Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Early the next morning, Ji An came to the tea tree and consumed a few strands of Wood Element Qi.

His liver swiftly refined the Wood Element Qi, producing a drop of cyan Spiritual Liquid.

After the Divine Mansion reached Perfection, the corresponding Five Elements Qi would be refined into liquid, which could strengthen the Primordial Life Fire and also enhance the eyes’ mysterious abilities.

Both Cloud-Top Jade trees had reached the Tier Two Upper Grade level, and the Blood Soul Profound Essence was Tier Two Middle Grade and had already borne fruit.

The Bodhi Tree was still Tier Two Lower Grade, but the roasted leaves had already shown some effects of enhancing comprehension.

After consuming Qi, Ji An rode the clouds to the Clear Spirit Bamboo Forest and chopped down a few bamboo trees filled with Cyan Leaf Wine.

Through the nurturing fermentation of the Spiritual Bamboo, the taste of the Cyan Leaf Wine improved significantly, with the bitterness akin to medicine becoming extremely faint.

For him now, these Spirit Wines primarily served the purpose of quickly recovering magical power.

If he encountered intense combat, it would be equivalent to a pill for rapid replenishment of magical power.

Of course, these preparations were likely to be unnecessary.

As the overlord-level power in the Western Continent, the Golden Spirit Sect had significantly increased its control over the surroundings in recent years.

Ji An placed the Spirit Wine into his Storage Bag and shook his head slightly:

"I need to quickly get a Storage Spiritual Artifact made of Grotto Void Stone, as Storage Bags are too inconvenient."

A dignified Chao Origin Stage Cultivator traveling with several Storage Bags hanging from him felt somewhat demeaning.

Teng Zhiyuan from the Artifact Refining Hall had the good fortune to obtain a piece of Grotto Void Stone in the late-stage Foundation Establishment, refining it into a High Tier Storage Spiritual Artifact.

Pity that he had the financial resources but not the luck.

He decided that if he couldn’t obtain Grotto Void Stone through the sect’s channels, he would definitely buy one when the Traveling Merchant Flying Ship from the Central Continent arrived.

By then, when he needed to travel, he couldn’t still be carrying a bunch of Storage Bags!

Not only would he need Storage Bags, but he also needed several Spirit Beast Bags.

Ji An let out a clear whistle, the sound waves spreading as the mountains and forests responded.

"Youyou," the sound of a deer call emerged from a corner of the Mulberry Field, and a clear neigh echoed from the other side of the mountain.

Soon, a Cyan Deer walked gracefully to the edge of the Clear Bamboo Forest.

Ji An reached out his hand, stroking the coarse antlers as the Beast Taming creature affectionately shook its head.

He communicated through spiritual connection:

"Youyou, I’m going to be away for a few days.

While I’m gone, the task of taking care of that green Spirit Field is entrusted to you.

There’s your favorite tender mulberry leaves and Biluo Fruit, and don’t forget that very tall, scale-patterned Spirit Wood.

When I come back, I’ll give you some honey to taste."

Now, the Cyan Deer had advanced to the Fourth-Layer Foundation Establishment, capable of releasing Jade Wood Transformation Skill equivalent to the Great Success level, covering an area of about twenty acres.

A five hundred-acre Wood Element Spirit Plant Garden could be fully managed.

"Youyou!"

The Cyan Deer nodded; if it didn’t go out, it loved roaming in the Mulberry Field the most.

It especially loved the flowering season, as soon it could eat the sweet and sour mulberries.

Sweet honey, of course, was also its favorite.

"Good!" Ji An laughed heartily.

With abundant resources and superior bloodline, this Beast Taming creature grew rapidly.

When the Beast Taming creature could release Jade Wood Transformation Skill at the Perfection Level, he could also entrust the Red Cloud Pine Forest and Fire Element Spirit Fruit Garden to it.

This was his most wise ’investment’. While other Beast Taming creatures consumed a lot of resources, the Cyan Deer was a capable helper.

The sound of an eagle echoed once more, as a magnificent Golden Feathered Eagle swooped down,

Ji An took out a Tier Two Biluo Fruit, which Youyou swallowed in one gulp, disappearing into the woods in the blink of an eye.

It naturally feared this large eagle and the Rock Armor Bear, despite its demonic power surpassing theirs.

Ji An sighed softly, thinking the Cyan Deer was too timid, which wouldn’t do. He planned for it to participate in attacks just as Wu Yan from the Beast Taming Hall did.

He needed to find an opportunity to train the group’s Beast Taming creatures in cooperative hunting skills.

The Golden Feathered Eagle landed beside its master, now at the Second-Layer Foundation Establishment.

As a Wind Element Demon Beast, Red Flame Peak did not have suitable Spirit Fruit for it, so its growth was relatively slow.

The Golden Feathered Eagle was already very large, standing taller than Ji An’s head when upright.

He raised his hand and patted the beast’s neck.

The Golden Feathered Eagle understood and lowered its body, allowing its master to sit astride it.

"Let’s head to Dahuang’s cave first."

The eagle spread its wings, took off effortlessly, and soon landed at the cave entrance.

The Rock Armor Bear was already awake, but it lay lazily, waiting for the sun to shine before leaving the cave.

Ji An jumped down, "You wait here; I’m going to get Jinmao."

He activated the Earth Escape Technique, experiencing a moment of darkness, and arrived in the Soul Nourishing Wood’s cave.

Jinmao made cheerful chirping sounds, eagerly looking forward to this outing.

"Let’s go!"

Ji An laughed as he placed it into a Spirit Beast Bag, then returned to the surface, and put Dahuang into another Spirit Beast Bag.

This time traveling, he was taking only these three Beast Taming creatures—one to serve as a guard, and the others to provide company.

He wouldn’t take the grey-feathered sand geese or Cyan Water Turtle; the sand geese’s speed could no longer keep up, and the Cyan Water Turtle was still at the Ninth-Layer Qi Refining, unable to offer any help.

The Western Continent wasn’t conducive to the Cyan Water Turtle, as it was mountainous with little water, unlike its natural habitats.

Ji An leaped onto the back of the Golden Feathered Eagle and said:

"Take off, and head in the direction I’m pointing with my arm."

...

Divine Eagle Cliff is situated northwest of the Golden Spirit Sect, about six hundred li in a straight line from Red Flame Peak.

Mountains stand clustered here, and among them is a deep valley called Yingchou Creek.

It was once famous for being home to a large number of eagle-type Demon Beasts, said to include Great Demons of the Chao Origin Stage.

But that was several hundred years ago, before the demon calamity broke out and the place was cleared by the Golden Spirit Sect.

Now, it only contains some Qi Refining Stage demon eagles.

Divine Eagle Cliff is a stone mountain with little vegetation, appearing very desolate.

The Golden Feathered Eagle descended slowly; this was the first destination Ji An chose.

This mountain is high enough, gathering Earth Qi of Wu, and best of all, Ji Earth Qi gathers in Yingchou Creek.

Cultivators from the sect often make this their first stop when going out for Earth Eating Qi.

Before the Spirit Beast landed, Ji An stirred his magical power to hover in the air, letting the Earth-Departing Flame Banner fly out from his dantian, the flame cloud glowing brilliantly around him like the evening glow after rain.

Ji An was very battle-prudent, knowing that he should be prepared for combat out in the wilderness to guard against unexpected situations.

Still not satisfied, he released the Mixed Gold Profound Armor Spell.

Golden Spirit Light spread over his body, with mysterious ancient patterns surfacing and quickly fading beneath the skin.

He maneuvered the Spiritual Artifact to land atop one of the peaks, activating the Five Directions Spirit Extraction Technique.

Bright yellow radiance seeped from the stones, gathering in his palm.

Ji An collected the Earth Qi of Wu into a specially prepared Jade Bottle and continued casting spells.

Soon enough, the Earth Qi of Wu in this peak was completely gathered up.

Nobody knows how long it would take for new Earth Qi of Wu to form in the peak.

Ji An stored the Jade Bottle, taking a stance, exhaling soundlessly, and then inhaling naturally.

This cycle repeated, warm and sweet Qi flowing into his mouth and being swallowed, with radiant veins shining on the surface of his spleen, storing the Earth Qi of Wu within.

The collected Earth Qi of Wu isn’t the same as the Qi from Earth Eating; the collected Qi is more of a materialized Spiritual Object, while Earth Qi of Wu is nature’s spiritual energy, a component of Earth Element Qi.

After two quarters of an hour, Ji An realized he hadn’t consumed any Earth Qi of Wu for a while, and summoned the Golden Feathered Eagle to fly to the next mountain peak.

Just consuming a single wisp here showed that Earth Qi of Wu was a formidable task.

Half an hour later, when Ji An descended on another peak, he saw two other cultivators there.

He sent out his Divine Sense to feel the spiritual pressure on both men, then descended slowly.

The two were only Foundation Establishment Level cultivators, though he didn’t know their purpose, it certainly wasn’t Earth Eating.

This area only yielded five wisps of Earth Qi of Wu, and he wouldn’t overlook any place where Earth Qi of Wu might exist.

Seeing him descend, the cultivators’ expressions changed, and they saluted:

"We apologize for disturbing you, senior. We’ll leave now."

Ji An waved them off, indicating they could go.

He took his position to begin Earth Eating again. After a quarter-hour, with a wry smile, he shook his head, feeling like a fisherman who worked hard all day but caught nothing.

He took out the apricot yellow Banner and infused it with Spiritual Qi. Yellow Spirit Light enveloped him, and Golden Lotus flowers swirled around him.

He controlled the Earth-Departing Flame Banner to retract the flames, forming a fire cloud to protect his body.

Though replicates, this banner carried a hint of innate Spiritual Treasure’s power, capable of disrupting Yin and Yang in an instant, causing enemy Spiritual Artifacts to become unstable.

However, this ability was highly consuming, drawing out around ninety percent of the Spiritual Qi from the banner when fully charged.

It’s not suitable for regular use, only as a trump card.

As his Spiritual Artifacts improved, the consumption for wielding the disrupting ability would decrease.

Ji An rode his two Spiritual Artifacts towards Yingchou Creek.

At the same time, he summoned the Golden Feathered Eagle, instructing the Spirit Beast to follow vigilantly.

Upon reaching Yingchou Creek, descending to a certain height, mist spread thickly from deep in the gorge.

The Spirit Beast shrieked, signaling that it couldn’t descend.

The mist was growing denser and severely affecting its cultivation.

"Wait for me here!"

Ji An tossed a command before descending alone.

Thanks to the additional benefits from opening the Wood Element Divine Mansion, he had eyes that could pierce through thick fog.

Though the mist thickened, he still had a visible range of ten-something zhang.

He controlled his descent speed, spotting steep rock faces where pine trees, jujube trees, and many unknown wild grasses grew.

Occasionally, he could see large snakes as thick as an arm coiled around some pine trees, flicking their scarlet tongues.

Ji An tried to keep his distance from these natives with no other reason than that these snakes were only Qi Refining Level, making them unnecessary adversaries.

A snake, black and red with stripes, about as thick as a barrel, sprang out from a cave in the cliff, lunging straight at Ji An.

Its appearance was peculiar, a triangular, flat head with a wide mouth showing two fingers-wide fangs.

Its body was adorned with two grey wings the size of washbasins, similar to bat wings.

To the snake, this descending cultivator was a tasty treat delivered to its door.

The strange snake had been cultivating here for years, devouring dozens of cultivators.

A cultivator’s flesh and blood could enhance its rapid transformation, so why let this one go?

Ji An was slightly surprised; his Divine Sense had always been extended, yet before the demon snake’s attack, he hadn’t sensed a thing.