Chapter 176 Breakthrough to the Mid-Foundation Establishment Stage
One month later, at Red Copper Mountain.
Ji An squinted slightly, looking at the row of five purple fire gourds on the table, three large and two small, with golden flame patterns painted on the dark red gourd skin.
The large gourd is for nurturing the flames, while the small gourd is for holding wine.
In some respects, they are both spatial artifacts; one can only contain various flames, while the other can only contain liquids.
The small gourd has a warm, glossy color and looks even better than the large gourd.
From right to left, the gourd skin becomes increasingly dull and lackluster, with the one on the far left having no luster at all.
Ji An touched his nose and thought to himself:
"Could it be that Senior Brother's skills have declined? No, the more similar magical artifacts he refines, the more refined his skills should become."
The higher the level of the magical artifact, the brighter its radiance. This is especially true for spiritual artifacts and magical treasures; it is said that high-level magical treasures can even blind low-level cultivators.
Seeing through the customer's thoughts, Zhao Lei chuckled and said:
"Junior brother, do you think these magical artifacts are somewhat crudely made?"
Although the look of doubt in the other person's eyes was fleeting, it was still caught by his keen eyes.
Ji An nodded slightly and said:
"In my understanding, the better the ritual implements are those that have a bright and radiant light."
None of these gourds that nurture flames could match the brilliance of Zhong Yue's fire gourd, which made him suspicious.
"Among those offensive and defensive magical artifacts, those with bright and radiant light are of course the best."
However, for these nurturing-type magical artifacts, those with a dark color are better, so that the spiritual energy can be completely locked inside the artifact.
"Junior brother, please look!"
As Zhao Lei spoke, he channeled magical flames into the large gourd one by one.
Ji An observed that when the flame entered the magical artifacts, the gourd with the lightest color shone the brightest.
Once the input was complete, the gourd's color dimmed again, becoming ordinary.
Zhao Lei, holding the leftmost purple fire gourd, said:
"This gourd is the one I'm most satisfied with. It has twenty-seven layers of magical restrictions on it, making it a rare masterpiece."
Congratulations, Senior Brother, on reaching a new level!
Ji An suddenly felt envious of weapon refiners. Famous weapon refiners were essentially honing their skills using other people's materials and earning spirit stones from them.
Spirit farmers can only harvest their spiritual plants once they mature.
"Haha, I should thank my junior brother for giving me this opportunity."
I happen to have nothing to do today. How about we, my fellow disciples, have a few drinks later and enjoy ourselves? Wouldn't that be wonderful?
Zhao Lei was in high spirits. After this round of refining, he had gained a deeper understanding of refining gourd-type magical artifacts.
Ji An returned to Crimson Flame Peak, where a large number of disciples were coming and going in the Jade Leaf Mulberry Field, picking mulberries and tender mulberry leaves.
It's harvest season again, with a faint fragrance in the air, and white jade bees flitting between the mulberry fields and their hives.
Wisps of smoke rose from the distillery's chimney.
Ji An landed the shuttle at the entrance of the winery and shouted inside:
"Senior Brother Du, do you have some free time? I have a gift for you."
Half a month ago, Du Huaiyuan returned from Mingfeng Mountain. After resting for two or three days, he threw himself into the winemaking work and enjoyed it immensely.
What gift?
Du Huaiyuan walked out of the winery, his eyes filled with an irrepressible smile.
Brewing and drinking wine were his happiest times, when all his worries would disappear.
Ji An took out the gourd and tossed it out with a smile:
"I had two wine gourds crafted, and I'm giving one to my senior brother. It's a top-grade fire-attribute magic artifact."
Presenting a wine gourd to a drunkard is a way of catering to his tastes.
"Junior brother understands me! It's perfect for holding pine nut wine."
Du Huaiyuan laughed heartily, grabbed the gourd by making a mineral manipulation gesture, and probed it with his divine sense.
When refining elixirs on Mingfeng Mountain, he often lamented that he didn't have enough spiritual wine to carry.
Having a superior magical artifact changes everything.
He had always wanted a wine gourd, but good materials were hard to find. Today, his wish came true, and he was overjoyed.
Withdrawing his divine sense, his eyes shone brightly as he gently stroked the surface of the gourd:
"The space is quite large. Did the weapon refiner specify how many kilograms of spirit wine it can hold?"
"Three thousand catties is no problem."
"good!"
Du Huaiyuan clapped his hands and laughed, "In that case, one gourd of wine can meet the needs for a year and still have a little left over."
Two months later, the mulberry season was over, and the spirit wine was brewed and stored in the cellar.
Ji An hosted a banquet and invited the disciples who had helped him to drink.
He and his senior brother Du set up a table in the stone house, enjoying themselves immensely.
Slightly tipsy, Du Huaiyuan said:
"This year's premium mulberry wine is about 3,000 jin, and the top-grade mulberry wine is 12,000 jin."
Starting next year, we can begin large-scale sales of the spirit wine.
Ji An nodded slightly and exhaled:
"It's finally going to be perfect."
The ability to sell mulberry wine signifies that all of the Spiritwood's output can be sold for Spirit Stones.
"I'm so envious. My junior brother will be living the life of counting spirit stones while lying down from now on."
Ji An smiled and said:
"Senior brother only talks about my glorious aspects, how could you forget that I have to perform magic for the mountains and forests every night?"
Nothing is easy if you want to do things well.
All of this was supported by several perfect-level planting spells, which can be considered a case of hardship finally paying off.
From then on, the industrial chain of Crimson Flame Peak was truly formed, which made his life easier and allowed him to dedicate more time to improving his cultivation.
Before the banquet ended, Ji An gave the following instructions:
"Yu Han, have Fei Hu give a jar of top-grade spirit wine to the others."
They had already prepared some small jars weighing five jin each, just to serve as gifts.
After the busy period, Crimson Flame Peak returned to peace, and half a year passed in the blink of an eye.
At dawn, Ji An sat cross-legged in the Jade Leaf Mulberry Field, circulating the Green Wood Everlasting Spring Technique. Around him, it was as if a waterfall of emerald green starlight was suspended, interspersed with yellow and pale white spiritual light.
The spiritual energy flowed through the immortal veins at an increasingly rapid pace, like surging waves, one wave subsiding before another surged forth.
Spiritual energy is continuously refined into magical power, which is then poured into the dantian.
Within his dantian, it felt as if a heavy rain was falling, and the stone tortoise swam merrily, constantly absorbing magical power.
Maintaining a rapid flow of spiritual energy for an extended period caused a dull ache in the immortal meridians.
Ji An is currently using a breakthrough technique, as he has been stuck in the bottleneck period for quite some time.
For the past two months, I have been trying to break through every few days, and now I can clearly feel that the bottleneck has loosened a lot.
As he poured his magic power into his dantian again, he felt his ancestral aperture suddenly open slightly, swallowing all the magic power from his immortal meridians and other acupoints like a whale swallowing water.
Ji Andun felt a sudden emptiness in his body, and a mysterious, clear sound seemed to reach his ears.
Within his dantian, the stone tortoise's shell shone with spiritual light, the light growing stronger and stronger before fading away.
As silence fell, emerald-green magical power slowly emerged from the ancestral aperture, and the immortal veins, like a long-parched river, greedily absorbed the burgeoning spiritual energy within the magical power.
For a moment, he felt as if he had become a sapling, his legs becoming the roots, and his hands and torso becoming the branches.
The saplings grew taller and stronger in the wind, and their treetops soon reached the clouds, after which the faint illusion disappeared.
Ji An felt a sudden tremor in his liver, and he discovered that green vein-shaped patterns had appeared on the surface of his liver.
The pattern resembles ink dropped into clear water, the color fading gradually until it completely blends into the liver.
Ji An felt that everything seemed a little different, but he couldn't figure out what was different.
He didn't dwell on it; he would naturally understand when he reached a certain level of understanding.
He opened his eyes, his pupils shimmering with a green light that slowly faded after a moment.
Feeling the surging magical power flowing through his body, Ji An let out a long roar. The nearby Jade Mulberry leaves rustled without wind, echoing from the distant Crimson Flame Peak.
The sound and echoes swept across the mountains and forests, disappearing into the clouds.
Four years and eight months after breaking through the third level of Foundation Establishment, Ji An broke through to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment again, and this time without the aid of pills.
Ji An strode to the stone house and called out:
"Fellow Daoist Liang, please prepare some ingredients. I will be hosting a banquet for my friends in three days to celebrate my breakthrough to the mid-Foundation Establishment stage."
Huang Feihu, Liang Qiu, and the others all cupped their hands in greeting:
"Congratulations, Martial Uncle, on your advancement to a higher level!"
Hearing the joyful howl they had just heard, they knew something good had happened, so they all gathered here.
Huang Feihu sighed deeply; in just a few more months he would have been able to obtain the Foundation Establishment Pill from the sect.
I had thought I would gradually narrow the gap between myself and my senior uncle, but I suddenly found that the gap had widened considerably.
He clearly remembered that it took his uncle six years to break through to the third level of Foundation Establishment.
'Isn't cultivation supposed to slow down as you progress? How can it get faster and faster?!'
The same doubt lingered in his and Liang Qiu's minds for a long time.
Xia Yuhan and her sister, along with Huang Xuan, Li Cheng, and the other three, were overjoyed. As servant disciples of Chiyan Peak, they could also benefit from their master's breakthrough.
They understood that once Huang Feihu and his companion successfully established their foundations, they would leave, and they would be in charge of managing the affairs of Crimson Flame Peak, which would bring them many hidden benefits in the future.
Ji An took out a communication talisman sword, wrote the first invitation, and then activated it.
The talisman sword flew out of the protective mountain array like a silver bird and headed towards Jade Dragon Ridge.
Early in the morning, he was eager to share some of the joy with his junior brother Zeng.
He sent gifts three times to the other party who was taking a concubine, and he didn't know if there would be a fourth or fifth time. He had to make the other party bleed money to recoup his costs.
Liang Qiu stepped forward and asked:
"Uncle-Master, may I ask how many people you plan to invite so I can make the necessary preparations?"
The banquet was undoubtedly attended by the uncle's friends, most of whom had likely visited Crimson Flame Peak more than once.
The only meat available at Crimson Flame Peak consists of Firetooth Rabbit, Red-tailed Squirrel, and a few kinds of spirit fish. Over the years, some people have probably gotten used to eating these.
The Beast Taming Hall branch was built on Luoyan Mountain, where wild oxen and deer are raised, and their meat is delicious. You can buy some fresh meat there.
Ji An pondered for a moment and said:
"There will be about twenty people. Some of our senior brothers may not be home, or there may be unexpected guests. Let's prepare a banquet for forty people."
Prepare ample supplies for limited use; surplus supplies should be used internally.
This banquet is a declaration, so it cannot be shabby.
Liang Qiu responded:
"I've got it. Please wait a moment, Uncle-Master. Breakfast will be ready shortly."
While waiting, Ji An closed his eyes and focused his mind on his dantian, connecting with the stone tortoise.
Lines of text floated into his mind, but he noticed that one line was missing.
'Strange, where did the Azure Wood Transformation Technique go?'
He frowned slightly. The spell hadn't reached the Great Perfection level yet, so it shouldn't have disappeared.
(End of this chapter)
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