Chapter 87: Belt Upgrade

At noon, Li Xuan finally entered Tian Dou City.

After hurrying for half a day, Li Xuan was exhausted, planning to rest a bit before going to purchase building materials.

Li Xuan found a restaurant, sat down, and took out the Yellow Turban Warrior's list of materials from his pocket.

Not looking, he didn't know; once he looked, he was startled.

The list was almost taller than Li Xuan, and the quantities of various building materials were not small.

"These Yellow Turban Warriors really think highly of me; is this built to Tian Gong's standards?" Li Xuan covered his forehead, chuckled self‑deprecatingly and said.

However, for his manor, Li Xuan gritted his teeth and vowed to buy all these materials, after all it would become his stronghold later.

At that moment, Li Xuan noticed another problem: his storage space was insufficient.

Before leaving, Li Xuan had already taken everything out of the Void Pearl and piled it in the Courtyard.

Yet even so, the space of 108 Void Pearls still couldn't carry all the materials back.

"Looks like the belt needs an upgrade; I can put my Kongming Crystals to use," Li Xuan stroked his chin, thinking of a good plan.

Actually Li Xuan had long wanted to modify his belt; its 300 cubic meters seemed large, but couldn't hold the bulk trades he often does—each purchase runs into thousands of batches of medicinal herbs.

Now Li Xuan still had nine Kongming Crystals, each providing a full 100 cubic meters; if all were set into the belt, he wouldn't suffer space anxiety for a while.

However Li Xuan also knew that even if he attached all nine remaining Kongming Crystals, he still couldn't transport all the building materials in one go.

Li Xuan folded the list, took out a map of Tian Dou City, screened options, and finally settled on a shop capable of crafting gold and silver jewelry; the shop was sizable enough to meet his needs.

Then Li Xuan ordered a full table of dishes, ate his fill, and after that took all nine Kongming Crystals out of the Void Pearl, activated them one by one, and slipped them into his own pouch; once activated, a Kongming Crystal cannot be placed back into a Void Pearl.

Kongming Crystals can only be used by the person who activates them; Li Xuan feared the belt‑craftsman might accidentally activate them, so he pre‑activated them to prevent mishaps.

With the Kongming Crystals secured, Li Xuan left the restaurant, followed the map, and found the jewelry shop.

"Young master, welcome; what kind of jewelry would you like to buy?" a maid spotted Li Xuan and hurried forward, speaking warmly.

"I want to modify my belt; does the shop have a goldsmith who can forge?" Li Xuan smiled at the maid and said.

"A belt? Young master, this is a jewelry store; we can't make belts," the maid's expression changed after hearing Li Xuan, the previous enthusiasm vanished, even showing some contempt.

"Just take me to the goldsmith," Li Xuan pulled out a Silver Soul Coin and tossed it to the maid.

"Young master, this way, please," the maid, after receiving the Silver Soul Coin, instantly put on a smile and led Li Xuan into the shop.

Li Xuan followed behind the maid, walking toward the interior of the shop.

At the back of the shop, a dozen or so jewelry artisans stood in a line, diligently polishing the pieces in their hands.

Suddenly, the maid saw a goldsmith finish a golden bracelet and led Li Xuan to that goldsmith.

Li Xuan glanced; it was a gold bracelet engraved with auspicious beast patterns, the craftsmanship excellent and lifelike, and Li Xuan nodded in satisfaction, confirming his belt‑making skill had passed.

"Zhou Shifu, the customer would like you to modify his belt, what do you think…" the maid introduced cautiously to Li Xuan.

"A belt?" Zhou Shifu, hearing the maid, showed a puzzled expression. Li Xuan took the Huo Wen Shi Er Shou Yaodai off his waist and handed it to Zhou Shifu.

Zhou Shifu's eyes lit up upon seeing the belt, he stood and took it.

Li Xuan finally saw Zhou Shifu's build clearly.

Zhou Shifu was in his early forties, bald, chubby and amiable, about 1.6 m tall, plump.

After taking the belt, Zhou Shifu examined it carefully.

"The craftsmanship is fine, Red Jade Fire Pattern Steel, young master; this material is rare, and the technique is top‑tier on the continent. The only thing is I can't tell what gemstone this is, but you want me to modify the belt?" Zhou Shifu raised his head, looked at Li Xuan with a puzzled face, and asked.

"Indeed I want you to handle the modification; I wish to inset some of these things onto the belt, can you do it?" Li Xuan took the nine Kongming Crystals from his pouch and placed them on the table.

"I've never seen this kind of gemstone; as for how many to inset… each slot can hold three, how many do you want?" Zhou Shifu, puzzled, looked at the Kongming Crystals in his hand and asked Li Xuan.

"All nine, inset them all," Li Xuan nodded and said directly.

"Nine Gold Soul Coins, about two hours and it'll be done," Zhou Shifu nodded and told Li Xuan.

"Then please, Zhou Shifu, leave the items here; I need to go buy some supplies, and I'll return to collect them," Li Xuan nodded, then removed three pieces from the belt and placed them on the table, binding the rest to his waist; though a bit tight, it was bearable.

Then Li Xuan took out nine Gold Soul Coins, set them on the counter, and turned to leave.

……

After leaving the jewelry shop, Li Xuan headed straight for the building materials market.

Li Xuan needed to purchase many building materials; even using all the Kongming Crystals, he feared he couldn't buy everything in one trip.

Upon arriving at the Jian Cai Shi Chang, Li Xuan began a spree of purchases until the Void Pearls in his hands were all filled, then he stopped; the material prices were surprisingly cheap, he bought a huge amount, spending less than two Gold Soul Coins, estimating that a thousand Gold Soul Coins should be enough to buy everything on the list.

Calculating the time, the belt should be finished, so Li Xuan returned straight to the jewelry shop.

"Young master, it's already finished!" the maid said enthusiastically to Li Xuan.

"Where is it? Let me see!" Li Xuan replied hurriedly.

"This way," the maid led Li Xuan to Zhou Shifu's counter, where three belt components lay on a red tray.

The modified piece showed little change; only the original eye and mouth areas were hollowed out and filled with Kongming Crystals for fixation.

Now with Kongming Crystals as eyes, the beast head looks even more majestic and imposing.

"Zhou Shifu, your craftsmanship is excellent," Li Xuan praised, clapped his hands, then took ten Gold Soul Coins from the Void Pearl and handed them to Zhou Shifu.

The labor fee has already been paid; this is a reward.

"Thank you, young master, for the reward; this beast‑head belt is crafted exquisitely, there aren't many parts that can be altered, so this is the only design possible," Zhou Shifu smiled and said to Li Xuan.

"It's already great; I'll come to you for the next modification," Li Xuan said with a smile, clasped his fists, then inserted the three parts into his belt and turned to leave.

(End of Chapter)