Rising from Small Cloud Rain Technique

Among the three cultivators, it was evident that the one with the thick beard was the leader. His gaze was filled with scrutiny and vigilance as he questioned:

"Who are you, daring to impersonate friends of the Golden Spirit Sect!"

Ji An raised an eyebrow and said softly:

"Why is the fellow Daoist so rash? I am Ji An of the Golden Spirit Sect, returning from travels in the Northern Land.

I was hoping to inquire about our current location, but didn’t expect such a tragedy here.

If you hadn’t come, I would have personally visited Yuanhe Mountain to report the situation here."

His reply caught Ji An by surprise. Even if there were doubts about his identity, it wasn’t necessary to voice them immediately.

The words, when spoken, clearly indicated confrontation, which wasn’t an effective way to handle the situation.

The bearded cultivator’s eyes suddenly narrowed, and he asked tentatively:

"Hall Master Ji?"

Ji An nodded slightly, took out the Sect Jade Token, and held it up for the other party to take a distant look, saying:

"Ji An from the Agricultural Hall, greetings to you fellow Daoists.

I have been away from the sect on a journey for about fifteen years. Have there been any new developments during these years?"

Identity Jade Tokens are never given to cultivators outside the sect; they can only be viewed from a distance.

The bearded cultivator shook his head, then nodded:

"Your sect and Luofeng Valley haven’t had any bad events reported in recent years. However, our Yuanhe Mountain jurisdiction has been quite troubled.

A few years back, we discovered cultivators colluding with demon cultivators, and recently we’ve spotted traces of magic users."

The matter of magic users is quite serious, hence they notified the other two sects of it.

Three years ago, Beichen Ancestor accidentally discovered that demon cultivators had infiltrated among his disciples, and in a fury, conducted a thorough investigation, finding nearly a hundred demon cultivators.

Such a scandal was a tremendous disgrace for Yuanhe Mountain, shattering the sect’s thousand-year prestige.

After thoroughly investigating within the sect, the ancestor personally proceeded to scrutinize the affiliated forces, uncovering several small families turned into demon cultivator nests and a highly concealed Demon Cave.

The bearded cultivator carefully examined Ji An’s Jade Token, gave a signal to his fellow disciples, who then walked over to stand beside him.

The bearded cultivator cupped his hands, revealing a difficult smile, and said solemnly:

"I am Gao Longxiang from the Martial Arts Hall, and these are my junior brothers Han Wen and Han Wu. Please forgive our earlier offense."

The unity of Western Continent sects is the foundation of stability and prosperity, a conclusion drawn from ages of both overt and covert struggles among the Three Sects.

Ji An’s expression eased, "Fellow Daoist’s efforts for Western Continent’s safety are admirable, what offense is there."

After exchanging a few words, Gao Longxiang spoke again:

"You arrived before us, have you any findings?"

Ji An approached a corpse, pointing to the blurred black spot on the forehead:

"Undoubtedly, this is the work of magic users, and the action was taken twelve double hours ago, but no longer than twenty-four double hours."

The mark left by the extraction of the Spirit Soul will completely dissipate after thirty-six double hours.

"Even though magic users might use the cultivator’s Spirit Soul for sacrificial refinement of demonic artifacts or demon skills, they wouldn’t leave the corpse completely drained of moisture, indicating their inheritance emphasizes fresh blood."

While speaking, Ji An couldn’t help but conjure up an image of a female demon he encountered twice in the Western Continent.

Could it be a case of ’familiar perpetrator’? He pondered, recalling that the female demon could manipulate Blood River.

The more he pondered, the more plausible it seemed, and a fierce glint appeared in his eyes as he grinned.

He couldn’t afford to provoke magic users from the Northern Land, but with those from Western Continent, perhaps he could exert some pressure.

With this thought, his previously gloomy mood significantly lifted.

Nonetheless, his expression quickly turned solemn; the cultivation speed of magic users is exceedingly rapid, and he must endeavor greatly.

Once he reaches the Golden Core Stage, with the aid of the Stone Turtle Spirit Mechanism, his personal strength will experience a burst phase.

Meaning, upon breaking through the Great Realm, he will be eligible to face Golden Core Stage magic users.

While he might not stand a chance against veteran demons, he should have some degree of self-defense against other early-stage Golden Core magic users.

Currently, Ji An has two channels to acquire Spiritual Mechanism: absorbing from the Little World and extracting from the Spiritual Vein where his grotto mansion is situated.

As long as he resides steadily on Red Flame Peak for several decades, the Spiritual Mechanism will accumulate to an exceptionally large level.

Gao Longxiang nodded, "Fellow Daoist speaks wisely."

After a brief conversation, he softly inquired:

"Fellow Daoist has just returned to the Western Continent, presumably eager to head home. I won’t delay you further, this is not the place for hospitality.

Should you venture into the Northern region again, I shall surely await you with proper reception."

Recognizing the obvious intent to send him off, Ji An cupped his hands:

"The green mountains remain, and the waters grow, fellow Daoists, until we meet again."

Red cloud mist emerged beneath their feet, and they soared away on it. After flying several hundred yards, Ji An turned back and called out:

"Fellow Daoists, where is this place?"

Currently, he was only semi-lost and almost forgot the most crucial matter, somewhat embarrassed.

"Flying Dragon Mountain."

"Thank you," Ji An replied, then resumed his flying escape. He took out the map jade slip of the Western Continent, searching for Flying Dragon Mountain’s location.

Once their position was confirmed, the Red Spirit Cloud headed toward the southeast.

Guu Hongming commented, "Those cultivators don’t like us."

Following initial panic, his emotions have settled.

Ji An smiled, "How can you tell?"

"Intuition. When you were talking, they always seemed distant, I could feel it."

Guu Hongming paused, "I don’t like them."

"Nobody likes others discovering their scandals; they’re not inviting me to join the investigation, which suits my intentions."

Ji An said no more and fully activated the Fire Spirit Cloud Flying Escape.

...

Half a month later.

Ji An looked into the distance at the mountain city towering above the clouds and laughed loudly:

"There is the largest Immortal City of the Western Continent — Cyan Cloud Immortal City. Once we reach there, we’re almost home."

Guu Hongming’s eyesight was not as strong as Ji An’s. He placed his hand on his forehead, and after a moment, finally saw the outline of the Immortal City, speaking a truth:

"It doesn’t seem as grand as Red Rock Immortal City."

The main node of Red Rock Immortal City’s Spiritual Vein reached Tier Three Middle Grade, covering a much larger area than Cyan Cloud Immortal City.

"Haha, you’re right. But in the Western Continent, the main function of an Immortal City is as a trading place. Are you a bit disappointed?"

Guu Hongming scratched his head, "A bit."

Ji An laughed again, thinking to himself what an honest child he was.

"The truly prosperous places in the Western Continent are the Three Sects. In a moment, I’ll take you to explore the Immortal City.

Unfortunately, your cultivation is still quite low. Otherwise, we could use a Teleportation Array to return."

The distance from here to the Sect is relatively far, and a Qi Refining Stage disciple cannot withstand the immense spatial pressure during teleportation.

Guu Hongming felt a bit disappointed, "I’ve never used a Teleportation Array before."

"There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. In my Dao Field within the Sect, there’s a short-distance Teleportation Array. You can experience it."

"Great," Guu Hongming cheered joyfully, waving his still youthful fist with enthusiasm.

The Red Spirit Cloud descended on the platform outside the Immortal City, Ji An’s Daoist Robe serving as the best pass.

He took Guu Hongming to wander about the Immortal City for half a day, not staying overnight at the Sect’s residence, then departed the Celestial Immortal City by cloud.

Behind him, the lights of the Immortal City turned on, reflecting the stars above, as if merging into one.

...

The next day, in the early morning.

"This is my Dao Field."

Ji An said softly, it seemed he was speaking to Guu Hongming beside him, yet it might also have been to himself.

A moment later, he returned to Red Flame Peak by cloud, opened his arms, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then let out a long sigh of relief.

During these days, his mind was tense almost every moment, driving himself continuously in flying escape to avoid being caught by a possible Demon Cultivator without daring to pause.

Returning to this very familiar land, he suddenly relaxed his mind, and the feeling of exhaustion surged over him like a tide.

As soon as he entered Red Flame Peak, Guu Hongming’s eyes widened suddenly.

Though not a Spirit Farmer, he knew that only Tier Two Spirit Plants would radiate brilliance.

A few days ago, when Grandpa Ji introduced himself as the Hall Master of the Agricultural Hall, he had been puzzled! The other should have been the Hall Master of the Alchemy or Talisman Making Hall.

Now seeing the mountains covered with Tier Two Spirit Plants, most of his doubts disappeared. With such a Dao Field, naturally, it was necessary to control the Agricultural Hall.

Guu Hongming swallowed with difficulty, wiped the corners of his mouth, and with great respect asked:

"Grandpa Ji, how many Tier Two Spirit Plants are here?"

"Several thousand, but I don’t find it convenient to disclose the exact number."

Ji An chuckled softly, for he had forgotten the exact number himself. At first, when he cultivated Tier Two Spirit Plants, he cherished each one with great pride, but now only those at Tier Two Top Grade and above could stir his heart.

Zhang Xueling was arranging Spiritual Food by the table when she suddenly saw a cloud of Red Spirit Cloud flying into the mountain.

She couldn’t help widening her eyes, wanting to see who was coming.

Her pause in movement caught Han Shan’s attention, and following her gaze, he suddenly stood up.

As a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, his eyesight was much stronger than hers, and he immediately recognized the face of the cultivator standing on the Red Cloud.

"Se-Senior Sister, Master is back!"

"Ah?"

Lin Lan was momentarily stunned, looked up at the sky, only to see the Red Cloud descending. She saw the face of dignity mingled with kindness.

Before the Red Cloud landed, they all stepped forward, solemnly bowed and called out:

"Disciple greets Master!"

"At ease. It seems I’ve returned just in time. It’s been years since I tasted the Spiritual Food of Red Flame Peak, and I deeply miss it."

"Please, Master, take a seat!"

Ji An took the main seat and waved his hand, "Everyone, sit!"

"This is a friend’s grandson. He will join the Sect in the future, so you should get to know him."

He also introduced the two disciples to Guu Hongming, instructing them to stay close in the future.

Lin Lan gave a somewhat reserved smile, "Little Junior Brother, from now on you have to call me Senior Sister."

With another Junior Brother, she would have to share Master’s favor, but with another Junior Brother or sister, their lineage would only grow stronger.

This way, she, as the Senior Sister, would carry more authority.

Ji An smiled and shook his head, "Hongming will join the Artifact Refining Hall in the future, but it doesn’t prevent you all from staying close."

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