Scale Armor Protection Permanence

At dusk, Li Yuan returned to the station and sat on the edge of his bed without immediately beginning cultivation.

With a thought, he unequipped the Iron Ox Technique.

The book appeared out of thin air in his palm, and the warmth wrapping his organs deep within his abdomen faded away.

Li Yuan put the book away and took out the folded Iron Scale Snake Molt from the inner layer of his close-fitting clothes.

Equip.

The molt turned into a dark green glimmer and sank into his skin.

The next instant, an exceedingly faint and strange sensation spread outward from his chest and abdomen, reaching his limbs, neck, and face, covering every inch of skin on his body.

Li Yuan reached out and pinched his own forearm.

His nails sank in less deeply than before. The moment he let go, his skin bounced back without even leaving a white mark.

After the Iron Ox Technique had reached mastery, his flesh and skin were already far tougher than an ordinary person's. With Scale Armor Protection added on top, they had hardened another layer.

[Equipped: Iron Scale Snake Molt]

[Affix obtained: Scale Armor Protection (White)—Increases skin defense, able to resist some toxin corrosion and negative effects]

[Permanence progress: 0/50]

He needed to take fifty hits. Li Yuan rose to his feet, walked out of the wooden cabin, and knocked on the neighboring door.

Since they had been patrolling together for quite some time and had gained experience with one another, they slept in separate rooms.

Xu Mao was sitting at the table wiping down his Short Sword. When he saw Li Yuan enter, he hurriedly stood up. "Deputy Captain Li, do you need something?"

"I need a favor." Li Yuan rolled his shoulders. "Hit me a few times."

Xu Mao froze.

"...What?"

"I cultivated a mundane technique that needs external impacts to spur the circulation of my blood and qi."

Li Yuan rolled up his sleeve, revealing the firm muscles of his forearm. "Use spirit qi. Don't hold back."

Xu Mao's gaze lingered on Li Yuan's forearm for a moment before shifting to his broad shoulders and the outline of his chest and back beneath the Patrol Uniform.

Li Yuan's build was indeed more than a size larger than that of most cultivators at Qi Refining, Fourth Layer.

"How should I hit you?"

"Fists are fine. Chest, shoulders, back, anywhere. Put some force into it."

Xu Mao set down his Short Sword, walked over to Li Yuan, and tentatively punched him in the chest.

Thud. Li Yuan did not move an inch.

The System Panel showed no reaction.

"Use more force."

Xu Mao clenched his fist, poured spirit qi into his arm, and drove a punch into Li Yuan's chest.

Thud.

The impact was not loud. Li Yuan's body swayed back half an inch, but his feet did not shift.

The sensation of the fist striking his chest was peculiar.

A resilient barrier seemed to cover the surface of his flesh. Most of the force was cushioned after passing through it, leaving only a dull vibration by the time it reached the inside.

It did not hurt. At most, it felt sore.

"Again."

Xu Mao threw another punch, this one smashing toward his shoulder.

Li Yuan's shoulder sank slightly, but he remained utterly still.

[Scale Armor Protection (White) permanence progress: 2/50]

It had risen by two points.

Light hits did not count. The strike needed a certain degree of force before it could be counted.

"Keep going."

Xu Mao stared at the patch of skin on Li Yuan's abdomen, where even the red mark was already fading. His mouth opened, but he said nothing. He merely clenched his fist and kept punching.

The process that followed was tedious.

Xu Mao threw one punch after another, from Li Yuan's chest to his shoulders, from his shoulders to his back, then around from his back to his side waist. Every punch was infused with spirit qi, and he struck with full focus.

Li Yuan stood in place like a wooden stake.

Ten punches, twenty punches, thirty punches.

Sweat began to bead on Xu Mao's forehead. The expenditure of spirit qi was no small matter.

"Take a break," Li Yuan said.

Xu Mao let out a breath of relief, shook his sore wrist, and leaned against the wall as he panted twice.

"What kind of body cultivation is that? My fists are going numb from hitting you."

"A blood and qi technique."

Li Yuan lowered his head and glanced at his chest and abdomen. The areas that had been struck dozens of times were slightly red, but there were no bruises or swelling. The flush was fading at a visible speed.

The recovery of blood and qi from Five Grains Nourishing Qi, combined with the foundation laid by his mundane technique, meant this little impact could not hurt him at all.

After resting for a while, Xu Mao recovered somewhat, and the two continued.

Another twenty-odd punches followed. They paused twice in between, and altogether nearly half a shichen passed.

When the final punch landed, a notification popped up on the panel.

[Scale Armor Protection (White) permanence progress: 50/50]

[Permanence requirements fulfilled]

[Make permanent?]

Li Yuan moved his thoughts.

Yes.

[Permanence successful]

[Scale Armor Protection (White) has become a Permanent Affix]

[Equipment consumed]

The faint, elastic barrier over the surface of his skin did not vanish. Instead, it became even more natural, as though it had grown into his body.

[Current Equipment Slot: 1/2]

[Equipped item: Origin Condensation Art]

[Equipment Affix: Spirit Qi Condensation (Green)]

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

Five Permanent Affixes—four white and one gray.

He was only one away from meeting the requirements for a third Equipment Slot—making five affixes of white grade or above permanent.

"All right, thanks." Li Yuan cupped his hands toward Xu Mao.

Xu Mao rubbed his fists, his expression somewhat strange as he muttered, "Deputy Captain, you're practically catching up to a Demonic Beast."

Li Yuan smiled but did not respond.

The Iron Ox Technique had been unequipped and could only be equipped again twelve hours later—this time tomorrow. Li Yuan casually equipped the Nurturing Origin Technique instead.

[Current Equipment Slot: 2/2]

After cultivating for two hours, Li Yuan concluded his practice and rose to stretch his limbs.

Voices came from He Shou's room next door. Chen Qi and Liu Ping were there as well.

Li Yuan pushed open the door and walked over. The others were squatting by the entrance, chatting idly.

He Shou leaned against the doorframe, chewing on a strip of dried meat. Chen Qi sat cross-legged on the ground, shaving a branch with a Short Saber, while Liu Ping sat on a wooden stump.

Li Yuan squatted down beside them without deliberately saying anything.

The group chatted in fits and starts, their topic shifting from the Spine-Tailed Lizard they had hunted today to the recent abnormal movements of Demonic Beasts.

Chen Qi kept shaving the branch, but his mouth never stopped moving.

"What do you think? Did these Demonic Beasts run out on their own, or were they driven out by something?"

He Shou chewed his dried meat without answering.

Liu Ping added, "I heard there are great demons fighting over territory deep in the Yuanheng Mountains, squeezing all the smaller Demonic Beasts beneath them outward."

"Fighting over territory?" Chen Qi snorted and tossed the finished branch onto the ground. "What does a fight between great demons deep in the mountains have to do with the outskirts? Besides, if one of those great demons died and its territory was left empty, the Demonic Beasts would squeeze inward instead."

He Shou swallowed the meat and patted the crumbs from his hands.

"Just say what you want to say."

Chen Qi glanced around and lowered his voice.

"When I used to roam the mountains, I got to know a few old Rogue Cultivators. An old herb gatherer once told me he had seen this kind of thing before—different species of Demonic Beasts migrating toward the same direction."

Chen Qi paused, drawing a circle on the ground with his finger.

"That time, two market towns were fighting over a mineral vein. One of them hired a group of Rogue Cultivators who could control beasts and had them drive Demonic Beasts around the other market town, herding them toward their opponents. It turned the place upside down, drove all the Rogue Cultivators away, and they lost the mineral vein too."

He Shou did not stop chewing, but his movements visibly slowed.

Liu Ping frowned. "You mean... someone is deliberately driving the Demonic Beasts?"

Chen Qi shrugged.

"I have no proof either. But look at the situation now. If it were a natural migration, it wouldn't be this orderly."

"Logically speaking, the Wang Family is wealthy and powerful. They definitely know about this too. I just don't know what they're thinking. So long as they don't treat us Rogue Cultivators like cannon fodder, that's enough."

Chen Qi's voice dropped as he muttered under his breath.

He Shou finished the last strip of dried meat in his mouth, swallowed it, and leaned against the doorframe in silence for several breaths.

"Don't make wild guesses. This isn't something we need to worry about. The Wang Family will investigate it themselves."

The group chatted about a few other matters before dispersing.

Li Yuan returned to his room, sat down cross-legged, and continued cultivating.