Sharp Metal Art

Night was not suitable for flying, so Ji An decided to spend the night in the open ground outside the General Affairs Hall.

A bright moon hung overhead, its clear radiance spilling across his face.

He sat cross-legged and cultivated his technique, unwilling to waste even a moment of cultivation.

The night was cool as water. After leaving cultivation, Ji An began practicing his spells.

The two newly acquired spells were somewhat harder than Minor Cloud and Rain Art and the like. It took him three or four attempts to barely gain entry into the Blazing Fire Spell.

Even after half an hour, he had yet to gain entry into the Sharp Metal Art, making him feel challenged for the first time.

I fucking refuse to believe that an entry-level Farming Spell can be this difficult!

Rather than crushing his spirits, the setback ignited Ji An's pride. He studied the incantation word by word, casting the spell again and again, correcting mistakes through trial and error. Gradually, he came to understand where its difficulty lay.

The other four spells had very low requirements for controlling mana output.

The Sharp Metal Art demanded exceedingly fine control over mana. One needed to divide mana into strands of Metal Element Spiritual Energy and release them, and it also placed high demands on the strength of one's divine sense.

The difficulty was not even on the same scale.

Even with the detailed explanations in the incantation, the distance between knowing and doing seemed as vast as heaven and earth.

Failure after failure did not dishearten Ji An. In his previous life, when he had been a salesperson at Some An, there had been times when he cold-called hundreds of people without closing a single deal.

The Stone Turtle was what he relied on. It could help him save an enormous amount of time and grow at a faster pace.

But he absolutely could not be useless trash who was worthless without a cheat. Absolutely not.

He clearly remembered that he had obtained the Stone Turtle only after opening his immortal veins through his own strength.

Perhaps his state of mind at that moment aligned with the divine intent of a Metal Element technique, for his casting grew increasingly skillful.

Metal was sharp.

In the darkness, the youth continuously summed up his experience, making fewer and fewer mistakes.

When the mana in his body was completely exhausted, Ji An did not hesitate to take out a Yellow Bud Pill. He circulated the Clear Origin Scripture, refining the pill's spiritual energy into mana.

The waning moon slanted westward, then vanished behind a dark cloud, making the world even dimmer.

At that moment, strands of Golden Light rippled from Ji An's fingers, piercing the profound darkness and illuminating his deep eyes.

"Dao Master has done it!"

Ji An burst into wild laughter. Were matters in this world truly divided into difficult and easy?

At some point, the dark cloud drifted away. Moonlight filtered through the leaves, scattering patches of light before Ji An like reflections of the stars in the heavenly dome.

Too excited to sleep, Ji An simply took out the jade slip for the third layer of Minor Cloud and Rain Art and pressed it to his forehead.

A quarter of an hour later, he pondered the differences between the third-layer incantation passed down in the inheritance and what he had comprehended himself, summarizing where his own way of thinking needed improvement.

The sky gradually brightened. Sunlight swept from the mountaintop down to the mountainside, coating Ji An's face in a layer of gold.

He narrowed his eyes slightly and linked his mind to the Stone Turtle. Clear words surfaced in his mind.

Master: Ji An

Dao Rhyme: 0

Spiritual Inspiration: Kan Spirit 18.5, Kun Spirit 11.7, Xun Spirit 3.7

Spells: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Minor Accomplishment 2%)

Thick Earth Art (Minor Accomplishment 1%)

Wither and Flourish Art (Minor Accomplishment 1%)

Blazing Fire Spell (Entry 1%)

Sharp Metal Art (Entry 2%)

He had already comprehended fifty or sixty percent of the essence of the third layer of Minor Cloud and Rain Art. To gain a deeper understanding, he would need actual practice.

Refine 10 points of Kan Spirit!

The reason he did not go all in was that if Minor Cloud and Rain Art reached the fourth layer, the mana in his body would very likely be insufficient for the needs of Spirit Grain during its heading stage.

As his thoughts moved, his divine sense was drawn into the Stone Turtle Space, where he practiced Minor Cloud and Rain Art over and over again at the Kan position.

Threads of insight flowed through his heart, and his understanding of the third-layer incantation deepened.

The Kan Spirit number steadily decreased like water draining through a clepsydra, while his comprehension of Minor Cloud and Rain Art continuously increased.

When the 10 points of Kan Spirit had been fully consumed, Ji An's divine sense withdrew from the Stone Turtle Space.

Spell: Minor Cloud and Rain Art (Minor Accomplishment 2→31%)

Refining 10 points of Kan Spirit took only an instant. In the eyes of others, Ji An had merely blinked.

The corner of his mouth twitched slightly. I made a fool of myself. I thought this much Kan Spirit would be enough to push Minor Cloud and Rain Art close to the fourth layer, but I was nowhere near it.

He was not disappointed. Once Spirit Grain reached the heading stage, it needed rain every day. Combined with the Kan Spirit he gained daily, if he wished, he could soon raise the spell to Great Accomplishment.

A Great Accomplishment Minor Cloud and Rain Art could increase yields by around thirty percent.

A Great Accomplishment Thick Earth Art could increase yields by twenty percent.

A Great Accomplishment Wither and Flourish Art could increase yields by thirty percent.

Ji An rode a Talisman Bird away from the General Affairs Hall, heading straight for Azure Water Market to find Wei Songnian.

"Senior Brother Wei, give me twenty Yellow Bud Pills!"

He was rich and arrogant now. Turning Spirit Stones into strength was the best choice.

"Haha, Junior Brother, you've come to support my business again. Good."

Wei Songnian was greatly surprised, unable to figure out where this junior brother had gotten so many Spirit Stones.

Yet he did not show the slightest hint of it on his face, instead handing over two porcelain bottles with a broad smile.

Ji An counted the pills and tucked them into his robes, then took out two Spirit Stones and said:

"I plan to learn the craft of a Talismans Crafter in the future. Do you have any advice, Senior Brother?"

His comprehension was quite good, and with the Stone Turtle as his backing, becoming a Talismans Crafter was a profession tailor-made for him.

Wei Songnian accepted the Spirit Stones, a troubled expression appearing on his face.

"If Junior Brother wants to sell Farming Spell talismans, I fear the market will be worrying."

A Talismans Crafter could only draw talismans for spells they knew. If Ji An wanted to sell them, he could only sell talismans for Farming Spells.

Take Minor Cloud and Rain Art as an example. Spirit Grain needed rain every day during its heading stage, while spirit herbs needed rain once every few days.

Farming Spells simply were not suited to being made into talismans. If priced high, no one would buy them; if priced low, the costs could not even be recovered.

"Senior Brother, I said in the future. The future!"

Ji An was speechless. If Spirit Farmers had to buy talismans even for Farming Spells, what fucking Spirit Crystals would they earn?

"Hehe." Wei Songnian chuckled. "Junior Brother thinks far ahead."

He stopped smiling and said seriously:

"If Junior Brother also has talent for attack spells, there is no harm in preparing early."

"In my view, Junior Brother, you might as well first learn how to make talisman paper and mix talisman ink."

"That way, even if you lack the talent of a Talismans Crafter, Junior Brother will still have learned another trade."

"Spirit Farmers can grow Talisman Grass themselves, so the cost of making talisman paper is lower."

Wei Songnian paused, then added:

"The Contribution Points required for the Talisman Master inheritance are considerable, but learning basic talisman-paper making and talisman-ink mixing requires far fewer. If I remember correctly, it is twenty Contribution Points."

"Thank you, Senior Brother." Ji An thanked him sincerely.

"We're brothers. Why be so polite?"

"If Junior Brother makes talisman paper or talisman ink, you can come to me to sell it on your behalf."

"Ordinary talisman paper brings meager profits, but premium-grade talisman paper is in short supply and makes quite a profit."

Ji An thanked him once more, took his leave, and rode a Talisman Bird back to the bamboo house in the valley.

After returning home, he took everything from his robes and counted up his assets.

During his two-day trip, he had borrowed seven Spirit Stones.

Exchanging for Contribution Points and buying pills had cost him a total of three Spirit Stones and sixty Spirit Crystals.

Including his previous remaining Spirit Crystals and pills, he currently had four Spirit Stones and twenty Spirit Crystals, along with twenty-one Yellow Bud Pills.

Of course, he also had a debt of eighteen Spirit Stones.

Setting aside the debt, Ji An wondered whether the resources in his hands could raise him to Qi Condensation Layer 4.

It was a little uncertain, but with the Spirit Grain harvest within the year added in, it might just be possible.

He put away his belongings, swallowed a Yellow Bud Pill, and began cultivating his technique.