Chapter 100 - 97: Spoils of War
Chapter 100: Chapter 97: Spoils of War
After the battlefield was cleaned up, Li Yuan walked over to the corpse of the tall, thin cultivator.
The body lay face down on the gravelly ground, its back a large, charred black patch. It was no longer breathing.
The narrow-bladed longsword that had been tucked at its waist had slipped to the side, the leather strap on its scabbard half burnt through.
Li Yuan squatted down and felt around the corpse’s waist.
A storage pouch was on the left side of the waist, toward the back, pinned underneath the body. Li Yuan rolled the corpse halfway over and untied the storage pouch.
Li Yuan didn’t open it on the spot. He put the storage pouch away and gathered the longsword and the remaining odds and ends from the body.
Returning to the wooden shelter, he had the Lu-surnamed cultivator continue to watch the prisoners while he spread all the spoils of war on a piece of coarse cloth.
First, he poured out the items looted from the prisoners—a dozen or so scattered Spirit Stones, a few bottles of medicinal pills, Magical Artifact parts, ores, herbs, and miscellaneous items.
Then, he opened the tall, thin cultivator’s storage pouch.
The moment the mouth of the pouch was loosened, it was clear the contents were worth more than all the other men’s combined.
Thirty-one Spirit Stones, stacked neatly. Two bottles of medicinal pills; the craftsmanship of the porcelain bottles was a cut above those from the prisoners, and their mouths were meticulously sealed with wax.
A tightly rolled animal hide scroll, tied with a thin cord. A spare short blade of decent quality. There were also a few acceptable-quality ores and some scattered supplementary cultivation materials.
As a leader at the Qi Refining Sixth Level, his wealth was indeed far greater than that of his subordinates.
Li Yuan spread everything out on the coarse cloth, squatted down, and touched each item in sequence, from left to right.
Spirit Stones. A reaction, but they were already equipped.
Ores. He touched them one by one. No reaction.
Herbs. No reaction.
Magical Artifact parts and the spare short blade. No reaction from any of them.
Miscellaneous items. No reaction.
The medicinal pills from the prisoners. First bottle, no reaction. Second bottle, no reaction. Third bottle, no reaction.
The tall, thin cultivator’s medicinal pills.
The moment his fingertip touched the first bottle, the panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected: Qi Blood Pill (Complete)]
[Item Entry Tier: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information cannot be viewed.]
’A white entry.’
Li Yuan set this bottle aside and touched the second one. No reaction.
He was done with the pills. Only one bottle had elicited a reaction.
Li Yuan uncorked the bottle and took a look. Inside were seven small, dark-red pills. Leaning closer, he could smell a faint, bloody scent mixed with that of medicine.
He recorked the bottle and set it aside.
The animal hide scroll was all that was left.
Li Yuan reached out and touched it.
[Equippable Item Detected: Iron Wall Body Refining Skill (Complete)]
[Item Entry Tier: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to you. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information cannot be viewed.]
’White.’
’Two white-entry items from a single battle. Both from the tall, thin cultivator’s storage pouch.’
Li Yuan placed the animal hide next to the Qi Blood Pill, undid the thin cord binding it, and unrolled it to have a look.
The hide’s texture wasn’t refined, and its edges were still rough and untrimmed, but the handwriting was neat.
Iron Wall Body Refining Skill.
On the front were the Cultivation Technique’s general principles and a diagram of its circulation path. On the back were the detailed cultivation steps.
Li Yuan scanned it from beginning to end.
The Cultivation Technique’s method wasn’t complex. It involved channeling Spiritual Power and Qi Blood along specific pathways into the muscles, tendons, and bones, repeatedly scouring and tempering them to gradually strengthen the entire body.
It was an immortal path Body Refining Technique.
Unlike the Nourishing Essence Skill, which focused on the internal circulation of Qi Blood, emphasizing self-generation and fine control, the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill focused on infusion by external force, emphasizing hardness and resistance.
But a problem arose at the third step.
The annotation in the Cultivation Technique stated it clearly: "This step must be supplemented with Bone Tempering Liquid. Otherwise, progress will be extremely slow, and it will be difficult to advance even an inch."
Li Yuan looked at these words for a moment, then rolled the animal hide back up.
Steward Liu was squatting at the other end of the shelter, wiping his chipped shortsword. Li Yuan walked over and presented the animal hide to him.
"This Cultivation Technique, do you know it?"
Steward Liu took it, glanced at the title, and nodded.
"The Iron Wall Body Refining Skill. It’s used by the outer members of the Li family."
He handed the hide back. "It’s nothing rare. This Cultivation Technique is quite widespread among the outer cultivators of the Li family."
"It says it requires Bone Tempering Liquid."
"That’s right." Steward Liu rested the shortsword on his knee. "Only the Li family can concoct that stuff. The formula is exclusive to them. A few of the medicinal ingredients in it are only produced in the Li family’s secret herb garden; you can’t buy them outside."
He brushed the gravel dust off his shortsword.
"That’s why the Li family isn’t afraid of this Cultivation Technique getting out. Even if you get your hands on it, without the Bone Tempering Liquid, you’ll get stuck at the second step. At most, your skin and muscles will get a bit tougher, but your bones won’t change at all."
"Oh, right. They also sell the Bone Tempering Liquid at a high price."
Steward Liu glanced at Li Yuan.
Li Yuan took the animal hide back and didn’t ask any more questions.
Distributing the spoils didn’t take much effort.
In this battle, Li Yuan had single-handedly suppressed and ultimately hunted down the enemy leader. The others had only faced opponents at the third or fourth level of Qi Refining; the difficulty wasn’t in the same league.
The one who contributed the most took the most. No one had any objections.
The thirty-one Spirit Stones from the tall, thin cultivator’s storage pouch, plus the dozen or so from the prisoners, totaled forty-three. Li Yuan took twenty-five, and the remaining eighteen were divided among the others.
Li Yuan took the bottle of Qi Blood Pills for himself. The Iron Wall Body Refining Skill hide also went to Li Yuan.
The other few bottles of pills, the ones without entries, were given to the others. As for the odds and ends like Magical Artifact parts, ores, and herbs, Li Yuan picked a few items, and the rest were divided among the group.
After the distribution was complete, they all dispersed.
Li Yuan carried his share of the spoils back to his small house, closed the door, and sat down by the bed.
First, he took out the Qi Blood Pills.
He placed the porcelain bottle in his palm and focused his mind.
[Equippable Item Detected: Qi Blood Pill (Complete)]
[Entry Preview: Abundant Qi Blood (White) — Increases max Qi Blood by 30%. Increases the physical enhancement effect of Qi Blood by 10%.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Total personal Qi Blood must exceed the average Qi Blood level of a Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beast.]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
Abundant Qi Blood.
Increases max Qi Blood by 30%—equipping it would directly raise his Qi Blood ceiling by thirty percent.
Increases the physical enhancement effect of Qi Blood by 10%—for the same amount of Qi Blood, the strength, speed, and recovery it provided would be ten percent greater.
The permanence condition was for his total Qi Blood to surpass the average Qi Blood of a Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beast.
Tier One Middle Grade Demon Beasts were large, with thick muscles and abundant flesh and blood; their total Qi Blood far exceeded that of a cultivator of the same tier. At his current level, he was still far from that.
Li Yuan set the Qi Blood Pills aside and picked up the animal hide scroll.
[Equippable Item Detected: Iron Wall Body Refining Skill (Complete)]
[Entry Preview: Potency Refinement (White) — Increases the effectiveness of digesting medicinal potency by 20%. Reduces the side effects of medicinal potency by 20%. Makes it easier to expel impurities.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Complete one full Body Tempering cycle with three different formulas of Body Refining elixirs (0/3).]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
Potency Refinement.
Increases the effectiveness of digesting medicinal potency by 20%—after consuming a pill or elixir, the body would absorb twenty percent more of the effective ingredients.
Reduces the side effects of medicinal potency by 20%—negative effects like medicinal toxins, dregs, and Spiritual Power surges would be discounted.
Makes it easier to expel impurities.
The permanence condition was to use three different formulas of Body Refining elixirs to complete one full Body Tempering cycle each.
The Bone Tempering Liquid that came with the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill counted as one, but only the Li family could concoct it. Other Body Refining elixirs existed on the market, but there weren’t many types, and completing a full tempering process meant more than just a single soak.
’Three different kinds, and each cycle has to be completed fully.’
Li Yuan rolled up the animal hide and put it into his storage pouch along with the Qi Blood Pills.
Both white-entry items were practical, but neither had a permanence condition that could be met in the short term.
The Qi Blood Pill would require training, and the Body Refining Technique would require searching.
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on the wooden bed, closed his eyes, and began to circulate his energy.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body from the area of the Spirit Gathering Array. The Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill activated, and his Spiritual Power completed a full cycle through his meridians before sinking into his Dantian.