Spirit Qi Filtration Becomes Permanent

After the patrol ended, Li Yuan returned to his residence.

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He sat cross-legged on the bed and circulated the Spirit Guiding Art.

Spirit qi surged into his meridians, pure and swift, one circulation after another without pause.

The spiritual power in his Dantian remained saturated. The newly added spiritual power was negligible, but every circulation repeatedly tempered the power already there, making it increasingly pure and condensed.

Spirit Qi Filtration removed impurities, while Circulation Acceleration increased the frequency of circulation. The two traits stacked together made the tempering remarkably efficient.

Over the past two days, after patrolling the market during the day, Li Yuan returned to the wooden hut at night to sit cross-legged in meditation and circulate the Spirit Guiding Art.

Spirit Qi Filtration and Circulation Acceleration worked hand in hand, and the progress toward permanence rose steadily.

[Spirit Qi Filtration (White)]

[Progress toward permanence: 91/100]

It was even faster than he had expected.

However, his cultivation progress was not nearly as impressive. The spiritual power in his Dantian had long since neared saturation. After cultivating for two days, its total amount had barely changed.

The only difference he could feel was in the texture of the spiritual power—after repeated tempering, the spiritual power in his Dantian had become more solid than it had been two days ago, with fewer impurities.

But such tempering had its limits. Once spiritual power reached a certain degree of purity, further refinement brought negligible gains.

Li Yuan opened his eyes. The sky outside the window was faintly bright. It was another morning.

He rose, straightened his clothes, and pushed open the door.

Today's patrol route was still North Alley and East Street.

However, starting the day before yesterday, Li Yuan had made a slight adjustment to his route through North Alley—he passed through the stretch of stalls in the middle more frequently than before, and his steps had slowed somewhat.

Over the past two days, Li Yuan had gained a rough understanding of the rogue cultivator selling broken ore.

The rogue cultivator's surname was Zhao, and everyone called him Zhao Wu. He was in his forties and at the Qi Refining Second Layer. Rumor had it that he had come from the Yuanheng Mountains to lie low. His stall sold nothing but cheap fragments of ore, average in quality and worth only a few coins.

Li Yuan had not deliberately sought out this information.

It was perfectly normal for a Patrol Inspector to exchange a few casual words with nearby vendors while moving through the market. New rogue cultivators, especially, were supposed to be registered according to the rules.

When he passed Zhao Wu's stall today, Li Yuan did not stop. With a sweep of his peripheral vision, he walked on.

The stall was still the same. A filthy piece of coarse cloth lay spread on the ground, with a small heap of ore fragments piled atop it. The jade pendant was still wedged among the stones, dull and gray, mixed in with the chunks of rock. Unless one got close, it was impossible to distinguish it.

Zhao Wu sat behind the stall with his hands tucked into his sleeves. Something faintly bulged within them.

After walking a few steps, Li Yuan suddenly noticed something.

Compared with before, the heap of fragments in front of Zhao Wu had barely changed in quantity.

It was normal for goods not to sell, but Zhao Wu seemed somewhat different.

He did not call out to customers or solicit business. He simply sat behind his stall, sitting there for most of the day.

A rogue cultivator doing business whose goods were not selling, yet he himself was not anxious in the least.

The other rogue cultivator stalls in this alley all had at least some activity. Some people came up to browse, others haggled over prices. Even if few deals were made, at least someone came by for a look.

Zhao Wu's stall was deserted and silent.

Over two days, Li Yuan had passed by four or five times, yet he had not seen a single person squat in front of the stall to inspect the goods. Even the shape of the pile of fragments had barely changed.

Coupled with that jade pendant bearing a Blue Trait, it stirred suspicion in Li Yuan's heart.

Li Yuan kept the thought in mind and continued his patrol.

That night, after returning to the wooden hut, Li Yuan sat cross-legged and continued cultivating.

Spirit qi surged into his meridians, pure and swift.

The spiritual power in his Dantian had reached absolute saturation, like a pool filled to its brim. Any more spirit qi poured in merely made one circuit through his meridians before dissipating.

Yet the progress toward permanence continued to rise.

[Spirit Qi Filtration (White)]

[Progress toward permanence: 97/100]

Another two or three circulations would complete it.

Li Yuan did not rush to finish it in one breath. Instead, he ended his cultivation and closed his eyes to rest for a while.

The more critical the moment, the less one could afford to rush.

After several days of continuous high-intensity cultivation, his meridians had grown somewhat fatigued. Proper rest would instead benefit his later efforts.

He turned over and lay on the bed, staring at the wooden hut's ceiling, but his mind did not stop.

The matter of Zhao Wu's stall continued to circle through his thoughts.

On the morning of the third day, after Li Yuan finished cultivating, the progress toward permanently making Spirit Qi Filtration reached one hundred.

The instant the hundredth circulation was completed, a notification appeared on the panel.

[The conditions to permanently make Spirit Qi Filtration (White) have been met]

[Make permanent?]

With a thought, Li Yuan chose yes.

[Permanent conversion successful]

[Spirit Qi Filtration (White) has become a Permanent Affix]

[Equipped item consumed]

The panel updated accordingly.

[Current Equipment Slot: 1/2]

[Equipped item: Vein-Clearing Pill]

[Traits obtained: Spirit Qi Filtration (White) (Permanent), Circulation Acceleration (White), Clean Physique (Gray) (Permanent)]

After the Spirit Stone became permanent, an Equipment Slot was freed up.

Li Yuan took out the booklet of the Iron Ox Technique.

[Equippable item detected: Iron Ox Technique (Complete)]

[Trait preview: Viscera Strengthening (White)—strengthens the resilience of the five viscera and six bowels, increasing their limit for withstanding spiritual power impacts]

[Condition for permanence: Bring two mortal techniques to Perfection]

[Current Equipment Slot (1/2). Equip?]

Equip.

The booklet transformed into light and merged into his body. The formulas and essentials of the Iron Ox Technique once again became crystal clear in his mind.

The warmth wrapping around his viscera rose again from deep within his abdomen, and a gentle force slowly reinforced his five viscera and six bowels.

The instant the effects of Viscera Strengthening returned, Li Yuan immediately sensed the difference.

With every breath, the pressure on his viscera as spirit qi circulated through his body lessened considerably. The faint feeling of stuffiness and swelling that had been present before almost vanished.

The stifling sensation brought by his saturated Dantian also eased somewhat. Though the bottleneck remained, the limit of what his body could endure had clearly increased.

[Current Equipment Slot: 2/2]

[Equipped items: Vein-Clearing Pill, Iron Ox Technique]

[Traits obtained: Spirit Qi Filtration (White) (Permanent), Circulation Acceleration (White), Viscera Strengthening (White), Clean Physique (Gray) (Permanent)]

Three White Traits took effect at the same time, along with one permanent Gray Trait.

Li Yuan sat cross-legged and circulated the Spirit Guiding Art.

Spirit qi entered his body, pure as water and without the slightest impurity. His circulations raced along, his viscera were tough, and his meridians flowed without obstruction. The three traits each performed their duties, raising his cultivation efficiency another notch.

The sensation of having three White Traits operating simultaneously was completely different from any cultivation session before.

The moment spirit qi entered his body, it was filtered spotless. His circulations moved extremely fast, and spiritual power encountered almost no obstruction within his meridians.

The resilient warmth deep in his viscera steadily supported the impact of every circulation, and the faint sense of stuffiness and swelling vanished without a trace.

With the three effects combined, the cultivation experience was on an entirely different level from the past few days.

Li Yuan circulated for more than a dozen cycles in this state before slowly ending his cultivation when his meridians began to grow slightly warm.