Spirit Qi Condensation

Early the next morning, Li Yuan made a trip to the Management Office.

The clerk behind the counter was sorting through a stack of newly arrived mission documents.

"Are there any tasks that can earn Contribution Points?"

The clerk flipped through the booklet at hand and shook his head.

"The recent tasks have all been assigned, and the new ones haven't come down yet. If you're in a hurry, you can ask over at the Guard Squad. They occasionally hand out Contribution Points for some odd jobs."

Li Yuan nodded and left the Management Office.

A shortage of four Contribution Points was neither much nor little.

As he was walking back along West Street, he ran into a colleague from the Patrol Squad hurrying toward their station.

"Captain Wang is looking for you. He said there's something he needs."

Li Yuan changed directions and headed for the station.

Wang De sat behind the desk.

"Sit."

Li Yuan pulled over a chair and sat down.

Wang De took out a document and pushed it over.

"The reward settlement for your previous missions has come through."

Li Yuan accepted the document and glanced over it.

It was listed very clearly—the first mission had been scouting traces of Demonic Beasts in the outskirts; the second had been discovering and reporting an area where Demonic Beasts had gathered during an outer patrol; the third had been finding half a Medicinal Pill in a Demonic Beast's stomach during a patrol squad's hunt and reporting it promptly.

The rewards for all three missions had been settled together. The first two each earned two Contribution Points, while the discovery of the Medicinal Pill alone earned twelve.

Twelve points might not seem like much, but it had been a five-man squad. The others had likely received contribution rewards as well.

Sixteen Contribution Points altogether. Added to what he already had, it far exceeded twenty-eight points.

Wang De lifted his teacup, took a sip, and set it down.

"The Guard Squad and the Wang Family are still investigating the Medicinal Pill. There's no conclusion yet. You already know what you should know. Don't pry into what you shouldn't."

Li Yuan nodded.

Wang De waved a hand, signaling that he could leave.

After leaving the station, Li Yuan went to the Management Office to register the Contribution Points in his account. Once he confirmed everything was correct, he headed straight for the Hidden Merit Pavilion.

On the second floor, Li Yuan walked to the row of shelves holding support-type spells and accurately placed his fingers on the fourth booklet.

Origin Condensation Art.

"Origin Condensation Art, twenty-eight points."

Li Yuan took the Origin Condensation Art downstairs. The keeper opened the register, checked his remaining Contribution Points, picked up his brush to deduct them, stamped the booklet's cover with a small seal, and handed back his waist token.

After putting everything away, Li Yuan left the Hidden Merit Pavilion.

Back at his residence, Li Yuan slid the door bolt into place, sat beside the bed, and tore open the wrapping paper around the Origin Condensation Art.

The booklet was thinner than the Nurturing Origin Technique, its paper finer and its handwriting neater. Every step of the incantation was accompanied by diagrams showing the circulation of Spirit Qi.

Semi-transparent words appeared. This time, the information was complete.

[Detected equippable item: Origin Condensation Art (Complete)]

[Trait preview: Spirit Qi Condensation (Green)—Spirit Qi density greatly increased. With the same total amount of Spirit Qi, spell power and Spirit Qi circulation efficiency are significantly enhanced. Dantian Spirit Qi storage density increases, raising the effective Spirit Qi limit by approximately thirty percent]

[Permanent condition: Successfully break through a bottleneck using Spirit Qi compressed by the Origin Condensation Art into a condensed state, reaching the next cultivation stage]

[Current Equipment Slot (2/2). Replace current equipment?]

Green Trait.

Li Yuan's heartbeat quickened by two beats, and his fingers unconsciously tightened around the edge of the booklet.

Spirit Qi density greatly increased—not a boost to cultivation speed, nor assistance with Qi-Blood recovery, but a leap in the quality of Spirit Qi itself.

With the same total amount of Spirit Qi, spells would be stronger, circulation more efficient, Dantian storage denser, and the effective upper limit increased by thirty percent.

Thirty percent.

That meant that while the total amount of Spirit Qi in his Dantian remained unchanged, every wisp of it would become denser and more forceful. The Fireball Technique he cast would hit harder, the Spirit Shield Technique would be thicker, and even Spirit Qi circulation would become smoother.

The condition for making it permanent was equally clear: use the Origin Condensation Art to compress Spirit Qi into a condensed state, then successfully break through the bottleneck and reach the next cultivation stage.

Breaking through a bottleneck alone would have been manageable. There was also a bottleneck between Qi Refining, Fourth Layer and the Qi Refining Fifth Layer. But reaching the next cultivation stage meant Li Yuan had to break from Mid Qi Refinement into Qi Refining Late Stage before the Trait could become permanent.

Breaking from Qi Refinement into Foundation Establishment would work too, but that was too distant and too dangerous, so he would not consider it for now.

The condition was not excessively harsh, and the Origin Condensation Art itself could help one break through bottlenecks, but it was hardly simple.

The Origin Condensation Art carried a certain degree of danger. Compressing Spirit Qi placed considerable pressure on the meridians, and added to that was the impact of Spirit Qi backlash during a breakthrough—together, they placed heavy demands on the body's capacity to endure.

Li Yuan lowered his gaze to the Equipment Affix on the panel.

Viscera Strengthening.

The Iron Ox Technique's Trait was still equipped, and the resilience of his five viscera and six bowels far surpassed that of others at the same level.

Without Viscera Strengthening, the Origin Condensation Art's risks truly would not be low. When using the Origin Condensation Art to compress Spirit Qi, its density would surge sharply, potentially placing pressure on the viscera.

The pressure from Spirit Qi spread toward the meridians throughout the body, but the viscera were comparatively more fragile.

But with Viscera Strengthening covering his rear, that risk fell within an acceptable range.

Li Yuan made his decision.

With a thought, he first unequipped the Nurturing Origin Technique.

The booklet appeared in his palm out of thin air, and the warm sensation like being steeped in lukewarm water faded from his entire body.

Li Yuan set the Nurturing Origin Technique aside and picked up the Origin Condensation Art.

Equip.

The booklet transformed into a faint glow and merged into his body.

In the next instant, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind.

The incantations of the Origin Condensation Art were far more complicated than those of the Iron Ox Technique and Nurturing Origin Technique.

It was not a sequence of movements, but an entire method of Spirit Qi circulation—how to compress the Spirit Qi within the Dantian inward, how to maintain the stability of the meridians during compression, and how to control the speed and force of condensation to prevent Spirit Qi from running out of control.

Every step, every critical juncture, every possible mistake, and every method of handling them was clearly imprinted in his consciousness.

It felt similar to when mundane techniques were instilled into him, but the volume of information was more than double.

The core of the Origin Condensation Art lay in one word: compress.

It squeezed the Spirit Qi scattered throughout the Dantian toward the center, like wringing a wet towel to twist out the "emptiness" within the Spirit Qi and leave only what was solid.

The total amount of Spirit Qi remained unchanged, but its volume shrank and its density increased.

During the process, the Spirit Qi would fiercely resist compression, creating continuous outward pressure on both the meridians and his body.

The tighter it was compressed, the stronger the backlash. Once it exceeded what the body could bear, the Spirit Qi would explode. At best, the Spirit Qi would scatter and the meridians would be damaged; at worst, he would suffer cultivation deviation.

This was the certain degree of danger mentioned in the Hidden Merit Pavilion's introduction.

At the same time, the Trait's effect began to take hold.

An extremely subtle change rose from the depths of his Dantian.

It was neither warmth nor coolness, but something more mysterious—like the sensation of Spirit Qi becoming more real. The Spirit Qi that had once flowed calmly through his Dantian seemed to be lightly gripped by something. Its density rose slightly, and its flow quickened by a trace.

The change was small, but he could sense it clearly.

Unlike the warmth of Viscera Strengthening enveloping his internal organs, or the warmth of Qi-Blood Self-Generation suffusing his entire body, the effect of Spirit Qi Condensation acted directly upon Spirit Qi itself.

The panel updated accordingly.

[Current Equipment Slot: 2/2]

[Equipped items: Iron Ox Technique, Origin Condensation Art]

[Equipment Affixes: Viscera Strengthening (White), Spirit Qi Condensation (Green)]

[Permanent Affixes: Clean Physique (Gray), Spirit Qi Filtration (White), Five Grains Nourishing Qi (White), Circulation Acceleration (White)]

[Origin Condensation Art: Not Entry Level (0/100)]