Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Inside the management office of Wulinfang Market, Li Yuan placed down the several notification jade slips piled on the table one by one.

Since the Golden Core cultivators of the Yuan Yang Sect and the Demonic Sect confronted each other above the Ghost Mist Forest, the surrounding situation has shifted in an extremely strange way. The demonic cultivators of the Dark Abyss Society no longer concentrate their forces to attack the various outposts and resource points of the Yuan Yang Sect. Attacks against the direct forces of the Yuan Yang Sect have decreased by nearly 80% in the past ten days.

The Dark Abyss Society members split into smaller groups and specifically targeted resource points belonging to cultivation families and independent cultivators at the Foundation Establishment stage.

Li Yuan pushed the jade slip aside, got up and left the management office, returning to the stone house.

As night fell, the sensing arrays surrounding the market area began to flicker with faint light in an orderly fashion.

Inside the stone house, Li Yuan sat cross-legged on a futon. Five lines of divine sense spread steadily in his mind, without interfering with each other. The main line rapidly drew the spiritual energy within his body, permeating his limbs and bones along the cultivation path of the second-tier Iron Wall Body Refining Technique.

After mastering this body-refining technique, Li Yuan would dedicate his time each day to refining it repeatedly.

The spiritual energy was forcibly broken into dozens of extremely sharp streams, which pierced deep into the bone surface through the gaps beneath the skin. Each surge of spiritual energy was accompanied by the aching sensation of muscle fibers being torn apart and then rapidly reassembled.

The next day at noon, Li Yuan was inspecting a new batch of monster materials he had acquired in the shop of the expansion area when a divine sense line hanging three miles outside the south gate of the market sent back an abnormal fluctuation.

A large group of monks were approaching the market along the ruined trade route.

The group numbered over a hundred people, with dozens of heavy beast-drawn carts loaded with supplies mixed in. More importantly, at the very front of the group were two extremely conspicuous Foundation Establishment stage spiritual pressures.

One of the auras was steady and profound, and Li Yuan was extremely familiar with it.

The other aura seemed somewhat weak, with its spiritual energy fluctuations oscillating between the peak of Qi Refining and the early stage of Foundation Establishment. Clearly, it had only recently broken through and its realm was not yet fully stable.

Li Yuan put down the account book, walked out of the shop, and headed towards the south gate.

Half an incense stick later, this huge procession arrived at the entrance to the Misty Forest Market.

Leading the way was Ji Huaiyuan. His Taoist robe was torn in several places, and there was a large patch of dried, dark red blood on the sleeve of his left arm. His face was haggard, and his eyes were filled with deep weariness.

Walking beside him was a young man who bore a resemblance to him.

The man was pale, struggling to maintain the spiritual pressure of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator, and occasionally looked back at the group of Ji family members behind him who were also filled with panic.

"Fellow Daoist Ji." Li Yuan stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the beast-drawn carts loaded with ore and supplies at the back of the group.

"Master Li." Ji Huaiyuan's tense shoulders relaxed slightly upon seeing Li Yuan. He gave a wry smile and pointed to the young man beside him, "This is..."

Ji Mingyuan stepped forward and bowed to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan nodded slightly as a return gesture, then his gaze returned to Ji Huaiyuan.

"Has the entire Ji family moved away?"

"We can't stay here any longer." Ji Huaiyuan took a deep breath, his voice hoarse. "The night before last, a group of over a hundred demonic cultivators suddenly reached the outskirts of the clan's territory. They were led by two mid-Foundation Establishment cultivators. We used the clan's protective formation to hold them off for half the night. The two of us joined forces and severely injured one of their Foundation Establishment cultivators before finally driving them back."

Ji Huaiyuan turned to look at his still-shaken clansmen.

"The demonic cultivators have retreated, but the family's formations have been completely destroyed. The spiritual vein nodes at their original base have been severely damaged. If there is another wave of attacks, the Ji family will be wiped out."

"So you sold everything?" Li Yuan looked at the heavy animal-drawn carts.

"We've sold what we could, but none of it is selling well." Ji Huaiyuan turned his head, his gaze fixed on Li Yuan. "The Ji family wants to establish a foothold in Wulin Market."

Li Yuan did not stand at the gate to negotiate. He turned around and called over two guards from the market, instructing them to lead the Ji family's beast-drawn carriage and clansmen to an empty square in the expansion area to rest.

Afterwards, he led Ji Huaiyuan and Ji Mingyuan straight back to his stone house.

The stone gate closed, and the soundproofing array activated. Update released! Readers, go check it out on Cola Novels!

The three sat down at the table. Ji Huaiyuan didn't beat around the bush; he directly took out a purple wooden brocade box, which was tightly sealed with three spirit-sealing talismans, from his personal storage bag and pushed it in front of Li Yuan.

"Master Li, the Ji family fled here, bringing our entire family with us. If we don't have a foothold in this wartime market, we'll be wiped out sooner or later." Ji Huaiyuan looked at the brocade box, a hint of heartache flashing in his eyes, but his tone was extremely firm. "Inside is a second-tier pill formula called Shangyuan Pill."

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the brocade box, and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Shangyuan Dan.

This is a variant of the Foundation Building Pill formula.

"What are the conditions set by the Ji family?" Li Yuan shifted his gaze from the brocade box to Ji Huaiyuan's face.

"Three conditions." Ji Huaiyuan held up three fingers.

"First, the pill formula is yours. But once the Ji family has established itself in the market and gathered all the materials to refine the Shangyuan Pill, Manager Li will need to refine the pill for the Ji family once for free, regardless of success or failure."

"Secondly, the Ji family wants to acquire twelve shops in the expansion area on the south or east side of the market, with the land deeds directly transferred to the Ji family's name."

"Third, behind the twelve shops, there needs to be a separate courtyard with enough space to house the more than eighty members of the Ji family."

After Ji Huaiyuan finished speaking, he shut his mouth and waited quietly for Li Yuan's reply.

Li Yuan sat on a wooden chair, his fingers rhythmically tapping on the table.

The twelve shops and accompanying residences are merely a matter of acquiring a plot of land for the resources of the market he currently controls. The southern expansion area also has a large number of vacant houses; handing them over to the Ji family would quickly fill the management gaps caused by the market's rapid population growth.

Even if they could refine a Shangyuan Pill for free, it would take who knows when the Ji family would be able to gather the extremely demanding Foundation Establishment Pill materials.

In return, however, they received a formula for a Foundation Building Elixir that could serve as a core strategic resource.

"Deal." Li Yuan stopped tapping the table and placed his hand on the purple brocade box.

Ji Huaiyuan let out a long sigh of relief, his tense body completely relaxing. He tore off the sealing talisman on the brocade box and opened the lid.

The box was lined with a layer of gold velvet, and in the center lay a white jade slip with a warm luster.

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the jade slip, probing it with his divine sense.

A flood of information about pharmacology, heat control, and the proportions of medicinal herbs rushed into his mind. The refining approach for the Shangyuan Pill was completely different from that of the Xumai Pill and Juyuan Pill he had previously refined.

This alchemy formula follows an extremely conservative approach. It does not seek to unleash a massive burst of spiritual power to force a breakthrough, but instead utilizes multiple neutral spiritual herbs to neutralize the violent spiritual power while slowly and steadily strengthening the cultivator's dantian barrier and meridian resilience, thereby greatly reducing the risk of the body exploding in the event of a failed breakthrough.

It's a very safe approach, one that prioritizes survival.

Li Yuan continued reading, his gaze sweeping over the list of materials provided in the prescription.

The main ingredient requires a 300-year-old Jade Marrow Ganoderma, supplemented with second-grade high-quality Mist Grass, Earth Spirit Fruit, and dozens of second-grade low-to-medium-quality auxiliary medicinal materials.

He mentally calculated the output of his spiritual field and the inventory in his storage bag.

He had most of the auxiliary medicinal materials on hand, or could easily obtain them from the market. But he didn't have a single 300-year-old Jade Marrow Fungus or the other two high-grade main medicinal herbs.

However, Li Yuan did not find it troublesome.

He didn't need to risk his life to find medicinal herbs of this caliber in the Ghost Mist Forest.

Once the storm had subsided, he hung up a sign outside his largest shop, stating that he could accept orders to refine Shangyuan Pills.

Other cultivators will naturally offer to help with the search.

After the Ji brothers left, the stone house returned to silence.

Li Yuan walked to the table, spread out a blank sheet of spirit paper, and wrote down the dozens of auxiliary materials needed for the Shangyuan Pill. He planned to have the shop assistants secretly purchase these auxiliary medicinal materials from the market the next day to prepare for starting the furnace in advance.