Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Chapter 679 Returning Home to Settle Accounts

Wulinfang Market, residence.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the stone platform, the lingering deep-sea moisture on his body had long since dissipated, and his robes were dry as usual.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, a deep red light core hangs at the very bottom, its radiance restrained. The primordial energy of the two boundary cores has completely merged, nearly twice the size of its previous dark red state, and is slowly radiating outwards, nourishing the nascent soul and meridians.

Li Yuan didn't rush out; he first took stock of the spoils from the Sea Eye Cave.

The portable world was opened, and the items were taken out one by one.

Several skeletons of fourth-tier water-type demonic beasts, the largest exceeding thirty feet in length, with remnants of fourth-tier aura still visible on its skull and horn. More than ten deep-sea corals, entirely azure blue, their branches oozing spiritual energy. Three water spirit mushrooms, their roots intact. Seven inner cores of third-tier water-type demonic beasts, dozens of scales, and several scattered spiritual materials.

Li Yuan sorted the materials—ores, spiritual herbs, and monster materials—according to their grade, and then stored them back into his portable world.

The Sea Eye Maze had taken three days to dismantle its array and then absorbed the boundary core, resulting in considerable depletion. Although most of the spiritual energy within the body had been restored, the walls of the meridians, having just been tempered by the primordial energy, were still adapting to the new level of density.

No rush, let's sort out what we're doing first.

Li Yuan closed his eyes and focused inward.

The nascent soul hovered above the sea of ​​consciousness, its dark golden luster even denser than before entering the Sea Eye Cave, and the spiritual energy patterns within the membrane were even denser.

The Nascent Soul Returning to Origin Method operates smoothly with zero loss in its minor completion stage, slowly refining the quality of spiritual energy in each round.

The demonic energy circulation path of the minor completion stage of the Dark Abyss Demonic Essence Technique is also in operation. Demonic energy and spiritual power are intertwined and mutually reinforcing, pulling and rising together.

The primordial energy of the boundary core continued to be released, benefiting both pathways. The resistance was lower when spiritual energy flowed through the meridians, and the nascent soul absorbed spiritual energy more quickly.

Li Yuan withdrew his internal vision and began to organize the main plot.

There are a few things to keep an eye on regarding the progress of permanentization.

Stardust Spirit Jade, Shattered Starlight, Blue Grade. The condition for permanentization is reaching perfection in third-tier spatial magic. Currently, the user is proficient in Spatial Cutting, Spatial Forbidden Techniques, and Spatial Searching Techniques, and has achieved minor mastery in Spatial Detection Techniques; none are yet at perfection.

Spatial Stabilization Rune, Stabilizes the Domain, Blue Grade. Permanentization requires successfully stabilizing ten different unstable spatial regions; currently, one is underway.

The Nascent Soul Condensation Pill, a blue-grade pill for nurturing the infant spirit, requires the user to have reached mastery of fourth-order alchemy.

The three short-term main paths are clear. Spatial magic requires tempering in a high-pressure environment, and both Shattered Star Valley and Heavenly Balance Domain are suitable; there's no need to make a special trip there in the short term. Progress in stabilizing the Talisman Domain can be made conveniently during daily offering tasks and interdimensional transportation. Mastering fourth-order alchemy requires extensive practical experience.

After sorting things out, Li Yuan took out a high-grade spirit stone from his personal miniature world.

The spirit stones obtained from selling marine spiritual materials in the upper realm have not yet been absorbed, and combined with the previously accumulated stock, the amount of high-grade spirit stones is already quite considerable.

The permanent cultivation attribute of the array core is still active. For every 100 high-grade spirit stones absorbed, the cultivation speed increases by an additional 10%. Currently, about 800 stones have been absorbed, resulting in an additional 80% increase in cultivation speed.

Li Yuan inserted the high-grade spirit stones into his body in batches.

The spiritual energy within the spirit stones was drawn by the cultivation incantations of the array core, and absorbed and transformed along the meridians. Each batch consisted of more than ten stones, spaced half an hour apart, proceeding at a leisurely pace.

One day later, the new batch of spirit stones was absorbed.

The extra cultivation speed has been increased from about 80% to about 90%. It is still about 100 high-grade spirit stones away from the 100% limit.

Li Yuan put away the remaining spirit stones, got up and left his residence.

Ji Wenyuan was already waiting in the market management area.

"Master of the workshop." Ji Wenyuan cupped his hands and handed over two bamboo books.

"The accounts for the previous quarter for Wulin Market and Yunyang Market are all here."

Li Yuan took the bamboo book and turned the pages one by one.

The income of Wulin Market has been steadily increasing, with spirit material shops and pill shops accounting for the majority, followed by ore shops. Yunyang Market has a larger sales volume, with more than three times the customer flow of Wulin. After the two markets started sharing resources, their total revenue has more than doubled compared to before the merger.

The spirit stones were split 40/60, with the Misty Forest taking 40%, resulting in a net increase compared to the previous quarter.

Li Yuan closed the bamboo book.

"What's the problem?"

"There's no major problem," Ji Wenyuan said. "It's just that the demand for pills in Yunyang is rising rapidly, and our supply is struggling to keep up. I'm thinking of finding a few independent alchemists outside to cooperate with long-term. What do you think, Master?"

"Sure. But quality must be strictly controlled; we won't accept anything below medium grade."

"clear."

Ji Wenyuan then reported on a few minor matters: the renewal of shop leases, the selection of locations for two new grocery stores in the surrounding area, and the recent security situation around the market. These were all routine matters, and Li Yuan didn't need to concern himself with them.

After Ji Wenyuan left, Li Yuan walked around the main street of the market.

The three-foot perception passively swept across the shops and stalls on both sides, finding a considerable number of items, most of which showed no fluctuation in their affixes.

Reaching the end of the main street, Li Yuan turned back, transformed into a beam of light, and soared into the sky, heading towards the eastern sea.

Eastern sea area.

The streaking light swept past several islands.

The spiritual material shops on the islands in the sea are small in scale, but offer a wide variety of products. Many aquatic spiritual materials are only produced here and are rarely seen in land markets, let alone in the upper realms.

Li Yuan landed in the market town of the first island.

The island has only two short streets with fewer than twenty shops. Most of the cultivators are at the Foundation Establishment stage, with occasional appearances of Golden Core cultivators.

Li Yuan, disguised as a rogue cultivator, entered the spiritual materials shop.

Seaweed Ganoderma, whole plant with roots, brimming with spiritual energy. The shopkeeper has set the price extremely low; a second-tier quality plant costs only a few low-grade spirit stones.

Li Yuan bought thirty plants.

The Azure Tide Coral, with its dark azure branches adorned with extremely fine spiritual energy threads, ranges in grade from second to third. Second-grade corals are sold in bundles, while third-grade corals are priced individually; even buying them all would only cost a little over a hundred low-grade spiritual coins.

Abyssal Iron Sand, a grayish-black powdery ore, can be used as an auxiliary material for water-based arrays. In the Upper Realm, a single piece of this third-grade low-level material would cost several mid-grade spirit stones, but here a large bag only costs a dozen or so low-grade pieces.

Li Yuan swept all the abyss iron sand out of the shop.

The shopkeeper was an old cultivator in the late Foundation Establishment stage. Seeing his generous spending, he couldn't stop smiling and even took out a few bags from the storeroom.

"If you need anything else, there's a shop on the street behind that specializes in deep-sea spiritual herbs. They have a wider variety than I do."

Thank you.

Li Yuan paid the spirit stones and went to the back street.

The shopkeeper of the Deep Sea Spirit Herb Shop was a female cultivator in the early Golden Core stage. The shop was small, with dozens of kinds of water-based spirit herbs displayed on the shelves. Li Yuan selected them one by one, purchasing dozens of portions of any varieties that had a price difference in the Upper Realm.

After clearing the first island, the light rose and flew towards the next island.

Within half a day, Li Yuan visited five islands.

Seaweed Ganoderma lucidum, Azure Tide Coral, Abyss Iron Sand, Azure Sea Spirit Vine, Nether Tide Stone, remnants of Water Ganoderma lucidum, and the scales and tendons of several third-tier sea monsters were all collected in batches into the user's personal micro-world.

These spiritual materials are extremely cheap in the lower realm seas, but can be worth several times or even ten times more after being transported to the upper realm. Some of them are even in short supply year-round.

After purchasing materials from the five islands, the water-based spiritual materials in my portable world were piled up in a thick layer.

The last island is more remote, and its market town is even smaller, consisting of only a short street.

Li Yuan walked along the street, his three-foot senses sweeping over the stalls on both sides.

As I reached the end of the street, I sensed a very faint fluctuation.

White grade.

The fluctuation originated from a small, unsold general store.

The stall owner was an experienced cultivator in the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. In front of him was a piece of animal hide, on which a dozen or so items were scattered haphazardly: sea stones, seashells, rusty fragments of magical artifacts, and a few low-quality spirit stones.

The ripples came from a fist-sized sea stone in the corner of the stall.

The grayish-white stone surface was stained with seaweed and had an ordinary appearance. A bamboo stick was stuck next to it, with a few low-grade spirit stones written crookedly on it.

Li Yuan took out several low-grade spirit stones from his sleeve and placed them on the animal hide.

"I've bought the sea stone."

The stall owner looked down at the spirit stones, nodded, and accepted them.

Li Yuan squatted down, his fingertips touching the surface of the sea stone.

The white label indicates an improvement in the stability of underwater spiritual energy circulation, which is permanent and can be obtained without completing any quests.

The sea stone dissipated in his palm, and a stream of white light flowed into his body.

A very brief image flashed through my mind. A cultivator was practicing underwater. The circulation of spiritual energy through the water-based meridians was more stable than on land, with fewer impurities interfering. A few subtle insights into the stability of underwater spiritual energy circulation were absorbed into my mind.

The image fades away.

The stability of underwater spiritual energy circulation has been slightly improved.

The effect is minimal, but its advantage lies in its permanent cumulative effect.

The stall owner looked up and was stunned to find that the sea stone was gone.

Li Yuan got up and left, transforming into a streak of light and rushing back towards the land.

About an hour later, the lights of the Misty Forest Market appeared ahead.

Li Yuanlu settled in his residence, and the stone gate was closed.

After sitting cross-legged on the stone platform, he activated the Nascent Soul Returning to Origin Technique.

Although the spiritual energy in the lower realm was sparse, the 108 circuits of the fourth-order Yuan-gathering and spirit-concentrating array within his body were still operating stably, and the bloodline spiritual pattern network was also drawing in the spiritual energy of the environment. The array core's cultivation speed increased by about 90%, the spiritual veins' automatic cultivation and spiritual energy recovery, the meridian-warming and meridian-nourishing spiritual energy circulation accelerated, and the Xuanfu spiritual comprehension's talismanic attainment was transformed and enhanced, all stacked together.

Spiritual energy surges into the body, completing one cycle, and the quality is thus refined.

The zero-loss circuit of the Lesser Completion Stage of the Nascent Soul Return to Origin Method compresses every strand of spiritual energy to an extremely pure level.

Deep within the sea of ​​consciousness, the crimson light core continued to slowly release its primordial energy, silently nourishing the nascent soul and meridians.

The residence quieted down.

The cultivation continues.