Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Zhang Daoyan’s mouth involuntarily fell open with astonishment. He had never encountered an enemy like this before, someone who would charge headfirst into a magic attack without dodging.

Could the enemy be a fool?

Of course not, a fool wouldn’t have the privilege of competing with him for a spot in the Nine Netherworld, otherwise, wouldn’t it imply he is lesser than a fool!

Yet, the enemy did just that, casting a shadow over his heart.

An opponent who doesn’t play by the rules is difficult to deal with. He had no idea what the other party aimed to do, but he knew he couldn’t let them succeed.

If the enemy advanced too close, he wouldn’t stand a chance against a high-skilled magical combat cultivator.

He was a Puppet Master, very clear on how to exploit his strengths.

’Retreat, land on the ground, then surround him with the puppets!’

Thoughts rushed through his mind in an instant, as he was about to act, he suddenly felt as if his mind and chest were struck by a heavy hammer, immediately losing control over his body.

Then, hundreds of inch-long streaks of silver light converged into a torrent before his eyes.

The brilliant splendor was as if stars from the Celestial were falling to the human world, akin to silver flying fish swiftly descending with the current.

Soon after, the silver lights penetrated his body, bringing an inexplicable sense of sorrow that plunged his consciousness into darkness.

His body silently slipped off the back of the Beast Taming creature, as the Snow Eagle let out a tragic cry, and countless black auras wafted out from the white bird.

Its originally pitch-black eyes turned as red as blood-hued gems, radiating cold, eerie light before it shot skyward with a sudden rise.

’Damn it!’

The transformation of the Snow Eagle startled Ji An greatly. He realized he was in deep trouble again and, enduring the discomfort from releasing the Spirit Roar, launched another Spirit Soul attack.

This jet-black eagle had to be taken down!

Just before the magical beast could fly beyond attack range, the Spirit Roar was released, instantly freezing its entire body, halting its upward momentum.

Ji An felt as if his head was about to split open, his Sea of Consciousness on the brink of shattering.

Summoning his remaining strength, he formed a seal and released the Geng Metal Spirit-Slaying Sword, dozens of silver flying swords flickered with light, instantly piercing through the magical beast’s body.

He needed to dissect the corpse of the magical beast, thus did not choose to activate the Earth-Departing Flame Banner.

The battle started abruptly and ended swiftly, showcasing Ji An’s current strength.

Facing an opponent of lesser raw strength than his own, it was a crushing victory, a fatal blow.

Behind him, following Zhang Daoyan’s death, the magical marks in the puppet control centers were instantly obliterated.

The puppets automatically cut off the energy transmission from the Spirit Stones, grounding the ground puppets to a halt and sending the aerial ones plummeting like so many dumplings.

Ji An immediately activated the Soul Nourishing Pendant in its maximum power mode, rapidly extracting soul energy to nourish his spirit soul.

He landed on the ground, pressing his temples forcefully several times, controlling the Golden Armor Puppet to position the cultivator’s body next to the completely blackened eagle.

He cast the Golden Light Technique, slicing open their chests, then forcefully slapped his forehead.

"What a mess!"

Inside both the cultivator and the magical beast, a demon infant was gestating, the one in the cultivator’s body was about a foot long, its organs hollowed out, leaving only a dense network of black blood vessels.

The demon infant inside the magical beast was much smaller, only half a foot, with just its lungs and spleen gnawed away.

All this indicated that a demon cultivator had settled near Silver Moon City, or at least had been here before.

He had no idea what level the demon cultivator’s power reached, but considering a Nascent Soul cultivator participated in the encirclement and he escaped, it’d require at least a Late-stage Golden Core to achieve that!

The battlefield was littered with spoils of war, yet they failed to cheer Ji An up. He sighed heavily while scavenging and obtained a Grotto Void Stone from a corpse.

He activated the Earth-Departing Flame Banner, spewing flames to incinerate the Demon Puppet’s corpse, soon reducing it to charcoal.

Subsequently, he swiftly collected the various puppets into the Void Realm space.

Within the snow wall, Guu Hongming stealthily poked his head out, noticing the sound of battle had swiftly ended, and couldn’t help but check.

He clearly understood that if their side won, he bore no risk; if they lost, his life would hold no guarantee.

And then, he saw the scene of Ji An gathering one puppet after another.

’So powerful!’

His grandfather had told him to respect the other because he was an exceptionally powerful Talisman Maker and Alchemist; he hadn’t expected such prowess in magical combat as well.

Within Guu Hongming’s young heart, a towering figure rose up.

After eradicating all traces, Ji An maneuvered the black Water Element Cloud, scooping up Guu Hongming and departing.

"We can’t stay here today, the enemy likely has accomplices."

Maneuvering the Earth-Departing Flame Banner offered the fastest escape, yet it soon turned dark and the light from the spiritual artifacts couldn’t be hidden; maneuvering other Five Elements Clouds bore the same troubles, thus maneuvering the Water Element Cloud was best.

Perfectly merging with the night, the Water Element had flowing and purifying properties, able to obscure the ’scent’ his body emitted.

He repeatedly changed flight directions, flying on a trajectory resembling a winding path for about half an hour, speeding towards Gulal Pass.

’Am I so fated with demon cultivators!’

Ji An was incredibly frustrated, having encountered demon cultivators several times in the Western Continent, he hadn’t expected the same in the cold and frigid Far North.

At that moment, he cursed his own low cultivation. If only he had sufficient cultivation, what threat would a demon cultivator be!

...

The sky was vast and expansive, with cold winds cutting like a knife.

At the site where Ji An had cremated the bodies, a figure in a gray Daoist robe had appeared.

His appearance was very ordinary, except for his eyes, which were deep like an abyss.

The appearance of the corpse was laid bare in his eyes, and after inspecting it, a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

"Discovered again, this place is no longer safe to stay!"

He took out a black bottle and poured out some powder.

The powder fell on the already charred corpse, quickly dissolving the last traces.

Now that his tracks were exposed, he had to leave. There was a Nascent Soul Cultivator stationed on this land; he didn’t dare to wantonly harvest soul and flesh.

Tomorrow, after collecting the other Demon Puppets, he would leave and start anew somewhere else.

In this period of time, he had gained a rather detailed understanding of the situation in the Cultivation Realm, and he planned to travel southwest.

The Western Continent was originally the domain of Demon Beasts. Part of it was now occupied by cultivators, and more importantly, he had received confirmed information that there were no Nascent Soul Cultivators there!

As long as he was cautious, he could quickly amass power and attempt to break through to the Nascent Soul Level.

If he succeeded by luck, he would have more resources to survive; if he failed, he would be destroyed under the Thunder Tribulation, freeing him from future worries.

Pushing through to the Nascent Soul Level was an extremely dangerous endeavor for a Demon Cultivator, but he wouldn’t rush to break through to the next Realm.

,

Facing the wind and rain, under the stars and moon.

Two months passed, and gazing at the distant buildings on the mountain, Ji An took a long breath.

He had now crossed the most desolate stretch of the journey, returning from the wilderness back to the civilized world, and was entering the jurisdiction of Yuanhe Mountain.

Beside him, Guu Hongming also relaxed.

Grandpa Ji’s mad rush during this time had made him realize that they had triggered a formidable trouble.

Ji An slowed his pace and landed in a dense forest, saying:

"The further south we go, the higher the temperature will rise. You might want to switch to a lighter Daoist Robe."

Gu Hongming looked embarrassed, "I didn’t prepare any."

Ji An laughed, "If we come across a Marketplace, I’ll take you to buy one. Wearing fur clothing will get you laughed at to death.

Wait a moment while I change clothes."

He summoned a Flame Dragon Eagle to guard the other’s safety, being very cautious on this matter.

If the other person left his sight or he needed to leave briefly, he would certainly summon a Puppet or Beast to safeguard the other’s safety.

After a while, Ji An, wearing the standard Daoist Robe of the Golden Spirit Sect, returned to the child’s side. Underfoot, a Chi Yun swirled, and the two flew away together.

He stretched out his arm, pointing at the pavilions and towers of the distant mountain, saying:

"Let’s inquire over there about our current location, and maybe buy you a Daoist Robe if possible."

There were no landmark buildings in this area. He could only rely on the position of the sun, moon, and stars to navigate, which had a large margin of error.

As they drew closer, Ji An’s expression became graver. In such a vast mountain range, there were no signs of human activity—no sight of a single person, as if even a ghost could tell something was wrong.

When he flew over the mountains unimpeded, his face turned even sourer.

The Mountain Protection Array of the Spiritual Vein was not activated, which was incredible anywhere.

The Mountain Protection Arrays of all forces were always in an active state, differing only in the strength of defense levels.

After a while longer, he saw dried corpses all over the mountain, like wind-dried cured meat that had no moisture, with frightened expressions still on their faces.

On all their foreheads, there was a coin-sized black spot, a mark of the Spirit Soul being extracted.

They must have felt sheer despair in their final moments.

"What exactly happened?"

Guu Hongming asked in a trembling voice; he had never seen such a scene.

Ji An gently patted his back and said in a deep voice:

"It’s the means of a Demon Cultivator. Demonic and magical calamities broke out in the Western Continent years ago, and some rats in the gutter haven’t been cleaned up."

He was secretly puzzled; Yuanhe Mountain was one of the three major Golden Core Powers in the Western Continent. After so many years, they should have regained control over this region.

And yet there were still Demon Cultivators surfacing, sacrificing an entire family. Whether or not they were cultivators, all were killed. This was not a good sign.

Just as he was pondering, several Spirit Lights flew in from a distance, and a cultivator shouted angrily:

"Who are you, stand still!"

His voice was filled with anger, like thunder.

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly, watching the three cultivators wearing Yuanhe Mountain Daoist Robes approaching through the air, and he made no other moves.

Moving rashly at this time would invite hostility, after all, he had nothing to hide.

However, the necessary precautions were still needed. He summoned the Wuji Xinghuang Banner, unwilling to entrust his safety to others.

The three cultivators quickly landed, surrounding Ji An and his companion.

Ji An could sense from their emitted aura that these individuals were Chao Origin Stage Cultivators, making him even more puzzled.

’Could it be that during the years of my absence, something major happened again in the Western Continent?’

After the Demon Calamity ended, order was reestablished. Situations requiring three Chao Origin Stage Cultivators to be dispatched simultaneously should no longer exist.

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