Chapter 450 - 423: Forge Inscription Essentials

Chapter 450: Chapter 423: Forge Inscription Essentials

After returning to his stone house, Li Yuan first circulated the Profound Nether Killing Skill. The boost from the Dark Demon Mirror was still significant, bringing him another step closer to Great Success.

Next, Li Yuan tried again to crack the encrypted jade slip. But whether he used the Dark Demon Token or his current continuous wave frequencies, he could only manage to affect the outermost layer of the lock.

The encryption level was clearly beyond his current capabilities. Li Yuan put the jade slip away, deciding not to waste any more time on it for now.

「The next morning」

Li Yuan left his stone house to conduct his routine patrol along the market’s main street.

The foot traffic was much heavier than it had been half a month ago. The shantytown district was expanding outward at a startling rate. Before the newly paved stone roads could even show signs of wear, their sides were already crammed with stalls and small shops. The number of Loose Cultivators and Low Tier cultivators was still on the rise, continuously pushing up the market’s base level of spending.

When he reached the eastern district, Li Yuan slowed his pace.

A long line had formed in front of the Weapon Pavilion.

’When did so many people from the Celestial Peak Sect show up in the market?’

Li Yuan walked into the Weapon Pavilion.

The inside of the shop was much livelier than on his last visit. The variety of goods on the shelves had increased considerably. In addition to the previous array consumables and exploration-type magical artifacts, an entire new row of talisman-making materials and artifact refining aids had been added. A few new display jade slips hung on the wall behind the counter, their labels written in bold, eye-catching text.

Seeing Li Yuan enter, the Shopkeeper came over to greet him.

"Pavilion Master Li, long time no see," the Late-stage Foundation Establishment Shopkeeper said, his attitude much more courteous than last time. "Feel free to look around. We just got a new shipment in today."

Li Yuan’s gaze swept over the shelves.

A stack of pale silver talismans sat in a corner of the talisman-making section. The paper they were made from was unusual, its surface shimmering with a fine metallic luster, and their edges were locked by a Spiritual Power seal.

"What kind of talisman is this?"

"Mirror Binding Talismans," the Shopkeeper said, walking over to explain. "They’re a special Tier Two control-type talisman from the Celestial Peak Sect."

"When activated, it can form a mirror-like field of confinement around the target, temporarily restricting their movement and use of magic. It’s quite effective against Foundation Establishment Cultivators."

"Made by the Celestial Peak Sect themselves?"

"Yes. This batch was allocated from within the Sect, so the quantity is limited. Five Mid-grade Spirit Stones each, with a discount for bulk purchases."

Li Yuan picked up a Mirror Binding Talisman, his fingertips feeling the Spiritual Power patterns on its surface.

The craftsmanship was clearly a cut above the common Tier Two talismans found on the market. The layout of the array patterns was exceptionally regular, and the connections between the nodes were unlike any talisman-crafting system he knew.

’I can’t figure it out.’

Li Yuan looked them over for a moment, then, without further questions, asked for fifty.

After paying with Spirit Stones, he turned his attention to the new jade slips in the artifact refining section.

Seven or eight jade slips were neatly arranged on the display rack, their labels indicating various artifact refining techniques and schematics. Most were basic tutorials for Tier Two artifact refining and held little value for him. However, a jade slip on the far right caught his eye.

The jade slip had a deep cyan casing, making it thicker and heavier than the others beside it. Its label read: *Essentials of Pattern Forging, An Advanced Manual for Tier Two Artifact Refining*.

Li Yuan picked up the jade slip. The moment his finger touched it, his three-foot entry perception ability triggered.

’Green.’

"How much for this one?"

"That one’s pricier," the Shopkeeper said, quoting a price. "One hundred and twenty Mid-grade Spirit Stones. It’s an internal Celestial Peak Sect artifact refining textbook. You can’t buy it anywhere else."

"I’ll take it, along with the other artifact refining manuals. Give me a round number for the lot."

The Shopkeeper hesitated for a moment, then nodded.

"Alright. Out of respect for you, Pavilion Master, I’ll take ten percent off."

After the Spirit Stones were exchanged, Li Yuan placed all his purchases into his storage pouch and left the Weapon Pavilion.

After returning to his stone house, Li Yuan first took out the deep cyan jade slip.

His fingertip made contact. A panel popped up.

[Equippable Item Detected: Essentials of Pattern Forging (Complete)]

[Equip Entry Preview: Advanced Pattern Forging (Green)]

[Effect: Increases Artifact Refining proficiency by one minor tier. When Artifact Refining proficiency reaches the peak of its current stage, the success rate of Artifact Refining is boosted by an additional 30%.]

[Permanence Condition Preview: Forge Magical Artifacts for 30 consecutive days (0/30)]

[Equipment Slots Full (5/5). Replace a current item?]

’A green entry. Both effects are extremely practical.’

’My Artifact Refining proficiency will increase by a minor tier. I’m currently proficient in Tier Two Artifact Refining; equipping this will jump me straight to Minor Achievement.’

’The second effect is even more incredible. When my proficiency reaches the peak of its stage, a thirty percent bonus to success rate on top of that... it practically eliminates the possibility of failure when forging Tier Two Magical Artifacts.’

’The condition for making it permanent isn’t difficult, it just requires time and materials.’

"Equip Essentials of Pattern Forging."

[Equipped: Essentials of Pattern Forging (Complete)]

[Advanced Pattern Forging (Green) Activated: Artifact Refining proficiency increased by one minor tier.]

[Current Tier Two Artifact Refining Technique: Proficient → Minor Achievement]

The change was instantaneous.

Li Yuan closed his eyes. In his mind, his fundamental understanding of Tier Two Artifact Refining suddenly broadened. The bottlenecks he’d previously encountered with Spirit Pattern arrangements when forging the Frost Armor—the ones he’d felt but couldn’t break through—now seemed to clear as if a fog had been lifted. More optimal ways to connect nodes, redundant segments within Spiritual Power circuits that could be streamlined—it all appeared with crystal clarity.

Li Yuan put the manual away and took out the fifty Mirror Binding Talismans he had just bought.

Spreading out one Mirror Binding Talisman, he used his Golden Core Stage Divine Sense to probe deep within its body, scanning the structure of the array patterns layer by layer.

’Complex.’

The internal array patterns of the Mirror Binding Talisman were unlike any Tier Two talisman he was familiar with. A conventional Tier Two talisman had twelve to fifteen main lines at most, with about thirty nodes. This Mirror Binding Talisman, however, had over twenty main lines, and its node density was upwards of fifty.

Crucially, the array patterns were not laid out flat but were layered and compressed in a spiral within the thickness of the talisman paper. Li Yuan had only ever seen this kind of three-dimensional talisman-crafting technique described in theoretical texts about Tier Three talismans; he had never personally attempted it.

It was impossible to reverse-engineer the creation process just by deconstructing its external structure.

Li Yuan took out a second talisman and scanned it from another angle. The result was the same. The core circuit of the array patterns was encased in a Spiritual Power seal unique to the Celestial Peak Sect, making it impossible to observe the internal energy flow without activating the talisman.

’I’ll have to use one first. While it’s active, I can observe the energy activation patterns and then try to reverse-engineer the creation method.’

Li Yuan put the Mirror Binding Talismans away. ’Crafting them isn’t urgent. I need to figure out the methodology first.’

「After nightfall」

The Concealment Array outside his stone house was triggered from its perimeter.

Li Yuan swept the area with his Divine Sense.

’Chen Yi.’

He opened the door, and Chen Yi strode in quickly, his expression grave.

"Another mission?" Li Yuan asked, sitting down at the stone table.

"The Sect has verified the intelligence you brought back last time." Chen Yi dispensed with the small talk and got straight to the point. "The coordinates for the three backup contact points on the western front were all confirmed, and two of them have been taken out. But the location for the third was off. The Sect’s people went there only to find it empty."

"Off?"

"The coordinates were real, but they had already pulled out," Chen Yi said, sitting at the table. "Either the Evil Slaying Sect reacted faster than we anticipated, or they have some internal warning mechanism that detected the roster being leafed through."

Li Yuan’s expression remained calm.

’Last time, when I infiltrated the abandoned posthouse, I spent very little time looking through the roster—no more than five breaths. But it’s possible the roster was embedded with some kind of miniature array pattern that records physical contact. If touched by an unauthorized person, it would leave a trace.’

"The Sect wants you to make another trip." Chen Yi took a command jade slip from his sleeve and placed it on the table.

"The target is still the abandoned posthouse west of Skeleton Ridge. Last time, you only managed to get a torn page from the roster and the supply dispatch logs. The Sect wants more: contact methods, code phrases, and the command hierarchy for the Evil Slaying Sect’s western front."

"After this mission is complete, we can give you the Core Formation support materials," Chen Yi said, pausing for a moment.

"And we’ll add a batch of the Sect’s internal cultivation resources. You can draw up a list; anything reasonable is negotiable."

Li Yuan thought for a moment.

"Artifact refining manuals."

"Artifact refining manuals?" Chen Yi was slightly taken aback, but then he nodded.

"That can be arranged. The Sect has plenty of artifact refining manuals, but most of what’s available publicly are entry-level. The more High Tier ones require internal approval, but with the contributions you’ve made for the Sect, getting approval won’t be an issue."

"Then it’s settled."

Chen Yi stood up to leave, glancing back as he reached the door.

"Try to get it done within five days. The Sect is waiting on the intel."

After the stone door closed, Li Yuan sat in silence for a moment.