Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Chapter 477: Chapter 404: Meeting an Old Friend in a Foreign Land

The Stone Turtle conveyed a sense of delight, and Ji An noticed a spring the size of a bowl opening near the Pure Water Lotus, from which icy spiritual water gushed out.

He felt the life tier of the treasure plant, a Tier Two Upper Grade spirit plant, with roots spreading over an area of ten zhang around.

Ji An sighed softly; such a high-tier treasure plant is almost impossible to transplant, and as a spirit farmer, he didn’t wish to do so.

Because even if it could be transplanted, it most likely wouldn’t survive.

He retrieved a jade slip from the void realm space, pressed it against his forehead, and reviewed the description of treasures in it.

The Pure Water Lotus is a Tier Three Lower Grade treasure plant, leafless, with blue petals that can be used in medicine, and the spirit lotus root it bears can also be used medicinally. It has the effect of purifying and enhancing the grade of spirit water and can coexist with water veins.

It’s a freshwater spirit plant, found in both the Central and Southern Continents.

The lotus seedpod nurtures two to three seeds, with an outer skin that is white with blue star spots.

The outer skin is as hard as stone but gradually dissolves after soaking in water for about three hundred years, or it can be refined for planting.

Ji An put away the jade slip and extended his divine sense around the spirit plant, hoping to find the lotus seeds.

Not long after, he suddenly sensed a fluctuation of life force in the sludge and immediately cleaned it carefully, finding a seed the size of a marble, exactly matching the description.

Joy bloomed in his heart; after collecting the spirit seed, he continued his search.

Two double hours later, his search area expanded to a radius of five zhang, yet still, he found nothing more.

"Let it be then," Ji An stopped his search and returned to the spirit plant to clear the mud.

When searching for the lotus seeds earlier, he discovered this Pure Water Lotus had five small-arm-length lotus roots, and of course, he intended to take a few sections.

The lotus roots were slender, only as thick as a child’s arm, and white as jade.

He pondered briefly before taking two sections and pinched off about one-third of the petals to store in a jade box.

Ji An searched other areas at the bottom of the pool again and discovered some Gui Water Essence, which is a Tier Two Top-grade spiritual material.

He dragged a demon beast’s corpse upward, taking two double hours to return to the water’s surface.

Han Yan smiled and said:

"Junior Brother has had quite a harvest, hasn’t he?"

After finishing her Qi Eating, she found the Storm Thunder Eagle puppet circling the sky, so she came by the pool to wait.

"Haha, indeed, I hunted down a demon beast at the Chao Origin Stage level and obtained a water element spirit plant seed, a dual harvest!"

Ji An responded with a smile, though there was actually a third harvest: acquiring the Water Element Dao Rhyme and Kan Spirit.

He dragged the big crab up and added:

"Tonight, we have a feast to enjoy!"

Saying so, he took out a demon fish from the storage bag, ready to make grilled fish and crab meat soup tonight.

Han Yan joined in to help with processing the fish, throwing out the innards and scraping off the scales, tasks she had grown quite adept at from being clueless.

Meanwhile, Ji An was busy handling the crab, carefully cutting up the demon crab, keeping only the meat from the crab legs and discarding the rest.

Then he cleaned the shell thoroughly and stored it in the void realm space.

He was quite satisfied with the trip’s gains; the demon beast had reached a half-step Golden Core level, and its shell could be used to refine a top-grade spiritual artifact, worth a great deal.

Additionally, the Pure Water Lotus can elevate the grade of water veins; planting it in the Cold Pool at Red Flame Peak can prepare for enhancing the spirit vein’s tier to Tier Three in the future.

By the time the two had finished, the sun had set behind the western mountains, the sky ablaze, and the evening glow like a giant centipede spanning ten thousand miles.

Riding on clouds back to the grotto mansion, Ji An utilized pill fire to grill the fish, and after sprinkling spices, the blue flame licked and quickly cooked it.

He inhaled the aroma of the meat and placed the grilled fish into the dish.

"Senior Sister, have it while it’s hot."

"It smells so good," Han Yan smiled and took the grilled fish, curiously asking:

"I saw many fish dead in that pool of water; what happened?"

"The water vein at the bottom of the pool erupted, and the pool water surged upwards like a volcanic eruption, likely shocking them to death from the impact of the water flow."

The two ate to a comfortable fullness, each consuming five or six bowls of crab meat.

"Today has been the most satisfying meal in years; Junior Brother, I’ll return to the Quiet Chamber to refine spiritual energy."

Han Yan left with a smile; reached the Chao Origin Stage level, the beast meat contained abundant spiritual energy and nourished the body.

Whether for a body cultivator or a magic cultivator, it’s a rare tonic delicacy.

In the sect’s Law Enforcement Hall, when a Chao Origin Stage demon beast is hunted, most of the beast meat is shared for consumption, with only scraps left to feed the tamed beasts.

Ji An also returned to the Quiet Chamber, sat cross-legged, and connected his mind to the dantian with the Stone Turtle.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: Water 3.6]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 412.8]

The harvest was indeed excellent, though he couldn’t decide to let the Stone Turtle bring him into the Gourd World, so he continued to wait.

Now he has a new worry; after entering the Gourd Space, the Stone Turtle would consume all stored Dao Rhyme and Kan Spirit. He tried to command it to cease the operation, but there was no effect.

Evidently, the Stone Turtle deemed it necessary to consume the Spiritual Mechanism.

As his mind wandered, he suddenly felt dizzy, and then he entered the Gourd World.

The mountain rat saw him enter, joyfully running over.

Sadly, it was alone here, and the loneliness was unbearable.

Ji An tore the fish meat into strips and tossed them to the mountain rat. With each strip it ate, it underwent a mutation, its muscles knotting together, quickly advancing to the Third-Layer Qi Refining.

The Stone Turtle lay atop the yellow sand, with the trigrams symbolizing the Kan Spirit flickering incessantly on its shell. A clear spring surged from the ground again, nourishing the parched land.

...

Liu Yu drove the Blazing Golden Wheel at full speed, trailing a scarlet flame, tracing a beautiful and magnificent fiery glow across the sky.

This spiritual artifact, which had accompanied him for many years, had been re-sacrificially refined to reach the Tier Two Middle Grade level.

Behind him, four yellow-robed cultivators were relentlessly pursuing him on a White Bone Spirit Ship.

Liu Yu grew increasingly anxious, for conflict had erupted with the Earth Evil Sect cultivators over a piece of Spirit Medicine.

Clearly, he had discovered it first and had already collected it, yet they forcibly demanded it from him.

Of course, he refused, resulting in a battle between the two sides.

The Earth Evil Sect cultivators launched an attack on him; he wasn’t about to coddle these cultivators who had rampaged through the Southern Continent for years—he acted decisively and ruthlessly.

Because he knew, in such situations, begging for mercy was meaningless and would only fuel the enemy’s arrogance.

While being besieged, Liu Yu managed to kill several Foundation Establishment cultivators and seriously injure a Chao Origin Stage cultivator, allowing him to escape.

If not for the excessive consumption of magical power and Divine Sense, he wouldn’t have fled at all.

Who would have thought these corpse refining cultivators would have a flying escape spiritual artifact of such speed, relentlessly pursuing him.

He had been fleeing for more than double hour, still unable to widen the gap.

Liu Yu’s heart sank continually; if he stopped to confront them, he would be no match for these cultivators waiting at leisure.

If he continued to flee, ultimately, he could not escape the enemy’s grasp.

What to do?

He bit his lip unconsciously, hesitating over what decision to make.

At this moment, he saw towering mountains in the distance and made up his mind to fly toward the ridges.

If he could enter the mountains and find a place to hide, it would be much harder for the enemy to search for him, allowing him to play cat and mouse with them, seizing the chance to recover magical power and Divine Sense.

As long as he had a moment to catch his breath, he could continue to maneuver with this group of enemies.

Liu Yu took out a top-grade Spirit Stone, absorbing the magical power within while increasing his output to the spiritual artifact, hoping to widen the distance further.

Up to now, he had relied on these top-grade Spirit Stones to avoid falling into a state of exhaustion.

Having exhausted five top-grade Spirit Stones, he was extremely annoyed. These resources could have been used to purchase the spiritual objects he needed, but were now wasted meaninglessly.

On the White Bone Spirit Ship, Earth Evil Sect cultivators were in lively discussion.

"That kid is actually using our top-grade Spirit Stones to restore magical power. Speed up a bit, ahead is Qianren Mountain Range, fighting there would be disadvantageous for us."

"What’s there to fear? This kid has been running all along; even if he keeps restoring via Spirit Stones, the magical power in his body is gradually diminishing.

Besides, his Immortal Vein can’t withstand such usage; at most, after spending another double hour, he’d have no magical power left for running."

"That bastard actually injured Sang Za; if we don’t manage to kill him, Junior Martial Uncle Sang Chen might skin us alive."

A one-eyed cultivator said hatefully, inwardly cursing Sang Za for his incompetence; with a Golden Core Stage father and two top-grade spiritual artifacts on him, he still got a leg chopped off by the enemy in an instant.

As a result, they would inevitably face the wrath of their Junior Martial Uncle.

Hearing the name ’Sang Chen’, the other cultivators all shuddered; ever since Sangji and others disappeared ten years ago, Junior Martial Uncle Sang Chen’s temper had become increasingly volatile.

Disciples frequently faced harsh punishment for crossing him.

"Give it more effort!"

...

Liu Yu’s heart continued to sink; the magical power within him could probably only support flying at current speed for less than half an hour.

Though he successfully entered this mountain range, he still could not shake off the pursuit, and here the Gang Wind was raging, the vegetation sparse, making hiding unsuitable.

’Does heaven want to destroy me?’

He shook his head, dispelling this ominous thought.

At this moment, he grew regretful, cursing himself for not having learned the Earth Escape Technique or Water Escape Technique.

If he had mastered these escape techniques, his chances of escaping would greatly increase.

Liu Yu did not give up hope, he flew shakily through the Gang Wind.

Not until the last moment should one ever give up, perhaps a miracle could still happen.

He looked down at the mountains, striving to find a place to hide, suddenly discovering a cultivator on a mountaintop seven or eight miles away.

A cultivator in such a ghostly place was certainly a Qi Eating Chao Origin Stage cultivator.

’Sorry, I have no choice but to redirect the disaster to you to save my own life.’

Liu Yu flew towards the cultivator; as he drew closer, he roughly made out that it was a female cultivator wearing light blue robes—not a yellow robe, which was a reassurance!

To save his life, he shouted:

"Senior Sister, help! A cultivator is chasing me!"

He didn’t know the other person, but those Earth Evil Sect disciples in pursuit of him would have no idea and would end up chasing her too.

In this way, he could ’forcibly’ gain a teammate.

Han Yan, hearing someone call out ’Senior Sister’, immediately turned her gaze warily and actually recognized the person.

A meeting with an old acquaintance away from home, though the circumstances seemed somewhat inappropriate.