Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

In the morning, Li Yuan slowly finished his practice, only to learn that someone had come to visit him.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I'm bothering you again." After entering, Wang Ting'an sat down opposite him and got straight to the point, "This time I'd like to ask you to help me look at a mine."

"What mineral vein?"

"It's fire-attribute, and it was taken from the Li family's liquidation of assets."

Wang Ting'an said, "The location is in the southwest of the market, on the outer edge of the Ghost Mist Forest. The Li family operated there for many years, producing some fire-type spirit ore, but later stopped production for some unknown reason. After we took over, we found that there were still formations originally set up by the Li family inside, and we don't know the current state of the mine."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Three things," Wang Ting'an said, holding up three fingers. "Confirm the safety and production potential of the mineral vein, break the old formation set up by the Li family, and set up a new formation to cultivate the mineral vein."

"And the payment?"

"The setup and evaluation fees will be charged at market prices, plus a batch of rare array materials." Wang Ting'an took out a list from his storage bag and handed it over. "Is this enough?"

Li Yuan took the list and glanced at it.

Several types of stable-patterned spirit sand and diversion stones were of good quality, and some of them were items he had not been able to obtain in the market before.

"Okay. When are we going?"

"First thing tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Li Yuan followed Wang Ting'an out of the market and traveled southwest for about half an hour.

The entrance to the mine is hidden on the shady side of a low hill. The entrance is small and mostly covered by weeds and gravel.

Wang Ting'an led two Wang family cultivators to guard the perimeter, while Li Yuan entered the mine tunnel alone.

The mine tunnel was not deep; after walking about 100 feet, we reached the bottom.

A medium-sized natural cavity, with obvious traces of fire-elemental ore mining visible on the cave walls. The old ore vein extends underground from the bottom of the cavity, and faint fluctuations of fire-elemental energy still remain on the surface of the vein.

Li Yuan first scanned the entire cavity with his divine sense.

The walls of the cavity were safe and there were no signs of any dangerous creatures. The formation originally set up by the Li family was located in the lower center of the cavity. It was a fire-gathering formation, not particularly complex in structure, but it had fallen into disrepair over the years, and several of its nodes had become loose.

The formation itself has no traps; it is just an ordinary nurturing formation used to accelerate the condensation of fire-type spirit ore.

There are no security issues.

Li Yuan then turned his attention to the ore vein itself.

Squat down and place your palms on the surface of the mineral vein.

Fire-type spiritual energy seeped from the vein into his palm, its temperature low and intensity relatively weak. The quality of this vein was below average, with limited production potential.

However, for the Wang family, even a medium-to-low-grade fire-attribute ore vein is still an asset. Fire-attribute spirit ore has a stable demand in the market, and once the cultivation is restored and production is restored, it will provide them with a monthly income.

Just as Li Yuan stood up and was about to walk out, the panel popped up.

[Special item detected]

[Item Attribute Level: Green]

[Note: Items not belonging to the user cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

Li Yuan paused slightly.

This mine itself has an attribute that allows it to be equipped in the special equipment slot.

Just like its own ore.

Li Yuan did not linger there. After withdrawing his senses, he continued walking out.

As they emerged from the mine tunnel, Wang Ting'an came to greet them.

"How is it?"

"The mine is safe, with no traps. Its production potential is below average, but production can be restored after re-establishing the formation. The Li family's old formation is not difficult to dismantle, and setting up a new one is not troublesome either."

After saying all this, Li Yuan paused for a moment.

"There's one more thing."

Wang Ting'an, look over here.

"The location of this mine is very close to one of my mines near the market, deep underground," Li Yuan said. "The two mines are separated only by a crack in the rock layer. I have a vein-guiding technique; if we can open it up, we can connect them into one."

Wang Ting'an's brows twitched slightly.

"Together as one?"

"Yes. My vein is of the malevolent energy attribute, while yours is of the fire attribute. Once the two are connected, the fire-type spiritual energy and the malevolent energy will permeate each other at the intersection, potentially producing a spiritual ore that combines fire and malevolent energy."

"Fire Fiend Stone?" Wang Ting'an had obviously heard of this concept. "This kind of ore is extremely rare; I've only ever seen it in ancient texts."

"It's possible to produce it, but it's uncertain."

Li Yuan said, "When the two types of mineral veins are connected, they affect each other. In a good case, they produce Fire Fiend Stones. In a bad case, both mineral veins are disturbed, and the original output actually decreases."

Wang Ting'an pondered for a moment.

"I need to think about it."

"No rush," Li Yuan nodded. "We can work on the old and new formations first, and we can talk about connecting them later when you've thought it through."

Li Yuan's self-equipped Sha Meridian allows him to control the Sha Meridian. With the addition of the Guiding Meridian Technique, he can autonomously control the fusion of the two meridians without any problems. Only his own Sha Meridian will not have any issues.

However, this is not something that can be explained to the Wang family.

After returning from the mine, Li Yuan did not go directly back to the market town, but instead went to Yunyang Market Town.

The deployment of auxiliary formations in the Core Formation area is still ongoing. Some formation materials are no longer available in the Misty Forest Market and need to be restocked in the Cloud Sun Market.

Yunyang Market is even more lively than when I last visited.

The streets were bustling with people, and long queues formed in front of shops. With the influx of independent cultivators from Yunzhou, Yunyang Market, as the largest market in Liangzhou, received the largest flow of people.

Li Yuan first went to several material shops and bought all the necessary materials.

After finishing his shopping, he walked a few more steps in the market and soon noticed some different faces.

In an alley on the east side of the market, a large group of people had gathered, their auras ranging from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. These people were dressed similarly, and the storage bags hanging from their waists were also similar in style, making it clear at a glance that they belonged to the same family.

Li Yuan took a few steps closer and heard two rogue cultivators whispering to each other.

"I heard the Li family is going to hold an auction."

What's being auctioned?

"They're selling their own valuable possessions. Cultivation techniques, pill formulas, magical artifacts—everything. They say they're moving away, moving away from Liangzhou."

"Where to move to?"

"Who knows. Anyway, we can't stay in Liangzhou anymore. The sect cleared out all the properties, but they didn't move the people. Who would dare to keep them here?"

After listening for a few minutes, Li Yuan didn't approach them but instead went to the stalls set up by the Li family members.

The auction hadn't officially started yet, but the Li family had already set up several stalls in the market.

There were quite a few items on the stall.

Li Yuan scanned them one by one, his gaze finally settling on a scroll of animal hide.

Iron Wall Body Refinement Technique.

Li Yuan reached out, picked it up, and flipped through it.

It wasn't the first-tier Iron Wall Body Refining Technique that I had previously practiced, but rather its advanced version, the second-tier body refining technique. The technique's approach was consistent with the first-tier version, both focusing on strengthening the skin and bones, but it was at a higher level and its operation was more refined.

For Li Yuan, the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique was the starting point of his body refining journey, and he had already perfected the first-tier version. Now that he had obtained the second-tier advanced version, he could continue to advance on the existing foundation.

Li Yuan rummaged through the stall again and found two prescriptions for pills.

The refining methods for Tier 1 and Tier 2 Iron Wall Pills.

The Iron Wall Pill is a body-refining pill specifically used in conjunction with the Iron Wall Body Refining Technique. Li Yuan had refined the first-tier version before, and its effects were mediocre. He hadn't seen the second-tier version yet.

The vendor quoted a price for the three items together.

It's expensive, but worth it.

The Li family was in a hurry to sell, so the price was 20-30% lower than normal.

Li Yuan paid with spirit stones and put the items into his storage bag.

It was already evening when we returned to Wulin Market from Yunyang Market.

Li Yuan returned to the stone house, first reading through the second-stage Iron Wall Body Refining Technique, and then taking out the formula for the second-stage Iron Wall Pill.

The formula is similar to that of the first-tier Iron Wall Pill, but the main ingredients have been changed to higher-grade mineral powder and animal bone essence, and two more auxiliary ingredients have been added.

Li Yuan had just enough materials to refine one batch.

Start cooking.

The difficulty of refining the second-tier Iron Wall Pill is much higher than that of the first-tier pill. The mineral powder in the main ingredient will quickly clump together at high temperatures, and it must be melted layer by layer from the outside in with the pill fire. If the process is too fast, the outer layer will be charred while the inner layer remains raw.

Dividing my attention among three tasks proved incredibly helpful here. One task controlled the alchemical fire, another monitored the dissolving progress of the mineral powder, and yet another kept track of the fusion rhythm of the auxiliary ingredients. With these three tasks running in parallel, the entire alchemy process was much smoother than before.

After the mineral powder dissolved, the animal bone essence was added to the furnace. The two main ingredients fused together in the furnace, generating a heavy pressure that made the elixir viscous and dense, creating immense resistance when stirred.

Li Yuan stabilized the fire in the elixir and fed in the auxiliary medicines one by one in order.

In the final stage, the elixir began to shrink and solidify, and the heavy pressure was forced into the interior of the elixir.

With a muffled thud from the furnace, the elixir was complete.

Two dark gray pills fell into the jade plate. Their surface was rough and they felt extremely heavy in my fingers, like holding two iron beads.

The second-tier Iron Wall Pill is complete.

Li Yuan brought the pill within a three-foot radius, and a control panel popped up.

[Equipable item detected: Tier 2 Iron Wall Pill (Complete)]

[Upgrade Attribute Preview: Medicinal Refinement → Ironclad Body (Green)]

[Effect: Increases the effectiveness of digesting Body Refining Pills by 40%, and raises the maximum physical enhancement effect of Body Refining Pills by 20%]

……

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Completion of the second-tier body refining technique]

Green entries.

The condition for permanentization is that the cultivation of the second-tier body-refining technique reaches perfection.

His nameless body-refining technique has now reached its peak, but it is still some distance from perfection.

But my inventory is full.

Li Yuan glanced at the items hanging in the five equipment slots.

Li Yuan thought about it and decided not to make any replacements for the time being.

There is not much need to take body-refining pills now. After the second-order body-refining technique is perfected, then take the Iron Wall Pills that have been refined in one go.

Li Yuan put the second-tier Iron Wall Pill into his storage bag, then sat cross-legged on the futon.