Chapter 214 Foundation Establishment Level 6
Ji An clapped his hands and laughed:
"That's excellent. Junior Brother Wei once helped me buy Xuanhuang Soil for four hundred spirit stones per tael. Is it still the same price now?"
Xuanhuang Soil is a second-tier resource, and there aren't many opportunities to buy it with spirit stones.
Having just traded fifty catties of top-grade gold leaves, he felt confident enough to settle the account with spirit stones.
"sure."
Zhang Yuanshan readily agreed and weighed out half a pound of Xuanhuang soil.
Selling second-tier resources for spirit stones may seem like a loss, but it's actually a gain in terms of goodwill.
More and more spiritual fruits are being cultivated in Crimson Flame Peak. In the future, we will still have to rely on Senior Brother Ji to find a way to purchase second-tier fire-elemental spiritual fruits.
He recalled his time at Qingsong Daoyuan, and how the down-on-his-luck disciple of that time could achieve what he had never imagined.
Ji An put the Xuanhuang Soil into his storage bag and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Thank you for your help, Junior Brother. Half a pound of Xuanhuang Soil costs two thousand spirit stones, and refining the Water-Repelling Pearl and Fire-Repelling Pearl costs three hundred spirit stones. Junior Brother only needs to give me two hundred spirit stones."
After they completed the transaction, Liang Qiu spoke:
"Senior brother, your Azure Water Turtle has grown so big, do you have any secrets?"
He noticed that the blue water turtle in the shade of the trees in the cold pool was significantly larger than his own, and humbly asked for its guidance.
"I only consulted the sect's basic methods for cultivating beasts. If I had to say what the secret is, it would probably be the result of feeding the Heavenly Origin Pears at any cost."
The methods for cultivating various types of monsters differ significantly, and Ji An lacks the time and energy to delve into the secrets of cultivation.
Of his four pets, he only paid more attention to the rock bear; the rest were raised in a more extensive manner.
If you don't have the resources to nurture your characters, you can simply rely on pay-to-win gameplay.
Resources are meant to be used; that's how you make them worthwhile.
Liang Qiu was speechless. This method was simple and crude, but it was really effective. However, he couldn't learn it.
The Crimson Flame Peak grows the finest Heavenly Origin Pears. When used to feed Azure Water Turtles at the Qi Refining level, most of the spiritual energy is wasted, and the nourishment of the beast relies entirely on the characteristics of the spiritual fruit itself.
He lacked the resources to feed his children in such a luxurious way; the spirit stones were only one aspect of the reason.
Red Copper Mountain, Burning Cloud Cave.
The rocks here are dark red, and when the sunset shines on them, they take on a dreamlike glow.
From a distance, the clouds and the mountain peaks appear to merge, creating a breathtaking panorama.
Zhao Lei controlled the shuttle to land at the cave entrance, hurriedly stepped inside, and bowed with his hands clasped in greeting:
"Greetings, Master."
Zhu Xiangrong had just returned from Chaoyang Peak and was enjoying tea.
Unlike other weapon refiners, he disliked the intensity of wine and preferred the subtlety of tea, always finding the aroma of tea more captivating than that of wine.
"Zhao Lei, sit down and talk."
"Young man, bring tea."
Zhu Xiangrong said gently that the other party was his eldest disciple and was quite favored by him.
Generally speaking, the significance of a cultivator's eldest disciple and his last disciple is different.
"Thank you, Master."
Although Zhao Lei usually preferred drinking, he dared not be dissolute in front of his master.
"I received an order to refine a magical artifact, but I don't know how to best inscribe the artifact's runes and restrictions, so I came here specifically to ask my master for advice."
Zhao Lei stepped forward and took out the Purple Fire Gourd from his storage bag.
"I'm preparing to refine it into a spiritual artifact that can nurture flames, aiming to maximize its storage space while nurturing flames that pose a threat to cultivators in the Chaoyuan stage."
Zhu Xiangrong received the gourd and exclaimed in surprise:
"A second-tier purple fire gourd, how rare!"
He has crafted quite a few gourd-shaped magical artifacts, including some of the second-grade superior quality ones, but he has never seen a second-tier purple fire gourd.
Spirit plants have a growth limit, and breaking through this limit is not an easy thing.
Just like cultivators, with the same resources, some cultivators can cultivate to the Golden Core stage, while others struggle to even break through to the Yuan stage.
Zhu Xiangrong extended his divine sense to carefully sense the texture inside the gourd.
The animal hides used for making talismans each have a unique texture, and the textures of the blanks used for refining artifacts are even more complex.
The weapon refiner needs to find all the magic nodes one by one and inscribe magic-restricted weapon patterns on the nodes.
It can be said that each magical artifact is unique and requires the craftsman to tailor it to the material.
Zhu Xiangrong held up one finger and said:
"The runes of spatial restrictions and nurturing restrictions need to be nested, but the core should be spatial restrictions, so as to increase the spatial storage capacity of the spiritual artifact as much as possible."
The inscriptions of fire-infused magical patterns are merely supplementary; there's no need to force an increase in the flame's power.
Achieving a perfect balance between quality and quantity is not an easy task; sometimes there is simply no such balance point, and trade-offs must be made.
Zhao Lei scratched his head and said:
"Wouldn't that be a bit of a waste? I think the Purple Flame Gourd can nurture an even stronger flame, so reaching the strength of a mid-grade second tier shouldn't be difficult, right?"
He believed that once the spiritual weapon was forged, the flames it nurtured would be able to reach the attack level of a cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage.
"You're right, but! Don't have the foolish dream of threatening a Chaoyuan stage opponent with a low-grade spiritual artifact."
I can tell you definitively that a cultivator at the Chaoyuan stage would absolutely not be attacked by such a spiritual weapon, unless he is seriously injured and unable to dodge.
Therefore, it's better to settle for second best and only nurture a flame that reaches the level of a cultivator at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage.
No matter how strong the flames are, they are useless if they cannot hit the opponent.
Zhao Lei suddenly realized:
"So that's how it is. I was just assuming things."
"Master, if that's the case, then we don't need to use any other second-tier materials to forge spiritual weapons."
"Yes, there's no need."
One month later.
Ji An was practicing his water control technique by the cold pool, while the Azure Water Turtle lazily lay beside him, waiting for the spirit fish to feed it.
He felt a flow of energy being drawn into his immortal meridians from his chest. He removed the pendant from his neck and his eyes revealed a strange expression.
This strange item, which he obtained from a street stall in Mingfeng Mountain, is still able to produce Genling. He originally thought it was about to die of old age.
Recently, the stone tortoise has absorbed more than a dozen points of Gen spirit. Although the amount is not large, it can still yield some every few days.
To his delight, this trend had continued for several days, resulting in a steady harvest.
As long as we maintain this pace, we can eventually build something great from small beginnings.
Looking at it over a long period, say a hundred years, one could gain tens of thousands of Gen Spirit points, which is a huge profit.
He's only fifty years old; he'll easily live another hundred.
"If only I could obtain a treasure containing other spiritual energy!"
Ji An's heart was burning with desire; people always want more after getting what they want.
He tilted his head and glimpsed a communication talisman sword entering Crimson Flame Peak, falling towards the icy pool, and heading straight for him.
Ji An reached out and felt the magical imprint on it, and couldn't help but smile.
The magical artifact is complete; come quickly.
Ji An landed on Red Copper Mountain and stepped into the cave.
"Junior brother, please have a seat."
Zhao Lei took out a gourd the size of his palm and said with a proud look on his face:
"The refining process went smoothly, seven or eight days faster than I expected."
The magical artifact has thirty-six spiritual restrictions, and the total amount of flames it can store is more than five times that of a top-grade magical artifact.
The intensity of the flames it nurtures is comparable to that of a Foundation Establishment Perfection cultivator practicing fire-based techniques.
However, the speed of the flames wasn't significantly increased, making it unsuitable for dealing with fast-moving enemies.
The gourd skin is like jade, its divine light is restrained, yet it will never be overlooked.
Ji An happily accepted the gourd. The magical artifact had different sizes and was easier to carry.
The gourd feels warm and smooth to the touch, like holding a piece of warm jade.
He made a hand seal, and the gourd instantly grew larger.
Zhao Lei smiled smugly and said:
“The speed at which a spiritual artifact nurtures a flame is more than three times faster than that of a top-grade magic artifact, so even though the space is much larger, the nurturing speed will not be much slower.”
"Brother, you have excellent skills!"
Ji An put away the spirit gourd, took out a jar of pine nut wine, and offered his heartfelt thanks.
"Hehe, junior brother, you're too kind."
After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ji An took his leave.
Zhao Lei couldn't wait to break the seal on the wine jar. The pine nut wine produced in Chiyan Peak tasted more authentic than that produced in other places.
The crisp aroma of the wine filled the air, and he took a few deep sniffs.
"This wine doesn't taste right!"
Based on his many years of drinking experience, he said that the taste is even more fragrant and mellow!
He took out a wine glass from his storage bag, filled it, and took a small sip.
"It's second-grade pine nut wine. Junior Brother Ji is a good person to get along with!"
The mulberries on Crimson Flame Peak ripened again and again, and two years passed in the blink of an eye.
The sun blazed overhead, and the mountains and forests were silent except for the sweltering wind groaning.
Ji An sat cross-legged in the mulberry field by the cold pool, circulating the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique.
Emerald light flew out from the spirit tree, while pale black water-elemental light and yellow earth-elemental light swirled around it, and strands of golden light emanated from the sunlight to join the revelry.
The Azure Dragon Wood and Xuanhuang Soil in his hands had completely lost their spirituality, and the trickle of spiritual water in the jade bowl in front of him had dried up.
He was completely unaware of this.
At this moment, Ji An felt as if he were a giant tree, drawing spiritual energy from the earth, from the pool, from the spirit wood, and even from the void, growing vigorously.
The spiritual energy flowed through the immortal veins, and the ten Dao seeds in the acupoints shimmered with spiritual light as the energy flowed through them.
The spiritual energy contained within nourished the Dao Seed, and the Dao Seed, in turn, endowed the spiritual energy with even more profound meaning.
Ji An felt his dantian ancestral aperture rhythmically pulsating, and the refined magical power fell into his dantian like rain.
Suddenly, a tremendous attraction erupted from the dantian, like a dragon drawing water, devouring all the magical power in the immortal meridians and acupoints.
As magical power surged in, the dantian expanded slightly, and waves of warmth emanated from it, spreading throughout the body.
My whole body felt warm and cozy, like being bathed in spring sunshine.
The immortal meridians within the body have grown to varying degrees, extending into more tiny branches.
His liver surface was covered with numerous green vein-like patterns, almost occupying half of the liver's surface area.
The vibrant life force surged in the liver and then quickly subsided. The green patterns, like ink drops into a large lake, quickly diffused, the color fading until it disappeared completely, as if nothing had ever happened.
Ji An's spiritual pressure increased accordingly, and an invisible gust of wind spread outward from him.
From the sky, it looked as if the area had been hit by an explosion shockwave, with the surrounding spirits tilting in the opposite direction.
He slowly opened his eyes, his gaze clear and bright, his pupils shimmering with a serene blue light, giving him an extraordinary appearance.
The foundation of the six-story building is now complete!
Today marks three years and four months since I broke through to the fifth level of the Foundation Establishment stage, a shorter time than it took to break through from the fourth level to the fifth.
(End of this chapter)
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