Chapter 800: Golden Core Fifth Layer, Top-grade Gathering Essence Tree

Ji An placed the Demon-Breaking Golden Shuttle into the Grotto Void Stone; it was a Tier Two top-quality spiritual artifact capable of posing a threat to early-stage Golden Core True Demons.

He had originally commissioned a similar spiritual artifact, but had not needed it.

Now, he was certain that his magic attacks had reached the late Golden Core stage level, and he estimated he wouldn’t need these two Demon-Breaking Golden Shuttles in the future.

Opening the brocade box, he saw it was lined with a spongy material, neatly embedded with several black and white, egg-sized beads.

The surface of the beads was densely covered with characters, and the inside was opaque and completely mysterious.

“Daoist friend, how should one activate this Yin Thunder Pearl?”

Wan Jinrong picked up a bead with two fingers and smiled:

“There is a specific Spell for activation; if the Yin Thunder Pearl is not activated, it’s completely harmless. After the spell is cast, the Thunder Pearl is immediately activated. At this point, it can simply be thrown. It will also activate upon encountering obstacles or sensing the demonic qi on true demons and demon lords, resulting in a violent explosion. Its only downside is its slow flight speed, but it’s relatively cheap, and a hundred Yin Spirit Beads can kill a Golden Core level True Demon and still be worth it.”

He spoke at length, providing a detailed explanation on how to use the Yin Thunder Pearl.

Ji An listened attentively, asking after Wan Jinrong finished:

“Yin and Yang clash to create thunder; the Yin Thunder Pearl must be composed of two opposing energies held together by a Dharma Prohibition. When we cast the spell to activate the Yin Thunder Pearl, it should activate the energies, resulting in a violent reaction and explosion. Am I correct in my understanding?”

He knew that a main material of the Yin Thunder Pearl was the Yin Bead condensed by a demon lord, which could be understood simply as Yin energy, specifically an inert type.

At this point, you find an inert Yang energy material and pack both into this tiny bead.

This is equivalent to a Xianxia version of a grenade, with more potent power, representing the art of explosion.

“You’re correct in your principle.”

Wan Jinrong nodded in agreement, and while many cultivators could guess the principle, creating a Thunder Pearl with decent power was considered a skill.

Ji An took out several jars of pine nut wine and plated peanuts and cured meat; the two sat under a tree outside, drinking together.

The resplendent sunset faded into the hidden night sky, and Ji An took out a Luminous Bead, wrapped it in white gauze, and hung it midair. Shortly thereafter, the moon rose in the east, spilling its cool radiance.

The evening breeze rustled the leaves, and the slightly tipsy Wan Jinrong, blown by the cold wind, quickly regained clarity of mind.

He sighed leisurely, saying:

“Who knows how long days as wonderful as today will last?”

He seemed to be asking, yet also seemed to be questioning himself.

When the True Demon Tribulation fully erupts, the rich demonic qi will shroud the earth, making it a luxury to see the bright moon and the golden sun from the ground.

Ji An understood what he was thinking and consoled:

“Blazing fire rises while water flows downward; the dust blown high by the wind will eventually fall when the wind stops. The demon fog might be strong, but there will be a day when the clouds part and the fog disperses.”

Yang ascends while Yin descends; the connection between the Cultivation Realm and the True Demon Realm is destined not to last.

Both fell silent, gazing up at the bright moon overhead, its light peaceful and unchanged.

Moments later, Wan Jinrong stood up, smiling:

“Thank you, daoist friend, for your hospitality. Today was truly delightful; until we meet again!”

“Until next time, daoist friend, returning by moonlight is indeed an elegant affair.”

…

Wan Jinrong rode the clouds towards the direction of the rising moon, appearing as if he entered the moon itself as he gradually moved away.

When his figure completely faded from view, Ji An returned to his grotto mansion and entered the Gourd World.

While discussing the Yin Thunder Pearl today, he thought of many things: the collision of Geng Metal and Xin Metal produces Metal Divine Thunder, and the collision of Bing Fire and Ding Fire produces Bing Fire Divine Thunder.

Thus, the Yin Thunder Pearl is essentially the collision of Yin and Yang energies in a broader sense.

During alchemy, the phenomenon of explosion in the furnace is caused by the intense and unresolvable conflict of medicinal properties, which is fundamentally the collision of Yin and Yang energies.

To give a simple example, if Fire Element Spirit Medicine Divine Essence and Water Element Spirit Medicine Divine Essence meet in a pill furnace without any harmonizing medicine, a violent explosion is inevitable.

In the Gourd World, there are plenty of fire and water element spirit plants. Could they be used as raw materials to refine a different type of Thunder Pearl?

Ji An thought that learning Artifact Refining might be necessary, not for anything else but to craft various explosive objects.

It should be relatively simple and not require too much effort and time.

However, this idea wasn’t going to be implemented immediately; he had obtained a batch of Purple Cloud Jade Ganoderma Pills, making it an ideal time to enhance his cultivation.

Time is precious, and Ji An sat cross-legged under the Gathering Essence Tree, calming his mind. After clearing his Sea of Consciousness of any distracting thoughts and entering the Void Spirit Realm, he took the pills and then began to operate the Five Elements Reincarnation Scripture.

The spiritual energy contained in the pills was much denser than the floating nature’s spiritual energy in the little world, and during the refinement of the pills, the body’s demand for external spiritual energy decreased significantly, preventing the formation of a spiritual energy vortex.

However, the speed of condensing magic power crystals within the body was much faster than purely refining nature’s spiritual energy. Yet, the condensation of Five Elements Divine Liquid was much slower, with both cultivation states having their advantages and disadvantages.

If he had to choose, Ji An would opt for the faster accumulation of magical power, stopping the use of pills when feeling that his cultivation had reached a bottleneck.

…

Time is like reflections in a pond, impossible to grasp, while the stream of years flows, whitening the hair of the young.

Twenty-five years have passed like a dream, with storms brewing in the Little World.

The Spiritual Energy Vortex swayed above the Gathering Essence Tree, as a powerful Spiritual Pressure was brewing.

Ji An sat cross-legged with full concentration, operating his Cultivation Technique, feeling peaceful and free from joy or sorrow.

The surface of the Five Elements Divine Mansion glowed, where two Dao Seeds chased each other. When the Refining Five Elements Spirit Liquid entered the Golden Core in his Middle Dantian, a speck of lightning burst on the surface of the Golden Core.

The momentum surrounding Ji An soared to the sky, and the converged Spiritual Energy Vortex was shattered with a loud boom.

The Spiritual Pressure of the Fifth Layer Golden Core spread out, and the strong wind blew, making the Spirit Woods in the vicinity bend outward in a radial fashion, centering on his position.

With another step forward in Cultivation, a sense of joy shone on Ji An’s face as if he had seen the rainbow after weathering a great storm.

Thanks to the ability to accelerate the ripening of individual Spirit Fruits through Dao Rhyme, his supply of Spirit Medicine was ample. He felt the bottleneck in his Cultivation after just ten years but spent twenty years of arduous Cultivation to break through the bottleneck.

Overall, the result was still excellent. He was now a Mid-stage Golden Core Cultivator, having taken less than thirty years to break through the realm.

Ji An gathered his mind, continuing to operate the Cultivation Technique to refine Spiritual Qi and stabilize his Cultivation.

Once his realm was completely stabilized, he immersed his mind into his Dantian, connecting with the Stone Turtle, and clear characters surfaced in his Sea of Consciousness.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: Metal 116.8, Water 187.6, Wood 146.5, Fire 101.4, Earth 220.5]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 51356.5, Gen Spirit 64215.6, Zhen Spirit 101683.7, Xun Spirit 50415.8, Kun Spirit 86389.2, Qian Spirit 89036.8, Dui Spirit 87612.4, Li Spirit 51546.3]

[Spell: Spirit Sealing Technique (Perfection 93%) Spirit Roar (Perfection 42%) Silk Thread Spell (Perfection 1%) Gui Water God Thunder (Perfection 52%) Yi Wood Spirit Stealing Skill (Perfection 23%)]

Over the years, he had accumulated a vast amount of Spiritual Mechanism and a large sum of Dao Rhyme, allowing him to enhance his Spells, something he hadn’t done for many years.

The Spirit Sealing Technique, a Spell learned during the Foundation Establishment Stage, had stayed with him through hundreds of years of life’s journey.

Cultivating this Spell requires a deep understanding of the Power of the Five Elements, and enhancing it requires using all types of Spiritual Mechanism. Now, as Ji An was wealthy, he wouldn’t be stingy with these expenditures.

“Refine Spiritual Mechanism, enhance Spirit Sealing Technique.”

His Divine Sense was pulled into the profound and mysterious space of the Stone Turtle, forming a shadow that resembled him, with Spirit Light shining on the Eight Trigrams positions.

He stood in the center, practicing the Spell, every insight flowing into his Sea of Consciousness.

[Spell: Spirit Sealing Technique (Perfection 93%→100%)]

In the Sea of Consciousness, the characters of Spirit Sealing Technique quickly faded and soon disappeared.

Spirit Roar and Silk Thread Spell were both Spirit Soul Type Spells that couldn’t be enhanced using Spiritual Mechanism, so they were skipped.

Ji An issued another command, “Refine Spiritual Mechanism, enhance Gui Water God Thunder.”

[Spell: Gui Water God Thunder (Perfection 52%→86%)]

“Refine Spiritual Mechanism, enhance Yi Wood Spirit Stealing Skill.”

[Spell: Yi Wood Spirit Stealing Skill (Perfection 23%→74%)]

The Yi Wood Spirit Stealing Skill is an enhanced version of the Life and Death Technique, proficient in seizing the vitality and spirituality of plants. If used against Wood Element Demon Beasts, it might also have an effect.

After pondering for a moment, Ji An issued another command:

“Retain twenty points of each Dao Rhyme, and refine the rest to enhance the tier of the Gathering Essence Tree. Stop the refinement once the tier enhancement is complete.”

Over the years, he had accumulated nearly three thousand points of Dao Rhyme, and although he had enhanced the Gathering Essence Tree several times, he hadn’t succeeded in raising its tier.

The Stone Turtle flew out from the Dantian, appearing above the Heaven and Earth Spirit Tree. The ground revealed an Eight Trigrams pattern, enveloping the Spirit Wood. Soon, it wove a Yellow Jade light cocoon that far exceeded the height of the Spirit Wood.

About a double hour later, Ji An suddenly felt a slight tremor beneath his feet, as if an Earth Dragon was rolling within. The light cocoon enveloping the Spirit Wood lit up, appearing like a rising sun.

The phenomenon lasted for a short time, vanishing after a few breaths.

When everything calmed down, the light cocoon shattered, and the specks of light didn’t scatter as before, but rather, were absorbed by the Spirit Wood inside.

The Stone Turtle wobbled and flew back beside Ji An, and after entering the Dantian, it immediately laid down beside the Primordial Life Fire, closing its eyes to rest; it seemed very tired.

The seven-zhang tall Gathering Essence Tree came into Ji An’s view, with each leaf of the Spirit Wood appearing as if carved from jade, its glow restrained.

Ji An was exceedingly joyful and quickly immersed his mind into the Dantian, connecting with the Stone Turtle.

[Dao Rhyme: Metal 36.7, Water 109.4, Wood 64.5, Fire 24.3, Earth 96.8]

Now, the Gathering Essence Tree had finally become a Tier Three Upper Grade Spirit Tree.

“Haha, put out the Spirit Wine; today, I must celebrate.”

…

The following day, Lin Jiuxiao came to visit the Grotto Mansion.

“Senior Brother, in a few days, the Merchant Flying Ship from Central Continent will depart, and I will return to Western Continent with it.”

Ji An nodded gently, “It is time to say goodbye. I’ve prepared many things for the Sect; be careful on the road.”

The Demon Fog encompassing the area of Wulan Mountain has expanded more than tenfold, with many rumors about new Demon Caves appearing.

He retrieved a large number of Jade Bottles from the Grotto Void Stone, “These are Fire Element Pills, over four hundred and sixty of them, enough to support the Sect’s Golden Core Cultivators for several years.”