Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chen Yi did not give prior notice of his visit to Wulinfang Market.

Li Yuan was practicing the Iron Body Refining Technique in the stone house when the warning array's sensor flashed, and a familiar aura approached from the direction of the north gate of the market.

After leaving the stone house, Chen Yi had already reached the main street. Behind him were two Yuan Yang Sect disciples at the late stage of Qi Refining, each carrying a stack of bamboo slips.

"Fellow Daoist Li, let's talk about serious business this time," Chen Yi said, getting straight to the point.

The two sat down on the second floor of the stone building of the management office, and the disciple spread the bamboo slips on the table.

The bamboo slips contained a map of the entire Ghost Mist Forest, marking the known locations of mineral veins, areas where monsters were active, and the coverage area of ​​the Mist Forest Market.

"The sect plans to use the Misty Forest Market as a forward base to further expand its influence into the depths of the Ghost Mist Forest," Chen Yi said, pointing to a large blank area south of the market on the map. "This area has remained largely undeveloped until now, and there may be undiscovered mineral veins, spiritual herb producing areas, and high-level monster hunting grounds deep within. The sect hopes to systematically explore and develop this area."

He listed several issues one by one.

The exploration and mining rights allocation for new mineral veins. Deep within the Ghost Mist Forest, there may be veins of spirit iron ore, evil ore, or even rarer minerals. The allocation of mining rights for discovered veins needs to be agreed upon in advance.

The delineation of hunting grounds for monsters in the depths. Currently, the hunting areas for independent cultivators are concentrated on the outer and middle layers of the Ghost Mist Forest. The depths contain more second-tier monsters, but they are also more dangerous. The sect plans to designate several hunting grounds and organize Foundation Establishment cultivators to regularly hunt them down.

Location selection for a new outpost. At least one or two outposts are needed deep within the area for exploration teams to rest and resupply.

Construction of a defensive array system for the expanded area. The coordinated coverage of the Gathering Qi Array, the Defense Array, and the Early Warning Array needs to extend to outposts deep within the region.

"How will the distribution of profits be calculated?" Li Yuan asked directly.

"This is the main point we need to discuss." Chen Yi turned to the next page of the bamboo slip.

"The sect will provide manpower and some materials to be responsible for reconnaissance and clearing out. However, Fog Forest Market is an outpost base, and all operations must start from here. Logistics and supplies also depend on the market."

"The sect's intention is that the sect will take 60% of the mining rights for any new mineral veins discovered, while the market will take 40%. The monster materials from the hunting grounds will be distributed among the participants, but the market will collect the management fees for the hunting grounds. The sect will bear all the construction costs for the outposts, but the daily maintenance costs after completion will be deducted from the market's profits."

Li Yuan did not agree immediately.

"The market must own 50% of the mining rights for new veins," he said.

"I will participate in the exploration work; I know the terrain deep in the Ghost Mist Forest better than the sect members. In addition, I want priority mining rights for any evil ore veins discovered within the expansion area."

Chen Yi pondered for a few moments.

"A 50/50 split is negotiable. Priority mining rights for the Sha ore are also fine, since the sect doesn't have a high demand for it anyway. But the management fee for the hunting grounds needs to be set at a clear percentage; it can't be increased arbitrarily."

The two haggled over the details for a while before finally reaching a preliminary agreement.

The mining rights for new ore veins will be split 50/50. Li Yuan has priority mining rights for the Sha ore veins. The hunting ground management fee will be 10% of the total harvest. The sect will bear the full cost of the outpost's construction, and the daily maintenance costs will be split 50/50.

Specific details will be confirmed in the form of a contract.

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After discussing the expansion plan, Li Yuan brought up another matter.

How do I improve the grade of the Sha ore vein?

Chen Yi glanced at him. "Your Sha Mine?"

"The grade is average, and the quality of the resulting ore is not high. Is there any way to improve it?"

Chen Yi thought for a moment.

"There are two methods. One is to introduce a higher-level source of malevolent energy and infuse the ore vein with it, which can gradually improve the grade of the ore. However, high-level malevolent energy is hard to find; it requires at least the inner core of a second-tier or higher malevolent beast or a malevolent energy crystal of equivalent quality."

He paused for a moment.

"Another method is to cultivate it using array formations. Cultivation arrays are set up at key nodes of the ore vein to guide the circulation of underground evil energy, accelerating the condensation and quality improvement of the ore. This method is slow, but it does not require an additional source of high-level evil energy; it can slowly improve the ore through the vein's own circulation. The disadvantage is that the cycle is very long, possibly taking decades."

Li Yuan wrote down both methods.

One of the conditions for making the special equipment from the Fiend Vein permanent is to cultivate the Fiend Vein to the point where it can produce mid-grade Fiend Stones. Although the cultivation of the formation is slow, it does not rely on external resources, and the goal can be achieved with long-term persistence.

After Chen Yi left with his two disciples, Li Yuan returned to the stone house to continue his cultivation.

The Iron Body Refining Technique is the current focus.

Even after achieving some initial success, the pace of progress remained quite fast.

With the combined benefits of the Sha Meridian, Sha Yuan Unification, Bone Marrow Tempering, and Dual Cultivation of Spirit and Blood, the progress of the Golden Iron Body Refining Technique far exceeded that of ordinary techniques. His bones and skin underwent visible strengthening almost every single day.

One evening, when the final cycle of the Iron Body Refining Technique was completed, the spiritual energy circulation within the bones and skin formed a complete self-circulation.

Similar to the feeling when the Thick Earth True Skill is perfected, the operation of the skill no longer requires active guidance and becomes part of the body's instinct.

A prompt appears on the panel.

[Cultivation Technique: Iron Body Refining Technique - Perfected (0/0)]

In the moment of perfection, the changes in the body are very obvious.

Li Yuan stood up and clenched his fist. His bones had reached an extremely high level of hardness under the long-term dual tempering of spiritual power and baleful energy. When he clenched his fist, a slight cracking sound came from between his knuckles. It wasn't that his bones couldn't withstand the pressure, but rather that the spiritual energy layer on the surface of his bones was rubbing against each other.

The resilience of his skin surface also increased significantly. Li Yuan took out the first-grade high-quality magic sword he had previously purchased from his storage bag.

Infused with spiritual energy, the sword glowed faintly. I forcefully slashed it across my forearm. The sword grazed my skin, leaving only a faint white mark, without even breaking the skin.

The Iron Wall Body Refining Technique perfectly enhances muscle density, while the Golden Iron Body Refining Technique perfectly enhances bone hardness and skin resilience.

The two body-refining techniques cover all parts of the body from different levels. In addition, the long-term tempering of the body with evil energy by the return of evil energy to oneness, along with the skin defense and spiritual membrane protection of the three elements, make the physical defense extremely rare among Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Li Yuan put away the magic sword and stretched his limbs.

The body is stable and robust, yet not clumsy. The coordination between muscles, bones, and skin has reached a high degree of unity under the support of two perfected body-refining techniques, resulting in extremely high efficiency in the transmission of power.