Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 140: Chapter 137: Cultivation Technique Advancement

The Clear Spirit Bamboo in the mist seemed still asleep in the dreamscape, as Ji An sat cross-legged deep in the bamboo forest, cultivating the Evergreen Wood Skill.

Nature’s spiritual energy formed a vortex above his head, inhaled into his body through his nostrils.

With his inhalation, nearby green bamboo dropped sesame-sized green glows, swept into the vortex.

Spiritual Qi circulated through the Immortal Vein once, the Dao Seeds flickering with a subtle glow in various acupoints, processing the Spiritual Qi.

The majority of the Spiritual Qi was refined into Magical Power, merging into the Qi Sea Acupoint, while the remainder escaped from the body’s pores.

These escaping Spiritual Qi were mixed with somewhat emerald-green dots, which were reabsorbed by the nearby Clear Spirit Bamboo.

Ji An seemed to become a stalk of green bamboo in the forest, participating in nature’s cycle.

The thin mist was also pulled into the Spiritual Energy Vortex, entering his body with his breathing.

Busy cooking breakfast, Liang Hill tilted his head towards the bamboo forest, then looked eastwards, scratching his head quite puzzled.

The fog in the forest today was much lighter than usual, about to dissipate, whereas normally it would start dissipating slowly after the sun rises.

After half an hour, a red sun peeped out from the mountains, and the thin mist in the bamboo forest had completely disappeared.

Ji An finished cultivating, feeling utterly comfortable, like Pigsy enjoying a Ginseng Fruit, with every pore relaxing.

He keenly sensed that today’s cultivation was different from usual days.

Spiritual Qi entering the body needed to be refined in the Immortal Vein, usually leaving the Immortal Vein with a slight soreness after cultivation.

That was the fatigue from long-term Spiritual Qi refinement, but today he felt none of it.

During cultivation, he sensed a change from a particular moment.

At that moment, the Stone Turtle trembled gently, its carapace flickering with gentle Spirit Light.

He introspected his Dantian, carefully examining the patterns on the Stone Turtle, seeking the source of this anomaly.

He observed for a quarter hour, finding no clue, then immersed his mind into the Stone Turtle, finally discovering the root of it all.

[Dao Seed: All Things Born (Lower Grade), hidden in Hua Gai Acupoint, comprehend True Intent of Jia Wood Daoist Technique ’Flourish’, enhancing comprehension of Jia Wood Daoist Technique.]

[Dao Seed: Yi Wood Rejuvenation (Lower Grade), hidden in Jade Spring Acupoint, comprehend True Intent of Yi Wood Daoist Technique ’Life and Death, Withering and Flourishing’, enhancing comprehension of Yi Wood Daoist Technique.]

It turned out to be two Wood Element Dao Seeds reaching the Lower Grade level; he began introspecting the Dao Seeds in acupoints, finding they grew from sesame-sized to mung bean-sized.

Ji An withdrew his Divine Sense from the Stone Turtle, couldn’t help but laugh thrice, resonating through the forest.

With the Dao Seeds upgraded, he could more intuitively perceive the changes in Yin-Yang Qi within the Wood Element, making it easier to comprehend the Divine Intent in Cultivation Techniques.

With his deepening comprehension of the technique, he could accelerate understanding of the Magic Intent in Wood Element Skills, forming a perfect cycle.

The boisterous laughter startled several foraging bamboo chickens, fluttering away into the distance.

Ji An closed his eyes, continued to operate his Cultivation Technique, carefully experiencing the changes during the Spiritual Qi refinement.

He discovered that when Spiritual Qi passed through Hua Gai Acupoint, the Jia Wood Dao Seed’s color turned more emerald green, while passing through Jade Spring Acupoint, the Yi Wood Dao Seed’s color turned more profound.

A subtle resonance emerged between the two Dao Seeds, harmonious and natural like human breathing.

Through Dao Seed Refinement, the refined Magical Power carried a hint of faint green, yet seemingly unchanged.

Ji An finished cultivating, took a deep breath, with time accumulating, the changes brought by cultivation techniques would manifest more significantly.

He had a strong premonition that his cultivation speed would be faster than before, likely making it easier to breakthrough to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment.

As he walked out of the bamboo forest, he found Liang Hill leaning against the kitchen door talking with Huang Feihu, and the usual punctual meal setting hadn’t been laid on the table.

“This time Daoist Friend emerged two quarters later than usual, breakfast has already cooled down.

I’ve placed them in the steamer to reheat, please wait to dine.”

…

After breakfast, Ji An released Wind Control Technique, then stirred Magical Power, resembling a great bird soaring, floating toward the mountainside.

Arriving at the grotto mansion entrance, he approached the Red Cloud Pine using Magical Power to nurture it, his Magical Power infused with Wood Element Qi could better activate the Spirit Pine’s Fire Attribute.

The towering Spirit Wood swayed gently, the front halves of its pine needles turned crystalline like Fire Jade, radiating brilliant light.

After nurturing the two Spirit Pines once, Ji An stepped into the grotto mansion, started mixing potion with mineral powder to make medicinal mud.

He took off his outer robe, applied the medicinal mud all over, then operated the Skin Refining Method of the Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body, began refining skin and flesh.

After applying medicinal mud twice, Ji An ended today’s Body Refining, continuing further would harm the skin too much, not easily recover in a day.

Using Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation in Qi Refining Stage level Body Refining, his progress was swift.

Only after a few days of cultivation, his skin began exhibiting a bronze hue, faintly metallic under sunlight.

The first realm of skin refining named Copper Armor, wholly cultivated, the skin would exhibit a dull brass hue.

The second realm named Silver Armor, transitioning skin color from copper to moonwhite, entering Silver Armor meant the defense power of skin could match a Foundation Establishment Stage Demon Beast, especially those thick-skinned types.

The third realm named Glaze-Gold, skin returns to normal color, revealing countless gold gleams only when attacked.

It’s the highest realm of Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body, skin and muscle defense power can rival Chao Origin Stage Demon Beast, must pair with Body Refining Heart Method to achieve, shortcut skin refining can only reach Great Success in Silver Armor.

…

Ji An finished his body refining session and flew from the grotto mansion to the mountain top.

The Golden Sun hung high in the eastern sky, lavishly spilling light and heat.

The golden-red mist billowed over the volcano’s mouth, while the fierce spiritual wind swept outward, like a furnace.

Stopping at a suitable distance, Ji An sank his mind into the Stone Turtle.

“Refining the Spiritual Mechanism, enhancing the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique.”

[Magic Technique: Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique (Great Success 5%→6%)]

Whenever this type of magic technique improves, the efficiency of essence extraction slightly increases.

Recently, Ji An had been refining the Spiritual Mechanism daily to enhance the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, aiming to elevate it to the Perfection Level as soon as possible.

He began to perform the spell, drawing a faint golden light from the surrounding mist to gather into his palm.

Before long, strands even thinner than hair appeared, endlessly bending and stretching in his palm.

This was the Metal Element Essence. Despite its fineness, it combined sharpness and toughness, making it beloved by sword cultivators for nurturing their flying swords.

The Five Elements Essence has extensive uses. Golden Core cultivators require corresponding essences for nurturing their magical treasures, though the demand is vast.

Seeing the Metal Element Essence gathered into a mass, Ji An swiftly took out a Dharma Prohibition Yellow Jade Bottle and stored the essence inside.

Through the bottle’s walls, an enchanting and dazzling golden light began to flow inside.

He continued to perform the spell to extract spirit essence. Here, the Gold Element Essence Qi was dense, making extraction much easier.

By the time he could no longer bear the intense Gold and Fire Spirit Mechanism, he had extracted over forty bottles, totaling more than eight thousand strands of Metal Element Essence.

Though it sounded like a lot, it could nurture at most four or five acres of Copper Patterned Mulberry.

Since undertaking body refining, Ji An could enter denser fog areas and persist longer in extracting essence.

He flew to the designated experimental field at the mountain’s base where the Copper Patterned Mulberry was grown, the spirit wood reaching his waist.

The mulberry leaves were a muted silver, the veins a bronze hue, and the trunk had the appearance of forged iron, making the whole spirit wood appear cast from metal.

Ji An took out a Jade Bottle and performed the spell, releasing twenty or so strands of Metal Element Essence near the root of each spirit wood.

The spirit wood, like a magnet, instantly absorbed the essence, its bronze-patterned bark emitting a barely detectable spirit light.

The dozens of bottles of Metal Element Essence were quickly used up, and Ji An moved to another experimental field.

Inspired, he reasoned that since the Sharp Gold Technique could excite small particle-like Gold Element Spiritual Qi, it should also affect spirit plants like Copper Patterned Mulberry.

So, he marked out five acres of mulberry fields for a comparative experiment.

He performed the spell again, golden beams bursting from his fingertips, spreading throughout the mulberry field.

…

Du Huaiyuan stopped the Flying Shuttle beside the Cold Pool, jumped nimbly from the ship’s rail, and began taking barrels of Spirit Wine from his Storage Bag.

“Junior Brother, I recently experimented with a new formula and brewed fifty barrels of Medicinal Wine, which can greatly speed up magical power recovery.

Let’s ferment it by the Cold Pool for a few years and see how it turns out.

In the future, the demand for such Medicinal Wine will be great. Whether I can earn more Spirit Stones depends on them.”

He had been studying Water Technique Alchemy, which was far less efficient than Fire Method Alchemy, leading to a relatively strained lifestyle.

With the outbreak of the Demon Calamity, cultivators will undoubtedly have to engage in frequent battles. Pills, Spirit Wine, or anything else that accelerates magical power recovery will become sought-after commodities.

Ji An coughed twice and said:

“Senior Brother, a few months ago, the sect’s Spiritual Vein upgraded. Red Flame Peak erupted, and several sect elders arrived, and a Junior Martial Uncle has quite a fondness for wine.

Well… you know, a fair amount of the wine stored in the Cold Pool was consumed; you should check the quantity and I’ll settle the bill.”

The Junior Martial Uncle Jia Yu in the secret vault had quite the drinking habit, making Ji An cater to his tastes by taking more Spirit Wine for entertaining.

“Ah?!” Du Huaiyuan grimaced, “Junior Brother, if that’s how things are, I won’t dare store wine here next time.”

He was hoping to keep more Spirit Wine for his own enjoyment.

“Senior Brother, feel free to store boldly, this was just an exception.

The Spiritual Vein of Red Flame Peak also benefited from an upgrade. The water gushing from the spring now contains denser spiritual energy, noticeably boosting the growth of the Spirit Fish.”

Ji An pointed to the outside mulberry fields, starting to paint a grand vision:

“Senior Brother, didn’t you notice the area here has expanded significantly? In a few years, when the Jade Leaf Mulberries bloom, we’ll harvest large amounts of mulberries annually.

By then, I’ll provide the raw materials, and you’ll contribute the expertise. Together, we can brew Spirit Wine and surely sell it within the sect, perhaps even supplying other marketplaces and Immortal Cities.”

The Copper Patterned Mulberry’s flowers cannot be used for honey nor does it bear fruit; it only sells the leaves.

In contrast, the Jade Leaf Mulberry holds more value. The leaves can be used as feed, its blooming allows for Spirit Bee cultivation, and the mulberries can be used for winemaking.

Talking about winemaking, Du Huaiyuan’s attention immediately shifted, a grin spreading across his face:

“I have several recipes for brewing Spirit Wine with mulberries. Once I return, I’ll refine them further, surely able to create superior Spirit Wine.”