Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

A forked lightning bolt descended from the sky, illuminating the dark world with a sudden brightness. The Phoenix Bird spread its wings and flew, chasing after the lightning, letting out a proud screech that harmonized with the thunder, akin to a qin and se.

Under the lightning, Ji An’s face flickered with a silver glow. He watched the Phoenix Bird stir up a crimson Spirit Tide, dancing gracefully within the lightning storm.

He could feel the circulation of Qi and blood in his entire body beginning to surge with the descent of the thunder, immediately understanding why Low-Tier Creatures could not survive.

He was a Golden Core Cultivator and also a Body Cultivator at the Chao Origin Stage, yet even he felt the surging of his Qi and blood. Those low-tier creatures would likely explode and perish the moment their Qi and blood reversed.

Only Cultivators at the Chao Origin Stage could withstand the continuous surging of Qi and blood.

Perhaps the thunder had emotions, feeling provoked. Lightning struck down one after another, and the Phoenix Bird’s high-pitched cries gradually weakened.

It could no longer maintain its metamorphosed form and reverted to its original form, fleeing in a sorry state.

The rumbling thunder sounded, and raindrops the size of peas traced silvery lines.

As the wind and thunder stirred, heavy rain arrived, and the world became shrouded in a vast mist.

Ji An laughed heartily as he looked at the Earth-Departing Flame Banner flying towards him. He quickly inspected the Spiritual Artifact’s condition and found several small black holes on the banner’s surface, but no major damage.

Its sorry state was due to facing the thunder directly, which injured its Spiritual nature.

Ji An immediately put the Earth-Departing Flame Banner into his Dantian for nourishment and summoned the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner.

It spouted a cyan gas mass, transforming with the Wood Element Spiritual Qi into a Cyan Dragon.

Since it was a metamorphosis, the dragon’s details were somewhat blurred, with no discernible texture on the scales.

With persistent dragon roars, the Cyan Dragon drew up large swaths of mist and entered the giant pit, destined to face the fate of being struck by lightning.

Ji An stroked his chin thoughtfully.

Rarely did he summon the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner, and he hadn’t known the Cyan Dragon had the skill to manipulate water vapor.

A True Dragon can perform Cloud Formation and Rainfall, but the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner is merely a Wood Element Spiritual Artifact; how does it achieve this?

At this moment, Ji An gained further insight into "Dao Wu Ya," realizing his understanding of the Power of the Five Elements was far from complete.

Perhaps there was no ultimate endpoint; what he originally perceived as the endpoint was merely a self-imposed limitation.

More and more water vapor was drawn by the Cyan Dragon. It stretched its body amidst the lightning, using mist and Wood Element Spiritual Power to deplete the thunderous force.

Unexpected yet reasonable, the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner endured longer.

The dark clouds gradually dispersed, the rain had stopped, and the air was filled with a fresh scent, carrying the fragrance of vegetation and a unique earthy smell.

Ji An put away the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner and returned to the Grotto Mansion on a cloud.

He performed a seal art to open the Dharma Prohibition and entered, taking out two Spiritual Artifacts to check their condition.

The Earth-Departing Flame Banner suffered quite severe damage, its surface significantly damaged. It was too stubborn and should have retreated earlier.

But these damages were within an acceptable range, only requiring some time for nourishment or the refinement with some Phoenix Stone.

Ji An did not plan to do that; he intended to wait until the Earth-Departing Flame Banner transformed into a Magical Treasure before refining it with the Phoenix Stone.

By that time, he would use a section of Tier Three Phoenix Wood to refine a new flagpole and the Phoenix Stone, directly increasing the Magical Treasure’s power and reducing the gap with the Wuji Xinghuang Banner.

He put the Earth-Departing Flame Banner into his Dantian and checked the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner’s condition. Its flagpole had some scorch marks, and the embroidered dragon scales were largely blackened.

The Cyan Dragon almost turned into a Black Dragon, constantly emitting black Qi.

The damage seemed quite serious, but Ji An noticed verdant Spirit Light constantly emerging from the damaged parts, repairing the blackened areas.

The Wood Element is not suited for offense, but in terms of endurance and healing capabilities, it is unrivaled among the Five Elements.

Relying solely on the Spiritual Artifact’s self-repair ability, the restoration would take a long time; even if nourished within the Dantian, it would still take about seven or eight days for complete restoration.

The thunder in Thunder Valley was highly seasonal. Ji An couldn’t just sit and wait. He took out a piece of Azure Dragon Wood, performed the Life and Death Technique, extracting the Life Qi contained within the Spirit Wood.

Cyan brilliance rapidly gathered in his palm, eventually condensing into a luscious green cube of Life Crystal.

Ji An placed the crystal onto the Spiritual Artifact and performed a seal art for refinement. The cyan cube, like melting ice, gradually shrank.

The Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner radiated brilliance, with the damaged scorched areas on the flagpole and dragon scales shrinking visibly.

When the cyan cube vanished completely, the damage to the Spiritual Artifact was roughly one-third repaired.

Ji An performed the Life and Death Technique again, extracting all the Life Force from an entire piece of Azure Dragon Wood, resulting in two pieces of Life Crystal.

The Azure Dragon Wood was completely desiccated, like deadwood weathered by wind and rain for years.

Ji An refined another piece of Life Crystal, and the damage to the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner was nearly completely repaired.

The smaller the damage, the more significant the effect of the same amount of Life Crystal.

He returned the Spiritual Artifact to his Dantian to nourish with Primordial Life Fire. Tomorrow, the Earth-Departing Flame Banner would be absent, leaving only the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner to bathe in Celestial Thunder for refinement.

Reflecting on the Cyan Dragon Wood he could use, Ji An decided to subject the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner to more intense refinement.

Exchanging resources for time was a necessary choice for him.

With this thought, he took out another piece of Azure Dragon Wood, performed the Life and Death Technique, and produced three pieces of Life Crystal.

He then summoned the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, refining the Life Crystal to repair the Spiritual Artifact’s damage.

The Life Crystal, rich in Wood Element Spiritual Energy, could still have some effect on a Fire Element Spiritual Artifact.

After consuming two pieces of Life Crystal, Ji An carefully examined the repair’s effect and shook his head.

The outcome was less than ideal, estimating that it would take a dozen or so Life Crystals to fully repair it.

While exchanging resources for time is correct, overly consuming resources is another matter altogether.

A single Tier Two Top-grade Azure Dragon Wood could be sold for more than seventy Top-grade Spirit Stones, but a single piece of Spirit Wood could only extract eight or nine Life Crystals.

Refining the Earth-Departing Flame Banner required just over two hundred Top-grade Spirit Stones, the repair cost was too high for him to bear.

...

Three months passed.

Above Thunder Valley, clouds densely gathered, punctuated by flashes of lightning and peals of thunder.

The Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner transformed into a Cyan Dragon, bathing in the lightning, its voice vast and high-pitched, filled with a deep sense of joy.

It could feel the effect of the thunder and the transformation brewing within.

At this moment, it had only one wish in its heart: let the thunder come even more fiercely!

The frequency of the thunder slowed, the Cyan Dragon let out a provocative roar, sensing the transformation was gathering strength but still lacked a final push.

Perhaps the heavens heard its innermost wish; a bolt of lightning far thicker than before shot forth from the clouds.

As the thunder struck the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner, it could no longer maintain the metamorphosed Cyan Dragon form. Its flagpole significantly lowered, with several palm-sized holes appearing on the banner.

Upon witnessing this, Ji An was greatly alarmed, just as he was about to summon back the Spiritual Artifact, a dragon’s roar resounded throughout the four directions.

The roar rang high into the clouds, carrying the joy of rebirth, overshadowing the rumbling thunder.

Brilliant cyan light burst forth from the Spiritual Artifact, like a rising cyan sun.

The light was so intense that Ji An reflexively closed his eyes.

When he felt the light had dimmed and reopened his eyes, he saw a Cyan Dragon coiled in the void, exuding elegance and vitality.

In the valley, all the greenery seemed to respond to a mysterious call, wildly swaying, with many plants growing visibly.

The scales of the Cyan Dragon resembled brilliant jade of an emerald green hue, with textures vividly displayed, a far cry from the plastic-like texture of its previous metamorphosis.

Undoubtedly, the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner had transformed into a Magical Treasure, becoming his second Magical Treasure.

Ji An felt immense joy, letting out a long howl towards the sky, resonating high into the clouds.

The Cyan Dragon elegantly swayed its elongated body, emitting a dragon’s roar full of masculine power.

It deliberately lowered its voice to make it richer, providing a backdrop to its master’s long howl.

Its Spiritual nature was complete enough to understand how to play a fitting supporting role.