Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the bed and slowly finished his practice.

The sky outside the window was already bright, and the morning light squeezed in through the cracks in the window, casting a thin line on the ground.

He got up, stretched his arms and legs, pushed open the door, and walked out of his residence towards the outskirts of the market.

There's a rocky beach near the foot of the mountain on the west side, which is a good place to try your hand at something.

Li Yuan stood still, facing a rock about half a person's height.

Spiritual energy flowed into his palm, and the incantation for the Fireball spell began to run in his mind.

A crimson flame condensed in the palm of his hand, with an additional, less noticeable dark texture, as if there was an extra base color deep within the flame.

Li Yuan launched the fireball, which smashed into the rocks and exploded with a bang.

Stone fragments flew everywhere, and a black pit was scorched into the rock surface. The edges of the rock surface cracked, and the cracks extended a little further than those that had been made before.

Li Yuan walked over, squatted down, and examined the depth and extent of the crater.

It's a bit deeper than before, but the difference isn't significant.

He retreated to his original position and fired three more fireballs, carefully observing the burn marks and the degree of shattering at each impact point.

The results were all similar—the power did increase by a little over 10%, which was noticeable, but it was far from a qualitative change.

That's right. It's clearly written on the panel that the improvement increases with the number of fire spells you learn. I currently only know one fireball spell, and 10% is the lowest level.

Li Yuan patted the lime off his hands and turned to walk towards the market.

There are many independent cultivators selling monster meat in the market, but there are also dedicated meat stalls. These stalls are connected with some monster hunting teams, and the monster meat they sell is not cheap, but it is definitely fair.

When they arrived at the meat stall, the stall owner, a burly man with a thick beard, raised his chin as he saw Li Yuan approaching.

"How much low-grade first-tier demon beast meat is there, and what's the price?"

"Different types of monsters have different prices. What type are you planning to buy?"

"It's my first time trying it, so I'm just having a taste."

"If it's your first time eating here, I recommend you buy this. It's cheap, nourishing, and gentle. These two pieces are the hind leg meat of the Ironhorn Antelope, a first-grade low-quality meat. Each piece weighs about seven or eight pounds." The stall owner patted the oilcloth wrapping.

"Two spirit stones each."

Li Yuan weighed the two pieces of meat in his hand and confirmed that they were exactly as the vendor had described.

"I'll take both pieces of hind leg meat."

The stall owner deftly took out a cloth bag, put the two pieces of meat in it, and handed it to Li Yuan.

Li Yuan paid with spirit stones and carried the beast meat back to his residence.

He closed the door and took out the spirit stones he had on him, counting them one by one.

Twenty-eight yuan.

It costs twenty yuan to learn leather making in Fanghe, but after that, only eight yuan is left.

Eight spirit stones can't do much in the market, and the windfall of forty-eight stones from before is almost gone.

Li Yuan placed the meat on the table and cut off a piece.

The meat of the antelope is firm with a coarse texture, and there is a noticeable resistance when cutting it, making it much tougher than ordinary pork or mutton.

Then, using spiritual power to start a fire, the meat was roasted until cooked, and the aroma of the meat instantly filled the entire room.

The moment I swallowed the first bite, my stomach reacted.

A faint warmth spread from my stomach to my limbs; it wasn't the usual feeling of fullness from food, but a subtle warmth seeping into my meridians.

It starts from the internal organs and flows outward along the meridians. The heat is not intense, similar to the feeling after taking the Sha Yuan Dan, but it is more prolonged and gentle, without the short-lived urge of the medicine.

Li Yuan took two more bites, savoring the taste.

The heat flowed continuously, and I felt a sensation of being soaked in warm water through my meridians. It wasn't exactly comfortable, but I could clearly feel my blood and qi circulating faster.

Even after finishing a pound of meat, the heat still lingered in my body and didn't subside immediately.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and sat cross-legged, naturally circulating his nourishing energy cultivation technique.

Guided by the cultivation technique, the Qi and blood circulate along a specific route, and the heat from the demon beast's flesh is carried along with it, moving at a speed much faster than usual.

As the heat flows through the limbs and bones, the muscles and fascia feel a slight soreness, as if something is pushing them outwards from the inside.

It wasn't the kind of expansion that comes from abundant spiritual energy, but rather a change at the purely physical level—the muscles and bones were being strengthened little by little.

After running a full cycle, most of the heat dissipated, and the remainder seeped into the bones and flesh, completely melting away.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and carefully felt the sensation.

It wasn't very effective, but it did have some effect.

The effects should be more noticeable from eating more monster meat, and this is only a low-grade, first-tier Ironhorned Antelope; higher-grade monster meat should have even better effects.

Li Yuan wrapped the remaining meat again in coarse cloth and placed it in a cool place.

There's no rush to finish it all at once. Eating too much will only cause heat to accumulate in the body and become undigested, resulting in waste.

In the afternoon, Li Yuan was practicing the Nourishing Vitality Technique at his residence when there was a knock on the door.

Li Yuan finished his practice, stood up, and unlatched the door.

Sun Liang was standing outside the door, holding a cloth bag in his hand, with no one behind him.

"Captain Wang asked me to tell you that the work in the mountains is done, and it's time to distribute the rewards."

Sun Liang handed over the cloth bag.

"Here are five spirit stones. Captain Wang said there are also twenty contribution points, mainly as a reward for your previous tracking mission, Deputy Captain Li. Leading the way up the mountain doesn't contribute much."

Li Yuan took the cloth bag, weighed it in his hand, and put it away.

Leading the way up the mountain is not very dangerous in a strict sense, and it is to be expected that it will not make much of a contribution.

"What else did Captain Wang say?"

"Deputy Captain Li, you'll most likely have to go into the mountains again, and this time it'll be more dangerous." Sun Liang leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed. "They didn't say what exactly."

They chatted for a couple more minutes. Sun Liang didn't stay any longer and turned to leave.

Li Yuan closed the door and carefully put away the spirit stones and contribution points.

Five spirit stones came in, which made me a little more comfortable, but that was all.

As evening approached, Fang He came and knocked on the door.

Upon entering, he pulled a thin booklet from his pocket and handed it to me. The cover was made of rough animal hide, and the edges were already worn.

"It's nothing precious, just the basic steps and key points of leather making. Take a look."

Li Yuan took it and touched it, but no panel popped up.

The booklet was not thick, only about ten pages long. The handwriting was messy but the organization was relatively clear. Each step, from peeling, soaking, degreasing, and pressing the monster hide to the final cutting, was briefly explained, and some steps were accompanied by a few rough diagrams.

"I'm off the day after tomorrow. Come find me then, and I'll guide you through the process step by step." Fang He leaned against the table and casually picked up the kettle on the table to pour himself a glass of water.

"OK."

After finishing his water, Fang He didn't stay long; he patted his bottom and left.

Li Yuan placed the booklet on his bedside table, not in a hurry to look at it in detail, but first finished the rest of his cultivation for the day.

After nightfall, Li Yuan cut off a pound of demon beast meat, roasted it, ate it, and then sat cross-legged to circulate his nourishing energy technique, channeling the heat into his meridians.

The warmth of the monster's flesh, carried by the blood and qi, circulated repeatedly, slowly seeping into the muscles and bones.

After completing one week of running, continue with the second round.

Qi and blood flow along fixed routes, with almost no obstruction in the meridians. Each node is like a road that has been traveled hundreds of times.

Halfway through the second cycle, the rhythm of Qi and blood suddenly changed.

It's not that it gets faster, it gets heavier. The several streams of qi and blood that were originally going their separate ways converge at a certain point, their strength long and powerful, pushing the remaining heat in the meridians forward together.

A very faint clicking sound came from the joints, not painful, as if the joints were being slowly stretched open and then closed again. The heat spread from the spine to the limbs, and the muscles in the places it passed through tensed slightly, and then relaxed, even more relaxed than before.

It's as if the body has tuned itself, tightening the loose strings and loosening the tight ones, until each string is in its proper place.

The last trace of warmth seeped into the bones and flesh, stabilizing the blood and qi.

The operation of the exercise no longer requires deliberate guidance; each step of the Yangyuan Gong (Nourishing Vital Energy Gong) automatically meshes in place, as naturally as breathing.

Li Yuan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and clenched his fist.

When the fingers closed, the tendon's response was a bit smoother than before.

[Technique: Nourishing Vital Energy Technique - Minor Success (0/1600)]