Chapter 441 - 415: Repairing the Jade Bead

Chapter 441: Chapter 415: Repairing the Jade Bead

The next night, Li Yuan finally passed through the Spiritless District, returning directly to Mozhou via a Teleportation Array.

The core node of Mozhou’s Spirit Vein.

Rich Spiritual Qi enveloped his body, sweeping away the parched feeling from the Spiritless District. Li Yuan didn’t pause. He immediately sat cross-legged beside the nourishing nest and took out the materials he had brought back.

The second phase of repairs required a completely new medium.

Netherworld Moss, Jade Tide Sand, and Sea Pearl Powder.

Li Yuan ground a small piece of the cognate fragment into an extremely fine powder. Then, he channeled the Spiritual Power in his palm, forming a stable Spiritual Fire, and tossed the Jade Tide Sand and Sea Pearl Powder into it to be calcined.

He controlled the temperature with extreme precision. Under the searing Spiritual Fire, the two marine ingredients quickly melted, forming a puddle of light blue gel.

Li Yuan quickly crushed the Netherworld Moss and added it to the gel along with the fragment powder.

The moment the four ingredients mixed, the originally chaotic Spiritual Waves miraculously unified. The Netherworld Moss acted as a catalyst, perfectly blending the aquatic nature of the Jade Tide Sand, the spirituality of the Sea Pearl Powder, and the cognate aura of the fragment, simmering them down into a dark gray, semi-transparent viscous liquid.

The repair medium was complete.

Li Yuan lifted the Jade Bead out of the nourishing nest.

The shallowest cracks on the surface had already closed, but the voids in the bead’s middle layer remained like jarring scars. He used his Divine Sense to guide the dark gray liquid, allowing it to seep into the interior, bit by bit, along the fine texture of the Jade Bead’s surface.

This time, the rate of penetration was astonishingly fast.

The frequency of the Netherworld Moss was a natural match for the Profound Nether Sect’s system. The Spirit Vein’s energy, attached to the medium, passed through the shallow barrier without any obstruction and reached the middle layer directly.

The largest of the six voids in the middle layer was filled by the viscous liquid. Catalyzed by the Spirit Vein’s energy, the cognate Spiritual Mechanism rapidly solidified, merging seamlessly with the Jade Bead’s original material.

Four hours later, four of the six voids in the middle layer had completely closed. Correspondingly, two of the main internal circuits that had been broken were reconnected, and the circulation of Spiritual Power in the bead’s middle layer flowed smoothly once more.

The repair speed was more than twice as fast as the first phase.

But the two voids in the deep layer remained unreachable. The medium’s penetrative power was exhausted in the middle layer, unable to continue delivering the Spirit Vein’s energy any deeper.

Li Yuan was not impatient. The progress made in the second phase of repairs had already exceeded his expectations.

He placed the Jade Bead back into the nourishing nest, allowing the Spirit Vein’s energy to continue nurturing the newly repaired circuits.

Li Yuan packed up the remaining materials and stood up, returning to Liangzhou via the Teleportation Array.

After stepping out of the Teleportation Array, Li Yuan did not immediately return to the Mist Forest Marketplace.

The situations at Skeleton Ridge, the Ghost Mist Forest, and the coast of Shuizhou were all growing tense. ’At a time like this, it’s crucial not to leave too many obvious tracks.’ He mulled it over for a moment, then veered off the main road and sped toward a desolate swamp in the southern part of Liangzhou.

That swamp was connected to an underground river, its network of waterways spreading in all directions—perfect for concealing one’s aura.

Half an hour later, Li Yuan stood at the edge of a deep, reed-filled pool, glancing down at the water’s surface. The pool was dark and bottomless, with a faint undercurrent stirring below. It was the perfect place to test the effects of the Tide Scale Pill.

With a thought, he activated a water-element Escape Technique, and his entire body slipped silently into the water.

The moment he entered the water, the attribute from the Tide Scale Pill activated.

His already agile water-evasion trajectory suddenly became even nimbler. The surrounding currents seemed to part on their own, weakening the resistance to an extremely low level. Li Yuan barely needed to exert any extra force; simply by maintaining his Spiritual Power, his body shot forward with the undercurrent.

Especially in complex underwater terrain, this enhancement wasn’t just about a bit more speed. It meant sharper turns, faster bursts of acceleration, and an extra degree of ease in his movements.

Li Yuan darted back and forth across the pool’s bottom several times before following the underground river onward. 𝘧𝓇ℯℴ𝓂

The inside of the underground river was winding and narrow, with some areas even filled with protruding rock spikes and broken stone pillars. If an ordinary Cultivator used a water-evasion technique here too quickly, they would easily crash into the rock walls, unable to turn in time. But with the aid of the Tide Scale Pill, his ability to borrow force from the current was noticeably more natural. His body weaved between the riverbed and the rock walls with almost no hesitation.

After three hours of travel, the panel vibrated slightly.

[Permanence Progress for Tide Scale Pill (Complete): 6/10]

Li Yuan didn’t stop, continuing to press forward with the river’s current.

By the time the tenth hour was up, Li Yuan was speeding through a narrow crevice in the underground river.

The rhythm of the Spiritual Power inside him and the surrounding water current suddenly lightened in unison, as if a thin film that had been attached to the equipment had completely merged into his meridians.

The panel popped up.

[Permanence Condition for Tide Scale Pill (Green) has been met]

[Swift Water Evasion (Green) has become a permanent attribute]

The phantom image of the Tide Scale Pill flashed in his equipment slot, then transformed into a streak of pale blue light and merged into his body.

Li Yuan slowly came to a stop in the water.

He no longer needed to rely on the equipment slot; he could still clearly feel the smooth, seamless connection between his body and the water. Even casually activating the water-element Escape Technique, his speed was a cut above what it used to be, and his movements and turns were noticeably more agile.

’Another equipment slot freed up.’

Li Yuan opened his eyes and gazed calmly at the deep, dark waterway ahead.

It was just before dawn when he returned to the Mist Forest Marketplace.

The construction of the marketplace’s new district was progressing extremely quickly. The shantytown that had been in the south was now cleared and flattened, crisscrossed by several wide, stone-paved streets.

In the most prominent location of the new district, a three-story shop had just hung up its sign.

Yuanming Studio.

It sold pills, Talismans, and Magical Artifacts. The first-floor hall was spacious and bright, its shelves filled with the basic resources Loose Cultivators needed most. The second floor was for high-quality goods, and the 3rd Floor housed the storeroom and manager’s quarters.

The two assistants sent by Xu Zhang were already busy at work. The shop was nominally under the Mingyuan Commerce Association, with its finances running through the association’s books, making it impossible for outsiders to trace it back to Li Yuan. Meanwhile, he was the one providing all the merchandise from behind the scenes.

Li Yuan patrolled the streets in his capacity as the marketplace’s manager.

As he reached the eastern area near the wall, his steps slowed.

A sizable shop had officially opened. A black plaque with gold lettering hung above the door: Weapon Pavilion.

An enterprise of the Celestial Peak Sect.

The shop specialized in exploration-type Magical Artifacts and Array consumables. Presiding over the store was a Late-stage Foundation Establishment Shopkeeper, with two Mid-stage Foundation Establishment disciples assisting behind the counter. All three carried the unique aura of a Celestial Peak Sect Cultivation Technique.

Diagonally opposite, a squad of marketplace patrol guards was changing shifts. Following Li Yuan’s instructions, Ji Wenchuan had moved the patrol’s duty post directly across from the Weapon Pavilion, creating a form of natural surveillance that appeared to be a coincidence.

Li Yuan strode into the Weapon Pavilion.

"Fellow Daoist, you look familiar. Are you part of the marketplace administration?" The Shopkeeper came forward to greet him, his gaze sharp.

"Manager of the Mist Forest Marketplace, Li Yuan." Li Yuan’s expression was calm. "I heard a new shop moved in. I’m just making my rounds to see what you have to offer."

"Ah, it’s Manager Li. My apologies." The Shopkeeper gave a nonchalant hand-clasp salute. "Our shop specializes in Array consumables and various practical Magical Artifacts. All products of the Celestial Peak Sect, quality guaranteed. Feel free to look around, Manager Li."

Li Yuan browsed slowly along the shelves.

Most were standard-issue Tier Two Magical Artifacts, but in a corner of the Array consumables section, his gaze stopped.

A jade slip lay quietly on the display stand. The label read: Method for Crafting Tracking Talismans (Tier Two).

Li Yuan swept his Divine Sense over the introduction on the jade slip’s exterior. It was a type of Talisman used for capturing traces of residual Spiritual Power over short distances, extremely valuable for counter-tracking and searching.

The asking price was fifty Mid-grade Spirit Stones—a reasonable price.

"I’ll take this jade slip."

After buying the jade slip, Li Yuan didn’t linger and turned to leave the Weapon Pavilion.

Back in his stone house, he immediately took out the jade slip and quickly read it with his Golden Core Divine Sense.

The structure of the Tracking Talisman was not complex. The core Array Pattern worked by using Spiritual Power resonance to amplify and manifest the extremely faint traces of residual Spiritual Power in the air. It required a high degree of precision from the talisman-maker, but for someone with his background of Tier Three proficiency in the Array Dao and perfect mastery of Tier Two talisman crafting, it posed no difficulty at all.

He ground the ink and laid out the paper.

The Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush moved across the talisman paper, the Spiritual Ink seeping into the paper’s texture as if it were alive. In less than half a quarter-hour, the final stroke was complete, and a faint white light bloomed on the talisman’s surface.

First attempt, a success.

The attribute-sensing ability within a three-foot radius triggered immediately.

[Detected Equippable Item: Tracking Talisman (Complete)]

[Equipment Attribute Preview: Trace Pursuit (White)—Short-range tracking of residual Spiritual Power, capable of capturing the lingering aura left behind after a target has passed.]

[Permanence Condition: Successfully track a target three times (0/3)]

’A white attribute. Highly functional.’