Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Liu Yu strained his eyes wide open, searching, but saw no sign of a volcanic eruption, and said:

”Junior Brother, you have excellent vision.”

Han Yan giggled and said:

”Comparing vision with a cultivator whose Wood Element Divine Mansion is perfected, Junior Brother Liu, you’re simply asking for trouble.”

Cultivators who have developed the Liver Wood Mansion can see much further than others at the same stage, and Junior Brother Ji’s Wood Element Divine Mansion is perfected, so his range of vision should be twice theirs.

Liu Yu scratched his head, instinctively overlooking this fact because Ji An was no longer in his comparison list.

Three fiery clouds, like brilliant rosy clouds, sped towards Fire Feather Mountain, and along the way, they saw other cultivators rushing as well.

Ji An slightly frowned, thinking to himself:

”Could it be that, like Crimson Flame Wind, Fire Feather Mountain will also erupt with spiritual objects accompanying it?”

He quickly shook his head; the reason such a situation occurred back at Red Flame Peak was because the sect was upgrading the tier of the main spiritual vein, and Red Flame Peak, being a branch node, was thus affected.

A quarter hour later, Han Yan vaguely saw dense black smoke rising on the horizon, calculated the distance in her mind, and was inexplicably amazed.

The position where Junior Brother Ji spotted the black smoke is about twenty miles from here, while her vision range is only about ten miles, a full three times her range.

Liu Yu was also startled at this moment, silently calculating the distance in his mind.

Shortly afterwards, the three of them arrived at the foot of Fire Feather Mountain. Liu Yu, seeing quite a number of cultivators already gathered, exclaimed:

”Why are there so many Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators here? I’ll go ask the reason.”

With that, he flew towards the nearest cultivator to them.

Chao Origin Stage cultivators can comprehend the mysteries of the Fire Element Law during a volcanic eruption, but why are Foundation Establishment cultivators joining the excitement?

Zhang Kun, upon seeing Liu Yu flying straight towards him, immediately became alert. Generally speaking, when unknown cultivators encounter each other in the wilderness, they should keep their distance, or it’s considered a provocation.

However, just as his nervousness arose, Liu Yu had already stopped and said:

”Fellow Daoist, what’s so mystical about this volcanic eruption that it attracts so many cultivators?”

Zhang Kun breathed a sigh of relief and explained:

”To inform you, this volcano erupts once every 60 years, and with the eruption of lava, a unique Fire Evil Qi emerges.

This Fire Evil is a resource of a higher tier than the Fire Element Essence, and it’s excellent for nurturing the spirituality of a Magical Artifact or Spiritual Artifact.

Artifact Refiners in the Immortal City are buying it in large quantities and it’s quite valuable.

Cultivators who have received the news are still few; within a day, you will see even more people arriving.”

The matter of Fire Feather Mountain is known by cultivators from thousands of miles around; the other party must be an outsider.

Upon hearing the explanation, Liu Yu nodded with satisfaction, cupped his hands, and said:

”Thank you, fellow Daoist, for the information.”

He turned and flew away; Zhang Kun watched his retreating figure, lost in thought.

Seeing the other party, he couldn’t shake off a feeling of inexplicable familiarity, yet couldn’t pinpoint the specific reason behind it.

After Liu Yu returned, he recounted the situation there, promptly eliciting laughter from Han Yan:

”That’s really good luck, my Spiritual Artifact really needs this.”

Even a slight increase in the tier of a spiritual object can result in a significant boost in its effects.

Ji An smiled and nodded, the Earth-Departing Flame Banner very much needs such resources.

The three of them found a secluded spot and waited for the volcanic eruption.

The sky gradually darkened, but cultivators continued to arrive incessantly.

...

A flash of realization hit Zhang Kun’s mind, and he began to look around, searching for the outsider who seemed familiar.

When he found Liu Yu, his heart started pounding uncontrollably.

’That face, for sure, this is the outer continent cultivator the Law Enforcement Hall of Golden Lion Ridge Immortal City sought a few years ago.’

Being a member of the Law Enforcement Hall, he knew about the reward that hasn’t been made public.

He quickly withdrew his gaze, waited a while before cautiously looking again, and became completely certain.

Thinking of the considerable reward for providing leads, the allure of the Fire Evil Qi greatly diminished in his mind.

He boarded his flying shuttle and hurriedly flew towards the Immortal City.

...

The next day at noon, the scorching sun was beating down on the earth.

The black mist spewing from the volcano increased in density, intermixed with a large number of fire sparks, and the air was filled with a foul smell of rotten eggs.

Ji An felt the violent pulsation of the ground beneath him and said with a smile:

”In no more than half an hour, the lava will surely erupt.”

Having experienced several eruptions of Red Flame Peak, he was already very familiar with the signs preceding a volcanic eruption.

Han Yan was somewhat skeptical and asked:

”How can you be so sure?”

Ji An revealed a mysterious smile, ”Intuition, after Red Flame Peak erupted several times, I have gained some experience in this aspect.”

As he spoke, he summoned the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, and the Spiritual Artifact transformed into a palm-sized fire cloud, hovering around him.

When the volcano erupts, the Spiritual Artifact will autonomously move forward to absorb the Fire Evil Qi.

Seeing his confidence, Han Yan and Liu Yu also quickly summoned their Spiritual Artifacts.

Liu Yu looked at the two top-grade Spiritual Artifacts swirling around him and lamented:

”After returning to the sect, I must ask Senior Brother Zhuu to refine a top-grade Spiritual Artifact for me, no matter what.”

He found himself far behind his peers, his Spiritual Artifact was still Tier Two Middle Grade, a few grades lower.

A few years ago, if he had a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact, those Earth Evil Sect cultivators would not have escaped and would have become lost souls.

Ji An looked up at the mountain peak and said:

”Let’s ride the clouds towards the volcano’s mouth, the Fire Evil Qi there will be denser.”

”Let’s go!”

The three of them rode the clouds. Seeing that it was Chao Origin Stage cultivators approaching, other cultivators quickly made way.

In a moment, the volcano erupted as expected, sending up a towering pillar of fire. Instantly, flowing flames flew, and scarlet brilliance flashed.

The Earth-Departing Flame Banner transformed into a Fire Phoenix, gracefully dancing in the air.

Its feathers now showed intricate details, a sign of its spiritual nature reaching a certain level.

The Sun-Swallowing Bead transformed into a Golden Sun, cyclically brightening and fading, as if the Fire Evil Qi was being mysteriously summoned, surging towards it.

The Blazing Golden Wheel spun rapidly like a hurricane, also drawing in the Fire Evil Qi, though its range was much smaller than that of the Sun-Swallowing Bead.

Ji An squinted slightly, letting his mind connect with the Stone Turtle in his Dantian, seeing a significant increase in both the Fire Element Dao Rhyme and Earth Element Dao Rhyme, feeling very pleased.

He vaguely understood why the Stone Turtle had poured all the Dao Rhyme Spiritual Mechanism into the Gourd World; its World Core was unstable.

If not for the continual input from the Stone Turtle, that space might have already collapsed.

If the World Core collapsed, the space within it would inevitably extinguish; if it truly came to that, he would be the first sacrifice.

...

Sang Chen, riding the Golden Auspicious Cloud at maximum speed, was accompanied by Zhang Kun, Ahu, and two Chao Origin Stage cultivators from Golden Lion Ridge Immortal City.

Carrying so many cultivators, his Magical Treasure couldn’t manage it.

At this moment, Zhang Kun could hardly open his eyes against the fierce wind, never imagining that merely reporting a bounty task would disturb a Golden Core Daoist Master.

However, remembering the promise of the Golden Core Daoist Master, his heart filled with wild joy.

The master had said that if the target was indeed the cultivator he was looking for, he would reward him with a hundred middle-grade Spirit Stones!

So many Spirit Stones would take him years of frugality to earn.

With these Spirit Stones, he could purchase a high-quality Foundation Establishment Pill for his child, further strengthening the Zhang Clan.

Sang Chen saw the distant sky ablaze like fire, the scarlet brilliance brightening the deep night, and he said in a low voice:

”Ahu, take off your Daoist Robe and change into an ordinary one without any insignia.”

He understood the volcano had erupted, luckily they would arrive just in time, everything was perfect.

Sang Chen felt invigorated; in these years, he hadn’t caught a single target meeting the requirements, although there were several cultivators with similar appearances, their cultivation was only at the Foundation Establishment Level.

He believed the target might have already left the Southern Continent, which weighed on his mind for a long time.

A few years ago, he had set a Memory Stone in the Qianren Mountain Range but hadn’t had the chance to verify if it yielded any results due to being urgently recalled to the Sect, leaving the matter unresolved.

Today, he happened to be in Golden Lion Ridge Immortal City on business, planning to check on the Memory Stone in the Qianren Mountain Range after his work finished when unexpectedly, he received this delightful news.

Liu A’hu immediately understood his master’s meaning, quickly removing the sect’s standard Daoist Robe that revealed his identity and replacing it with a black robe.

’I hope it truly is the person Master is looking for.’

He sighed lightly in his heart, he and his brother had been tormented these past few years, having to go out every few months to ask for information.

Sang Chen said solemnly:

”When we encounter the target cultivator, do not act rashly. Warn me immediately.”

He decided to capture the target alive, to torture and then refine him into a zombie, to be eternally controlled by his son.

”Understood!”

The cultivators agreed, a grim expression flashing across Ahu’s face; due to this enemy, he and his brother had significantly less time to cultivate.

...

After the volcanic eruption ended, the Earth-Departing Flame Banner flew back to Ji An’s side, a joyful phoenix cry echoed in his Sea of Consciousness.

His mind connected with the Stone Turtle, lines of text emerged in his Sea of Consciousness.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: Fire 1.6, Earth 1.2]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Gen Spirit 125.9, Kun Spirit 125.4, Li Spirit 178.6]

’Not bad, made another gain.’

Han Yan spoke up:

”Does this Fire Evil Qi have a name? I feel the Spiritual nature of the Sun-Swallowing Bead has become more lively.”

Liu Yu put away the Blazing Golden Wheel, showing a wry smile:

”If I’m not mistaken, it should be called Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiend, a Tier Two Spiritual Fiend, often used by Golden Core cultivators for refining Magical Treasures or consolidating Gang Sha.”

His Spiritual Artifact was only Tier Two Middle Grade, and it could never serve as a Lifebound Magical Treasure Embryo for refining, wasting such a good Spiritual Fiend.

His desire to refine a Top-Grade Spiritual Artifact grew stronger, unwilling to experience the frustration he felt at this moment again.

Actually, the Spirit Extraction Technique could collect Spiritual Fiends, but his Magic Technique level was too low, unable to extract any Spiritual Fiends.

He sighed silently and said:

”We’ve gained benefits, let’s continue to the Immortal City.”

Ji An furrowed his brows and said:

”Since this Evil Qi is very precious, why don’t we purchase some?

Most of the cultivators here have no use for such a Spiritual Fiend.”