When Ji An departed from Purple Bamboo Mountain, half of the setting sun had already dipped beneath the distant ridges.
The mountains shimmered like gilded statues of ancient Buddhas, their golden light reflected in his eyes. It was a splendor as fleeting as fireworks, and when the final streak of light faded, the world sank into night. The winding forests and jagged peaks seemed to twist and writhe like fanged demons in the dark.
Nothing in the world had truly changed yet; with the coming of shadow, the heart perceived everything differently.
Veiled by drifting clouds, the moon shone faintly blurred, while the stars gleamed like scattered jewels. Riding beneath that dim radiance, Ji An guided his Gray-Feathered Sand Goose back toward Verdant Cliff.
The banquet had lasted from noon until dusk; there was no need for another meal. With a flick of his fingers, he activated the formation seals and stepped into his bamboo dwelling. Settling cross-legged upon the meditation mat, he began circulating his cultivation art.
Cultivation, after all, was nothing more than daily diligence; there were no true shortcuts.
Those blessed with higher talent refined spiritual power faster, meeting few bottlenecks. Such gifts could only be envied, not imitated.
The spiritual energy from the food and wine he had consumed was soon refined away, and the aura of heaven and earth, drawn by his breathing rhythm, slowly gathered around the bamboo house.
The flow of spiritual power coursed through his immortal meridians, and the Dao Seeds embedded within flickered with faint light. A tranquil, wondrous sensation filled his body.
From today's discussions, Ji An had learned that Wood-type and Water-type cultivation arts were particularly suited to nourishing one's meridians; their practitioners could meditate longer each session than those of other paths.
When he finally opened his eyes again, midnight had arrived.
The moon now hung at the zenith; clouds had parted, and its cool radiance poured through the lattice window, scattering silver patches upon the bamboo walls.
The light wasn't bright yet in the darkness, but it seemed dazzling.
"Why does it feel like there's never enough time?"
Ji An sighed quietly. Earnestly counted, a single day could vanish in only a few meditation cycles.
Once he moved into his new cave residence, he would also need to cultivate and tend the spirit trees; his schedule would only grow tighter.
He wondered when he might finally cast aside these mundane responsibilities and focus solely on refining his cultivation, enjoying the sect's full support without distraction.
Only Origin Ascension, perhaps even Golden Core Patriarch status, could grant that kind of freedom.
He shook his head lightly, dispelling the unrealistic thought. Taking out the Spirit-Sealing Technique jade slip, he pressed it to his forehead and silently recited the incantation a few times.
He still hadn't reached entry level with the spell, but he wasn't impatient; the transplantation of his spirit fruit trees was still months away. There was time.
Every morning and evening, he devoted two short sessions to the technique, reading the incantation and attempting the spell. It had yet to succeed, but he could feel gradual progress each day.
The true difficulty lay in sequentially activating all five elemental energies without even the slightest break in rhythm, a task that demanded extreme control of the divine sense.
Maintaining a calm heart, Ji An practiced and corrected himself again and again.
Then, as faint radiance of five colors shimmered between his palms, merging, stabilizing, and forming a cohesive glow in the air, realization struck him like lightning.
The Spirit-Sealing Technique had finally succeeded.
The soft glow of spiritual light slowly dissipated, as if it had never existed at all.
Ji An closed his eyes, replaying in his mind the subtle spiritual resonance that had stirred when he cast the spell. A moment later, he raised his right hand and began to form the seals once more. His fingers moved in swift, intricate motions, tracing out mysterious patterns in the air.
Five faintly colored lights, green, red, yellow, white, and black, merged into a circular ring, their hues so pale they were nearly transparent, like a crystal submerged in water. Only with careful observation could one even notice them.
A small smile tugged at Ji An's lips. To reach the entry stage of this technique purely through his own comprehension was the true joy of cultivation.
He sank his mind into his dantian. The stone tortoise on his spiritual sea shimmered with a dim cyan glow.
[Technique: Spirit-Sealing Art (Entry 1%)]
Ji An issued a mental command:
"Refine spiritual qi. Enhance the Spirit-Sealing Art."
But the stone tortoise's response came back immediately:
"Insufficient Qian and Dui spiritual energies. Cannot enhance comprehension of this technique."
Ji An let out a small breath of relief. As long as the tortoise could refine spiritual qi to improve the technique, it was only a matter of time before he could elevate it further once he had gathered enough energy.
Still, his master had said that the entry level of the Spirit-Sealing Art was already sufficient for transplantation work. There was no need to waste precious energy on it. Better to save that for techniques that truly mattered.
He practiced for a while longer, Sharp Gold Art, Golden Armor Technique, and Exploding Fireball Art, before finally resting at midnight.
So the days passed in steady rhythm: cultivating his qi, refining his arts, and visiting the medicine gardens and spirit fields each day. Half a month slipped by like flowing water.
The talisman grass and Jadegrain Rice in his fields had already been harvested. Under the nurturing of his foundation-stage planting techniques, these low-level spirit plants had matured a dozen days earlier than usual.
The talisman grass's quality had not improved; it seemed the species had reached its limit, but the Jadegrain Rice yield had increased by thirty percent, its spiritual energy denser, its taste even finer.
Tomorrow, the sect's flying vessel would depart for Azure Cloud Immortal City. After his evening cultivation, Ji An activated a message talisman, sending word to Li Lingyu.
Then he dragged out a reclining chair and sat beneath the evening breeze, enjoying a rare moment of leisure.
...
When Ji An and Li Lingyu boarded the flying vessel to the immortal city, their treatment was entirely different from before. Now, as foundation-stage cultivators, they didn't need to pay a single spirit stone for passage. Instead, they sat comfortably inside the cabin, chatting with the supervising senior disciple.
Their first stop upon arrival was a refiner's shop, where Ji An sold the top-grade first-tier flying sword he had crafted. The transaction yielded one hundred and eighty spirit stones.
They split the proceeds evenly and left the shop together.
Li Lingyu weighed the pouch in her hand and sighed softly.
"They say rogue cultivators are hard to suppress, but just look at how much profit that refiner made from us.
If someone could rob just one of these shops clean, they'd earn seven or eight hundred spirit stones in a single sweep."
Ji An shook his head slightly.
"The feeling of unearned gain is addictive.
Those who swim best drown in water; those who fight best die by the sword. Sooner or later, they'll slip up.
If every cultivator thought like that, the cultivation world would collapse into chaos.
To guard one's bottom line itself is part of cultivating the heart.
We should be masters of our strength, not its slaves."
Only order and stability could ensure the steady progression of the world. Otherwise, if everyone turned to plunder today, you kill me, tomorrow I kill you, who would have the time to seek the Dao of immortality?
Li Lingyu gave a soft huff.
"Listen to you preach! I was only sighing aloud.
If the cultivation world ever truly became a place where only the strong devour the weak, we'd all end up as fodder for the powerful, no different from the demonic cultivators."
The word "demonic cultivator" lingered on Ji An's tongue; a quiet sigh stirred in his heart.
Demonic cultivators are enemies to all living beings, human, beast, and ghost alike. They preyed upon blood, qi, and souls, viewing every living thing as sustenance.
There had been several Demonic Calamities throughout history, each one far more devastating than the Beast Tides.
During those dark times, every sect, clan, and species had set aside their hatred to unite against a common foe, a testament to the dread the word magic still carried.
Li Lingyu's voice pulled him back from his thoughts.
"Hey! What are you daydreaming about? Come on, we still need to buy herbs."
Ji An chuckled.
"Alright, let's go. I need some as well for spirit beast pills.
Now that I've formed my foundation, my two beasts need to advance, too. If they can't keep up, I'll have to replace them."
The two made their way through the herb district, purchasing what they needed before visiting the array market, where Ji An bought a Five Elements Reversal Formation to safeguard his future cave dwelling.
By the time they were done, dusk had settled. They returned to rest for the night.
The next morning, they headed to the talisman market to visit Ji An's old partners and formally suspend their collaboration.
When the shop owners saw that he had become a foundation-stage cultivator, they congratulated him warmly, eager to maintain ties for future business.
"Congratulations, Brother Ji!" one of them said with a broad grin.
"So young, and already in the Foundation Realm, your future is limitless. You make us old bones feel ashamed!"
A flicker of disappointment flashed through Pang Mingde's eyes, quickly hidden beneath a polite smile.
The man before him might only sell rather obscure talismans, but his craftsmanship was excellent, and more importantly, his sales volume was huge. He supplied many shops across the city, even doing business with the Treasure Talisman Pavilion (Baofu Pavilion) itself.
Pang had once taken an interest in this particular talisman maker.
When paying him in spirit stones, Pang had secretly added a few marked ones, imbued with a tracking spell that allowed him to locate their position.
However, the man never acted alone; he always traveled aboard the Golden Spirit Sect's flying vessel when leaving, and never wandered through the smaller markets around the Immortal City. Pang could find no opportunity to act.
Later, when all trades began being handled through intermediaries, Pang had suspected his mark was discovered.
But when he questioned the courier cultivator, the man explained that the talisman maker had been confined by his master after taking a new teacher, and thus could not leave the sect. That explanation had soothed Pang's concerns.
When that courier finally left the city on a spirit crane, Pang had thought it was his chance until he noticed two to three dozen late-stage Qi Refining disciples from the sect traveling together. Even if he'd wanted to strike, he wouldn't have dared.
Now, his quarry had already formed his Foundation, while Pang himself had only reached Foundation Stage, Second Layer.
The window of opportunity was gone forever.
"There'll be chances to work together again in the future," Ji An said with a faint smile before taking his leave.
Once they were far from the shop, Li Lingyu frowned slightly.
"That Pang fellow… there's something cruel and shifty about him. Doesn't look like a good person."
...
Treasure Talisman Pavilion
A maid entered quietly, placing three cups of spirit tea on the table.
Yin Lingsu raised her hand with a graceful motion, inviting her guests to sit.
"It's an honor to have the two of you visit my humble shop," she said with a light smile. "Please, try this Green Spiral Spring.
"So this is why Fellow Daoist Ji has been sending proxies to trade these past few years you've been preparing for Foundation Establishment."
Her gaze lingered briefly on each of them, then she gave a small approving nod.
Over the past few years, Yin Lingsu had noticed many young Foundation Establishment cultivators emerging from Golden Spirit Sect, a clear sign that the sect was thriving.
That was both reassuring and… unsettling.
A powerful ally was a blessing, but one growing too powerful could become a threat.
Golden Spirit Sect's ongoing spirit vein cultivation project was reaching a crucial stage.
If they succeeded in advancing their main vein to the third tier, their strength after the upcoming Beast Calamity could easily overshadow her own sect, Falling Maple Valley.
Li Lingyu picked up her teacup, gazing at the jade-green liquid. A faint fragrance wafted through the air as she took a sip.
"Delicate in aroma, yet rich in aftertaste, this must be a top-grade, first-tier spirit tea."
Ji An also took a polite sip and nodded in agreement.
"Excellent tea indeed."
He couldn't help thinking that he'd never received such courtesy during previous transactions.
After a few pleasantries, Yin Lingsu smiled again.
"Just now, Fellow Daoist Ji mentioned pausing our cooperation. But surely you won't be giving up talisman crafting altogether. When do you expect to resume your trade?"
Foundation Establishment cultivators were capable of drawing high-grade talismans, and as the number of skilled talisman masters dwindled, the market for quality talismans had only grown more lucrative.
Ji An shook his head slightly.
"I'm not sure yet. Even if I resume, I'll likely continue selling only mid-grade talismans.
"Cultivating spells takes time. Without a deep understanding of the underlying techniques, even a well-drawn talisman will have little power.
"If the quality isn't there, there's no profit, sometimes even a loss."
Yin Lingsu nodded in agreement.
"Indeed. No matter how lucrative an industry looks, if the artisan's skill isn't solid, it's impossible to survive. The competition is fierce."
After chatting for a while longer, Ji An and Li Lingyu excused themselves and took their leave.
Ji An then stopped by the sect's refiner's shop, purchasing a flying shuttle, two spirit beast pouches, and a larger storage bag, items that Zhang Yuanshan couldn't forge himself.
Fortunately, as a fellow sect member, Ji An received a five-percent discount on the total price.
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