Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan went out to deliver goods to Ziyuan Trading Company.

As I walked north along the main street, I passed the entrance of the market management office and saw a new notice posted on the stone wall.

The notice was written on the standard yellow paper of the Yuanyang Sect, with neat handwriting and the red seal of the Yuanyang Sect's External Affairs Hall.

The content is not long.

The gist is that the Yuanyang Sect has decided to rebuild the market town for independent cultivators. They are now recruiting guards for the Yunyang Market Town and surrounding areas to be responsible for the daily maintenance, order management, and security patrols of the market town.

The guards were uniformly assigned by the Yuanyang Sect, and their salaries were settled in spirit stones. The market revenue was handed over to the Yuanyang Sect.

The registration location and requirements are indicated below the notice. Applicants must be at least at the mid-stage of Qi Refining and pass an approval process.

Three or four independent cultivators had gathered around the notice, reading it together.

After reading it, a tall, thin rogue cultivator scoffed, put his hands in his sleeves, and turned to speak to the person next to him.

"Rebuild the scattered cultivator market? Is there anyone left there?"

A short, stocky rogue cultivator next to him rubbed his chin.

"I heard from someone last time that the market town for scattered cultivators is almost in ruins. The Li family and the Wang family took away a large number of people from there one after the other, and the rest have almost all run away as well."

The tall, thin man shook his head. "Going to guard that kind of godforsaken place isn't worth any amount of spirit stones. It's in the middle of nowhere, and if you run into monsters or raiders, you'll be left helpless."

The short, stocky rogue cultivator chimed in, "That's right. When the monsters rampaged there before, even proper markets were almost washed away, let alone a rogue cultivator's settlement."

The two shook their heads and walked away, muttering to themselves.

Just as Li Yuan was about to continue walking forward, a voice came from behind him.

"That's not how you put it."

Li Yuan turned his head and glanced at it.

The speaker was a middle-aged man in his forties, wearing a slightly worn brown short robe, with two bulging cloth bags slung over his shoulders.

Itinerant merchants.

His cultivation level is not high, only at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

The traveling merchant switched the cloth bag from one shoulder to the other, glanced at the notice, and then grinned in Li Yuan's direction.

"There are still people in the market area for unaffiliated cultivators."

He put the cloth bag on the ground and patted the dust off his hands.

"I just went there last month. It's definitely not as lively as before, but it's not deserted either."

He stretched out one hand and gestured.

"It's true that the Li family and the Wang family recruited a large number of cultivators from the scattered cultivator market one after the other. Most of those who left had some cultivation, and those at the mid-stage of Qi Refining or above were basically all selected."

"But there are still quite a few rogue cultivators left, some with low cultivation levels, some who are unwilling to sign contracts, and some who are simply too lazy to move. These people have been staying there all along."

He raised another finger.

"Furthermore, the Yuanyang Sect sent several disciples to maintain order. Although there weren't many, the Yuanyang Sect's banner was there. And after the Wang and Li families finished digging people out, the surrounding demonic beasts also quieted down."

He rubbed his nose.

"The number of demonic beasts has stopped increasing; instead, it has attracted many demon-hunting teams. These teams always manage to bring back something after a trip. With the arrival of these teams, they need to buy talismans and pills, which has boosted business at the independent cultivator market."

He bent down and hoisted the cloth bag back onto his shoulder.

"It's barely stabilized. But it's nowhere near what it used to be; now it's just a small market with a few dozen people."

After speaking, the traveling merchant smiled at Li Yuan, then carried his cloth bag and walked south along the main street.

Li Yuan watched the traveling merchant's back disappear into the distance, then turned around and continued walking towards the Ziyuan Trading Company.

The reconstruction of the scattered repairmen's market has little to do with me. That place is too far from Yunyang Market, and it's not worth it to guard it.

However, once the market for independent cultivators stabilizes, it will provide another option if one needs to travel there to purchase materials or sell talismans in the future.

Upon arriving at Ziyuan Trading Company, they handed the talisman to Manager Han, received the spirit stones, and returned to their courtyard.

I continued making talismans in the afternoon and practiced cultivation at night.

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

The spiritual energy surged into the body, and the pure spiritual power removed impurities, condensing and sinking into the dantian.

The Spirit Gathering Pill's spiritual energy condensation increases cultivation speed by 50%, while the Breakthrough Pill's spiritual power refinement increases it by another 20%. The courtyard is close to a branch of the spiritual vein, where the concentration of spiritual energy is abundant, ensuring a solid accumulation of energy each cycle.

When the third cycle was over, Li Yuan sensed a change.

The spiritual energy in his dantian stopped sinking inward.

It wasn't that my spiritual energy was insufficient; it was that my dantian was full. The spiritual energy filled every corner, and any more would overflow. The pressure on the walls of my dantian had reached its limit, the spiritual energy churned within, and a dull, throbbing pain spread from my abdomen to my limbs.

The bottleneck of the eighth level of Qi Refining.

It came faster than expected.

The combination of several enhancements—including the Spirit Gathering Pill, the Breakthrough Pill, pure spiritual power, refined spiritual power, and concentrated spiritual essence—along with the fact that they hadn't encountered any bottlenecks along the way, further boosted their abilities.

His cultivation progressed at a speed far exceeding that of ordinary people.

It didn't take long for him to go from the eighth level of Qi Refining to hitting the bottleneck.

Li Yuan did not hesitate.

The Spirit Guiding Technique was activated at full power.

The density of spiritual energy in the dantian suddenly increased under the influence of the cultivation technique.

The permanent inscriptions condensed from spiritual energy exerted their power simultaneously, further compressing the already saturated spiritual energy. The pressure on the walls of the dantian increased dramatically.

Before the Spirit Guiding Technique had reached its limit, he heard a silent, crisp sound, and the bottleneck was successfully broken.

Spiritual energy poured down from the crack like a flood breaking through a dam. The new dantian space was larger than the original, and the spiritual energy quickly spread out after surging in.

At the same time, all the meridians in his body expanded under the impact of spiritual energy. The bearing capacity of the meridian walls increased again, and the speed of spiritual energy flow was more than 30% faster than before the breakthrough.

The meridian nodes of the ninth level of the Spirit Guiding Technique were fully activated in the surge of spiritual energy during the breakthrough.

Li Yuan slowly finished his practice and exhaled a breath of stale air.

Nine layers of Qi refinement.

The peak of the Qi Refining stage.

Above that is Foundation Building.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, raised his hand to clench his fist, and then relaxed it.

The change is greater than when going from the seventh to the eighth floor.

The total amount of spiritual energy has increased by 50%. The capacity of the dantian expanded significantly during the breakthrough, and with the permanent attributes of spiritual essence expansion and spiritual energy condensation, the total amount of spiritual energy that the dantian can now hold is almost twice that of when it was at the eighth level of Qi Refining.

The capacity of the meridians has also increased. The speed at which spiritual energy circulates through the body is 30% faster than when it was at the eighth level, and it flows smoothly to any point.

The most obvious increase is in the power of the spell. Li Yuan raised his hand and condensed a fireball, but did not release it.

The fireball spun in his palm, larger than when it was at level eight, with a higher density of spiritual energy. Its color changed from crimson to a deep red with orange undertones. Heat spread from his palm, causing the edges of the talismans on the table to curl slightly.

He extinguished the fireball.

The fireball spell at level nine of Qi Refining, combined with the permanent attributes of Flame Marrow Body Condensation and Rapid Fire Technique, is more than 30% stronger than when it was at level eight of Qi Refining.

The soul also underwent changes. The shockwave of spiritual energy during the breakthrough affected the soul, thickening its outer walls by another layer.

With the addition of the Soul-Illuminating Mirror, insights from alchemy, and the tempering of the divine soul, the clarity and range of perception have been further expanded.

With a thought, Li Yuan adjusted the degree to which his aura was concealed.

The aura of a ninth-level Qi Refining cultivator was suppressed. The suppression range was 30%, outwardly manifesting at approximately the level of a sixth or seventh-level Qi Refining cultivator. Simultaneously, the permanent aura concealment skill activated, smoothing out the suppressed aura even further.

From the outside, he still appears to be a rogue cultivator in the mid-to-late stages of Qi Refining.

With a thought, he dispelled the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique. He then retrieved the Soul Nourishing Pill from his storage bag.

The condition for making the Soul Nourishing Pill permanent is to reach the ninth level of Qi Refining, which Li Yuan has now met.

The panel then popped up.

The conditions for making Soul Power Supply (White) permanent have been met.

Is it permanent?

Yes.

[Permanentization successful]

[Soul Power Supply (White) has become a permanent attribute]

[Equipment consumed]