Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 114: Chapter 111: Moving into Red Flame Peak

The spirit shuttle looks like a sharp-ended skiff, about one zhang long.

The spirit shuttle Ji An bought is the best model; when activated, its speed is several tiers faster than a flying ship, with a top speed that claims to match the sword flight of a mid-stage Foundation Establishment sword cultivator.

Of course, rapid flight consumes a lot of Spirit Stones, requiring ten Spirit Stones to be loaded each time the spirit shuttle is driven, but it doesn’t support prolonged use.

However, this bit of consumption is nothing to Ji An now.

In the three years since exchanging the Foundation Establishment Pill, without needing to take pills, and having no other expenses, Ji An has accumulated over six thousand Spirit Stones.

Looking at the wealth on hand now, the thought of being nearly driven to despair by a few Spirit Stones back then really seems laughable.

Everything is based on possessing a skillful Planting Technique, which is also his main reason for continuing to manage the Spirit Field.

The many needs during the Foundation Establishment Stage can be acquired with Spirit Stones; although using Spirit Stones generally involves quite an outlay, it doesn’t stand in the way of his fast Spirit Stone earning speed.

After leaving the Artifact Refining Shop of the sect, Ji An discarded the gray cloth bag of the Spirit-Seeking Rat and placed the two Beasts into the Spirit Beast Bag.

The cloth bag doesn’t obstruct probing detection in any way; any Foundation Establishment cultivator can sense what tier demon beasts he is raising.

Ji An patted the Spirit Beast Bag at his waist contentedly, and said with a smile:

“Senior sister, after buying another batch of Cyan Spirit Pill, my business here is done. Do you have anything else to do? Let’s handle it on the way.”

The feeling of Flower Spirit Stone is truly pleasant, even more so because everything he wanted to buy was of decent quality.

At this moment, Li Lingyu only felt her teeth ache and wanted to transform into a Tribulation Cultivator to rob this rich senior.

Even in the sect’s Artifact Refining Shop, this junior brother spent over nine hundred Spirit Stones lavishly, choosing the largest space Storage Bag, the most expensive spirit shuttle, only the two Spirit Beast Bags were cheaper.

Spirit Farmers are not wealthy, but this Spirit Farmer is wealthy beyond measure.

Others talk about buying pills and typically buy per piece; those with deep pockets buy by the bottle, while this one bought in bulk!

This is enviable enough to make her green with envy, plus with the sect’s allocated pills, she only takes seven or eight Cyan Spirit Pills each month.

If she weren’t an Alchemist, she couldn’t even ensure this amount.

Li Lingyu took a deep breath, calming down her emotions:

“If Junior Brother has enough Spirit Stones, could you lend me some?

An Alchemist needs a lot of practice to enhance skills, but since I’ve been in Foundation Establishment for just a few years, my success rate in refining Cyan Spirit Pill isn’t high, sometimes even failing to meet the sect’s pill quota.

Even though the sect’s alchemy tasks are arduous, the share assigned to me is limited, making progress even slower.”

A sense of bitterness arose in her heart, as to improve her Cyan Spirit Pill refinement proficiency after reaching Foundation Establishment, she invested a lot of Spirit Stones in practice.

If the success rate is too low, she can’t even take on the sect’s alchemy tasks.

Ji An was taken aback, then laughed:

“No problem, let’s head to Zhen Dan Workshop first, and the remaining Spirit Stones aren’t immediately needed so I’ll lend them to senior sister as an advance for the pills I plan to purchase.

However, senior sister’s pills need to be at least of Genuine Grade level.”

He found it amusing, as he had always borrowed Spirit Stones from others, but today he was going to be the creditor, interesting.

Yesterday accompanying senior sister to the herb shop, he realized the challenges alchemists face; lacking skill can result in Spirit Stone losses.

Although alchemy experience can gradually accumulate, the initial few batches with a new pill often are unsuccessful.

Only stable pill formation can slowly earn Spirit Stones, otherwise, it’s a constant loss.

Take Cyan Spirit Pill for instance; the materials needed for a batch cost about one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones, and without at least a forty percent pill success rate, it’s unsustainable.

Even with an extraordinary alchemy talent, insufficient practice won’t suffice.

“Rest assured, Junior Brother, alchemists value reputation, so they wouldn’t sell inferior pills within the sect.”

Li Lingyu laughed, aware that in the sect, dishonest selling makes one easily hated, so inferior pills are dealt primarily to small marketplaces.

The two arrived at Zhen Dan Workshop; sensing their spiritual pressure, a Foundation Establishment steward came out to greet them.

After exchanging pleasantries at the second-floor seating area, Ji An straightforwardly asked:

“What’s the price of Cyan Spirit Pill here?”

The price of Cyan Spirit Pill fluctuates around twenty-seven to eight Spirit Stones, but Zhen Dan Workshop’s price is always slightly higher than other Pill Medicine Shops.

Due to reliable quality, there’s a brand premium.

“Thirty Spirit Stones each.”

The steward smiled, knowing the primary medicines for Foundation Establishment pills require hundred-year-old ages, coming with a substantial price.

“What discount is available for bulk purchases?”

“It depends on the quantity, buying fifty or more, I can offer them at twenty-nine Spirit Stones each.

If one buys over a hundred, I’ll give it for twenty-eight Spirit Stones each.”

The steward stroked his goatee, sensing the two before him are both First-layer Foundation Establishment cultivators, doubting they have the funds for such a bulk purchase.

Nonetheless, business thrives on thoroughness and he didn’t show his thoughts outwardly.

Although these two Golden Spirit Sect disciples might not have the funds now, perhaps they will in the future; his top-notch shop performance stems from his cordial handling, securing long-term clientele.

Ji An calculated needing to lend senior sister Spirit Stones, pondering:

“I’ll take eighty then.”

Ji An manipulated a spell to bring out several Middle-grade Spirit Stones and a pile of Lower Grade ones from the Storage Bag, saying:

“Friend, please count them.”

Eighty? Buying so many and you also have Spirit Stones to lend me?

Li Lingyu thought to herself, Liuu Mei frowned for a moment, then relaxed.

Eighty? Who would have thought he was such a wealthy man!

The steward instructed a maid to retrieve eight bottles of Cyan Spirit Pill, and he personally counted them once.

He took out a jade token engraved with a maple leaf pattern, operated on the spirit disc for a while, and then handed it over:

“I have retained a record of the transaction just now. If you spend more than ten thousand spirit stones in our shop, you can enjoy a 2% discount.”

“Quite the method,” Ji An took the token and put it into his storage bag, feeling very much like he was getting a membership card.

The maid delivered the pills, and after Ji An and Li Lingyu checked them together, they left, with the steward enthusiastically seeing them to the door.

After walking a distance in silence, Ji An said:

“Senior sister, I can lend you another fifteen hundred spirit stones.”

After lending these spirit stones, he still had over two hundred left for emergencies.

Li Lingyu was surprised and gave him a look full of deep meaning:

“Thank you, junior brother.”

….

The next day, the two of them took a flying ship back to the sect.

Ji An found Huang Feihu and handed him a hundred spirit stones to keep for future purchases of various supplies.

From then on, apart from going to the small courtyard by Jade Water Lake every day to cast spells on the spirit plants, he spent the rest of his time cultivating at Ningcui Cliff.

A month passed in the blink of an eye. Ji An was practicing his magic techniques in the bamboo building, tiny golden lights twirling around his fingertips like fine sand.

The communication talisman sword descended from the sky, flickering with silver light, and stopped outside the dharma prohibition.

He dissipated the magic technique, opened the restriction, and summoned the talisman sword to read the message within.

The message was from Ye Changqing, informing him that the Chen Race had already moved out of Red Flame Peak, and asking when he would move in, as they would go together to complete the handover.

Ji An took out a new communication talisman sword, entered the information, and said he would head to Lingxiao Mountain the next day.

“Leaving soon, a new beginning!”

Ji An clenched his fist and raised it, his mind sinking into his dantian.

[Magic Techniques: Sharp Gold Technique (Perfection 86%)

Golden Armor Technique (Minor Achievement 64%)

Flame Fire Spell (27%)

Explosive Flame Technique (Minor Achievement 72%)…]

Since falling out with Chen Xingyun, Ji An had pondered his own trump cards and realized he had exposed too many of his techniques.

The other just needed to investigate a little to know he excelled in Geng Metal Finger and Water Curtain Technique.

If the opponent had any intention of dealing with him, they could devise targeted strategies, which would be very disadvantageous for him.

Based on his current cultivation techniques, he decided to only externally reveal his ability to use Wood Element Technique and Fire Element Technique, which were also the primary choices of foundation establishment cultivators practicing Wood Element Technique.

While one should not have malicious intentions, it’s important to be cautious of others. Ji An realized he had been so focused on earning spirit stones that he had become careless and forgotten to keep a trump card, which was very unwise.

…..

The next day, Ji An took a flying shuttle to Lingxiao Mountain.

He tested the magical artifact’s high-speed flight mode and found it astonishingly quick, more than twice as fast as riding a spirit beast.

However, the consumption of spirit stones was equally astonishing. Unless in an emergency, it was better to maintain a stable flight or ride a spirit beast.

Upon reaching Lingxiao Mountain, Ye Changqing released a flying ship, brought along several disciples, and invited Ji An to join the endeavor.

“The spiritual vein at Red Flame Peak is quite special, with spirit fields all located at the foot of the mountain, and only about thirty acres near that cold pool are suitable for planting spiritual herbs, all accounted as your private spirit field.

Due to the fierce nature of the spiritual mechanism, low-tier spiritual herbs cannot survive, and even high-tier spiritual herbs don’t grow well. Other areas can only profitably grow spirit wood.

This is one of the reasons why, although the spirit vein has reached tier two lower grade, no one is interested in renting it out.

Junior brother chose to rent the entire peak, requiring an annual payment of sufficient spirit fish and spiritual charcoal, and every five years, sufficient spiritual materials.

Your planting skills need to be proficient, or you’ll only earn a modest amount of contribution points and spirit stones despite all the hard work.”

Ye Changqing took out a jade slip:

“This is the information I’ve compiled, and starting next year, it should be implemented according to this rule.”

At Red Flame Peak, Ji An found everything of value had been removed, leaving only an empty mountain, requiring redecoration before moving in.

The grotto mansion is located halfway up the mountain, and only here and a small area near the cold pool have a spiritual energy concentration reaching tier two level.

In other areas, the concentration of spiritual energy can only reach tier one upper grade or top-grade level.

Red Flame Peak isn’t large, with spirit fields at the foot of the mountain totaling just over three thousand acres.

Ye Changqing took Ji An on a quick flight around Red Flame Peak, introduced the spirit wood planted in each area, and after completing the handover process, they signed a leasing contract.

The two of them went to the area near the cold pool, and Ye Changqing took out an intricately designed jade bottle, smiling:

“I’ll fetch some spirit spring water from the bottom of the pool.”

He executed a spell and walked into the water, which automatically moved away from his surroundings.

After a while, Ye Changqing calmly walked ashore, cupped his hands, and said:

“The spiritual mechanism here is too uncomfortable. I’ll take my leave first. Junior brother, if you have time, come to Lingxiao Mountain for tea and a discussion.”