Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 148: Chapter 145: Perfection of the Five-Element Spirit Extraction Technique

At the summit of Red Flame Peak, golden-red fog was dense, with the Spiritual Mechanism soaring into the sky, flamboyant and domineering.

Ji An stood near the volcanic crater, casting the Spell to release the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique.

His skin shimmered with a dim bronze glow, and from his body emanated faint, melodious sounds of metal clashing.

After a year, his Glaze-Gold Bone Skill had reached Great Success of the Copper Armor. Once Wei Songnian bought back better-grade Spiritual Objects, he could attempt to break through to Silver Armor, at which point his skin’s defense would rival that of a defense-specialized Demon Beast at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

Thanks to the Body Refining Technique, he could now stay near the volcanic crater for longer periods.

In the mist, strands of golden light flickered like the stars in the sky, gathering companions in Ji An’s palm.

The golden essence gathered into a cluster, resembling a small sun entwined with thousands of gold threads, dazzling and fierce.

In this place where the temperature seemed to both steam and boil, one’s Spiritual Sense felt an icy chill.

Seeing that enough Metal Element Essence had gathered, Ji An took out several Yellow Jade Bottles and sealed the essence inside them using a spell.

“A good harvest.”

He chuckled softly, placing the Jade Bottles in his Storage Bag.

Ji An focused his mind on his Dantian, linking with the Stone Turtle.

[Spell: Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique (Perfection 3%)]

Now, the spell’s coverage area was broader, and the essence extraction was more efficient.

In the same amount of time, whereas before he could extract around ten thousand threads of essence, he could now extract nearly twenty thousand threads, easily nurturing ten acres of Copper Patterned Mulberry.

In the Mulberry Field, two Top-grade Copper Patterned Mulberries had already appeared, a result of his relentless hard work.

Ji An felt his body could still withstand the chiseling of the Gold and Fire Spirit Mechanism, so he again cast the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, transforming the method of Magical Power circulation within his body.

In the mist, countless fire threads as thin as hair scattered, like a giant woven net.

Strands of Fire Element Essence gathered in his palm, resembling a vibrant and unrestrained red sun.

Many Red Cloud Pines had already reached the pinnacle of Tier One Top Grade but could not break through to Tier Two for a long time.

Ji An wanted to use Fire Element Essence to assist in nurturing, to see if he could quickly cultivate Tier Two Spirit Pines.

In that case, whether for Pine Nuts or the Pine Honey brewed by Fire Crystal Ants, the returns could be much higher.

If he could stably produce Tier Two grade Red Cloud Pines, he could sell Spiritual Materials and form a stable industry chain.

Tier Two Lower Grade Spiritual Materials could already be used to craft Spiritual Artifacts, their value incomparable to Tier One Top Grade.

While busy, a silver light streaked through the fog, vibrating incessantly upon reaching his side.

Ji An reached out to catch the Communication Talisman Sword, probing his Divine Sense into it to read the message.

The message was from Senior Brother Ye Changqing. It seemed that it was time to pay the annual sect rent again, and he was waiting outside Red Flame Peak.

He hurriedly encapsulated the essence into a bottle made of Fire Jade, the orange-red glow within flickering and dancing as if countless fiery Spirit Fish were swimming in a red sea.

Unleashing the Flying Shuttle, he swiftly descended the mountain.

…

By the Cold Pool, disciples from the Diligence Hall were weighing Spiritual Charcoal, Pine Nuts, and Mulberry Leaves.

The leaves of the Copper Patterned Mulberry were as snow-white as pure silver, with golden leaf veins shining brightly under the sun, reflecting light that dazzled the eyes.

Touching the Mulberry Leaves produced a crisp ’rustling’ sound, quite pleasing to the ear.

The leaves of the Jade Leaf Mulberry were carved like brilliant jade, sparkling and translucent.

Inside the stone house, Ji An and Ye Changqing sat facing each other, while Xia Yuhuan stood by, brewing Spirit Tea.

The Water Kettle on the Wind Furnace made a gentle ’gurgling’ sound, as if humming a cheerful tune.

White smoke curled up, adding a dreamy, misty feel to the room.

Ye Changqing took the Spirit Tea offered by the maid, holding it with a warm smile and said:

“Junior Brother, the Law Enforcement Hall has twice assigned you to guard the outposts in the Ten Thousand Mountains, both of which I blocked for you.

Hehe, how do you plan to thank me?”

He wasn’t trying to claim credit, just that doing good deeds without mentioning them seemed like not doing them at all.

The purpose of developing these outposts was to disperse Demon Beast Groups during a Demon Calamity in the future, with no intention of nurturing Spirit Medicines there.

They were all built into Grotto Mansions, either rented out or sold, supplied to Loose Cultivators.

Ji An slightly raised an eyebrow, cupping his hands in gratitude:

“I used to wonder why everyone around me was assigned outposts, and I wasn’t, turns out it was all thanks to Senior Brother, my thanks.”

Understanding the situation’s cause, he expressed his sincerity.

Assignments to outposts could be short as a year or long as two or three years. Accepting such a task now would severely impact the growth of the Spirit Wood on Red Flame Peak.

After a pause, he sipped the Spirit Tea and continued:

“The Jade Leaf Mulberry has blossomed, and I’ve raised a hive of White Jade Bees here, producing some fine honey. I’ll give you a jar to try later.”

The honey can be refined into pills, made into various Spiritual Foods, or consumed directly without diminishing its deliciousness.

This Senior Brother particularly enjoys tasty food, so he’s bound to like this gift.

“The Jade Leaf Mulberry has bloomed?”

Ye Changqing was surprised, generally speaking, it takes at least three years to cultivate Jade Leaf Mulberry until it blooms.

Although the spiritual vein here is Tier Two Lower Grade, for the spirit wood to bloom in just one year, the other party’s powerful planting technique must be crucial.

Thinking of this, he felt that his decision to help the other party refuse external assignments was absolutely correct.

The sect has such a spirit farmer stationed somewhere, yet couldn’t utilize their importance effectively.

Ji An nodded and smiled:

“Yes, I wouldn’t deceive you, senior brother!

However, only 20 or 30 acres of spiritual mulberry have bloomed, so it cannot form a huge scale. The harvested honey is small, and the amount of mulberry produced is not much.

By next year, I anticipate that at least two hundred acres of spiritual mulberry will bloom, and there will be more honey produced.

Not only that, we will also have enough mulberries for winemaking.”

After the liquor factory was built, it has been vacant for a while; it’s time to put it to use, Red Flame Peak will enter a phase of rapid development.

Ye Changqing’s eyes gleamed as he asked:

“What grade have the Jade Leaf Mulberries reached now?”

The grade of spirit wood concerns the quality of the honey and spirit wine, and he now has no interest in ordinary quality items.

“Seven or eight acres of top-grade spiritual mulberry, nearly a hundred acres of middle-grade, the rest are still lower-grade.

However, after another year of cultivation, by the season when the mulberry flowers bloom again, I estimate all the Jade Leaf Mulberry will reach middle-grade, with at least fifty acres of top-grade spiritual mulberry.”

Ji An said confidently, and this is just a conservative estimate, he was confident of cultivating some top-grade spiritual mulberries.

The extraordinary nature of the Evergreen Wood Skill began to emerge, he found several Clear Spirit Bamboo of Tier Two quality in the place where he practiced cultivation techniques!

In the past, the sect had never cultivated Tier Two spirit wood in this region; despite the reason of the spiritual vein, more was due to the lack of high-tier spirit farmers willing to plant here.

Everything has changed since he came to Red Flame Peak.

Ye Changqing suddenly slapped his thigh and laughed heartily:

“Great! The wine brewed with mulberries produced by top-grade spiritual mulberries tastes wonderful.

In a few years, junior brother should be able to cultivate top-grade spirit wood, then the brewed spirit wine will surely be in short supply.

I believe the sect should set you as an example to inspire the cultivation of more high-tier spirit farmers.”

Why can Luofeng Valley firmly surpass the sect and Yuanhe Mountain? He believes a big reason is because the other party has a large number of high-tier spirit farmers.

The other party can stably produce more spirit medicine, continuously supplying the alchemists, relatively speaking, more disciples will break through to Foundation Establishment.

If there are enough people in the Foundation Establishment Stage, there will be relatively more Chao Origin Stage cultivators.

With accumulation over thousands of years, Luofeng Valley’s foundation is even more profound.

Ji An shook his head gently and said:

“After the sect’s spiritual vein range expands, the future intake of disciples will surely include more spirit farmers, but whether more high-tier spirit farmers will emerge, is difficult.”

In the sect’s environment, low-tier spirit farmers have the lowest status, enduring from the early-stage Qi Refining, is extremely difficult.

It was due to the help of the Stone Turtle, combined with the audacity to borrow a sum as starting capital, that he achieved today’s success.

Otherwise, wanting to establish Foundation still would have taken more years of delay, whether he could have joined Ningcui Cliff would be uncertain.

Ji An took out a storage bag and continued:

“Senior brother, this is a top-grade Explosion Talisman, please check the quantity to ensure it is correct.”

Ye Changqing counted the talismans and nodded slightly:

“The count is accurate, junior brother’s talisman quality is good, I wonder if you can now draw top-grade talismans?”

The power of top-grade talismans is equivalent to the full power attack of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, and can be considered strategic resource reserves.

“Just wanted to ask senior brother about the matters regarding top-grade talismans.”

Ji An took out a Bursting Talisman and handed it over: “Please look, senior brother, this is the top-grade talisman I drew.”

Solely relying on Liu Yu’s provided high-tier beast hides can no longer satisfy his needs; he must find additional partners to gain higher profits and reserve more Bursting Talismans for personal use.

He is already making a Bursting Repeating Talisman Disc, when fighting against enemies, casting spells and activating talismans at the same time, a sky full of bursting fireballs may rain down, not afraid of encountering a group of Foundation Establishment Stage enemies.

The beast hide is slightly red, with yellow lines, faintly radiating a blue sheen.

Ye Changqing rubbed the talisman, and praised:

“The spirit mechanism is restrained, yet the explosive fire energy it contains can be felt.

You have hidden your skills quite deeply, when did you quietly become able to draw top-grade talismans?”

Ye Changqing sized up the other party seriously, observing the level of mastery in the other party’s Bursting Fireball skill.

“Red Flame Peak’s Gold and Fire Spirit Mechanism blazes fiercely, it’s an ideal place for practicing fire element techniques, during the day I’ve spent a lot of time comprehending the Bursting Fireball Skill.”

Ji An said half-jokingly, his attack techniques were almost all driven by refining the Spirit Mechanism.

“The storage room in Diligence Hall has just included fifty or sixty pieces of late-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast hides, and there is a lot of corresponding talisman ink as well.

All materials are provided by the sect, but the talisman maker must have at least a 40% success rate to fulfill the requirement, is junior brother ready to accept such a task?”

Ji An was delighted: “Of course I’ll accept, are all these beast hides at my disposal?”

The experience of practicing top-grade talismans is limited, and these beast hides are sufficient to increase his success rate in making Bursting Talismans by one or two percent, while also gaining contribution points, why not?