Chapter 168 Gentle Breeze and Rain

At dawn, the cold pool was still shrouded in a gentle, dreamlike atmosphere, when Ji An flew over and found a suitable spot.

He made a hand seal to release the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra, and yellow spiritual light shone down and slowly seeped into the earth, spreading a warm and profound aura that then disappeared.

He sat cross-legged on the futon and began to practice the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique.

Ji An no longer cultivates continuously in the same area. With his current understanding of the Green Wood Everlasting Technique, he can plunder more of the life force of the nearby Jade Leaf Mulberry to improve his cultivation.

As his immortal meridians were nourished by the cultivation technique, his efficiency in refining spiritual energy continued to increase, and the amount of wood-elemental spiritual light escaping from his body decreased.

Cultivating in the same area for a long time will have a negative impact on Ling Sang.

He is currently working hard to cultivate the second-tier Jade Leaf Mulberry, and needs to minimize the impact of his cultivation on the spirit mulberry.

Glistening green specks of light flew out from the leaves of the spiritual plant, swirling around Ji An and entering his mouth and nose with each breath he took.

More mist rose from the cold pool, and the water-based spiritual energy, guided by his cultivation technique, entered his body.

A few yellow specks of light rose from the earth and merged into his body.

Trees need to take root in the soil and be watered to grow strong.

Water nourishes wood, and wood controls earth, thus creating a balance between the two.

In a daze, Ji An felt as if he were a seedling, sprouting from the soil, stretching his body in the rain and dew, growing stronger and stronger.

Centered on him, countless points of light flickered, forming a vortex of spiritual energy, which he then swallowed into his body.

Spiritual energy flows and circulates within the immortal veins, and the Dao seeds within the acupoints shimmer with spiritual light.

The Jia wood element is emerald green, the Yi wood element is dark green, and the Gui water and Ji earth elements shimmer with light and shadow, all perfectly harmonious.

The spiritual energy was refined into pale blue magical power, displaying vigorous vitality, and finally gathered into the dantian.

The stone tortoise swam freely in its dantian, devouring its share, its shell glowing with a warm spiritual light, as if it were nurturing endless mysteries.

Time passed silently, and Ji An felt light shining on him, as if the spiritual energy had gained warmth, making him feel cozy and warm.

The sun peeked out from behind the mountains, but this warmth lasted only a short time before the heat began to rise.

Ji An finished his cultivation and focused his mind on his dantian.

He glanced at the information reflected in the stone tortoise, and a genuine smile appeared on his lips.

"Refine the spiritual energy and enhance the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique!"

His consciousness entered the mysterious space of the stone tortoise, transforming into a phantom and stepping on the Kan position.

The color of the Kan position turned as black as ink, and then the clouds and mist rolled in, and the ethereal and moist rain fell in a drizzling manner.

First came a light drizzle, then it grew heavier and heavier, until finally the whole world seemed to be shrouded in a vast expanse of white.

[Spell: Spring Breeze and Rain Technique (99% Perfection → Great Perfection)]

The characters of the "Spring Breeze and Rain Technique" gradually faded and disappeared, and the Gui Water Channel in the Yongquan acupoint became bright in color, with spiritual light permeating the entire acupoint.

As the lingering effects of the water flow gradually dissipated, Ji An's consciousness returned to his body, and he stood up and laughed three times.

A gentle breeze happened to blow by, and the leaves rustled as if in celebration.

Another spell has reached the Great Perfection level. Kanling can then store it to enhance other spells.

The Water Curtain Technique and Cold Wind Technique of the Qi Refining stage, and the Overlapping Wave Technique of the Foundation Establishment stage, all require refining the Kan Spirit to improve.

Ji An activated the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique, causing his magical power to flow along a specific route within his immortal veins, ultimately transforming into a spell.

A cloud of white mist gathered and then spread wildly, quickly covering about fifty acres of spiritual fields.

Under the sunlight, the watery shimmered in the mist, like tiny pearls or the twinkling stars in the night sky.

Raindrops fall on mulberry leaves, making a crisp and light sound, like pearls of all sizes falling onto a jade plate.

The raindrops seeped into the earth immediately upon landing, silently.

Like a gentle spring breeze and nourishing rain, the moistening essence contained within the rainwater becomes even more pronounced, permeating people's hearts.

Similar to the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Spell, Ji An felt that the spell's mana consumption had decreased by about 20%, but the coverage area had increased by about half.

With this increase and decrease, the time he spends casting spells at night will be reduced significantly, allowing him to dedicate more time to cultivation.

There were no talisman-making tasks in the morning, so I had a rare half-day of leisure.

After finishing his breakfast, Ji An summoned his flying shuttle and arrived at the entrance of Crimson Flame Peak, where he used the Five Directions Spirit Extraction Technique to extract the essence.

As his cultivation of the Golden Jade Bone Body deepened, he was able to endure the tempering of the Golden Fire Spiritual Energy in the volcano for extended periods.

Moreover, he felt that coming here every day would help with his silver armor training.

As he activated the incantation, golden spiritual light gathered in his palm.

The spiritual energy in the crater is even more concentrated, and the Five Elements Spirit Extraction Technique is constantly improving. His efficiency in extracting essence has increased significantly.

Nevertheless, the amount of essence obtained still cannot keep up with the consumption, and additional essence needs to be purchased.

Since the cultivation plan was implemented, even more essence has been consumed; there's nothing we can do about it.

Over the years, he has earned a lot of spirit stones from the output of Crimson Flame Peak, but he has spent them all like water. He has never had more than 10,000 spirit stones in his hand, which is far less than many wealthy Foundation Establishment cultivators.

However, all the hard work paid off, and Ji An was waiting for the day when his suffering would end.

After completing today's extraction task, he returned to his cave, swallowed a Yunzhi Pill, and continued cultivating the Qingmu Changchun Technique.

As his understanding of the cultivation technique deepened, he was surprised to find that his cultivation level was improving even faster than when he was at the second level of Foundation Establishment.

This greatly inspired his enthusiasm for cultivation. Now he gave up participating in the Three Sects Competition and did not need to suppress his cultivation level like Senior Brother Liu Yu. He could improve as quickly as possible.

Cultivating in the cave makes the golden and fire energy even more vigorous, which can eliminate the weakness of magical power caused by consuming pills, so there is no need to worry about the purity of magical power.

Cultivating here is much more arduous than in the icy pool. Strands of golden fire and spiritual energy are swallowed into the stomach, burning and piercing the immortal meridians, and then being nourished and repaired by the cultivation method.

Through constant destruction and reconstruction, the immortal veins have become even more resilient.

...

Ye Changqing leaped down from the flying boat and laughed:

“Every time I come to my junior brother’s place, I feel that there are changes.”

Yesterday he received a message from a talisman sword, inviting him to a meeting at Crimson Flame Peak, and he arrived early this morning.

Ji An took the storage bag handed to him by the maid and handed it over, saying:

"These are the Blazing Flame Talismans and Exploding Talismans submitted for the sect mission, along with ten early Foundation Establishment stage talisman soldiers. Senior brother, please check them."

He revealed his ability to draw talisman soldiers to Senior Brother Ye, who then reduced his talisman-making workload and increased his talisman soldier drawing workload.

A talisman soldier is like having an extra helper in battle, which can be surprisingly effective at crucial moments. Capable cultivators are willing to buy one for protection.

Placing talisman soldiers in the sect's talisman shop can also increase the shop's popularity.

For Ji An, being able to practice using the materials provided by the sect was a good thing.

He wanted to create talismanic weapons for the mid-stage and even late-stage Foundation Establishment realms, but the materials required were becoming increasingly advanced, and it would be too slow for him to collect them all by himself.

It's good to have a powerful backer; by entrusting the task of collecting materials to the sect, one doesn't have to worry about those trivial matters.

Ye Changqing checked the records, transferred the contribution points to Ji An's jade token, and smiled:

"Although my junior brother is in the sect, he earns contribution points faster than most demon hunters who are fighting on the front lines."

"I prefer quiet, so I have to earn money by doing something."

Ji An said that, for the time being, it is most advantageous for him to stay at Crimson Flame Peak, where the stone turtle can also absorb all the spiritual energy he needs.

Unless there's something urgent, he's naturally unwilling to move.

Ye Changqing laughed and asked:

"How many top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry and Copper Pattern Mulberry trees have been cultivated so far?"

Although this junior brother has become more active in recent years, he still lives up to the name of the Stone Turtle cultivator and has no reason not to ever step out of Crimson Flame Peak.

"Currently, there are more than 420 top-grade Emerald Leaf Mulberry trees and more than 250 Copper Pattern Mulberry trees, and the number is steadily increasing, which is a very good situation."

Ji An smiled and continued:

"Since you asked, I'll tell you about my family background."

There are nine second-tier low-grade Crimson Cloud Pines on Crimson Flame Peak, and more than 1,800 first-tier high-grade Crimson Cloud Pines.

There are more than 300 top-quality Pyrrosia lingua trees, which are expected to bear fruit next year.

Of the four black-leaved sword bamboo plants, two have been cultivated to the highest quality.

"Eighteen low-grade Tier 2 Pure Spirit Bamboo plants..."

He counted on his fingers as if reciting a familiar story, not to show off, but to send a signal through Ye Changqing to the outside world, informing the sect of the enormous benefits of the spiritual fields they cultivated.

The implication is that you shouldn't contact me for overseas assignments!

Ye Changqing listened, nodding repeatedly, his eyebrows dancing with excitement.

Second-tier spiritual plants can be submitted to the sect's secret vault as spiritual objects for cultivators to refine and aid in comprehending cultivation techniques and divine intent.

He pondered for a moment, then asked with anticipation:

"Junior brother, are you confident in cultivating a mid-grade second-tier spiritual plant?"

If they can cultivate a mid-grade second-tier spiritual plant, the other party will surely gain the true favor of the sect's higher-ups.

Ji An grinned and said:

"If I say I'm confident, will you believe me, senior brother?"

His voice was soft, but it carried boundless confidence.

"I believe you!"

Ye Changqing nodded heavily. A spiritual farmer who had been in the Foundation Establishment stage for more than ten years had cultivated a number of second-grade low-level spiritual plants while planting thousands of acres of mountain forest. This was unprecedented in the history of the sect.

It's not uncommon for Crimson Cloud Pine to be cultivated to the second-tier low-grade, but it's truly astonishing that Clear Spirit Bamboo and Profound Yang Wood have been upgraded to the second tier.

Qingling Bamboo and Xuanyang Wood are first-grade high-quality spiritual woods. Normally, it is already difficult to cultivate them to the highest grade. Cultivating them to the second-grade low-quality exceeds the limits of the species and can be considered a miracle.

You really believe that?

Ji An grinned and pondered for a moment:

"To be honest, Senior Brother, I am quite confident in cultivating several mid-grade second-tier plants from Crimson Cloud Pine, Jade Leaf Mulberry, Green Ivy Tree, Copper Pattern Mulberry, as well as Mysterious Leaf Sword Bamboo and Earth Spirit Fruit Tree."

The spiritual veins of Crimson Flame Peak have only been upgraded for a few years. Apart from the main node on the mountainside, the spiritual energy concentration in other areas is only at the second-tier low grade.

After the land has been nourished for another year or two and become a second-tier low-grade spirit field, I will designate several areas and use secret techniques to upgrade the spirit fields to the second-tier mid-grade level before we can begin cultivating them.

I will need your help, senior brothers, at that time.

To upgrade a spirit field of rank two or higher, relying solely on the nourishment provided by spells takes too long. Instead, one can use spirit-binding stakes and various types of spirit soil to accelerate cultivation. These resources can be applied for from the sect.

Upgrading the spirit field to the second-tier mid-grade will give you a greater chance of improving the spirit plants.

(End of this chapter)