Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

After completing the trade route, Li Yuan checked all the accounts in the stone house.

The purchase cost in Liangzhou was about 1,200 mid-grade spirit stones. After passing through Jingzhou and Shuizhou twice, the net profit after deducting travel expenses, transaction losses, and taxes and fees collected by various markets was about 3,500 mid-grade spirit stones.

It's almost double the number from the first round.

The significant profit increase came primarily from two aspects. First, product category optimization—based on feedback from the first round of sales, he precisely adjusted the import and export structure of each state, cutting low-profit items and increasing investment in the core products with the largest supply-demand gaps. Second, the maturation of distribution channels—the 5% discount tokens from Baijingfang Market, Zhou He's free venue in Nanyuanfang, and the stable supply from the Jiaozhidao Chamber of Commerce all reduced his operating costs.

Li Yuan took out most of the spirit stones from the profits and began to absorb them.

The condition for making the Void Stone permanent is to absorb 100,000 low-grade spirit stones. A considerable number have already been absorbed, and with this batch of over 3,000 mid-grade spirit stones (equivalent to over 30,000 low-grade spirit stones), the total amount has been pushed to approximately 87,000.

We're still about 13,000 short of the 100,000 target. Based on the current profit pace of the three-state trade route, we can make up the difference in another one and a half rounds.

The token given by Zhou He was extremely useful.

The weapon-refining workshop, the cultivation room, and even a sea-facing stone chamber by the dock were all at his disposal. Li Yuan used the sea-facing stone chamber as his temporary residence, cultivating by the sea every morning, forging magical artifacts in the weapon-refining workshop during the day, and circulating his cultivation techniques in the stone chamber at night.

Life is lived in a regular and efficient manner.

The seaside training environment is extremely beneficial for advancing water-based martial arts techniques.

The Cold Stream Technique has been mastered for a long time, and is only one step away from perfection. Within the radiation range of the underwater spiritual veins of Nanyuanfang, the concentration of water-based spiritual energy far exceeds that on land. In addition, with the superposition of a series of permanent attributes such as Water Vein Overview, Water Flow Acceleration, and Tidal Return to Origin, the efficiency of each cycle of the Cold Stream Technique has been pushed to an extremely high level.

On the morning of the third day, Li Yuan sat cross-legged in the stone chamber facing the sea and began to circulate the Cold Stream Technique.

The water-based spiritual energy in the meridians surged like the tide, and each cycle was smoother than the last.

At a certain moment, the flow of spiritual energy reached a state that required no conscious guidance—like a river finding its natural channel and flowing down on its own without any obstruction.

A panel pops up.

[Cold Stream Technique: Great Success → Perfection]

The Cold Stream Technique has been perfected.

Li Yuan took out the Spirit Water Talisman from his storage bag.

"equipment."

[Equipped: Spirit Water Talisman (Complete)]

[Water Essence (Green) has become a permanent entry]

The phantom of the Spirit Water Talisman flashed in his equipment slot and then disappeared, transforming into a green dot that merged into his body. The quality of his water-based spiritual power increased by 30%, and it became a part of his body.

The permanent acquisition of the Water Spirit Essence further enhanced his water-based cultivation efficiency. The increased spiritual power purity provided by the Perfected Cold Stream Technique, combined with the 30% quality boost from the Water Spirit Essence, and the continuous supply from his personal spiritual veins—his combat power in the water had reached an extremely terrifying level.

I spend my daytime hours refining weapons.

He used the two medium-sized furnaces in the Nanyuanfang weapon-refining workshop in turn. He continuously purchased water-type spiritual materials from Jiang Dulan's Mermaid Island Merchant Guild and from the stalls of local independent cultivators in Nanyuanfang, and his sea forging technique became more and more proficient through repeated practice.

On the evening of the seventh day, when Li Yuan came out of the weapon-refining workshop, he saw two unfamiliar large merchant ships at the dock of Nanyuanfang.

The merchant ship was larger than ordinary merchant ships, with a dark brown base paint on its hull and the iconic flag of the Tianyue Sect flying on its mast.

White background with gold patterns, the outline of a mountain peak is embroidered in the center.

The caravan of Tianyue Sect.

Li Yuan sat down on the stone steps beside the dock, his Dark Fiend Insight scanning over the two merchant ships.

There were about twenty cultivators on board, ranging in cultivation level from the late Qi Refining stage to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. The leader was a middle-aged cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage, with a solid aura and the unique cultivation fluctuations of the Tianyue Sect. The cargo hold was filled with various terrestrial spiritual materials and ores, the types of which highly overlapped with the varieties that Li Yuan traded on the Three Continents trade route.

Li Yuan walked to a tea stall next to the dock and sat down.

The owner of the tea stall was a talkative local fisherman who would strike up a conversation whenever a customer came in.

"Oh, a ship from the Tianyue Sect. Rare guests indeed." The shopkeeper poured Li Yuan a cup of tea, chattering on and on. "They don't come to Nanyuanfang very often, at most once or twice a year."

Why?

"You make more money doing business on the islands, that's why." The boss curled his lip. "Tianyue Sect has its own trading port and fleet, and they monopolize all the business on those big islands in the outer sea. As for small places like Nanyuanfang, Senior Zhou doesn't allow them to take up too much of the market share, so the profits are limited, and they don't even look at them."

"So why did you come this time?"

The boss lowered his voice, his tone tinged with gossipy excitement.

"I heard it was their sect leader's idea. That Nascent Soul ancestor of the Tianyue Sect has been quite busy lately, exchanging messages with Nascent Soul seniors in the outer sea every few days. Some say they're discussing some big deal, others say they're plotting to deal with something. Anyway, it's quite a commotion, and even the merchant caravans below have become active."

The Nascent Soul Sect Master of Tianyue Sect frequently communicated with Nascent Soul forces on the island.

Li Yuan silently memorized this information.

The Nascent Soul Sect Master of Tianyue Sect is one of the strongest cultivators in Jingzhou and even the surrounding states. For a Nascent Soul cultivator to frequently contact Nascent Soul forces in the outer seas indicates a level of cooperation far exceeding ordinary business dealings.

After finishing his tea, Li Yuan returned to the sea-facing stone chamber to continue his cultivation.

The days passed by.

Refining weapons, cultivating, and absorbing spirit stones. These three things alternated in an orderly fashion in the daily life of Nanyuanfang.

The twelfth day.

Li Yuan completed the last magical artifact of the day in the weapon-refining workshop—a water spirit sword. As the sword emerged from the forge, the refinement attribute for the forging patterns trembled slightly in the equipment slot.

A panel pops up.

The conditions for permanent enhancement of the Green Forging Finish have been met (30/30).

[Forging Refinement (Green) has become a permanent entry]

The phantom of the Forging Technique shattered in the equipment slot, turning into green light spots that merged into the body. The slot became free.

The effect of increasing his weapon crafting proficiency by one minor level became ingrained and instinctive. His basic level of second-tier weapon crafting permanently rose from minor to major, no longer relying on equipment enhancements. Furthermore, when weapon crafting reached the second-tier perfection, he would receive an additional 30% success rate bonus.

Six more days passed.

Day 18.

Li Yuan woke up in the sea-facing stone chamber at dawn and pushed open the stone door.

A salty sea breeze swept over me, and the distant sea shimmered with golden light in the morning glow.

The entry for the compressed Azure Tide Sand Sphere within the body trembled slightly in the meridians.

A panel pops up.

The conditions for permanent tidal compression (green) have been met (60/60).

[Tidal Convergence (Green) has become a permanent term]

The phantom of the Azure Tide Sand Compression Ball shattered in the equipment slot, turning into green light spots that merged into the body.

The speed at which water-based spells are condensed is increased by another 10%, and spiritual energy can be slowly replenished while in water. Both effects are now an integral part of the body.

Li Yuan stood at the entrance of the stone chamber, facing the sea, and took a deep breath.

The sea breeze filled my lungs, and spiritual energy flowed naturally through my meridians. Three accompanying spiritual meridians provided a stable supply around my dantian, surging silently within my body.