Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Zhao Hu and Zheng Xiaoman got the hang of it faster than expected.

The two of them patrolled the area on their own for two days and didn't encounter any problems.

There's no need to worry about Sun Liang. He's been working in the patrol team for several years and knows everything he needs to know. It's just that his injury has just healed, so he's not as agile as before. He's been assigned to the West Street section, which is short and has less work.

Li Yuan was now completely free to do so.

Yesterday, I explained my understanding of the elixir to Old Sun in detail. This morning, I took a stroll around the market, not to inspect, but to browse the stalls.

Recently, several groups of itinerant merchants have arrived, and the temporary stalls on both sides of East Street are now denser than before. The merchants bring a much wider variety of goods than the local independent cultivators, ranging from pills and talismans to magical artifact parts, monster materials, raw ores, and even a few stalls selling spirit grains, a specialty of markets outside the region.

Li Yuan walked along East Street from south to north, touching anything he could reach out and reach.

Most of them did not react.

Occasionally, a few pop-up notifications appear, mostly in gray with a few in white, similar to what I saw in the market before.

When Li Yuan reached a vendor's stall at the northern end of East Street, he stopped.

The stall was twice the size of a typical independent cultivator's, and it was packed full of goods. Several old magical artifacts were placed in the center of the stall, next to a pile of sorted mineral fragments, and in the corner were two cultivation manuals and a worn leather wristband.

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the wrist guard.

The leather is dark brown with a finely textured surface and a thin layer of animal hide lining. The workmanship is not exquisite but it is very sturdy. The buckle is made of brass and is polished to a shine.

Li Yuan reached out and picked up the wristband.

A panel pops up:

[Equipable item detected: Mystic Iron Bracers (Complete)]

[Item Attribute Level: White]

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

White entries.

Li Yuan flipped the wristband over. The leather was thick, and the animal hide lining felt nice to the touch. The buckle fit snugly against his wrist, neither too tight nor too loose.

"How much is this?"

The stall owner was a burly man in his forties with a thick beard on his chin. He wore a leather armor with a gray linen overcoat, a typical outfit for a traveling merchant.

"Twenty-two spirit stones."

"Too expensive."

"You get what you pay for." The bearded man patted the wrist guards on the stall. "They're made of double-layered black iron beast hide. The outer layer is made of iron-scaled snake hide, and the inner lining is made of horned lizard belly hide. The copper buckle is made of spirit copper. You won't find this price anywhere else."

"If you pour spiritual power into it, it can create a spiritual shield that is about half the height of a person. In any case, its defensive power should be stronger than the spiritual shield technique you have practiced. This magic weapon itself is even harder than a spiritual shield."

Li Yuan did not haggle and put the wristband back.

Twenty-two spirit stones are affordable—I still have about twenty more in my sleeve—but bracers are likely to have defensive attributes, which I don't need right now. Buying them would leave me with very few spirit stones, and I'd need materials to craft my own talismans.

Moreover, the conditions for making the white attribute permanent are unknown. If the conditions are too demanding or take too long, the twenty-two spirit stones will be wasted.

"No, I don't want it."

Li Yuan turned around and continued walking forward.

After walking half a street along East Street, Li Yuan touched more than a dozen items at the stalls of several itinerant vendors along the roadside.

A decent throwing knife, but it didn't react.

A bronze plaque engraved with spirit patterns, gray text, priced at five.

Li Yuan flipped the bronze plaque over. It was about the size of a palm, with a dark bronze color. The front was engraved with a circle of fine spiritual patterns, while the back was smooth with rounded edges, indicating that it had been around for quite some time.

"Where did this come from?" Li Yuan asked the stall owner.

The stall owner was a traveling merchant in his early thirties, and he was very quick-witted.

"The Tranquility Talisman is a small gadget used to assist in cultivation. After being infused with spiritual energy, it can help cultivators calm their minds and concentrate their spirits. It's not a particularly valuable item, but it's useful. I acquired this one from an old rogue cultivator, and its condition is decent."

Five spirit stones, grayed-out descriptions, their specific effects are unknown.

Five pieces isn't a lot, and the effects of gray-level attributes are likely not strong, but the conditions for making gray-level attributes permanent are usually simple. The previous Cleansing Constitution and Grain Qi Concentration were both gray; one became permanent after learning the Cleansing Technique, and the other was achieved by consuming five catties of spiritual grain.

The cost-effectiveness of gray-area keywords often lies not in their effects themselves, but in the low barrier to achieving permanence.

"Three pieces," Li Yuan said.

"Four pieces, no less than that."

"become."

Li Yuan took out four spirit stones and put the bronze token into his sleeve.

After walking a few steps from the stall, Li Yuan stopped at a secluded spot by a wall and took out the bronze plaque.

[Equipable item detected: Tranquility Token (Complete)]

[Entry Preview: Mental Stability (Gray) - Slightly increases resistance to mental interference]

[Preview of conditions for permanentization: Accumulate three hours of cultivation in an environment subject to mental interference, or suffer a mental attack of a certain power]

[Current equipment slot is full (3/3). Replace current equipment?]

Mental stability. Mental resistance-related stats are indeed not very effective; they're only at the level expected of gray-level stats.

The conditions for permanentization are not particularly demanding; the conditions are not difficult, but they require specific scenarios.

Li Yuan put the bronze medal back into his sleeve and continued walking along East Street.

As we approached the intersection of East Street and North Alley, a louder noise than usual came from the direction of North Alley.

Li Yuan went inside and took a look.

Three handcarts were parked at the entrance of the North Alley, where several itinerant merchants were unloading goods, moving boxes, and setting up stalls. A number of casual monks were gathered around to watch the spectacle.

This is a newly arrived group of itinerant merchants.

Their clothes were dusty and travel-worn, and several of them still had bloodstains on their bodies that hadn't been cleaned up.

The leader was a thin old man in his fifties, who was directing his men to move things.

Li Yuan didn't go over; he stood at the alley entrance against the wall and listened for a while.

"Didn't you say you were going to sell at the cultivator market? Why are you here?"

Another traveling merchant seemed to recognize the old man and asked him a question.

"Don't even mention it. There are also many demonic beasts near the market for rogue cultivators, which is much more troublesome than here. We simply can't organize enough manpower, and we can encounter demonic beasts and cultivators who have been robbing us from time to time outside."

"Isn't it said that the market for rogue cultivators is protected by the Yuan Yang Sect?"

The skinny old man scoffed and slammed the wooden box in his hand onto the stall.

"The Yuan Yang Sect is protecting you? That sounds nice. The rogue cultivator market doesn't have a Foundation Establishment cultivator in charge. It's just a bunch of rogue cultivators put together. They managed to get in touch with a Foundation Establishment elder from the Yuan Yang Sect, but that elder was just a figurehead, collecting some tributes and not really doing anything."

"Doesn't that still mean you have someone to rely on?"

"A powerful backer?" The skinny old man opened the box and started taking goods out of it.

"You really expect that Foundation Establishment cultivator to do the work?"

"They sent a few disciples at the late stage of Qi Refining to take a look around, kill a few demonic beasts, and then leave."

The skinny old man shook his head.

Li Yuan leaned against the wall and listened for a few moments, then wrote down the information.

The situation in the scattered cultivator market is different from that in Qinghe market. Qinghe market is owned by the Wang family, and most of the important positions in the market are held by members of the Wang family.

The Wang family is a Foundation Establishment family, and there are direct interests involved, so it is impossible for them to sit idly by.

The independent cultivators in the market lack such resources, so when trouble arises, they can't rely on that nominal Foundation Establishment elder at all.

Li Yuan stood there for a while, and seeing no new information, continued browsing the stalls.

When you reach the middle part of the north alley, there is a stall displaying several kinds of spirit grains, each a different color.

The green one is jade rice, the pale yellow one is unfamiliar, and there is also a kind of spirit grain with small, light gray grains, which is packed in a worn cloth bag with the opening open, so you can see the grains inside.

Changqing rice.

Li Yuan slowed his pace.

The last time I saw Changqing rice was when I was collecting rent in Lingtian District; it was a gift from a Lingtian farmer.

The gray-label effect of Changqing rice is not strong, but the conditions for making it permanent are extremely simple.

Li Yuan walked to the stall and squatted down.

The stall owner was a young female cultivator in her early thirties who looked like a spiritual farmer. Her skin was tanned slightly and her fingers were rough.

"How much is Changqing rice?"

"Three catties for one spirit stone."

Changqing rice is of a slightly lower grade than Baiyu rice, but it has a higher yield and therefore a lower price.

Li Yuan picked up a handful of Changqing rice and examined it closely. The grains were small and uniform, with a faint gray sheen on the surface. The spiritual energy fluctuations were very weak, and could only be felt when brought close to his nose.

[Equipable item detected: Changqing Rice (requires 1 jin)]

[Entry Preview: Concentrating Qi (Gray) - Reduces mental energy consumption by 10% during cultivation]

[Permanentization Requirements: Consume at least 5 jin of the same type of spiritual grain]

[Current equipment slot is full (3/3). Replace current equipment?]

The information is exactly the same as last time.

However, six catties of spirit grain only cost two spirit stones, one catty for equipment, and the condition for permanent use is to consume five catties, which can probably be finished in two days.

There's no reason not to take a permanent buff that you can get for free.

"Six jin," Li Yuan said.

"Okay."

Ling Nong carefully weighed out six jin from the cloth bag, divided it into six packages, wrapped them in oil paper, and handed them over.

Li Yuan took out a spirit stone and handed it over, then put the six packets of Changqing rice into his sleeve.

Five jin are used for permanentization, and the extra jin is used for equipment. Equipment requires one jin of spirit grain, and the equipment will disappear after permanentization, so it is better to buy an extra jin to equip it first.

Back at my residence.

Li Yuan bolted the door, sat down on the edge of the bed, and took out a bag of Changqing rice.

With a thought, he first removed the talisman crafting manual.

Equip Changqing rice.

[Already equipped: Changqing Rice]

[Acquired Attribute: Concentrating Qi (Gray) - Reduces mental energy consumption during cultivation by 10%]

[Permanentization Progress: 0/5]

A pound of Changqing rice transformed into a faint gray light and merged into the body.

The change came very gently, like a thin layer of coolness on the back of my head—not obvious, but definitely there.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and tried circulating the Spirit Guiding Technique for one cycle.

The difference is subtle.

Previously, after every ten or so cycles of cultivation, he would feel slightly fatigued, which didn't affect his cultivation, but he needed to rest and adjust before he could continue to concentrate. Now, the rate at which this fatigue accumulates is slower, and Li Yuan estimates that he can complete seven or eight more cycles.

Although cultivation consumes mental energy, the mental energy itself is slowly recovering.

Li Yuan opened the second bag of Changqing rice, walked to the stove in the corner, and started a fire to cook the rice.

The aroma of Changqing rice is much fainter than that of Baiyu rice, light and bland, like a pot of thin rice soup.

I ladled out a bowl, and the first bite was rough and grainy, far less soft and glutinous than the white jade rice. After swallowing, a cool sensation slowly descended from my throat to my stomach, blending seamlessly with the coolness at the back of my head.

It's not bad, just bland.

After finishing one pound of Changqing rice, a notification popped up on the panel:

[Grain Energy Concentration (Gray) Permanentization Progress: 1/5]

After finishing the meal, Li Yuan assessed the situation and found that Changqing rice was easier to digest than Baiyu rice. In addition, his strength had improved significantly, so he estimated that he could finish the meal by tomorrow.