Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 515 Travels in Yangzhou

The next morning, I first went to Baijing Market and rented a pill-refining room. The pill-refining room was located in a separate stone building on the east side of the market. It was not large but fully equipped, with a high-quality pill furnace and a sufficient supply of spiritual energy from the spirit-gathering array.

Li Yuan took out the materials provided by the gray-robed cultivator one by one and placed them on the stone platform.

I had already mentally reviewed the process for the third-tier pill formula. The pill formula was of a slightly above-low grade third tier, and the core difficulty lay in the fact that the temperature of the pill fire needed to change three times within an extremely short time window during the middle stage of pill condensation, with strict requirements on the magnitude and timing of each change.

The materials are of good quality; the gray-robed monk spent several years gathering these items, and the materials used are solid.

Li Yuan lit the alchemy furnace, channeling spiritual energy into the fire patterns at the bottom, causing the alchemical fire to rise.

The three permanent attributes, "Harmony of Medicinal Elements," "Comprehension of Alchemy Principles," and "Refinement of Alchemy Fire," operate simultaneously. "Refinement of Alchemy Fire" significantly improves the precision of the fire control, "Comprehension of Alchemy Principles" enhances the understanding of the alchemy process, making each step clear and precise, and "Harmony of Medicinal Elements" continuously optimizes the fusion efficiency of the medicinal liquid during the extraction of the medicinal properties of spiritual materials.

The first stage is refining, the middle stage is condensing the pill, and the last stage is collecting the pill.

The whole process took about two hours.

When the lid of the alchemy furnace was lifted, a dark blue pill lay quietly at the bottom of the furnace.

The pill's surface was smooth and round, its spiritual energy fluctuations were stable, and its quality was significantly higher than the standard level of the original formula. The enhancements from the attribute system further boosted the pill's quality during the refining process.

Li Yuan took out the pill and placed it in his palm.

Blue light appeared within a three-foot radius.

Blue entries.

Li Yuan glanced at it, but no detailed information appeared on the panel.

This elixir was commissioned to be refined; it does not belong to me.

Later, you can gather the materials yourself to refine the same pill, and then see if you can get the relevant entries.

Li Yuan put the pills into a jade bottle and sealed it with a spiritual energy restriction.

That afternoon, the gray-robed cultivator arrived as promised to collect the pill.

After opening the jade bottle and checking the quality of the pills, the gray-robed cultivator's expression clearly changed, and a hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"The quality far exceeded my expectations. Thank you, fellow Daoist."

Li Yuan nodded and handed the jade bottle to the other party.

The gray-robed cultivator carefully put away the pills, left the spirit stones, and bowed to take his leave.

Li Yuan did not linger in Baijing Market and put away the spirit stones.

They set off that evening, flying towards Yangzhou.

There was still plenty of time left over from the agreed-upon time with Meng Yangzi, enough to take a tour around Yangzhou.

Flying westward from Baijingfang City, after crossing the mountain range boundary in western Yunzhou, the terrain suddenly opens up.

The terrain of Yangzhou is completely different from that of Liangzhou. Liangzhou is mainly hilly and plain, while Yangzhou is mostly barren land and Gobi desert, interspersed with a few dried-up riverbeds and scattered oases. The concentration of spiritual energy in Yangzhou is slightly lower than in Liangzhou, but the distribution is more uneven, with some areas having extremely thin spiritual energy and others having exceptionally rich spiritual energy.

Meng Yangzi said that Yangzhou was originally two provinces, which were later merged into one large continent due to changes in the terrain. After the merger, the area became larger, but the original power structures of the two provinces were not truly integrated. Instead, the expansion of territory led to more friction.

Li Yuan's first stop in Yangzhou was a medium-sized market town called Chisha Ward.

Chisha Market is built on a high ground of red sandstone. It is slightly smaller than Qinghe Market, but the variety of shops is more diverse. The shops sell all sorts of things: spiritual materials, magical artifacts, elixirs, cultivation manuals, jade slips, ores, animal hides, and there are even a few shops that specialize in selling information.

Li Yuan spent half a day wandering around Chisha Market.

I spent over a dozen mid-grade spirit stones at the intelligence shop to buy a basic intelligence report on Yangzhou.

The three medium-sized Golden Core level forces in Yangzhou are the Crimson Sand Alliance, the Azure Rock Sect, and the Azure Valley. The three are roughly equal in strength, each occupying one-third of Yangzhou's territory. They are hostile to each other, but none can do anything to the others, maintaining a fragile balance.

Cangyan Sect and Biluo Valley were sects before the two states were united, while Chisha Alliance was a Golden Core Alliance established later.

Further west lies the Nascent Soul sect called the Tianyang Sect. Its sect leader, surnamed Lu, has only been a Nascent Soul cultivator for thirty years, possessing strength at the early Nascent Soul stage. The Tianyang Sect's expansion is primarily directed south and west, with no immediate signs of a major infiltration into Yangzhou, but it continues to make small moves, keeping all three major powers on guard.

Most cultivators in Yangzhou are independent practitioners, with a much lower proportion of sect disciples compared to Liangzhou. Interactions among cultivators are also more direct and brutal, with fights frequently occurring in the markets. Public order is mainly maintained by patrol teams from various factions, leaving areas largely undefended and in a state of disorder.

After digesting the intelligence, Li Yuan continued westward.

Over the next few days, Li Yuan visited three market towns in Yangzhou. At each town, he would stroll around, checking within a three-foot radius for items with inscriptions.

We reaped considerable rewards.

Li Yuan found the four items with entries on them one after another.

The first item was in a corner of a general store in Chisha Market. It was a tortoise shell divination plate, about the size of a palm, with densely packed divination patterns engraved on its surface. It lay dusty and unremarkable among a pile of old goods, priced at three mid-grade spirit stones.

After Li Yuan made the purchase, a panel popped up.

[Equipable item detected: Tortoise Shell Divination Plate (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Divination and Spiritual Connection (Green)]

[Effect: Reduces mental energy consumption by 20% when performing divination; increases the identifiability of causal clues in the divination results by 10%]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Track the same target seven times consecutively using divination]

The green entry indicates the direction of divination. It complements one's existing Heavenly Derivation Residual Numbers and Heavenly Secrets Subtle Sensations.

Li Yuan stored the tortoise shell divination plate into his personal space.

The second item was an old copper abacus, crudely made, with a greenish oxidized surface.

Grayed-out entries.

[Equipable item detected: Old Copper Abacus (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Discerning Insights (Gray)]

[Effect: Enhanced perception of information about objects]

Grayed-out entries will be permanently added.

The term "商察微辨 (灰)" has become a permanent entry.

The old copper abacus vanished in his palm; the permanent information was just a cultivator using an abacus, which was of little use.

The third item is a Spirit Pearl for Detecting Pulse, a second-tier low-grade pearl with a white attribute.

[Equipable item detected: Pulse Detection Orb (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Spirit Vein Identification (White)]

[Effect: Improves the accuracy of discerning others' cultivation levels and auras; slightly enhances sensitivity to abnormal spiritual energy fluctuations]

White entries are made permanent.

[The term "Spiritual Vein Identification (White)" has become a permanent entry.]

The Spirit Pearl dissipated in the palm of the hand.

The fourth item is a jade slip.

[Equipable item detected: Jade Slip for Identifying Herbs (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Herbalism (White)]

[Effect: Significantly enhances the ability to perceive and judge medicinal herbs and elixirs]

White entries are made permanent.

[Navigation (white) has become a permanent entry]

The permanent information for the last two white entries is also useless.

Four items with different attributes: one green, one gray, and two white. The gray and white items will be permanently upgraded, while the green tortoise shell will be kept for now.

The gains from Yangzhou's travels are not limited to this entry.

Over the course of a few days, Li Yuan gathered a general understanding of the situation in Yangzhou and the surrounding prefectures through information shops, casual conversations in the markets, and his own observations. The distribution of power among the three major forces, the expansion direction of the Tianyang Sect, the geographical relationship between Yangzhou and several western prefectures, and the market prices of spiritual materials in various markets—all this information was compiled, archived, and stored in his mind.

Li Yuan glanced at the sky.

There are still three days until the agreed time with Meng Yangzi.

>