Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

For a moment, the atmosphere was somewhat awkward. Zhuu Xiangrong only felt as if his cheeks were being scorched by earth fire, burning with pain.

Jia Yu scratched his head and said suspiciously:

"That’s not right. I asked Junior Brother Lin, and he clearly stated he wouldn’t come."

The other party was cultivating at a crucial time node and couldn’t be distracted.

Silver light approached from afar, and in a moment, it arrived at Red Flame Peak, circling half a lap over the Cold Pool before landing directly in the bamboo forest.

Li Haoran, dressed in a profound black Daoist robe, had eyes as deep as an autumn lake. The moment he landed, all his aura was retracted, and he slightly lifted the corners of his mouth:

"I returned at just the right time, encountering the eruption of Red Flame Peak again!"

Last time when the volcano erupted, he obtained some resources, and after refining, he elevated his flying sword to the tier two spiritual artifact level.

With Li Haoran’s arrival, the air suddenly turned cold and silent, as if at the peak of a snowy mountain after a gale.

Ji An’s pupils slightly contracted; he vaguely saw translucent blue ice particles floating in front, perceiving a different sword intent.

In the past, the other party’s presence was full of the sharp aura of the metal element. Although it had a cold feeling, it was due to the mental chill caused by the sword intent’s cutting.

But at this moment, the sword intent he withheld contained real coldness.

His sword intent had undergone a second transformation, truly enviable sword cultivation talent!

He returned the smile, "When did Senior Brother return? You look even more impressive today than ever."

The other had gone to the far north for many years to strengthen the Water Element Divine Mansion, and now upon returning, he must have perfected the Water Mansion and entered the third transformation of the Chao Origin Stage.

Breaking through the realm wasn’t surprising, but the advancement in sword intent—such talent was somewhat terrifying.

Others take many years to gain slight insights into sword intent, but for him, comprehending it seemed as natural as eating and drinking!

The damage brought by dual sword intents would likely have a qualitative improvement.

"I just returned, paying respects to the ancestor and the master, and learned that the spiritual vein grade here has improved, and the volcano is about to erupt, so I hurriedly came."

Li Haoran clasped his hands and solemnly said:

"Greetings to all Senior Brothers and Junior Brothers."

Jia Yu laughed heartily, "It’s good to have you back. The ancestor and Junior Brother Lin were a bit worried about you!

But Senior Brother Zhuu might not be pleased to see you back, at least not today."

Zhuu Xiangrong laughed and scolded, "What are you saying? Am I such a petty person!"

With Li Haoran’s arrival, he would have fewer metal-elemental spiritual objects to exchange for, but these objects, once exchanged, would still be used within the same sect.

Sword cultivators don’t need other types of spiritual objects, so he could pocket the fire-elemental spiritual objects.

Everyone had a knowing smile, and Jia Yu added,

"Right, we agreed beforehand that, apart from what’s immediately needed, other spiritual objects must be deposited into the sect’s secret vault proportionally.

If we calculate the time, the business alliance’s flying ship from Central Continent will arrive in five or six years, and we need to prepare a large number of resources to exchange for goods."

The ancestor ordered that this time we must trade for more than two Gold Core Pills from the business alliance, which will consume a large amount of secret vault reserves.

"Understood."

"Understood."

Hearing the others agree, Jia Yu nodded and asked:

"Will anyone else be coming?"

Ji An replied, "Senior Sister Ge Luoying will be coming."

This is a good opportunity to gather resources; Senior Sister Ge’s flying sword needs to be refined to tier two middle grade.

That’s the downside of being a sword cultivator—a life-bound flying sword needs to be step by step refined as one’s cultivation improves, unlike him, who could achieve a magnificent upgrade from a lower-grade spiritual artifact to a top-grade spiritual artifact.

Zhuu Xiangrong gave an imperceptible nod and said with a smile,

"It’s better than last eruption without Junior Brother Lin."

Others don’t need top-grade spiritual objects, so he can exchange more into his hands. Artifact refiners naturally like to hoard precious resources on their hands, as do alchemists, who stockpile spirit medicine.

An hour later, the bright moon rose, the distant mountains looked like menacing demons, and the fierce wind began to blow within Red Flame Peak, spreading a thick sulfur smell.

Everyone rode the clouds into the sky, quietly watching the riotously rising golden-red mist.

A silver line swept in from afar, the sword hums clear, its momentum far less dominant than Li Haoran’s.

Ji An knew it should be Senior Sister Ge arriving.

...

The ground trembled with a rumble as if an earth dragon was turning over.

A sky-piercing pillar of fire erupted, like an ascending fire dragon igniting the night sky.

Ji An’s eyes were filled with passionate fiery red, marveling at the mighty power of nature.

He wondered at what level of cultivator magic technique could achieve such magnitude; he felt at least a Nascent Soul level Daoist Monarch could wield such divine power.

The giant dragon ascended a hundred zhang, its blazing light visible from dozens of miles away.

Volcanic ash was like black snow, flying freely.

"Gentlemen, I will go ahead!"

Li Haoran sped away with his sword, brilliance flashing, leaving snowflakes in the sky contrasting sharply with the black volcanic ash.

Ge Luoying chuckled gently and flew in the opposite direction.

Zhuu Xiangrong wielded the Three Suns Li Fire Furnace, "Two Junior Brothers, I’m off as well."

Ji An and Jia Yu descended to the ground, gazing up at the sky.

After about a quarter hour, the eruption height of the lava steadily decreased, with magma flowing out of the volcano mouth like rushing molten iron, continuously heading downward.

Rich spiritual qi surged from various spirit vein nodes, with Red Flame Peak as the center, waves of wild winds spreading outward, causing the spirit wood to sway unstably.

Ji An squinted slightly, feeling the mysterious strands of energy passing through his body, captured by the Stone Turtle.

The firmness and resilience of metal, the moistness and turbulence of water, the growth and concealment of wood, the brightness and explosiveness of fire, and the bearing and nourishment of earth.

In a trance, he saw the earth solidify into towering giant trees, the celestial thunder roaring, flames sweeping across the ground.

It seemed there was endless power flowing through his legs into his body from the earth, as if it bore the weight of a billion years.

In the land, energy was gathering, with great water currents rushing deep beneath the surface.

Compared to the last volcanic eruption, Ji An gained more insights this time.

The Dao Rhyme was increasing rapidly, and his mood was like enjoying a honey osmanthus cake; in a word, sweet!

The feel of double harvest is just so satisfying!

Jia Yu took a sip of wine and shouted:

"Junior Brother Ji, will your grotto mansion be affected?

This volcanic eruption lasted longer than the last, will the magma flow up to your grotto mansion’s entrance?"

"Don’t worry, Senior Brother, I’ve made preparations long ago."

Ji An opened his eyes, having dug two trenches fifty yards above his grotto mansion, three yards wide, two yards deep, and twenty yards long. Certainly, there will be no problems.

"That’s good."

"Now that the volcanic eruption has ended, the agitation of the earth vein spirit mechanism is gradually settling down. Standing outside is no longer interesting.

Senior Brother, please come to the guest room to talk. I’ve instructed the disciples to prepare drinks and food, won’t it be wonderful to have a few drinks together?"

Jia Yu shook the wine gourd in his hand, "Splendid!"

In the guest room, the two toasted and drank heartily, exchanging jovial banter.

After savoring the delicious fish soup, Jia Yu smacked his lips in satisfaction, and said:

"With the elevation of the spirit vein tier and the collision of Five Elements qi mechanism, Junior Brother must have profound insights this time, right?"

During the last volcanic eruption, he asked a similar question, and back then, Ji An gained insights, though he was just an early-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator!

"The harvest this time is quite abundant, much more than the last."

Ji An smiled, the results exceeded his expectations.

"Speaking of which, Red Flame Peak is uniquely endowed, containing the Five Elements, a marvelous place found only in this sect."

...

The next day at noon.

After a late night and a morning of searching, the cultivators scoured Red Flame Peak thoroughly.

While not all spiritual objects were gathered, certainly none above Tier Two level were missed.

These spiritual objects were not deeply buried underground, thus could not escape the cultivators’ divine sense scanning.

Compared to others’ diligent searching, Ji An and his companion enjoyed eating, drinking, and even took time to sleep for two double hours.

After dividing the spiritual objects, Zhuu Xiangrong led the disciples to leave first, followed by Ge Luoying bidding farewell as well.

Jia Yu chuckled and said:

"This time’s harvest is greater than last time; when Red Flame Peak’s spirit vein ascends to Tier Two top grade, who knows, maybe Tier Three resources will spout from the ground."

Ji An curled his lip, "Senior Brother is daydreaming; it’s better to come back to reality soon.

The sect’s main spiritual vein hasn’t been upgraded to Tier Three for many years; there’s no way Red Flame Peak will nurture Tier Three spiritual objects."

"Junior Brother, you’re unaware that these gushing spiritual objects aren’t bred out after the sect took over?

Of course not, the earth breeds spirit veins, which grow lush like trees, and their tiers continually ascend.

But spirit veins also have lifespans, often extending over ten thousand or tens of thousands of years, yet they also wilt and wither like trees.

Perhaps tens of thousands of years ago, there were Tier Three or Tier Four spirit veins here that eventually withered after being nurtured."

Jia Yu explained, spending his free time in the Treasure Pavilion, except for drinking, he researched numerous things.

Knowledge about spirit vein elevation and decay, extremely niche topics, were also part of his study.

The sect’s knowledge inheritance is not as rich as a Nascent Soul sect, with many recorded knowledges being brief and unable to satisfy his curiosity.

Ji An pondered carefully, and nodded:

"Senior Brother’s words are reasonable; I’ve been shallow."

"Haha, Junior Brother, your cultivation grows steadily; naturally, you needn’t worry about these matters."

Jia Yu stored away the spiritual objects, took a sip of wine, hung the gourd at his waist, "Farewell, two Junior Brothers, I must return to report this harvest to the ancestor.

Junior Brother Ji, remember to send a message to Diligence Hall, informing them about the spirit vein’s elevation. Hall Master Zhang will send people to assess the further enhancement of the spirit vein.

Notify me by then, so I can allocate resources."

No one would have imagined that Red Flame Peak would become a Tier Two upper-grade spirit vein Dao field. He was a bit envious.

"Understood, I will send the Communication Golden Sword to Senior Brother Zhang later."

Jia Yu rode the clouds away, Li Haoran transmitted his voice:

"Junior Brother, ancestor mentioned, the spirit plant I brought back from the Canglan Secret Realm could be a Treasure Plant Phoenix Wood capable of upgrading to tier four?"

"Yes, unless the ancestor’s judgment is mistaken."

Ji An smiled wryly, lamenting, "I’ll suffer losses on this deal; ancestor said the Phoenix Wood needs to reach tier three before fruiting, otherwise, no benefits will arise."