Chapter 22 Qi Refining Level 3
Ten days later.
The night was cool and still, the bright moon shone silently, and a stick of incense burned inside the bamboo house, creating a dreamlike atmosphere.
Ji An sat cross-legged on the futon, his breathing sometimes fast and sometimes slow. The spiritual energy in his body was abundant, flowing like a small river, repeatedly impacting his Qi Hai acupoint.
The bottleneck at the third level of Qi Refining is gradually loosening.
With surging magical power within his body and a calm mind like a still lake, he patiently controlled his magical power, continuing to impact his dantian.
Finally, under repeated impacts, the Qihai acupoint suddenly expanded, like a giant dragon drawing water, as all the magical power in the immortal veins poured into the ancestral aperture.
Ji An noticed that another branch had appeared on the Immortal Vein.
He kept his mind calm, refined all the remaining medicinal power of the Yellow Sprout Pill, and then slowly withdrew from his cultivation.
After two and a half months, with no shortage of pills and spiritual rice, he finally reached the third level of Qi Refining.
Only then did a faint smile appear on his face, and he sighed softly:
"It's not easy."
With his current 'qualifications', this speed is already very fast, but the cost is a sharp decline in his wallet.
Since harvesting the spirit grain, the magical restrictions on the bamboo house have been activated; otherwise, if he were to encounter some opportunistic thief, he would be in deep trouble.
The laws and regulations are rudimentary; one spirit stone can sustain him for a year, but for him at present, one spirit stone is a huge expense that he cannot afford to cut back on.
A few days ago, he went to Biyue Market to buy 30 Yellow Sprout Pills from Senior Brother Wei and asked someone to buy 10 spirit crystals worth of grain seeds. Now he has returned to square one, with only 10 spirit crystals, 24 pills, and a dozen or so wood element beads left in his hands.
Fortunately, the two acres of yellow sprout rice have already been planted. After another two months of hard work, when the elixirs are used up, it will be just in time to harvest the spiritual grain.
Once one's cultivation reaches the third level of Qi Refining, the upper limit of one's internal mana doubles, making it no longer a problem to release fourth-level spells.
Ji An's mind sank into his Qihai acupoint again. "Old turtle, activate!"
The three kinds of spiritual inspiration decreased in turn, while his understanding of magic gradually increased. When he opened his eyes again, he had already mastered two spells.
[Master: Ji An]
[Taoist Rhyme: 0]
[Spiritual Insight: Kan Spirit 4.9, Kun Spirit 0.7, Xun Spirit 0]
[Spell: Minor Cloud Rain Spell (Mastery 1%)]
Thick Earth Technique (Great Success 1%)
The Secret of Withering and Flourishing (Minor Success Rate 62%)
Flame Spell (Mastery 2%)
[Sharp Metal Technique (Mastery 12%)]
With two fully mastered spells and one lesser mastered spell, a bountiful harvest in the spirit valley is expected, and Ji An's recent insecurity due to the scarcity of crystals has lessened considerably.
After reaching the third level of Qi Refining, the effects of Yellow Sprout Pills and Spirit Rice will inevitably decrease somewhat, and he will need to earn more crystals in the future to maintain rapid progress.
He got up, walked to the wall, and opened the two windows. A gentle breeze blew, and the moon shone brightly over the bamboo house.
The next day, Ji An finished his cultivation, strolled to the spirit field, and released the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique.
A patch of white mist enveloped the sacred field, and rain poured down.
The leaves fell on the spirit valley leaves with crisp sounds, and when they landed in the spirit field, they splashed up specks of dust and mud.
Ji An felt the spiritual energy, which was much richer than that of a minor spell, and listened attentively to the gentle rain that nourished all things. His heart was as clear and transparent as crystal.
A mysterious feeling lingered in his heart. He had a sudden inspiration, and the hand seals in his hands changed rapidly. He released the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique again in another acre of spiritual field.
[Minor Cloud Rain Technique (Mastery 1% → 11%)]
"Hahaha"
Ji An burst into wild laughter, startling several birds in the tree.
Even without the stone tortoise, I, the Daoist master, can achieve enlightenment!
After a while, the turmoil in his heart gradually subsided, and his mind slowly returned to calm and undisturbed.
He took out a gray cloth from his bosom, opened it, placed the talisman bird in his palm, and slowly channeled his magic power into it. Once the paper goose stopped growing, Ji An straddled it.
He stroked the increasingly dim talisman bird, whispering:
"Old friend, give me a ride one more time."
The talisman bird flapped its wings and took flight, swaying and drawing a crooked curve in the air.
A thin mist formed above the spirit field, only to quickly dissipate in the sunlight.
General Affairs Hall.
Ji An glanced around, then walked straight to an acquaintance, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:
"Senior Brother Li, my name is Ji An, and I have come today to exchange for magic spells."
The man looked familiar; he was the senior brother who had been on duty at the Wendao Hall that day. He had been deeply impressed by the fragrance of the spiritual tea.
Li Changfeng raised his eyes and said calmly:
"Greetings, junior brother. Please give me the jade token. What kind of spell would you like to exchange it for?"
He had no recollection of this junior brother, and was not surprised that the other party recognized him. As a disciple of the General Affairs Hall, he figured that most of the Qi Refining disciples in the sect would recognize him.
Ji An took out the jade token, still warm from his body, and handed it over, saying calmly:
"Exchange for the fourth level of Lesser Cloud Rain Technique and Thick Earth Technique."
Li Changfeng took the jade token and gave the other party a look that was neither a smile nor a frown:
"The sect values production-related talents highly, and those who exchange for these kinds of spells can enjoy the sect's preferential policies."
"Junior brother, do you know the rules? If you want to exchange for production-related spells of the fourth level or higher, you need to demonstrate the spell on the spot."
He became curious about his junior brother's identity. The other party looked young and was not wearing the standard Taoist robes of various peaks and halls, so he must be a spiritual farmer.
However, Lingnong was required to pay land rent and taxes at the General Affairs Hall at the end of each quarter, but he had no recollection of the other party, which was quite interesting.
"Of course I know, please verify, senior brother."
"Alright, junior brother, please come with me."
Li Changfeng took out a palm-sized, bronze disc-shaped ritual implement and led the way.
The two arrived at a patch of white ground in the backyard of the side hall. Li Changfeng threw the magic artifact into the center of the white ground. A few breaths later, he made a hand seal, reached forward and grabbed the disc-shaped magic artifact, which flew back into his hand.
Ji An clicked his tongue in amazement, thinking that this technique must be a control technique, which is perfect for grabbing objects. It is also the foundation for controlling magical artifacts and is an essential technique for cultivators.
"Senior brother, how many contribution points are needed to exchange for the Object Control Technique?"
Li Changfeng was even more surprised. This junior brother was quite new. He hadn't learned the art of object manipulation yet. Could he be a new disciple this year?
That's incredible! To comprehend a high-level spell in the first year—that's a promising future!
His tone softened slightly, and he smiled:
"The sect has compiled a set of practical spell jade slips, which includes a set of five elemental attack spells. These are specially provided to Qi Refining stage disciples. It takes two hundred contribution points to exchange for the jade slips."
Compared to the shops in those celestial city markets, this price is incredibly cheap.
Two hundred contribution points, which is equivalent to ten spirit stones, is a lot. It would take an ordinary disciple several years to accumulate that many contribution points!
Ji An frowned slightly:
"Um, can these spells be exchanged individually?"
"I'm afraid that won't work."
"Junior brother, you're thinking too far ahead. Before reaching the mid-stage of Qi Refining, your internal mana is too low. Even if you learn spells, it won't be of much help in combat."
Ji An secretly curled his lip; he had figured it out.
The sect's move is to set a high threshold, so that spirit farmers and other cultivators engaged in production can feel at ease contributing to the sect's strength.
Li Changfeng raised the magical artifact in his hand and laughed:
"This is a spirit testing disc, which can be used to test the strength of spiritual energy."
Compared to the Lesser Thick Earth Technique, the Greater Thick Earth Technique's casting range is not expanded; it can only be verified by testing the spiritual energy intensity before and after casting.
After saying that, Li Changfeng raised his chin.
Ji An understood. He stepped forward, calmly forming hand seals. The hand seals changed, and the earth-yellow spiritual light spread across the white ground.
(End of this chapter)
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