Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

That morning, Li Yuan organized all the talismans he had collected over the past few days.

Thirty-one fireball talismans, eight heart-locking talismans, five energy-gathering talismans, six rejuvenating talismans, and one stack each of cleansing talismans and evil-repelling talismans.

I didn't take it all; I took half and sold it for forty-three spirit stones at the same shop where I had sold talismans before.

After leaving the acquired shop, Li Yuan walked north along the main street.

Walking to the north-central part of the main street, several shops selling medicinal herbs lined the roadside. Li Yuan slowed his pace, his gaze sweeping over the price tags at the shop entrances.

The price of Qingling Grass has dropped again. Last month it cost three spirit stones a bundle, but now it can be bought for two and a half.

Li Yuan was about to turn into a herb shop to replenish some materials when he caught a glimpse of a shop across the street.

A monk was walking out of the shop.

He appeared to be around twenty-five or twenty-six years old, of medium to thin build, with a fair complexion, and wore an unremarkable grayish-brown short robe. He carried a cloth bag in his hand, the opening of which was tightly tied, and the bag was bulging with something inside.

The fourth level of Qi Refining.

His aura wasn't particularly high; in Yunyang Market, people with this level of cultivation were everywhere, so there wasn't much to pay attention to.

But Li Yuan took another look.

The shop's sign read "Wanbao Lingcai" (meaning "Ten Thousand Treasures of Spiritual Materials"), and it was one of the few shops on the main street that specialized in selling high-grade spiritual herbs and alchemy materials. Its prices were more than double those of ordinary spiritual herb shops, and most of its customers were late-stage Qi Refining cultivators or purchasing personnel from the Pill Hall.

A cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining emerged from the shop, carrying some items in his hands.

It's not impossible, but it's not very common.

Li Yuan did not follow, but instead went into the Wanbao Spiritual Materials Shop first.

The shop assistant behind the counter was arranging porcelain vases on the shelf. He glanced up when he saw someone come in.

"What would you like to see, fellow Daoist?"

"What did the person who just went out buy?"

The waiter paused for a moment, then smiled and waved his hand.

"It's not convenient to talk about that."

Li Yuan nodded and did not ask any further questions.

He stood in front of the counter for a while, his gaze sweeping over the various medicinal herbs and auxiliary materials displayed on the shelves.

He could see the label behind the barrier, which showed the name and price.

Crimson Grass, 20 spirit stones per stalk. Mysterious Spirit Sand, 15 spirit stones per portion. Soul-Condensing Dew, 30 spirit stones per bottle.

These are all auxiliary materials for Foundation Building Pills.

These are all the three things that Wang Lu mentioned before.

There are other medicinal materials, but they have already aroused some suspicion.

Li Yuan came out of the shop and glanced in the direction the gray-brown short-robed cultivator had left.

People were coming and going on the main street. The figure in the gray-brown short robe had already walked more than twenty feet and was heading south along the main street.

Li Yuan followed.

Instead of following closely behind, they kept a distance of about fifteen zhang (approximately 15 meters), blending into the crowd on the main street, maintaining the same direction and speed.

By concealing his aura, he suppressed his aura to around the fifth level of Qi Refining, making him blend into the crowd without standing out.

The person in front of him wasn't walking fast, but his direction was clear. He didn't look around or stop at roadside stalls or shops. He kept his hand tightly gripping the cloth bag he was carrying.

After walking south along the main street for about three hundred zhang, the man turned at an intersection and entered a side street.

Li Yuan followed to the intersection, slowed down, and glanced at the side street first.

The side street is short, with only a few shops and two or three houses on both sides. There are far fewer people on the street than on the main street, making it too conspicuous to walk on.

Li Yuan did not enter the side street, but stood by a stone pillar at the intersection, his gaze sweeping over the side.

The man walked to the end of the side street and stopped in front of a detached house.

The courtyard wall is not high, and a bronze plaque is nailed to the lintel.

Li Yuan recognized that house.

He Danshi's courtyard.

The monk in the gray-brown robe stood at the door for two breaths, then pushed the door open and went inside.

The door closed.

Li Yuan stood at the intersection for a while longer.

About fifteen minutes later, the man came out of Master He's courtyard. The cloth bag he was carrying was gone, his hands were empty, and he walked faster than when he came.

Instead of returning the way he came, he turned off at the other end of the side street and disappeared from sight.

Li Yuan turned his gaze away from the side street and walked back along the main street.

When Wang Lu returned to the inn, he was in the corridor.

The two entered Wang Lu's room and closed the door.

There are two things.

Li Yuan first recounted what he had heard about the Li family possibly seeking out Alchemist He to refine Foundation Establishment Pills. Wang Lu replied that he already knew.

Then Li Yuan recounted what he had just seen from the beginning.

A cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Refining came out of the Wanbao Spiritual Materials Shop, carrying his belongings, and walked along the main street to Alchemist He's courtyard. He stayed inside for a quarter of an hour before coming out empty-handed.

Wang Lu leaned against the wall and remained silent for a few moments after listening.

"What does it look like?"

Li Yuan described the man's facial features: 25 or 26 years old, of medium build and slightly thin, with a fair complexion, wearing a grayish-brown short robe.

Wang Lu took out a small notebook from his sleeve, flipped through it, and paused on a certain page.

"It matches the description given by the person who bought the auxiliary materials before."

He closed the notebook and put it back in his sleeve.

"I will intensify my investigation in the next few days."

He looked at Li Yuan, then took out another small token from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

It is made of bronze, smaller than the palm of your hand, with the character "贺" (He) engraved on the front and a smooth back.

"From now on, you can deliver the talismans yourself. With this, Senior He's people won't stop you."

Li Yuan picked up the token, looked at it, and put it into his storage bag.

"There's one more thing," Wang Lu said, putting his hands back into his sleeves, his tone unhurried.

"This mission comes with extra incentives. Continue your investigation; if you can ultimately help capture that Qi Refining Level 9 leader, breaking through to the next realm won't be impossible."

"You have a chance to break through to the seventh level of Qi Refining."

Li Yuan looked up and glanced at him.

Breakthrough Pill. A pill that assists in breaking through to a higher realm. Its value to Qi Refining stage cultivators is self-evident.

"Why is such importance attached to a cultivator who has undergone a tribulation?"

Wang Lu's gaze lingered on Li Yuan for a moment.

"My family can't swallow this."

His tone was flat, as if he were talking about something perfectly normal.

"The herb garden was stormed in and ransacked. Several rare medicinal herbs were uprooted, including two that are the main ingredients for Foundation Establishment Pills. This isn't just about losing a few spirit stones; it's about losing face."

He pulled his hand out of his sleeve and tapped it lightly twice on the table.

"Moreover, if those medicinal herbs are truly refined into Foundation Establishment Pills, the addition of a Foundation Establishment cultivator would be no small matter for the Wang family."

Li Yuan hummed in agreement and didn't ask any further questions.

The Wang family couldn't swallow this insult, which was one reason. The loss of the medicinal herbs might bolster their opponents' Foundation Establishment level combat power, which was another reason.

There are probably other reasons, but Wang Lu won't say, nor does he need to know.

The incentive from the Breakthrough Pill is enough.

After giving his instructions, Wang Lu left.

Li Yuan left the inn and walked back to his courtyard along the alley.

I closed the courtyard gate and went into the main house.

Several sheets of golden talisman paper were still spread on the table, leftovers from drawing the Divine Refining Talisman before leaving in the morning. Li Yuan moved them aside and spread out the blue-patterned paper again.

He picked up the talisman brush and dipped it in spiritual ink.

Golden Blade Talisman.

As the golden blade pattern began, spiritual energy surged out along a straight path. Compared to when the golden blade talisman was first drawn a few days ago, the deviation in the straight-line transmission had almost disappeared. The spiritual energy traveled in a straight line from start to finish, without any swaying in between.

The sharpening pattern followed. The cross-section of the spiritual energy line was precisely pressed into a flat blade shape at the end, with the amplitude and speed of the deformation being just right.

A cold, silvery-white luster rose from the surface of the talisman.

It became.

Then draw the second and third pictures.

Three finished products were produced in a row, and none of them were wasted.

Li Yuan put down the Golden Blade Talisman and replaced it with a Rejuvenation Talisman. He spread out the herbal talisman paper, and the wood-elemental spirit patterns unfolded stroke by stroke.

Then come the Qi Gathering Talisman, the Heart Locking Talisman, the Poison Removal Talisman, and the Breath Concentration Talisman.

Draw six different talismans in turn, three to five of each type, and then move on to the next type.

Switching between different types of talismans has a much greater impact on the overall proficiency of first-tier talisman crafting than specializing in one. The progress I've made in intensive talisman crafting in Yunyang Market these past few days, coupled with the addition of the new Golden Blade Talisman, has kept my overall proficiency level rising.

In the latter half of the night, Li Yuan spread out the last sheet of blue-patterned paper.

It's a fireball symbol.

The moment the six spiritual runes finished their convergence, Li Yuan's hand stopped.

There's no problem.

The entire process of drawing the talisman, from the beginning to the end, has a different feeling than before.

In the past, when drawing talismans, even a minor-level fireball talisman, there was always a very short transition between each rune. After finishing the previous rune, the wrist had to be adjusted very slightly, and the direction of the spiritual energy had to be aligned with the starting point of the next rune.

This switching is extremely short, so short that it's almost imperceptible under normal circumstances.

But it does exist.

This switch has now disappeared.

It's not that it's gotten shorter, it's that it's completely gone.

The connection between the six spiritual runes became different stages of the same continuous movement. The wrist rotated from the starting point of the first rune to the last rune being drawn into the core of the talisman, without any pause, adjustment, or realignment in between.

It's like going from writing six characters to writing one character.

The panel popped up.

[First-tier Rune Making Technique: Minor Success (0/1600)]

Li Yuan put down the talisman brush.

Xiao Cheng.

He picked up the fireball talisman he had just finished drawing and examined it. The arrangement of the spirit patterns was not visually different from his previous minor-level finished products, but the feel of it was different. The spiritual energy on the surface of the talisman was more evenly distributed, with no part being too thick or too thin.

Li Yuan folded the finished product and placed it on the corner of the table. He then took out the monster meat from his storage bag, roasted it, and ate it.

After finishing his meal, he sat cross-legged on the bed, took two Sha Yuan Pills, and began practicing the Iron Ox Technique.

Qi and blood, along with malevolent energy, alternately flush each other out between the internal organs.

The progress of the final stage continues to move forward.

Night had fallen over Yunyang Market outside the window. The courtyard wall blocked out most of the sounds from the alley, and the main room was so quiet that only Li Yuan's even breathing and the occasional very faint hum of his internal energy circulating could be heard.