Time seems like sand held in the hand; the tighter you grasp, the faster it slips away.

Suddenly looking back, three years have passed.

During this time, Ji An was like an ordinary junior cultivator, going out every few days to find places with Spiritual Mechanism conflicts and practice various escape techniques.

Meanwhile, he also established cooperative relationships with a talisman shop and a pill medicine shop, gradually integrating into this Immortal City, building some connections, and starting to access relatively hidden information.

The crescent moon rose, hanging diagonally on the treetops.

In the Grotto Mansion, Ji An sat cross-legged on the pudun, beginning to operate the Five Elements Reincarnation Scripture. The Spiritual Qi here did not exhibit an obvious Five Elements affinity, being impartial and harmonious, or perhaps it was the fusion of the Five Elements with no evident prominence.

With the operation of the cultivation technique, the black-colored Water Element Divine Mansion shone the brightest, overshadowing the radiance of the other divine mansions.

On the surface of the ink-black Divine Mansion, faint white cloud patterns dispersed, with water light glimmering on the lines, and the acupoints cyclically illuminated by Ren Water and Gui Water Dao Seeds.

The Spiritual Qi in the Immortal Veins sometimes surged like a rushing river, and sometimes was like a tranquil hidden lake, manifesting restrained power between motion and stillness.

Whenever starting the operation of the cultivation technique, the Water Element Divine Mansion always activates first.

One can also selectively activate a certain divine mansion, but Ji An once tested it and found no difference, thus he no longer interfered, letting everything take its course naturally.

The body making such a choice has its own rationale.

Ji An believed that it has to do with ’water being the source of life’; the kidneys are always the repository of Essence Qi, with the body’s Life Light conceived within.

And the Water Element Divine Mansion is an extension of the kidneys, assuming its original functions.

When the light of the Divine Mansion gradually dimmed, the Spiritual Qi that had been stained black flowed along the Spiritual Vein to the Wood Element Divine Mansion.

According to the experience of Zhengyang Ancestor, if one comprehends the secret of Five Elements mutual generation, the Spiritual Power flowing out from the Water Element Divine Mansion should shed its blackness and reveal a pale green.

Along with the influx of Spiritual Qi, the Wood Element Divine Mansion’s radiance grew ever more dazzling.

Like vine and leaf patterns, the veins deepened from verdant green to darker shades, the Jia Wood Dao Seed’s light blazed, with burgeoning Divine Intent permeating.

The color of the Yi Wood Dao Seed turned profound, the veins at their peak began to fade to rapidly withering yellow, and the Spirit Light of the Wood Element Divine Mansion faded quickly like ebbing tides.

The vibrant green Spiritual Qi injected into the Fire Element Divine Mansion, the Ding Fire Dao Seed radiated brightness, spreading warm, rising Divine Intent.

The Spiritual Qi compressed and transformed in the Divine Mansion, with the Fire Element Spiritual Energy inside resembling a volcano on the verge of eruption.

Suddenly, the Ding Fire Dao Seed flashed harshly before quickly retracting its light, the Bing Fire Dao Seed’s light flared intensely, although the brilliance only lasted a moment, the explosive Divine Intent swept across the entire chest cavity.

Scarlet magical power, like flowing magma, surged into the Earth Element Divine Mansion, with the Wu Earth Dao Seed’s light glowing, yellow Spirit Light blossoming, showcasing solid and grounded Divine Intent.

Soon, the Divine Intent slowly altered, nourishing Soul Calming Divine Intent predominated.

Wu Earth is the sun-heated dry earth, while Ji Earth is the water-infused damp earth.

Wu Earth is Yang Earth, exerting greater water-restraining and wood-consuming force; whereas Ji Earth is wet earth, serving gold and expending fire functions distinctly.

The transformation of Yin and Yang is indescribably fascinating.

The flickering yellow light of Spiritual Qi flowed out from the Earth Element Divine Mansion as its radiance weakened.

Spiritual Qi converged into the Metal Element Divine Mansion, undergoing a fresh round of compression and concentration, with the Geng Metal Dao Seed shimmering.

On the surface of the silver-white Divine Mansion, faint golden patterns resembled countless sharp swords as fine as dust.

The color of the Geng Metal Dao Seed gradually dulled, Yang Metal transforming into Yin Metal, through this round of refining, Spiritual Qi transformed into Magical Power, seemingly colorless yet holding five-color vividness.

Magical Power flowed into the Dantian, like a cascading waterfall from the nine heavens.

Magical Power poured into the Primordial Life Fire, like blazing fire cooking oil with dazzling brilliance, the Stone Turtle looked up and opened its mouth wide, the stream of magical power automatically splitting a path into its mouth.

The moon hung high in the sky, past midnight.

Ji An ended his cultivation slowly collecting his power, immersing his spirit in the Stone Turtle.

[Master: Ji An]

[Dao Rhyme: 0]

[Spiritual Mechanism: Kan Spirit 167.2, Gen Spirit 159.6, Zhen Spirit 87.4, Xun Spirit 146.8, Kun Spirit 159.2, Qian Spirit 163.8, Dui Spirit 167.4, Li Spirit 176.5]

[Magic Technique: Spirit Sealing Technique (Great Success 43%)

Wood Escape Technique (Perfection 81%)

Fire Escape Technique (Perfection 27%)

Gold Escape Technique (Perfection 12%)

Water Escape Technique (Perfection 54%)

Spirit Roar (Minor Achievement 52%)

Silk Thread Spell (Perfection 1%)]

Near Silver Moon City, most spirit plants were cold-resistant pines and cypresses, suitable for practicing Wood Escape Technique.

Over six hundred miles south of the city is an Underworld Lava Cave, a place Ji An often visited, where he grasped the opportunity for Fire Generates Earth.

He has yet to encounter the celestial phenomenon of Five Elements power transformation, but through cultivation practice, he has faintly grasped some insights.

The power of the Five Elements also divides into Yin and Yang, Jia Wood, Bing Fire, Wu Earth, Geng Metal, Ren Water belong to Yang, while Yi Wood, Ding Fire, Ji Earth, Xin Metal, Gui Water belong to Yin.

Only by combining Yin and Yang can a complete Five Elements power form, but all things are not fixed; Yang ascends while Yin descends bringing new changes.

’The Five Elements are a kind of property, energy that can continuously change form rather than being an actual substance.’

He savors this sentence in his heart, admonishing himself once a day.

The Wood Element embodies the nature of growth and upward movement, rising further and transforming into Fire. After the fire becomes ashes, it falls and turns into Earth, subsequently gathering into Metal.

As the Metal Qi descends, its solid and immovable gathering breaks apart, forming Water, symbolizing flow and change.

Ji An sighs inwardly; this is what he has comprehended, yet many insights seem elusive, like seeing flowers in the fog or gazing at the moon in water, unable to unveil the mysterious veil.

He exhaled lightly; these matters will trouble him for quite a while.

The current state is a lack of accumulation, unable to achieve qualitative change from quantitative change.

Ji An no longer demands forcefully and gives an order to the Stone Turtle:

"Enter the Gourd World."

His body disappears, consciousness halting momentarily.

When he stands firmly again, he immediately feels the different ambiance in the Little World.

The previous tranquility is gone; the Spiritual Qi becomes violently turbulent.

The miniature volcano on the red soil continually spews lava outwards.

The pond in the black soil bubbles up like boiling water, but the Spirit Fish are unaffected, happily swimming around, occasionally leaping out of the water, splashing white waves.

Ji An is initially startled, but after sensing the concentration of Spiritual Qi, he becomes ecstatic—the Spiritual Vein of the Little World is advancing!

"Haha!"

He laughs heartily, having taken only three years for the Spirit Tier to elevate from Top-grade Level to Tier One Top Grade, greatly exceeding his expectations.

During these years, he hasn’t reaped any Dao Rhyme, relying only on the Spiritual Mechanism attracted by the Gathering Essence Tree, the Spirit Field magic every four days, and the cultivation using the Magic Array Spirit Soil.

Even though it consumed many resources, he would gladly exchange Spirit Stones for time.

He has the craft to earn Spirit Stones but not the skill to earn time.

The rampant Spiritual Qi in the Little World gradually calms down, finally returning to its usual peacefulness, with every Spirit Field area expanding by several feet.

Ji An cheerfully inspects the land filled with hope; the Gathering Essence Tree now stands one foot tall, but the soil is filled with its spreading roots.

The Spirit Tree has two branches, with three clusters of leaves, each cluster with five leaves arranged clockwise in blue, red, yellow, white, and black.

Ji An is very curious about the Earth Element Heaven and Earth Spirit Root growing such leaves, believing it to be the premise for attracting eight types of Spiritual Mechanisms.

Near the Spirit Tree, the dense Power of Earth Element feels substantial and calming, making one feel at ease.

From Ji An’s Dantian, the Wuji Xinghuang Banner flies out, and the Earth Qilin lets out a powerful roar, echoing throughout the small piece of land.

The Spiritual Artifact loves the ambiance here; whenever he enters, it eagerly comes out to linger for a while.

A cluster of yellow Spirit Cloud dances around the Heaven and Earth Spirit Root, which Ji An ignores, as he starts casting the Yellow Dragon Essence Enhancement Skill for the Spirit Field.

He discovers a strange phenomenon: on this land, simply releasing a Planting Technique corresponding to the soil color is enough; casting other types of magic appears to have no additional effects.

The Earth Spirit Fruit Tree has reached Tier One Top Grade, now fruit-bearing, which delights Ji An the most.

Not only has the Earth Spirit Tree reached Top-Grade Level, but most other Spirit Woods have reached this level too, except for the Heaven and Earth Spiritual Root Gathering Essence Tree.

It remains unchanged, still at Tier One Lower Grade.

In the green soil, a few Jade Leaf Mulberries bloom with pale yellow flowers, and the White Jade Bees flap their wings, buzzing as they queue to "bless" these flowers.

On the red soil, the Spiritual Peach Tree, Dragon Blood Tree, and Red Cloud Pine are as thick as a bowl, with the Spirit Pine already bearing pinecones, and Fire Crystal Ants diligently harvesting Pine Honey.

The silver leaves of the Copper Patterned Mulberry flash with a metallic luster, and the white soil is paradise for Iron Wire Grass, occupying a third of the area.

By the black soil pond, the Celestial Essence Pear’s leaves lightly fall, quickly consumed by the Spirit Fish, with the largest Spirit Fish, a Red Carp, reaching five feet long, close to breaking through to the Foundation Establishment Stage.

...

The next day, Zhuang’s Treasure Talisman Shop.

In the living room, Shopkeeper Zhuang Jingcheng chuckled and said:

"Fellow Daoist Ji, I haven’t seen you for quite a few days. If you don’t show up soon, the high-grade talismans here might run out!"

Ji An laughed, "Fellow Daoist Zhuang, it’s not even half a month since we last met."

He often purchases talisman materials from this shop, crafting Tier One Bursting Talismans, Tier Two Fire Dragon Talismans, and Earth Escape Talismans, with the talisman quality starting at top-grade, and about thirty percent reaching top-grade level.

"Hehe, it’s just that your talismans are so popular!

Many old customers specifically request your talismans; you are indeed my lucky charm."

By the way, how many talismans did you bring this time?"

Zhuang Jingcheng, also a Talisman Maker, personally tested both’s talismans, finding the opponent’s having greater power despite being of the same tier.

Customers aren’t fools; when encountering good things, of course, they won’t miss out, causing his own talisman sales to be affected.

However, due to the quality of the talismans, his shop has gained more popularity, significantly impacting other competitors.

He feels fortunate the opponent hasn’t collaborated with competitors, or else he would be the one struggling now.

Ji An took out a stack of talismans—radiating red Spirit Light—and slammed them on the table, asking:

"Fellow Daoist, have you managed to get the map you promised me?"