Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

After observing for a moment, Ji An whispered softly:

"I’ll come to see you again tomorrow."

Filled with both anticipation and anxiety, he took a deep look at the pool of water, left the Little World, walked out of the grotto mansion, and headed towards the inn.

...

After dining at the Drunken Immortal Inn, Ji An settled the bill and left, with the shopkeeper seeing him off warmly.

A diner who orders pricey specialty dishes every day is, of course, considered a top-tier customer.

With the slanting moonlight, Ji An returned to the grotto mansion and immediately went to the Quiet Chamber, starting the Five Elements Rotation Scripture to refine the spiritual food.

To improve cultivation, understanding the mutual generation of the Five Elements is one aspect, while accumulating magical power is the other.

Both aspects must advance simultaneously; any shortcoming will be an obstacle to progress.

In the process of running the cultivation technique, it is also a process of nourishing the Immortal Vein. Once a cultivator breaks through to the Golden Core Stage, their aptitude will be permanently set.

This is much like the growth and development of mortals; if one misses the growth phase, no matter how good the nutrition, the height won’t increase.

The Spiritual Power rushed quickly through the Immortal Vein, the Dao Seed in the acupoints shining brightly, and the brilliance of the Five Elements Divine Mansion flashed in turn.

Inside Ji An’s body, it was like a Little Cosmos, with its own rules.

As the techniques circulated for a Grand Circulation, the Spiritual Power was refined into Magical Power, which surged into the Dantian like a rapidly flooding river.

The Magical Power rained down, the flames of the Primordial Life Fire surged high, and the Stone Turtle lifted its head to devour like a whale, the Eight Trigrams markings on its shell twinkling like rippling water.

After a double hour, Ji An finished cultivating, as the Spiritual Qi within the grotto mansion had already started to run low, and further cultivation would significantly decrease efficiency.

The Tier Two Upper Grade Spiritual Vein Node was somewhat unsatisfactory to meet his demand for Spiritual Qi, and renting a grotto mansion with a Top-Grade Spiritual Vein Node was too expensive, a sizeable burden for his current net worth.

He had to reserve enough Spirit Stones and resources on hand in case of emergency.

After finishing the cultivation, Ji An pinched a spell, a flame emerging from his fingertip to ignite the wind furnace, brewing a pot of Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea, and took out a plate of Soul Incense to light.

The delicate smoke curled up, spreading like mist, the faint fragrance inhaled into the nostrils, and his Sea of Consciousness felt a refreshing coolness.

After a little while, he drank the spirit tea once the water had boiled, and when his Divine Sense had recovered, he took out the Fire Crane Dan Yang Furnace to place on the ground.

He sat cross-legged on a pudun, activating the pill fire, pinching the Warm Fire Technique of the Three Yang Pill Fire Technique, roasting the Pill Furnace with Spirit Flame.

Since realizing that Fire Generates Earth, his understanding of the Fire Element had reached a higher level, the surface of the flames he activated began to show a white tint.

The color of the flames released by a cultivator’s magic or naturally nurtured within them typically shows as red, yellow, blue, white, and purple, with white representing the Golden Core Level.

Once he breaks through to the Golden Core Stage, the flames he activates will turn completely bright white.

The surface of the Pill Furnace showed a dark golden pattern like fine scales with magma seemingly flowing underneath, the Fire Essence held in the beak of the Flying Crane grew in brilliance.

The furnace temperature gradually increased, the wings of the crane became brighter, seeming like a divine bird spreading its wings to fly.

He put the Spirit Medicine into the furnace for refining Divine Essence, the medicinal materials for the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill he purchased from the Spirit Pill Pavilion.

The cryptic symbols inside the Pill Furnace moved like live snakes, maximizing the light and shadow effects, an arcane aura rising in the Quiet Chamber.

The dragon’s mouth on the lid intermittently spewed fire waves, even producing a roaring sound.

Ji An’s fire control was skilled, not showing any unfamiliarity due to not opening the furnace for a long time.

He quickly extracted the Divine Essence from various materials and officially began alchemy.

As portion after portion of Divine Essence was successively placed in the Pill Furnace, the speed of the moving inscriptions inside increased, eventually leaving behind only afterimages.

The Divine Essence was perfectly fused into a mass, Ji An saw it clearly as the Fire Element Spiritual Energy in the Pill Furnace formed a Red Flood Dragon coiling around the pill embryo.

’Is this Pill Furnace that powerful?’

This was his first time using the Fire Crane Dan Yang Furnace, and he didn’t expect the pleasant surprise that the furnace’s Spiritual Energy could facilitate transformation.

This is akin to a cultivator’s magic technique transforming through Magic Intent, albeit more difficult, with the furnace’s spirituality exceeding a certain limit to produce such an anomaly.

’Unfortunately, the Pill Furnace is only Tier Two Middle Grade level.’

Ji An sighed, focused his mind, and continued to concentrate on activating the pill fire.

The Red Flood Dragon circled around the pill liquid, shedding some impurities with each turn, with the residue dropping to the furnace bottom turning into a blazing red liquid.

He seized the moment, pinched the Object Control Technique, and at the instant the furnace lid flew up, the eyes of the coiled dragon on the lid shot out red rays.

His hand seals changed swiftly as he activated the Pill Separation Technique.

The liquid medicine blossomed like a five-petal flower, five bright red pills spinning in the air.

The aroma scattered, with three pills showing dragon-like Pill Patterns on their surfaces.

"Great! My alchemy has improved again."

Ji An laughed heartily, this time it was exceptional performance, achieving a 100% pill formation success rate, and even getting three high-quality pills, profiting greatly.

He stored the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill in a Jade Bottle, releasing the Spring Breeze and Rain Skill to clean the Pill Furnace.

After resting for a moment, he summoned the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner, taking out a Cyan Jade Bottle densely covered with talisman inscriptions and opened it.

Tendrils of cyan brilliance radiated, resembling bursting floral threads.

Without Ji An’s control, the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner unfurled, the Cyan Dragon on the banner lighting up brightly, stretching its body as if alive.

The Cyan Spirit-Stealing Fiend was devoured by the Cyan Dragon, the light on the dragon’s body becoming even more dazzling.

After a moment, no strands of Spiritual Fiend flew out of the Jade Bottle, and the Cyan Lotus Treasure Banner circled unwillingly.

Ji An shook his head gently, "No more."

This was his last stock, as the Cyan Deer wasn’t strong enough yet, coupled with the time needed for Clear Spirit Bamboo to grow, the production of Cyan Spirit-Stealing Fiend was low.

He stored the Spiritual Artifact back in his Dantian for nurturing and sighed softly.

Without the support of Red Flame Peak, he could only rely on talisman making and alchemy to sustain.

As time passed, the Soul Incense and Spirit Tea would be gradually exhausted, by then he’d live through tough times.

He now understood the difficulties of a Spirit Farmer; they must rely on great powers to hold value. Fortunately, with the Little World, he could truly be his own master in the future.

...

The next day at 7:00 AM, Ji An had breakfast at the inn and slowly returned to the grotto mansion with his hands behind his back.

He fed the Spirit Feeding Pills to the tamed beasts, then headed to the Quiet Chamber to sit on the pudun.

Taking a deep breath in and out slowly, his mind sank into the Dantian, commanding the Stone Turtle to take him into the Gourd World.

As his feet stepped on the yellow soil, the Wuji Xinghuang Banner flew out of the Dantian and spiraled around the Gathering Essence Tree.

Ji An thought there must be some mysterious substance around this Heaven and Earth Spirit Root that he couldn’t detect, otherwise, there was no explanation for the spontaneous flight of his Spiritual Artifacts every time he entered.

But this mysterious substance must be beneficial to the Wuji Xinghuang Banner, so he didn’t dwell on it.

He captured more than a dozen spiritual insects from the Spirit Devouring Insect’s nest, a dark cloud formed under his feet, carrying him flying escape to the pond, ready for the moment of testing.

He pinched the Object Control Technique and scattered half of the insects onto the pond, allowing them to be submerged but not sink.

As if receiving a signal, the Spirit Fish in the water surfaced and began to snatch the insects.

A streak of pale golden light caught his eye, followed by another appearance.

Ji An’s eyes were filled with delight; he counted six Treasure Dragon Fish, not missing a single one, fiercely competing with other Spirit Fish.

"Wonderful!"

His laughter echoed through the Little World, conveying his joy to the dozens of acres of Spirit Field.

He didn’t know whether this was the specialty of the Little World or the uniqueness of the Gathering Essence Tree, but he knew achieving the freedom to eat fish in the future would be entirely possible.

...

Another half month passed, Ji An completed his cultivation, tidied up, and left the grotto mansion.

He easily found the Spirit Pill Pavilion, although he’d only been here once.

The shopkeeper Zhu Hanshan welcomed him warmly, as there weren’t many Chao Origin Stage Alchemists in the Immortal City; each was a distinguished guest at various pill medicine shops.

Ji An confidently produced a Jade Bottle, pinching the Object Control Technique to deliver it to the shopkeeper’s hand:

"This is the Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill I refined some days ago, please evaluate it, fellow Daoist."

They had reached a verbal agreement but knew well that the quality of this pill would determine their future cooperation.

"Oh, no need to be so formal, just call me Hanshan."

Zhu Hanshan beamed, knowing that being addressed as a peer by a senior was an honor. He didn’t think he could be on equal footing as the difference in cultivation level was evident.

In the Cultivation Realm, strength is respected, and although cultivation isn’t synonymous with strength, the chasm between High-Tier Cultivators becomes increasingly hard to cross.