Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 424 Crimson Dragon Lurks in the Abyss

Ji An cleared his throat and asked with a smile:

"Ancestor, if we use different spiritual energy to nurture a spiritual artifact, will it affect the birth of the artifact spirit?"

He didn't have many Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiends left, and even if he used them all, he wouldn't be able to cultivate a spirit into the Flame Light Banner.

Master Zhengyang waved his hand:

"That won't have an impact. Unless there's a stable channel, it's simply impossible for most cultivators to cultivate a weapon spirit using enough of the same kind of spiritual energy."

Does the sect possess fire-elemental spirits?

"Yes, I'll tell you a little secret today, but don't tell anyone else."

The reason why the sect re-established its mountain gate here after migrating to the Western Continent was because it discovered two channels that could reliably obtain evil energy.

One is the Crimson Dragon Hiding in the Abyss, and the other is the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Evil.

Other sects should also produce spiritual energy within their mountain gates.

Master Zhengyang subconsciously lowered his voice as he spoke, saying that only the core disciples of the sect could know this information.

In other words, only a few Golden Core seed cultivators, two Golden Core cultivators, and the Treasure Pavilion Master knew about it.

"Ancestor, then I'll exchange some Crimson Dragon Hidden Abyss Fiends."

Ji Anxi happily summoned the Flame Banner that had risen from the ground, and a phoenix cry echoed in the hall.

He originally thought there weren't many spirit demons in the Western Continent, but it seems everyone is keeping them hidden.

Judging from this, the sect is quite wealthy!

Master Zhengyang was slightly taken aback, then smiled and said:

"What great luck! Exchanging for spirit energy is no problem at all; I can just send a message to the Treasure Pavilion."

However, the information about the spirit must not be revealed; you must use it on the spot.

"Unfortunately, if you used this Five Elements Flag as your natal magic weapon, you could save a lot of trouble."

It took him nearly a hundred years from the creation of his Xuanhuang Pagoda to the nurturing of its spirit, a painful memory.

"Disciple understands!"

Ji An readily agreed, saying he would just need to spend a little more time each day.

He planned to use up the Fire Phoenix Soul-Burning Fiend and then exchange it at the Treasure Pavilion.

"Activate the golden sword of communication," said Master Zhengyang.
"I've already spoken to Jia Yu. Whenever you need to use spiritual energy, you can exchange it at the Treasure Pavilion."

"Thank you, ancestor!"

After chatting for half an hour, Ji An took his leave.

Inside the treasure pavilion, Jia Yu was enjoying a leisurely drink when a golden light flew in from outside the hall.

After catching it, he extended his divine sense to examine it and realized that it was actually the ancestor's magical imprint. He immediately sat up straight.

After reading its contents, he couldn't help but scratch his head.

"Didn't Junior Brother Ji say he needed Earth-elemental spiritual energy? Why did the Ancestor grant him the authority to use Fire-elemental spiritual energy?"

He walked out of the main hall and rode on a cloud, hovering above the treasure pavilion.

After a long while, he saw a golden auspicious cloud flying down and went to greet it.

"Junior brother, there's something I'd like to confirm with you. The Ancestor said you should use the Crimson Dragon Hidden Abyss Fiend. Does that mean your Earth-Leaving Flame Banner also needs to cultivate a spirit?"

Ji An nodded slightly and explained:

"The ancestor said that my Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner is not spiritual enough, and it would be a waste to use Netherworld Soil to cultivate it now, but the Lidi Flame Banner meets the standard."

I casually asked if there were any fire-elemental spirits, and to my surprise, there really were.

"I see. I thought the ancestor had written it wrong when he sent the message."

An hour later, at Red Copper Mountain.

Inside the cave, Zhu Xiangrong raised his teacup and smiled:

"Junior brother, please try the Cloud Peak Silver Needle Tea produced on Crimson Flame Peak!"

All the second-grade superior spiritual teas in the treasure pavilion are produced by Crimson Flame Peak.

Ji An chuckled, "I imagine the taste must be top-notch."

High-grade spiritual tea is rare, and many fellow disciples have expressed their desire to purchase more from Duoduo.

Too many people greeted him, but he had too little spiritual tea. It wouldn't be right to give it to anyone or not, so he simply handed the spiritual tea over to the sect and exchanged it for minor merit points.

"Haha, it would be even better if we could drink Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea more often."

"The production of spiritual tea is increasing, so senior brother will have to wait patiently for a few years."

Zhu Xiangrong paused in his tea-drinking motion, shook his head dejectedly, and said:
"I hope I can wait that long."

His condition was slightly better than Jia Yu's, but not by much; he simply had twenty more years of lifespan.

More than a hundred years later, he too will become a handful of dust.

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. Ji An remained silent. In the next hundred years, the lives of the older generation of cultivators in the sect would gradually come to an end. This was a sad topic.

In the Hall of Agriculture, the two deputy hall masters only have a few decades left to contribute their expertise.

There are also more than twenty other Spirit Farmers in the Foundation Establishment stage who have the same situation.

Zhu Xiangrong shook his head and chuckled, saying:
"Why would I say such discouraging things? Junior brother, don't take it to heart. Have some tea!"

Cultivators, like ordinary people, are averse to matters of life and death.

After chatting for a while, Ji An took out a large gray cloth bag from the virtual space:
"Senior brother, I have some second-grade high-quality Xuanye Sword Bamboo Golden Leaves here. I would like to exchange them for some high-quality spirit stones."

The reason for not exchanging spirit stones from the treasure pavilion is to accumulate minor merit points so that they can exchange them for the Golden Core later.

Besides, trading gold leaves with them would also earn me a favor.

He only had ninety-one high-grade spirit stones in his possession. If he didn't sell anything, he wouldn't be able to gather enough spirit stones for the Azure Lotus Banner by the time the merchant ships from the Central Continent arrived.

"Thank you for thinking of me when something good happens, junior brother." Zhu Xiangrong happily took the cloth bag and weighed it, saying:
"Junior brother, there are ten catties of gold leaves in total. Is the weight correct?"

"No."

After mentally calculating once, Zhu Xiangrong spoke again:

"This is equivalent to a total of six high-grade spirit stones."

Ji An accepted the spirit stones handed to him and stored them in his virtual space.
"Senior brother, I will trade you about ten catties of gold leaves every year from now on, all in the form of high-grade spirit stones."

Zhu Xiangrong was overjoyed, "Even if it were twice the amount, I could eat it."

He made a profit by trading with high-grade spirit stones.

High-grade spirit stones are a valuable form of currency for advanced cultivators, but they are still not as popular as various other resources.

After the transaction was completed, Ji An hurriedly took his leave and rode a cloud back to Crimson Flame Peak.

He returned to his cave halfway up the mountain, entered a quiet room, took out a Heavenly Water Soul Cleansing Pill, swallowed it, and began to circulate his cultivation technique to refine it.

Half an hour later, he shook his head in disappointment.

The elixir had been refined, yielding approximately 1,400 strands of water-elemental energy. As for the so-called purification of the soul, it was not felt at all.

Ji An summoned the Flaming Banner that had risen from the ground, nurtured it with the Soul-Burning Fiery Phoenix, and the quiet room was filled with the sounds of phoenixes singing, a joyful atmosphere filling the room.

Having absorbed over two hundred strands of spiritual energy, the spiritual artifact returned to its dantian, satisfied, rising and falling within the crimson flames of the primordial fire.

He then summoned the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner and nurtured it with the essence of the earth element.

Strands of bright, spiritual light were absorbed by the pale golden earthen unicorn on the flag.

Time flies by so quickly. Before we know it, five years have passed in the blink of an eye, adding a few strands of gray hair and a few wrinkles to the world.

Inside the treasure pavilion, Jia Yu took out a fiery red jade bottle and said:
"Junior brother, how much merit did you spend to obtain the Crimson Dragon Hidden Abyss Fiend over the past few years?"

"Even if it's not 100,000, it's not far off."

Ji An sighed. This was equivalent to investing hundreds of thousands of low-grade spirit stones. Luckily, he had a wealthy family background, otherwise he would have had to live a very frugal life.

After saying that, he summoned the Flaming Banner that rose from the ground and manipulated the magical artifact to devour the evil spirits.

Jia Yu watched quietly, silently counting in her mind, one strand, two strands.
Suddenly, a high-pitched phoenix cry echoed in the hall, and he felt an inexplicable anger rising within him, making him restless and uneasy.

His cheeks turned bright red and felt burning.

Ji An found the phoenix's cry extremely pleasant to hear, and a bewildered shout came from his mind.

"Owner."

He was stunned and didn't react at first, but when the second shout came, he burst into laughter.

The spirit of the Flame Banner has been nurtured!
From now on, there will be no need to exchange minor merits for fire elemental spirits. It's good that there's one less big spender of spirit stones.

"Hehe," the spirit of the artifact let out a joyful laugh, shrinking continuously as it merged into his body and returned to his dantian.

Suppressing her irritation, Jia Yu immediately asked:

"Junior brother, what just happened?"

He had a vague guess in his mind, but he wasn't sure yet.

Ji An stopped laughing and said:

"Senior brother, the artifact spirit has been nurtured!"

"That's great! Congratulations, junior brother, on gaining another helping hand."

"Congratulations!"

"One day, when the spiritual artifact is tempered by heavenly lightning, it will become a magic weapon."

My junior brother uses the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag as his natal magic weapon, which means that when he breaks through to the Golden Core stage, he will be able to obtain two magic weapons!

That damn luck is so enviable!

Jia Yu's tone became very excited, as each of the sect's two patriarchs only possessed one magic weapon.

Ji An was not infected by the other party's enthusiasm, and laughed:
"It's not easy for a top-grade spiritual artifact to withstand the tribulation of lightning and be refined into a magic weapon."

The tribulation of lightning severely tests the potential of a spiritual artifact. If one is not careful, the artifact may be destroyed by the lightning, resulting in utter failure.

"Junior Brother's luck is at its peak; obtaining a fire-elemental magic weapon shouldn't be difficult for him."

Ji An pondered and said:
"Luck can be relied on for a while, but not forever. I will not let the spiritual artifact undergo the tribulation of lightning unless I am absolutely certain."

At this point, he dared not gamble.

When a cultivator breaks through to the Golden Core stage, they are refining their natal magic weapon, and I can lend a hand.

However, since the spiritual artifact undergoes the tribulation on its own, the help that cultivators can provide is limited, and it basically relies entirely on the spiritual artifact's inherent strength to withstand the tribulation.

Many Golden Core cultivators who want to obtain a second magic weapon would rather use third-tier materials to refine it directly than use a top-grade spiritual artifact to undergo tribulation.

The reason is simple: the chances of success are low, reportedly only 10% to 20%.

In that case, the cost is not much cheaper than refining with third-tier materials.

If you're unlucky, you're guaranteed to lose money.

Ji An chose to use spiritual artifacts to pass through the tribulation of lightning to obtain more magical treasures. The fundamental reason was that the exceptionally vigorous primordial fire could be used to refine even more powerful spiritual artifacts, but this would take a very long time.

He took out his identity jade token and said:
"Senior brother, how many strands of Crimson Dragon Hidden Abyss Aura did you consume just now?"

"This time, one hundred and eight strands of spiritual energy were consumed, totaling thirty-six minor merits."

He cupped his hands and smiled:
"Senior brother, I will bring a jar of top-grade spiritual wine tomorrow so that you can share in the joy."

The successful cultivation of the artifact spirit is worth a small celebration.

Jia Yu placed the jade tablet on the spirit plate to deduct the minor merit, then shook his head and said:

"One jar isn't enough; we can't drink to our hearts' content!"

(End of this chapter)