Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 176: Chapter 173: Refining the Purple Fire Gourd

In the underground cavern, the warm yellow spirit light illuminated the darkness.

Ji An saw several crystal-like buds about to bloom on the branches of two Earth Spirit Fruit Trees to the north.

On two Spirit Trees to the south, there were also a few flower buds starting to appear.

Ji An performed the Fire Control Technique, and a flame ignited above his fingertips, much brighter than the light of a Luminous Bead.

He leaned closer and carefully counted them all; there were 168 flowers in total, unsure if more would bloom in the future.

This type of Spirit Tree blooms one flower per fruit, and according to the agreement with Liu Suyun, he could harvest over 40 fruits.

“I can keep 18 fruits, feeding you one every two months.”

Ji An said, judging from this cycle of the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree bearing fruits, new fruits would be ready before these dozen or so were finished.

The Spirit-Seeking Rat, having grown wiser after reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, could understand his words.

“Squeak, squeak.”

Golden Fur chirped a few pleasing sounds, very satisfied, exceeding its expectations.

It was still a bit naively unaware of bargaining.

Ji An crouched down, stroking the beast’s fluffy fur.

He extended his Divine Sense into a crack in the stone, assessing the decay of the Profound Yang Wood.

Huang Xuan and the others would fill the cracks with wooden fragments every few days, and Ji An would cast a spell every two days, with the Thick Earth Returning Origin Spell greatly accelerating the decay of the wood.

Ji An stood up, shaking his head with some disappointment.

After a year’s worth of comparative experiments, no effectiveness was found in this method, so additional measures were needed to cultivate the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree.

“Take good care of it.”

Ji An instructed, leaving the underground cavern.

…

The Flying Shuttle landed near the Fire Crystal Ants’ nest, and on a wooden frame, fourteen Purple Fire Gourds glowed with a red luster.

Compared to the unsuccessful cultivation of the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree, using Profound Yang Wood powder and red sand as fertilizer for nurturing the Purple Fire Gourd seemed to have succeeded.

Three vines that received fertilizer yielded two top-grade gourds each, while the other four vines yielded one top-grade gourd.

However, the sample size was too small, so this situation could only serve as a reference until the next round of planting provided a real comparison.

The gourd vines had begun to wither, so Ji An picked all the gourds and placed them in a Storage Bag.

“It’s not that hard! Why haven’t other Spirit Farmers cultivated top-grade gourds?”

Ji An laughed arrogantly, making no mention of his own advantages.

Few Spirit Farmers occupied a Tier Two Spiritual Vein, and even if they did, they wouldn’t place Purple Fire Gourds at the core region of the vein.

Additionally, those people’s Flame Fire Spells probably couldn’t outmatch his.

Moreover, he frequently nurtured his spirit plants with Fire Element Essence, so this harvest, though unexpected, was still within reason.

Ji An strolled to the ant nest and communicated with the Ant Queen using his Divine Sense.

The Top-grade Red Cloud Pine nourished this colony of Fire Crystal Ants easily, not to mention there were Tier Two Red Cloud Pine as well.

After a year of careful cultivation, the Tier Two Spirit Pine increased by six more plants, reaching twelve in total, exceeding expectations.

The Ant Queen reached the Ninth Layer Qi Refining level under the nurturing of Tier Two Pine Honey, and it was estimated it would reach the Foundation Establishment Stage within two or three years.

The Fire Crystal Ant Queen lived in luxury, like a gleaming jade.

Ji An left the ant nest and arrived at the Copper Patterned Mulberry Field.

In the Spirit Field enriched with Windmill Copper ore powder, the mulberry trees appeared more robust, and the Iron Wire Grass grew significantly better.

The Profound Leaf Sword Bamboo had already grown as thick as an arm, with all old bamboo reaching top-grade level, and an additional four new bamboos sprouted.

Now, Artifact Refiners came by fame, seeking to purchase bamboo leaves.

…

Upon acquiring suitable materials, it’s natural to refine them into Magical Artifacts as soon as possible.

Ji An piloted the Flying Shuttle to Red Copper Mountain.

Zhao Lei happened to be at leisure, joyfully sipping some wine.

“Senior Brother’s days are truly comfortable.”

Ji An cupped his hands with a smile, placing two jars of top-grade Pine Nut Wine on the table.

Zhao Lei’s eyes widened, extending two fingers, and said:

“Didn’t you see me when I was busy? The Sect placed an urgent order, and I survived two months on Fasting Pills to complete it.”

Ji An smiled and said:

“Is the Artifact Refining Shop’s business booming?”

An increasing number of loose cultivators and families were settling in Mingfeng Mountain, making it comparable to Cyan Cloud Immortal City as a Great Immortal City.

Zhao Lei slightly shook his head and said:

“There have been some changes; two months ago, a small cultivator gathering spot around Mingfeng Mountain vanished without a trace, and several Sects are investigating it rigorously.

The batch of Magical Artifacts I made was part of the Sect’s reward for gathering clues; other Sects also issued rewards.”

“Have there been any results?”

Ji An furrowed his brows, as a gathering spot had at least a hundred cultivators.

With such a malign event occurring, it had to be resolved quickly; otherwise, it would lead to loose cultivators worrying about their safety, negatively impacting future major events.

Zhao Lei’s expression grew solemn:

“No results yet. From what I’ve heard, the situation is eerie; the obliterated gathering spot has no traces of battle, and it’s as if the cultivators vanished into thin air.”

Ji An furrowed his brows tighter, as a powerful cultivator wiping out a small gathering spot wasn’t hard, but to do it silently and without a trace wasn’t something a proper cultivator could accomplish.

Ghost Cultivators and Demon Beasts skilled in Illusion Techniques were both suspects.

Neither option was easy to deal with.

“Let’s not think about it; the matters of Mingfeng Mountain worry those senior uncles overseeing it. Junior Brother, what brings you here today?”

Zhao Lei asked, since Red Flame Peak was quite some distance from his place, the visit couldn’t have been for mere idle chatter.

“I’ve recently obtained a few top-grade gourds and would like to ask Senior Brother to refine them into suitable Magical Artifacts.”

Ji An took out three Purple Fire Gourds and said:

“I don’t know how to process these gourds. I just picked them from the vine today and hurried to bring them to you, Senior Brother.”

Zhao Lei took the gourds, played with them for a while, and laughed:

“Top-Grade Purple Fire Gourds are rare. From what you’ve said, did you grow them yourself, Junior Brother?”

Being able to cultivate top-grade Purple Fire Gourds is already difficult, and taking out three at once surprised him even more.

Ji An nodded slightly and replied:

“I obtained a few seeds three years ago, and the environment of Red Flame Peak is suitable for this kind of Fire Element Plant, so I planted them and carefully nurtured them.”

“Do you have the confidence to reliably cultivate top-grade Fire Gourds?”

Zhao Lei leaned slightly forward, looking expectantly at the other person.

There aren’t many Foundation Establishment Cultivators with the wealth to refine Spiritual Artifacts; using Top-Grade Magical Artifacts is the norm.

“I have about a fifty to sixty percent chance.”

“Junior Brother, I can refine a gourd magical artifact that nurtures fire. A top-grade Fire Gourd can produce Fire Cloud with an attack power comparable to a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

I want to make a long-term purchase of the top-grade gourds you grow. What do you think?”

“The purpose of cultivation is to sell them. I wonder, Senior Brother, what price you can offer?”

Ji An said calmly, waiting for the other party to name a price.

Zhao Lei quickly calculated in his mind. The price of a top-grade Spiritual Artifact is about 1,500 to 2,000 Spirit Stones, and selling a Purple Fire Gourd for 1,800 Spirit Stones is no problem. It’s suitable for all Foundation Establishment cultivators practicing Fire Element Techniques.

The main task in refining a Purple Fire Gourd is procuring a top-grade gourd, with the spiritual materials costing just 200 Spirit Stones.

There is a large potential customer base within the sect; dozens can be sold just in the Law Enforcement Hall.

“Six hundred Spirit Stones for a top-grade gourd. What do you think, Junior Brother?”

“Senior Brother, you’ve refined artifacts for many years; you should know that top-grade gourds are very rare.

It takes me three years to cultivate a gourd, and I have to use Fire Element Essence to nourish the plant every day.

Not to mention, cultivating these three top-grade gourds consumed seven to eight hundred Spirit Stones worth of Fire Element Essence.

Selling one for only six hundred Spirit Stones, what’s in it for me? Senior Brother, you can’t just consider your own profit.”

Ji An wasn’t lying; over the three years, nurturing seven gourds consumed essence worth seven hundred Spirit Stones.

Zhao Lei grimaced. His price was neither high nor low:

“Junior Brother, cultivation has its costs, and artifact refining has its costs too. The price of top-grade magical artifacts is fixed, and if I fail to achieve top-grade level during refining, it won’t sell at a high price.

Junior Brother, besides these top-grade gourds, you surely have a batch of high-grade gourds to sell too.

I’ll add fifty Spirit Stones; not a penny more.”

Ji An pondered and said:

“Seven hundred Spirit Stones. I’ll ensure a stable supply of top-grade gourds in the future.”

He knew he could haggle for more Spirit Stones, but he was lazy to spend more effort.

In the future, as the yield of top-grade gourds increases, the costs will go down.

Zhao Lei smiled and nodded:

“Deal! How many of these three gourds are you planning to sell to me, Junior Brother?”

“I plan to keep these three for myself.”

“Ah? Why keep so many? At least sell me one!”

“I’m afraid one won’t be enough, so I’m keeping three. Senior Brother, what’s the cost for refining them?”

Ji An didn’t relent. For him, nurturing the fire inside the gourd to a level that could threaten Foundation Establishment Perfection demon beast life was crucial.

“For our friendship, I’ll give you the best deal—three top-grade artifacts for a crafting fee of two thousand Spirit Stones.”

Zhao Lei shook his head lightly, muttering to himself.

’A Spirit Farmer with a few magical combat artifacts, such a waste.’

Ji An handed over twenty Middle-grade Spirit Stones and said:

“Senior Brother, I still need the seeds inside these gourds, so remember to leave them for me.”

Zhao Lei didn’t take the Spirit Stones and said:

“I’ll extract the seeds later. By the way, are any of the high-grade gourds up for sale, Junior Brother?

Heh heh, I want to buy some for my disciples to practice with.”

“What price, Senior Brother?”

“Let’s make it straightforward—I’ll offer one hundred and twenty Spirit Stones each.”

Ji An took out the remaining eleven high-grade gourds and said:

“Could Senior Brother refine them into artifacts for storing Spirit Wine?”

He thought using these to store fire-attribute Spirit Wine would be perfect, and Senior Brother Du would probably love them.

“Certainly. I was planning to refine a couple for myself. Do you want any, Junior Brother?”

“Please refine two wine gourds for me, and I’ll need the seeds from the high-grade gourds too.”

“No problem. Selling nine gourds, that’s 1,080 Spirit Stones. I’ll charge you 200 Spirit Stones for crafting the wine gourds.

So, that makes it 1,100 Spirit Stones from you, Junior Brother.”

Zhao Lei, having received the Spirit Stones, said:

“I’ll handle the gourds and extract the seeds. Please wait a moment, Junior Brother.”

A moment later, Ji An got the seeds and stood up, saluting:

“I take my leave, Senior Brother. When can I retrieve the artifacts?”

“My Divine Sense was heavily strained recently, so I need a period of rest.

It will take about a month to refine them, and I will send you a message when they’re ready.”