Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 425 Qualified Laborers

Ji An left Chaoyang Peak and rode a golden auspicious cloud westward.

As the setting sun casts its slanting rays in welcome, the distant mountains seem to smile, and beneath the rosy clouds, boats glide across the water like clouds of birds.

The faint chirping of birds calling to each other as they return home can be heard in the wind, and the distant peaks are peaceful and serene.

He was in high spirits at that moment, and everything seemed wonderful.

About half an hour later, auspicious clouds descended over Crimson Flame Peak. Wei Songtao stepped forward and said:
"Grandmaster, Youyou is still maintaining the same posture without moving today. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Qinglu had become a great demon in the Chaoyuan stage, a time when he should be full of vigor and ambition, but he lay stiff as a stone statue. He instinctively felt that something was wrong.

Ji An smiled and shook his head, "Don't worry about it, and don't disturb it."

He knew very well that the Beast Tamer was digesting the bloodline inheritance, a privilege only beasts with a solid foundation could enjoy.

Monsters can integrate their heritage into their bloodline, and their offspring can gradually unlock the codes hidden in their genes as their cultivation level increases.

It's like providing future generations with a library, which contains the survival wisdom, innate magic, and various kinds of knowledge of the race.

This is something that human cultivators can never do. Even if a high-level cultivator has a direct descendant, at most they will inherit his or her aptitude and physical body, but they will not inherit his or her knowledge.

According to records, this world was originally the domain of the demon race. Divine beasts such as true dragons, phoenixes, and golden crows were all members of the demon race. However, these races were too powerful and usually disdained to associate with other demon races, so they were listed separately.

The Azure Deer possesses the bloodline of the Five-Colored Deer. This kind of demon beast is not qualified to be called a divine beast, but it is also known as a rare and auspicious beast of heaven and earth. It has a deep foundation, so it is normal that it took a while to digest the inherited memories.

Ji An's eyes showed a thoughtful look. In ancient times, something happened that caused the mythical beasts to disappear.

After hundreds of thousands of years of struggle, the human race rose up under the shadow of the demon race and gradually took the lead, but they were far from being the masters of the world.

The far west, far north, and East China Sea of ​​the continent, as well as the area south of the Southern Continent, are still the territory of the demon race and forbidden lands of the human race, where countless powerful demons in human form reside.

He shook his head slightly. These things were still far away from him. Only when he became a Nascent Soul True Monarch would he be qualified to know the secrets sealed in the past.

"Songtao, send a message to Songnian to reduce the purchase of Fire Essence in the future, and just maintain a supply of 100,000 strands per year."

The warehouse contained over three million strands of fire elemental essence, but now there's very little left to use.

Long ago, Crimson Flame Peak stopped using fire element essence to nourish Crimson Cloud Pine. Instead, they scattered red sand excreted by Fire Crystal Ants and Xuan Yang Wood powder into the pine forest to improve the soil and allow it to contain more fire element spiritual power.

Ji An used to think that doing this was useless, but the planting tradition he received from Zhongzhou highly praised this method.

They claim that if you persist, the effects will gradually become apparent after thirty years.

Currently, the only spiritual plant that requires the essence of fire to nourish is the Azure Flame Purple Spirit Gourd. This gourd vine consumes about two hundred strands of essence every day, and more than seventy thousand strands every year.

Once the gourds mature, produce seeds, and are replanted, more Fire Element Essence will be needed; there is no need to increase inventory now.

"Yes, ma'am. I'll have a friend deliver the message back in the next few days."

Wei Songtao agreed, saying that it would be a loss for Xiaozhushan to receive the news even a day later.

Ji An explained:
"Go to the cold pool and fetch four jars of top-quality pine nut wine. I'll need them tomorrow."

“Okay,” Wei Songtao took out the water-repelling pearl and dived into the pool. This kind of magic weapon is standard equipment on Crimson Flame Peak because people often need to go in and out of the pool to retrieve wine jars.

Zhang Cuihua walked up with small, quick steps and said softly:
“Grandmaster, Xue Ning is now fully capable of taking over from me.”

Due to family matters, this disciple cannot stay by the Grandmaster's side to receive instruction for too long.

She and her Daoist partner are both in their twilight years. A few years ago, their youngest son broke through to the Foundation Establishment stage and has the ability to make talismans. Now he has established himself in a market town.

Her son, grateful for her hard work, wanted to bring her home to live out her remaining years.

This year, she felt increasingly exhausted and had the idea of ​​leaving the sect and returning home.

Ji An pondered and said:
"But when do you plan to go back? How will you get back?"

He hadn't asked his disciple's exact age, but he estimated that he should be over eighty. A Qi Refining stage disciple has a lifespan of one hundred years, so there aren't many days left to enjoy life.

"My family will be coming to the sect at the end of this month to do some trading, and we'll go home together."

The sect's magical artifacts and puppets are of good quality and inexpensive, and the family shop can get some of them, making a profit of about 10%.

"Before you leave, I will give you a farewell banquet and send Han Shan to escort you back to your hometown."

Looking at his disciple's head covered in snow, Ji An sighed inwardly. The decay of life is what erodes a person's will the most.

After the other party leaves, Wei Songtao and Tian Tiezhu will also leave one after another.

Crimson Flame Peak has stood for thousands of years, witnessing countless people come and go.

Even he was just a passerby here, at most he just stayed for a relatively long time.

The next day, in the treasure pavilion,

Ji An placed the wine jar on the table, and also laid out some pine nuts, honey osmanthus cake, and braised meat. The wine jar contained five catties.

"A meal is only complete when there is wine and food."

Jia Yu tapped open the seal on the wine jar, sniffed the aroma, and said with a smile:

"Junior brother is more particular; I usually just drink it dry."

He picked up a piece of pastry and put it in his mouth. The aroma of second-grade honey, spirit rice, and osmanthus spread between his lips and teeth, rich and fragrant.

The stir-fried pine nuts are also a second-tier superior grade, and the braised meat is wild beef from the late Foundation Establishment stage, which is quite luxurious.

Since he stopped hoping to improve his cultivation, he has used the resources he has accumulated to exchange for various spiritual wines and delicacies, but he has not come into contact with many second-grade high-quality ingredients.

Apart from Crimson Flame Peak, there is no other stable channel to provide this service.

In the Western Continent, resources of the second-tier mid-grade level and above are almost all used to make pills. Spiritual food can also improve cultivation, but its effect is much worse than that of pills.

Ji An sat down and smiled:
"Senior brother, you can visit Crimson Flame Peak more often; we'll treat you to fine wine and food."

Now he no longer needs to open up a divine palace, nor can he cultivate techniques and improve his cultivation at all times.

If you don't practice spells, you have a lot of free time every day.

Jia Yu laughed and joked:
"Junior brother is already a fifth-stage cultivator in the Chaoyuan realm. If the ancestor knew I often invited you to drink, he would break my legs!"

Without considering items that extend lifespan, both he and his ancestor only have a little over a hundred years left to live.

For the patriarch, cultivating more Golden Core cultivators was the sect's most urgent task, and the junior brother before him was one of the patriarch's hopes.

If he were to become a drinking buddy, he would inevitably be criticized.

Jia Yu took out his wine gourd, poured in two jars of wine, and said righteously:

"Junior brother, I still have the duty of guarding the treasure pavilion, so I can't drink too much. Let's eat more vegetables."

Ji An chuckled. The dinner hadn't even started yet, and they'd already packed up the drinks. How rude!

This senior's drinking habit is even more pronounced than before, which speaks volumes.

"I agree with Senior Brother Du."

According to his disciples, after he left Chiyan Peak, his senior brother Jia would visit him personally every six months and take good care of him.

The two didn't talk about cultivation, but only about the rise and fall of their sect over the years.

Jia Yu put down his wine glass. "Junior brother, since the sect adopted the division of labor and cooperation method you proposed, the results have been remarkable."

The sect's current strategy is to reduce the number of new disciples recruited each time, by about 30%. A hundred years from now, the sect's overall strength will increase significantly.

The old ancestor has long wanted to reward you, but the granary has been empty these past few years, so the reward will probably have to wait a few more years to arrive.

Ji An chewed and swallowed the beef, saying:
"The ancestor never mentioned any rewards to me."

"Of course the ancestor wouldn't mention it. There's nothing to reward you with right now, so talking about rewards would just be empty promises."
Not only the patriarch, but all the previous sect leaders have never made such empty promises.

Ji An smiled. He didn't expect any reward. The ancestor had given him the Bing Fire Divine Thunder Talisman during his travels, which already made him extremely grateful.

He frowned slightly, and his voice lowered:

"Although the demonic beasts have not completely retreated, the possibility of a demonic calamity is very low. As we grow stronger, our relationship with other sects may not be as harmonious."

My senior brother and the patriarch meet frequently; I wonder if you've discussed this situation before?

A more powerful neighbor is probably not something the other two sects would want to see.

Previously, sects mainly exchanged magical artifacts, spiritual weapons, and beast taming for resources such as pills from the other two sects.

Now, with the growth of the Ministry of Agriculture, the Dan Ding Academy will also grow stronger.

In this way, the sect's dependence on Falling Maple Valley will decrease, and over time, it will become a powerful competitor.

Without external pressure, internal contradictions will emerge.

Jia Yu nodded slightly, "Our ancestor also has these concerns, but after our analysis, we believe that unless we gain an overwhelming advantage and show a willingness to annex, major conflicts will not break out."

Even if a conflict were to erupt, it would be centuries later.

The patriarch said he was only responsible for leading the sect to strength; the rest could be left to the next, and the one after that, sect leader.

Ji An pondered for a moment and nodded in agreement.

This is not the situation of global economic integration as in the previous life, where any slightly larger power could be self-sufficient by closing its doors.

He asked gossipily, "Senior brother, who will be the next sect leader?"

The next sect leader will inevitably be Ancestor Yuxiao, and the next one after that will be chosen from among the new Golden Core cultivators.

Jia Yu revealed a sly smile and said:
"What, junior brother, are you interested? That's certainly possible."

Ji An shook his head. "Just curious."

He had no interest in staying in Xizhou for the rest of his life and would leave sooner or later, but the sect didn't have many candidates, which he could roughly guess.

However, the specifics will depend on who manages to break through to the Golden Core stage.

With the cups and plates scattered about, Ji An rose to take his leave.
"Senior brother, let's talk again another day."

Three days later, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Ji An stepped out of the cave. The sky was dotted with cold stars. He rode a cloud down from the mountainside and flew towards the cold pool.

The best way to cultivate the Five Elements Reincarnation Water Path is to stay near the spiritual veins and springs.

He took out the water-repelling pearl and dived to the bottom of the cold pool. The light emitted by the Pure Water Lotus illuminated the area, and the Azure Water Turtle lay in the mud next to the spiritual plant, its eyes closed as if it were fast asleep.

Now, Lanbei comes to the shore less often, occasionally going out to beg for Tianyuan Pears, but spending most of its time at the bottom of the pool. The monster is quite clever and understands what kind of environment is beneficial for its growth.

There was a stone slab near the spring. After Ji An arrived, he cleaned off the mud that had gotten on it, took out a calming grass cushion, sat down cross-legged, and began to circulate his energy.

The jet-black aquatic spiritual light emanated from the colorless water, entering his mouth and nose with each breath. The spiritual energy was swallowed up, and he stirred up a whirlpool like the eye of the sea.

The Gui water channel in Yongquan acupoint and the Ren water channel in Zhaohai acupoint are like waves that rise and fall, bright and dark in turn.

The spiritual energy circulated within his immortal veins, and the sound of waves could be heard from his body from time to time.

A single large cycle of spiritual energy is enough to prevent it from being refined into magical power, like a rushing river flowing into the dantian.

Within the dantian, it was as if a waterfall was cascading down from the sky, with water mist filling the air.

The black outer flames of the Primordial Flame flickered, and the stone tortoise's mouth opened and closed, absorbing one-tenth of the magical power.

The five divine palaces shone brightly, and during the operation of the cultivation technique, the immortal veins were nourished to the greatest extent.

An hour later, Ji An slowly finished his practice, his eyes like a deep lake, calmly accumulating power.

He reached up and touched his chin, frowning slightly. He wondered if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the speed at which he refined spiritual energy had increased compared to the previous few days.

Logically speaking, this is impossible. He is already a cultivator at the fifth level of the Chaoyuan stage, and every bit of improvement he makes is precious.

Unable to find an answer, he kept his doubts to himself, which then surfaced in the cold pool.

He rode the clouds into the sky, when suddenly a high-pitched roar rang out from the Qingling Bamboo Forest, as if it were a kind of announcement.

Ji An laughed and flew to the bamboo forest to land. He saw that the beast's horns had grown to half a foot long, with two forks on each side, and their color was as green as tender leaves washed by rain.

"Yo-yo!" The deer's cry was full of joy.

Ji An patted the beast's sturdy back, then stroked its antlers, and asked softly:

What skills do they have now?

This was what he cared about most. In the plan, Qinglu was a model worker, and he would rely on it to do all the work if he left the sect.

'Children of the Five-Colored Deer, do not disappoint me!'

"YoYo!"

The blue deer growled again, its voice filled with arrogance.

The antlers shone brightly, and the blue patterns on its body also lit up.

Then, centered on the beast tamer, a beam of azure light shot straight into the sky, and surging wood-elemental energy spread out.

Green specks of light fell like a shower of stars, disappearing into the spiritual plants, and the burgeoning spiritual energy began to permeate the air.

The leaves rustled in the bamboo forest, and the bamboo shoots, which had just emerged half a foot long, grew rapidly, reaching a foot in height in a short time.

"it is good!"

Ji An was in a great mood. This innate spell was definitely at the level of the Chaoyuan stage, and at a high level.

He carefully estimated that he should be able to barely reach the level of the Great Completion Azure Dragon Awakening Technique.

He rode the clouds into the sky and shouted:

"Again!"

Qinglu showed off by casting a spell again. Ji An looked at the range of the spreading spiritual light, nodded in satisfaction, and threw out a high-grade Biluo Fruit.

"Here, have some."

He was overjoyed. With an area of ​​about thirty acres, what more could he ask for?

'What a qualified worker! From now on, provide him with a top-grade spiritual fruit every three days.'

Since we need to train beasts to work hard in the future, we should increase our efforts in training them.

(End of this chapter)