Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Ji An cleared his throat and cheerfully asked,

”Ancestor, will using different Spiritual Fiends to cultivate a Spiritual Artifact affect the birth of an Artifact Spirit?”

The Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiend he had in hand wasn’t enough to cultivate an Artifact Spirit for the Earth-Departing Flame Banner even if he used it all up.

Daoist Master Zhengyang waved his hand,

”It won’t affect it, unless there is a stable source, most Cultivators can’t possibly use enough of the same type of Spiritual Fiend to cultivate an Artifact Spirit.”

”Does the Sect have any Fire Element Spiritual Fiends?”

”Indeed, and I’ll tell you a little secret today, but don’t spread it around.

When the Sect migrated to the Western Continent, the reason for reestablishing our base here was the discovery of two stable sources of Evil Qi.

One is called the Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend, and the other is the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend.

Other Sects’ mountain gates should all have Spiritual Fiends as well.”

Daoist Master Zhengyang subconsciously lowered his voice, as this information could only be known by the Sect’s core disciples.

This meant only a few Golden Core Seeds, two Golden Core Cultivators, and the Pavilion Master of the Treasure Pavilion knew of it.

”Ancestor, then I’d like to exchange for some Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend.”

Ji An cheerfully summoned the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, and a phoenix cry echoed through the hall.

He had thought there were not many Spiritual Fiends in the Western Continent, but it seems everyone had been keeping it under wraps.

This suggests that the Sect is quite wealthy!

Daoist Master Zhengyang was slightly taken aback and then smiled,

”It’s truly good fortune! Of course, you can exchange for Spiritual Fiends; I can relay the message to the Treasure Pavilion.

However, the information about the Spiritual Fiends cannot be leaked; you must use it on the spot.

It’s a pity that if you use this Five Elements Banner as a Lifebound Magical Treasure, it would save a lot of effort.”

His Profound Yellow Tower, from the time it was refined to when it cultivated an Artifact Spirit, took nearly a hundred years, which was a painful memory.

”I understand, Master!”

Ji An readily agreed, thinking he’d just spend more time every day.

He planned to use up the Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiend before going to the Treasure Pavilion for an exchange.

Activating the Communication Golden Sword, Daoist Master Zhengyang said,

”I’ve already spoken with Jia Yu, so whenever you need to use the Spiritual Fiend, you can go to the Treasure Pavilion at any time for an exchange.”

”Thank you, Ancestor!”

After chatting for half an hour, Ji An took his leave.

...

In the Treasure Pavilion, Jia Yu was leisurely sipping spirit wine when a streak of golden light flew in from outside the hall.

He caught it and used his Divine Sense to inspect it, realizing it was the Magical Mark of the Ancestor, and immediately sat upright.

After reading its content, he scratched his head.

’Wasn’t Junior Brother Ji asking for Earth Element Spiritual Fiends? Why did the Ancestor grant him permission for Fire Element Spiritual Fiends?’

He walked out of the hall and hovered above the Treasure Pavilion on a cloud.

After a long while, he saw a golden Auspicious Cloud flying down and went up to greet it.

”Junior Brother, there’s something I’d like to confirm with you. The Ancestor said you could get the Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend, does your Earth-Departing Flame Banner also need to cultivate an Artifact Spirit?”

Ji An lightly nodded and explained,

”The Ancestor said that my Wuji Xinghuang Banner lacks spirituality, and it would be too wasteful to cultivate it with the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend right now, but the Earth-Departing Flame Banner meets the standard.

I casually asked if there were Fire Element Spiritual Fiends, and surprisingly, there actually are.”

”I see, I thought maybe the Ancestor made a mistake in the message.”

...

An hour later, at Red Copper Mountain.

In the grotto mansion, Zhuu Xiangrong raised a teacup and smiled,

”Junior Brother, taste the Yun Ding Silver Needle Tea from Red Flame Peak!”

The Tier Two Upper Grade Spirit Tea in the Treasure Pavilion was all produced by the Red Flame Peak.

Ji An chuckled, ”I’m sure the flavor is excellent.”

High-Tier Spirit Tea is rare, and many fellow disciples have expressed the desire to purchase more spirit tea from Duoduo.

There were too many acquaintances asking, but there was too little spirit tea available, so it wouldn’t be appropriate to favor some over others; thus, he simply handed all the Spirit Tea over to the Sect in exchange for Small Merit.

”Haha, if we could regularly enjoy Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea, that would be even better.”

”The output of Spirit Tea is increasing, Senior Brother needs to patiently wait for a few years.”

Zhuu Xiangrong paused his tea-drinking motion, shook his head with a touch of melancholy, and said,

”I hope I can wait that long.”

His situation was slightly better than Jia Yu’s, but not by much; only having twenty more years of lifespan than Jia Yu.

In a few hundred years, he too would be reduced to a mound of yellow earth.

The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat heavy, and Ji An fell silent; in the coming century, the lives of the older Cultivators in the Sect would successively meet their end, a sorrowful topic.

In the Agricultural Hall, the two Vice Hall Masters would only be able to exert their residual heat for just a few decades.

There were also about twenty Foundation Establishment Spirit Farmers with similar situations.

Zhuu Xiangrong shook his head with a wry smile, saying,

”Why am I saying such melancholic words? Junior Brother, don’t take it to heart, let’s drink tea!”

Cultivators, like ordinary people, are taboo about life and death matters.

After chatting for a while, Ji An took out a large gray cloth bag from the Void Realm Space,

”Senior Brother, I have some Tier Two Upper Grade Profound Leaf Sword Bamboo Golden Leaf here and I’d like to exchange them for some Top-Grade Spirit Stones from you.”

Not exchanging Spirit Stones from the Treasure Pavilion was to save Small Merit for future exchanges of Gold Core Pills.

Moreover, trading Golden Leaves with him could earn him some goodwill.

He only had ninety-one Top-Grade Spirit Stones, and if he didn’t sell something, when the Merchant Flying Ship from the Central Continent arrives, he wouldn’t have enough spirit stones for the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner.

”It’s good to have benefits coming my way, thank you.”

Zhuu Xiangrong happily took the bag and weighed it, saying,

”Junior Brother, a total of ten catties of Golden Leaf, is the weight correct?”

”No mistakes.”

After doing some mental calculations, Zhu Xiangrong spoke again:

”It totals to six top-grade Spirit Stones.”

Ji An took the Spirit Stones handed over by the other party and stored them in the Void Realm Space:

”Senior Brother, I will trade about ten catties of Golden Leaf with you every year in the future, all using top-grade Spirit Stones for the trade.”

Zhu Xiangrong was overjoyed, ”Even if it’s twice the amount, I can handle it.”

Trading with top-grade Spirit Stones, he made a profit indeed.

Top-grade Spirit Stones are hard currency in the hands of High-Tier Cultivators but still not as popular as various resources.

After the transaction was completed, Ji An hastily bid farewell and rode the clouds back to Red Flame Peak.

He returned to his grotto mansion on the mountainside, entered the Quiet Chamber, took out a Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pill, swallowed it, and began to operate his cultivation technique for refinement.

Half an hour later, he shook his head in disappointment.

The Pill had been refined, resulting in about one thousand four hundred strands of Water Element Qi, but as for the so-called effect of purifying the Divine Soul, he felt nothing at all.

Ji An summoned the Earth-Departing Flame Banner and nurtured it with the Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiend. The sound of a phoenix’s cry filled the Quiet Chamber, full of joy.

Having devoured over two hundred strands of Spiritual Fiend, the spiritual artifact contentedly returned to the Dantian, rising and falling within the crimson flame layers of the Primordial Life Fire.

He then summoned the Wuji Xinghuang Banner and nurtured it with the Earth Element Essence.

Strands of bright Spirit Light were absorbed by the pale golden Earth Qilin on the banner’s surface.

...

The footsteps of time were too swift, as five years passed by in the blink of an eye, adding a few gray hairs and several wrinkles to the world.

In the Treasure Pavilion, Jia Yu took out a fiery red Jade Bottle and said:

”Junior Brother, how much Small Merit have you spent on exchanging Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend these years?”

”Even if it’s not a hundred thousand, it’s not far off.”

Ji An sighed, this equaled spending millions of Lower Grade Spirit Stones over time. Fortunately, he had considerable wealth, or life would be very tight.

After speaking, he summoned the Earth-Departing Flame Banner and controlled the spiritual artifact to devour the Spiritual Fiend.

Jia Yu watched quietly and counted in his heart, one strand, two strands...

Suddenly, the high-pitched phoenix cry echoed in the hall, and he felt an inexplicable fire in his heart, becoming restless and uneasy.

His cheeks turned red, and they felt burning hot.

Ji An only found the phoenix cry to be very pleasing, and a naive voice came from his Sea of Consciousness.

”Master.”

He was stunned, not reacting at first, but when the second cry appeared, he burst into laughter.

The Artifact Spirit of the Earth-Departing Flame Banner had been nurtured!

From now on, there would be no need to use Small Merit to exchange for Fire Element Spiritual Fiend, reducing the burden of a big Spiritual Stone consumer, very good.

”Giggle,” the Artifact Spirit expressed joyful laughter, continuously shrinking and merging into his body, returning to the Dantian.

Suppressing the agitation in his heart, Jia Yu immediately asked:

”Junior Brother, what just happened?”

He had a vague guess in his heart but wasn’t sure yet.

Ji An stopped laughing and said:

”Senior Brother, the Artifact Spirit has been nurtured!”

”That’s wonderful! Congratulations, Junior Brother, on gaining such a great helper.”

”Mutual joy!”

”In the future, when the spiritual artifact undergoes Celestial Thunder refinement, it can become a Magical Treasure.

With Junior Brother using the Wuji Xinghuang Banner as your Lifebound Magical Treasure, it means you can obtain two Magical Treasures when breaking through to the Golden Core Stage!

This damn luck is too enviable!”

Jia Yu’s tone became very excited. In the sect, each of the two ancestors only had one Magical Treasure.

Ji An wasn’t affected by the other’s enthusiasm and said with a smile:

”Refining a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact into a Magical Treasure after a Thunder Tribulation isn’t easy.”

The Thunder Tribulation severely tests the potential of the spiritual artifact. If slightly careless, the artifact might be destroyed under the lightning, resulting in nothing.

”Junior Brother’s fortune is just right, getting a Fire Element Treasure shouldn’t be difficult.”

Ji An pondered and said:

”Luck can be relied on for a moment, but not for a lifetime. Without absolute certainty, I won’t let the spiritual artifact face the Thunder Tribulation.”

At this point, he couldn’t gamble on luck.

When a cultivator breaks through to the Golden Core Stage to refine their Lifebound Magical Treasure, they can personally assist.

However, when the spiritual artifact faces the Thunder Tribulation on its own, the cultivator’s help is limited, and it’s basically relying on the artifact’s foundation to resist.

Many Golden Core Daoist Masters, desiring a second Magical Treasure, would prefer to refine directly with Tier Three materials rather than have a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact face the Thunder Tribulation.

Simply because the success rate is low, reportedly only about ten or twenty percent.

In that case, the costs involved would not be much less than refining with Tier Three materials.

If luck isn’t on your side, it’s certainly a loss.

Ji An chose to gain more Magical Treasures by having spiritual artifacts face the Thunder Tribulation because the extremely vigorous Primordial Life Fire could sacrificially refine even more powerful spiritual artifacts, but it required a very long time.

He took out his Identity Jade Token and asked:

”Senior Brother, how many strands of Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend were consumed just now?”

”This time consumed one hundred and eight strands of Spiritual Fiend, totaling thirty-six Small Merits.”

He cupped his hands and smiled:

”Senior Brother, tomorrow I will bring a jar of Top-Grade Spirit Wine so that Senior Brother can also share in the joy.”

Successfully nurturing an Artifact Spirit is worth a little celebration.

Jia Yu placed the Jade Token on the Spirit Disc to deduct the Small Merits and shook his head:

”How can one jar be enough, drink to your heart’s content!”