Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The Li family auction was held in a stone building on the east side of Yunyangfang Market.

The stone building was specially rented by the Li family. It's three stories high, with private rooms and public seating on each floor. The Li family has the right to use the entire building, which is a venue specifically for auctions in Yunyang Market. Everything from the venue to the auctioneer is readily available; all they need to do is bring the items up.

When Li Yuan arrived, a large crowd had already gathered outside the stone building.

Most of them were there because of the Li family's wealth and resources. It's rare to see a cultivator family that has been operating in Liangzhou for decades, rushing to relocate after liquidation, and auctioning off its valuable assets.

Li Yuan sat down in a private room on the west side of the second floor.

The private room wasn't large, with just a table, a chair, and a window facing the auction stage. Once seated, one could see the entire stage without being too conspicuous.

The auction had not officially started yet, and the auctioneer on stage was making preparations.

Li Yuan glanced at the list of auction items.

The auction is divided into four main categories: cultivation techniques, elixirs, magical artifacts, and materials, with each category listing more than a dozen items. The cultivation techniques category includes several second-tier cultivation techniques, the magical artifacts category has two mid-grade magical artifacts of good quality, and the materials category has an even longer list.

The Li family certainly has a rich history.

Just as Li Yuan was looking through the list, the door to the next private room opened, and then a familiar voice came from inside.

"Fellow Daoist Li, we meet again."

Li Yuan turned his head to look.

The window of the next private room was open, and Ji Huaiyuan stood by the window, nodding to him.

His breathing was better than when we last met, and his complexion wasn't as sallow.

"Fellow Daoist Ji," Li Yuan returned the greeting.

Ji Huaiyuan didn't stay in his own private room, but went around to Li Yuan's private room and pushed open the door.

"I happen to have something I'd like to ask Fellow Daoist Li." Ji Huaiyuan sat down on the empty chair next to him and didn't beat around the bush, "Does Fellow Daoist have a large amount of malevolent energy to sell?"

"A malevolent aura?"

"Yes. It's not evil stone, it's evil energy itself," Ji Huaiyuan said. "I recently acquired a method for refining evil energy, which can be used to inject evil energy into the process of refining magical artifacts to improve their quality. However, this method requires a large amount of evil energy, and my own stock is far from enough."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"When did Fellow Daoist Ji begin researching malevolent energy?"

Ji Huaiyuan smiled.

"It was just a coincidence. After the fighting broke out in Yunzhou, a large number of cultivators fled to Liangzhou, and many of them arrived near my home first. My home is located in Liangzhou, the closest part to Yunzhou, so when the cultivators from Yunzhou flocked over, our area was the first stop."

"I just happened to buy the method for refining evil energy from a rogue cultivator in Yunzhou," Ji Huaiyuan said.

"That person used to learn weapon crafting in a small sect in Yunzhou. After the sect was destroyed by the Demonic Sect, he fled to Liangzhou, bringing with him many unorthodox techniques. This method of refining evil energy is one of them."

Li Yuan nodded, but did not answer immediately.

He had no shortage of malevolent energy. Sha Yuangui had been gathering malevolent energy day and night, and the malevolent energy cultivation array in the malevolent mine was also operating continuously. The amount of malevolent energy stored in his body had accumulated to a considerable level.

"I have quite a bit of pure malevolent energy," Li Yuan said. "But since Fellow Daoist Ji is engaged in weapon forging, why not just use malevolent stones?"

Ji Huaiyuan shook his head.

"The evil stones won't work. The quality of the evil stones is too uniform; they only contain pure evil energy and no other attributes. If you use them directly to refine a weapon, the evil energy injected will be incompatible with the weapon's own attributes. At best, the effect will be reduced; at worst, the weapon will be ruined."

"What if it's a mineral that's a mixture of malevolent energy and fire attributes?" Li Yuan asked.

Ji Huaiyuan was stunned for a moment.

"Fire Fiend Stone?"

"right."

"That would be even better." Ji Huaiyuan's tone was clearly interested. "The evil energy in the Fire Fiend Stone has already fused with the fire attribute spiritual power. If used to refine fire-type magic artifacts, its compatibility is far higher than that of pure evil stones. But such things are extremely hard to find. I have only seen records of them in ancient books, and I have never seen a single one in person."

Li Yuan didn't reply, he just nodded.

Fire-evil Stone.

The Wang family's fire-attribute mine and their own malevolent mine are separated only by a crack in the stone layer. If the crack is opened using the vein-guiding method, the two mines will be connected, and the fire-attribute spiritual energy and malevolent energy will permeate each other at the point of intersection, producing fire-malevolent stones.

I had mentioned this matter to Wang Ting'an before, and he said he needed to consider it.

Now that Ji Huaiyuan is a buyer, the sales channels for the Fire Fiend Stone have been opened.

Li Yuan kept this thought in mind but didn't tell Ji Huaiyuan about it on the spot.

The auction has officially begun.

The auctioneer stepped onto the stage, and the first item was displayed.

It was a first-tier water-based cultivation technique, of medium quality, with a low starting bid. Li Yuan wasn't interested and sat quietly watching.

The first dozen or so items were all first-tier items, a mix of cultivation techniques, pill formulas, and magical artifacts, and most of them sold for 10-20% less than the market price. The Li family was eager to sell, so they lowered the starting price, which naturally pleased the buyers.

Ji Huaiyuan did bid on two magical artifacts, both fire-based, and they weren't expensive.

When it came to the second round of auction items, the atmosphere in the room noticeably heated up.

The first item in the second tier of auction was a sword technique. Li Yuan glanced at the description on the list but did not raise his paddle.

The second item was a method for cultivating demonic beasts, which Li Yuan had no interest in, and the bidders were all cultivators from various factions.

When the third item came out, Li Yuan's gaze stopped.

A second-tier soul cultivation technique.

The auctioneer held up the jade slip to display it and briefly introduced the method and effects of the technique.

"Concentrating Spirit and Guiding Soul Technique, a second-tier soul cultivation method, primarily focuses on soul condensation and divine sense control. After cultivation, it can significantly enhance the strength of the soul and the precision of divine sense, providing auxiliary effects for skills requiring mental strength, such as alchemy, array formation, and talisman creation. Starting bid: 300 spirit stones."

Li Yuan looked at the jade slip on the stage and quickly made a judgment in his mind.

The ancient divine sense technique he had previously acquired followed the path of divine sense splitting and multi-line control, solving the problems of the breadth and division of labor of divine sense. However, the ancient divine sense technique did not concern itself with the strength and condensation of the divine soul itself.

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This Concentration and Soul Guiding Technique is the opposite; it focuses on cultivating the spirit and soul.

The two complement each other.

The ancient divine sense technique allows divine sense to split into multiple lines operating simultaneously, while the Concentration and Soul Guiding Technique enhances the underlying strength of each line. Using them together yields better results than practicing either one individually.

"One thousand two hundred spirit stones," Li Yuan said, holding up his sign.

A few people in the room followed suit and raised the price, but not by much. The audience for spiritual cultivation techniques is not as broad as that for combat techniques and body-refining techniques, so not many people are willing to spend a lot of money.

"two thousand."

"Two thousand two."

"Three thousand." Li Yuan raised the number again, and someone else followed suit. "Three thousand five."

The starting bids set by the Li family are very low to prevent auctions from going unsold.

"Four thousand five hundred spirit stones, deal."

In the end, Li Yuan bought it for 4,500 yuan.

After handing over the spirit stones, I received the jade slip.

His divine sense probed in, and the contents of the cultivation technique unfolded in his mind. The cultivation path of the Concentrating Spirit and Guiding Soul Technique is somewhat related to the Concentrating Soul Technique, both focusing on the refinement of the soul, but the Concentrating Spirit and Guiding Soul Technique is at a higher level and its operation is more refined. He had already cultivated the Concentrating Soul Technique to perfection, so switching to the Concentrating Spirit and Guiding Soul Technique on this basis should not be too difficult to begin.

[Equipable item detected: Concentration and Soul Guiding Technique (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Divine Soul Protection (Green)]

[Effect: Reduces soul consumption by 20% when casting spells]

[Preview of Permanentization Requirements: Achieve mastery of a second-tier Divine Soul Technique]

[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace current equipment?]

Green text: Reduces soul consumption by 20% when casting spells.

This effect is very useful for Li Yuan. Running three parallel tasks—alchemy, array formation, and distraction—each consumes his spiritual energy. A 20% reduction in spiritual energy consumption means the same amount of energy can sustain him for a longer period of high-intensity operation.

Li Yuan put the jade slip into his storage bag, and the auction continued.

Several more second-tier items were offered later, but Li Yuan did not bid on any of them.

After the auction ended, the people in the room gradually left.

Li Yuan and Ji Huaiyuan walked out of the stone building together.

When they reached the street of Fangshi, Li Yuan spoke.

"Fellow Daoist Ji, I might have a way to deal with the Fire Fiend Stone."

Ji Huaiyuan paused and turned to look.

"Fellow Daoist, are you referring to the real Fire Fiend Stone?"

"I previously assessed a fire-attribute mine for the Wang family," Li Yuan said. "That mine and my own malevolent mine are separated by only a crack in the rock layer deep underground. If we use the vein-guiding method to open the crack, the two mines will be connected, and the fire-attribute spiritual energy and malevolent energy will permeate each other at the intersection. It may produce fire-malevolent stones."

Ji Huaiyuan's eyes immediately lit up.

"Where is the mineral vein? Can I go take a look?"

"Okay," Li Yuan nodded. "However, the mine belongs to the Wang family, and the connection needs their approval."

"I'll talk to the Wang family." Ji Huaiyuan thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No, it's better if you act as the go-between. I'm not familiar with the Wang family."

Li Yuan did not refuse, and then led Ji Huaiyuan to the Wang family's fire-attribute mine.

Ji Huaiyuan had some knowledge of mineral veins, so after entering the mine tunnel, he squatted down to examine the vein carefully. He placed his palm on the surface of the vein and probed the depths underground with his divine sense. Then he got up and walked around the mine tunnel, examining the rock strata structure of the four walls of the cavity.

It took about an hour in total.

When he came out, Ji Huaiyuan's expression was very certain.

"It's feasible," he said. "The concentration of fire-elemental spiritual energy in this fire vein isn't high, but it's stable. After connecting with the fiery ore, the penetration speed of the two types of spiritual energy at the intersection won't be too fast, preventing it from getting out of control. The quality of the produced fire fiery stones depends on the ratio of the spiritual energy from both sides. It might not be very uniform in the early stages, but once it stabilizes, it should be able to stay within a usable range."

"Are you willing to buy the Fire Fiend Stones produced?" Li Yuan asked.

"I'll take them all." Ji Huaiyuan said without hesitation. "I'll take as many as you can get. The price will be 30% higher than the market price for Purple Fiend Stone. Fire Fiend Stone is much more valuable than Pure Fiend Stone."

That afternoon, Li Yuan also invited Wang Ting'an out.

Li Yuan explained the situation. The Wang family would provide the right to use the fire-attribute ore veins, Li Yuan would be responsible for connecting the two ore veins using the vein-guiding method and providing the evil ore resources, and Ji Huaiyuan would purchase the produced fire evil stones and provide cooperation in weapon refining.

Each party gets what it needs.

After listening, Wang Ting'an did not immediately agree, but asked a few questions first.

Will connecting to this network have any negative impact on my mining area?

"The production of fire-type spirit ore may be affected to some extent."

Li Yuan truthfully stated, "After the baleful energy seeps in, the condensation rate of pure fire-type spirit ore will decrease, and some of the output will turn into fire bale stones. However, fire bale stones are much more valuable than pure fire-type spirit ore, so the total profit will only be greater."

Wang Ting'an looked at Ji Huaiyuan again.

Is the market for Fire Fiend Stone stable?

"I'll take them all," Ji Huaiyuan said. "As long as the quality is up to standard, I'll buy as many as you have. The war in Yunzhou is still ongoing, and the demand for magical artifacts will only increase. Magical artifacts forged from Fire Fiend Stone are a level higher in quality than ordinary magical artifacts, so there's no worry about them selling."

Wang Ting'an pondered for a moment, then nodded.

"OK."

The tripartite agreement was finalized on the spot.

Li Yuan is responsible for connecting the two mines and providing the evil ore resources. The Wang family provides the right to use the fire attribute ore vein, and the output of fire evil stones will be divided proportionally. Ji Huaiyuan will purchase all the fire evil stones at a price 30% higher than the standard price of purple evil stones. Further cooperation on the finished products will be discussed separately if there are opportunities for cooperation in the future.

The agreement was not written down; the three agreed verbally.

This is the case in most collaborations among monks; trust is more effective than contracts.

Ji Huaiyuan left Wulin Market that day, saying he was going back to prepare refining materials and would come to collect the Fire Fiend Stones as soon as they were produced.

Wang Ting'an also left to go back and arrange for the personnel at the mine to cooperate.

Li Yuan returned to the stone house and sat down at the table to organize his thoughts.

Once the tripartite agreement is finalized, it will add another line to the network of resources at my disposal.

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