Ji An's consciousness gradually returned to clarity.
He didn't open his eyes immediately; instead, he sank his divine sense into his dantian.
The stone turtle floated calmly above the sea of spiritual power within him, and rows of faint golden characters appeared in his mind:
[Master: Ji An]
[Dao Resonance: 0]
[Spiritual Qi]:
Kan Qi 555.5, Gen Qi 530.6, Zhen Qi 0.2, Xun Qi 25.2, Kun Qi 72.6, Qian Qi 2.7, Dui Qi 0.8, Li Qi 1.4
Ji An sat up slowly, a faint smile curling at the corner of his lips.
Overnight, all of his elemental Qi had increased.
Given enough time, he would eventually master a vast range of Five-Element spells, becoming a truly versatile cultivator proficient in many arts and adaptable against any foe.
All he needed now was to cultivate peacefully on Crimson Flame Peak.
When he stepped out of the cave dwelling, the moonlight had grown pale and thin, the air heavy with the chill before dawn.
He summoned his spirit shuttle and glided down toward the foot of the mountain.
The artifact could operate even without spirit stones by simply channeling a steady stream of his own spiritual power.
Since Crimson Flame Peak wasn't very large, there was no need to waste precious stones on speed. Saving what could be saved was still good sense.
At the cold spring below, faint wisps of mist rose into the air, wrapping the surrounding spirit fields in a soft veil.
Ji An first inspected the area where he had planted the spirit fruit trees.
The Spirit Peach Trees swayed gently, their leaves vibrant and full of life. The Spirit Apricot Trees, however, looked a bit droopy, their blossoms slightly wilted, as though the end of their blooming season had come early.
He extended his divine sense into the soil, tracing the roots beneath.
The Spirit Peach Trees had already grown many fine root hairs, while the Spirit Apricot Trees showed much less progress.
Ji An nodded slightly.
Transplanting trees during their flowering period caused significant strain; it was normal for them to go through a long "recovery" phase.
Still, the fact that both trees had begun to take root again meant the transplant was a success.
The Spirit Apricot Tree was only a low-grade first-rank plant, but thanks to the Sealing Spirit Technique and his powerful planting spells, the process had gone more smoothly than expected.
With attentive care over the next few days, he could minimize the aftereffects of the transplant entirely.
He formed a hand seal, and countless emerald-green motes of light emerged, fluttering like tiny swallows returning to their nest.
They sank into the trees and soil one by one, while the Yimu Rejuvenation (Yin Wood) Dao Seed in his Jade Spring acupoint pulsed faintly in resonance.
The fruit tree leaves grew even more lush and vibrant, and the apricot blossoms nourished by the gentle spiritual energy unfurled their petals once more.
A light breeze swept through the orchard, carrying the soft fragrance of renewed life.
Then Ji An invoked the Thick Earth Returning Chant, releasing a wave of warm, golden-brown light that spread across the spirit field, infusing it with dense, nourishing energy.
Both fruit trees were fire-aligned spirit plants.
Combined with the gentle vitality from the Spring Breeze and Gentle Rain Technique, they didn't require frequent watering.
Outside, Huang Feihu was already waiting, stretching to shake off his fatigue. Ji An called him over, and the two boarded the shuttle once again.
By the time the first rays of the morning sun spilled across the mountains, they had prepared roughly ten thousand branches of Ziyang Wood, ready for planting.
This was a first-rank, low-grade spirit wood, the same kind grown on Verdant Cliff to condense Wood Essence Beads.
Ji An suddenly realized that, a few years from now, simply harvesting the Wood Essence Beads from these spirit trees would become a considerable source of income.
His Withering-Bloom Technique had already reached great perfection, giving him an extremely high efficiency in condensing Wood Essence Beads. If he hired a few more spirit farmers, this place could become a steady stream of wealth.
Although Wood Essence Beads weren't expensive individually, there were thousands of mu of spirit trees here. Even a small profit, multiplied on that scale, would add up to something quite substantial.
A round of golden sunlight spilled over the mountain peak, and before long, crimson-gold mist began to rise from the mountain mouth.
Huang Feihu felt the scorching, skin-flaying wind sweep past him, and his face immediately twisted with discomfort. The pain was unbearable.
He had braced himself mentally, but he still hadn't expected the environment to be this harsh. And this was only early morning; the hour of Chen, the sun not yet at its zenith. He dreaded to imagine how fierce the spiritual energy would become by noon.
"The cold-spring side will be much better," Ji An said calmly, "but even there, for a Qi-refining cultivator, meditation won't be pleasant.
Still, if you can manage to circulate your qi for several major cycles each day, you'll refine your spiritual power faster, and it'll help you reach Foundation Establishment sooner."
As he spoke, Ji An once again summoned his spirit shuttle and carried Huang Feihu back toward the cold spring.
The Gray-Feather Sand Goose flapped over, crying proudly to report its discovery; it had located the exact position of the spring vein beneath the pool.
Ji An tossed it a Beast-Nourishing Pill as a reward. The sand goose swallowed it in one gulp, then began complaining through their spiritual bond that the largest spirit fish in the cold pool was barely an inch long.
Sensing its dissatisfaction, Ji An only shook his head with a faint smile.
When the Chen clan left, they had stripped the place bare; not even the smallest scrap of value remained.
Foundation Establishment cultivators still couldn't live purely on spirit energy; they needed proper food. Huang Feihu went to prepare a meal while Ji An left the cold-pool area.
He walked into the open winds, feeling the searing pain of the metallic and fiery spiritual energy against his skin as he practiced the Sharp Gold Art, studying the interplay between the two elements.
The spiritual currents at the mountain's base were harsh, but still tolerable. They didn't interfere with his spell practice; in fact, Ji An felt this brutal environment might sharpen his comprehension of metal and fire-aligned spells.
Before long, Huang Feihu called him back; lunch was ready.
Lifting a bowl of spirit rice, Ji An said thoughtfully,
"Once we finish replanting the spirit woods, let's buy a few spirit beasts and release them into the forest.
If they can survive here, we'll have a steady source of meat as well."
Eating spirit beast meat helped strengthen blood and vitality, a boon to both Qi-refining and Foundation cultivators.
Huang Feihu nodded repeatedly.
"I think some nocturnal, herb-eating beasts might manage. The best kind would be ones that can burrow underground."
If the beasts could hide in the earth, they could avoid the scorching daylight, emerging at night to graze and fatten up unhindered.
Ji An smiled.
"Do as you see fit. Once the spirit woods start growing, we'll need to fell and burn them into Spirit Charcoal.
You don't have experience with that kind of work, and you won't be able to handle it alone. Start preparing early."
The two men discussed plans in detail as they ate.
When the meal was over, they went their separate ways. Huang Feihu headed beyond the mountain's protective array to recruit workers and survey the terrain.
Meanwhile, Ji An flew back to the cave residence halfway up the mountain.
He wanted to test what it would feel like to cultivate under the blazing daylight.
Sitting cross-legged, he began circulating the Evergreen Aetherwood Art.
The drifting spiritual energy of heaven and earth flowed into his body
, and he immediately felt that fierce, scorching current of energy raging inside him like wildfire.
In the past, when he first started cultivating, his spiritual veins had felt nourished and relaxed, every pore soaking in bliss.
Now, the moment he began drawing in the energy, his spiritual veins trembled with faint stinging and burning pain, the result of the metal-and-fire qi tempering his meridians.
Though the fiery spiritual energy was brutal, Ji An found it barely within his endurance, so he continued circulating the technique, letting the spiritual power wash back and forth through his veins.
It took far longer than usual to refine the absorbed qi, and his efficiency had clearly dropped.
When the refining was finally complete and the new power poured into his dantian, the stone turtle there swam forward, swallowing its share of the energy. Its shell gleamed a little brighter afterward, as if deeply satisfied.
After about half an hour, Ji An stopped cultivating the pain in his meridians, which had grown too intense to bear.
However, when he let his refined mana circulate once around his body, he found that it was noticeably purer than before.
He nodded to himself in approval.
From now on, he could take spirit pills at night or before dawn to quickly grow his cultivation,
and during the day, use this harsh environment to temper and purify his mana.
This way, he wouldn't suffer from false advancement caused by excessive pill use
so long as he could endure the torment of the metal-and-fire spiritual energy.
With that decision made, Ji An smiled faintly.
He would polish his power every day; only by doing so could he truly squeeze every advantage out of this unique land.
Stepping outside, he found the ambient energy growing even hotter.
His fingertips shimmered with golden light, sharp and restless, like a predator eager to strike.
Meanwhile, Huang Feihu had been circling the valley, brows deeply furrowed.
Something puzzled him
. The concentration of spiritual energy within Crimson Flame Peak was clearly of second-grade quality,
yet outside the mountain's array, it dropped sharply to low first-grade levels.
Spotting a disciple performing a rainfall spell over a nearby spiritual valley, Huang Feihu approached politely.
"Greetings, junior brother," he said with a bow. "I'm Huang Feihu, following Senior Uncle Ji to cultivate here on Crimson Flame Peak.
I'm new to this place and not yet familiar with the situation. I'd like to ask you a few questions."
Addressing him as "fellow cultivator" was a courtesy Ji An had shown him; it was only proper that Huang Feihu maintain his senior's dignity.
The disciple chuckled good-naturedly.
"Senior brother is truly blessed! To cultivate under a Foundation Establishment senior's guidance, how enviable!
My name's Zhang Erniu, just call me Erniu."
Then he began explaining in his simple, honest tone:
"The other spiritual veins of the sect run along the contours of the mountains, so their energy density decreases gradually with elevation.
But it's said that Crimson Flame Peak was formed when several deep, underground veins collided, exposing a vertical spiritual node.
That's why the inner peak is overflowing with energy, but the surrounding land where the veins don't pass is much weaker."
Crimson Flame Peak's vein was indeed a second-grade node, allowing some of its excess energy to seep outward and nourish the nearby soil.
Otherwise, the farmlands in this valley wouldn't even qualify as low-grade spiritual fields.
Huang Feihu could only smile wryly.
All the graded fields had already been claimed by other disciples.
If they wanted to grow spirit grain or talisman grass, they'd have to reclaim barren land from scratch.
At Bihai Lake, their old fields had been cultivated to low first-grade quality.
Now, they would have to start over again. Just thinking about it made him sigh.
He turned back to Zhang Erniu and said,
"Junior Brother Erniu, Senior Uncle Ji is recruiting workers to plant tree saplings.
Work begins at 'you' hour and ends around zi hour, that's two shifts, one spirit stone in payment.
Interested?"
Erniu's eyes lit up, and he nodded eagerly.
"I'm in! Does Senior Uncle need more hands?
All the brothers here are used to this kind of work, tree planting, land clearing, even burning spirit charcoal, we know it well!"
On his own, Erniu made only two or three spirit stones per mu of spiritual grain each month after costs.
With cultivation expenses on top of that, he could barely save anything.
Fortunately, the sect regularly issued side jobs like this,
allowing them to earn extra spirit stones and contribution points.
"How many people do you have altogether?" Huang Feihu asked, smiling
It seemed the charcoal-burning problem would be solved, too.
"About twenty or so," Erniu replied.
"This place isn't ideal, so not many want to come
If not for a few graded fields, it would be empty here."
"I noticed you've planted talisman grass in some of those plots," Huang Feihu said.
"How many of you know how to make talisman paper?"
"Pretty much everyone!" Erniu grinned.
"Growing talisman grass and making paper, it's how old spirit farmers like us earn a little extra on the side."
Huang Feihu laughed in relief.
"That's perfect. Senior Uncle Ji is planning to reclaim new land and plant talisman grass on a large scale.
We'll need a lot of helping hands."
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