense the conspicuous spiritual pressure of two Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators at the head of the column.

One aura was steady and profound—one Li Yuan knew very well.

The other was unstable, its Spiritual Power fluctuating between the peak of Qi Refining and the Early-stage Foundation Establishment. It was clearly someone who had just broken through and had yet to fully stabilize their cultivation.

Li Yuan set down his ledger, left the shop, and went to greet them at the south gate.

Half an incense stick later, the large procession arrived at the entrance of the Mist Forest Marketplace.

Ji Huaiyuan was at the head of the procession. His robes were torn in several places, and a large, dark red bloodstain had dried on his left sleeve. His face was haggard, his eyes etched with deep exhaustion.

Walking beside him was a young man who bore a slight resemblance to him.

The young man’s face was pale as he struggled to maintain his Foundation Establishment Stage spiritual pressure, glancing back periodically at the terrified members of the Ji family behind them.

"Fellow Daoist Ji." Li Yuan stepped forward, his eyes sweeping over the beast-drawn carts laden with ore and supplies at the rear of the procession.

"Pavilion Master Li." Ji Huaiyuan’s tense shoulders relaxed slightly upon seeing Li Yuan. He gave a bitter smile and gestured to the young man beside him. "This is..."

Ji Mingyuan stepped forward and bowed to Li Yuan with his hands clasped.

Li Yuan gave a slight nod in return before his gaze fell back on Ji Huaiyuan.

"Has the Ji family relocated entirely?"

"We couldn’t stay." Ji Huaiyuan took a deep, shuddering breath, his voice hoarse. "The night before last, a force of over a hundred Demon Cultivators crept up on our family’s estate. They were led by two at the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment. We held them off for half the night using our family’s protective array. The two of us managed to severely injure one of their Foundation Establishment cultivators, and only then did they retreat."

Ji Huaiyuan glanced back at his family members, who were still visibly shaken.

"The Demon Cultivators may have retreated, but our family’s array was torn to shreds. The Spirit Vein node at our estate is severely damaged. One more attack, and the Ji family will be annihilated."

"So you sold everything you owned?" Li Yuan asked, glancing at the heavy carts.

"We sold what we could, but it was a difficult market," Ji Huaiyuan said, turning to fix his gaze on Li Yuan. "The Ji family wants to put down roots in the Mist Forest Marketplace."

Li Yuan had no intention of negotiating at the main gate. He turned and called over two marketplace guards, instructing them to guide the Ji family’s people and carts to a vacant plaza in the expansion district to rest.

He then led Ji Huaiyuan and Ji Mingyuan directly back to his stone house.

The stone door sealed shut, and a sound-insulating array activated.

The three of them sat at the table. Ji Huaiyuan wasted no time, retrieving a purple wood box from his personal storage pouch. It was sealed tight with three Sealing Spirit Talismans. He pushed it across the table to Li Yuan.

"Pavilion Master Li, the Ji family has come seeking refuge. We have our elders and our children with us. In a wartime marketplace like this, without a business to support us, our resources will eventually run dry." Ji Huaiyuan’s gaze fell on the box, a flicker of pain in his eyes, but his tone was firm. "Inside this box is the Tier Two recipe for the Upper Element Pill."

Li Yuan’s eyes fell upon the box, his gaze hardening slightly.

The Upper Element Pill.

It was a variant of the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe.

"What are the Ji family’s terms?" Li Yuan shifted his gaze from the box to Ji Huaiyuan’s face.

"Three conditions." Ji Huaiyuan held up three fingers.

"First, the recipe is yours. However, in the future, once the Ji family is established in the marketplace and has gathered all the necessary materials, Pavilion Master Li must attempt to refine one batch of Upper Element Pills for us, free of charge, regardless of the outcome."

"Second, the Ji family is to receive twelve storefronts in the expansion district to the south or east of the marketplace. The deeds are to be transferred directly to our name."

"Third, behind those twelve shops, we require enough self-contained residential courtyards to house the eighty-plus members of our family."

Having stated his terms, Ji Huaiyuan fell silent, quietly awaiting Li Yuan’s response.

Li Yuan sat in his wooden chair, his fingers drumming a steady rhythm on the table.

’Twelve shops and their adjoining residences are a trivial matter given the resources I control; it’s merely a question of allocating a plot of land. The southern expansion district has plenty of vacant buildings. Handing them over to the Ji family will actually help fill the administrative gaps created by the marketplace’s recent population boom.’

’As for the free refinement attempt, who knows how long it will take the Ji family to gather the incredibly rare materials required for a Foundation Establishment Pill.’

’And in exchange, I’ll receive a Foundation Establishment Pill recipe—a core strategic resource.’

"Done." Li Yuan stopped his drumming and placed a hand on the purple wood box.

Ji Huaiyuan let out a long sigh, his tense body finally relaxing completely. He ripped the Sealing Spirit Talismans off the box and opened the lid.

The box was lined with golden velvet, and nestled in the center was a white jade slip with a soft, warm luster.

Li Yuan reached for the jade slip and probed it with his Divine Sense.

A flood of information on pharmacology, heat control, and the ratios of Spirit Medicines poured into his mind. The refining philosophy behind the Upper Element Pill was completely different from that of the Vessel Continuation Pill or Gathering Essence Pill he had made before.

This recipe followed an exceedingly cautious path. It didn’t aim for a sudden, massive burst of Spiritual Power to force a breakthrough. Instead, it used several neutral Spirit Medicines to both pacify the violent spiritual energies and slowly, steadily fortify the cultivator’s Dantian walls and meridians. This approach drastically reduced the risk of one’s body exploding during a failed breakthrough attempt.

’It’s an incredibly safe method, one might even say a "survival first" approach to breaking through.’

Li Yuan read on, his eyes scanning the recipe’s list of ingredients.

The primary ingredient was a three-hundred-year-old Jade Marrow Mushroom, supplemented by Tier Two High Grade Foggy Grass and Earth Spirit Fruit, along with dozens of Tier Two Middle-Lower Grade auxiliary herbs.

He did a quick mental calculation of the produce from his Spirit Field and the inventory in his storage pouch.

He had most of the auxiliary herbs on hand, or could easily procure them from the marketplace. But as for the three-hundred-year-old Jade Marrow Mushroom and the other two High Tier primary ingredients, he didn’t have a single one.

But Li Yuan wasn’t troubled by this.

’I have no need to risk life and limb searching for ingredients of this caliber in the Ghost Mist Forest myself.’

’I just have to wait for the current turmoil to subside, then hang a sign outside my largest shop announcing that I can refine the Upper Element Pill on commission.’

’Other cultivators will do the searching for me.’

After seeing the Ji brothers off, silence returned to the stone house.

Li Yuan went to his desk and spread out a blank sheet of spirit-hide paper. He picked up a brush and listed, one by one, the dozens of auxiliary ingredients required for the Upper Element Pill. He planned to have his shop assistant begin discreetly acquiring them from the market the next day, in preparation for a future refinement.