Chapter 143 The Spirituality of Spells

Ji An understood what Senior Brother Liu meant. He nodded and smiled.

"I have a few Flame Crystals and a piece of Crimson Iron, which I can use to exchange for them."

How about we add some more spirit stones to the transaction, Senior Brother?

These items were obtained during the eruption of Crimson Flame Peak. They are all second-tier low-grade spiritual items, which are of a higher grade than the animal hides of late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Liu Yu's expression softened, and he nodded, saying:

"Okay, this way I can report back to my superiors after the exchange."

Most of the cultivators in the Enforcement Hall practice fire-based techniques, while a few practice metal-based techniques. Blazing Crystals and Crimson Iron are in high demand, and there is no shortage of them, whether for personal use or for trading.

After discussing it, Ji An traded half a pound of Blazing Sun Crystal and a fist-sized piece of high-purity Crimson Flame Iron Ore, plus 500 spirit stones, for two pieces of animal hide and two jars of demon beast blood.

He put the animal hide and jar into his storage bag, a smile involuntarily spreading across his face. He said:

"The spiritual items are all kept in the cave. I'll give them to my senior brother later."

The best items are buried under the Red Cloud Pine and in the small herb garden of the cave. Ever since Zhang Yuanshan mentioned that someone could use secret techniques to detect storage bags, he rarely carries valuable spiritual items with him.

"No rush," Liu Yu said with a smile, and began to talk about the dangers and gains he encountered during his mission.

The spirit tea was served, and two more cups were poured. The two continued their lively conversation.

Liu Yu carefully examined the person opposite him for a few moments and said:

"I didn't notice just now, Junior Brother, are you practicing body tempering?"

When they first met, the other person's skin was shiny, and he thought it was because he had been exposed to the golden fire spiritual energy for a long time. But now that he looked closely, it wasn't what he thought.

Ji An rolled up his sleeves, revealing his well-developed muscles:

"Isn't this preparation for participating in the Three Sects Competition? By cultivating another body-refining technique, I can withstand being beaten for longer."

Body-refining techniques, Golden Armor Technique, Rock-Solid Technique, the magic robes on his body, plus defensive magic artifacts, made his armor quite thick.

"You're serious, junior!"

Liu Yu thought to himself that the other party seemed to be very well prepared, and that participating in the competition was not just something to talk about casually.

"Yes, many of the fellow disciples in the Enforcement Hall also cultivate the body."

But for us, body refinement is only a supplementary practice; we shouldn't spend too much time on it, otherwise it would be putting the cart before the horse.

In his view, the path of body refinement was rather crude and clumsy. Cultivators could use various magical artifacts and flight techniques to resist attacks and avoid damage. There was no need to use their bodies to withstand the attacks and end up covered in dirt, which would be unbecoming of immortals.

"Thank you for reminding me, Senior Brother. I used a shortcut method, which doesn't take up much time each day, but it does cost a bit of spirit stones."

Ji An said that based on the current progress, he calculated that it would probably cost more than 5,000 spirit stones to just reach the Great Perfection of the Bronze Armor. The cost of taking shortcuts was indeed not low.

The next day, Ji An finished his cultivation, and the swaying of the Qingling bamboo ceased.

He walked out of the bamboo forest and saw Liu Yu standing by the cold pool with his hands behind his back.

"Senior brother, breakfast will be ready soon. Let's go have a cup of spiritual tea to soothe our throats."

Liu Yu turned around, cupped his hands in a respectful gesture, and said sincerely:

"I sensed something unusual in the bamboo forest, and when I flew through the air, I discovered that it was caused by my junior brother practicing his cultivation technique."

Congratulations, junior brother! It seems the cultivation method suits you very well.

He possessed the Fire Element Body and diligently cultivated the Blazing Sun Furnace Scroll. However, it was only three years ago that he comprehended a small part of the divine essence of the technique, reaching a point where his cultivation resonated with the external environment.

He established his foundation six years earlier than his junior brother Ji, yet Ji's speed in comprehending the cultivation technique surpassed his own.

"Haha, I think so too. Choosing the right cultivation method can make all the difference. I feel like I've always been lucky."

Ji An smiled and said, noticing that Xia Yuhan and her sister had already begun arranging the herbs, he then gestured with his hand:

"Senior brother, please take a seat."

"Please, junior brother."

After finishing their breakfast, the two flew together to the summit of Crimson Flame Peak.

Liu Yu felt strange and said:

"I'm going to the summit to nourish my spiritual artifacts and cultivate my techniques. What are you going up there for, Junior Brother?"

He used to visit Crimson Flame Peak every six months or so for a few days, and the other person never accompanied him. But today, they actually went with him, which seemed a bit strange.

Ji An grinned and gave a wry smile, saying:

"Planting spirit trees is not easy, and planting them well is even more difficult."

I've planted copper-patterned mulberry trees here. To accelerate their growth, planting spells alone aren't enough; I need to extract some metal element essence to nourish them. These days, I come here every day to cast spells."

Liu Yu nodded in deep agreement and said:

"No matter what you do, it's not easy to do it well."

To reach greater heights, both talent and ability are indispensable.

Upon reaching the vicinity of the mountaintop, Ji An was the first to stop:

"I can hardly bear to go any deeper. Senior brother, go to a higher place."

"My time has come, and I must return to the Cold Pool. I cannot stay here any longer."

He manipulated the Five Elements Spirit Gathering Technique, and fine golden light began to gather in his palm, a truly beautiful sight.

'You don't seem to have kept me company either; I've always been alone.'

Liu Yu thought to himself, then bowed and continued flying upwards.

He flew to the crater, sat down cross-legged, and began to cultivate his skills. The mist shimmered with thousands of red lights with his breath, shining brighter than the stars in the night sky.

The fiery golden wheel hovered and danced around him, occasionally flying into the volcano, like a playful, golden-red fathead fish.

The spiritual artifact already possesses the potential for growth. If it can be nurtured in a place with abundant spiritual energy of similar nature, it may be able to overcome the limitations of materials and improve its grade.

However, doing that would take hundreds of years and might not even succeed, so it's not worth it.

Two days later.

On the shady side of the mountain, Liu Yu stood atop jagged rocks, his robes billowing in the wind. The flame and cloud patterns embroidered on his Taoist robe seemed to come alive, flamboyant like leaping flames.

"Junior brother, what kind of attack spells do you know? Show us how they work."

Ever since he saw the scene of the other party cultivating and the myriad trees illuminating the scene with fluorescent light, he felt that his junior brother should stay in the sect and cultivate spiritual herbs and trees.

The opponent's careful management of Crimson Flame Peak will have a greater impact than direct combat.

"My only offensive spell is Exploding Fireball. Please take a look, senior brother."

Ji An made a hand seal, using eight-tenths of his strength. He stretched out his right hand, palm down, and a bright yellow fireball gathered in the void beneath his palm, as if the void was grasping a shimmering football.

The surface of the fireball faintly emitted a blue glow.

Liu Yu's expression was somewhat stiff. Judging from the color of the fireball, the spell's effect was no less than his.

Brother, are you kidding me? You're a cultivator who practices wood-elemental techniques!

Although wood generates fire, your fireball skills are better than many of your fellow practitioners who cultivate fire-based techniques. What will others think?

Ji An unleashed three explosive fireballs in succession, and with a muffled rumble, rocks shattered and dust billowed up.

"Senior brother, how is it?"

"It's lethal enough, but it's straightforward and lacks agility."

Liu Yu commented that he made a hand seal and also unleashed an explosive fireball.

After the fireball gathered, it quickly changed shape, resembling a fat, angry bird flapping its two short wings and flying out in an arc.

"Once we have grasped the techniques to a certain extent, the spells we cast will also have sentience, and at this point we can attack from multiple angles."

"At the same time, don't be bound by the spherical shape; such a spell is also an explosive fireball."

As Liu Yu spoke, the fireball he unleashed in his hand transformed into a ring.

He activated the magic seal, and the ring flew out, encircling the cone-shaped rock and causing it to explode at its base.

"The cultivation method chosen by my junior brother is destined to limit the potential of fire-based magic."

If you only know this one attack method, you are easily targeted by defenses and it is not easy to achieve great results.

Of course, your explosive fireball attack power is sufficient, and I think you should be able to be selected to participate in the early Foundation Establishment group competition.

All this talk is just theory; we need real-world experience to prove ourselves. Shall we give it a try?

All of this was achieved after he comprehended the divine intent of the Fire Element. Many of his senior brothers who were in the mid-to-late stages of Foundation Establishment did not have his ability to materialize magic.

"Okay, I'll give it a try."

Ji An's eyes lit up; the other person's performance had opened up a whole new world for him.

He can't reach the other's level now, but with the advancement of his magic and the improvement of his Dao seed, he believes that even if his cultivation method is not fire-based, he can still reach the other's current level, and that will be enough.

Ji An took out the Earth Spirit Pearl and infused it with magic power. After thinking for a moment, he secretly released the Rock Mountain Technique, which was all earth-elemental spiritual light and could not be seen from the outside.

Spells have no eyes; it's not worth getting injured in a sparring match.

Then, he released the Wind Control Technique and felt as light as a willow catkin, as if he could drift with the mountain breeze.

Liu Yu infused his magic power into the Fiery Golden Wheel and said:

"I will go all out on the attack and let my junior brother experience what the intensity of future battles will be like."

Flames ignited on the surface of the magical artifact and flew around him.

He felt it would be better to let the other side experience what a real battle would be like, so that he could be better prepared to respond.

Ji An focused his attention and shouted:

"Senior brother, you may attack at will."

As soon as he finished speaking, the fiery golden wheel left afterimages in the air, tracing an elegant arc as it swept across a distance of more than ten zhang.

Liu Yu also leaped forward, flames faintly emanating from beneath his feet. He moved with incredible speed, while a fist-sized fireball gathered in his hand, held back from being released.

Ji An dodged the attacking magical weapon. He turned in mid-air, but the weapon followed him closely and was about to catch up.

“Junior brother, a spiritual weapon that has been refined is connected to its master’s mind and can attack autonomously by remotely controlling it with divine thought.”

Liu Yu laughed and said that with spiritual artifacts, cultivators are freed up and can launch spell attacks at will.

Those who use spiritual artifacts know how good they are. If a spiritual artifact has enough spiritual power, it will seek out more favorable opportunities for battle without the cultivator's command.

Ji An grinned. He knew the characteristics of offensive magical artifacts, but he hadn't expected the opponent's artifact to be so spiritual.

Forced into a corner, he was unable to dodge the incoming fireball and was blasted away.

The shockwave from the fireball didn't harm him, but the intense heat spread over, making his face sting with pain.

Unable to control his body, he was struck squarely by the blazing golden wheel that caught up with him, and the light of the Earth Spirit Orb immediately dimmed.

"Shall we continue?"

A smile appeared on Liu Yu's lips, and the fiery golden wheel hovered around him.

He was secretly surprised. His junior brother was extremely fast and was able to contend with the spiritual weapon for a long time. He knew that the Fiery Golden Wheel was already close to the middle grade.

"continue!"

(End of this chapter)