Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 471 Discovery
Ji An kept increasing the input of magic power. At first, the talisman brush could withstand it, but later the red patterns on the talisman brush turned light gold, and he could not pour in more magic power.

It's as if there's a valve controlling the maximum flow of magical power.

Gu Tai noticed the change in the color of the pattern on the penholder, stroked his beard, and smiled:

“Using a regular talisman pen, inputting excessive spiritual power over a long period of time will seriously affect its lifespan and cause uneven output of magical power, thus affecting the success rate of talisman making.”

My design limits the maximum input of spiritual power, allowing you to confidently and boldly maintain your mana input.

Besides extending the lifespan of the talisman brush, this also has additional benefits, which you, fellow Daoist, will surely understand.

He kept everyone in suspense, giving off a knowing look.

Ji An raised his eyebrows slightly and said with a smile:
"A very thoughtful design, fellow Daoist is a true master."

The crafted items can maximize the user experience, which is the difference between a craftsman and a master craftsman.

The amount of mana input requires the use of one's divine sense to control it. This seemingly insignificant setting is ingenious. You can input your spiritual power with confidence and save a little divine sense.

For cultivators who make a living by creating talismans, the spiritual energy they save each day can be used to draw two or three more talismans.

Over time, this adds up to a considerable income. For high-level talisman makers, it can easily add two or three high-grade spirit stones each year.

For this benefit alone, no talisman maker would refuse.

Ji An sighed inwardly, 'It's a pity that talisman making is only a side job for me; its effect on conserving spiritual energy isn't very significant.'

Gu Tai laughed heartily, feeling quite pleased with himself.

Ji An took out the materials and dipped them in talisman ink.

First, I drew a few explosive talismans to get a feel for it, and then I drew two fire dragon talismans in a row, both of which were successful.

Because more spiritual energy was inputted, the power of these talismans was enhanced compared to before; he estimated that it could be increased by about 10%.

With the same materials and costs, such an increase made him think that next time he sold talismans, he should have a good talk with Manager Wei and ask for more money!

If the negotiations are successful, the cost of crafting the talisman pen will be completely passed on to the other party.

Gu Tai picked up the first fire dragon talisman he had drawn, stroking the radiant runes with a gentle touch, as if caressing a concubine's hand.

"I'll keep this talisman. The shop sells it for four mid-grade spirit stones. I'll give it to you later, fellow Daoist."

Ji An shook his head slightly and said:

“I can’t get this much if I sell it to a shop. Fellow Daoist, give me three hundred and fifty spirit stones. I can make a profit.”

"Is this appropriate?"

“Why not! A few days ago, you hosted a banquet at Zuixianju, which cost a lot of money. I was very satisfied and originally planned to give you a few talismans.”

"Haha, forget about giving it away for free, let's just go with this price."

Gu Tai doesn't like taking advantage of others, nor does he like others taking advantage of him; it's best for both sides to maintain a proper distance.

Ji An drew water from the water vat and poured it into the brush washer to wash the talisman brush. After washing it, he infused it with fire element magic to evaporate the water. He then picked up the yellow-tipped talisman brush and began to draw earth element talismans.

This time, I directly drew the Earth Escape Talisman. The first one failed, but the second one succeeded.

Gu Tai patted his chest and said:

"Ah, I've finally seen you fail once, fellow Daoist. Your skill is better than any other talisman maker I've ever met!"

He was deeply impressed. The other party had drawn seven talismans in total, with a success rate of over 80%, which was the performance of a top-notch talisman maker.

For a craftsman like this, accumulating spirit stones wouldn't be too easy.

"Fellow Taoist is so complimentary."

Ji An handed the Earth Escape Talisman to the other party, saying, "This one also costs three hundred and fifty spirit stones."

"Thank you, fellow Daoist," Gu Tai said with a smile, taking out seven mid-grade spirit stones.

"I have gathered half of the materials for the Sky Soaring Armor, and some friends have promised to help me search for them. It will take two months to six months to start refining it."

Earth-elemental spirit armor has the strongest overall performance. Its only weakness is wood-elemental spells or spirit treasures, but wood-elemental spells are not known for their power, and few people practice these spells.

Even if cultivators craft wood-elemental magical artifacts, they are used as auxiliary treasures.

"Haha, fellow Daoist has a wide network of connections."

Ji An offered a small compliment, saying that with enough time to cultivate connections, high-level craftsmen are never lacking in connections.

"Hehe, if you run a talisman shop, you can gain a foothold in the Immortal City in less than ten years."

However, fellow Daoist, your current focus is on cultivation. Once you break through to the Golden Core stage, you will have a group of followers if you so desire.

Gu Tai sighed at the other person's youth, and he no longer held any hope for the improvement of his cultivation.

Now he is 320 years old, and his cultivation is still stuck at the second stage of the Chaoyuan realm. Reaching the Golden Core stage is impossible for him.

After exchanging a few words of flattery, Ji An put away his talisman brush and said, "Fellow Daoist, I have other matters to attend to, so I will take my leave."

Gu Tai saw him out of the shop, asked for the address of his cave, and then said:
"Once the materials are collected, I will send a helper to invite you over so we can discuss the refining plan."

"Okay, I'll wait for good news."

Two months passed in the blink of an eye, and in the far north, heavy snow fell, scattering helplessly in the fierce wind.

Despite the freezing weather, the Nulan River continues to flow.

The night was pitch black.

In the temporary cave at the foot of Xuelong Ridge, the immortals sat upright, each with a solemn expression.

Master Han Chi said in a deep voice:
"This month we conducted a comprehensive search, and the outer perimeter of Snow Dragon Ridge has been searched, but no trace of demonic cultivators has been found."

The inner area is complex, making the search much more difficult. Furthermore, lower-level cultivators are no longer of much use; the main search force consists of cultivators at the late Foundation Establishment stage and above.

The search was a tough job, but under the supervision of the Nascent Soul True Monarch, no one dared to slack off.

Wei Tianyou coughed and said:
“We still support continuing the search, but the current dilemma is that we cannot confirm whether the demonic cultivators are still in this area.”

We and our disciples don't mind working hard; what we fear is doing something in vain.

He is the head of the Wei family, with a cultivation level of the third stage of the Golden Core realm. In the past two months, the Golden Core cultivators have been personally involved in various tasks, which has drawn criticism from many Golden Core cultivators from various families.

In their view, the demonic cultivator should have escaped long ago.

True Lord Tianshui coughed and solemnly said:
"The demonic cultivators have not appeared in the North for many years, and you can only glean information about their dangers from ancient texts."

Written records are too pale, and given the long passage of time, many people may not be able to feel the bloodshed and heaviness involved.

The entire Xuelong Ridge must be searched; if nothing is found, it's like having a thorn stuck in your flesh that you can't pull out.

Have you all considered that as long as the demonic cultivators remain in the North, they pose a potential threat to us?

Demonic cultivators do not engage in production; given their plundering nature, they are bound to wreak havoc on the region.

In a war-for-war situation, as long as they can keep winning, the strength of demonic cultivators can increase rapidly.

If it's a demonic cultivator with no real foundation, that's fine. At most, they can be raised to the Golden Core level. As long as we get definite information, we can immediately send Golden Core cultivators to surround and annihilate them.

At most, some low-level cultivators will be injured or killed; the cultivation world of the North will not suffer serious damage.

If it's a demon who has received a high-level inheritance, things will be difficult. "Let me be clear: the two demonic puppets are carrying demonic infants. Based on this, it's highly likely that the demonic cultivator behind them has a profound inheritance."

The growth rate of demonic cultivators is unreasonable; it is entirely possible for them to break through to the Nascent Soul level within a hundred years.

"If this demonic cultivator is lucky enough to break through to the Nascent Soul level, I might need to use my full power. Your family's protective mountain formation won't last more than a few days under an attack from a Nascent Soul level cultivator."

The cultivators remained silent. The North had been at peace for a long time, and while conflicts might break out between families, Golden Core cultivators had never truly broken ties with each other.

The records described how demonic cultivators feared them like tigers, but the few lines of description were not enough for them to truly understand.

Tianshui Zhenjun scanned the crowd, observing their expressions, and continued:
"Everyone has worked hard during this period. Pass down the order to rest for three days and only maintain necessary patrols."

"As ordered."

Tianshui Zhenjun waved his hand: "All of you, go down."

Before he could finish speaking, panicked shouts came from outside the cave.

"Fellow cultivators, a signal talisman has been activated. We have lost contact with the two patrol teams in the north."

To prevent demonic cultivators from escaping in the dark, cultivators patrolled the area at night without interruption for two months.

Night patrols are divided into covert sentries and mobile sentries. Covert sentries are hidden at a high point to monitor the area, while mobile sentries patrol and patrol.

The magical barriers around the cave were broken, and True Lord Tianshui instantly appeared outside the stone gate. He shouted sternly:
"Which direction?"

Because of his urgency, the spiritual pressure of a Nascent Soul cultivator emanated from his body, causing the messenger to feel a tightness in his chest and difficulty breathing.

Realizing his lapse in composure, True Monarch Tianshui immediately restrained his spiritual pressure and said kindly:

"Take a breath, then point it out to me."

The signal symbol's pattern can last for 15 minutes. It is fast enough that as long as the direction is correct, it will be able to reach the scene in time.

It was nighttime, and with the wind and snow raging, visibility was low.

If he were a demonic cultivator, it would be normal for him to choose this moment to escape.

The Golden Core cultivators also came out. Sensing the invisible aura, the cultivator who delivered the message swallowed hard.

He took a few deep breaths to calm his emotions, which he couldn't quite define as either excitement or fear, and stretched out his arm, pointing northwest.

"The missing team is in that direction."

Tianshui Zhenjun said in a deep voice:
"I'll go first. You three split up and search in groups of three. Activate the signal talisman immediately if you find anything."

After saying that, he disappeared into the wind and snow like a large bird.

The next day, the wind stopped, the snow stopped, and the weather cleared up.

The sunlight shone brightly on the snow-covered ground, and the group of Cangmiao Zhenren and his companions were not in a good mood.

We couldn't track down the demonic cultivators last night, and now we have new troubles.

Several monks who had been attacked and disappeared have reappeared. Everyone knows there's something wrong with these people, but they can't figure out what's going on.

These monks did not show any abnormalities, only saying that they fainted after being attacked and could not remember anything afterward.

The attacked monk knew who he was and recognized his friends; everything seemed normal.

Master Chiyun coughed, "What should we do next?"

Tianshui Zhenjun has not yet returned. No one is worried about Zhenjun's safety, but everyone knows in their hearts that this mission has ended in complete failure.

The demonic cultivator concealed his aura and fled, leaving almost no trace. Coupled with last night's snowstorm, everything was buried.

The demonic cultivator hiding in the shadows escaped, leaving them with a problem.

Master Cangmiao smiled wryly and said:

"Let's wait. There's nothing we can do. We'll make a plan when the True Lord returns."

Things became tricky. The demonic cultivators had escaped the encirclement, and they had to be constantly on guard against them causing trouble in the shadows.

The Cold Dragon Immortal frowned and said:
“We can’t just sit here and wait. We’ll leave two people here to keep watch, and the rest of us will launch a search centered on the location of the incident.”

If we find the demonic cultivators' lair, perhaps we'll discover something else.

The fact that the demonic cultivator fled in panic illustrates one point: the enemy felt they would be discovered.

He guessed that the location where the sentries were attacked last night was probably not far from the demonic cultivators' lair.

Master Cangmiao sighed, "Then let's split up and act separately."

The Cold Dragon Immortal flew through the sky, while the Ice Dragon flew close to the ground.

The Ice Dragon possesses a trace of dragon blood. It is like a long snake, without horns, and its pale blue scales gleam in the sunlight.

A dozen or so disciples followed behind them, spreading out to search.

Even the weakest of these disciples possessed the strength of the late Foundation Establishment stage. They unleashed their divine sense, leaving no suspicious place unchecked.

Finally, they settled in a valley where the wind howled and countless tornadoes raged through, carrying snow with them.

"Real person, shall we continue the search?"

"Continue. The more treacherous the environment, the more likely it is to be a hiding place for demonic cultivators."

The Cold Dragon Immortal's eyes held a scrutinizing gaze as he said:

"You lower your altitude and search along the cliff, I will provide support from the air."

The wind is very strong, everyone be careful.

After saying that, he flew into the valley first, followed closely by the Ice Dragon.

About half an hour later, the ice dragon, flying at low altitude, came over a cliff shaped like a monkey's head and immediately let out a warning roar, as it smelled a faint scent of blood.

It found the spot with the strongest smell of blood, opened its mouth and exhaled a huge gust of air, blowing away the snow below the cliff.

After two such actions, a tall, square cave entrance was revealed beneath the snow, with a gray-white stone carving of a Qilin on each side.

On the top of one of the stone sculptures, there were faint traces of dark red blood.

Although the bloodstains had congealed, the Ice Dragon could tell that they were still relatively "fresh," suggesting they were left several hours ago.

When the Ice Dragon warned him, the Cold Dragon Immortal landed and immediately cleared away the snow upon seeing the cave entrance, revealing a passage.

On the ground, there were black and red bloodstains every few feet.

He immediately let out a soft whistle, and all the disciples immediately moved closer to him.

Once all his disciples had arrived, he said in a deep voice:
"Zhang Dong, Wei Xiangfeng, you two go back and report that we've made a discovery here."

"Yes, sir," Zhang Dong and the other replied in unison, and rode away on their magical artifacts.

The Cold Dragon Immortal pondered and said:
"The situation inside is unknown, so we should not act rashly and should wait for reinforcements at the entrance."

He is now basically certain that this is the lair of the demonic cultivators. It is indeed well hidden. If the Ice Dragon hadn't discovered the clues, he would have had to fly close to the cliff to find it.

Although the demonic cultivators escaped, the situation inside is unknown. There's no need to rush, so there's no need to risk going in to investigate.

(End of this chapter)