Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Taking the stone, he squinted his eyes to carefully identify it, and then extended his divine sense, revealing a smile at the corner of his mouth.

"Let’s go outside."

He left the desk and walked out of the hall, Ji An followed with great interest.

In Jia Yu’s hand, blue flames surged, and in an instant, the heat wave rolled over.

The flame of a cultivator’s magic technique or their internally nurtured flame respectively presented in red, yellow, blue, white, and purple colors.

The Fire Element Technique at the Qi Refining Stage showed a light furnace red color, the technique of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was bright yellow, so the spells of Nascent Soul Cultivators produced purple flames.

As for the flame colors of even higher-tier cultivators, it’s uncharted knowledge.

After all, the Golden Spirit Sect is merely a Golden Core Sect, lacking high-tier knowledge.

The stone rolled suspended in the void, soon burned to a fiery red.

Moments later, magma dripped onto the ground, emitting a "sizzling" sound, and wafts of white mist rose up.

After a while, it revealed a pigeon-egg-sized flat sphere stone, slightly reddening without any sign of dissolving due to the scorching.

Jia Yu stopped the spell, and as the blue flame vanished, the stone cooled quickly, revealing a gray texture, resembling an ordinary stone.

The only difference was the wave-like patterns on its surface, complex and ancient, offering a very pleasant feeling.

He stood the stone up with two fingers and asked with a smile:

"Junior Brother, can you recognize this item?"

Speaking, he tossed the stone out.

Ji An caught it with his hand, only to feel it warm like jade, not a quality of an ordinary stone.

He extended his divine sense and immediately sensed entering another bright space, not knowing where the light source came from.

On the outskirts of the space hung thick white fog; he tried to extend his divine sense into it but found it felt like encountering a Dharma Prohibition, unable to penetrate in the slightest.

He probed around, realizing it was a space one meter three feet square, quite large, equivalent to more than fifty of his largest Storage Bags.

Ji An withdrew his divine sense, unable to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth:

"It creates its own space; this must undoubtedly be a Grotto Void Stone. I didn’t expect the original stone to be so unremarkable; you can’t detect it unless you intentionally probe it with divine sense.

Senior Brother, this time I’ve come across it; I must exchange this Grotto Void Stone!"

The Grotto Void Stone is incredibly rare, a product of the collapse of a Little World; he long wished to possess one but couldn’t achieve it.

"After completing the procedure, it will be yours. Please wait outside the hall while I discuss the exchange price with some of our nephews."

Jia Yu invited a few disciples into the hall and even opened the Dharma Prohibition.

Ji An grinned; the sect’s price from the disciples is certainly lower than the price he exchanges it for, though he doesn’t know exactly how much lower.

He handed over a Tier Two Middle Grade Green Gourd Fruit, each could earn 20 Small Merits, but if other cultivators exchanged it, they had to spend 22 Small Merits or even more.

The sect operates as a platform, maintaining its operation this way.

Feeling bored, he simply practiced the Earth Escape Technique, traversing the great earth outside the hall, sensing the Treasure Pavilion’s Dharma Prohibition’s complete 360-degree coverage.

...

Two moments passed, and a group of disciples came out of the hall, each with a smile on their face, visibly satisfied.

Ji An stepped into the Treasure Pavilion, brushing past them.

Jia Yu lightly cleared his throat and said with a smile:

"Junior Brother, the sect rules that you couldn’t be present earlier; please understand."

"I understand. Senior Brother, please tell me how many Small Merits are required for the exchange."

Ji An wasn’t concerned; the sect’s "business model" is just like that.

"The obtained Grotto Void Stone can’t be directly given to you; an Artifact Refiner will be assigned to turn it into a real Spatial Magical Artifact, expanding effective space and strengthening internal stability.

Junior Brother may not know, if a Grotto Void Stone suffers a strong magic attack, its internal space will shatter.

Storage Bags can have their internal space spied upon by high-tier cultivators or those who cultivate special spells; Grotto Void Stone artifacts don’t have this worry, but..."

"Pros and cons exist in everything, if a Storage Bag is destroyed, the stored contents scatter out, most things can still be used.

If the Grotto Void Stone is affected during battle, its internal space is directly obliterated, and everything inside will turn into debris.

In the Cultivation Realm, there are numerous cases where people are left with nothing because their Grotto Void Stone was destroyed, making it necessary to reinforce the internal space."

After the explanation, Ji An slightly nodded:

"What is the value of the refined Grotto Void Stone?"

"The exchange price is determined by the size of the refined space. I expect it to reach forty thousand Small Merits, perhaps even more."

"That expensive? I recall Nephew Teng Zhiyuan in the Artifact Refining Hall also owns a Grotto Void Stone artifact; he wouldn’t bear such a price!"

Ji An was a bit skeptical; while the item is rare, it shouldn’t be that valuable. Teng Zhiyuan’s most urgent need is the Nourishing Yuan Pill, so he wouldn’t spend that many Small Merits.

"The price of the Grotto Void Stone depends on the space size; I know Nephew Teng Zhiyuan owns a Grotto Void Stone artifact, but that was made from materials he obtained himself."

Ji An sighed, "Well, even if it’s expensive, I have to buy it."

He really didn’t want to hang out with piles of Storage Bags when going out, too ostentatious.

He pulled out a Jade Token and said:

"I will pay the deposit first to avoid it being snatched; how long will it take to collect?"

The Grotto Void Stone is very sought-after; if he doesn’t buy it, someone else will, hence the difficulty in obtaining one.

He only habitually felt it was pricey, but considering his wealth, spending forty thousand Small Merits was not a problem.

Jia Yu placed the Jade Token on the Spirit Disc to operate and said:

"I’ll first charge you thirty thousand Small Merits, and you’ll make up the rest later.

Today, I will notify Senior Brother Zhuu to come; from past experience, it can be completed within half a month.

After receiving the finished product, I will notify you as soon as possible. Do you have any plans to leave soon?"

"I’m not leaving; I will be staying at the Agricultural Hall for the next month."

The two of them engaged in casual conversation, talking about the sect’s current status.

Jia Yu took a big swig of Spirit Wine and said with emotion:

"Junior Brother’s methods promoted at the Agricultural Hall are very effective; the number of Spirit Farmer disciples has decreased, but the output value increased significantly, equivalent to an increase in per capita resource quantity.

The ancestor has already ordered other halls to investigate their own situations to see if similar methods can be implemented."

The approach wasn’t particularly clever, but it was something others hadn’t thought of before. Previously, Spirit Farmers were responsible for individual Spirit Fields without needing collaboration with other cultivators.

Ji An slightly raised his eyebrows, smiling:

"Implementing it in other halls might be challenging; for instance, in the Artifact Refining Hall, a qualified Artifact Refiner must master all processes.

Breaking it down into smaller procedures can indeed improve efficiency for making low-tier magical artifacts, but it doesn’t help cultivate artifact refiners who can handle matters independently."

The sect’s resources ultimately serve high-tier cultivators; speaking of extreme cases, crafting a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact requires teamwork, but there are only three artifact refiners competent for it in the sect.

If one of them encounters an accident, does it mean no Spiritual Artifact is crafted?

A Medicinal Garden can get by missing a Spirit Farmer casting spells, but the production of a spiritual artifact would have to be halted.

He pondered for a moment and further commented:

"However, two training models could be implemented; those with notable talent in artifact refining can undergo additional master-apprentice mode training for future high-level spiritual artifact crafting.

Artifact refiners with average talent need only focus on a single process and achieve specialization; these cultivators handle the making of magical artifacts and low-level spiritual artifacts, thereby greatly boosting efficiency."

Jia Yu sipped the meaning in his words, nodding incessantly, and applauded:

"Well said, by doing this, many ordinary disciples can make greater contributions.

Haha, I will tell the ancestor of Junior Brother’s ideas later; if your methods are implemented in the future, you might earn some Small Merit rewards."

Regarding rewards and punishments, the sect has always been quite clear-cut.

"How much reward could there be?"

Ji An scratched his head, thinking:

’Will the sect turn into a sweatshop someday? A Golden Spirit Sect Refining Hall assembly line?’

Safe to say, it could really be a possibility. After the Blue Star’s assembly lines emerged, work efficiency surged.

In the future, the sect could take on standardized artifact production tasks from other sects or clans, ensuring absolute efficiency.