Origin Condensation Art

Over the next few days, demonic beast activity plummeted. There were more than half fewer traces along the patrol routes than before. Occasionally, the Spirit Detection Disk caught one or two faint ripples of spiritual energy, but they merely flashed by in the distance without lingering.

The Wang Family cultivators were entering and leaving the main camp with increasing frequency. Sometimes footsteps could even be heard in the middle of the night, but no one informed the outer members of what they were doing or what they had discovered.

Five days later, the rotation cycle arrived.

Li Yuan's team was relieved and returned to the market for three days of rest.

He Shou remained at the main camp to handle the handover. Li Yuan led Xu Mao, Liu Ping, and Chen Qi along the dirt road toward the market.

After walking for less than half an hour, the market walls came into view.

The grayish-brown earthen walls looked somewhat weathered beneath the afternoon sun. Two guards stood at the East Gate. Seeing the Patrol Uniforms and waist tokens on the four men, they nodded and let them through.

Once inside the market, the streets were even less crowded than they had been half a month ago.

Several stalls along East Street stood empty, though the usual vendors were still there. Sellers of talismans, herbs, and miscellaneous goods remained at their usual spots. The buyers had left, but so had the sellers, and their overall earnings remained much the same as before.

The four men parted ways at the entrance to East Street, each going to handle his own affairs.

Li Yuan headed straight for the Management Office.

The same clerk sat behind the first-floor counter, his head lowered as he wrote something.

Li Yuan handed over his waist token. "Register my patrol record and collect my allowance."

The clerk took the token, opened the register to find Li Yuan's entry, checked the number of patrol days and mission records, then wrote down several lines.

"Half a month. Six Spirit Stones in allowance."

The clerk took a cloth pouch and an officially stamped voucher from beneath the counter and handed them over.

Li Yuan accepted them, tucked the Spirit Stones into his sleeve, folded the voucher, and slipped it into his belt.

Leaving the Management Office, Li Yuan followed West Street toward North Alley. The crude cloth awning at the end of North Alley was still there.

Old Zhang sat beneath the awning. Several Cleaning Talismans and two Fireball Talismans lay on the stall before him, far fewer than before.

Li Yuan stopped in front of the stall.

Old Zhang looked up. When he saw Li Yuan, he squeezed out a faint smile.

"Fellow Daoist Li, it's been many days."

"I went out on patrol for a while." Li Yuan crouched before the stall and swept his gaze over the talismans. "How's business?"

Old Zhang shook his head and sighed.

"About the same as before, but expenses are higher now."

Old Zhang picked up a Fireball Talisman, turned it over, then set it down again.

"Still, compared to others, I'm doing fairly well."

Li Yuan nodded without replying.

Old Zhang was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Fellow Daoist Li, what exactly is happening outside now? Are there really more and more demonic beasts?"

"There are more than before, but they've decreased again these past few days," Li Yuan answered truthfully. "The exact situation is still under investigation."

Old Zhang grunted and lowered his head to fiddle with the talismans on his stall. Only after a while did he speak again, his voice several degrees lower.

"My grandson—you've seen him. He's in his teens, and his Spiritual Root isn't bad. He studies talisman drawing with me in the market."

Li Yuan did remember him. He had occasionally seen a half-grown boy beside Old Zhang's stall, skinny and tall, with bright eyes.

"That child has been clamoring to go out and make his way in the world lately. He says there's no future staying in the market and wants to go outside to see the world." Old Zhang rubbed his hands together. "I've stopped him several times. He agrees with his mouth, but his heart won't accept it."

Old Zhang raised his head to look at Li Yuan, hesitating for a moment.

"Fellow Daoist Li, what do you think... about leaving here for another market? The Li Family Market, for example. I heard they're expanding it and allowing us to set up stalls there."

"The road isn't safe." Li Yuan thought for a moment.

"It's nearly a hundred li from here to the Li Family Market, and more than half the route is wilderness. The range of demonic beast activity has expanded considerably lately. You could encounter anything on the road."

Old Zhang's brow furrowed even tighter.

"It might not be any better once you get there," Li Yuan added. "The Li Family Market is farther from the Yuanheng Mountains, but more Rogue Cultivators have gone there, so the competition is fierce. Stall fees won't be cheap."

Old Zhang nodded and said nothing more, merely lowering his head to continue fiddling with the talismans.

Li Yuan rose to his feet, exchanged a greeting with Old Zhang, then turned and left North Alley.

Hidden Merit Pavilion.

The Stone Tower entrance looked as it always had. The cultivator guarding the first floor sat with his eyes closed in meditation. Hearing footsteps, he opened his eyes, glanced at Li Yuan's waist token, and nodded slightly.

After asking the usual questions, Li Yuan entered the Scripture Pavilion and went up to the second floor.

The shelves of spell manuals were far neater than those holding mundane cultivation techniques. The booklets were in good condition, and a wooden tag was inserted before each one, listing its name, grade, and the Contribution Points required for exchange.

Li Yuan started from the first row, resting his palm lightly against the edge of the shelf and slowly sliding it forward.

The first row held offensive spells.

His palm slid past, but the Panel did not react.

He moved to the second booklet. Still nothing.

The third booklet—

[Equippable item detected]

[Item Affix Grade: Gray]

[Note: This item does not belong to you. It cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

Gray. Li Yuan glanced at the wooden tag—Stone Splitting Art, an offensive spell, twelve Contribution Points.

He continued feeling his way down the row.

The fourth booklet did not react. Neither did the fifth. Then the sixth—

[Equippable item detected]

[Item Affix Grade: White]

[Note: This item does not belong to you. It cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

White. The wooden tag read: Wind Blade Art, offensive spell, eight Contribution Points.

Li Yuan's brows shifted slightly. The Wind Blade Art only required eight Contribution Points, one-third less than the Stone Splitting Art, yet its Affix Grade was higher.

He continued onward.

The seventh booklet had a Gray Trait—Toxic Miasma Art, twenty Contribution Points.

The twenty-point Toxic Miasma Art was gray, while the eight-point Wind Blade Art was white.

Li Yuan checked several more booklets, and the pattern became increasingly unclear.

Some spell manuals had no reaction at all. Some basic spells instead had White Traits, while some spells of higher grade and greater cost only had Gray Traits.

There was no correlation whatsoever between an Affix Grade and a spell's own grade or price.

Li Yuan finished feeling through the entire first row. Five booklets had reacted in total: three gray and two white.

He moved to the second row, containing support spells.

There were far fewer booklets on this row than among the offensive spells, only around ten.

He placed his palm on the shelf and moved it from left to right.

The first booklet did not react. The second was gray. The third did not react—

The fourth booklet.

The instant his fingers touched it, the Panel displayed a notification.

[Equippable item detected]

[Item Affix Grade: Green]

[Note: This item does not belong to you. It cannot be equipped, and detailed information cannot be viewed.]

Green.

Li Yuan's fingers paused on the booklet for an extra moment.

His gaze shifted to the wooden tag—Origin Condensation Art, support spell, twenty-eight Contribution Points.

The Origin Condensation Art was a spell that could compress spiritual energy for a short time. The description beside it listed many uses, such as compressing spiritual energy to break through a bottleneck or making spells more powerful through compressed spiritual energy, though it also carried a certain degree of danger.

Twenty-eight points—two fewer than the Mystic Turtle Body. Moreover, Li Yuan was more inclined toward this Origin Condensation Art.

Li Yuan calculated the Contribution Points he currently had.

Adding the points from slaying the demonic beast in the Spirit Field, his monthly stipend, and the one point he had left over, he was still four points short.

Li Yuan withdrew his hand from the booklet. He did not leave immediately, instead feeling through the remaining support spells as well. One was gray, while all the rest had no reaction.

After checking the entire second floor, this was the only Green Trait.

He also looked through the mundane cultivation technique section. The Mystic Turtle Body was still there, but after reading its description, Li Yuan found that it did not suit him.

Li Yuan went downstairs, nodded to the guard, and left the Hidden Merit Pavilion.

Four points were not much, but they were not something he could gather immediately. There were only a few sources of Contribution Points—monthly stipends, mission rewards, and special contributions. He would have to wait until next month for his stipend, while mission rewards depended on whether any new missions were assigned.

Contribution Points could not be lent, bought, or sold, though there were ways around that restriction. Li Yuan could ask someone to buy something for him, then use his own Contribution Points to buy something for that person. But that method was extremely cumbersome, and it could not be done with just anyone. It was easy to get cheated.

After returning home, Li Yuan temporarily set those thoughts aside. He sat cross-legged and began cultivating.