Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After returning to the market from the Sha Mine, Li Yuan sat cross-legged in the stone house and opened the panel to check the status of the special equipment slot.

The evil vein was operating stably, and the fluctuations of the entire evil energy circulation system were clearly reflected in perception. The location of every piece of evil ore deep within the vein was crystal clear, as if a vein extending hundreds of feet into one's own body had appeared.

At the bottom of the panel, next to the hexagonal slot for special equipment, a line of small gray text appeared.

[Next Special Equipment Slot Unlock Condition: Permanently acquire one purple-quality affix (0/1)]

Purple entry.

The highest quality I've encountered so far is blue; I've never even seen a purple entry.

Li Yuan noted down the condition and decided to put it aside for the time being. The matter of the purple entry couldn't be rushed; he'd deal with it when it came along.

In the following days, the market officially began its operation.

The steward from the Li family, arranged by Li Ze'an, arrived first.

A middle-aged cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining arrived at the market with three followers. He rented three adjacent shops on the southern section of the main street and opened them to customers that afternoon, displaying the Li family sign.

Two shops sold spirit herbs, while the other specialized in materials from demonic beasts. From the most common Qi-gathering herbs to top-grade first-tier spirit medicines, from animal hides and bones to beast cores and venom glands, the shelves were bulging. The prices were half a percent lower than those in Yunyang Market, but the quality was noticeably better.

The Li family operates on a volume-driven business, targeting independent cultivators who frequent the Lingxi Valley and Ghost Mist Forest. Previously, these individuals had to travel back to Yunyang Market to trade their demon-hunting and herb-gathering activities; now, with shops right at their doorstep, it's far more convenient. On the first day of business for the three shops, numerous independent cultivators came in to inquire about prices.

Two days later, Qin Ruoshuang's Ziyuan Trading Company also opened a branch.

The shop was located on the northern section of the main street, and was run by a female cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining, along with a shop assistant. They mainly sold pills and talismans, and also sold some daily-use spiritual artifacts.

Ziyuan Trading Company was quite famous in the Yunyangfang area, and its branch attracted a large number of people on the very first day it opened.

Li Yuan also opened his own shop.

Located in the middle of the main street, next to the square. The shop is small, just one store, specializing in selling homemade talismans and elixirs.

The price is 10% lower than that of Yunyangfang Market.

The talismans are of superior quality within the first tier, and the quality of the pills is equally consistent. With perfect first-tier talisman-making skills and proficient alchemy, the products will sell well.

The shop hired a Qi Refining cultivator who lived in the market to handle daily sales, while Li Yuan was only responsible for supplying goods and did not sit in the shop.

After the shops opened one after another, the appearance of the market was completely different from the previous gathering place of scattered cultivators.

Li Yuan, in his capacity as the head of the neighborhood, took a walk around the neighborhood to check on the operation of each department.

Two patrolling monks were collecting stall fees along the main street when they passed a stall where a dispute was taking place. They exchanged only a few words, and the two sides immediately calmed down.

In the guard posts at the four corners of the market, the guards did not move, but the sensing jade in their hands kept glowing faintly.

Inside the two-story stone building at the end of the main street, account books, jade slips, and rental contracts were piled up on half a table. The manager of the management office didn't even look up, clearly too busy to keep his feet on the ground.

In addition to patrol, guard, and management offices, the Fangshi (坊市) has an extra special staff compared to Qinghe Fangshi.

The formation maintenance team is under the overall coordination of the management office.

Several Qi Refining cultivators skilled in array formations were specifically responsible for replacing the array foundation stones and checking the operation of the linked array. The twenty-five array foundation stones of the five-layered Gathering Qi Array were rotated every three to five days. The replaced Qi Gathering Array foundation stones were then sent to Li Yuan's stone house, where he used Qi Yuan Guiyi to absorb the Qi within them.

However, with the special equipment for the evil veins, the evil energy around the mine can now circulate on its own along the circulation system, no longer seeping out disorderly as before. As a result, the concentration of evil energy south of the market has decreased further, and the pressure on the evil energy gathering array has been greatly reduced.

In the long run, the frequency of changing the Gathering Sha Formation can be gradually reduced.

After inspecting all departments, Li Yuan was generally satisfied with the overall operation. Staffing was adequate, responsibilities were clearly defined, and coordination between departments was largely problem-free.

From the west side of the market came the sounds of voices and the clanging of tools.

Li Yuan walked over and took a look.

The people Qin Ruoshuang sent have arrived. A dozen or so rogue cultivators are busy on an open space in the northwest corner of the market, measuring the terrain, clearing weeds, and marking the boundaries of the spirit fields.

A female cultivator at the late stage of Qi Refining was directing from the side, holding a roll of blueprints in her hand, and occasionally talking in hushed tones with a formation cultivator beside her.

Qin Ruoshuang helped choose a site for cultivating the spirit fields in an area around the market where the concentration of malevolent energy was low, mainly concentrated in the west and north. These two directions were the furthest from the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest, and were covered by multiple layers of malevolent energy gathering arrays, so the residual malevolent energy had been reduced to a very low level.

But very low does not mean non-existent.

The cultivation of spiritual herbs is extremely sensitive to malevolent energy; even a trace amount of residual malevolent energy can affect the quality and yield of the herbs.

Therefore, an additional layer of evil-gathering array needs to be laid in the spirit field area to completely remove the remaining evil energy, and at the same time, a protective array needs to be set up to protect the spirit field from the invasion of foreign demonic beasts.

The setup of the array was handled by Ziyuan Trading Company's own array cultivators, and the materials and labor were also provided by Ziyuan Trading Company. The cultivation of these spirit fields is an ongoing project that cannot be completed in one or two months.

Li Yuan watched for a while, then turned and walked back to the main street without interfering further.

In the evening, the manager from the management office came over.

"Master Li, there's something I'd like to discuss with you."

The manager was a middle-aged cultivator in his forties, meticulous in his work and direct in his speech. "The sect needs to register the market's official name in the documents. With a flick of the finger, I instantly traveled to the exciting world described in Chapter 240, 'The Situation of the Misty Forest Market.' This will facilitate subsequent official correspondence and external publicity. Right now, it's been called 'New Ghost Misty Forest Market,' which isn't very formal."

Li Yuan thought about it.

"Let's call it Fog Forest Market."

The steward nodded and wrote the name on the jade slip.

After watching the steward leave, Li Yuan continued his cultivation.

After a month of operation, the management office delivered the first profit report to Li Yuan.

The total income includes stall fees, shop rent, and temporary accommodation fees for roadside repairs. After deducting staff salaries, array foundation stone consumption, and daily maintenance expenses, Li Yuan's 70% share was less than 100 spirit stones.

The amount wasn't large, but the market had only just opened. The fact that it could already break even showed that this place had potential.

As the number of merchants and foot traffic increases, revenue will naturally rise further.

Li Yuan put away the spirit stones and began to deal with another matter.

Several shops in prime locations on the main street of the market are still vacant, facing the square and attracting the most foot traffic.

They had been left untouched until now, but with the market operating smoothly, it's time to realize the value of these shops.

Li Yuan released a message through the management office, offering the permanent operating rights of five shops for sale at 800 spirit stones each.

The so-called perpetual operating right is the right to occupy and transfer the shop indefinitely. As long as the business is operated according to the rules and the rent is paid on time, the market cannot arbitrarily take it back. The monthly rent is a separate expense for daily maintenance, patrols, and array costs; the two are not mutually exclusive.

The day after the news was released, people came to inquire about the price.

A rogue cultivator who ran a business repairing magical artifacts immediately bid for a room and paid in spirit stones on the spot. The location of the Misty Forest Market is closer to Ghost Misty Forest and Spirit Rhinoceros Valley, and the magical artifacts of rogue cultivators returning from demon hunting are often heavily damaged, creating a high demand for repairs.

The other four shops were booked by the manager of a small faction, who said he planned to run a business selling pills and spiritual herbs.

Five shops brought in four thousand spirit stones in one go, with a stable monthly rental income to follow.

With the addition of Li Ze'an's ten shops and Qin Ruoshuang's two shops, nearly half of the shops on the main street of the market have already been leased. The remaining shops remain open for future tenants.

With a much larger surplus of spirit stones, Li Yuan flew to Yunyang Market to make purchases.

The goal this time is very clear.

Earth-based martial arts techniques.

Li Yuan had visited the martial arts shop in Yunyang Market a few times and had a general impression of the inventory on the shelves.

I landed outside the South Gate, walked into the city, and headed straight for a martial arts shop on the eastern section of the main street.

There weren't many earth-based cultivation techniques in the shop, so Li Yuan chose one called Thick Earth True Technique, a Qi Refining stage earth-based cultivation technique, priced at 120 spirit stones.

After carefully storing the jade slip, he also replenished his supplies of alchemy and talisman-making materials along the way before flying back to Misty Forest Market.

That afternoon, Li Yuan began practicing the Thick Earth True Skill in the stone house.

He infused his divine sense into the jade slip, fully digesting the cultivation technique's operational path and the method of guiding spiritual energy.

Following the guidance of the cultivation method, Li Yuan sent the first wisp of spiritual energy into the branch of the meridian.

It's very easy to get started.

A prompt appears on the panel.

【Technique: Thick Earth True Skill - Beginner (0/200)】

Li Yuan did not stop; he continued operating the machine.

The blessings from multiple attributes are gradually manifested during cultivation.

For him now, the threshold for a Qi Refining stage technique is no longer high, and his proficiency is increasing almost visibly.

During cultivation, a notification popped up on the panel.

The conditions for permanentization of the Gathering Essence and Condensing Meridians (White) have been met.

Is it permanent?

Gathering Qi and Condensing Meridians. The effect is to actively absorb spiritual energy within a ten-zhang radius, centered on oneself.

The condition for permanent status is to cultivate continuously for more than thirty-six hours within the formation you set up.

[Permanentization successful]

[Gathering Essence and Condensing Meridians (White) has become a permanent entry]

After achieving permanent Qi Gathering and Meridian Condensation, Li Yuan continued his cultivation.

In less than a month, he pushed the Thick Earth True Skill all the way to the Great Perfection.

【Technique: Thick Earth True Technique - Great Success (0/3200)】

A second notification then popped up on the panel.

The conditions for making Thick Earth Augmentation (White) permanent have been met.

[Mastering an earth-based cultivation technique (1/1)]

Is it permanent?

Thick Earth Enhancement. The white attribute on the Earth Transport Technique jade slip I bought in Yunyang Market has been stored in my storage bag without being equipped.

Li Yuan took out the Jade Slip of the Earth Transport Technique from his storage bag and equipped it.

The "Thick Earth Amplification (White)" attribute has become a permanent entry.

The jade slip turned into white light in his palm and entered his body.

Earth-based spells are increased in power by 30%. The Earth Manipulation Technique, Earth Shield Technique, and Earth Escape Technique—three earth-based spells—are all amplified simultaneously.

Earth-based spells are increased in power by 30%. The Earth Manipulation Technique, Earth Shield Technique, and Earth Escape Technique—three earth-based spells—are all amplified simultaneously.

Li Yuan raised his hand and conjured an earthen shield. The moment spiritual energy was poured in, the shield surface quickly changed from its original earthy yellow to a dark brown stone color, with tight, sharp edges, and was noticeably thicker than before.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and sensed the changes in his dantian.

Thick Earth True Skill is the eighth immortal cultivation method.

The bonus to spiritual power from spiritual expansion increases with the number of immortal cultivation techniques, and the bonus from eight techniques is already close to the 30% limit.