Cultivation: I can solidify equipment attributes

Upon learning that he would be leaving in two or three days, Li Yuan did not delay.

The next morning, Li Yuan went to Master Yu's residence, but found that Master Yu was not there.

Li Yuan didn't wait long and turned to walk towards Master Lu.

The door to Master Lu's room was open.

Li Yuan knocked on the door frame twice, and a voice inside said, "Come in."

Pushing open the door, Li Yuan saw Master Lu sitting behind a table cutting talisman paper, with several small porcelain bottles that had just been sealed beside him. Upon seeing Li Yuan, he put down his knife and raised his chin.

"What is it?"

"I'm going out in a couple of days." Li Yuan walked to the table and stopped. "Do you have any protective combat talismans?"

Master Lu hummed in agreement, bent down and rummaged through the wooden box under the table, taking out a few talismans and placing them on the table.

"Two Fire Serpent Talismans, three Golden Knife Talismans... all of them are mid-to-low grade first rank."

Li Yuan picked up a Fire Serpent Talisman and looked at it, then flipped through the Golden Knife Talisman.

The quality is decent, but the power is what it is—a mid-grade first rank. My current cultivation level is the sixth level of Qi Refining, and with the added benefits of the Spiritual Power Condensation and other attributes, these talismans only have the advantage of being quick to cast.

"Do you have any top-tier Tier 1 items?"

Master Lu shook his head.

"I can't make a first-grade high-quality talisman; my talisman skills and cultivation are a bit lacking."

He paused, then tapped his finger on the table.

"However, I have several special first-tier mid-grade combat talismans, which are much more powerful than ordinary mid-grade ones, approaching the level of first-tier high-grade ones."

Li Yuan glanced at him.

"How do I approach them?"

"The structure of the spirit runes is more complex than that of ordinary mid-grade runes, and the path of the runes is also different." Master Lu pulled out a thin booklet from the depths of the wooden box, turned to a page, and showed it to Li Yuan.

It depicts the direction of a spirit rune, which is nearly twice as dense as the runes on a regular fire serpent talisman, with special converging techniques marked at several key nodes.

"The problem is that this kind of talisman has extremely high requirements for the paper it can withstand." Master Lu closed the booklet. "Ordinary first-grade mid-level talisman paper can't withstand it. As soon as spiritual energy is poured in, the paper explodes. To ensure a high success rate, you have to use first-grade high-level talisman paper to draw it."

"A high-grade first-tier talisman paper?"

"That's right." Master Lu nodded. "Among plant-based talismans, the price of a first-grade high-quality one is not low. If you want me to make one, it will cost quite a few spirit stones."

Li Yuan remained silent for a moment, then took out a roll of animal hide from his sleeve and spread it out on the table.

The belly skin of the grayish-blue lizard is soft and tough with fine texture.

"Will this work?"

Master Lu reached out and pressed the leather surface, then lifted a corner and held it up to the light to check its thickness.

"Cracked Horn Lizard belly skin, top-grade Tier 1." The talisman master Lu put down the animal hide and thought for a moment. "It's usable. Animal hide talisman paper and plant talisman paper are different, but the latter has a stronger load-bearing capacity, so drawing this kind of talisman won't be a problem."

Lu Fushi changed the subject.

"However, my skill in making talisman paper from animal hides is still in its early stages, and the success rate is not high. Moreover, this piece of hide is not large, so the amount of talisman paper that can be cut out is limited."

"First, I make the leather into talisman paper, and then I draw the talisman. It's hard to say how many finished products I can produce in the end, even if I combine the two steps."

"It's alright." Li Yuan pushed the animal hide forward a bit. "We'll take whatever we can get."

Master Lu nodded and did not refuse again.

"The fees will be charged as usual. The costs for leather processing, talisman drawing, and materials will be calculated separately. You will provide the animal hide, and I will provide the spirit ink and auxiliary materials. The hide will be valued at twelve spirit stones based on its market price to offset part of the cost, and you will make up the rest in spirit stones."

Lu Fushi counted on his fingers.

Li Yuan went over it in his mind and nodded.

"OK."

Lu Fushi put the animal hide away, rolled it up, and placed it on the shelf behind him.

"When are you leaving?"

"At most three days."

"Then I'll hurry."

By the time I got back to my lodgings, the sun was already setting.

Li Yuan bolted the door and sat cross-legged by the bed.

Instead of rushing to make talismans, he first activated the Micro-Element Guiding Meridian Technique.

Spiritual energy rose from his dantian, traveled along the main meridian, and then Li Yuan began to separate spiritual threads.

A wisp of extremely fine spiritual energy detached from the edge of the main meridian and probed towards a barely perceptible vein below the left rib.

When he started practicing yesterday, he only managed to open up a small section of the shoulder and back area. Today, he changed his approach and tried opening up the rib area.

As soon as the ethereal thread touched the entrance of the thin vein, it felt resistance.

It's not the kind of blockage that's hard against the surface; it's more like a thin film blocking the way. When spiritual energy pushes it up, it shrinks inward but doesn't break.

Li Yuan did not force it. Instead, he followed the method of the technique, pressing the tip of the spiritual thread even thinner and grinding it in little by little.

Time passes slowly.

The spiritual silk repeatedly rubbed against that thin membrane, pushing it forward inch by inch. A very faint soreness and distension came from under the ribs; it didn't hurt, but one could clearly feel something being stretched open.

After an unknown amount of time, the thin film suddenly softened.

The silk thread burrowed inside.

It only went in a very short distance, narrower than a fingernail, but it did indeed pass through a thin line.

Li Yuan didn't stop. Taking advantage of the moment when this thin vein was opened, he separated a second strand of spiritual thread and probed towards another, even thinner branch.

This one is more difficult than the previous one.

The spiritual thread tried to push in several times but failed. Finally, Li Yuan pushed his spiritual power to the limit, making it so thin that it was almost imperceptible, and only then did he barely touch the inner wall of the vein.

After some more effort, the second and third lines also worked.

Li Yuan slowly finished his practice and exhaled a long breath.

A thin layer of sweat glistened on my forehead, and my fingertips felt slightly numb.

He closed his eyes and felt it for a moment.

The flow of spiritual energy within my body was indeed slightly greater than before—only a tiny, negligible amount.

The two newly opened meridians are extremely thin, and can only bear a pitifully small amount of spiritual energy. However, they are indeed connected to the overall spiritual energy circulation. When the Hundred Meridians Returning to Origin Technique is activated, the spiritual energy passing through those two meridians will bring out a very faint warmth before flowing into the dantian.

The growth is almost negligible.

But the path is open.

As long as you keep grinding and opening up one meridian at a time, little by little, you can gradually open up all the meridians and achieve permanent meridian expansion.

Moreover, during this process, one's total spiritual power will also increase, although not much, but every little bit helps.

Li Yuan opened his eyes, moved his fingers, got up from the bedside and walked to the table.

The talisman paper and spirit ink were still there, and the unfinished talismans from yesterday were piled up on the corner of the table.

Li Yuan sat down, spread out a piece of blue-patterned paper, picked up a talisman brush, dipped it in ink, and began to draw the Returning Origin Talisman.

The Returning Essence Talisman is finer than the Golden Armor Talisman. It is clearly written on the talisman maker's method paper that the key to this talisman lies entirely in the talisman's core—the moment when spiritual energy circulates must be completely contained without any leakage, otherwise the effect of replenishing spiritual energy will be greatly reduced.

Li Yuan picked up his pen and put it down.

The first few spiritual runes were laid out smoothly, but they began to thin in the middle, with the tip of the brush tracing inward spirals on the talisman paper. The transmission of spiritual energy from the fingertips to the brush tip became increasingly difficult to control, with each spiral tighter than the last.

We've reached the location of the talisman's core.

Li Yuan slightly turned his wrist, drawing his spiritual energy inward.

The pen tip paused in the center of the paper, and the spiritual energy did not disperse as it had before, but was steadily pressed into the core of the talisman.

The spiritual patterns on the paper lit up simultaneously, the light converging from the outside in and finally gathering at the center of the talisman before disappearing in a flash.

Li Yuan picked up his pen and looked at the talisman.

The talisman was calm, the spiritual patterns were contained, there was no smoke, and the paper was not torn.

It became.

The panel then appeared.

[Equipable item detected: Rejuvenation Charm (Complete)]

[Entry Preview: Spiritual Energy Resurgence (White) - Increases spiritual energy recovery speed by 20%]

[Preview of Permanentization Conditions: Maintain a state of abundant spiritual energy for forty-eight hours]

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

Li Yuan held the Rejuvenation Talisman between his fingers, examined it for a couple of breaths, and then placed it on the table.

Spiritual energy resurgence increases the speed of spiritual energy recovery by 20%.

The conditions for permanentization are not difficult, but I don't have the time right now.

Li Yuan carefully put away the Returning Yuan Talisman and stacked it together with the other talismans he had made earlier.

The sky outside the window had completely darkened.