Chapter 87 Mu Qingwan

Huang Feihu, riding on the talisman bird, gritted his teeth as he looked at the mocking eyes of the gray-feathered sand goose flying beside him.

He was actually looked down upon by a demon beast, but he couldn't retaliate, which made him quite depressed.

"Hmm," he coughed twice and said:

"Senior brother, the talisman bird flies too slowly and slows you down. Why don't you just wait for me at the Biyue Market?"

Ji An thought he was just embarrassed to keep him waiting, so he nodded and said:

"Alright, if I arrive early I can call Brother Wei Song and the other two. Junior brother, I'll take my leave now, see you at Baiwei Restaurant."

He gently patted the back of the beast, and the gray-feathered sand goose understood, flapping its wings a few times and flying away swiftly.

After entering the sect, the only new friends he made were Wei Songnian and others. Now that he had successfully become an apprentice, he wanted to treat them to a spiritual feast.

These are all honest and kind people; their connections are worth cultivating.

An hour later, in a private room at Baiweilou Restaurant.

Wei Songnian finished his drink and put down the empty cup, sighing:

"I still remember the scene of sending my junior brother to the Biyue Lake Spirit Field. Time flies. In just a few years, my junior brother has become a disciple of a famous master. His future achievements are limitless, which makes us truly envious."

He had witnessed the other party's rapid rise and felt a sense of pride in it.

Senior Uncle Ge Ying is especially skilled at refining pills. If this junior brother learns some of his skills, he will have made contact with a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist.

Now, he admires himself more and more for his decision to sponsor the other party.

“It’s truly enviable,” Liang Qiu and Huang Feihu both agreed.

"I just happened to be lucky, and we all worked together."

Ji An raised his glass again, inviting everyone to drink together.

Seeing that the wine bottle was empty, he ordered the shopkeeper to bring a few more bottles of spirit wine, saying:

"I need to ask you a favor, senior brother. I need to buy a puppet to drive away the birds in the spirit field."

He hadn't expected his luck to turn around and he would successfully become an apprentice; otherwise, he would have simply bought a puppet in Qingyun Immortal City.

"No problem, when does Junior Brother need it?"

"Hurry up, I'll be spending less and less time in the Spirit Field from now on. The green corn is almost ripe, and I'm worried that too many birds will ruin it."

"OK."

Wei Songnian nodded in agreement, his brows furrowing as he pondered where he could find a suitable puppet.

Time is too tight. The puppets sold in the sect are all for combat, and they consume spirit stones too quickly. It's not worth using them to guard the spirit fields.

Huang Feihu said:

“I can place the puppet that my grandfather left behind in my senior brother’s spirit field, so that Senior Brother Wei will have plenty of time to choose a puppet.”

He understood Wei Songnian's predicament; the puppets guarding the spirit fields were not used often and needed to be sourced from other immortal cities.

"Junior brother, do you think this is feasible? To be honest, time is a bit tight, and the sect's only puppeteer disdains making low-level puppets."

Wei Songnian laughed and said that most of the puppets used to scare away birds are practice pieces made by puppeteers, and you might not be able to find one if you want to buy it.

Ji An asked, "What about your spirit fields, Junior Brother? You've planted several acres of spirit grains too."

Huang Feihu waved his hand and said:

"Hey, I'll just stay in the spirit field, it'll only be about half a month."

The mountains are bathed in the evening glow, and the verdant forests are dyed in a brilliant gold.

Riding the gentle evening breeze, Ji An returned home on a wild goose.

"Gah!"

As soon as they entered the territory of Ningcui Cliff, the gray-feathered sand geese cried out excitedly.

Such abundant spiritual energy is far better than staying in the Beast Taming Hall.

Ji An felt a strange movement coming from the cloth bag hanging at his waist. It was the spirit-seeking rat that had sensed the rich spiritual energy and wanted to come out for some fresh air.

He held the furry monster in his hand and directed the sand geese to descend slowly.

At the foot of Ningcui Cliff Mountain, several bamboo houses are arranged in a crescent-shaped arc with an open space in the middle.

At this moment, on the open ground bathed in the glow of the sunset, Li Lingyu and her two companions sat around a table, enjoying their dinner.

"Junior brother, where have you been? I've been looking for you for so long."

Du Huaiyuan stood up and laughed heartily. "The new junior brother was riding a talisman bird yesterday, and today he's riding a beast. He must be a very wealthy person."

The sand goose landed some distance from the table, while the spirit-seeking mouse jumped onto its owner's shoulder, looking adorably at the spirit rice laid out on the table. Steamed rice tastes much better than raw rice.

Ji An took out several bottles of spirit wine from his storage bag and strode over:

"Becoming an apprentice is a joyous occasion, so I had a drink with some old friends."

Hehe, we've all helped each other out for several years, and since we won't have many chances to meet again, we chatted for a while longer.

"Haha, junior brother, I won't stand on ceremony."

Du Huaiyuan took the wine glass and put it into his storage bag.

"As if I'd ever been polite to you."

Li Lingyu exposed the other party's true colors, and then pointed at the spirit-seeking rat, saying:

"Does your junior brother's tamed beast have a name? Such a spirit-seeking rat is rare."

"It has never been named."

"We should choose one."

"Gah!"

The sand goose stretched its neck out from behind its master, its black eyes like a deep lake.

This sound drew smiles from everyone. Li Lingyu pointed at the wild goose and laughed:

"Look, this beast is showing its approval."

Ji An couldn't help but chuckle; this guy had even learned to steal the spotlight.

"I need to think about naming it, but I haven't seen any of my senior brothers and sisters raising or taming beasts."

Mu Qingwan's tone was no longer so cold as she replied:

"It's mainly because it's rarely used, but I'll definitely keep one after I reach the Foundation Establishment stage."

The sect is called the Golden Spirit Sect. 'Gold' refers to weapon crafting, and 'Spirit' refers to beast taming.

For her, the Qi Refining stage meant she mostly stayed within the sect and didn't go out, so it was indeed not useful.

After reaching the Foundation Establishment stage, one will inevitably receive missions that require leaving the sect to complete, and a good beast tamer is as good as a helper.

"Junior brother, sit down and let's talk."

Du Huaiyuan used his telekinesis to reach out and grab a chair.

After a few casual words, the conversation turned to cultivation, and Ji An cupped his hands in a gesture of respect, asking for guidance:

"The cultivation technique I practice is the Qingyuan Scripture. At the ninth level of Qi Refining, I need to condense a vortex of magical power. I don't know why I can't seem to get it right. Please enlighten me, senior brothers and sisters."

He followed the secret technique to circulate his inner energy, but the vortex of energy that condensed in his dantian quickly dissipated, causing him considerable distress.

"How long has Junior Brother been at the ninth level of Qi Refining?"

"It was only a breakthrough a few days ago."

Du Huaiyuan scratched his head:

"The reason why the magical energy vortex cannot be condensed for a long time is very simple: the total amount of magical energy is not enough. You have just broken through, so it is perfectly normal that you cannot condense the vortex."

Don't rush, you'll be ready after a few months of training here.

He took out a yellow gourd, took a sip of his wine, and said:

"For most people, the problem of magical power during the foundation building stage is easy to solve; the difficulty lies in training the strength of their spiritual consciousness."

The sect doesn't have any techniques for cultivating divine sense during the Qi Refining stage. Unless one is born with exceptionally strong divine sense, it takes several years of dedicated effort to hone it.

"On the contrary," Ji An sighed inwardly. He had enjoyed the benefits of the stone turtle, but he had to bear its negative effects.

As dusk fell, the group tidied up the table and returned to their rooms.

Fortunately, the bamboo house was big enough and had several partitions, otherwise Ji An would have had to squeeze his two beasts into one room.

He sat down cross-legged and began to cultivate, the abundant energy of heaven and earth supporting him, combined with the spiritual food he had eaten, making it the perfect time to improve.

When his immortal veins could no longer withstand the infusion of spiritual energy, he stopped cultivating and used the secret method of opening the veins to nourish them with his magical power.

Anything that could improve his qualifications was what he cared about most.

An hour later, he finished his practice of nourishing his immortal veins and began to practice the Sharp Metal Technique. Golden light flickered at his fingertips, like fine golden sand flowing around his fingers.

Suddenly, Ji An sensed an unusual fluctuation in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. He stopped performing his magic and stepped out of the bamboo building.

The crescent moon hangs like a hook, and the night is as still as water.

Ji An sensed that the spiritual energy of heaven and earth was flowing towards a bamboo building. He glanced around and found two people already standing on the open ground under the moonlight.

He walked over, and heard Du Huaiyuan say leisurely:

"Qingwan is currently building her foundation; we'll know the outcome by tomorrow morning."

(End of this chapter)