Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 456 Ruins
Zhu Hanshan took the jade bottle, poured the pill into his palm, and his eyes revealed surprise:
"That amount of medicinal herbs was enough to make five pills, and they all turned into pills! I admire your alchemy skills, senior."

Regardless of which continent in the cultivation world, most cultivators practice fire-based techniques because fire-based spells are not only suitable for combat but also have a wider range of uses.

"It was just luck; the success rate of pills was only around 80% before."

"You're too modest, senior. Behind every stroke of luck, there must be real strength supporting it."

"By the way, what kinds of elixirs are you skilled at refining, senior?"

Ji An answered truthfully:
"I haven't dabbled in many kinds of pills, such as the Azure Lotus Pill, the Fire Dragon Heart-Refining Pill, and the Vermilion Bird Flame Grass Pill, but I want to try refining more types of pills."

The emerald leaves and red lotuses in Crimson Flame Peak nurture the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame. He also wanted to obtain the seed of this spiritual fire of heaven and earth, so he was willing to try if he had the opportunity to improve his alchemy skills.

Zhu Hanshan nodded slightly. The other party was already a qualified second-tier alchemist, capable of refining pills for the Chaoyuan stage.

"Senior, if I may ask, how long do you plan to stay in the Immortal City?"

His expression turned serious. If the other party wouldn't stay long, he could only entrust them with refining familiar pills.

Ji An smiled, "I don't know how long I'll stay. To be honest, I came to Red Cloud Immortal City to find an opportunity to comprehend the mutual generation of the five elements, specifically the metal generating water."

"I see. Our shop owner has a relative by marriage who owns several large mines. I can introduce you to them in the future."

Zhu Hanshan smiled, knowing that many cultivators from other places who had reached the Chaoyuan stage had come here for the same purpose.

It would take at least twenty or thirty years to grasp the intricacies of it all, so you can cooperate with confidence.

"Thank you in advance," Ji An said with a cupped hand and a smile. He hadn't expected to find the right approach so quickly.

He is not worried that the other party will cheat him. If the promises are not fulfilled after several years of cooperation, he can switch to another store to cooperate with at any time.

The reason I initially partnered with this store was because they offered the highest price.

"It was nothing, no need for you to thank me, senior."

Zhu Hanshan pondered for a moment, then spoke again:

"Our shop can provide the medicinal materials for ten batches of Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pills and one batch of Vermilion Bird Flame Grass Pills, on a one-month basis. We will also purchase the pills from you, senior. Is that possible?"

He can let the other party gradually learn about the refining of other types of pills, but he needs to observe the other party's pill refining skills further.

A larger sample size is needed to see true strength.

"can."

Ji An had no objection; he was well aware that trust between the two sides needed to be built gradually, which was only natural.

"Please wait a moment, senior," Zhu Hanshan transmitted his voice to the maid, instructing her to fetch the medicinal herbs.

The maid returned quickly after leaving and handed the medicinal herbs to the shopkeeper.

Zhu Hanshan inspected the herbs first, then handed them over, saying, "Senior, please inspect them."

Ji An examined the pills carefully. A batch of pills was quite valuable, so he had to be cautious.

These are all processed medicinal materials, precisely proportioned, so that the medicine shop can earn more.

"Excellent, the medicinal herbs are well preserved, and the processing technique is also quite good."

Zhu Hanshan smiled and said:

"Each portion of Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill contains enough medicinal materials to make five pills, worth one thousand spirit stones. Ten portions would be worth ten thousand spirit stones."

The medicinal materials from one batch of Vermilion Bird Flame Grass Pills can yield three pills, worth six thousand spirit stones.

"The senior just delivered five Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pills. The purchase price for a high-quality pill is 550 spirit stones, and for a common-quality pill it's 420 spirit stones. You'll need to pay an additional 13,500 spirit stones."

Ji An nodded slightly; this was the price that had been agreed upon long ago.

The price of elixirs in Red Rock Immortal City is slightly higher than in Silver Moon City, and the price of medicinal materials is similar.

He took out enough spirit stones and made the transaction with the other party, then chatted for a while before leaving.

Wei's Talisman Shop.

Shopkeeper Wei Xianglin put down the last Fire Dragon Talisman in his hand, his face flushed with excitement.

He wasn't someone who hadn't seen the world, but he had rarely seen a talisman maker who could sell so many second-tier top-grade spirit talismans at once.

He took a sip of the spiritual tea to moisten his parched throat and said in a deep voice:

"Senior, there are a total of 150 Fire Dragon Talismans. According to our agreed price, each talisman costs 320 spirit stones, so I need to pay you 48,000 spirit stones."

With this batch of goods, the store's reserves of high-level talismans can be greatly replenished.

Ji An smiled and nodded, "Could you settle the bill for me with three high-grade spirit stones and some mid-grade spirit stones?"

He still had nearly six hundred mid-grade spirit stones, enough to last him a long time, but it was more worry-free to use high-grade spirit stones.

When he returns to the sect, he will not lack mid-grade spirit stones, but he will still lack high-grade spirit stones.

"Of course, but as is customary, a 30% exchange fee is required. Does Senior confirm the exchange?"

"I understand, exchange it."

"Ok."

Wei Xianglin agreed and turned to the maid behind him, saying:
"Send the talisman to the warehouse, and then take three high-grade spirit stones and seventy mid-grade spirit stones."

"There's no rush yet."

Ji An raised his hand to interrupt, and then said:

"I have run out of materials and need to purchase a batch of animal hides and talisman ink from your shop."

The loot from killing the two armored lizards is almost exhausted.

"Aside from the Fire Dragon Talisman, what other talismans can you draw, senior? What level of skill do you possess?"

"I can also draw Earth Escape Talisman, Black Armor Talisman, Explosion Talisman, and Rock Mountain Talisman."

"That's great. Senior is skilled in talismans that are in high demand."

Wei Xianglin recalled for a moment and said:

"How about we prepare fifty portions each of Fire Dragon Talisman and Black Armor Talisman materials, and two hundred portions each of Explosion Talisman and Rock-Solid Talisman for our senior?"

The shop can offer more, but it needs to maintain cooperation with other talisman makers, so this is all it can offer for now.

"can."

Wei Xianglin turned to look at the maid, "Just as I said, fetch enough materials and three high-grade spirit stones."

“Okay,” the maid quickly organized the talismans, packed them up, and took them away.

After a while, the maid brought over the materials and spirit stones, and Wei Xianglin happily began to calculate the accounts:
"Fifty Xuanjia Talismans require 7,000 spirit stones, and Fire Dragon Talismans require 6,400 spirit stones."

The materials for both the Rock-Solid Talisman and the Exploding Talisman cost four thousand spirit stones each. After rounding down, you'll still need to pay us two hundred and ten spirit stones.

Ji An inspected the quality of the animal hide and the talisman ink, nodded slightly, and then took out spirit stones to pay the amount.

He put the materials away and sighed softly.

He had thought that the 600 mid-grade spirit stones he had would last him a long time, but now it seemed that if he exchanged too many high-grade spirit stones, he would run out of them in just a few months.

As they chatted casually, Wei Xianglin subtly inquired:
"Senior, your accent doesn't sound like that of a cultivator from the area surrounding Immortal City. May I ask how long you plan to stay here?"

Ji An repeated what he had said in the Spirit Pill Pavilion, and said with a smile:

"I hope your esteemed establishment can help me introduce me to relevant cultivators."

Wei Xianglin's face lit up with even more joy as he replied:
"No problem, but you should be prepared to wait several years. Red Rock Immortal City has gathered many cultivators with the same aspirations. The area in the mine where one can comprehend the mutual generation of the five elements is not always available. It is said that the allocation of such quotas is several years away."

"I was mentally prepared for this."

Ji An smiled and said that the opportunities here are greater, which is why it attracts many cultivators from other continents.

Days passed peacefully, and Ji An's life consisted of practicing martial arts, making talismans, and refining elixirs.

He would go out every three or four days to wander around the area near the Immortal City, practicing various escape techniques, but he would never go too far and would always return on the same day.

Two years passed.

Inside the cave, Ji An finished his cultivation technique and focused his mind on the stone tortoise in his dantian. Lines of writing appeared in his sea of ​​consciousness.

[Master: Ji An]

[Taoist rhyme: water 0.4, earth 0.6]

Spiritual Ability: Kan Spirit 362.8, Gen Spirit 568.5, Zhen Spirit 214.7, Xun Spirit 398.4, Kun Spirit 457.2, Qian Spirit 367.3, Dui Spirit 362.5, Li Spirit 246.7

[Spell: Spirit Sealing Technique (Mastery 41%)]

Wood Release Technique (89% Perfection)

Fire Release Technique (Perfect 14%)

Metal Escape Technique (Perfect 12%)

Water Release Technique (Perfect 67%)

Mental Roar (Minor Success 58%)

[Thread-Pulling Mantra (Perfect 1%)]

In the past two years, he has also obtained some Daoist wisdom, which was something Ji An never expected.

His network expanded, and he got to know several cultivators at the same level, but he still hadn't come into contact with any cultivators who could bring him a spot.

After reviewing the progress of the various spells, Ji An gave the order, "Enter the gourd world."

As soon as he stepped onto the yellow earth of the small world, the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner flew out of his dantian and flew around the Gathering Yuan Tree.

This sacred tree is now over five feet tall, with seven branches and leaves that are multicolored and shimmer with spiritual light.

It has now reached the first-tier superior level, and its rapid growth rate far exceeds his expectations.

In Ji An's view, the theory of the spiritual root of heaven and earth should be that it exists at the fifth level or above and its growth rate is extremely slow. He did not expect that this was not the case.

At least not at this stage. It grows much faster than the Soul Nourishing Wood and Phoenix Wood, even though it is currently only rooted in a first-grade top-quality spirit field.

He shifted his gaze to the nest of the Soul-Devouring Insects.

Five nests, each over ten feet long, sprang up from the ground, increasing the number of spirit insects dozens of times.

Moreover, first-tier top-grade spirit-devouring insects have already appeared, and Ji An is already controlling the number of spirit insects to prevent ecological collapse.

Many wooden houses have been built here as warehouses, in preparation for storing resources in the future.

Ji An cast spells on the spirit field in turn. In the black soil pond, the precious dragon fish have multiplied to over a hundred, with the largest one already at the Foundation Establishment level, making it the tyrant of the pond.

With the precious bait of spirit-eating insects, all kinds of spirit fish are thriving.

In the deep lava abyss, clusters of fire corals grow luxuriantly, with many plants reaching the first-tier top-grade level and forming a symbiotic relationship with fire crystal ants.

The fire crystal ants produced coral honey, which had a fragrant aroma and a sweet taste. Their colony expanded significantly, and the spirit sand they produced was sprinkled into the lava lake.

What Ji An didn't expect was that the fire coral could bloom with flowers the size of copper coins, and the flowering period lasted for several months, a time when the amethyst bees were having a blast.

Compared to the rapid expansion of the Amethyst Bee colony, the Jade Bees fared much worse, as the limited number of Jade Leaf Mulberry plants severely restricted their population.

The next morning, Ji An returned to his cave after having breakfast at Zuixianlou and found two familiar cultivators standing outside.

He hurried a few steps to catch up and laughed:
"Fellow Daoists, your presence is an honor. We are sorry for not welcoming you sooner. Please come into our cave and have a chat."

These two, like him, were not native cultivators from the vicinity of Red Rock Immortal City; they had both come to comprehend the concept of Metal generating Water.

The two made a living by hunting demons. They met him by chance and subsequently became his suppliers.

They sold him animal hides and demonic beast blood at low prices, and bought talismans from him.

Because there were no middlemen taking a cut, he earned a lot more spirit stones.

"Haha, you're too kind, fellow Daoist."

The three entered the cave and took their seats as host and guest. The short cultivator, Yuan Hong, spoke first:

"Fellow Daoist Ji, let's get straight to the point."

A while ago, when Fellow Daoist Zhang and I went out to hunt demons, we discovered a ruin. It should be the cave dwelling left behind by a considerable force, at least at the Golden Core level.

The magical restrictions within the cave were well preserved. We tried to attack the magic array, but we couldn't find a way in.

It was later discovered that the magic array was the Three Talents Mysterious Array, and breaking it required three people simultaneously attacking the array's nodes.

Zhang Le, who was standing next to him, chimed in:

"As you know, fellow Daoist, neither of us has any foundation here. After much thought, we can only trust you. I wonder if you would be interested in going?"

If you break the formation, you can take 20% of all the spoils from that area.

They had already explored most of the ruins and reaped a great harvest, so they were extremely eager to explore the core area.

They wouldn't have spoken unless it required three people to break the formation.

Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly; he hadn't expected the other party to have such luck.

However, he thought of a very practical problem: putting aside the authenticity of the ruins, the two people were friends for many years and were natural allies.

If a conflict occurs, you will face an attack from two people.

Fighting two cultivators who frequently battle on the front lines of demon hunting wouldn't frighten Ji An, but he felt that it was too risky to speculate about others with the most wicked intentions.

Ji An pondered for a moment and asked:
"How did you two confirm that the ruins were left by a Golden Core level power?"

After weighing the pros and cons, he felt that the ruins at the Golden Core level were worth the risk.

Zhang Le laughed and said, "To be honest, Fellow Daoist Yuan and I have already explored the non-core areas of that ruin and obtained quite a few good things."

He took out a crimson flying sword that was half broken and said:
“Fellow Daoist, please take a look. This is a flying sword of the magic treasure level. We have obtained three such treasures in total, which is why I concluded that the ruins belong to a Golden Core stage power.”

Ji An took the flying sword and examined it carefully. He nodded almost imperceptibly. The material inside this magic weapon did indeed contain spiritual objects of the third tier.

Based solely on the material of this damaged magic weapon, it could easily fetch over a dozen high-grade spirit stones, not to mention the magical restrictions remaining on it.

For weapon refiners, these kinds of magical artifacts have great reference value.

He fell into thought, weighing the pros and cons.

Zhang and Le sat quietly, without urging each other at all; they were fully aware of what the other party was worried about.

To be honest, if a monk had invited them in this way, they would have given it serious consideration.

After a moment, Ji An spoke:

"Could you describe the scenery in the ruins to me? More information will help me make the right judgment."

(End of this chapter)