Chapter 128 - 124: Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill
Chapter 128: Chapter 124: Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill
That morning, Li Yuan spread out his last stack of Cyan Pattern Paper and drew three Fireball Talismans. Two were successful, and one was a failure.
As he placed his talisman brush back on the desk, he glanced at the materials on the corner of the table.
The Cyan Pattern Paper was all gone. There was less than half a bottle of Spiritual Ink left, the cinnabar was almost depleted, he only had two sheets of gray paper for Concealing Breath Talismans, and he hadn’t touched the single sheet of golden Spirit Refining Talisman paper.
The materials wouldn’t last until the next resupply.
Li Yuan stacked the finished talismans, left his stone house, and walked toward the west side of the courtyard.
Captain Wang was standing under a wooden shed, looking through a roster. He Shou was squatting beside him, and the two were cross-referencing something.
Li Yuan walked over, waited for He Shou to finish his sentence, and then spoke.
"The materials are almost gone."
Captain Wang looked up.
"How long?"
"I’ll probably run out in a day or two."
Captain Wang nodded and looked at Li Yuan.
"What else do you need?"
Li Yuan listed the quantities. Three hundred sheets of Cyan Pattern Paper, eight bottles of general-purpose Spiritual Ink, two boxes of cinnabar, fifty sheets of gray paper for Concealing Breath Talismans, and two bottles of dark silver Spiritual Ink.
Captain Wang noted each item down and waved over a Cultivator from the guard squad.
He handed over the paper in his hand.
"Take this to the Talisman Hall. Talisman crafting materials, make it a rush order."
The Cultivator acknowledged the order and quickly walked out of the courtyard gate.
"They’ll be delivered together later. Also, see if you’re missing anything else. We can request it all at once."
"Nothing for now."
Captain Wang grunted in acknowledgment and went back to looking through the roster.
After finishing the last batch of Talismans and handing them to He Shou, Li Yuan left the outpost.
He had no materials to draw with this afternoon, so it was a good opportunity to take a stroll through the market district.
East Street was even more crowded than his last visit. There were almost no empty stalls, and some people had even set up temporary booths at the mouths of alleys, with sellers of herbs, ores, and miscellaneous goods all packed together.
Li Yuan walked slowly along East Street, his fingers occasionally touching the items at the roadside stalls.
Most of them had no reaction.
He continued forward.
In the northern part of East Street’s central section, there was a stall run by a Loose Cultivator specializing in Cultivation Techniques and Magic.
The stall owner was a man in his fifties. On a coarse cloth spread out before him were about ten bamboo scrolls and a few thin booklets, with a small wooden plaque next to each item displaying its name and price.
Li Yuan crouched down, his gaze sweeping over everything.
Most of it was common stuff. Basic Skills for circulating Spiritual Power, introductory booklets for Low Tier Magic, and a few rudimentary Body Refining Techniques. The prices ranged from two or three Spirit Stones to around ten.
Li Yuan’s gaze paused on a thin booklet.
The booklet wasn’t thick. It had a brown paper cover with five words written in ink: Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill.
The wooden plaque beside it listed the price: five Spirit Stones.
Li Yuan reached out, picked it up, and flipped through it.
The first few pages contained the general outline of the technique.
The Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill was a type of healing Magic, but it was different from ordinary Healing Skills. Its core function was to clear out invasions of foreign spiritual power from the body.
Whether one was injured by the Evil Qi of a demonic cultivator, infected by the Poisonous Spiritual Power of a Poisonous Demon Beast, or suffering from chaotic Spiritual Power due to conflicting pills, this Magic could be used to alleviate the condition.
Its effectiveness on external wounds was very limited; it merely boosted a Cultivator’s own recovery ability as a side effect of clearing out the foreign spiritual power.
Li Yuan flipped to the last few pages, which detailed the specific cultivation methods and the paths for circulating Spiritual Power.
The Magic wasn’t complex, and the barrier to entry was not high.
He closed the booklet and placed his fingertip on the cover.
The panel popped up.
[Equippable Item Detected]
[Item Trait Tier: White]
[Note: Not your personal item. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information cannot be viewed.]
’A White Trait.’
Li Yuan placed the booklet back on the stall’s surface.
"This one, five?"
The stall owner opened his eyes and glanced at the booklet Li Yuan was pointing to.
"Five."
Li Yuan took five Spirit Stones from his sleeve and placed them on the cloth.
The stall owner swept the Spirit Stones into his sleeve and went back to dozing.
Li Yuan put the booklet into his storage bag, got up, and continued along East Street.
As he rounded the corner of North Alley, someone walked toward him.
His steps weren’t fast, but they were steady.
He wore a cyan robe, and his aura was calm and restrained. The short beard on his chin was a bit longer than before.
Wang De.
Wang De saw him too and stopped.
The two of them stood still at the alley’s entrance.
Wang De’s face was thinner than the last time they’d met, making his cheekbones more prominent and his eyes seem deeper. But his gaze hadn’t changed; it still held that same impassive calm.
His aura was still that of the Qi Refining Seventh Level.
Wang De spoke, skipping the pleasantries and getting straight to the point.
"The situation has changed."
Li Yuan looked at him.
"The Primordial Yang Sect has stepped in to apply pressure again."
Wang De lowered his voice slightly. "They’re not taking sides; they’re putting pressure on both. No large-scale battles, no using forces at or above the Foundation Establishment level, and no fighting within the market district. Anyone who breaks the rules will be dealt with directly by the Primordial Yang Sect."
"Of course, actions by the guard squads don’t count as fighting in the market district, so you need to be careful."
He paused.
"Neither the Wang family nor the Li family dares to openly defy them. So now it’s become a war of attrition."
"What kind of attrition?"
"Small squads skirmishing with each other." Wang De gestured vaguely on the wall with his finger. "You send a few people over to harass us, I send a few to intercept. We clash every few days. A few die, a few get injured, and neither side gains a major advantage."
He pulled his hand back.
"It’s a drain on manpower, resources, and Spirit Stones. Whoever can’t hold out first will be forced to concede."
Li Yuan grunted.
’No wonder the guard squad’s Talisman consumption is so high. They aren’t fighting a major war; they’re caught in a constant, small-scale drain. Every patrol, every skirmish on the periphery, uses up Talismans and pills.’
Wang De added one more thing.
"The Wang family’s foundation is a bit stronger than the Li family’s, but not by much. And who knows if the Li family has other backers."
He glanced at Li Yuan.
"You’re a Talisman Master for the guard squad, which is more or less a rear-line position. But if this war of attrition drags on, the rear lines might not be safe either. Keep your wits about you."
After speaking, Wang De nodded to Li Yuan and turned to walk deeper into North Alley.
Li Yuan watched his back disappear around the corner of the alley, stood there for two breaths, then turned and walked back toward the outpost.
’A war of attrition.’
’With the Primordial Yang Sect keeping them in check, neither family dares to truly tear things apart, but they won’t stop either. This stalemate could last a long time.’
’For me, the most direct impact was that my talisman-crafting assignments wouldn’t decrease; they would only increase.’
Back in his quarters, Li Yuan closed the door.
He took the Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill booklet from his storage bag and placed it on the desk.
He placed his fingertip on the cover.
[Equippable Item Detected: Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill (Complete)]
[Trait Preview: Foreign Power Resistance (White) — Increases resistance to foreign spiritual power by 30%.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Learn one Magic from each of the five elements to the introductory level.]
[Current equipment slots are full (5/5). Replace a currently equipped item?]
’A White Trait, Foreign Power Resistance.’
’A thirty percent increase in resistance to foreign spiritual power. When eroded by Poisonous Spiritual Power or conflicting elemental spiritual power, my body’s tolerance would be thirty percent higher than an ordinary person’s.’
’The permanence condition is to learn one Magic from each of the five elements to the introductory level. Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth—I had to learn one Magic of each element and practice it to the introductory level.’
’I’ve already learned several Fire Element Magic skills to the introductory level.’
’I currently have none for the Wood Element. None for the Metal Element. None for the Earth Element.’
’As for the Water Element, I’m not sure if the Ice Cone Skill counts. If not, I still need four more.’
’No need to rush.’
’I won’t equip this trait for now. First, I’ll learn the Magic itself.’
Li Yuan opened the booklet and began reading from the general outline.
The Spiritual Power circulation path for the Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill wasn’t complicated. The core was to refine one’s own Spiritual Power into a "purified state," then channel it into the afflicted area to strip away the foreign spiritual power.
Li Yuan sat down cross-legged and tried to circulate his power according to the paths in the booklet.
With his current Cultivation at the Qi Refining Seventh Level, Li Yuan picked it up quickly.
He drew Spiritual Power from his Dantian and guided it along a special meridian path for half a cycle.
On the first attempt, the flow of Spiritual Power was sluggish in two places, getting stuck for a moment where the meridian bent.
Li Yuan made some adjustments and tried again.
The second time was a little smoother than the first.
The third time, the fourth time.
By the fifth attempt, the flow of Spiritual Power along the purification path was already mostly smooth.
The panel popped up.
[Magic: Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill - Introductory (0/200)]
’Introductory level achieved.’
Li Yuan closed the booklet and put it in his storage bag.
After reaching the introductory level of the healing art, he didn’t continue practicing it.
’The core function of this Magic is to clear out foreign spiritual power; its effect on external wounds is limited. Reaching the introductory level is good enough. The returns for pushing it further aren’t great, so it’s not worth spending too much time on it.’
’The permanence condition for the Heart-lock Talisman is to cultivate a healing Magic to the perfection stage. Although the Spirit Cleansing Body Purification Skill can barely be considered a healing art, reaching the perfection stage is still a long way off.’
’I’ll deal with it later when I have time.’
Li Yuan sat cross-legged on his bed plank and began circulating the Spirit-Introducing Skill.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body. Pure Spiritual Power purged the impurities, and condensed Spiritual Power sank into his Dantian. The spiritual tide was constantly working in the background, slowly replenishing the Spiritual Power he had consumed making talismans during the day.
Outside the window, the sky darkened, and the Cultivators on night watch at the outpost began to change shifts.
From the direction of the distant market district came the intermittent barking of dogs, which, along with the faint glow of Spirit Lamps, faded into the night.