Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Ji An looked at the demon cultivator lying motionless on the ground, with fur burning, and slightly adjusted the direction of releasing the Fire Dragon Heaven-Burning Technique.

The fire dragon flew past Xiong Ba’s head, and the demon cultivator remained still in the same posture.

”Don’t think that playing dead will make me come close!”

Ji An shouted. He truly didn’t intend to kill this demon cultivator; he wanted to capture him alive for interrogation.

The demon cultivators had been silent for several years, but suddenly two appeared to attack him, casting a shadow in his heart.

The demon cultivator still lay on the ground without any response.

Ji An injected magical power into the apricot yellow Banner, once again enjoying the defense of the spiritual artifact.

Red clouds rose from under his feet, and he rode the clouds into the air, adjusted the angle, and released the Golden Light Technique.

The golden Moon Blade was activated, slicing toward the demon cultivator’s two hind limbs. Without demonic power to protect and relying only on the strength of the body, these two legs were sure to be unsavable.

”Ow!”

The intense pain woke Xiong Ba, who roared as if revived, before fainting again.

”This should truly be unconscious now.”

Ji An grasped the demon cultivator’s two legs with the Object Control Technique limits, pulled them beside him, and stuffed them into the Storage Bag, feeling much more at ease.

”Have I become this strong?”

He chuckled lowly, his heart filled with pride, like a plane soaring higher and higher, nodding affirmatively.

Adjusting the angle again, he repeated the method, successively severing the demon cultivator’s two front limbs. The demon cultivator did not wake up while being attacked, clearly having fallen into deep unconsciousness.

Ji An released the Cold Wind Technique to extinguish the flames on the demon cultivator, and the remaining fur might be used to make a symbolic pen.

He then used the Rejuvenation Technique to heal the demon cultivator’s injuries, preventing it from dying due to excessive blood loss; interrogation wasn’t his forte, and he needed to return to the sect to invite a professional to do it.

Vivid green light flickered on the wounds, the shadows of grass swayed, quickly stopping the bleeding and scabbing.

Discovering that the demon cultivator was no ordinary foe, Ji An no longer had the mood to gather Earth Qi of Wu, and hastily sliced the other black eagle and stored it in the Storage Bag.

He activated the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, carrying the limbless demon cultivator, flying quickly eastward. To be safe, he released the Golden Feathered Eagle and Golden Fur from the Spirit Beast Bag, saying:

”Keep an eye out, if this bear shows any sign of awakening, signal immediately!”

The Golden Feathered Eagle chirped softly, Golden Fur straightened up and nodded lightly:

”Squeak squeak!”

During flight, Ji An pondered, as he hadn’t found the Demon Core when slicing the black eagle.

At this moment, he couldn’t help but think about what kind of existence a demon cultivator was.

Dusk fell swiftly, the crescent moon ascended, its cold light bathed him, his hair shimmering with silver frost.

...

Traveling day and night under the stars and moon, Ji An returned to Red Flame Peak at the late Mao Hour.

On the entire journey back, the demon cultivator hadn’t awakened.

He teleported to Ningcui Cliff, riding the clouds toward Yingri Peak.

Stopping at a cave entrance marked by many intersecting scratches, Ji An gazed for a while, feeling as though surrounded by a sea of fire.

”Sword Intent, huh.”

He sighed deeply. Senior Brother Lin wasn’t purely a sword cultivator but had comprehended Sword Intent, which was not much different from a true sword cultivator.

With words gathering into lines, he said in a deep voice:

”Ji An seeks an audience with Senior Brother Lin.”

A dozen breaths later, red light flashed at the cave entrance, then dissipated like a bubble.

Lin Jiuxiao stepped out cheerfully, saying:

”Junior Brother is quite rare here, please come in!”

He was very cordial, as Red Flame Peak provided plenty of Cyan Leaf Wine, accelerating the growth of his Wood Element Divine Mansion.

Earlier improvement of the Wood Mansion to perfection would prepare him sooner for reaching the Five Qi Chaoyuan level.

Ji An waved his hand, pointing at the crippled giant bear beneath, saying:

”Yesterday, before leaving the sect for Divine Eagle Cliff for Earth Eating Qi, I was ambushed by this demon cultivator. I’d like to trouble brother to interrogate it.”

”This turned out to be a demon cultivator? Daring to ambush you!”

Lin Jiuxiao was somewhat surprised. Years ago, the ancestor personally examined various families and discovered numerous demon cultivators.

Demon cultivators, transformed into human form, are indistinguishable from cultivators; when transforming into demon beasts, they genuinely appear as demon beasts.

However, these demon cultivators were all minor characters, and Soul Searching yielded no useful information.

Divine Eagle Cliff, only over six hundred miles from the sect, fell within the sect’s influence radius.

To dare launching sneak attacks on cultivators right under the sect’s nose, it’s truly outrageous.

Lin Jiuxiao’s expression was solemn as he placed his hand on the giant bear’s head, gray light flickering on his palm’s surface.

After a moment, he withdrew his palm and shook his head gently, saying:

”A Chao Origin Stage demon cultivator, compared to him, I don’t have a Great Realm difference. Soul Searching might be unable to break through his Sea of Consciousness.

Even if successful, it might only yield fragmented information.”

He looked at Ji An, elevating his evaluation of this junior brother several levels.

Faced with a sneak attack from an equal-level enemy, Ji An managed to not only fight and win, but also capture the enemy alive.

This was an extraordinarily challenging task for most fellow sect members who weren’t proficient in magical combat.

”We should seek assistance from the ancestor.”

Ji An nodded, ”Alright.”

The two rode the clouds, heading toward Sunrise Peak.

Ji An asked, ”Brother, is Soul Searching a Magic Technique?”

”Indeed.”

”But how come I’ve never seen it in the sect’s Inheritance Hall?”

Lin Jiuxiao chuckled softly and said:

”The so-called Soul Search, as the name implies, can search the spirit soul of living beings.

Strictly speaking, this Magic Technique is a standard Demonic Technique.

However, because it is so useful, it has been passed down in various sects and even some powerful families, and it’s a secret known by all major forces in the Cultivation Realm.

But after all, it’s a Demonic Technique, so it’s not appropriate to flaunt it openly.”

”True, but if I want to learn this technique, what should I do?”

Lin Jiuxiao glanced at him and said:

”What would a Spirit Farmer want with this technique? It requires constant searching of cultivators’ souls to progress, and only the higher-ups of the Law Enforcement Hall who have reached the Chao Origin Level can learn it.”

”Hey, learning another technique can’t hurt! In case I encounter this situation again, I could just perform a soul search.”

Ji An paused, then added:

”Can’t I practice on Demon Beasts?”

Lin Jiuxiao shook his head and explained:

”The Sea of Consciousness of Demon Beasts is entirely different from that of a cultivator, and the information obtained is extremely chaotic unless it’s a Chao Origin Level beast with intelligence awakened; otherwise, even if you perform a soul search, you won’t get useful information.

It is impossible to enhance soul searching skills through ordinary Demon Beasts.

If you want to learn the Soul Searching Technique, report to the ancestor, and he will guide you.

When I learned this technique, I made a Daoist Oath: not to teach anyone, not to target ordinary cultivators, otherwise, my Dao would become hopeless, and my Cultivation could not progress.”

He believed that only soul searching on creatures with logical thinking is effective, otherwise, it would only yield meaningless fragments of information.

While talking, the two spent half an hour reaching Wuji Hall at Sunrise Peak.

Ji An said loudly:

”Disciple Ji An, pays respect to the ancestor.”

”Come in.”

Ji An dragged the demon cultivator into the great hall and recounted the whole story.

”There’s still a fish that slipped through the net!”

Daoist Master Zhengyang snorted coldly and slammed his hand heavily on the bear’s head.

In his perception, an attack within the sect’s sphere of influence was a blatant provocation!

Moreover, the attacked was one of his most valued disciples, who must not be harmed.

He forcefully released the Soul Searching Technique, and the giant bear immediately convulsed violently, as if having a seizure.

A moment later, Daoist Master Zhengyang retracted his arm with a gloomy face, saying:

”This demon cultivator is a member of the Celestial Demon Alliance, an organization founded by the Cyan Flood Dragon that ambushed Qingxu Daoist Master and Nanshan Zhenren.

The location of their base is under restriction by the Cyan Flood Dragon, making it impossible for me to probe, but it is somewhere in the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Additionally, I’ve learned that another Golden Core Cultivator has emerged within the Celestial Demon Alliance, originally a Loose Cultivator named Chen Sheng...”

”As for why you were ambushed, it’s because the Celestial Demon Alliance has an assassination list, and both you and Jiuxiao are among those named.”

”How did I, a mere Spirit Farmer, manage to make it onto their assassination list?”

Ji An grimaced, feeling completely unjustly targeted! He couldn’t comprehend how a simple and honest Spirit Farmer like him could provoke them.

”Haha, I discovered the reason you were put on the list was that you thwarted their plan targeting our sect by eliminating demon insects, preventing more severe damage to our Spirit Field.”

Ji An furrowed his brow, saying:

”The question is, how did the demon cultivators know it was me who dealt with the demon insects?”

He mused silently, wondering if there was an insider from the Celestial Demon Alliance among the sect disciples.

”There are countless ways they could find it was you.”

Daoist Master Zhengyang turned and said:

”Jiuxiao, instruct the Law Enforcement Hall to intensify their patrols within the sect.”

”As you command.”

”I still need to go out to Qi Eating. Ancestor, will the Golden Core Stage demon cultivator cause me trouble?”

Ji An bitterly laughed inwardly, lamenting his luck, first being targeted by the Golden Feathered Eagle King, now attracting another Golden Core power.

He had just established the Earth Element Divine Mansion, and to advance in Cultivation, he had to venture out.

”They likely won’t. The demon cultivator’s memory reveals that the Golden Core Stage demon cultivator is currently squeezing out those who originally followed the Cyan Flood Dragon.

This is just a newly advanced Golden Core Stage demon cultivator, whose ability to cause damage is limited. The defensive measures on you can fully resist an assault for a while.”

After pondering for a moment, Daoist Master Zhengyang took out a cyan Jade Pendant and said:

”This is the Ziyu of the Mother-Child Unity Jade. I can send messages to it through the Mother Jade, more conveniently than using a Communication Golden Sword.

If you encounter danger, you can activate the Ziyu, and I’ll be able to pinpoint your direction.

However, the communication range of the Mother-Child Unity Jade is only five hundred miles. Deep in mountains or within an Earth Cave, their transmission may be affected, you must remember this.

Here, I’ll teach you how to use it.”

This disciple was becoming increasingly important in his mind, and he would protect him as much as possible.

Ji An quickly learned how to use the Ziyu, cupped his hands, and said:

”Thank you, ancestor, for bestowing this treasure!”

This is equivalent to mobile communication! Poor signal in complex environments.

He couldn’t figure out the principle at all, while the Communication Golden Sword at least relied on the sect’s Mountain Protection Array!