Chapter 101 - 98: Minor Achievement in the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill
Chapter 101: Chapter 98: Minor Achievement in the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill
That evening, Li Yuan took out the beast hide of the Iron Wall Body Refining Skill from his storage bag. With a thought, he unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill and equipped the new one.
Instantly, a large amount of related information appeared in his mind.
The first step was to draw Spiritual Power from his Dantian and channel it through his meridians into the muscles of his limbs.
Li Yuan executed this step quite smoothly, as all the meridians in his body had already been cleared.
The Spiritual Power instantly squeezed into the gaps between his muscle fibers, moving as slowly as water seeping into dry earth. Every bit of progress consumed a significant amount of Spiritual Power. The muscles in his forearm repeatedly contracted and relaxed under the pressure of the Spiritual Power, and the surface of his skin took on a faint reddish hue.
After the first cycle, his forearm was intensely sore and swollen.
Li Yuan switched to his left arm and went through another cycle. Then he did his legs, chest, abdomen, and back.
Upon completing the first step of the entire Cultivation Technique, all his muscles were aching as if they had been kneaded from the inside out.
But it was having an effect.
Under the repeated infusion of Spiritual Power, his muscles were indeed becoming firmer. Although the change was minuscule, he could feel it.
[Cultivation Technique: Iron Wall Body Refining Skill - Novice (0/200)]
’I’ve reached the Novice stage.’
Li Yuan moved his arm a bit, then continued to circulate the Cultivation Technique for a second time.
This time was noticeably slower.
After the Spiritual Power seeped out of his meridians, the muscles’ absorption rate plummeted. During the first cycle, the Spiritual Power had entered relatively smoothly, but starting from the second, his muscles seemed to be "full." The Spiritual Power couldn’t squeeze in; it just swirled around the surface of the muscle fibers, consuming energy with little effect.
The third cycle was even slower, with progress nearly stagnating.
Li Yuan tried two more times, but the situation didn’t improve at all.
The phrase in the Cultivation Technique’s notes, "extremely slow progress," was certainly no exaggeration.
Without Bone Tempering Liquid to open the deeper absorption channels in the muscles, relying solely on forcing Spiritual Power into them meant he could complete the first half of the first step, but got stuck on the second half.
There was no Bone Tempering Liquid among his spoils, and it was impossible for the mining area to have such a thing.
Li Yuan rolled up the beast hide and put it away. Not wanting to waste any more time on it, he switched back to the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill.
For the next few days, Li Yuan focused his efforts on the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill and Talisman Making.
He underwent Evil Qi Body Tempering once a day, using it in conjunction with the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill to continue clearing the remaining micro-meridians. After reaching the Mastery stage, there weren’t many micro-meridians left, but each one was hidden in an extremely tricky location. Fortunately, after the Evil Qi Body Tempering, the tissues around the micro-meridians would soften for a while. Pushing forward during this window was much faster than dry grinding.
On the night of the fifth day, Li Yuan sat cross-legged, circulating the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill.
Although all the meridians in his body had been cleared, continuing to practice was not without benefit. It further strengthened his meridians and enhanced the overall connection between them.
Just as Spiritual Power was flowing through an extremely fine micro-meridian, all the micro-meridians in his body trembled in unison.
Unlike the resonance when he reached the Mastery stage, this vibration was deeper, more profound, as if some long-taut structure within his body had finally and completely loosened.
Spiritual Power no longer just flowed into the micro-meridians; it had now fully integrated them into the meridian system.
The main meridians, branch meridians, and micro-meridians—these three layers now formed a complete network. Spiritual Power could now travel from his Dantian to every corner of his body simultaneously, with no dead ends and no delays.
The circulation of his Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill underwent a qualitative change.
Previously, for the Spiritual Power to complete one full circulation, it had to first travel through the main meridians, then seep into the branch meridians, and finally, slowly permeate the micro-meridians. Now, with all three layers synchronized, the speed at which Spiritual Power covered his entire body in a single circulation had nearly doubled.
[Cultivation Technique: Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill - Minor Achievement (0/1600)]
Li Yuan slowly ceased his cultivation and exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Spiritual Power flowed through every inch of muscle and every bone in his body. It wasn’t intentionally guided; it happened naturally. As long as the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill was active, Spiritual Power would fill his entire body on its own.
His cultivation efficiency had risen to another level.
A few days later, Li Yuan took thirty Fireball Talismans to the Chen family.
The transaction was swift. After the Chen clan elder inspected the quality of the Talismans, he paid the Spirit Stones on the spot and handed over the scroll for the Rejuvenation Talisman creation method to Li Yuan.
"From now on, I need a batch every half-month, no less than fifty sheets," the Chen clan elder said, pushing the Spirit Stones over.
Li Yuan nodded, took the Spirit Stones and the creation method, and left the Chen family residence.
After returning to the mining area, Li Yuan unrolled the beast hide scroll detailing the method for making the Rejuvenation Talisman.
There was a significant difference between the Rejuvenation Talisman and the Fireball Talisman.
The Fireball Talisman used Fire Spiritual Power, its Spirit Patterns were mainly Fire Gathering Patterns and Detonation Patterns, following a path of violence. The Rejuvenation Talisman used Wood Spiritual Power, its Spirit Patterns were mainly Healing Patterns and nourishing patterns, following a gentle path.
The brush technique was also different. The Spirit Patterns for a Fireball Talisman had to be drawn tightly and layered densely, with heavy force. The Spirit Patterns for a Rejuvenation Talisman had to be spread evenly and spaced out, with light force, and the speed of Spiritual Power infusion also had to be much slower.
Li Yuan spread out a sheet of talisman paper, dipped his brush in Spiritual Ink, and began the first stroke according to the Spirit Pattern layout from the creation method.
The first sheet was a failure. The starting stroke of the Healing Pattern was too heavy, and the Spiritual Power was infused too quickly, causing the pattern on the paper to wrinkle before it could even spread out.
The second sheet was also a failure. The ending point of the nourishing pattern was off, and the Spiritual Power dissipated into a messy blotch on the paper.
On the third attempt, Li Yuan reduced the force of his strokes further and slowed his brush speed to a crawl.
One by one, the Healing Patterns spread out. The Wood Spiritual Power slowly permeated the paper’s surface. The patterns looked as if they were growing inside the talisman paper, their integration with the surface far better than the previous two attempts.
Reaching the final convergence point, Li Yuan held his breath, twisted his wrist slightly, and guided the last nourishing pattern into the Talisman Core.
The Spirit Patterns on the talisman’s surface flashed simultaneously. The light slowly converged from the outside in, finally settling in the Talisman Core and emitting a very faint green glow.
’Success.’
[Talisman: Rejuvenation Talisman - Novice (0/200)]
He’d reached the Novice stage with his first Rejuvenation Talisman.
Li Yuan picked up the Rejuvenation Talisman and looked it over. The uniformity of the patterns was still far from that of his Fireball Talismans, but it was at least a usable product.
Li Yuan set down his talisman brush and glanced at the panel.
The total proficiency of his Talisman Making Skill had increased.
It wasn’t the proficiency for the Rejuvenation Talisman itself, but the overall progress rate of his Talisman Making Skill.
He had been drawing Fireball Talismans for the past few days, and the total proficiency of his Talisman Making Skill had been advancing more and more slowly, with the increase from each sheet diminishing. But today, after switching to the Rejuvenation Talisman and drawing a few, the increase in his total Talisman Making Skill proficiency was significantly higher than what he would have gotten from the same number of Fireball Talismans.
’Making different types of Talismans boosts the overall advancement of the Talisman Making Skill more than specializing in just one.’
Li Yuan committed this to memory and picked up the Rejuvenation Talisman.
His fingertip touched the talisman’s surface.
[Equippable Item Detected: Rejuvenation Talisman (Complete)]
[Entry Preview: Resurging Vitality (White) —— Increases injury recovery speed by 30%]
[Perma-equip Condition Preview: Consume at least five Tier One Low Grade or higher Wood Attribute pills (0/5)]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
’A white entry.’
’Resurging Vitality, increases injury recovery speed. The perma-equip condition is to consume five Tier One Low Grade or higher Wood Attribute pills.’
’Wood Attribute pills.’
The ores from the mines were predominantly Wood Attribute, but pills were another matter. There were no Pill Refiners in the mining area, so Wood Attribute pills could only be purchased from outside.
’Good thing there’s a trade meet coming up.’
Li Yuan put the Rejuvenation Talisman into his storage bag.
「Two days later.」
Li Yuan arrived at the stone hollow for the second time.
The scale of the trade meet was about the same as last time. Twenty to thirty Loose Cultivators were scattered around the area; the stalls and people were the same ones as before. The Chen clan elder was still sitting on the high rock at the very back.
A Loose Cultivator’s stall selling medicinal herbs had a few bottles of pills on display. Li Yuan walked over.
"Do you have any Wood Element pills?"
The stall owner, a woman in her forties, rummaged through the bottles in front of her and pulled out two pills from the back.
"Wood Nourishing Pills, Tier One Low Grade, Wood Attribute. Two Spirit Stones each. I only have two."
Li Yuan took a look. The medicinal fragrance was light, and the quality seemed decent.
"I’ll take both."
After stowing the pills, Li Yuan walked around the area, asking everyone he met if they had any Body Refining elixirs or other Wood Element pills.
"Do you have any Body Refining elixirs? The Li family’s Bone Tempering Liquid, or any other Body Refining elixir formula will do."
He asked five or six people, but they all shook their heads.
Li Yuan nodded and didn’t press the matter.
’A Body Refining elixir will be hard to find in the short term. I’m not in a rush.’
He sold a batch of Talismans. The Cleaning Talismans and Exorcism Talismans were bought up piecemeal by a few Loose Cultivators.
No one bought the Fireball Talismans, however. Last time, the Chen clan elder had bought them all in one go. Since he didn’t make an offer this time, the other Loose Cultivators, with their limited Spirit Stones, were reluctant to spend three stones a piece on a Combat Talisman.
After he finished his buying and selling, the trading in the area gradually died down. The Loose Cultivators began to gather in small groups to chat.
Li Yuan leaned against the stone wall, not deliberately trying to get closer, but he could clearly hear the conversation a few steps away.
A tall, skinny Loose Cultivator was squatting on the ground, hands tucked into his sleeves, a dry blade of grass dangling from his mouth.
"...If only I could reach the Late-stage of Qi Refining. At least then I could protect myself."
A short, stout Loose Cultivator next to him scoffed. "Late-stage Qi Refining? You think that’s safe?"
The tall, skinny Loose Cultivator spat out the grass. "At least it’s better than now. At the Qi Refining Third Level, I can’t even escape if I run into someone from the Li family."
The Chen clan elder on the high rock had opened his eyes at some point and chimed in.
"Even Late-stage Qi Refining isn’t a guarantee."
The gazes of the few Loose Cultivators turned toward him at the same time.
The Chen clan elder leaned against the rock wall, his tone unhurried.
"If you really want to talk about safety, you need to reach Foundation Establishment. After Foundation Establishment, you’re on another level. Neither the Wang family nor the Li family would easily make a move on a Foundation Establishment Cultivator."
The tall, skinny Loose Cultivator gave a bitter smile. "Foundation Establishment... that’s not something you can achieve just by wishing for it."
"It’s not easy," the Chen clan elder didn’t deny.
A young Loose Cultivator next to them hesitated for a moment before asking.
"Elder Chen, I heard your family’s young master is exceptionally talented. Is there any chance that..."
Before he could finish, a slightly older Loose Cultivator beside him quickly pulled his arm and whispered.
"How can you ask about something like that?"
The Chen clan elder waved his hand.
"It’s fine."
He picked up a waterskin beside him, took a sip, and said in a placid tone.
"The Primordial Yang Sect, on the other hand, actually hopes for new Foundation Establishment Cultivators to emerge. Besides, if you want to attempt Foundation Establishment, you can go to the Primordial Yang Sect’s Yunyang Market. They have dedicated grounds and Protectors there."
He paused.
"It’s a pity the chances are slim. My son’s talent isn’t bad, but talent alone isn’t enough for Foundation Establishment. You also need a Foundation Establishment Pill. Without one, it’s all just empty talk."
The short, stout Loose Cultivator tilted his head. "What’s a Foundation Establishment Pill like? I’ve never even seen one."
The Chen clan elder chuckled.
"They come in all kinds. To put it plainly, a Foundation Establishment Pill is just a type of Realm-Breaking Pill that helps a Cultivator break through from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment. It’s just that this threshold is so important that it gets its own name."
He held up three fingers.
"There are roughly three types on the market. The first type is relatively balanced. It increases the success rate of the breakthrough while also reducing the risk of death upon failure. The advantage is its stability; the disadvantage is that it’s not extreme in either direction—the success rate isn’t exceptionally high, nor is the safety exceptionally strong, but at least you get a measure of both."
He raised a second finger.
"The second type leans toward safety. It significantly reduces the mortality rate and the backlash from injury after a failure. After taking it, even if you fail the breakthrough, you’re unlikely to die. At worst, you’ll be injured and can try again after a period of recovery. But the success rate itself isn’t high, so it might take several attempts to succeed."
A third finger.
"The third type is radical. It drastically increases the success rate of the breakthrough, but failure means death. There are no second chances."
The area fell silent for a while.
The tall, skinny Loose Cultivator swallowed hard. "So which type do people usually take?"
The Chen clan elder set his waterskin down.
"Most people can’t afford any of them."
"Even if you could afford one, you don’t get to choose. But most wouldn’t pick the second type."
The few Loose Cultivators were silent for a moment, then each nodded in understanding.
The conversation gradually died down, and some people began to pack up, preparing to leave.
Li Yuan stood up from the stone wall, straightened the items in his sleeves, and walked toward the exit of the stone hollow.