Chapter 251 Refining Lotus Seed Essence
The communication golden sword and communication talisman sword are only effective within the range of the sect's protective array. They rely on the Mountain and River Map and the identity jade token to locate the cultivator's position.
The golden sword, gleaming with light, vibrated at a unique frequency, transmitting its aura into the cave.
Choosing it to send a message indicates an urgent situation and that the person possesses special means to awaken the cultivators trapped in the cave.
Ye Changqing sensed the fluctuations in the golden sword's aura and his heart sank.
Normally, he rarely received such a golden sword while on duty at the Qin Gong Hall, and even if he did, it was during the day.
He used his telekinesis to take the jade artifact from the stone table into his hand.
The ritual implement resembles a compass and is a timekeeping instrument called the 'Time Track'.
Drip leaks are inconvenient to carry, and the water will naturally be lost, requiring frequent calibration.
The Time Ritual doesn't have this problem at all. It is exquisitely crafted, and although it is a low-grade magic artifact, it is expensive to make, with a price comparable to that of a high-grade magic artifact.
"It's only four-quarters past dawn, what could be so urgent!"
Ye Changqing muttered something, put the magic weapon back in its original place, and strode out of the cave.
He paused for a moment after receiving the golden sword for communication, his eyes narrowing slightly.
'It's a message from Junior Brother Ji. Something's happened at Crimson Flame Peak?'
He immediately extended his divine sense to read the information within the golden sword, then let out a long sigh and laughed, scolding:
"This Ji An gave me quite a fright. Such a good thing, couldn't he have picked an auspicious time? Disturbing people's dreams so early in the morning."
He paced around a few times with his hands behind his back, nodded slightly, and took out a blank golden sword for communication.
After a moment's deliberation, he switched to the silver talisman sword.
"Honoring Palace Master Zhang, Ji An of Crimson Flame Peak has cultivated a mid-grade second-tier spirit peach tree."
The talisman sword flashed with silver light and disappeared into the mountains.
Ningcui Cliff.
Ge Ying finished refining the pills and rubbed her temples wearily.
Nowadays, prolonged alchemy practice often leads to fatigue and exhaustion.
Stepping out of the alchemy room, she instructed the maidservants waiting outside:
Brew a cup of Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea.
The tea leaves she still has are only of the highest grade; the finest tea leaves have all been given to Ge Luoying.
For her, even the finest tea leaves could not nourish her soul, but they could still help restore her depleted spiritual energy.
"Yes, Uncle-Master, please wait a moment. I have already boiled the spiritual spring water."
A maid stepped forward and presented a long, narrow talisman with a pointed top and a square bottom.
"A communication talisman sword has arrived today. Please check it, Uncle."
Reaching out to take the talisman sword, Ge Ying probed into it with her divine sense, and the corners of her mouth gradually turned up.
"The lineage of Ningcui Cliff has a worthy successor. This disciple is far stronger than I was back then. Excellent!"
After a moment's thought, she took out several golden swords for communication.
Now that the demonic calamity has fully erupted, the front lines are extremely tense, and sects will inevitably have to draw more cultivators to participate in the battle.
My disciple has exceptional talent in spiritual agriculture; if possible, we should postpone his involvement in the front lines of the war.
She wanted to present her disciple's talent to her senior uncles and strive for better opportunities for her disciple.
Chaoyang Peak, Treasure Pavilion.
"The Ancestor has shown mercy by summoning disciples to Mingfeng Mountain to exchange for the low-grade spiritual artifact, the Flame Light Banner, for only 1,200 minor merits."
Jia Yu said softly, "The Flame Light Flag is a tradition passed down in the sect since ancient times, a replica of the innate spiritual treasure, the Flame Light Flag that leaves the ground."
However, the inheritance is severely lacking, leaving only the ability to release flames, lacking the supreme power of inverting the five elements like that of a primordial spiritual treasure.
It's acceptable as an offensive magical weapon, especially suitable for cultivators who practice fire-element techniques. It's also passable for cultivators who practice wood-element techniques, but it would be a waste for cultivators who practice other five elements techniques.
"Thank you, Ancestor! Thank you, Uncle-Master! My little skill is just enough!"
The cultivator took out the jade token and handed it over, his face beaming with joy.
A few days ago, he came to check and found that exchanging the Flamelight Flag would require 1,600 minor merits. Saving 400 minor merits immediately was a great deal for him.
Jia Yu took the jade token, deducted enough minor merits, and entered the secret vault to retrieve the spiritual artifact.
The magical artifact has a red flag handle with pale gold patterns, and is triangular in shape. The flag surface is as bright as burning coals, and its light flickers like leaping flames.
On the flag, a pale golden phoenix is woven, its long tail feathers clearly visible, with golden flames flickering and an explosive aura rising and falling.
"Nephew, please be careful on your journey to Mingfeng Mountain."
The cultivator solemnly accepted the Flame Banner with both hands and said in a deep voice:
"Thank you for your concern, Uncle-Master."
As the two were talking, a silver communication talisman flew over. Jia Yu caught the talisman with a wave of his hand and flicked his sleeve:
"Nephew, you should go back and prepare. We will be setting off in two days."
He was overjoyed as he read the information from the talisman sword.
"Good, the sect has gained another high-level spirit farmer."
His gloomy mood eased slightly. Of the few high-level spiritual farmers in the sect, Ge Ying had at most one or two decades of lifespan left, Lin Mao had about thirty years of lifespan left, and Kong Yunyi was in the best condition, but he was still one hundred and forty years old and currently at the sixth level of Foundation Establishment.
The high-level spirit farmers are already facing a shortage of successors. Now, the addition of a high-level spirit farmer in his sixties at the seventh level of Foundation Establishment can greatly alleviate this predicament.
Jia Yu fell into deep thought. The spirit fields of Crimson Flame Peak were only of the second-tier middle grade. Under such circumstances, Ji An was able to cultivate spirit plants of the same level. His ability in the art of planting was beyond doubt.
What's even more satisfying is that the other party is a disciple who has the potential to break through to the Chaoyuan stage.
Perhaps in a few years, the sect will indeed have another Spirit Farmer at the Chaoyuan stage.
He took out his golden communication sword, solemnly entered the information, and then raised his hand to send it out.
A golden light streaked out and flew straight towards the mountaintop.
Jia Yu clapped his hands and nodded in satisfaction.
The sect's second-tier top-grade spirit peaches are gradually withering away, and cultivating new top-grade spirit fruit trees is urgently needed, as this is a matter of great importance to the sect's inheritance.
A quarter of an hour later, the golden talisman sword flew into the treasure pavilion.
Jia Yu immediately probed with his divine sense to check, 'I understand. If you have any further results, please inform me immediately.'
Crimson Flame Peak, the cave dwelling's fiery chamber.
The smell of burning filled the air. Ji An touched his nose and forced a smile.
The main ingredient of the Azure Lotus Pill is the Azure Water Spirit Lotus, a spiritual plant that combines water and wood elements, and it has very strict temperature requirements when refining spiritual herbs.
At low temperatures, a small amount of lotus seeds cannot be refined; at high temperatures, they will burn.
He couldn't even get past the hurdle of refining spiritual herbs and divine essences, let alone alchemy.
"It's a headache."
Ji An released the Spring Breeze and Rain Technique to begin cleaning the alchemy furnace, while pondering the steps he had just taken that had gone wrong.
His Three Yang Fire Technique had reached the Great Perfection level, and his ability to control flames was no weaker than his master's. The reason for his failure must have been due to a lack of experience.
There are times when it's necessary to preheat or cool down the temperature. These details can only be learned through repeated practice and gradual refinement; there are no shortcuts.
Once you've learned from all the mistakes, things will definitely go much smoother from now on.
After cleaning the alchemy furnace, Ji An restarted it.
For him, refining the Azure Lotus presents an additional challenge.
The skin and fruit of the lotus seed are stuck together so tightly that they cannot be removed by other means. They can only be peeled off by refining them with fire or by moistening them with water for many days using the art of alchemy.
He lacked the necessary conditions for water-based alchemy, so the plan was rejected outright.
The lotus seed skin is a hard shell that needs to be refined with a powerful flame, requiring the use of earth fire. At the same time, the temperature must be carefully controlled to avoid damaging the fruit, otherwise it will affect the medicinal effect.
The earth fire in Crimson Flame Peak contains metal-elemental evil energy, which needs to be extracted by controlling the Elixir Fire Technique, consuming more than twice the spiritual energy required to refine pills with charcoal fire.
The fingers move with incredible speed and fluidity, the palms seem to bloom like flowers, and techniques such as warming the fire, circulating the fire, and nurturing the fire are executed seamlessly and used in combination.
First, use fire to strip away the evil energy of metal, while simultaneously focusing on the temperature inside the alchemy furnace.
While refining elixirs under such conditions is tantamount to asking for trouble and consumes one's spiritual energy extremely quickly, it does have a slight effect on training one's spiritual energy.
The hardship wasn't in vain; I was able to endure everything.
Time flew by as he focused intently. Ji An opened the furnace five times and finally refined the essence of the Azure Lotus.
Looking at the glistening, emerald-green crystal in his hand, the corners of his mouth kept turning up.
"It wasn't easy!"
He exclaimed that refining the lotus seed essence was one of the two most difficult steps in refining the Azure Lotus Pill, and now he had succeeded halfway.
Having exhausted his spiritual energy, he felt slightly dizzy and lightheaded. He decided to postpone the formal refining of the Azure Lotus Pill until tomorrow.
It's fortunate that it was him; it would have been difficult for any other alchemist to make so many attempts within an hour.
His soul was stronger than most cultivators', and he could also absorb the power of the moonlight to nourish his soul during his nightly cultivation. He could also drink top-grade Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea on weekdays.
With multiple factors combined, the strength of his soul definitely exceeded the level that a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator should have.
Ji An carefully placed the divine essence into a jade bottle, pressed his temples with both hands, and walked out of the cave.
The sun was setting in the west, half of it already below the horizon.
The sunset glow was like fire, burning the clouds for thousands of miles into a reddish-gold and furnace-red hue, like waves flowing in the sky.
A faint golden light shone down, and the two sacred pines at the cave entrance swayed gently like billowing fiery clouds.
At the summit of Crimson Flame Peak, the soaring, fiery spirit had already dissipated.
At the foot of the mountain, the emerald mulberry fields ripple with green waves, the copper-patterned mulberry fields shimmer with silver light, and a cluster of gold shines brightly.
Ji An felt refreshed and his headache seemed to have lessened a bit.
He raised his head and let out a clear whistle, which immediately echoed from the sky.
The golden eagle screeched as it plummeted downwards.
"Haha, your response speed is much faster than Sha Yan's."
The eagle raised its head and let out a low cry, as if to say, 'It's necessary.'
Ji An rode his beast to the cold pool at the foot of the mountain and shouted:
"Yulian, brew a pot of Yunding Yinhao tea."
In the current situation, drinking Yulu Jinya tea is more effective, but I can only keep eight ounces of tea leaves each year, so I have to drink it sparingly. I always brew the tea until it has no flavor before throwing it away.
Xia Yulian poked her head out of the kitchen and smiled:
"Please wait a moment, Uncle-Master. Dinner is being prepared and will take about fifteen minutes."
"Quickly find two disciples to help you!"
Ji An patted the golden eagle's neck. "Come on, let's take a stroll around the spirit field."
The beast spread its wings and flew steadily, deliberately circling above the Azure Jade Tree of the Moon.
It understood perfectly well that its owner loved this large tree with its white leaves.
As Ji An flew over the tea trees, a proud smile appeared on his lips as he gently stroked the exquisitely textured feathers of his tamed beast.
Of the three tea trees, two are of the highest grade, and the third, Yunding Jade Tree, is of the second-grade lower grade.
Each year, about ten kilograms of second-grade tea are produced, which basically makes tea drinking freedom a reality.
He could confidently say that no Foundation Establishment disciple in the sect had more material wealth than him.
(End of this chapter)
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