Chapter 345: Chapter 305: Four in the Morning, Three at Dusk

Time becomes irrelevant in cultivation, and there are no years in the mountains; in the blink of an eye, half a year passes.

Ji An finished circulating the dharma gate and sighed deeply:

"It’s really not easy!"

After half a year, he barely managed to open up the seventy-two vein patterns on the surface of his heart.

At this moment, one could see the heart’s surface entwined with layers of pale golden flame patterns.

The difficulty of opening the inner vein patterns was several times that of opening the outer ones. He didn’t know how much longer it would take to fully open the heart mansion’s vein patterns.

But even if it progressed slowly, it would only take a few years of work.

Once the core of the fire mansion is condensed, everything will be successfully accomplished, and all the efforts will be worthwhile.

Fire Eating Qi and Wood Eating Qi do not conflict in terms of time. Opening both mansions simultaneously would save at least twenty to thirty years in strengthening the core compared to others.

Ji An’s mind sank into his dantian, connecting with the Stone Turtle quietly lying beside the Primordial Life Fire.

Ever since he broke through the Chao Origin Stage, this Stone Turtle had become quieter and seldom moved.

Even if it did move, it would act around the Primordial Life Fire and never stray far, akin to a demon beast guarding a spirit fruit.

Lines of text appeared in his mind, recording his achievements during this period.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: Gold 2.2, Water 0, Wood 0, Fire 0.6, Earth 3.1]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 135.4, Gen Spirit 152.2, Zhen Spirit 106.6, Xun Spirit 156.6, Kun Spirit 5.6, Qian Spirit 139.7, Dui Spirit 6687.9, Li Spirit 268.2]

[Spirit Sealing Technique (great success 7%)

Antitoxic Technique (perfection 18%)

Azure Dragon Shocking Skill (perfection 21%)

Cloud Dragon Rain Technique (perfection 7%)

Zhurong Divine Fire Spell (perfection 14%)

Yellow Dragon Essence Enhancement Skill (perfection 9%)

Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword (perfection 10%)

Earth-to-Steel Technique (perfection 6%)

Earth Escape Technique (minor achievement 21%)

The improvement of several magic techniques was extremely slow. Ji An roughly calculated that it would take at least six or seven years to raise several planting techniques to the Great Perfection Level.

These days he was busy opening the Divine Mansion, severely depleting his divine sense, leaving him no motivation to practice the techniques.

Only after opening several Divine Mansions did he have the time to enhance the level of the magic techniques.

Ji An discovered that time was still not enough. No wonder cultivators preferred to rely on spiritual artifacts for combat; who had the time and energy to enhance techniques!

Moreover, practicing techniques had bottlenecks. One might make no progress for a long time, whereas spending half an hour daily on sacrificial refinement of spiritual artifacts could yield better feedback.

Ji An rubbed his head and walked out of the grotto mansion. Due to the lack of spirit tea supply, the consumption of divine sense could not be quickly replenished, and he had to wait for natural recovery.

The feeling was indescribably painful.

He rode a green cloud to an open space in the back mountain to start practicing the Glaze-Gold Body Refining Technique.

The severe depletion of divine sense made practicing techniques ineffective, but body refining techniques were much less impacted by the state of divine sense, so they could still be practiced.

Indeed, due to the opening of the Wood Element Divine Mansion, his body received deeper nourishment. Even without the proper resources, there was a breakthrough in the body refining method.

Now his physical quality was comparable to a mid-stage Foundation Establishment demon beast. Next, he could achieve true Great Success in Silver Armor.

Ji An got into position, and with every move he made, the air resounded with explosive sounds.

He operated the Glaze-Gold Jade Bone Body dharma gate. As his magical power flowed through his body, his tendons and bones resonated, warm currents rising from the coccyx, coiling upwards like a giant dragon, reaching the peak and then swiftly falling back down.

Heat surged within his body. As all energy gates opened, white mist spouted out in waves.

An hour later, Ji An slowed down, and as his heart rate gradually decreased, he finished closing the practice.

Returning to the grotto mansion, he activated the Spring Breeze and Rain Skill to take a comfortable bath.

Using the Cloud Dragon Rain Technique brought down lightning and thunder, so it couldn’t be used as a "life magic."

...

Ji An rode the cloud to the Cold Pool, smelling the fragrance of tea wafting through the air.

Zhang Cuihua greeted him with a smile:

"Master Ancestor, the spirit tea has been processed.

This year, there are eighteen jins and two taels of Tier Two Middle-grade Cloud Peak Silver Needle, and five jins and four taels of Tier Two Lower-grade Jade Dew Golden Bud."

"Very good, you’ve worked hard.

Later, go find Songtao and obtain a reward of twenty spirit stones."

Ji An’s face showed a few more smiles; a few months ago, another Cloud-Top Jade tree was cultivated to Tier Two Middle Grade, and with the increased yield of the old tree, the amount of middle-grade spirit tea had increased by nearly ten jins compared to last year.

This would greatly alleviate the issues he was currently facing.

With enough spirit tea to nourish his spirit soul, the speed of opening the Fire Element Divine Mansion would accelerate again.

"Thank you for the reward, Master Ancestor!"

Zhang Cuihua’s eyes were filled with joy. Just her annual rewards amounted to seventy to eighty spirit stones.

Many mid-stage Qi Refining disciples probably couldn’t accumulate as much in a year.

If she added the income from her work, her speed of earning spirit stones would rival that of a late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

In another five or six years, she could save enough spirit stones for a Foundation Establishment Pill for her child.

"Pack the Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea into gift boxes, three jins in one, half a jin in another, and one tael in five boxes, with each gift box containing two taels of Cloud Peak Silver Needle. I need to give them as gifts tomorrow."

Ji An further instructed, Liu Yu would get three jins, the master half a jin, several close fellow disciples one tael each, and the rest would be for himself.

"As you command, I’ll handle it right away," Zhang Cuihua said, walking briskly towards the storeroom.

Ji An summoned Wei Songtao and instructed:

"Tomorrow, you and Tian Tiezhu will deliver the gift boxes of Spirit Tea to my Senior Brothers and Sisters: Zhong Yuefei, Du Huaiyuan, Li Lingyu, and Mu Qingwan."

"Alright, may I borrow the Flying Shuttle, Master?"

...

At 5:00 AM the next day, Ji An walked out of the grotto mansion and rode the clouds to the Jade Leaf Mulberry Field.

Facing east, he assumed the posture of Qi Eating, exhaled forcefully, and then inhaled naturally.

He repeated this four times, absorbing four strands of Qinghua Qi.

He was now extremely proficient in Wood-eating Qi, ensuring near-perfect Qi Eating.

The core of the Wood Element Divine Mansion lit up with a vibrant green light, its size having grown since six months ago.

The core seemed to be solid, but it was all an illusion.

Both the inner and outer layers of the vein patterns were the same.

As the core grows stronger step by step, it will completely overlap with the liver and eventually become solid, marking the true Perfection of the Wood Element Divine Mansion.

At that time, the liver will become wholly transformed, turning emerald green.

Achieving Perfection in the other Divine Mansions is similar to the Wood Mansion, all needing a transition from illusion to reality.

After Qi Eating, Ji An sat cross-legged and began to cultivate, refining Spiritual Qi to enhance his Magical Power.

If Qi Eating is done too often, the Spirit Soul will become lethargic, making it hard to focus on Cultivation Methods.

He had tested that consuming four strands of Qi in the morning and three at night was optimal, not interfering with other cultivation or the opening of the Fire Mansion.

The cultivation at the Chao Origin Stage is split into three lines; the first line is the same as the Foundation Establishment Stage, accumulating more Magical Power;

The second line is the opening of the Divine Mansion, Qi Eating, and strengthening the core of the Divine Mansion;

The third line involves nurturing the Primordial Life Fire.

Once all three lines are perfected, the next step is to reach the level of Five Elements Circulation and Endless Life in the five viscera.

Strictly speaking, there are only two lines since the Primordial Life Fire grows with the increase of Magical Power and the strengthening of the Divine Mansion’s core.

Some cultivators find their Primordial Life Fire inadequate for progress, requiring separate planting methods, using Essence Blood and Primordial Qi to nourish the Fire Seed.

Various rays of light surrounded him, entering his mouth and nose as he inhaled.

Spiritual Qi traveled rapidly through the Immortal Vein, and after three Grand Circulations, it was refined into Magical Power, merging into his Dantian.

The Primordial Life Fire and Stone Turtle began to ’feast,’ the flames flickering, transforming the Dantian into an emerald world.

...

At 7:00 AM, Ji An concluded his cultivation, rode the clouds to the stone house at the foot of the mountain, and activated the Teleportation Array to arrive at Ningcui Cliff.

Having consumed four strands of Qi in the morning, there was no need for breakfast.

He walked out of the stone house where the Teleportation Array was located and entered a nearby grotto mansion.

Taking out two gift boxes, he held them with both hands and presented them forward:

"Master, this year’s new tea has been processed and I’ve brought some for you and Senior Sister Ge to try."

Ji An knew that the Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea given to his Master was passed on to Senior Sister Ge, who had just broken through to the Ninth-Layer Foundation Establishment and was in need of it.

However, the Jade Dew Golden Bud was too precious; he needed a lot himself and also owed some to Liu Yu, so he didn’t send more to Ge Luoying.

Ge Ying’s lips curled upwards, the light in her eyes growing more benevolent:

"Sit down!

The gifts I receive from you each year make even those at the Chao Origin Stage envious!

The sect doesn’t pay much attention to Spirit Farmers now, but this will change completely.

In the future, it’s possible that the sect’s high-tier resources will become self-sufficient."

Each year she received Middle-Grade Tier Two Spiritual Fruits, Spirit Tea, Pine Nuts, and Spirit Wine as filial gifts from her disciple—resources that other Chao Origin Stage cultivators would have to exchange their own resources for.

Reflecting on her life, she found accepting this disciple to be her proudest decision; he was the second Chao Origin Stage cultivator in the Ningcui Cliff lineage in hundreds of years.

Ji An sat in the chair, shaking his head slightly with a smile:

"Achieving self-sufficiency in high-tier resources is indeed too difficult.

The sect’s foundation is not yet sufficient, but perhaps with a few hundred more years of accumulation, it might be possible."

The Spiritual Vein of the sect had been upgraded twice, nurturing a single Tier Three Spiritual Vein.

Transforming the benefits of elevating the Spiritual Vein into foundational depth requires time.

"Under your management, Red Flame Peak has reached its current prosperity in just a few decades.

I believe that once you take charge of Ningcui Cliff, you will enhance the sect’s foundation significantly within thirty years."

Ge Ying’s tone was optimistic; this disciple always brought her surprises, and more importantly, he seemed to have good fortune, rarely encountering mishaps.

She paused and said:

"The Cyan Lotus Heart-Burning Fire, you must fight for it; it means too much to an Alchemist."

Ji An nodded heavily, "I will certainly strive for it. I estimate that the Heaven and Earth Spirit Fire can be divided into three to four Fire Seeds, so pursuing one should be feasible."

The biggest competitor was Li Haoran, but as a pure Sword Cultivator, he wouldn’t use anything outside of his sword.

He had over a hundred years to strategize; real competitors weren’t many.

With so much preparation time, he might very well become a Fifth Transformation of Chao Origin cultivator by then.

Thinking more boldly, becoming a Golden Core Ancestor was not out of the question.

A Golden Core Ancestor obtaining a Fire Seed would be as easy as a hand’s turn.

Ge Ying’s smile broadened, saying:

"As long as you know what to do, I feel relieved."