Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 91: Chapter 89: Outsourcing

Ji An glanced down, sweeping his eyes over the number of Spirit Stones, then pulled out four Spirit Stones and pushed them forward:

“Old Xiang, take these Spirit Stones.”

In daily life, the other person helped with many trivial tasks, and just days ago invited him to the Celestial Sound Pavilion to listen to music.

The Celestial Sound Pavilion is a place where cultivators practice melody using sound wave magical artifacts to play music, capable of cleansing the mind and refining divine thoughts.

When first entering, listening to Qin Yan Elder lecturing was Ji An’s first time hearing celestial music.

Truth be told, after listening to a piece, he felt his cultivation efficiency slightly improved over the next three days.

Although Old Xiang always said that accumulating so many Wood Element Beads was his credit, he cannot take these Spirit Stones all for himself; the basic principle of reciprocation in shared benefits should be observed.

Xiang Yong quickly waved his hand: “Senior brother, I can’t take these Spirit Stones…”

He hadn’t contributed much effort, taking them would feel guilty.

“Take them, the days we’ll spend together are still long.”

Ji An picked up the Spirit Stones and personally handed them over, then said:

“In the future, let me do the work of condensing Wood Element Beads, I happen to want to practice the Life and Death Technique more.”

The Dao Seeds of Gui Shui and Ji Earth have already been condensed, the next step is to condense the Dao Seeds of Metal Element and Wood Element.

The Thick Earth Technique contains Magic Intent; more Wood Element Beads will be left over in the future, this extra income will become increasingly abundant.

“Listening to Senior Brother.”

Xiang Yong put the Spirit Stones into his Storage Bag, inwardly sighing that the other seemed to have no shortcomings in the way of planting.

Some talented Spirit Farmers he encountered were only proficient in one spell, those older were proficient in two.

Several other magic techniques, used year after year, barely reached Minor Achievement, those with outstanding comprehension might have one or two Great Success magic techniques.

But Ji An shattered his stereotype; the other person, at a young age, possessed deep understanding of five planting techniques, even comprehending the Magic Intent of the Small Cloud Rain Technique.

…

Ji An and Li Lingyu arrived at the mountaintop grotto mansion; yesterday the master sent a message saying the alchemy task was completed, intending to guide their cultivation today.

Ge Ying saw the two disciples arriving together and smiled:

“Not bad, Ji An’s magical power has increased significantly, Lingyu’s Qi Mechanism is even more harmonious, both have worked hard in cultivation, not slacking.”

“Seeing other senior brothers and sisters advancing to Foundation Establishment, I naturally strive hard to catch up, how could I slack?”

Li Lingyu replied with a smile, then shared the difficulties she encountered while refining Divine Sense.

“Ji An, the Dharma Gate I’m about to explain, you’ll need it when refining Divine Sense in the future, you listen carefully too.”

“Yes.”

Ji An answered, a cultivator’s Divine Sense is usually tucked in the Mud Ball Palace, if not released High-Tier Cultivators cannot discern its strength.

Ge Ying began patiently answering and provided several solutions.

“Thank you Master for dispelling confusion,” Li Lingyu saluted.

“Master, when referencing the Meridian Opening Secret Method to nourish the Immortal Vein, I found it’s always difficult to develop branches around the Heart Meridian; if impacted multiple times at the heart, a faint burning sensation is felt—is my method incorrect somewhere?”

Ji An expressed his doubts, having not faced much difficulty in improving his cultivation, nor worried about his Divine Sense strength being inadequate.

“The heart belongs to fire, repeatedly impacting will inevitably stimulate the Fire Attribute, at that moment make sure to stop, otherwise the Immortal Vein could become damaged.

Nourishing the Immortal Vein and refining Divine Sense is best done when magical power harmoniously touches the bottleneck; at present, they are not the focus, devote more time enhancing cultivation.

Developing the Immortal Vein depends on following nature, don’t force it.”

“Thank you, Master for the teachings.”

Though responding, Ji An still decided to make enough time daily to nourish the Immortal Vein.

Expanding and fortifying the Immortal Vein can slightly enhance aptitude, which holds significant meaning for him.

The Stone Turtle devours half his refined magical power each time; improving aptitude slightly can enhance his magical power refinement efficiency by a fraction.

Accumulating bit by bit, his challenges at Foundation Establishment would lessen.

This difficulty cannot be spoken to others, nor will he tell anyone.

After paying their respects, the two left the grotto mansion.

Ji An said with a smile:

“Senior Sister, I still need to go to Jade Water Lake to manage the Spirit Field and harvest Talisman Grass, I’ll go ahead.”

“Junior Brother go ahead.”

Ji An waved, and the grey-feathered sand goose resting not far away flew over carrying its master and took off.

“Caw!”

Li Lingyu watched as one man and beast quickly turned into a black dot, taking out the Talisman Bird and inputting spiritual power.

“Once I reach Foundation Establishment, the first thing I’ll do is purchase a Flying Tamed Beast, the Talisman Bird is too slow.”

…

Two months later.

The small courtyard was full of Spiritual Mechanism, and the two Spirit Fruit Trees were lush with branches and leaves, now with trunks as thick as a child’s arm.

Under the sunlight, the Fire Cloud Ginseng resembled burning firepots, with leaves like rising flames.

Upon careful inspection, Ji An estimated the Spirit Medicine’s age to be close to five years.

Now, his Thick Earth Technique is imbued with Magic Intent, these dozens of Spirit Medicines will be harvested far earlier than anticipated, resulting in another sum of Spirit Stones.

Jade Corn had been harvested and bagged, and after weighing each, he immediately beamed with joy.

Three acres of Jade Corn, previously yielding only about four hundred and fifty pounds per acre; this season’s yield exceeded six hundred pounds per acre.

The Great Perfection in Thick Earth Technique increased Spirit Grain yield more so than the Small Cloud Rain Technique, the Spirit Rice grains larger with a warm jade-like sheen, truly living up to the name “Jade.”

“Senior brother, I’m here.”

Ji An heard someone calling and invoked a spell to open the Dharma Prohibition.

Huang Feihu entered the courtyard, sweat beading his forehead.

“Senior brother, all the Talisman Grass has been harvested, shall I move it to the courtyard door or inside?”

“There’s no rush, sit and talk.”

Ji An used the Object Control Technique, grabbing for a chair.

“Feihu, you’ve been learning to make talismans for half a year now, what’s the probability of producing Middle Grade Talisman Paper?”

Talisman Maker is a craft, but making Talisman Paper is much simpler, earning only a modest income.

The reason the profit from selling Talisman Paper was decent, was because the Talisman Grass was grown by him, good planting skills with no middleman markup.

“The primary factor in producing Middle Grade Talisman Paper is the quality of Talisman Grass; craftsmanship demands are rather low.

My Small Cloud Rain Technique and Thick Earth Technique have reached Great Success Level, there’s now about a twenty percent chance of making Middle Grade Talisman Paper.”

Listening to him, Ji An slightly nodded; such probability is similar to his early days, capable of being called a proficient talisman maker.

“How’s the quality of the Talisman Grass I planted?”

Huang Feihu exhaled with envy:

“Senior brother’s planting skills cannot be matched by others.”

“I’ll propose a collaboration, you listen and see if it’s feasible.

All the Talisman Grass will be handed to you for making Talisman Paper, one-tenth will be your reward, want to collaborate?”

Ji An roughly calculated, offering a generous half a percent; within days, he could earn around ten Spirit Stones, averaging one and a half per day.

Producing Talisman Paper requires little skill, it’s not worth the time and effort for him to do it himself; isn’t elevating cultivation and practicing magic techniques better?

After all, it’d be just a few Spirit Stones less in earnings, he now has the means to outsource low-cost crafts.