Chapter 70: Chapter 68: Cold Wind Technique A little tipsy, Ji An returned to the grotto mansion and quickly sat down to refine the spiritual power within the spiritual food. Spiritual power, like mist or smoke, circulated in the Immortal Vein in a specific manner. After circulating a Grand Circulation, the spiritual power was refined into magical power and injected into the Dantian and Qihai Acupoints. The Stone Turtle happily swallowed half of the share, with a slight shimmer of spirit light on its body. The feeling of intoxication quickly dissipated, and Ji An felt his somewhat chaotic consciousness rapidly return to clarity. Spiritual power nourished the Immortal Vein, making his entire body comfortable, with jade liquid naturally arising in his mouth and flowing down his throat. Compared to the rush of extracting spiritual power from spirit stones during demon hunting, the current feeling was much more exquisite. Unbeknownst to him, the moonlight spilling at the entrance of the grotto mansion had already flowed away. When Ji An felt a slight sting in the Immortal Vein and finished his cultivation, a double hour and two moments had already passed. Feeling the fullness of magical power within, he showed a slight smile on his face. During demon hunting in the wild, the magical power was almost never full, let alone improving cultivation. The cultivation techniques were operated purely to recover magical power, always prepared to face the next battle. The gains from this demon hunting were decent, but the growth of cultivation was nearly stagnant. According to Chu River, they could only rely on a few days in the marketplace for a cultivation breakthrough. Then everyone would take pills and use the Spirit Capturing Array to maximize the use of various external cultivation objects, achieving a significant boost. Generally, only seven or eight days of cultivation time could be squeezed out in a month. Ji An stood up, moved the spell releases the Wind Control Technique, and slowly paced in the grotto mansion, pondering his strengths and weaknesses during the demon hunting process. Firstly, in terms of magic techniques, the Geng Metal Finger’s damage was sufficient, but the effective attack range was too short, only two yards, forcing him into close combat with demon beasts. The close distance placed higher demands on his reaction capability, especially when facing agile demon beasts or large groups of demon beasts, where he inevitably fell into a passive position. At this time, the importance of speed manifested itself; his Wind Control Technique though reaching the Great Success Level, exposed inadequacies when facing the Qi Refining Perfection Ape King. To resolve this predicament, he needed to enhance the level of his Wind Control Technique and choose a new magic technique to restrain enemies. In the Magic Technique Jade Slip, there were two magic techniques available for learning: the Wood Element Vine Technique and the Cold Wind Technique. Ji An calmed his mind and summoned the Stone Turtle. [Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 637.2, Kun Spirit 601.8, Xun Spirit 354.4, Zhen Spirit 6.5] In recent days spent running among the mountains, the Stone Turtle absorbed very little Kan Spirit, whereas the Xun Spirit was much higher than near Jade Water Lake, and a small amount of Zhen Spirit was absorbed. For optimal effect of Vine Technique, a place with abundant vegetation was required, otherwise, the power greatly decreased. The currently stored Spiritual Mechanism could only elevate the magic technique to the Great Success Level, which was somewhat unsatisfactory. Moreover, Jiang Qiuyue in the team specialized in Wood Element and Water Element magic techniques, so continuing in the team reduced the urgency of learning the Vine Technique. The Cold Wind Technique, being a wind magic technique, would maintain its power except in high-temperature environments. According to Five Elements Theory, the Water and Wood mutual generation mutated into wind, with the cold attribute also due to water. Xun Spirit itself symbolizes wind; hence learning the Cold Wind Technique could leverage his current Spiritual Mechanism to quickly improve, with a wider applicable range. Ji An was determined, stopped hesitating, took out the Magic Technique Jade Slip, placed it on his forehead, and began studying the Cold Wind Technique. Nothing else mattered, first get the technique entry-level and experiment if it could be quickly enhanced. The Cold Wind Technique is a mixed magic with a significantly higher difficulty than other techniques, requiring more precise control over magical power. Because it necessitated simultaneously differentiating one’s magical power into Wood Element Spiritual Energy and Water Element Spiritual Energy, and then mixing and activating them, adding an extra major step compared to single-attribute techniques, with the first step being exponentially harder. Wind and thunder types of magic techniques strongly reflect a cultivator’s comprehension and the fine control ability of Divine Sense, typically only encountered by Ninth-Layer Qi Refining cultivators. Once grasping the technique essentials, Ji An began practical implementation. People often make the mistake of thinking they comprehend after studying theory, yet frequent errors occur during practical application. The idealized white snow in spring turned out to be shredded feathers scattered across the ground. Most of the night went by before Ji An barely mastered the rhythm of the first step of spellcasting. Through the silent night, in his dreams, he continued pondering the essence of the Cold Wind Technique. Upon waking the next day at 5:00 AM, Ji An used the Spirit Capturing Array to begin a day of cultivation. Perhaps it was the complement between tension and relaxation aligning with the Celestial Dao, he felt the cultivation was somewhat smoother than at the sect, even opening a small minor vein. When the Immortal Vein began to struggle to endure, he stopped cultivation, continuing the practice of the Cold Wind Technique. Not disappointing the efforts spent in dream analysis overnight, he was divinely inspired as if assisted by a deity, achieving much smoother spellcasting than the previous day. His hand swiftly formed dharma seals, directing magical power to traverse quickly through the Immortal Vein. With a gentle push of his palm, a chill-infused cold wind swept forth. Ji An immersed his mind into the Stone Turtle, where lines of information began to surface in his mind. [Magic Technique: Cold Wind Technique (Entry 1%)] He focused his attention on the Cold Wind Technique, a prompt slowly emerged. [Kan Spirit and Xun Spirit can be consumed for enhancement. Would you like to refine the Spiritual Mechanism?] This secured it, refine! Ji An’s Divine Sense was drawn into the Stone Turtle’s Profound Mysterious Space; unlike previous times, he appeared floating in mid-air rather than on the turtle’s back. Xun Spirit and Kan Spirit continuously dwindled while the Cold Wind Technique consistently advanced, streams of insights flowed through his heart. Ji An concluded the refinement, Divine Sense returning to his body. [Magic Technique: Cold Wind Technique (Entry 1%→Minor Achievement 2%)] He cast once more, generating a cold wind of more than eight feet in diameter, howling with chilling intensity, resulting in a layer of frost within the grotto mansion, water in an enamel mug on the table froze into ice. "The power is sufficient, aside from its damage, it’s more than adequate for slowing enemies." Ji An remarked inwardly, checking the consumption of Spiritual Mechanism, observing an equal reduction in Kan Spirit and Xun Spirit. Since he only practiced the technique to Minor Achievement Level, the consumption wasn’t much, only depleting 6 points of each type of Spiritual Mechanism. ... Apart from spending half a day together with others to purchase supplies, Ji An remained in the mansion focused entirely on cultivation. With spirit stones at hand, he spared no expense, keeping the Spirit Capturing Array running around the clock to compensate for the cultivation progress delayed by demon hunting. When the Immortal Vein couldn’t support further cultivation, he reflected calmly over his battles, considering areas where his magical combat skills could improve. The team rested in the marketplace for three days before heading out once again. This time, their target was a group of Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses, a cluster of Fire Element demon beasts; the team purchased fifty Cold Wind Talismans for this mission. "Junior brother, your Water Curtain Talisman is very suitable for this battle. How many do you have? The team is purchasing now, settled upon returning to the marketplace." Chen Moxuan said with a smile, increasingly convinced that Ji An’s presence significantly enhanced the team’s fortune. The last round of Geng Metal Talismans had a remarkable effect against the Ape Demon, and using the Water Curtain Talisman for defense against the Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses this time makes for a perfect rhythm! Ji An contemplated, then handed over 12 magic talismans with shimmering water-blue spirit light: "Distribute three to each person; if insufficient, I have more." Even though he claimed to carry only twenty talismans, it’s quite reasonable for a Talisman Maker to keep some talismans hidden as trump cards.