Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The vice-captain's waist badge hung on his waist; it was heavy, a size larger than the original, and felt thicker to the touch.

But nothing more.

The clerk was right; the position of deputy captain was just a title, with no one actually in charge.

Most of the original patrol officers were transferred to the guard team to make up for the manpower shortage, and the remaining officers each had their own patrol area, which Li Yuan could neither manage nor use.

What's more troublesome is that even though there are fewer people, there's still more work to be done.

This morning I just finished dealing with a dispute between two stall owners on East Street over location, and this afternoon I was called by the management office to verify the registration information of a batch of new independent repairmen entering the area.

After a busy day, by the time we got back to the cabin, it was already getting dark.

Li Yuan sat on the edge of the bed, catching his breath, thinking that being a deputy captain was not as easy as before.

After resting for a while, Li Yuan got up, stood in the empty space in the room, got into position, and began to practice Iron Ox Kung Fu.

The third movement of Iron Ox Kung Fu is called Iron Ox Carrying Weight. Extend both arms forward with palms facing down, and coordinate with a slow and deep breathing rhythm to guide the qi and blood to the limbs.

This movement requires more physical strength than the previous two. With each breath, you must push the blood and qi from your abdomen to your shoulders, arms, and legs, and then bring it back down to the end, repeating the cycle.

With the entry on strengthening internal organs in mind, Li Yuan's perception of qi and blood was much clearer than that of ordinary people. In addition, the complete set of Iron Ox Technique techniques was clearly in his mind. Although it was tiring, Li Yuan practiced it very smoothly.

About half an hour later, Li Yuan finished his practice. His arms were a little sore and his back was slightly sweaty. His cleansing constitution immediately took effect, and the sweat stains on his clothes disappeared on their own.

With a thought, the panel appeared:

[Iron Ox Kung Fu: Beginner (43/200)]

Progress is slow, much slower than before I started. Cultivating mortal martial arts ultimately requires repeated physical practice. The comprehension boost from equipment only saves time on trial and error; the real effort still comes from your own hands.

After putting away the panel, Li Yuan did not continue practicing the Iron Ox Technique. Instead, he sat cross-legged and began circulating the Spirit Guiding Technique.

Spiritual energy surges in from all directions, and after being filtered by the spiritual energy, it becomes pure and free of impurities. The body accelerates the circulation of spiritual power through the meridians.

After breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining, the capacity of his dantian was almost twice that of the third level, but his spiritual power was still far from being full.

After each cycle, the spiritual energy flowing into the dantian is quite considerable, and the rate of replenishment is several times faster than when it was at the peak of the third level.

The proficiency of the Spirit Guiding Technique is also slowly increasing, and the numbers on the panel are gradually moving upwards.

Li Yuan has been practicing this technique for quite some time, and his progress has long surpassed the middle stage of minor mastery, but he is still quite far from mastery.

After cultivating for two hours, Li Yuan stopped.

The spiritual energy within my body is more abundant than before I started cultivating, but it's still far from saturated.

The dantian, which is at the fourth level of Qi Refining, is quite large; it would take a considerable amount of time to fill it.

Li Yuan was not impatient. He got up, poured himself a bowl of cold water, and took a sip.

For now, it's enough to focus on steadily improving your cultivation level. Although the progress of the Iron Ox Technique is slow, it's also increasing. There's no need to worry about either of these things, and there's no point in rushing it.

The two things that really require our attention are two others.

First, elixirs.

The condition for making the Meridian Opening Pill permanent is to take ten pills of the same or higher grade.

The Meridian Opening Pill is a first-grade low-rank pill, and pills of the same grade are naturally also first-grade low-rank pills.

The price of a Meridian Opening Pill in the market is two to three spirit stones each, so ten pills would cost twenty or thirty spirit stones. It would take me almost half a year to save up my monthly salary.

However, if a lower-grade first-tier pill can be found as a substitute, the cost can be reduced significantly.

After all, the conditions for permanentization are listed as pills of the same or higher grade, without specifying that it must be a Meridian Opening Pill.

During his inspections these past few days, Li Yuan had been paying close attention to the prices of pills in the market, especially those displayed by independent cultivators.

The results were not ideal.

There are many types of first-grade low-level pills, the most common being the Turbidity-Clearing Pill, the Qi-Nourishing Pill, and the Yuan-Condensing Powder.

Previously, the Qi Nourishing Pill was the cheapest, costing one and a half spirit stones per pill, and it was the most commonly used pill among low-level rogue cultivators.

But that's not possible anymore.

With frequent monster activity in the Yuanheng Mountains, the number of independent cultivators going into the mountains to collect herbs has decreased significantly. The herbs that are easy to find at the foot of the outer mountains have also been almost completely harvested. With fewer sources, the price of herbs in the market has naturally risen.

Herbal medicines have become more expensive, and so have elixirs.

The price of Yangqi Dan (a traditional Chinese medicine) has increased from one and a half yuan to more than two yuan.

The price of Condensing Essence Powder hasn't increased much, but it's already expensive, costing three spirit stones per piece, about the same price as the Meridian Opening Pill, so there's no substitute.

Two days ago, Li Yuan made a special trip to the Wang family's shop in the market. The shop had a full range of pills, but the prices were higher than those of the independent cultivators outside.

The Wang family's products are always priced high, because they are known for their consistent quality and the absence of counterfeit goods.

After running around for a while, Li Yuan could only face one reality—he couldn't find cheap, low-grade first-tier pills in the short term.

Forget about making the Meridian Opening Pill permanent for now; I'll just focus on saving up spirit stones.

Second, there are common, secular cultivation methods.

The condition for making the Iron Ox Skill permanent is to cultivate two ordinary martial arts techniques to perfection. I only have the Iron Ox Skill, so I need to find another one.

But Li Yuan didn't want to buy anything casually.

That day, I flipped through several mortal martial arts manuals at the stall on East Street, such as the Golden Jade Manual and the Bone Strengthening Technique, but the system panel didn't react at all. Only the Iron Ox function equipment was displayed, and it was still in white.

This means that not all ordinary martial arts techniques can be equipped, and not all techniques that can be equipped have any special attributes.

If you spend a few spirit stones to buy a skill book but can't equip it, then it's not cost-effective. It's better to spend more time looking for skills with specific attributes.

Anyway, there's still a long way to go from beginner to mastering Iron Ox Kung Fu, so there's no rush.

Thinking of this, Li Yuan put down the water bowl, sat cross-legged again, and began to circulate the Spirit Guiding Technique once more.

The moonlight outside the window gradually shifted, and only the even breathing could be heard inside the wooden house.

-

Over the next few days, Li Yuan maintained a fixed rhythm.

During the day, they patrol the market and handle all sorts of trivial matters, big and small.

Back in the cabin at night, I first practiced the Iron Ox Kung Fu for an hour, and then cultivated the Spirit Guiding Technique.

The deputy captain definitely has more work to do than before.

Previously, patrol officers only needed to manage their own area; if they encountered any trouble, they would just report it to the captain and wouldn't have to worry about the rest. Now, with insufficient manpower, Li Yuan has to handle many things himself.

A conflict arose between the newly arrived independent cultivator and the local vendors, and Li Yuan went to mediate.

A rogue cultivator had set up a shed on the edge of the market and spent the night there. Someone reported him, and Li Yuan went to persuade him to leave.

The management office also temporarily assigned several registration tasks, requiring Li Yuan to verify the identity information of the newly arrived independent cultivators.

Every day after patrolling, I feel more tired when I return to the cabin than when I was a regular patrolman.

Fortunately, his cultivation was not delayed.

His proficiency in the Spirit Guiding Technique was slowly increasing. With both the Spirit Filtering and Circulation Acceleration attributes working in tandem, his efficiency far surpassed that of a typical fourth-level Qi Refining cultivator. The spiritual energy in his dantian was becoming increasingly abundant, and he was far from encountering any bottlenecks.

The progress of Iron Ox Kung Fu is also increasing, but much slower.

[Iron Ox Kung Fu: Beginner (132/200)]

I've almost mastered the third move, and I'm just starting to explore the fourth move, "Iron Ox Galloping."

This move requires extremely high lower body strength. My legs tremble with soreness after each practice session, and even with the help of internal organ strengthening techniques, I can't endure practicing for too long.

Ordinary martial arts techniques ultimately rely on repeated physical training; there are no shortcuts or tricks to them.

As for elixirs and ordinary cultivation techniques, Li Yuan kept an eye on them during his patrol breaks.

First-grade low-level pills are either out of stock or have increased in price, just like what Li Yuan saw recently.

One vendor had a few Qi-Nourishing Pills on display, but he asked for two and a half yuan each, which was a bit more expensive than last month.

"Are herbal medicine prices still rising?" Li Yuan asked casually.

The vendor sighed and gestured, saying, "There are fewer and fewer places to gather herbs in the mountains. A few days ago, two rogue cultivators who were gathering herbs encountered monsters on the outskirts. One died and the other was injured. Who would dare to venture deeper into the mountains?"

Li Yuan didn't ask any more questions, nodded, and left.

Reduced herb production has led to higher prices for medicinal pills, and the situation is not expected to improve in the short term.

There was not much to gain from the mundane cultivation methods either.

In the past few days, Li Yuan has come across many cultivation manuals on the stalls during his patrols. He has flipped through seven or eight different mortal cultivation manuals, but his system panel has not lit up even once.

Either the equipment requirements are not met, or it cannot be equipped at all.

The only time there was a reaction was when I saw a Jade Statue Technique manual in the hands of a rogue cultivator.

However, it's just a grayed-out entry, and it costs five spirit stones, which Li Yuan can't afford for the time being.

No rush. The Iron Ox Skill is still a long way from perfection. We can find it slowly.