Chapter 467 - 439: Making Void-Tethered Permanent

Chapter 467: Chapter 439: Making Void-Tethered Permanent

Before leaving Nanyuan District, Li Yuan forged three more Magical Artifacts in the Artifact Refining workshop.

After making "Forged Pattern Refinement" permanent, his basic Tier Two Artifact Refining skill was fixed at the Great Success level. Every finished product that came out of the forge had an extremely stable arrangement of Spirit Patterns and precise energy circuits, making failures almost nonexistent.

The panel popped up as the last Magical Artifact was completed.

[Tier Two Artifact Refining Technique: Minor Achievement → Great Success]

His base proficiency had caught up to the effective level granted by the entry’s buff. From now on, even without equipping "Forged Pattern Essentials," his Artifact Refining level would be stable at Tier Two Great Success.

After breaking through to Tier Three Artifact Refining Technique, he could attempt to forge a Lifebound Spiritual Artifact.

Li Yuan packed up his tools and leftover materials in the workshop, said goodbye to Zhou He, and headed north.

While crossing the Spiritless District, he made a half-day stop at White Mirror Marketplace.

He put the deep-sea Spiritual Materials and marine-type Magical Artifacts he brought back from Nanyuan District up for consignment in several shops. The five percent discount Token for White Mirror Marketplace further reduced his transaction costs. Since marine-type Spiritual Materials were also rare in Jingzhou, inquiries came in quickly after he listed them.

After handling the consignments, Li Yuan didn’t linger. He returned to Liangzhou via the Teleportation Array in Mozhou.

It was late at night by the time he returned to Mist Forest Marketplace.

Inside the stone house, a Concealment Array operated silently.

Li Yuan sat down cross-legged, took the Void Stone from his storage bag, and equipped it.

The pitch-black ore lay in his palm, its surface cool and smooth. He had used a portion of the profits from each trade route run to absorb its power, pushing the Void Stone’s permanence progress to about eighty-seven thousand.

He took stock of the remaining Spirit Stones in his storage bag. With the profits from the second run of the Three States trade route, plus the daily revenue from Yuanming Studio during the auction preparation period, he still had a considerable amount of Mid-grade Spirit Stones left.

Li Yuan took out one hundred and thirty Mid-grade Spirit Stones.

Converted to Low Grade Spirit Stones, this was exactly thirteen thousand—enough to cover the final gap.

He arranged the Spirit Stones neatly in front of him and began circulating his Cultivation Technique.

Spiritual Power was drawn from the Spirit Stones, surged through his meridians into his Dantian, and the stones then quickly crumbled into grayish-white waste on the ground.

One, two, ten.

The Spirit Stones melted away one after another, like ice cubes dropped into hot water.

Two hours later, the Spiritual Qi from the last Mid-grade Spirit Stone was completely drained, and its shattered husk scattered on the ground.

Dense silver patterns emerged on the surface of the once-solid ore, radiating outward from the center like the illuminated veins of a miniature star.

The panel popped up.

[Permanence condition for Portable Void (Blue) has been met (100,000/100,000)]

[Portable Void (Blue) has become a permanent entry.]

The change was drastic.

Li Yuan’s sea of consciousness was like a lake with a boulder thrown into it. It rocked violently for several breaths before gradually calming.

When the tremors subsided, an empty void had appeared in the depths of his sea of consciousness.

An independent space, about three zhang square.

The boundaries of the space were clearly discernible—six grayish-white walls formed a perfect cube, their surfaces faintly shimmering with silvery spatial patterns. The space was empty, the air was dry and clean, and it was completely isolated from the outside world.

’A portable space.’

Li Yuan closed his eyes and extended his Divine Sense into this space.

Wherever his thoughts went, every inch of the space was under his absolute control. Storing and retrieving items required only a thought. The space was directly connected to his sea of consciousness, with no intermediary medium.

’It’s much safer than a storage bag. A storage bag can be forcibly opened, but this portable space is bound only to my Divine Sense. Unless I die, no one can access what’s inside.’

With a thought, Li Yuan moved all his valuables and most of his other possessions into the portable space.

Spatial perception was another huge change.

The second effect of Portable Void was a massive boost to his perception and application of spatial power.

Li Yuan opened his eyes and raised his right hand.

’Void-Rending Slash.’

A gray rift bloomed from his fingertips.

But this time, the rift’s form was completely different.

Previously, Void-Rending Slash could only create a three-chi-long straight line. Its direction was fixed, its trajectory rigid; its path from release to dissipation was an unchangeable line segment.

Now, after leaving his fingertips, the gray rift didn’t fly in a straight line. Instead, it carved a smooth arc through the air, curved around the corner of the stone table, and precisely sliced a half-cun-deep gash into the wall.

The enhancement to his spatial perception had caused a qualitative leap in his control over Void-Rending Slash. He could only cut in straight lines before because the spatial rift lost its precise guidance the moment it left his fingertips, flying forward on inertia alone. Now, his perception of the spatial field had expanded so much that the rift remained within his senses even after leaving his body, allowing him to adjust its trajectory in real time.

For the next half-day, Li Yuan repeatedly practiced the new form of Void-Rending Slash inside the stone house.

The panel popped up after twelve hours of practice.

[Void-Rending Slash: Minor Achievement → Great Success]

’Void-Rending Slash has reached Great Success.’

Combined with his mastery of the Teleportation Skill, the progress of his two spatial Magic techniques continued to advance.

The permanence condition for the Teleportation Stone was to reach the Perfection stage in two spatial Magic techniques. His mastery of the Teleportation Skill was still a long way from Perfection, and Void-Rending Slash at Great Success was also far from it. However, the path forward was clear. Making Portable Void permanent had opened an accelerated path for cultivating these two spatial Magic techniques.

Afterward, Li Yuan walked out of the stone house.

A long line had formed in front of the newly built hall—news of the auction had been spreading for over half a month, and today was the day it started.

Ji Wenchuan had already set up the second-floor hall early in the morning. A long display table covered with a deep blue velvet cloth sat in the center of the hall. Over fifty chairs were arranged around it, now seventy to eighty percent full. The attendees were mainly Foundation Establishment Cultivators, but many Late-stage Qi Refining Loose Cultivators were also packed into the back rows.

Li Yuan did not show his face at the front.

He sat behind a window in a side room on the second floor, quietly observing the scene in the hall through a thin, one-way transparent Array screen.

The auction was jointly hosted by Ji Wenchuan and Xu Zhang, who worked together with perfect coordination. Ji Wenchuan was responsible for calling out bids and maintaining order, while Xu Zhang handled item inspection and payment settlement.

Before any consigned item was brought out for display, it was first sent to the side room for him to perform a final quality check in his capacity as the market supervisor.

This meant every single auction item would pass through his hands.

His three-chi entry perception would automatically trigger a scan on every item he handled.

The first auction item was a Tier Two Middle Grade long spear consigned by a Loose Cultivator. His entry perception didn’t react.

The second, third, and fourth items. Nothing.

The seventh item was a set of ancient, fragmented texts acquired from an old bookstore. They were a few brittle, yellowed animal hide scrolls containing the Artifact Refining notes of a small, long-destroyed Sect. The condition was extremely poor, the writing was blurry, and to most people, it was worthless.

His entry perception triggered.

’White.’

Li Yuan looked at Ji Wenchuan and nodded, signaling for him to acquire the item.

A moment later, Li Yuan saw one of the Market Stewards bidding fiercely.

Soon after, the animal hide scrolls were delivered to Li Yuan’s hands.

Li Yuan flipped over the animal hide scrolls, and the panel popped up.

[Equippable item detected: Fragmented Artifact Refining Notes (Complete)]

[Equipped Entry Preview: Lingering Traces of Ink (White) — Slightly increases the legibility of blurry text when reading fragmented ancient texts.]

[Permanence condition: Read ten or more fragmented ancient texts (0/10).]

’A White entry. The permanence condition is to read ten or more fragmented ancient texts.’

Li Yuan glanced at the stacks of Artifact Refining classics piled in the corner of the side room, which he had bought from the Celestial Peak Sect and various other places. At least a dozen of them fit the definition of fragmented ancient texts.

The panel popped up as he finished flipping through the tenth scroll.

[Lingering Traces of Ink (White) has become a permanent entry.]

The fifteenth auction item was a Tier Two pill consigned by a Loose Cultivator.

’A Green entry.’

He ran the same play. A moment later, the pill was in his hand.

[Equippable item detected: Strengthening Essence and Nourishing Vein Pill (Complete)]

[Equipped Entry Preview: Spiritual Pivot Reinforcement (Green) — When the Dantian is damaged, automatically draws in Spiritual Qi to repair it, increasing recovery speed.]

[Permanence condition: Experience your Dantian being stressed beyond its limits in three real combat situations (0/3).]

’A Green entry. Its effect is extremely practical—automatic Dantian repair. For a Cultivator who often faces high-intensity battles, it’s an incredibly strong safety net.’

’But the permanence condition is exceptionally harsh. Having my Dantian stressed beyond its limits means I have to suffer attacks in real combat fierce enough to threaten it, and I have to do it three times. A battle of that intensity could lead to serious injury or even death with the slightest misstep. It’s not something I can create intentionally.’

’It will be difficult to achieve in the short term.’

The twenty-third auction item was a Jade Pendant of unknown origin. The pendant was pitch-black, with a few blurry patterns carved on its surface. It didn’t look like a Magical Artifact or an ordinary accessory. The consignor couldn’t explain its origin either, only that he had sensed a faint Spiritual Wave from within and sent it in to try his luck.

’Blue.’

A moment later, the Jade Pendant was delivered.

[Equippable item detected: Lifespan Jade Pendant (Complete)]

[Equipped Entry Preview: Unceasing Longevity (Blue) — When Magic or Cultivation Techniques with minor lifespan costs are used, essence blood can be consumed instead. The natural decline of lifespan is slowed by 10%. The more essence blood available, the slower the decline, up to a maximum of 30%.]

[Permanence condition: Accumulate and master to the Perfection stage three Tier Two or higher Magic or Cultivation Techniques that consume lifespan (0/3).]

’A Blue entry.’

’Its effect is highly unusual. Lifespan-consuming techniques can use essence blood instead, and the natural decay of my lifespan can be slowed by up to thirty percent. For Cultivators who practice Demon Sect Cultivation Techniques or have mastered certain Forbidden Techniques that cost lifespan, this entry is practically a new lease on life.’

’But the permanence condition is also extremely harsh—I need to acquire and cultivate three Tier Two or higher lifespan-consuming techniques to the Perfection stage.’

’The most crucial part is that every time I practice to build proficiency, it will consume my lifespan.’

’This will also be difficult to achieve in the short term.’

The auction lasted for the better part of a day.

All fifty-plus items were sold. Ji Wenchuan and Xu Zhang’s coordination was impeccable, the event proceeded in an orderly fashion, and the crowd’s excitement was perfectly managed. When the three Upper Element Pills were brought out as the finale, the bidding became incredibly fierce, and they were ultimately sold for more than three times their starting price.

After the auction, Li Yuan put away the three items with entries.

He couldn’t make Spiritual Pivot Reinforcement or Unceasing Longevity permanent for now, so he stored them in his portable space for safekeeping. He would deal with them later when the conditions were met.