Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

The author's latest work, "Cultivation: I Can Solidify Equipment Attributes," is exclusively published on Cola Novels!

Jingzhou's largest free trade market remained bustling. The wide stone-paved main street teemed with people, and shops lined both sides, their colorful signs and flags swaying gently in the morning breeze. A faint scent of medicinal herbs and the acrid smell of forging furnaces filled the air. Several messenger birds darted from the eaves, carrying communication jade slips in different directions.

Li Yuan, suppressing the aura of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, entered the city and headed straight for the trading area.

After selling all the goods, Li Yuan began to make reverse purchases.

Formation materials, refined spirit ink, and high-grade talisman paper—these are all products that Jingzhou excels in, far surpassing those produced locally in Liangzhou. He made purchases from several specialized shops to avoid attracting attention with large single transactions.

When Li Yuan reached a secluded alley in the southern section of the trading area, his pace suddenly slowed down.

Dark Fiend's passive perception detected a set of familiar spiritual energy characteristics.

Across the alley, in front of a spirit materials shop, five cultivators dressed in blue and white robes were negotiating with the shopkeeper. The leader was a middle-aged man in the late Foundation Establishment stage, with a square face and a jade pendant with a blue pool pattern hanging from his waist. The other four had cultivation levels ranging from the early to mid-Foundation Establishment stage, and were all quite young; their composition suggested a standard sect purchasing team.

Bitan Sect.

Li Yuan didn't stop, maintaining a natural pace as he walked past the alley entrance. But in that instant, the permanent entry for tracking traces was passively triggered.

This person's spiritual energy spectrum—

Extremely pure and straightforward, its operation is steady and solid, without a single fancy embellishment.

It was very similar to the northeast-northwest direction spiritual energy spectrum that remained at the break point of the trail when he was tracking the Yuanzong's contact person in the Gray Road.

They are not the same person. The strength of that trail was at the early stage of the Golden Core realm, while the leader in front of them was only at the late stage of the Foundation Establishment realm. However, their spiritual energy spectrum bases were almost identical—spiritual energy cultivated under the same sect and the same cultivation system would have highly similar spectrum characteristics.

The techniques of the Bitan Sect.

After leaving the alley, Li Yuan turned into another street and sat down under a tea stall.

The five of them stayed in the spirit material shop for about fifteen minutes, purchasing two large boxes of spirit materials before leaving. They walked west along the southern section of the trading area for three blocks and turned into a private villa with plain white gauze curtains hanging in the air.

The gate to the villa was closed immediately after they entered.

Li Yuan memorized the location of the villa and the five people's route in his mind before withdrawing his senses.

He then got up and left the teahouse, walked north along the main street of the trading area for a while, and turned into a two-story tavern.

The lobby on the first floor of the tavern was crowded with wandering cultivators and small merchants, creating a noisy and bustling atmosphere. Li Yuan sat down at a low table in the corner and ordered a pot of spirit wine and two dishes of snacks to go with it.

Three local independent cultivators sat at the next table, loudly discussing the latest market trends. The conversation veered from the price of spiritual materials to the activities of various sects, and they made no attempt to lower their voices.

"...People from the Bitan Sect have been coming out more often lately. I saw two groups in Baijing Market last month, and they've come again this month."

"Haven't they always been holed up in the western part of Jingzhou? What are they doing here in Baijingfang?"

"Purchasing, of course. I heard that the Bitan Sect has sent a lot of people to Liangzhou in the past six months, specifically to buy medicinal herbs and spiritual herbs. In large quantities, they buy hundreds of kilograms at a time."

"Liangzhou? What business does the Bitan Sect have with Liangzhou?"

"Who knows? But most of them go through the Yunyang Market channels. It's Yuanyang Sect's territory, so if they follow the proper channels, no one can say anything about it."

Li Yuan picked up his wine glass and listened calmly.

In the past six months, the Bitan Sect has frequently sent cultivators to Liangzhou to make purchases, mainly through the Yunyang Market. This perfectly matches what he saw of the Bitan Sect disciples in the Yunyang Market yesterday.

He sat in the tavern for another half hour, piecing together more fragments from the casual conversations of the diners at the next table and around him.

After leaving the tavern, Li Yuan continued to purchase Jingzhou specialties in the trading area of ​​Baijingfang City.

As he walked into a secluded alleyway of old books, his eyes were drawn to a dusty old bookstore on the side of the road.

The shop was tiny, with a crooked door frame, and shelves piled high with old jade slips and yellowed animal hide scrolls of varying quality. Most were outdated manuals of cultivation techniques and introductory textbooks on array formations, utterly useless to Li Yuan.

But in a corner at the very bottom, a scroll of animal hide, pressed beneath dozens of old books, caught his attention.

The word perception was triggered within a three-foot radius, resulting in a white word.

Li Yuan picked up the animal skin scroll.

white.

After asking the price and paying the spirit stones, Li Yuan returned to the inn where he was temporarily staying. He unfolded the animal skin scroll and lightly touched the surface with his fingertips.

A panel pops up.

[Equipable item detected: Complete Explanation of Ancient Array Patterns]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Vein Pattern Comprehension (White) - Further improves the accuracy of array base backtracking; additional node acquisition logic when reading residual array information]

White attribute. The effect perfectly synergizes with the permanent attribute of Array Base Rewind.

The array base retrospection allows him to trace the energy trajectory of the array's most recent activation, while the pulse pattern comprehension provides additional node logic on top of the retrospection—meaning that he can not only see "what" the array "did," but also "why" the array did it.

The value of this entry in breaking through the various formations and restrictions of the Xuanyou Sect ruins is self-evident.

The condition for permanentization is to backtrack and restore the three remaining arrays. It's only a matter of time before the condition is met.

Just as I was about to leave the inn, there was a knock on the door.

Upon opening the door, a middle-aged cultivator dressed in the robes of a manager at Baijing Market stood outside. He was in the late Foundation Establishment stage and wore a warm smile. Two guards followed behind him.

"Fellow Daoist Li, I apologize for disturbing you." The middle-aged manager bowed and said, "I am Qian Tong, the manager of the trading area of ​​Baijing Market. I have long admired your name."

Li Yuan recognized the man. Several shopkeepers in the trading area had mentioned this name during his last trip to Baijing Market. As a free trade market, Baijing Market itself wasn't affiliated with any sect, but it had its own management system, and Qian Tong was one of the supervisors responsible for the daily affairs of the trading area.

"Manager Qian, you're too kind."

"You're welcome, you're welcome." Qian Tong sat down opposite Li Yuan with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist Li has visited Baijing Market twice, and his purchases have been quite substantial. Several shopkeepers have mentioned it to me. Baijing Market has always valued its major clients, so I've come here specifically to see if there's anything the market can do to assist you."

He paused, then lowered his voice.

"Fellow Daoist Li is carrying so many spirit stones and goods in and out of the market; it wouldn't be good if you were targeted by villains. Should we arrange for a few guards to escort you out of the city?"

"No need," Li Yuan shook his head. "I'm used to walking alone."

Qian Tong didn't press the matter. He took out a silver token engraved with the logo of Baijing Market from his sleeve and handed it over with both hands.

"Please accept this token, Fellow Daoist Li. With this token, you can enter the city and enjoy free accommodation, as well as a 5% discount at all official shops in Baijing Market. This is a small token of appreciation from the market to our valued customer."

Li Yuan accepted the token with a nod.

Thank you.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Qian Tong tactfully took his leave.

After seeing Qian Tong off, Li Yuan organized the purchased supplies, left Baijingfang City, and headed south to Shuizhou.

After traversing the Spirit-Slaying Zone, we disembarked at Luoxia Port and headed straight for Nanyuanfang along the coastline.

Zhou He was having tea with a stranger, a fellow cultivator.

The unfamiliar cultivator was tall and thin, with dark bronze skin and large knuckles. Between his fingers were white salt stains left from years of soaking in seawater. He was at the late stage of Foundation Establishment and wore a finely crafted sharkskin robe.

"You're here." Zhou He waved to him. "Let me introduce you. This is Manager Jiang from the Mermaid Island Merchant Guild, who specializes in offshore business. I mentioned you to him before, and we just happen to run into each other today."

Manager Jiang stood up and clasped his hands in greeting.

"Senior Zhou has mentioned it many times, saying that a fellow Daoist from the mainland makes excellent goods. I am Jiang Dulan, the second manager of the Mermaid Island Merchant Guild."

Li Yuan returned the greeting and took his seat.

After the three of them had a round of tea, they got down to business.

Jiang Dulan's chamber of commerce mainly deals in the trade of deep-sea spiritual materials and marine artifact components, focusing on the mid-to-high-end market. Li Yuan purchased three Tide Bone Beads, several batches of high-quality deep-sea coral powder and shark scales, as well as the crafting method for the Sea Essence Short Sword from him.

And a unique weapon-forging technique found only in Shuizhou: the Sea Forging Method.

Sea forging is a special technique that uses seawater pressure and tidal energy to temper the raw material of a magical artifact, providing an excellent enhancement effect on artifacts made from aquatic spiritual materials. This technique is almost never seen on land and is a unique skill of the island powers in the outer seas.

During the transaction, Li Yuan casually inquired about the situation in the outer sea from Jiang Dulan.

Are chambers of commerce on islands more united than those on the mainland?

"Of course." Jiang Dulan took a sip of tea, his tone carrying the straightforwardness characteristic of people from the sea.

"On land, spiritual energy is abundant, and cultivators can cultivate without leaving their homes, leaving plenty of room for intrigue and power struggles. The sea is different. The islands are surrounded by deep water, and the spiritual veins within are difficult to utilize because the water is too deep."

"Diving into the water to replenish spiritual energy is more likely to attract monsters. One can't do anything at sea alone; all trade and travel depend on merchant ships."

"Isn't it dangerous for you to travel?"

"It's alright." Jiang Dulan smiled. "Jiaozhi Island is located in the middle of the outer sea, quite a distance from several large monster lairs. Our merchant guild has three large merchant ships equipped with second-tier defensive formations, so as long as you don't venture into the deepest parts, you're perfectly safe. The real danger is for lone cultivators—at sea without companions, they won't even know which way to run if they encounter a horde of monsters."

Li Yuan nodded and wrote down this information.

After the transaction concluded, Jiang Dulan took his leave. Li Yuan looked at Zhou He.

"Does Nanyuanfang have any weapon-forging facilities?"

Zhou He waved his hand and pulled a token from the table, throwing it over.

"Take it. You can use any of the weapon-refining shops and training grounds in Nanyuanfang without paying."

"Take it. You can use any of the weapon-refining shops and training grounds in Nanyuanfang without paying."

Li Yuan accepted the token and thanked him.

In the middle level of Nanyuanfang, on the eastern side, there is a small but well-equipped weapon-refining workshop. Inside the stone room are two medium-sized furnaces and a complete set of forging tools. Several constant-temperature spirit stones are embedded in the walls to maintain the room temperature at the most suitable level for weapon refining.

Li Yuan entered the weapon-refining workshop and lit the furnace.

The newly purchased sea forging method requires practical experience to master. He took out several pieces of deep-sea spiritual materials—shark scales and sea-rich iron—that he had purchased from Jiang Dulan, and put them into the furnace.

The core of the Sea Forging Method lies in using water-based spiritual energy to simulate seawater pressure and perform multiple tempering processes on the artifact blank. Each layer of tempering makes the spiritual patterns inside the artifact blank more intricate, while also giving the finished product an extremely thin layer of water-based affinity field.

A moment later, it was completed.

[Equipable item detected: Sea Essence Short Sword (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Tide Forging Texture (Green) - When refining equipment with water-type spiritual materials, the compatibility of the equipment embryo's spiritual patterns is increased, and the finished spiritual equipment has a slight water-type affinity.]

[Permanentization Condition: Mastery of a second-tier water-based cultivation technique]

Green entry. I don't have a second-tier water-type magic weapon yet.

Li Yuan put the Sea Essence Short Sword into his storage bag, but did not equip it immediately. He left the empty slot in his equipment inventory for the time being, waiting for a more suitable opportunity to make arrangements.

After extinguishing the furnace and tidying up his tools, Li Yuan walked out of the weapon-refining workshop.

On the sea outside Nanyuanfang, the sun was setting. Golden-red rays spread across the entire sea, and several sailboats on the dock cast long shadows in the afterglow.