Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

"You should be content. When I opened the Earth Element Divine Mansion back then, the most I ever exchanged was three Earth Soul Soothing Pills."

Jia Yu shook his head, sighed, and explained:

"The main ingredient of the Earth Soul Soothing Pill will absorb more Earth Vein Spiritual Energy, so the price is high.

In the future, when Junior Brother opens the Water Element Divine Mansion, the Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pill will also be expensive, each costing twelve hundred Small Merit."

The water veins in the Western Continent are not prosperous, and Water Spirit Plants are quite rare, so the price of the Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pill is similarly high.

"Expensive or not, I’ll take them all."

Ji An took out the Jade Token, fully aware that the sect must have paid a great price to trade for the pills.

Besides, he exerted a lot of effort for Qi Eating, with an average of less than six wisps of Qi consumed per day.

Without the support of the pills, it would severely delay the strengthening of the Earth’s Divine Mansion core.

He couldn’t help but frown; the types of Earth-element Spiritual Medicine are no match for the three kinds of spirit medicine: Wood, Fire, and Water elements, and Gold Spirit Plants are even scarcer.

There are pills available to strengthen the Earth’s Divine Mansion, but to open the Jin Mansion, it’s impossible to buy related pills in the Western Continent.

It’s estimated that strengthening these two divine mansions will occupy a lot of his time.

Jia Yu operated on the Spirit Disc for a while, returned the Jade Token, and said:

"After deducting the Small Merit for nine pills, Junior Brother still has two hundred and ninety-four thousand Small Merit left, still so wealthy!"

Ji An chuckled and put away the Jade Token and pills:

"Senior Brother, there are no pills in the sect to strengthen the Jin Mansion. When the Middle Continent cultivators arrive, will it be possible to buy such pills?"

"It’s impossible. Whether intentionally or not, pills for strengthening the Earth Mansion and Jin Mansion have never been sold by the Middle Continent’s Business Alliance in the Western Continent."

Jia Yu’s gaze was profound; things shouldn’t be so coincidental.

If Daoist Master Zhengyang were here, he would certainly inform that it’s intentional.

The ancestor once traveled in the Middle Continent and learned that such pills, although relatively precious in the Middle Continent, are sold in large business alliances.

Ji An frowned even more, without the aid of pills, he could only consume Qi bit by bit to strengthen the divine mansions.

In this light, Li Haoran taking only ten years to achieve perfection in the Jin Mansion truly proves that a genius is a genius.

After a moment of silence, Jia Yu broke the silence and said:

"Thinking too much about these things is useless; excessive pondering may even affect your state of mind.

Our cultivation is inherently moving against the current; overcoming numerous challenges is also part of cultivation."

Ji An nodded:

"What Senior Brother says is very true. When the Merchant Flying Ship from the Middle Continent arrives, could Senior Brother please exchange my Small Merit for Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pills?

If the pills are sufficient, I won’t need to consume Qi externally."

Stocking up on more Water Spirit Pills would also be good, saving time.

"No problem, I can promise to meet this request, but..."

Jia Yu changed his tone and continued:

"It’s still very necessary to travel outside; the journey is a process of refining the state of mind, comprehending the Five Elements Dao and Divine Intent.

Without witnessing the vast rivers and torrents of water, how can one understand the grand Ren Water?"

"The Five Elements generate one another, endlessly; to completely understand them is so difficult!

Pills accelerate our accumulation, only strengthening the core of the divine mansions, but don’t help us comprehend the Five Elements Dao.

The ancestor once said, if you don’t make up for the lessons missed, thinking of breaking through to Golden Core is only a fool’s dream."

In the Cultivation Realm, cultivators must go out to travel before breaking through to Golden Core, truly comprehending the mysteries of the Five Elements Dao to have a chance of successful breakthrough.

Relying solely on the benefits of pills, it’s impossible to achieve Golden Core; otherwise, in a continent as rich as the Middle Continent, Golden Cores would already be everywhere.

Ji An was indifferent, laughing:

"Senior Brother, I’m just a Spirit Farmer; the higher my realm gets, the safer it is to travel outside."

If not for the rule prohibiting Qi Eating within the sect, he certainly wouldn’t go out.

If he could safely improve his cultivation, why go out!

But if he must go out, he would also act boldly.

The two chatted for a while, and Ji An changed the topic, saying:

"I’d like to ask Senior Brother to help with something, to verify a matter."

He described the matter in detail; his mentor felt uncomfortable hearing the cry from the Phoenix Bird on the Earth-Departing Flame Banner.

"Unexpected! Junior Brother is welcome to give it a try."

Jia Yu agreed readily, having yet to experience the power of a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact.

Others can hear the Phoenix Bird’s cry on the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, indicating the full spiritual nature of the artifact.

He closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the artifact to sound.

The Earth-Departing Flame Banner flew out from Ji An’s Dantian, with a fire cloud enveloping him, and the Phoenix Bird’s cry sounded.

After a few breaths, Jia Yu opened his eyes and excitedly said:

"Junior Brother, I also felt a sudden surge of emotion, but it lasted only a moment and was immediately suppressed.

I suspect it’s because my cultivation is high enough to quickly suppress the discomfort.

Also, the sound just now didn’t seem like an ordinary sound; can you activate the artifact to make such a sound again?"

He felt the sound directly affected the Spirit Soul; if the artifact could continuously produce such a sound, it indicates the Earth-Departing Flame Banner’s potential was underestimated by the sect.

Ji An activated the artifact, the flame light swirling in the fire cloud, but it consistently did not produce a similar sound.

He scratched his head and said:

"There must be some kind of restriction; it’ll only make a similar sound at certain times."

Jia Yu nodded slightly, "Exactly, it must be a special attack technique."

It’s normal for a top-grade spiritual artifact to possess unconventional methods.

...

In the evening, Ji An returned to Ningcui Cliff to cast spells on the various medicinal gardens.

Without his care for a month, these spirit plants had become somewhat withered.

After finishing all this, he bid farewell to his master and used the teleportation array to return to Red Flame Peak.

Absorbing a few strands of Wood Element Qi and refining it into magical power, Ji An returned to his grotto mansion to begin practicing magic techniques.

The Earth Escape Technique, the Muddy Gold Profound Armor Spell, and the Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword were his focused subjects. Once these techniques reached the Great Perfection Level, he would start practicing the Fire Dragon Heaven-Burning Technique and Profound Nether Daoist Qi, and finally, practice other Five Elements Escape Techniques.

He possessed two middle-grade fire element dao seeds and water element dao seeds, so his speed practicing the Fire Dragon Heaven-Burning Technique and Profound Nether Daoist Qi should be relatively quick.

Until his magical power was almost exhausted, Ji An returned to his grotto mansion, brewed a cup of Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea and drank it up, then swallowed an Earth Soul Soothing Pill and began operating the Five Elements Reincarnation Scripture: Earth Mansion Chapter for refinement.

The spleen emitted a yellow spirit light, appearing somewhat dim against the backdrop of the Wood Mansion and Fire Mansion.

A peaceful aura surfaced in his heart, the spiritual qi rapidly refined into magical power, and the Stone Turtle and Primordial Life Fire welcomed a feast.

The days passed smoothly for a month, and Ji An left the sect once again.

After such a long period of gestation, another batch of Earth Element Qi should be harvestable in the mountain ranges surrounding the sect.

The Wuji Xinghuang Banner required three catties and six taels of spirit silk, but he only had one tael on hand; roughly estimated, it would take six to seven years to gather enough.

Ji An felt the time too long, but there was nothing he could do.

He had asked other fellow cultivators, and most Chao Origin Stage cultivators had never even practiced any Spirit Extraction Techniques.

These individuals couldn’t even collect Wu Earth Qi and Ji Earth Qi, perhaps why they were unwilling to refine the Earth-Departing Flame Banner and the Wuji Xinghuang Banner.

Both of these top-grade spiritual artifacts required collecting five elements qi and transforming it into spirit silk, if the Spirit Extraction Technique’s efficiency was lacking, it would waste too much time.

Ji An packed various materials, placed Golden Fur and Dahuang into the spirit beast bag, and left on the Golden Feathered Eagle.

His first stop was still Divine Eagle Cliff.

...

While traveling using beast taming, Ji An seized the time to practice magic techniques and ponder divine intent.

After practicing various techniques to the Great Perfection Level, he still needed to enhance his talisman-making and alchemy skills.

There were always various things pushing him forward.

The crest atop the Golden Feathered Eagle’s head stood upright, and the fierce winds automatically bypassed this tuft of erect feathers.

As a wind element demon beast, controlling the wind was its instinct.

With his magical power reduced by half, Ji An stopped practicing techniques and began to rest with closed eyes.

As the sun set in the west, the Golden Feathered Eagle let out a clear cry, indicating they had reached Divine Eagle Mountain.

Ji An opened his eyes, glanced around, and seeing nothing amiss, he commanded the beast taming to begin descending.

After descending to the mountain’s peak, he pointed to the sky, waved his hand:

"If any suspicious beings approach, notify me immediately."

The Golden Feathered Eagle let out a clear cry and circled in the air above the peak.

Ji An activated the Mixed Gold Profound Armor Spell and Rock Technique, then took out the apricot yellow Banner and infused it with magical power, wrapping himself in a multitude of golden lotuses.

Better safe than sorry; he was always cautious when outdoors.

After setting up his defenses, he began tapping into the Five Directions Spirit Gathering Technique, collecting Wu Earth Qi.

...

In the dense forest on a mountain peak at Divine Eagle Cliff, Xiong Ba suddenly stood up and said:

"After guarding for half a month, the target is finally here. Black Eagle, time to act!"

Since Master Cyan Dragon’s death, he and Black Eagle had started facing exclusion in the Celestial Demon Alliance.

Now the alliance leader was Chen Sheng, and several demon cultivators who first followed Cyan Dragon were being sidelined, with the resources they received greatly reduced.

But one good thing was that the Celestial Demon Alliance’s kill list hadn’t been abolished, and killing the human race cultivators on the list still rewarded substantial resources.

Near Divine Eagle Cliff, there was a small base of the Celestial Demon Alliance under Xiong Ba’s jurisdiction.

A month ago, subordinates stationed here sent word back to the main alliance that a cultivator on the kill list had been spotted.

Upon learning the news, Xiong Ba immediately found Black Eagle, and they quickly agreed to take action.

After comparison, they discovered the appearing cultivator was Ji An of the Golden Spirit Sect.

The intelligence indicated this cultivator initially was just a spirit farmer.

Though they didn’t know what circumstances enabled him to break through to the Chao Origin Stage, today, he must die.

"Heh heh, finally, a chance to act. I missed the taste of human Chao Origin Stage cultivators."

Black Eagle released an owl-like laugh, his patience worn thin over these days.

"The enemy’s head can’t be eaten, we need it as evidence!"

Xiong Ba sneered, rising a yellow demon cloud beneath his feet.

He had refined the essence blood of an earth element demon beast, allowing him to release a yellow demon cloud.

Black Eagle lightly leaped, transforming into a giant black eagle soaring skyward:

"Attack from above and below."

Xiong Ba rode the cloud closer to the mountain peak where Ji An stood, and the Golden Feathered Eagle immediately cried out in warning.

Ji An noticed the arrivals and caution rose in his heart.

In the wild, when unknown cultivators meet, they would naturally distance themselves without ill intentions.