Chapter 149 Silver Armor

After seeing Wei Songnian off, Ji An returned to his cave. His body-refining technique had broken through to the Silver Armor level today.

He began preparing the medicine, then weighed out various metal powders precisely according to the specified proportions, added them to the medicine, and stirred them evenly.

The medicinal mud prepared this time looks much better, with a pale silver shimmering color.

It doesn't have a pungent smell; it even has a faint fragrance and a slightly cool sensation.

Ji An took off his Taoist robe and inner garment. After a year of body tempering, his muscles had begun to take shape.

Although I can't compare to those weightlifting fanatics, I have all the abs and back muscles I should have.

He applied the medicinal mud to his body, and because he was aiming for a breakthrough, this time he applied a full finger's thickness of mud.

He used his divine sense to feel the thickness of the medicinal mud on his body, trying to make it as even as possible. When he finished applying it, he looked much more bloated.

Ji An activated his body-refining technique, absorbing the metal element spiritual energy from the medicinal mud, and immediately felt a sharp aura seep into his skin and muscles.

The medicinal mud was as cold as icy mud, its chill penetrating to the bone marrow, as if one were standing naked on a snow-covered mountain peak, while a knife-like wind was blowing.

The spiritual energy within the metal powder was activated by the technique and continuously entered his body.

He felt as if countless steel needles were piercing him, and he couldn't help but tremble all over.

This feeling is indescribable, it's just so incredibly intense.

Ji An gritted his teeth and endured the pain to continue circulating his internal energy. Countless tiny lights appeared in the medicinal mud, sometimes bright and sometimes dim.

Physical cultivation is much more arduous than magical cultivation, but it has one advantage: the muscles, bones, and skin that are trained have strong defensive capabilities even without activating cultivation techniques, and are more resistant to harsh environments.

When the human body is in pain, time always seems to drag on. Ji An tried his best to circulate the qigong again and again.

We must not let our guard down, otherwise the breakthrough will be interrupted, and we will have to endure the same suffering again, which will cause both mental and physical damage.

As the chill gradually subsided, Ji An felt a burning heat throughout his body, as if his internal organs were on fire.

The medicinal mud was very breathable, allowing a large amount of heat to escape from the pores, and the cave was filled with steam.

Ji An lost his sense of time and endured the torment of being torn between ice and fire.

He felt his skin becoming increasingly tight, and his muscles began to clench and contract.

After an unknown amount of time, the pain subsided like a receding tide, and an infinite power seemed to rise from beneath my feet.

Ji An clenched his fists, and the medicinal mud on his body flew off like dry powder that had lost its moisture, giving rise to a sense of power that could shatter everything.

This feeling of power came and went quickly, followed by an endless hunger.

His internal organs seemed to be playing a symphony, as if a tiny black hole had appeared in his stomach, greedily devouring everything around it.

He could even feel his organs disappearing, every cell in his body groaning with hunger, and his hair trembling incessantly.

Ji An's legs went weak, and he collapsed to the ground.

With trembling hands, he activated his telekinesis technique and grabbed a medicine bottle.

"Thank the Dao Ancestor, I still have the Bigu Pill."

Ji An was grateful for his good habit from the bottom of his heart. Although he almost never took this kind of pill, he always kept a few with him.

He poured out all the pills at once and haphazardly stuffed one into his mouth.

When the hunger subsided slightly and he regained some strength, Ji An stood up unsteadily, grabbed a Taoist robe, and put it on.

After leaving the cave, he summoned his flying shuttle and rushed towards the cold pool at the foot of the mountain.

"Yu Han and Yu Lian, quickly bring some fresh fruit and dried meat. Also, immediately stew a large pot of rabbit meat."

Ji An shouted that even after taking the Bigu Pill, he still felt like he could swallow a whole cow.

"Yes, Uncle-Master, please wait a moment."

The two sisters exchanged a glance. Although they didn't know why the other was doing this, they still readily carried out the order.

The older sister went to get the dried meat, while the younger sister collected the dried rabbit meat, rinsed it several times, put it in a pot, and lit the spirit charcoal to stew it.

Ji An transformed into a glutton, devouring all the food Xia Yuhan brought, and then ate half a pot of spicy rabbit meat before feeling his body recover.

"Oh, that feels good."

He breathed a long sigh of relief, and only then did he have time to examine the results of his body tempering.

The skin became more refined and elastic, and the original bronze color turned ivory white, giving it a metallic feel upon closer inspection.

Not only his skin, but his muscle density has also increased significantly, making him more explosive.

He sighed inwardly:

"What a pity, the shortcut can't refine bones and organs, otherwise I would be invincible."

Six months have passed.

Inside the cave, the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree was laden with yellow fruits the size of hickory nuts, and a faint fragrance permeated the air.

The peel is crystal clear and shiny, just like jade.

Ji An took a deep breath and felt completely relaxed.

"Squeak squeak".

The golden retriever excitedly jumped around the spirit fruit tree; it had been waiting for this day for a long time.

A ripe fruit fell from the spirit tree, about to hit the ground.

The golden retriever used its earth-walking technique to disappear from its spot. When it reappeared, it had already caught the fruit steadily with its two front paws.

"Squeak squeak".

He turned and let out an excited cry, looking at his owner as if to say:

The time has come to fulfill the promise.

Ji An smiled, bent down, extended his hand, and said:

"Sweetie, you can't eat this one."

This fruit comes from a top-quality fruit tree and should be reserved for the golden-spotted spider to eat.

The Earth Spirit Fruit ripened three months earlier than he expected, which means he obtained the Apricot Yellow Banner even earlier.

"Squeak squeak".

The golden retriever shook its head like a rattle-drum, turning sideways to hide the fruit. It knew very well which fruit would be most useful to it.

Ji An pointed to the top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit tree and said:

"I can save some of the fruits from these two spirit trees for you, but not the fruits from the top-grade spirit trees, I have a use for them."

The golden retriever continued to shake its head, looking pitifully at its owner, its dark eyes seemingly about to well up with tears.

"Now you're even playing the victim, so dramatic!" Ji An grinned, taking out the Beast Taming Token.

Sometimes reasoning is useless; you have to threaten.

The golden retriever's expression immediately changed. It held up the fruit it had found high and barked ingratiatingly:

"Squeak squeak".

Ji An took the fruit and felt its smooth texture against his skin.

He stroked the fur on the spirit-seeking rat's back, comforting it:

"You're only at the early stage of Foundation Establishment right now, it would be a waste of medicinal power to eat top-grade fruits."

This year I'll plant a few more Earth Spirit Fruit trees. In a few years, we'll have as much fruit as we want.

The golden retriever made a silly, cute face, blinked its big, dark eyes, and nodded.

Ji An stepped out of the underground cave, took out a communication talisman sword, and used his divine sense to record the information:

"Senior Sister, the Earth Spirit Fruits are beginning to ripen. Please come to Crimson Flame Peak for a meeting as soon as possible."

He hadn't told Liu Suyun about the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree's upgrade yet, and he wondered what her expression would be when she saw the two top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit Trees.

The communication talisman sword was activated, and like a silver flying fish, it quickly disappeared into the sky.

The next day, at the beginning of noon.

Liu Shuyun rode a colorful flying carpet and slowly descended to the edge of the cold pool.

Today she wore a dark green silk skirt, tied with a bright green belt, the sash fluttering, giving her a unique charm.

"The earth spirit fruit trees in my area have only just begun to show signs of flowering, while the fruit trees that my junior brother transplanted have already borne fruit and ripened. The effect of high-level spirit farmers on spirit plants is truly immense."

“That’s what you call professional,” Ji An said with a smile.

"Senior sister, you must be tired from your flight. Let's go inside and sit down for a cup of spiritual tea."

"I'm not in a hurry to drink the spiritual tea; I want to go check on the fruit trees now."

Liu Suyun waved her hand and patted the spirit beast pouch at her waist:

"The golden-spotted spider is the beast I've put the most effort into. It's still quite weak, and I want it to eat fruit as soon as possible."

"Alright, this way please, senior sister."

Ji An led his men toward the underground cave, and then asked:

"I don't know much about alchemy. Can't the Earth Spirit Fruit be refined into pills before the Golden-spotted Spider eats it?"

As far as he knew, the Earth Spirit Fruit could be refined into several kinds of pills for cultivators to take.

Liu Suyun shook her head and said:

"Junior brother, you may not know this, but the purest earth elemental energy in the Earth Spirit Fruit Tree can effectively replenish the Golden-spotted Spider's vital energy."

After being refined into a pill, its effectiveness was only slightly enhanced due to the addition of other spiritual energy.

Eating it raw is effective enough; refining it into an elixir requires adding additional ingredients, which is a waste.

"So that's how it is."

Ji An suddenly realized that not all spiritual fruits would have improved effects after being refined into pills; some spiritual fruits were actually more effective when taken directly.

Liu Suyun covered her mouth and laughed:

"Junior brother, you've joined the Ningcui Cliff lineage, don't you intend to learn alchemy?"

"Maybe another time."

Ji An replied that once he reached the pinnacle of all his planting techniques, he should have time to explore other crafts.

Nowadays, having skills in planting and talisman making is enough.

The two reached the bottom of the underground cave. Liu Shuyun's eyes lit up, and he smiled:

"Is this spirit-seeking rat my junior brother's tamed beast? It's so cute!"

The golden retriever squatted on the ground like a dog, with several ripe fruits under its paws, its eyes fixed on the fruits, and a thin, glistening strand of hair hanging from the corner of its mouth.

Before Ji An could answer, Liu Suyun sensed the aura emanating from the fruit tree and exclaimed in surprise:

"Top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit".

She flew to the spirit tree and looked at the tree full of glistening fruits, her eyes shining with excitement.

Ji An strode over to his side and smiled:

"Two top-quality fruit trees produced a total of 81 fruits, and two medium-quality fruit trees produced a total of 76 fruits."

Senior sister, how much of your energy do you think the golden-spotted spider can recover?

"It should be able to recover about 60%, but this is based on the effects of the spiritual fruits I've grown. Using these fruits should restore even more."

Liu Suyun replied that she originally only had one top-grade Earth Spirit Fruit tree, and could only obtain more than 30 fruits every three years.

She judged that the golden-spotted spider needed to consume more than a hundred fruits to fully recover, which is why it would take more than ten years to produce spirit silk again.

In another eight or nine months, the top-grade spirit tree in her cave will also bear fruit. With the help of some other methods, her beast taming is expected to produce spirit silk this year.

The golden spider silk was the most valuable spiritual item in her possession, and the sooner her beast taming recovered, the more significant it was to her.

(End of this chapter)