Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Manager Wang straightened up, patted the mud off his hands, and walked deeper into the fenced area.

Li Yuan withdrew his hand from the spiritual herb and followed.

After taking a couple of steps, Li Yuan spoke.

"What's the name of that plant we just saw?"

Manager Wang didn't stop walking, nor did he turn his head.

Which one?

"The stems are emerald green, and the edges of the leaves have silvery down."

Manager Wang gave an "oh" and casually pointed behind him.

"Gu Yuan Cao (Strengthening Essence Herb). After taking it, it can consolidate Qi and blood, with a gentle and lasting effect, suitable for long-term conditioning. It is of first-grade superior quality and has been growing for more than two years."

He withdrew his hand and continued walking forward.

"This stuff isn't particularly rare; you can occasionally find it outside, but the quality varies greatly. This one in the herb garden was nurtured by spiritual veins, so its quality is about 10-20% better than what you can buy on the market."

Li Yuan nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

The two continued walking deeper into the enclosure along the path.

The higher the grade of the medicinal herbs inside the enclosure, the more advanced they become. Several medicinal plants near the corner are short in stature but have thick roots and stems, and the veins on their leaves are more than twice as fine as those on the outer edges.

Manager Wang stopped in front of a dark green medicinal herb that was half a person's height.

The stem of this medicinal herb was almost as thick as an arm, covered with a dark skin. It had not yet blossomed at the top; several thick leaves were tightly closed, and a swollen flower bud could be vaguely seen in the middle, bluish-gray in color, with a subtle flow of spiritual light on its surface.

"This is one of the main ingredients for the Foundation Establishment Pill." Manager Wang's tone became slightly more serious.

He lightly touched the flower bud with his finger.

Li Yuan glanced at the medicinal herb.

"How many plants of this quality are there in the herb garden?"

"Inside the entire enclosure, there are about ten first-grade high-quality herbs. There are only two that are close to second-grade, and this is one of them." Manager Wang gestured towards another herb next to him, "That one is almost ready too, but about ten days later than this one."

The two walked out of the fence and circled around the outside of the slope.

The outer herb garden was several grades lower than the one inside the fence, mostly containing low-grade and mid-grade first-level spiritual herbs.

As Li Yuan walked, he glanced at the herb gardens on both sides and noticed that there were several medicinal herbs in the gardens that Manager Wang did not even glance at when he passed by, let alone offer any introduction.

Those few spiritual herbs looked quite ordinary. Their stems were thin and weak, and their leaves were grayish-green, making them inconspicuous among the surrounding spiritual herbs.

However, there were several very faint spiritual patterns carved on the stone railing of the herb garden, their colors dull and barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

He didn't reach out to touch them, but glanced at the few spiritual herbs a few more times.

Manager Wang took a few steps, then, probably noticing Li Yuan's gaze, glanced back.

"Don't touch those plants."

His tone was casual, but he spoke with absolute certainty.

Manager Wang didn't elaborate on what those plants were, and continued walking forward without stopping.

After circling the outer perimeter, the two walked down the slope along the path beside the stone railing.

Li Yuan spoke up.

"They said that if we guarded the area for a certain period, we could choose one medicinal herb to take away. Can we choose it from inside the fence?"

Manager Wang stopped and turned around to look at him.

"Apart from those few that are close to the second tier, and a few rare ones, anything is fine."

He rubbed his chin.

"Is there something you urgently need?"

"I want that Qi-strengthening Grass."

Manager Wang raised an eyebrow.

"Gu Yuan Cao?"

He tilted his head and thought for a moment, his gaze sweeping over Li Yuan.

"What do you need the Qi-strengthening herb for? To consolidate your Qi and blood?"

"Um."

"That works too." Manager Wang put his hands in his sleeves, his tone almost as casual as if he were buying cabbage.

"A first-grade, superior quality Qi-strengthening herb would cost forty or fifty spirit stones outside. Let's say forty."

"If you wait until your turn ends to choose, that's a bonus. If you take it now, you'll have to pay the full price."

Li Yuan touched the storage bag.

I don't have many spirit stones left. I spent a lot of money on the Azure Cloud Talisman Brush and the Fiend-Detecting Spirit Plate, and with daily expenses, I only have about ten spirit stones left in my bag.

"So casual?"

"What's so unacceptable about it?" Manager Wang scoffed, gesturing with his chin towards the surroundings of the herb garden.

"These medicinal herbs look nice left in the ground, but who knows how long they can last? A while ago, the He family's Yuyuan flowers were stolen; the entire plant was uprooted, and years of hard work were wasted."

He patted the ritual implement at his waist.

"Rather than letting the Li family sneak over and wipe us out one day, we might as well sell us to you stationed here to earn some spirit stones and contribution points. At least we'll become real combat power."

Li Yuan nodded.

"I don't have enough spirit stones, but I have quite a few talismans on hand. Can that help?"

Manager Wang waved his hand.

"No need for that trouble. You're a member of the Talisman Hall, you've contributed to the Talisman Hall, haven't you?"

"have."

"I'll submit a report and have you offset it with your contribution points from the Talisman Hall."

Manager Wang reached out and made a gesture in the air, as if he were signing a document.

"You don't owe too much, do you?"

"no."

"That's fine then. But the process will take a few days; I'll give it to you once it's approved."

After finishing his sentence, Manager Wang turned around and continued downhill at a brisk pace.

That's settled.

Li Yuan followed behind, and the two walked to the stone house at the bottom of the slope.

Manager Wang pointed to the easternmost room.

"You'll stay in that room; the table is big enough for making talismans."

Li Yuan pushed open the door and went inside to take a look. The stone house wasn't large, but the table was spacious, and there was a wooden bed against the wall. The window faced the gentle slope of the herb garden. In the corner, there was trace of a miniature spirit-gathering array, and the concentration of spiritual energy was slightly higher than outside.

Li Yuan organized the items in his storage bag. He stacked the talisman-making materials on the corner of the table, placed the Azure Cloud Talisman Brush on the brush holder, and put the spirit ink and cinnabar within easy reach.

Spread out the talisman paper, dip it in ink, and begin to write.

Fireball talisman.

The Azure Cloud Talisman Brush felt solid in my hand, with almost no loss of spiritual energy transmission. The six spiritual patterns were formed in one go, the talisman core contracted, and its crimson luster deepened and became more restrained.

It became.

The second, the third, the fourth. Four finished products were produced in a row.

After finishing a batch of talismans, Li Yuan put down his brush, got up, and left the stone house.

Between the stone houses and wooden sheds at the foot of the slope, there was a small open space with a few stones forming a makeshift stove. Two people were squatting beside the open space, one whittling a stick, and the other leaning against a stone eating dry rations.

The one whittling the wooden stick was a cultivator surnamed Zhou, in his early thirties, with a dark complexion and at the fifth level of Qi Refining. The one leaning against the stone was a cultivator surnamed Feng, around forty years old, tall and thin, at the fourth level of Qi Refining, and chewing his dry rations very slowly.

Li Yuan sat down on a rock at the edge of the open space.

The cultivator surnamed Zhou looked up at him.

"Where are you drawing the talisman?"

"A batch was drawn."

"That's good. We're desperately short of talismans here." The cultivator surnamed Zhou trimmed the last bit of splinter off the wooden stick and placed it on the ground.

The cultivator surnamed Feng swallowed the mouthful of dry rations in his mouth and replied in a hoarse voice.

"It's not just a lack of talismans. We're lacking everything. The supply of pills stopped half a month ago. The little bit of stuff that alchemist on the hill makes is only enough for daily use, and it's not enough if someone is really injured."

Li Yuan didn't respond, waiting for them to continue.

The cultivator surnamed Feng brushed the crumbs of the dry rations off his hands, his voice lowered.

"These days, the Li family has been sending a group of people back to harass us from time to time, but they don't actually do anything. By the time we rushed out, they had already run away."

"It's not just people," the cultivator surnamed Zhou added. "Demonic beasts have also come twice. They were all low-grade first-tier creatures, not much of a threat, but low-level demonic beasts shouldn't be appearing near spiritual veins in the past."

The cultivator surnamed Feng let out a sigh of relief.

"I'm just afraid that the Li family cultivators might actually do it."

The two of them didn't sound nervous; rather, they sounded more like they were used to being tired.

Li Yuan took out a piece of monster meat from his storage bag and roasted it on the stove using a fire control technique.

The aroma of meat wafted through the air, and the cultivator surnamed Zhou smelled it but remained silent.

Li Yuan cut the knife into two pieces and gave them to the two men. After thanking him, the two men took the pieces and ate them.

After finishing his meal, Li Yuan returned to the stone house and continued making talismans.

Over the next few days, Li Yuan gradually adapted to the rhythm of guarding the medicinal garden.

During the day, he spends most of his time making talismans, and occasionally goes out to walk around the herb garden to check on the growth of the spiritual herbs. This was arranged by Steward Wang; since he was stationed here, he also needed to learn some basic skills as a spiritual farmer.

Steward Wang taught casually, saying whatever came to mind.

Passing by a medicinal herb garden, I bent down and plucked a spiritual herb, pointing to its roots and explaining which shape indicated sufficient absorption of spiritual energy and which indicated a need for replenishment of spiritual elixir. Passing another garden, I kneaded the soil and told Li Yuan that the hardened soil indicated uneven penetration of spiritual energy from the veins, and that I needed to loosen it with magic.

"The soil used to loosen the soil around the spirit herbs was a wood-based spell." Manager Wang squatted down beside the herb garden, pressing his palm down onto the surface of the soil.

A wisp of pale green spiritual energy seeped from the palm of his hand, seeping down into the cracks in the soil. The soil gradually softened under the penetration of the spiritual energy, and several curled-up fine roots slowly unfurled in the loosened soil.

"You don't need any powerful spells, just the basics are enough." Manager Wang withdrew his hand and patted the mud off his palm. "The wood-based spell that spirit farmers use for daily care is called the Nourishing Essence Technique, the most basic kind. It involves channeling a stream of wood-based spiritual energy into the soil to help the roots of the spirit herbs spread out and loosen the soil at the same time."

He rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a thin bamboo scroll, tossing it to Li Yuan.

"Going back to take a look is not difficult."

Li Yuan caught the bamboo slip and scanned it.

The Qi Cultivation Technique's energy circulation path is extremely simple. After converting the body's spiritual energy into wood-attribute energy, it is released from the palm and seeps into the soil or plant. The conversion efficiency is not high, but the requirements for the precision of spiritual energy are extremely low.

That evening, Li Yuan ran through the route on the bamboo slips several times in the stone house.

The spiritual energy was drawn from the dantian and traveled halfway along a special conversion path. Just like fire spells require converting spiritual energy into fire attribute, wood spells also require attribute conversion. However, the conversion path for wood attribute is shorter and simpler than that for fire attribute; it was completed after three runs.

Li Yuan turned his palm down, and a wisp of pale green spiritual energy seeped out from between his fingers.

The spiritual energy landed on the tabletop, and a very faint green hue appeared on the wooden surface of the table, which quickly dissipated.

The effect was extremely weak, but it was indeed wood-attribute spiritual power.

[Spell: Nourishing Essence Technique - Beginner (0/200)]

I've gotten the hang of it.

Li Yuan closed the bamboo slip and put it into his storage bag.

With wood-based magic now available, we're one step closer to mastering the Five Elements magic.

Li Yuan cleaned the table, sat cross-legged on the bed, and began to circulate the Spirit Guiding Technique.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the herb garden was indeed higher than anywhere else I had been before. The flow of spiritual energy entering my body was almost half again as high as in the market town. After the pure spiritual energy removed impurities, the clean spiritual energy condensed and sank into my dantian.

The concentration of spiritual energy in the herb garden was indeed higher than anywhere else I had been before. The flow of spiritual energy entering my body was almost half again as high as in the market town. After the pure spiritual energy removed impurities, the clean spiritual energy condensed and sank into my dantian.

After completing a full cycle, the spiritual energy that had settled in my dantian was significantly more than when I was cultivating in the market.

His cultivation level is steadily advancing.

The night outside the window was pitch black, and the azure light screen of the herb garden array flowed slowly in the distance. Occasionally, a night breeze would blow by, carrying the bitter scent of spiritual herbs.