Chapter 93 - 90: Gathering Evil Bowl
Chapter 93: Chapter 90: Gathering Evil Bowl
Over the past few days, his progress with the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill had increased significantly.
After reaching the Mastered stage, the speed at which he could clear micro-meridians had become much faster than during the Adept stage. Previously, he would have to grind away at a single tiny meridian for quite a while. Now, his Spirit Silk only needed to find the entrance and give a push, and most would be cleared within a few breaths.
Fewer and fewer micro-meridians remained blocked.
Late one night, Li Yuan sat cross-legged and circulated the Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill. A strand of Spirit Silk branched out from the Yongquan acupoint on the sole of his right foot, probing toward an extremely fine micro-meridian on the outer part of his foot’s arch.
This micro-meridian was ridiculously short. After the Spirit Silk touched the entrance, it passed through with a push that lasted only half a breath.
Immediately after, another one next to it, and then another.
Three micro-meridians were cleared in succession within the span of a few breaths.
Li Yuan felt a change—not in one specific place, but an extremely faint tremor that occurred throughout his entire body at once.
All the micro-meridians scattered throughout his limbs and bones, from the crown of his head to the soles of his feet, from his fingertips to the depths of his spine, seemed to be tugged by a single string, vibrating gently in unison.
It was extremely brief and extremely light, then it returned to tranquility.
But the feeling after the calm was different from before.
Li Yuan closed his eyes, sensing the flow of Spiritual Power within him.
Previously, when he circulated the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, his Spiritual Power traveled through the main and branch meridians. Although most of the micro-meridians had been cleared, Spiritual Power only seeped into them passively and didn’t flow through them actively.
But now, after his Spiritual Power left his Dantian and completed a circuit through the main meridians, it would automatically seep into every branch and micro-meridian without any need for conscious guidance.
His entire body was saturated with Spiritual Power.
It wasn’t the previous feeling of being mostly saturated, but a complete saturation with no blind spots.
Before, there were always a few dark spots—the locations of the uncleared micro-meridians. When Spiritual Power reached them, it would flow around them, like a river bypassing a stone. Now, all the dark spots were gone. The Spiritual Power flowed wherever it went, without detours or stagnation.
The panel appeared.
[Cultivation Technique: Microelement Meridian Introduction Skill - Mastered (498/800)]
But Li Yuan paid no mind to his mastery progress. His attention fell elsewhere.
With a thought, he took the Vein-Expanding Talisman he had made earlier out of his sleeve.
He unequipped the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill and equipped the Vein-Expanding Talisman.
[Condition to make Vein-Expanding (White) trait permanent has been met]
[Make permanent?]
Li Yuan thought.
’Yes.’
[Permanence successful]
[Vein-Expanding (White) has become a permanent trait]
[Equipment consumed]
The talisman paper in his fingers dissolved into a faint light and entered his body.
The next instant, all the meridians in his body swelled slightly.
It wasn’t the kind of swelling from being forcefully stretched open. Instead, it was like a riverbed silently widening by an inch—the water current was the same, but its flow was smoother, and the channel could now hold a greater volume.
The Spiritual Power circulated once through the widened meridians, its speed slightly faster than before.
Li Yuan clenched his fist, feeling the sensation of Spiritual Power flowing through his meridians.
Li Yuan put away the panel and, without lingering, turned to his desk.
Several sheets of talisman paper were still spread out on the desk. The Spirit Ink Bottle sat in a corner, and the talisman brush rested on its stand.
His talisman-making materials were almost gone. Only a few thin sheets of Cyan Pattern Paper remained, along with half a bottle of Spiritual Ink, though he still had a stack of ordinary yellow talisman paper.
Li Yuan picked up the talisman brush, dipped it in Spiritual Ink, and began to draw a Fireball Talisman on one of the last few sheets of Cyan Pattern Paper.
The first one was drawn in a single, fluid motion. His wrist movements were precise as the Fire Gathering Patterns overlapped, and the Talisman Core was completed with clean, decisive strokes.
The second one was just as smooth.
On the third, as the final stroke was laid down, the Spirit Patterns on the talisman’s surface flashed simultaneously. The light converged from the outside in, finally settling into the Talisman Core.
Compared to his previous finished products, the Spirit Patterns on this talisman were more uniform, its luster deeper. The Talisman Core faintly exuded a layer of restrained fiery intent.
The panel appeared.
[Fireball Talisman: Mastered (0/800)]
’I’ve mastered it.’
Li Yuan picked up the Fireball Talisman and examined it.
When compared to the Fireball Talismans he had drawn when he was just a beginner, the difference was night and day.
He finished drawing on the remaining sheets of Cyan Pattern Paper, producing three finished talismans from four attempts.
Li Yuan took stock of all his finished Talismans.
He had accumulated a decent number over the past few days.
Twenty-three Fireball Talismans, around forty Cleaning Talismans, about thirty Exorcism Talismans, and a dozen or so Warning Talismans.
His materials were almost used up, too. It was a good time to sell a batch.
The marketplace was less bustling than it had been a few days ago.
The stalls on both sides of East Street were not as crowded. A few temporary sheds set up by itinerant merchants had been dismantled, making the walkways much wider. However, the usual crowd was still there. Vendors selling medicinal herbs, ore materials, and Talismans remained at their respective spots, though their shouts were not as loud as before.
The few shops belonging to the Primordial Yang Sect hadn’t left, however. Their doors were open, and attendants in pale yellow robes stood at the entrances. Passing Loose Cultivators would occasionally go inside to take a look.
Li Yuan first went to Wu’s Talisman Shop.
When the Shopkeeper saw Li Yuan enter carrying a stack of Talismans, he immediately stood up.
Li Yuan placed the Cleaning Talismans and Warning Talismans on the counter in two separate stacks.
"Forty-three Cleaning Talismans and fourteen Warning Talismans."
The Shopkeeper picked up the top Cleaning Talisman and flipped it over. He then pulled out a few more and held them up to the light to inspect the quality of their Spirit Patterns.
"The quality is about average. Some are a little better, some a little worse," the Shopkeeper muttered before stacking the Talismans neatly.
"Ten Spirit Stones in total."
Li Yuan nodded and accepted the Spirit Stones.
After leaving Wu’s, he followed an alley to Talisman Master Lu’s residence.
Talisman Master Lu was drawing a talisman at his desk. When he saw Li Yuan push the door open, he set down his brush.
Li Yuan placed the Fireball Talismans and Exorcism Talismans he had drawn over the past few days on the desk.
Talisman Master Lu picked up the top Fireball Talisman and looked it over, his gaze pausing for a moment on its surface.
He flipped through a few more, his fingers tracing lightly over the Spirit Patterns.
Talisman Master Lu placed the Talismans back on the desk. His gaze lingered on Li Yuan’s hands for a moment, but he didn’t ask anything.
"Fifty Spirit Stones in total."
Li Yuan didn’t haggle.
Fifty Spirit Stones were stacked on the desk. Talisman Master Lu pushed them over in piles, and Li Yuan counted them before putting them away in his storage pouch.
They felt heavy in his pouch. This was his single largest earning since he’d transmigrated.
Of course, he had also spent many Spirit Stones on talisman-making materials. Furthermore, he had been operating at a loss before, and only now was he barely making a profit. All in all, he was still down some Spirit Stones.
’But it will be different from now on. I can finally earn Spirit Stones steadily.’
After leaving Talisman Master Lu’s place, Li Yuan didn’t hurry back to his residence. He strolled along East Street toward the northern alleys.
He needed to restock his talisman-making materials and wanted to see if there was anything else useful available.
In the stall area in the middle of East Street, Li Yuan walked and browsed, his fingers occasionally touching items at the roadside stalls.
Most of them elicited no reaction.
As he passed a Loose Cultivator’s stall selling miscellaneous goods, Li Yuan’s steps faltered.
The items on this stall were a motley collection: a few mediocre-quality ores, two bottles of an unknown medicinal liquid, a pair of worn-out iron shears, and, sitting in a corner, a small, dark gray bowl.
The bowl wasn’t large, only about the size of a fist, and looked like some kind of container.
Li Yuan reached out and picked up the bowl.
The moment his fingertips touched the bowl’s surface, the panel popped up.
[Equippable item detected: Gathering Evil Bowl (Intact)]
[Item Trait Level: White]
[Note: Item does not belong to user. Cannot be equipped. Detailed information cannot be viewed.]
’A White trait.’
Li Yuan turned the bowl over to look at the symbol on the bottom, which was obscured by grime. He scraped at it with his fingernail, revealing a crookedly scrawled character for "Evil."
"What is this?" Li Yuan asked, holding up the bowl to the stall owner.
The owner was a skinny Loose Cultivator in his fifties who had been dozing with his head tilted. He opened his eyes at the sound and glanced at the bowl in Li Yuan’s hand.
"A Gathering Evil Bowl. It’s used to collect Evil Qi."
He sat up a little straighter and gestured toward the bowl.
"After you inject it with Spiritual Power, you just place it somewhere with Evil Qi, and the qi will be sucked into the bowl. Once it’s full, you seal it and sell it to Artifact Refiners or Alchemists. They can use it as a supplementary material."
"How much?"
"Five Spirit Stones." The stall owner held up one hand. "This thing is rare. The person who made it wasn’t very skilled, so the quality is just average, but its biggest advantage is that it works."
"Three."
The stall owner clicked his tongue, hesitating for two breaths.
"Four. Can’t go any lower."
Li Yuan didn’t bargain further. He took out four Spirit Stones from his storage pouch and placed them on the stall’s cloth.
The owner took the Spirit Stones, and Li Yuan put the Gathering Evil Bowl into his storage pouch.
After walking a few steps, Li Yuan turned into a quiet side alley and took the bowl out of his storage pouch.
[Equippable item detected: Gathering Evil Bowl (Intact)]
[Trait Preview: Evil Qi Body Tempering (White) — Actively absorbs Evil Qi to temper the physical body, increasing resistance to various types of negative energy and slightly strengthening the physique.]
[Permanence Condition Preview: Accumulate one unit of Evil Qi for Body Refining. The required amount will decrease in proportion to the quality of the Evil Qi absorbed (0/1).]
[Current equipment slots are full (3/3). Replace a currently equipped item?]
’Evil Qi Body Tempering.’
’Use Evil Qi for Body Refining, increase resistance to negative energy, and strengthen my physique.’
’The condition for making it permanent is to absorb one unit of Evil Qi.’
One unit was roughly equivalent to a cubic meter.
Li Yuan turned the bowl over in his hands. The few Spirit Patterns on its surface felt slightly cool under his fingertips.
A cubic meter wasn’t a small amount, but it wasn’t excessively large either.
’It’s just that Evil Qi is a bit hard to collect. The Evil Qi from Old Sun’s Evil Essence Pills is probably not enough.’
Li Yuan put the Gathering Evil Bowl back into his storage pouch, walked out of the side alley, and continued along East Street toward the northern alleys.
’I still need to buy another batch of talisman-making materials.’