Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 172: Chapter 169: Liu Yu’s Misfortune

Ji An piloted the Flying Shuttle to Red Copper Mountain and landed in front of Zhao Lei’s grotto mansion.

A robust young man greeted him with a smile:

“Junior Martial Uncle, you’re here! Master is already waiting in the living room, please come in!”

He had learned some basic information about this Junior Martial Uncle from his master and was filled with admiration.

A Spirit Farmer at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment, who not only maintained consistent progress in cultivation but also had the resources to purchase a Spiritual Artifact, must indeed be extraordinary.

The cost of the apricot yellow Banner is one of the highest among Lower Grade Spiritual Artifacts. It’s not easy to gather enough materials with just Spirit Stones. This person overturned his previous impression of Spirit Farmers.

The disciples who entered the sect’s Daoist School at the same time as him and were assigned as Spirit Farmers live quite a challenging life.

After other expenses, there are hardly any Spirit Stones left. Who knows how many years it will take to save enough Contribution Points to exchange for a Foundation Establishment Pill.

Among the Qi Refining Disciples, there exists a pecking order.

Disciples from the Artifact Refining Hall and the Beast Taming Hall only look up to those from the Dan Ding Institute, Array Hall, and Law Enforcement Hall. They have a somewhat superior attitude towards disciples from other halls.

Although it is not explicitly stated, it truly exists.

And Spirit Farmers are at the bottom of this pecking order.

Ji An nodded slightly, and together with the young man, entered the grotto mansion.

He saw Zhao Lei, who set down his wine cup and came forward, greeted him with a cupped hand gesture:

“After receiving your transmission last evening, Senior Brother, I could hardly wait to ride the Flying Shuttle here. It took me quite a while to calm my excitement.”

Zhao Lei clapped his hands and laughed:

“For Foundation Establishment cultivators, the first Spiritual Artifact is very significant. It will accompany us for many years.

Your enthusiasm is understandable. When I refined my first Spiritual Artifact, I wanted to hold it in my hand even while sleeping.”

How many Foundation Establishment cultivators can break through to the Chao Origin Stage? Many Spiritual Artifacts will accompany their owner for a lifetime.

He took out a palm-sized golden yellow small banner and a Jade Slip, and continued:

“The Jade Slip explains the methods to use and perform sacrificial refinement on the apricot yellow Banner. Take a look and try out the effect of the Spiritual Artifact.”

“Thank you, Senior Brother.”

Ji An accepted the Spiritual Artifact and the Jade Slip, gently stroking the banner’s surface. Upon inserting his Divine Sense, he felt a faint Ji Earth Spirit Charm, while the flagpole contained Wu Earth Spirit Charm.

He was certain that when the banner was taken from Liuu Suyun, the contained Spirit Charm was extremely restrained and couldn’t be perceived with Divine Sense.

Senior Brother Zhao displayed the Spirit Charm of the material through Artifact Refining techniques, showcasing his expertise.

The Spirit Silk extending from the banner surface was perfectly integrated with the flagpole, as if it naturally grew there.

He placed the Jade Slip on his forehead, quickly scanned it, and carefully examined the technique for using the artifact, saying:

“The technique is not complicated. I even feel it’s simpler than operating a Magical Artifact.”

Zhao Lei nodded slightly and responded:

“The reason why Spiritual Artifacts are called Spiritual is because they already possess a rather good amount of spirituality.

The higher the grade of the Spiritual Artifact, the stronger its spirituality. Magical Treasures can even attack autonomously.

This allows a cultivator to simultaneously operate two or three Magical Artifacts at most, but they can manipulate numerous Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures.

However, Spiritual Artifacts and Magical Treasures require sacrificial refinement to unleash their greater power. Cultivators typically select one or two items for focused cultivation.”

Ji An shook his head, smiling:

“Senior Brother, don’t fool me. Not many cultivators possess many Spiritual Artifacts!

Even with multiple Spiritual Artifacts, there wouldn’t be enough Magical Power.”

“You lack understanding, Junior Brother. Top-Grade Spiritual Artifacts can be nurtured within the Dantian.

They will automatically store Spiritual Qi, so if you have multiple top-grade Spiritual Artifacts, short-term battles won’t require you to input additional magical power, and the same goes for Magical Treasures.”

“Senior Brother is right, but the prerequisite is to own a top-grade Spiritual Artifact.”

Ji An pursed his lips. Generally, only cultivators at the late Chao Origin Stage have the resources to refine top-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

Just the cost of materials alone makes it a luxury for Foundation Establishment cultivators to own top-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

During the Red Flame Peak eruption, he made a ten-year windfall, but he obtained few Tier Two Top-Grade Materials, still far from enough to refine a top-grade Spiritual Artifact.

More importantly, the quality of magical power of Foundation Establishment cultivators pales in comparison to Chao Origin Stage cultivators.

Even Late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators cannot meet the demands of a top-grade Spiritual Artifact.

As he spoke, Ji An infused magical power into the apricot yellow Banner. The Spiritual Artifact was like a black hole, absorbing nearly thirty percent of his magical power.

He scratched his head in embarrassment, realizing it consumed too much, meaning he couldn’t engage in prolonged combat when operating the Spiritual Artifact.

Zhao Lei noticed his expression and chuckled inwardly, saying:

“I guess Junior Brother is concerned about the magical power consumption. Actually, there’s no need to worry.

Once you advance to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, this situation will greatly improve.”

The magic power quality in the Mid-stage is two to three times higher than in the Early Stage, significantly reducing the consumption.

Ji An nodded slightly and began to activate the apricot yellow Banner.

Yellow aura immediately surrounded him, with golden lotuses blossoming externally.

Zhao Lei took out a red-glowing crescent-shaped artifact and smiled:

“Let’s head outside the grotto mansion.

This lower-grade Spiritual Artifact in my hand can attack as a whole or split into twelve shards for a barrage attack.

I’ll attack shortly, and Junior Brother can feel the defensive strength of the apricot yellow Banner.

During the refinement of this Spiritual Artifact, I performed quite well.

If not limited by the materials, it might have been refined into a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact.”

Allowing clients to test the goods is a common practice among Artifact Refiners.

Ji An nodded and said:

“Thanks to Senior Brother’s help, I’m truly fortunate. I’ll definitely seek you out for future Spiritual Artifact refinements.”

The two stepped out of the grotto mansion and stood firm as Zhao Lei activated the Spiritual Artifact to attack.

Red light flickered, and in the next moment, the Spiritual Artifact was already before Ji An’s eyes.

He endured the urge to dodge and forcefully took a hit from the Spiritual Artifact.

He noticed that the golden lotus at the periphery spun in the direction the Spiritual Artifact attacked, but it wasn’t enough to withstand the powerful attack and dissipated in succession.

At the same time, the Protective Spirit Light moved like a sand dune, slowing down the impact of the Spiritual Artifact.

With a loud explosion, the Spiritual Artifact shattered into smaller fragments, slicing back and forth around it.

The thickness of the Protective Spirit Light quickly diminished, but Ji An could feel that due to the flow of the Spirit Light, the impact they endured weakened considerably.

When the Protective Spirit Light and the apricot yellow Banner completely dimmed, Zhao Lei retrieved the Spiritual Artifact and said with a smile:

“Junior Brother, what do you think?

My cultivation is already at the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, even if we both wield a Lower-Grade Spiritual Artifact, the power I can unleash is far greater than yours.

Moreover, I’ve been performing Sacrificial Refinement on this Spiritual Artifact for many years, and its power is comparable to a Middle-Grade Spiritual Artifact.”

Ji An performed a spell and planted the now larger apricot yellow Banner into the ground, channeling Magical Power into it.

With him as the center, the ground within a two-zhang radius turned completely golden, as if cast in bronze.

“Senior Brother, come again.”

This was to test the strongest defense mode of the apricot yellow Banner, to see what kind of damage it could withstand.

“Alright!”

Zhao Lei urged the Spiritual Artifact to attack again; this time, it took nearly twice as long to dim the Protective Spirit Light of the apricot yellow Banner.

“Senior Brother, you can stop now.”

Ji An said with a smile. He now had a real understanding of the defense effectiveness of the Spiritual Artifact.

In future duels with Senior Brother Liu, he wouldn’t have to worry about defense in the short term, being able to withstand the opponent’s attacks with an offense-to-offense strategy.

…

After returning to Red Flame Peak, Ji An added a new task to his daily routine: spending half an hour each day performing Sacrificial Refinement on the Spiritual Artifact.

Fortunately, his time spent in the Spirit Field had reduced significantly, so his workload wasn’t overwhelming.

After Thick Earth Returning Origin Spell and Spring Breeze and Rain Skill reached the Great Perfection Level, not only did the casting range increase, but the magic effect could also last longer.

His spell-casting frequency decreased slightly, from once every two days to once every three days.

Life passed peacefully, but the growth rate of Top-Grade Spirit Wood in Red Flame Peak didn’t slow down.

More and more Jade Leaf Mulberries, Copper Patterned Mulberries, and Biluo Trees were cultivated to the Top-Grade Level.

During this period, Diligence Hall sent people over once to collect Top-Grade Mulberry Leaves.

The population of Fire Crystal Ants and White Jade Bees steadily increased. The honey brewed by the two kinds of Beast Taming hadn’t been harvested much by Ji An this year; next year would be the bumper harvest year.

In what seemed like the blink of an eye, more than half a month passed.

The Celestial Essence Pear trees grew to the height of a person, already starting to bend under their weight.

The Dragon Blood Trees were over half a person’s height, their leaves fiery red, emitting a misty orange-red Spirit Light under the moon at night.

At sunset, thin smoke curled up from within Red Flame Peak, heralding the season for burning Spiritual Charcoal.

Ji An lay by the bamboo grove, with a stone table by his side holding a cup of clear tea, the air filled with the faint fragrance of Cloud Peak Silver Needle.

The Tier Two Lower Grade Spirit Tea not only tastes excellent but, when refined, can also slightly increase Magical Power.

More importantly, he found that drinking Spirit Tea could accelerate the recovery of his exhausted Divine Sense, sparking thoughts of planting tea trees.

However, there were no high-tier tea trees in the Sect, making the planting effort rather insignificant.

With the mother tree’s low grade, the likelihood of cultivating a high-tier Spirit Plant was low, leaving only a one-in-ten-thousand chance for a beneficial mutation, with high time costs.

Xia Yuhuan gently approached and said:

“Junior Martial Uncle, the tea is getting cold, let me refill it with hot water.”

Ji An nodded slightly, sat up, drank the Spirit Tea in one go, and then lay back down.

Contemplating what other Spirit Plants to cultivate, he planned to plant some practical Spirit Wood with a flowering period.

With this, he could enjoy the scent of flowers all year round.

Suddenly, Ji An caught sight of a golden-red streak of light rushing into Red Flame Peak.

Because of the burning of Spiritual Charcoal, there were many comings and goings on Red Flame Peak for the past few days, and the doors of the Mountain Protection Array were open most of the time.

He immediately sat up to look closely, thinking:

“Isn’t Senior Brother Liu hunting demons on Mingfeng Mountain? How does he have time to come back?”

The newcomer was indeed Liu Yu, who was riding atop the Blazing Golden Wheel, with Spirit Light shining brightly, leaving a clear trail in the sky.

“Junior Brother, I’m done for.”

Liu Yu shouted in the air before landing, his voice woeful like a wronged little bride.

Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly; this senior brother was always calm and confident. What had changed today?

When Liu Yu landed on the ground, Ji An sensed the Spiritual Pressure of a Mid-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator emanating from him, and grinned:

“I don’t know if I should congratulate you now, or…”

He didn’t continue, for he entirely grasped Liu Yu’s emotions at the moment.

Mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators participating in the Three Sects competitions would surely be placed in the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment group.

Liu Yu showed a bitter smile, his brows furrowing together:

“Since I felt I reached the bottleneck of breakthrough, I haven’t taken any pills to enhance my cultivation and even intentionally reduced my cultivation time.

Yet, during a fierce battle a few days ago, I unexpectedly broke through.

What’s the point of holding back my cultivation all these years?!”

If he had known this would be the outcome, he would have cultivated hard.

Possessing the Fire Dao Body, with the refinement of Spiritual Objects, his understanding of the cultivation technique would surely increase rapidly; breaking through to the Fifth Layer Foundation Establishment was within reach.

Yet, despite all calculations, fate played a prank on him.

Ji An bared his teeth, not knowing what to say, as breakthroughs were what all cultivators dreamed of, especially during combat.

Yet, for Liu Yu, it turned into unbearable pain.

“Senior Brother, if others knew your thoughts, they’d want to beat you.”