Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan and Lao Sun continued walking east and found a shop with the Wang family sign on the third row.

The storefront was small, a stone house with a semi-open shed, and a wooden sign hanging at the entrance with the words "Wang Ji" written on it.

The wooden sign was newly carved, with neat lettering, and the paint was not yet completely dry.

There are already people in the shop.

A cultivator in his thirties sat behind the counter, with a square face, wearing the Wang family's gray cloth robe, and a token at his waist. He stood up when he saw Li Yuan and Old Sun enter.

"My surname is Wang, and my name is Wang Zheng. I've been here for almost two months."

He glanced at the things on Li Yuan and Lao Sun's backs.

"There are two empty rooms inside. Let's put our things away first."

The two put their luggage in the inner room.

The room was small, with a wooden bed, a table, and a chair. It was much simpler than the stone house in Futang, but better than living in a shack on the outskirts.

After settling in, Wang Zheng gave a brief account of the shop's situation.

"The independent cultivators here mainly go into the secret realms to hunt for items, while a few gather herbs and hunt demons in the outer mountains. Consumables sell the fastest; Fireball Talismans, Vajra Talismans, Rejuvenation Talismans, and Blood-Replenishing Talismans are inquired about every day. Pills are also in short supply, with Qi-Replenishing Pills and Yuan-Returning Pills being the most sought-after."

He pulled a thin booklet from under the counter.

"The talismans used to be transported from the market, which took more than a day to arrive, and we might even encounter monsters along the way, so the transportation costs were not low. Pills are even more troublesome; if the storage conditions are not good, the efficacy will be reduced."

He pushed the booklet onto the table.

"These are the shipping records for the past two weeks. Take a look and you'll have a general idea."

Li Yuan flipped through two pages. Fireball talismans sold the most, followed by Vajra talismans and Rejuvenation talismans. The prices were 30-40% higher than in Yunyang Market and 50-60% higher than in Qinghe Market.

Demand exceeds supply.

Wang Zheng then explained the rules for the outer perimeter. The Yuan Yang Sect's patrol team would circle the perimeter twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evening, and would arrest anyone caught fighting. Fighting was prohibited within the stone pillar area and also within a 30-mile radius of the stone pillar area, but beyond 30 miles, no one would interfere.

"You work in the shop during the day, and be careful at night. Although there are people from the Yuanyang Sect outside, it's best not to wander around at night."

Li Yuan nodded.

That afternoon, Li Yuan set up a table under the shop's awning, spread out talisman paper, and began making talismans.

Fireball Talisman, Vajra Talisman, Rejuvenation Talisman, and Blood-Replenishing Talisman—the four types are drawn in rotation. After mastering the talisman-making technique to a minor level, the success rate is extremely high. The failure rate of first-tier low-grade talismans is reduced to less than 10%. When drawing quickly, seven or eight talismans can be produced in an hour.

The shed had no cover, and any passing cultivator could easily see that someone inside was making talismans.

In less than half an hour, people started to gather around.

"How much is the Fireball Talisman?"

"Three spirit stones per sheet," Wang Zheng replied from behind the counter.

The rogue cultivator hesitated for a moment, then took out spirit stones and bought three tickets.

Over the next afternoon, seven or eight people came one after another. Twelve fireball talismans were sold, five vajra talismans were sold, and three rejuvenation talismans were sold.

Old Sun started work in the evening.

He placed the old iron alchemy furnace by the window in the inner room. He brought the furnace himself; it was a size larger than the one Li Yuan had bought before. There were no hidden inscriptions on the furnace walls; it was just an ordinary old furnace.

Li Yuan leaned closer and asked a couple of questions about how to make the Qi-replenishing pills.

"Let me see your Qi-replenishing pill formula." Old Sun wiped the furnace clean and reached out to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan rummaged through his storage bag and pulled out a leather booklet containing Qi-replenishing pills, handing it over.

Old Sun took the booklet, flipped through a couple of pages, muttering something under his breath, and then returned it to Li Yuan.

"It's simple. Qi-replenishing pills are the most basic first-grade low-level pills; I've refined quite a few before. If you want to learn, I can teach you."

He paused for a moment.

"I won't charge you; just consider it a favor."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

Old Sun tossed a handful of Qingling grass into the furnace, pouring spiritual energy into the bottom of the furnace while laughing as he spoke.

"I feel you have a bright future ahead of you, so take advantage of this opportunity to invest in your future."

He spoke casually, as if he were talking about something insignificant.

Li Yuan did not refuse.

"OK."

Old Sun began by demonstrating the complete refining process of the Qi-replenishing pill.

The base is Qingling grass, heated with spiritual energy until the grass leaves soften and release juice. Then, astragalus root is added. Astragalus root requires a higher temperature to extract its active ingredients, but a higher temperature will evaporate the medicinal liquid from the Qingling grass.

"The key is here." Old Sun tapped the furnace wall with his fingertip.

"The two herbs have different temperature requirements, so you need to heat them in sections in the furnace. The bottom section should be heated higher for the astragalus root, while the top section should be heated lower to preserve the medicinal properties of the angelica root."

"Spiritual energy control is fundamental. Your spiritual energy control precision should be sufficient, but the requirements for spiritual energy control in alchemy are quite different from those in talisman making. Talisman making is about precision, while alchemy is about coordination. You have to control the heat, the state of the medicinal materials, and the concentration of the medicinal liquid simultaneously. All three things are changing at the same time, and you have to keep an eye on them all."

Old Sun added the Atractylodes macrocephala slices and Poria cocos powder in sequence.

"Soul perception is crucial in this process. You can't see the state of the medicinal herbs inside the furnace; you can only probe them using your soul perception. But this furnace..."

He knocked on the side of the furnace.

"It's a bit lacking. The iron walls are thick, so the transmission of spiritual energy is not smooth, and the divine soul's perception is greatly diminished through the furnace walls. A good alchemy furnace allows the spiritual energy to pass through smoothly, so the divine soul can directly see through the furnace walls to see what's inside. Mine doesn't work like that; I can only rely on the feel of manipulating the spiritual energy to judge."

Li Yuan nodded.

The entries about alchemy insights were still on him. Every point Old Sun made felt vaguely familiar, as if he had seen similar descriptions somewhere before. The insights that had flooded in when equipping the alchemy furnace were now corroborating Old Sun's explanations.

After demonstrating once, Lao Sun handed the stove to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan placed the Qingling Grass into the furnace, and spiritual energy flowed from his palm into the bottom of the furnace.

The control of heat is more subtle than imagined. When making talismans, spiritual energy follows a fixed path, guided by spiritual patterns. When refining pills, spiritual energy is dispersed within the furnace, without a traceable path, relying entirely on intuition.

Old Sun watched from the side, occasionally offering a reminder.

"Keep the heat down a bit, the medicine is about to burn."

"Too much Poria cocos powder was added; reduce it by half a percent next time."

The medicine liquid congealed.

Li Yuan slowly withdrew his spiritual power, and the temperature inside the furnace gradually decreased.

Open the oven lid.

At the bottom of the furnace, there was a dark blue-green paste, irregularly shaped and pitted.

It was far from the smooth and rounded appearance that a medicinal pill should have, but the aroma of its medicinal properties was definitely present.

"It's barely acceptable." Old Sun leaned over to take a look. "The efficacy has been reduced, probably only about 60-70% of a normal Qi-tonifying pill. The heat control is still a bit lacking, and the amount of Poria powder needs to be adjusted."

He scooped the ointment out of the stove and rubbed it on his fingertips.

"But it's quite good that you succeeded on your first try. Your foundation in controlling spiritual power is indeed solid."

Li Yuan put the ointment into a porcelain bottle.

The panel popped up.

[First-Tier Alchemy - Beginner (8/100)]

Meanwhile, some of the effects of the alchemy insights were activated during the alchemy process.

The increase in spiritual strength has risen slightly from the base value.

Although it wasn't much, I could feel that the clarity of my spiritual perception was slightly better than before.

Li Yuan then refined two more batches.

The second batch was much better than the first; the ointment was nearly round and the surface was smoother. The third batch was even better; the ointment could now be called a pill, a dark blue round ball that held a faint medicinal fragrance in the palm of the hand.

Old Sun took it, smelled it, and nodded.

"This batch is ready to use. Its medicinal efficacy is about 80-90% of a normal Qi-tonifying pill. Just practice a few more times."

Li Yuan carefully collected the finished products from the three furnaces.

The process of refining the Qi-replenishing pill has been figured out. All that's left is to practice repeatedly and hone the precision of controlling the heat and the proportions of the medicinal ingredients.

The sky outside the window had already darkened. Lights from the outlying settlements shone sparsely, and occasionally, the low roars of beasts could be heard coming from the direction of the distant mountains.