Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 49: Chapter 47: Signs of Trouble

Ji An and his companion quickly packed up their stall, bought three bottles of spirit wine and a few small dishes from the Hundred Flavors Pavilion, and then flew towards the western side of Jade Water Lake on a talisman bird.

There, the sect has designated a fishpond, and it’s said that there is a spiritual spring at the bottom of the lake constantly gushing spirit water.

As the day was fading, the cries of cranes and egrets could be heard echoing in the sky.

“Junior Brother Liang’s rented fishpond is at the very edge, Fishpond No. Bingchou.

Look over there, the bamboo house with the flag bearing the character ’Liang’ is where Junior Brother Liang lives.”

When the two of them flew to the front of the bamboo house, they saw Liang Hill paddling back on a sampan, the boat piled high with green duckweed.

“Junior Brother Liang, let’s have a drink!”

Wei Songnian greeted warmly, holding up the spirit wine in his hand.

“You two are quite the rare guests.”

Liang Hill laughed heartily, secretly pinching a spell to lift the bamboo house’s dharma prohibition:

“Come inside first, take a seat. I’ll just throw this feed into the pond.”

Ji An and his companion landed at the bamboo house and waited for their host to finish his tasks.

With a gesture of object control technique, Liang Hill quickly scattered all the green duckweed into the fishpond and then caught two half-foot-long silver-scaled fish and tossed them into the fish basket.

He rowed the boat to the side of the bamboo house, carried the fish basket, and leaped onto the bamboo house.

Ji An immediately stepped forward to take the rope from his hand, tying the boat securely.

“Thank you, Junior Brother.”

Liang Hill let out a bitter smile and continued:

“After renting the fishpond, I bought a batch of silver-scaled fish and golden carp fry. I’ve almost used up all my spirit stones; I can’t even afford fish food now and have to rely on duckweed to get by for a while.

It’ll take half a year before I start seeing any earnings from crystal stones, and it will be a tough period until then.”

“Better days are yet to come. Junior Brother, you have an industry now, and soon you’ll be accumulating crystal stones and contribution points much quicker.”

Wei Songnian’s tone carried a hint of envy; his business was busy day in and day out, relying on a batch of old customers for receiving and selling goods.

It looked like he had a decent income, but after covering his cultivation expenses, all his crystal stones were tied up in stock.

Several years ago, a member of the Wei Clan joined Luofeng Valley and, due to exceptional cultivation talent, was accepted by someone at the late-stage Foundation Establishment as a disciple.

The clan poured a large amount of resources into this member, leaving less support for other clan members.

By the time this member gives back to the clan, who knows how many years it will be.

Wei Songnian’s greatest dream is to save enough spirit stones and, with the help of the family, secure a shop in Cyan Cloud Immortal City.

Of course, all this is premised on him being able to establish his foundation; without achieving foundation, he can’t keep a shop in the Immortal City, and the family wouldn’t appoint him as the shopkeeper.

With his aptitude, he would surely need a Foundation Establishment Pill to achieve foundation, and such breakthrough Great Realm pills are most easily obtained in the sect.

The sect and several families have an agreement that as long as one serves the sect for more than thirty years after establishing their foundation, non-core disciples who are at the Foundation Establishment stage are allowed to leave the sect and return to their family.

The condition is that if there’s a war, those who left must accept the call to arms.

With this agreement, families are willing to send their more talented members to the sect for training.

Of course, the most talented direct line disciples must be kept in the family for training, or else they wouldn’t share the same goals as the family.

The sect benefits from this as well, using the freed-up spirit vein nodes to attract non-family cultivators, making them dedicated to contributing to the sect.

How do you make them wholeheartedly devoted? The simplest way is through vested interests, gradually cultivating a sense of belonging to the sect.

“Haha, thanks for your kind words, Senior Brother. I’ll go stew these few fish while you two chat.”

Liang Hill opened the door, inviting the two of them inside while he went to the kitchen to get busy.

Ji An followed into the kitchen, picking up several plates to place the packed small dishes onto.

After finishing, he took out the talisman paper and ink from his bundle, pushing them towards Wei Songnian, and said:

“Senior Brother, do you still have any Ginseng Essence Pills?”

“I knew you’d ask, so I set aside five for you.”

Wei Songnian smiled as he took out a white jade bottle and handed it over, starting to count the talisman paper himself.

Among his long-time customers, more and more disciples were reaching the late-stage Qi Refining, and his earnings were better than in the earlier years.

“Thank you, Senior Brother understands me.”

Ji An took the jade bottle, poured out the Pills, sniffed them, and nodded with satisfaction.

Having finished counting, Wei Songnian laughed:

“254 pieces of Tier One Lower Grade Talisman Paper, 118 pieces of Middle Grade Talisman Paper, 10 bottles of Lower Grade Talisman Ink, totaling 1,548 spirit crystals.

Junior Brother, sticking to the usual rules?”

In his mind, he figured that the other party’s talisman making technique had reached a bottleneck, with no noticeable improvement in quality.

Still, it relieved him, as being too proficient in planting technique and talisman manufacturing would make him too envious to sleep.

“This time, Senior Brother, give me the materials for 20 bottles of talisman ink. After I return today, I will cultivate another five acres of spirit fields.

In three months, I intend to earn a good amount of spirit stones.”

Ji An had already calculated that the cultivators he was familiar with were advancing to the late-stage Qi Refining, and all would face the competition for Foundation Establishment Pills, making it unlikely they could lend him many crystal stones.

Although the Foundation Establishment was still a long way off, it’s necessary to prepare in advance, as amassing enough contribution points requires queuing to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill.

Wei Songnian was slightly taken aback:

“Can so many spirit fields be managed?”

Even Old Huang only cultivated ten acres of spirit fields.

“More or less. At worst, some of the fields may yield less.”

“As long as you know what you’re doing, Junior Brother.”

Wei Songnian nodded, taking out 20 sets of materials for talisman ink, laughing:

“A large number of sect cultivators and loose cultivators are pouring into Mo Ya Mountain, treating it as a supply base; the talisman sales are quite good now.

If Junior Brother becomes a talisman maker, your future prospects will be great.”

He lowered his voice, speaking mysteriously:

“I heard the sect is organizing Foundation Establishment cultivator uncles to compete for territory deeper in the Ten Thousand Mountains. With supply bases extending further, more cultivators will join the demon hunting effort in the future.

Haha, the sect has been dormant for so many years; it’s time to expand the territory. I’ve heard there aren’t enough spirit vein nodes to go around for Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

Has it started? Ji An furrowed his brow slightly, feeling a growing sense of urgency.

The sect acted according to the pace he expected; he needed to quickly learn some guarding Daoist skills and, if possible, advance to the Foundation Establishment stage swiftly.

“Good news! I hear demon cores refined can serve as the primary ingredient for Foundation Establishment Pills of Foundation Establishment levels.”

Foundation Establishment Pill formulas are abundant, and the use of demon cores for refining Foundation Establishment Pills was extremely popular during times of intense conflict between the Human Race and the Demon Race.

Not only the Foundation Establishment Pill, but demon cores can also be used to refine various pills that enhance cultivation.

However, these pills have violent effects, reportedly influencing the mind if consumed excessively, requiring more time for refinement.

“Indeed!”

Wei Songnian clenched his fist tightly, acknowledging that pills refined with demon cores have higher side effects, but they are also cheaper.

Taking a Foundation Establishment Pill doesn’t guarantee success, but if he had two, if he couldn’t establish his foundation, he might as well return to be a sire, contributing to his family’s prosperity and expansion.

“Twenty sets of talisman ink materials, totaling 420 spirit crystals. Junior Brother, you still have 1,128 spirit crystals remaining; are you buying anything else?”

Ji An counted out 72 spirit crystals, then took out a piece of spirit stone and pushed them over together:

“These are for Senior Brother as well, settling the debt for the Ginseng Essence Pills and spiritual peach seeds I bought last time; I still owe Senior Brother ten spirit stones.”