Chapter 707 - 557: Urgent Mission
The sky no longer had thunder descending, and the dark clouds quickly dissipated.
The Cyan Dragon, which had transformed from a magical treasure, shrunk to a foot long and played around its master.
Ji An was just about to leave when he suddenly glanced and saw a crystalline flash not far away, appearing to be a cluster of blue electric light.
He flew over and discovered two spirit grasses, with bodies as black as ink and narrow leaves.
Their stalks emitted a faint light, and the tips of the leaves occasionally released blue electric light.
It was obvious that they were tier-two spirit plants.
"Thunder-Attracting Grass?"
Ji An whispered, extending his divine sense to sense their life intensity; they were tier-two lower-grade plants.
Though he didn’t know the use of the Thunder-Attracting Grass, tier-two plants were rare to come by, so he unhesitatingly dug them out with the soil and placed them in the jade box.
Being tier-two spirit grasses, their potential could likely be further developed.
Ji An extended his divine sense and found two more tier-one upper-grade Thunder-Attracting Grasses.
Holding the jade box, he rode the clouds back to his temporary grotto mansion as fast as possible.
Activating the Dharma Prohibition to isolate the interior and exterior, he entered the innermost quiet chamber, eager to enter the Little World.
As soon as he entered the Little World, the Wuji Xinghuang Banner would inevitably fly out of his dantian, transform into a Qilin, and play among the branches and leaves of the Gathering Essence Tree.
Ji An planted the four Thunder-Attracting Grasses near the Gathering Essence Tree and then released the Earth Vein Spirit Ascension Technique.
Warm yellow spirit light spread over the area, with the Earth-Surging Golden Lotus and nourishing magic intent permeating.
The Thunder-Attracting Grass was only tier-two lower-grade, but the conditions in the Gourd World were favorable, making successful transplantation highly likely.
When he was at the Red Flame Peak, he experimented, and the success rate of transplanting tier-two lower-grade spirit plants was about sixty percent, while tier-two middle-grade spirit plants had only a ten percent success rate.
He hadn’t tried transplanting tier-two upper-grade spirit plants and held no hope.
As the tier of the Gathering Essence Tree advanced, he wondered if the transplantation success rate would further increase and decided to conduct more tests in the future.
Ji An released the Green Dragon Water Moon Skill, with the Moon of Taiyin shining its cold light down, bringing a particularly comforting and peaceful feeling to his spirit soul.
A vivid Cyan Dragon appeared, and its majestic dragon roar resonated as the thriving magic intent expanded.
The Earth Qilin flew to the sky above the Gathering Essence Tree, raising its head proudly and letting out a deep, heavy roar, refusing to be outdone.
"Roar!"
The ground trembled, and the entire Little World echoed with its sound.
Ji An smiled; every time he released the Green Dragon Water Moon Skill, the Earth Qilin would solemnly respond, as if declaring its sovereignty, adorably naïve.
With this thought, Ji An summoned his newly crafted magical treasure.
However, he didn’t immediately let the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner transform but instead inspected the damage the treasure had sustained.
Surprisingly, upon inspection, he found no damage at all on the treasure banner.
"How is this possible?!"
He questioned in disbelief; the final lightning strike from the sky was thicker and more magnificent than any thunder he’d seen before, exerting greater pressure on him.
At the time, the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner was still a top-grade spiritual artifact, so it shouldn’t have been unharmed.
’What’s going on?’
He communicated spiritually with the magical treasure; after successful transformation, a magical treasure could engage in simple exchanges with its master.
With increasing spirituality, the intelligence of the magical treasure would continuously improve.
The Cyan Dragon’s response echoed in his sea of consciousness; it turned out that it was not entirely unscathed, and the injury was quite serious at the time.
However, after completing the magical treasure’s metamorphosis, the abundant life energy rapidly healed the injury.
In the future, as long as the core Dharma Prohibition wasn’t damaged, it could quickly heal itself when energy was abundant.
Even if the core Dharma Prohibition was damaged, as long as it wasn’t entirely destroyed, it could slowly repair itself.
Ji An felt a surge of delight in his heart; this meant he could use the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner confidently and boldly as a defensive treasure.
He recalled how at Mingfeng Mountain, Lin Qiu Bai had weighed him with Metal Technique Intent, and he had countered with the Wood Element’s Endless Life.
Metal counteracts Wood, but if Wood is endless, the counteractive relationship isn’t as apparent.
"Transform, into the largest form you can achieve."
The body of the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner vanished and was replaced by a Cyan Dragon over thirty feet long.
The resounding dragon’s roar echoed through the heavens and earth, and the cyan brilliance spread out, instantly sweeping across the entire Little World.
On the cyan ground, all the spirit plants swayed their branches as if welcoming their king.
Ji An’s eyes lit up sharply; the magical treasure brought him more surprises. Even exerting himself fully, his magic couldn’t cover the entire Little World, but the treasure did.
The Earth Qilin widened its eyes; its body grew equally large, and it flew near the Cyan Dragon, recognizing this companion.
In the primordial life fire of its master’s dantian, they often gathered together.
The Cyan Dragon let out a low growl, seemingly to greet the Qilin, which responded as the two shrank and began playing together.
...
Half a month later.
Ji An entered the Little World and found one of the tier-two Thunder-Attracting Grasses withered, but the other tier-two plant had grown new roots, successfully transplanted.
"Not bad!"
Ji An was relieved; he left the Little World, tidied up the grotto mansion, and then rode the clouds to depart.
In Thunder Valley, the duration of celestial thunder was growing increasingly short, sometimes lasting several days without celestial thunder descending.
Summer had passed, so to refine the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, he would have to wait until next year.
He identified the direction and, with a long whistle, began flying towards Cloud Sea Immortal City.
The long whistle symbolized farewell, as there was still a long way to go before the Earth-Departing Flame Banner could be refined into a Magical Treasure.
...
The silent moon watched the cultivators hurrying along. After a day’s and night’s journey, Ji An finally returned to the grotto mansion.
Ji An slowly descended and found two Communication Golden Swords waiting there.
The Communication Golden Swords relied on a Magic Array; if the target was within the array, it would fly directly to the target’s location.
If the target was outside the array’s range, it would go to the place where the target’s aura was most concentrated.
Ji An reached out and caught the Golden Sword, and then used his Divine Sense to read the information inside one by one.
One Golden Sword was from Master Qingfeng, informing him to go to the Certification Association to collect materials for drawing the Spirit Stabilizing Talisman and Purifying Talisman.
The other Golden Sword was from Feiyun Zhenren, who said the catalog of items for a large auction session had been issued, and he could pick one up from the association when he had time.
These auction items would only increase in number, not decrease. By understanding the situation in advance, he could make targeted preparations, ensuring that he wouldn’t miss something he urgently needed due to inadequate preparation.
He returned to the grotto mansion to rest and soon fell asleep.
The night passed without any conversation.
The next day, he awoke from his sleep feeling refreshed and clear-minded.
After a brief wash, he exited the grotto mansion and flew towards the core area of the Immortal City.
...
Ji An arrived at the Certification Association and first found Feiyun Zhenren to chat, finally obtaining the auction list.
He then found Master Qingfeng and said with a smile:
"Daoist friend, I’ve come to take on a task."
Master Qingfeng placed a Storage Bag on the desk and said solemnly:
"Inside are twenty sets of materials for the Spirit Stabilizing Talisman and three hundred sets for the Purifying Talisman. The requirement is a success rate of over forty percent, and the task must be completed within a month.
After submitting enough talismans, the association is willing to purchase any excess.
It’s fortunate that you returned; otherwise, the association might not have been able to complete this commission."
Ji An showed a puzzled expression and asked:
"Since when did the association’s commissions become mandatory?"
Whether or not to accept commissions is up to the cultivator, and they cannot be forced. From his tone, it seemed as if this task had already been accepted on his behalf, which made him somewhat displeased.
"This is an urgent task. Not only here, but other regional Certification Associations have also received similar tasks.
Of course, Daoist friend, you have the freedom to choose whether to take on the task. However, I suggest you accept it."
"The Contribution Points for drawing talismans this time are 1.5 times the usual rate. Taking on tasks like this can greatly reduce the time needed to accumulate Contribution Points.
Daoist friend can also quickly acquire other talisman drawing methods, which are beneficial in all respects. Why not take advantage of it?"
Ji An’s gaze became contemplative. The Purifying Talisman and Spirit Stabilizing Talisman were mainly used to deal with Demon Cultivators.
The Certification Association had suddenly issued an urgent mission for drawing Spirit Talismans. Could there be a demon calamity occurring somewhere?
When he was in the Western Continent, Senior Brother Zhengyang had once told him about the True Demon Tribulation, saying it was still a long time away from occurring.
He pondered and said:
"No problem, I’ll take on this task. But do you know why such a task was issued?"
He needed to confirm the reason for the urgent task. If it was a sign of the True Demon Tribulation breaking out, he would need to adjust his plans.
Master Qingfeng hesitated for a moment, then nonchalantly said:
"The association didn’t inform us."
"I understand."
Ji An realized that his suspicion was likely correct; he just didn’t know whether it was a temporary or long-term effect.
They discussed the details of the commission and finally signed an agreement.
The agreement was in two copies, and Ji An put away one of them, asking:
"Daoist friend, I’m looking to purchase some Golden Core Level magic techniques. Do you have any connections?"
There were still many Spiritual Mechanisms left unused in the Stone Turtle, and with the current urgent situation, he wanted to quickly purchase some techniques to protect himself.
"What type of techniques are you looking to buy?"
Ji An enumerated them as if counting his treasures:
"I need Wu Earth God Thunder, Gui Water God Thunder, and Bing Fire God Thunder. Besides these three Thunder Techniques, I also want to purchase a Metal Element Defense Technique."
Having mastered the Five Elements Dao, collecting all Five Elements Divine Thunders was an inevitable choice. With these five Thunder Techniques, the need for additional attack techniques became less important.
Qian Spirit and Dui Spirit were the most abundant Spiritual Mechanisms, and he wouldn’t need them for a long time; thus, learning a Metal Element Defense Technique was the best choice.
He hadn’t been in a rush before, but now he was feeling a sense of urgency.
Master Qingfeng thought for a moment and said:
"In the city, there is the Wind Listening Pavilion where you can purchase Magic Technique Jade Slips. As long as you can afford the price, you can buy most Golden Core Level techniques there.
I can introduce you if you wish. Shall we go now?"
Ji An’s expression became animated:
"Of course, I would appreciate you leading the way."
He had abundant resources at his disposal and belonged to the type of cultivator who could afford the price.
Master Qingfeng stood up, "Daoist friend, please."