Chapter 431 - 405: Skeleton Ridge and Marketplace Expansion

Chapter 431: Chapter 405: Skeleton Ridge and Marketplace Expansion

Li Yuan didn’t return directly to the marketplace. Instead, he turned northwest.

Skeleton Ridge was about a hundred li from the third transit station, located on the edge of the Ghost Mist Forest. Traveling underground was faster than on the surface. With the Earth Escape Technique, augmented by an additional speed boost, he arrived in less than an hour.

Skeleton Ridge got its name from the white rock formations scattered across its surface. The weathered rocks resembled shattered bones, glowing a ghastly white under the moonlight. The mountain range wasn’t high, stretching for dozens of li, with sparse vegetation and extremely low Spiritual Qi concentration. It was one of the most desolate areas on the outskirts of the Ghost Mist Forest.

Li Yuan surfaced, landing on a high slope.

The sensory net of his Dark Evil Insight spread out, covering a three-li radius centered on him.

There was nothing on the surface. Shattered stones, withered grass, a few half-dead shrubs—no signs of any man-made excavation or cultivation activity.

But it was a different story underground.

His perception passed through the rock layers, probing downward. At a depth of about forty zhang, it touched an extremely thick and heavy energy barrier.

The Spiritual Power Attribute of the barrier was ancient and steady, identical to the Profound Nether Sect Arrays he had encountered in the Sub-Palace and the diversion system. The barrier’s surface was carved with dense Restriction Array Patterns, stacked in at least three layers.

A Tier Three Top Grade Restriction.

Li Yuan used his perception, enhanced by Array Sensing, to carefully scan the Restriction’s structure.

One layer deflected Divine Sense, one sealed off physical passages, and one was responsible for backlash and warnings. With all three combined, forget Foundation Establishment Cultivators; even an ordinary Golden Core Cultivator couldn’t hope to break in silently.

To break it silently, one would need at least Tier Three Perfected or even higher mastery in Arrays.

’I’m currently at Tier Three Proficient, still a long way off.’

Li Yuan withdrew his perception.

Just as he was preparing to leave, his Dark Evil Insight captured an extremely faint signal in a crevice of the rock layer about ten zhang directly above the entrance to the ruins.

It wasn’t a naturally formed fluctuation of Spiritual Power.

Li Yuan halted and focused his perception on that spot.

The thirty percent sensitivity bonus from his Array Sensing played a crucial role at this moment. The signal was so faint it almost blended in with the residual Spiritual Power in the surrounding rock. If not for the combined power of his Golden Core Stage Divine Sense, Dark Evil Insight, and Array Sensing, it would have been impossible to distinguish it from the background noise.

It was a Concealment Array.

The Array was extremely small, with only three Array Hub nodes embedded in the rock crevices, hidden by rubble and dirt. Its function was passive surveillance—to record any Spiritual Power fluctuations near the ruin’s entrance and store the information in the Array Hubs, waiting for its creator to return and retrieve it.

’This isn’t the work of the Evil Slaying Sect.’ The style of the Array Pattern was completely different from that of the Dark Abyss Association. Its Spiritual Power Attribute was righteous and pure, more like the work of a Cultivator from an orthodox Sect.

Someone had been here, left a monitoring array, and then departed.

This in itself was telling. The Evil Slaying Sect wasn’t the only one who knew about the Skeleton Ridge ruins. At least one other power had taken notice of this place and was keeping a continuous watch on it.

Whether it was the Celestial Peak Sect, the Primordial Yang Sect, or some other power was impossible to determine for now.

Li Yuan didn’t touch the monitoring array. Touching it would leave a trace, which would be tantamount to telling the other party that a third person had been there.

He submerged back underground from another direction and silently left Skeleton Ridge using the Earth Escape Technique.

He returned to the marketplace early the next morning.

Xu Zhang was already waiting at the entrance to the administration office.

"Pavilion Master, a reply has come from the association’s headquarters." Xu Zhang handed over a wax-sealed letter, a perfectly measured smile on his face.

Li Yuan opened the letter.

The contents were brief: The Mingyuan Commerce Association headquarters expressed its approval of Mist Forest Marketplace’s operational status. It had decided to dispatch two more managers and establish a new pill shop and a procurement point for Spiritual Materials. The necessary personnel and startup resources would be fully covered by the association. It also authorized Xu Zhang, as the manager stationed in Liangzhou, to independently expand business lines within the marketplace.

After reading it, Li Yuan placed the letter on the table.

"Is the association making moves elsewhere in Liangzhou?"

Xu Zhang was slightly taken aback, but then nodded.

"You’re well-informed. Headquarters is indeed considering its layout in several other marketplaces in Liangzhou, not just Mist Forest. The specific locations are still being surveyed, but the general direction has been set."

’The situation in Liangzhou was growing more tense by the day. Both the Celestial Peak Sect and the Evil Slaying Sect were increasing their investments, leaving the Primordial Yang Sect caught in the middle and overwhelmed. For the Mingyuan Commerce Association to expand rather than contract at a time like this showed that it was seeing things differently than ordinary Loose Cultivators.’

’There’s opportunity in chaos. Either they’re betting that Liangzhou will eventually stabilize, making the post-war reconstruction period a time of explosive profits, or the association has a powerful backer and isn’t worried about the risks of localized conflict.’

Li Yuan didn’t press the issue.

"You can open the new shops. I’ll decide on their locations."

"Of course." Xu Zhang nodded with a smile.

After Xu Zhang left, Li Yuan took a walk around the marketplace.

The marketplace was getting more crowded.

Loose Cultivators fleeing disaster, disciples of small families uprooted by war, and Low Tier Cultivators who had heard the news were continuously filling the place.

Due to the chaos in Liangzhou, Foundation Establishment Cultivators were leaving, but the Qi Refining and mortal populations were soaring. This paradoxically drove up basic consumption even more. The numbers in the ledgers were a layer thicker than last month’s.

Resource reserves had clearly grown. The store of Spirit Stones in the warehouse had already surpassed the highest level since the marketplace was established.

Li Yuan closed the ledger.

"Does the spiritual materials shop have any Water Element Cultivation Techniques?"

Ji Wenchuan thought for a moment.

"We just received a batch of miscellaneous Cultivation Techniques a couple of days ago. I think there was a Water Element one in there. I’ll go look for it."

An hour later, Ji Wenchuan returned with a stack of jade slips, picking one out and handing it to Li Yuan.

"Cold Stream Skill. It’s a Tier One Top Grade Water Element Cultivation Technique. After cultivating it, your Spiritual Power gains a cold water attribute. Its quality is average, but its strength lies in its orthodox path, with no hidden dangers. The seller asked for fifteen Spirit Stones, and we settled on twelve."

Li Yuan took the jade slip and sent his Divine Sense into it, quickly browsing the cultivation technique’s circulation pathways.

The Cold Stream Skill’s path was indeed orthodox. Its meridian pathways were orderly, and while its Spiritual Power conversion efficiency was low, it was extremely stable, making it suitable as a foundation for Water Element cultivation. For a Golden Core Cultivator, a Tier One Top Grade technique was like learning to walk, but the permanent activation condition for the Water Spirit Sword only required practicing one Water Element Cultivation Technique, with no restrictions on its tier or proficiency level.

He also had Ji Wenchuan retrieve a batch of Tier Two Artifact Refining materials from the warehouse: Spirit Silver Ore, Cold Iron Essence, Star Sand, and Spirit Pattern fixing solution—the same types he had purchased last time at White Mirror Marketplace. The marketplace’s inventory of these materials was low, but there was enough for two or three refining sessions.

That night, Li Yuan began cultivating the Cold Stream Skill in his stone house.

For a Golden Core Cultivator, a Tier One technique presented no technical hurdles. He drew Spiritual Power from his Dantian, circulated it for a minor cycle along the Cold Stream Skill’s unique meridian pathways, and completed it smoothly with only a bit of control.

A Tier One Cultivation Technique was practically without a barrier for someone with a Golden Core foundation. Coupled with several stacked cultivation traits, his progress with the Cold Stream Skill was astonishingly fast. Three days later, Li Yuan had pushed it directly to Great Success.

[Cold Stream Skill: Uninitiated → Great Success]

’Cold Stream Skill is at Great Success. Ice Cone Skill counts as Water Magic.’

The permanent activation condition for the Water Spirit Sword was now met.

Li Yuan took the Water Spirit Sword from his storage bag.

The pale blue sword blade glowed with a soft Spiritual Light at his fingertips. The moment he touched it, a panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Water Spirit Sword (Complete)]

[Equipment Trait Preview: Water Flow Speed Boost (White)]

[Effect: Increases the power of Water Magic by 10% and casting speed by 10%]

[Permanent Activation Condition Preview: Practice one Water Element Cultivation Technique and Water Magic (Fulfilled)]

"Equip."

[Equipped: Water Spirit Sword (Complete)]

[Water Flow Speed Boost (White) has become a permanent trait.]

A phantom image of the Water Spirit Sword flashed for a moment in the equipment slot, then dissolved into a white mote of light and merged with his body, freeing up the slot.

The power and casting speed of his Water Magic were each increased by ten percent. His Ice Cone Skill directly benefited, stacking with traits like Cold Current Amplification. His Water Magic had now officially graduated from a supplementary tool to a viable part of his arsenal.

Li Yuan flexed his fingers, and an ice cone materialized in his palm.

The cone’s formation speed was about ten percent faster than before, and its density and hardness had also noticeably increased. While the boost wasn’t astounding on its own, its combined effect when stacked with other traits was considerable.

He dispersed the ice cone.

Then, he used the Teleportation Array to travel to Mozhou.

Near the Spirit Vein Core node, the Jade Bead’s nurturing nest was still operating stably. The Spiritual Power Field, sustained by three fragments of the same origin, enveloped the Jade Bead. Spirit Vein energy continuously seeped into the bead from three directions.

Li Yuan used his Earth Vein Spirit Hub to perceive the state of repair inside the Jade Bead.

’Better than expected.’ The high concentration of energy from the Spirit Vein Core had accelerated the filling of the voids. The three shallowest voids had mostly closed, and the corresponding surface cracks had shrunk by nearly thirty percent. However, there was no significant change in the deeper voids. The penetration depth of the fragment powder as a medium was limited; higher-quality auxiliary materials would be needed to reach the damage near the bead’s core.

Li Yuan adjusted the parameters of the nest’s Spiritual Power Field, changing the energy’s penetration from uniform distribution to a concentrated focus on several of the larger voids in the middle layer. Then, he left Mozhou.