Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 262: Chapter 244: Reunion

Ji An adjusted his breathing, calming the spirit and quietening the mind. Once his mind was clear and his Sea of Consciousness was peaceful, he began to operate the secret technique again.

Magical Power surged out from the Dantian, like seeds sprouting from dormancy, the purest force of growth bursting forth.

The Magical Power circulated along a specific route, dyeing the Immortal Veins with a green hue wherever it passed.

The profound Spiritual Mechanism seeped into the Immortal Veins, making them more resilient and flexible.

It seemed to have experienced an autumn of plants, the green turning to yellow, the vitality withdrawing and hiding, seemingly waning but actually lying dormant.

The flow of Magical Power in the Immortal Veins gradually stopped, like turning into still water.

In spring, flowers bloom naturally, in autumn, leaves fall on their own.

The hidden vitality sprouted from the darkness, revealing itself to the sky.

A faint silver brilliance reappeared, joyfully flowing, occasionally extracting some profound aura from the circulating Magical Power.

Ji An was neither sad nor joyful, as if none of this had happened, steadily operating the secret technique, quietly “watching” the flowers bloom and wither.

As the Magical Power flowed, the Dao Seeds lit up in turn, with the light of the Wood of Jia and Yi Dao Seed being the most intense.

Half an hour passed, Life Light lay dormant again, and Ji An slowly ended his practice.

A vigorous force spread outward from within, nourishing both body and Spirit Soul.

’Hehe.’

Ji An chuckled to himself, reminiscent of finishing winter vacation homework in his childhood a few days after it was assigned.

He walked out of the orchard with hands behind his back; the next step was to diligently cultivate the land, accumulate merit, and exchange for Nourishing Yuan Pills as soon as possible.

Returning to the Cold Pool, Ji An called out:

“Yu Han, add a serving of Bamboo Tube Mulberry Wine to lunch.”

“Alright, I’ll take care of it right away.”

Xia Yuhuan jogged away.

Xia Yu Lian hurriedly served the dishes on the table and asked with a smile:

“Junior Martial Uncle, you seem to be in high spirits, did something joyful happen?”

Today’s lunch was delayed for a long time; could it be that Junior Martial Uncle had another epiphany during his cultivation?

“Haha, you haven’t reached my realm yet, the joy of cultivation cannot be understood even if explained.”

Xia Yu Lian’s heart was stirred, secretly noting:

’Junior Martial Uncle, are you serious? Others may not have an epiphany for years, yet you have one every few years!’

Ji An sat down, with a gentle breeze caressing his face and hair flying.

“Feeling so delighted today, notify Huang Xuan to reward everyone with ten Spirit Stones each.”

A small reward of Spirit Stones symbolizes joy and should not be given too generously.

“Understood, I’ll inform Junior Brother Huang as soon as he returns.”

Currently, the sect has significantly raised the purchase prices for Spirit Rice and Talisman Paper; fields that were previously unranked and unnoticed outside have now all been cultivated by Spirit Farmers.

If nothing’s amiss at Red Flame Peak, Huang Xuan and Li Cheng always care for the Spirit Fields diligently from dawn to dusk.

Xia Yu Lian sighed inwardly, realizing that Spirit Farmers were also welcoming a prosperous time, but the price of Spirit Fish, instead of increasing, showed a downward trend.

Fortunately, the Spirit Fish shares she and her sister obtained from the Cold Pool were all purchased by Junior Martial Uncle, so there’s no need to worry about price fluctuations.

…

Two months passed.

The bright moon hung high in the sky, its serene and gentle light spilled over the mountains.

The night wind sang as it passed through, rustling the leaves.

The golden-striped white jade leaves of the Ghost Moon Cyan Jade Tree, like brilliant jade clinking, emanated a melodious tone.

Ji An concluded his cultivation session and gazed slightly upward, the moonlight like a mirror reflecting his brows and hair, illuminating his upturned lips.

Exhaling a deep breath, he felt a surge of comfort within.

Since starting to cultivate Life Light, he noticed that the speed of refining Spiritual Qi began to accelerate, currently faster by half compared to before discovering Life Light.

As the Life Light grew stronger, the speed of refinement showed an increasing trend.

At the same time, the pace of refining Spiritual Objects also accelerated synchronously.

Estimating by this trajectory, it wouldn’t take long for him to break through to the next small realm.

Ji An nodded inwardly; cultivators with low aptitude face two difficulties. The first is the slow efficiency in refining Spiritual Qi, wasting seven to eight out of ten, making quick advancement in cultivation impossible.

The second difficulty is the numerous bottlenecks encountered when breaking through stages like Mid-stage Qi Refining, Late-stage Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment Stage, and Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, consuming much time. Sometimes, even using Realm-Breaking Pills fails to help, greatly wearing down one’s willpower.

Most cultivators, when their life limit approaches, still cannot even touch the threshold of a higher realm.

If one can fully grasp the Divine Intent within a cultivation technique, it can greatly reduce the difficulty of bottlenecks, which is a blessing for Ji An.

With the improvement in his cultivation, his aptitude continually strengthened, rarely wasting time at bottlenecks, allowing his cultivation to progress rapidly.

He piloted the Flying Shuttle towards the mountainside.

At the entrance of the grotto mansion, the Red Cloud Pine emitted a blazing light akin to a campfire in cold wind, offering warmth.

Ji An activated the Dharma Prohibition and entered the grotto mansion, where Spirit Plants in the Medicinal Garden grew robustly.

Using the Thick Earth Returning Origin Spell, Jade Wood Transformation Skill, and Spring Breeze and Rain Skill one after the other, the rocky walls glimmered.

Spirit Rain poured down with a nourishing breath pervading the air, refreshing the heart.

Ji An showed joyful anticipation at his brow; after discovering Life Light, the effects of magic techniques improved again, and the maturation time of Spirit Medicines would shorten further.

The second leaf on the Celestial Essence Ginseng’s petiole was sprouting, while the silver-white spots on Star Soul Grass leaves were more than half transformed into a golden color.

In another three or four years at most, these two kinds of Spirit Medicines would reach a medicinal age of a hundred years.

Blood Luo Fruits were now the size of eggs, with each Spirit Tree bearing twelve fruits.

Once these Spirit Medicines matured, they would suffice for the main ingredients of two furnaces of Nourishing Yuan Pills.

…

As days went by, battles in Mingfeng Mountain Immortal City grew increasingly intense, with large groups of Demon Beasts launching attacks on the Immortal City from time to time.

The flesh and blood of cultivators have a lethal attraction for demon beasts, and they instinctively gather in areas with many cultivators.

Additionally, with the demon kings fanning the flames, attacking the Immortal City is their best choice.

The shifting clouds and winds along the Mingfeng Mountain line currently have little effect on the Golden Spirit Sect thousands of miles away.

Some disciples received the sect’s summons, but most of the disciples’ lives remained unchanged.

The prices of resources like spirit rice, talisman paper, artifact refining materials, puppet beasts, and so on began to rise, but with the sect’s control, the increase was not significant.

By the Cold Pool, under the Heavenly Essence Pear Tree.

Huang Xuan and Li Cheng were harvesting spirit fruit,

Ji An stood with his hands behind his back, instructing:

“Pack four pieces in one gift box, two pieces in another two gift boxes, and then ten boxes with one piece each; store the remaining spirit fruits in the secret vault.”

He was slightly troubled; there was only this one Tier Two Heavenly Essence Pear Tree on Red Flame Peak, bearing thirty-six fruits.

Now that his network is growing wide, he can only send some to his closest friends and mentors to taste, while he keeps the rest for his own consumption.

The Heavenly Essence Pear is a water element spirit fruit, which is quite beneficial for him.

The two Xia Yuhuan sisters carefully placed the fruits into intricately patterned wooden boxes and then affixed sealing spirit talismans.

Ji An took out a list, which included the names of his senior brothers and sisters, as well as Zhang Yuanshan, Chu River, and Zhao Mengyao, each of whom would get one spirit fruit.

“Huang Xuan, Li Cheng, deliver these gift boxes tomorrow.”

The gift box with two spirit fruits, one is for Junior Martial Uncle Jia Yu, to be given when he goes to the secret vault on Sunrise Peak to exchange for spiritual objects.

The other is for Wei Songnian and his wife, to be given when Junior Brother Wei returns to the sect.

As for the gift box with four spirit fruits, it is, of course, to be given to the master.

…

Time passes mercilessly, adding white hair to many, while numerous cultivators fell in battle along the Mingfeng Mountain line.

Liu Yu leapt down from the Blazing Golden Wheel, landing steadily by the Cold Pool.

“Yu Lian, is Junior Brother Ji around?”

His voice was bright and cheerful, like a strong wind sweeping over the mountains, or like a raging fire blazing across the fields.

The busy female cultivator quickly washed her hands and hastily wiped them on her Daoist robe, bowing as she replied:

“Reporting to Junior Martial Uncle, at this time, Junior Martial Uncle Ji should be in the grotto mansion refining pills.

Please sit in the living room while I prepare tea.”

He could not be disturbed while the alchemist was refining pills, so she did not even mention informing him.

Liu Yu pointed to the stone table under the shade of a tree, smiling gently:

“I’m fine sitting outside, also I won’t be drinking tea today, just bring some pine nut wine.”

Xia Yu Lian raised her eyebrows slightly, saying:

“Junior Martial Uncle, please wait, I’ll go to the warehouse to get the wine.”

The fact that he rarely drank voluntarily must mean something joyful had happened.

She quickly brought out a jar of top-grade pine nut wine, as she did not have the authority to access Tier Two spirit wine.

Liu Yu accepted the spirit wine, waving his hand:

“Go ahead with your work, I’ll drink alone, but remember to make more dishes for supper, I’m here specifically to barge in for a meal today.”

“Excuse me,” Xia Yu Lian slightly bowed her head and returned to her busy work by the Cold Pool.

Shortly after, a flying ship descended to the Cold Pool.

Liu Yu slightly turned his head, seeing Du Huaiyuan and Xia Yuhuan come out.

The female cultivator, with a shy face, paid her respects from afar before running to the kitchen.

Du Huaiyuan approached with a face full of spring wind triumph, saying:

“Senior Brother Liu, when did you return to the sect? Is the front line not tense anymore?”

He had heard that the situation at Mingfeng Mountain was extremely intense, with even flying demon beasts crossing Immortal City to harass the rear.

At this time, the Law Enforcement Hall, which served as the backbone, should be the busiest.

“I returned to the sect yesterday; currently, no large groups of demon beasts have crossed the defense line, so the front line is relatively stable.”

Liu Yu slightly leaned his body, winking as he smiled:

“What just happened, Junior Brother, did you and Fellow Daoist Xia go out on a trip together?”

If nothing had happened between them, Xia Yuhuan wouldn’t have had such a blush.

“Hehe,” Du Huaiyuan chuckled, feeling a bit shy, coughing a few times before speaking quietly:

“Fellow Daoist Xia and I are mutually affectionate, planning to become Dao partners once she breaks through to the Foundation Establishment Stage and hold a dual cultivation ceremony.”

After a pause, he hastily added:

“Unlike you and Junior Brother Ji, who can advance rapidly in cultivation, I have no hope of breaking through to the Chao Origin Stage. Leading a carefree life of a divine couple earlier is also quite good.”

He was now seventy years old, still circling at the Fourth-Layer Foundation Establishment, having no results after more than ten years of arduous cultivation, he truly realized he’s just an ordinary cultivator.

His future goal was to break through to the Late-stage Foundation Establishment, and he could only dream about the Chao Origin Stage.

Currently, the sect has over twelve hundred Foundation Establishment cultivators, with barely more than forty at the Chao Origin Stage.

With such a ratio, he had no hope at all.

The improvement of cultivation is not something that can be changed by the will of the cultivator.

He felt that if he could reach the level of his master, it would be the end point of his lifelong pursuit, but the lifespan of a cultivator at the Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment was no different from one at the Early-stage Foundation Establishment.

Since he couldn’t break through to the Chao Origin Stage, he might as well enjoy the splendors of the mortal world steadily.

If in the future, he could nurture offspring capable of going further with his accumulation, that would be enough for his lifetime.

Du Huaiyuan shouted loudly:

“Yu Huan, bring out some of the Tier Two mulberry wine and pine nut wine I stored here, so I can drink with Senior Brother Liu over a few jars!”