Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 423 Good News
Ji An sighed softly, "We are at the mercy of others, there is no other way, unless the Western Continent organizes a merchant caravan."

Merchants buy high and sell low. Their flying boats travel thousands of miles back and forth. Without several times the profit, no cultivator would be willing to do it.

The current situation is that the West cannot do without the Middle Continent; it can only endure exploitation and even has to beg for it.

"Hehe, let's not even talk about whether we can buy the merchant airships. If the Western Continent organizes caravans to travel to and from the Central Continent, we might encounter powerful raiders one day."

Jia Yu said with no malice, "The Western Continent has many special products, and the price of monster materials is also low. The vested interests in the Central Continent have been sucking blood for thousands of years. How could they possibly give up the fat meat in their mouths?"
He paused and then said:

"Our ancestor traveled to the Central Continent, and he said that it was far more prosperous than the Western Continent, but the competition there was also very fierce."

With the demonic beasts' forces wiped out, and no external pressure remaining, the various factions engaged in fierce and ruthless infighting.

Ji An nodded slightly. "It's not hard to understand. The cultivation world has existed for a very long time, and with continuous progress, it can produce more resources. However, the growth rate of the number of cultivators far exceeds the growth rate of resources."

For cultivators who embark on the path of immortality, if their aptitude is poor, they can accept their fate. But if their aptitude is even slightly good, who wouldn't want to improve?

In a sense, the existence of demonic calamities and monster calamities is actually a means for the Heavenly Dao to eliminate too many cultivators.

After a major battle, the average resources will increase significantly, and the surviving cultivators will progress much faster.

Jia Yu placed the jade tablet on the spirit plate to deduct the minor merit, then returned it, asking with great interest:
"In your opinion, junior brother, how can we reduce the fighting among us cultivators?"

"It boils down to two things: reducing the number of cultivators and cultivating more spiritual veins."

Jia Yu shook his head and chuckled, "It's easier said than done."

Reducing the number of cultivators can be achieved by strictly controlling the refining of the Meridian Opening Pill, but the cultivation world is not a single force, but a combination of thousands of forces, and it is impossible for everyone to reach a consensus.

If a certain force controls the number of disciples, there is a risk of annihilation if a great war sweeps through the cultivation world.

The spiritual veins are born from the earth, but how they are born remains a mystery.

All cultivators can do is try their best to cultivate the existing spiritual veins to a higher grade.

Cultivating spiritual veins is a very time-consuming and resource-intensive process, and sometimes the spiritual veins may even dry up.

After so many years of development, even the lowest-grade first-order spiritual veins within the human race's control have been utilized.

Ji An responded:
"Even if this is achieved, the number of cultivators will still continue to increase, only the frequency of conflicts between the various parties will decrease."

From a higher perspective, spiritual practice is indeed going against the will of Heaven.

Living beings absorb and exhale vast amounts of spiritual energy for their own use. If there are truly immortal beings who do not participate in reincarnation and return the spiritual energy to heaven, they are essentially bandits who steal spiritual energy.

Unless these immortals can create their own world to sustain themselves, immortality is a theft of heaven.

After chatting for a while, Ji An opened the jade bottle, counted the number of pills, and smiled:

"The Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pill can purify the soul. I want to test whether its effects are as good as rumored."

Jia Yu gently shook her head, "This is a gradual process; you won't see any effect from just taking a few pills."

This elixir contains a trace of the divine intent of water purification. If my junior brother can comprehend this divine intent, the elixir will be superfluous, and it would be more worthwhile to take the Azure Treasure Light Pill.

"Junior brother, you have cultivated the Lesser Cloud and Rain Technique, the Spring Breeze Transforming into Rain Technique, and the Cloud Dragon Spreading Rain Technique, all of which have reached a profound level. You should have already glimpsed some of the divine intent of water purification."

The divine meaning of water has many aspects: transformation, nourishment, and purification. Everyone knows these, but only those who can comprehend the divine meaning can be considered to have true knowledge; otherwise, they are merely knowing it through hearsay.

Ji An nodded slightly, then shook his head:

"These spells all focus on nourishing the divine will, and they don't have much understanding of purification."

In his view, the so-called purification is simply washing away filth through continuous flow. This understanding is not accurate, but it is superficial.

He changed the subject and asked:
"Senior brother, does the sect have any spirit beasts that cultivate earth-elemental spiritual weapons?"

He planned to use the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner as his natal magic weapon, hoping to cultivate a spirit within it before breaking through to the Golden Core stage.

Although cultivating a spirit artifact requires luck, the probability of successfully cultivating one is greater if you are willing to invest high-level resources.

It's difficult to achieve your wish by relying solely on Earth Essence, since the quality of Earth Essence is too low; you can only win by quantity.

Jia Yu immediately understood his meaning and said in a deep voice:
"The sect does possess a type of earth-elemental spirit energy, but you need the patriarch's approval to obtain it."

Ji An was pleasantly surprised, "What kind of evil spirit is it?"

If he hadn't asked, he wouldn't have known that the sect had such a good thing!
"Junior brother, don't ask anymore. With the ancestor's permission, you will naturally be able to obtain the Spirit Fiend."

Jia Yu was unwilling to say more. The Jiazi Hall in the sect's secret vault contained resources that could only be used for the sect's disciples' cultivation and were never put out for trade.

Even if a disciple obtains resources, they must use them on the spot.

Spiritual energy is a second-tier resource that accelerates the cultivation of artifact spirits; it's extremely valuable.

Just then, several Foundation Establishment stage disciples walked in to exchange for spiritual items, and Ji An immediately took his leave.

Golden auspicious clouds rose from beneath his feet, and Ji An rode the clouds to the Wuji Hall atop the mountain:
"This disciple requests an audience with the Ancestor."

The light curtain outside the hall flickered and then disappeared, and the main gate opened automatically to both sides.

He stepped into the main hall, a hint of a smile in Zhengyang Zhenren's eyes:
"Please sit down. How has your cultivation been lately?"

This was his most trusted disciple, who was diligent in his practice and rarely left the sect.

Ji An sat down with a happy smile, "I was just about to report to the Ancestor that I have broken through to the fifth level of the Chaoyuan realm and have begun my cultivation in the Water Path Divine Palace."

Master Zhengyang raised his eyebrows and grinned from ear to ear: "Good, good! Several years earlier than I expected, the cultivation of your disciples has improved by leaps and bounds, and I am very pleased."

As a sect leader who had no hope for cultivation, the constant emergence of talented individuals within the sect was what made him happiest.

When he passes away, he can proudly recount his story to his fellow disciples and patriarchs.

He continued, beaming:

"The speed at which a cultivator can strengthen their fifth divine palace will be faster than the first four. Do you have enough pills?"

"Thank you for your concern, Ancestor. According to my estimate, even if the pills I have are not enough, they are not far off."

Master Zhengyang laughed heartily:

"If you reach the perfection of the five divine palaces, you will have to travel outside to comprehend the deeper levels of the Five Elements Dao. I'm really reluctant to let you go."

Whether this disciple stays in the sect or not is a completely different matter for Crimson Flame Peak.

Ji An smiled slightly. If he could fully comprehend the endless cycle of the Five Elements and reach the Five Qi Convergence Realm without traveling, he wouldn't want to go out either.

The outside world is dangerous, and sometimes, just bad luck can make you a victim of the struggle between high-level cultivators.

Master Zhengyang looked at his disciple, becoming more and more satisfied, and said:

“I no longer have any third-tier talismans, but in a few years, the merchant ships from Central Continent will arrive. At that time, we can trade a few talismans for you to use for self-defense.”

His disciple went out to the Southern Continent and was unexpectedly pursued by a Golden Core cultivator. He was worried about the other party.

"The sect has already taken good care of me. Once the merchant alliance from Central Continent arrives, I will have enough resources to trade for several third-tier talismans."

Ji An spoke up, saying that the sect had paid a huge price in the last transaction, but had gained a lot of knowledge about weapon crafting and planting, and was not wealthy at the moment.

"Protecting the growth of outstanding disciples is the main factor that enables a sect to develop and grow stronger."

Your purchase of the talismans is your personal decision, but the sect hopes you will not refuse their offer.

Master Zhengyang smiled broadly. With a sense of belonging, the disciples would be more willing to risk their lives in times of crisis, thus ensuring a more stable lineage.

"Thank you, Ancestor. I have another request to make today. I wish to use the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner as my natal magic weapon and hope to cultivate its spirit as soon as possible."

I've heard that the treasure pavilion contains earth-elemental spirit energy; I wish to obtain the patriarch's approval to exchange for resources to use.

Ji An explained his purpose and awaited a reply.

"Have you thought this through? Although the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner is very flexible, the defensive strength it provides is not as good as my Xuanhuang Pagoda."

"This is a decision I made after years of deliberation."

Master Zhengyang nodded slightly, "Take out your spiritual weapon and let me see it."

Spiritual energy is precious and not abundant. He needs to sense the spirituality of his disciple's spiritual artifact before making a decision.

Ji An activated the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner, which flew out from his dantian, and golden lotuses bloomed in the void.

Its spiritual power is not as great as the Flame Banner, but only as its natal magic weapon can it command the other five elemental banners.

The magical artifact spewed out earth-elemental spiritual light, which transformed into yellow mist, shrinking and hiding itself within it.

Master Zhengyang made a hand seal to capture it, but the Apricot Yellow Flag skillfully dodged it. He then increased his magical power output, continuously putting pressure on the magical artifact.

After a while, he stopped and said:
"The spiritual cultivation is not bad, but it's not enough. It would be a waste to use spiritual energy to cultivate it at this point."

You can nurture it with earth element essence for a few more years. When the spirit artifact can make a sound, you can nurture it with spirit energy.

Back then, as long as the supply of spiritual energy was sufficient, it would take as little as three to five years, or at most eight to ten years, to cultivate a spirit within an artifact.

"what?"

Master Zhengyang raised an eyebrow:

"Is there a problem?"

"No problem, I didn't expect there would be such clear standards for cultivating spirits."

I hadn't heard any of my fellow disciples mention it before, nor had I seen any related records in the sect's transmission hall.

Ji An was thrilled, which meant that the Flame Banner could now be nurtured by the Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiery Spirit!

"This knowledge is not recorded in writing. I learned about it by chance while traveling in the Central Continent. It is said that those Nascent Soul sects have precise methods of cultivation."

The gap between long-established major sects and other forces is simply too vast.

Ji An smiled:

"Perhaps one day in the future, our sect will also produce a Nascent Soul cultivator."

"Haha, I hope so."

A light appeared in Zhengyang Zhenren's eyes, then he sighed and shook his head gently.

Without a cultivation method that directly leads to the Nascent Soul stage, breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage is nothing but a pipe dream.

(End of this chapter)