Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 498 The Discussion of Taking a Master
Ji An's words were not empty boasting. His experience in the far north made him realize that with his comprehension and the help of the Dao Seed, it would not be difficult for him to comprehend the divine meaning of the mutual generation of the five elements.

If you seize the opportunity, the chances of successfully comprehending divine will are very high.

This means that he can quickly complete the accumulation of the Five Elements mutual generation stage, far exceeding the speed of other cultivators.

Accumulating enough power to strengthen one's life force requires time and hard work, and his two disciples might not necessarily break through to a higher realm faster than him.

Lin Lan and the other two were shocked but overjoyed. It was an honor to become a disciple of a Golden Core cultivator!

It is said that after the two patriarchs of the sect became Golden Core cultivators, they no longer accepted disciples, and none of the disciples they had accepted were still alive due to their lifespans.

If their master breaks through to the Golden Core stage, they will be the only two Golden Core cultivators in the sect, and they will undoubtedly receive many hidden benefits.

Han Shan praised:
"Master's elegance is beyond my reach."

Lin Lan glanced sideways. When did this honest and straightforward junior brother become so natural at flattery? This was a formidable opponent!
She quickly spoke up:

"Master's power is boundless, and this disciple can only look up to him in awe."

Ji An grinned, "You two have learned to flatter me now. There's no need for that. I would only feel gratified if you broke through to the Chaoyuan stage before your teacher."

"Here's what we'll do: if anyone breaks through to the Origin Realm before I break through to the Golden Core Realm, I can forgive your debt of 10,000 minor merits."

Give them a little something to whet their appetites and motivate them to work even harder to prepare for a breakthrough.

The two disciples exchanged a glance, and Lin Lan asked:
"If Master had broken through earlier, would we have been punished?"

She was confident in breaking through her cultivation level, but she wasn't sure when she would do so. Furthermore, her master's confidence made her feel uncertain.

Ji An waved his hand, "There are no punishments, only rewards, as long as you can get them."

Han Shan was full of confidence:

"Thank you, Master, for waiving my debt!"

He now feels that he has reached a very subtle stage. If he is not mistaken, he is not far from reaching the realm of constant life light, and will definitely achieve it within three to five years.

His master's suggestion was purely an encouragement to him; he was determined to accept the reward!
Ji An smiled, "Very good, that's the kind of spirit and energy you need."

After chatting with his disciples for a while, he got up and left, riding a cloud to the mountainside.

Watching the crimson spirit cloud disappear into the distance, Lin Lan nudged her junior brother with her elbow and said:

How confident are you of winning the prize?

Han Shan smiled reservedly, his white teeth seemingly gleaming:

"I wouldn't say I'm 100% sure, but I'm at least 70% or 80% sure."

Lin Lan: "."

How long have you been secretly working hard behind my back?!

Ji An returned to his cave and entered the quiet room, where he focused his mind on his dantian and connected with the stone tortoise.

"Enter the world of gourds."

His figure vanished, leaving only the gourd-shaped stone suspended in mid-air.

The Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag flew out of the dantian, transforming into a yellow spiritual cloud that hovered near the Gathering Yuan Tree, and as usual, let out a low roar that shook the surrounding area.

Ji An took out tea seeds and planted them around the spirit tree, three zhang away from the spiritual root of heaven and earth.

He originally planned to plant only one Youyue Cangyu Tree here, with two Youyue Cangyu Tree seeds and four Yunding Jade Tree seeds, but he changed his plans because he thought that the tea produced by one spirit tree would not be enough for him to drink after he left the sect.

He unleashed the Yellow Dragon Enhancing Energy Technique, followed by the Cloud Dragon Rainmaking Technique.

Dark clouds rolled in, and crystal-clear white rain fell, spreading a moistening fragrance, and the tea seeds took root and sprouted.

When the clouds dispersed and the rain stopped, the spirit trees had all grown to about a foot tall.

Ji An nodded with satisfaction. This place was becoming more and more prosperous. He essentially had two bases: one was Crimson Flame Peak, and the other was the Calabash World.

He walked to the insect tower, captured some spirit-devouring insects, and then flew on a cloud to the pond and scattered some of them.

The calm water surface instantly turned into boiling water, with a large number of spirit fish surfacing to compete for the insects. These insects were not only a rare delicacy, but they also accelerated their growth.

As the water gradually calmed down, Ji An rode away on a cloud and arrived at the fire crystal ant nest in the crimson earth, where he threw down the remaining spirit insects in his hand.

Perhaps it was because the spirit insects emitted special pheromones that a large number of fire crystal ants soon crawled out of their nests. The fire crystal ants that were originally scattered outside also rushed back, all with the spirit-devouring insects as their target.

These poor insects were torn apart and dragged back to their nest by the fire crystal ants, and the anthill's commotion subsided.

Ji An returned to the center of the small world, retrieved the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag, and then contacted the stone tortoise, issuing the order to leave the gourd world.

Upon returning to his quiet room, he sat cross-legged on a futon and began to circulate the Five Elements Sutra.

Diligence leads to mastery, while idleness leads to ruin; improving one's cultivation is the most romantic thing for a cultivator.

The next day at dawn, Ji An rode the Flame Banner away from Crimson Flame Peak and flew eastward. After more than half an hour, he arrived at Crimson Copper Mountain.

He arrived at Zhu Xiangrong's cave, which surprised the other party.

"Junior Brother Ji, weren't you traveling and comprehending the divine meaning of the Five Elements' mutual generation? When did you return? What happened?"

Comprehending the divine meaning of the Five Elements' mutual generation is a long process. In Zhu Xiangrong's eyes, something unexpected and ominous was bound to happen.

Faced with the three questions in a row, Ji An couldn't help but grin. These senior brothers were all too concerned.

He explained the whole story, and Zhu Xiangrong covered her face, jokingly saying:
"Stop talking! Comparison is the thief of joy! I can't even reach the fifth level of the Chaoyuan stage, while you easily comprehend three divine intents. How can anyone live like this?!" How many truths are spoken in the form of jokes?
After a unique exchange of pleasantries, Ji An took out the second-tier superior-grade Sky Soaring Armor used to capture enemies and said in a deep voice:

"Senior brother, are you interested in acquiring this defensive magical artifact?"

He made a hand seal, and the scales of the rhombus-shaped armor scattered and then reassembled.

Zhu Xiangrong's eyes lit up, and he said:
"A very creative idea. How defensively capable is the spirit armor?"

This spirit armor inspired his thinking; he immediately saw its potential and knew it would be enthusiastically sought after by cultivators.

Ji An scratched his head. "I haven't tested it. It's a custom-made spirit armor, crafted by a master craftsman from Red Rock Immortal City in the far north."

He has a set of second-tier top-grade spirit armor with self-repairing capabilities, and he knows how strong its defense is. However, he doesn't know about the defense of high-grade spirit armor.

Zhu Xiangrong reached out and stroked the nail plate, asking:
"Did my junior brother order this?"

Ji An shook his head, "If it were custom-made by me, its defensive capabilities would definitely be thoroughly tested."

The original owner of the spirit armor was a cultivator who had undergone tribulation; this is my spoils of war.

Zhu Xiangrong grinned. "So it was stolen goods, huh? Is it really okay for you to say that?"
However, considering that the enemy is a cultivator from the far north, this magical artifact is worth acquiring. Studying its crafting process and the magical restrictions within it would be a good option.

He is now particularly curious about the refining methods he has never seen before. If he can learn this way of thinking and apply it to other situations, it may give him a better understanding of the art of weapon refining.

"Junior brother, please break the spiritual weapon into armor plates so I can take a closer look."

Looking at the spirit weapon scattered into armor plates, Zhu Xiangrong frowned and said:

"That's not right. If it's a custom-made, unique magical artifact, how do you know the manipulation incantation?"

Unique magical artifacts inevitably have different control methods; they cannot be used simply by acquiring them.

If Junior Brother Ji were a weapon refiner, it wouldn't be surprising if he could figure out the control techniques, but it's unlikely that someone would hire a weapon refiner to do that kind of work when they steal a spiritual weapon.

That would be risky; it's clearly stolen goods!
Ji An said with an honest and simple expression:

"I commissioned a set of top-quality spiritual artifacts of the same type, all crafted by the same artificer, with similar control techniques."

"They're really rich and powerful!"

Zhu Xiangrong was somewhat frustrated. He had already crafted two top-grade spiritual artifacts for the other party, and with this one, that would make it three.

As the sect's top weapon refiner, he only possessed one top-grade spiritual weapon, and a strange feeling arose in his heart: "Those adorned in silk robes are not the ones who raise silkworms."

He extended his divine sense, wanting to carefully study the structure of the armor plates and the inscriptions of the magical restrictions, but found that it was not easy to do so. There were special magical restriction patterns inside, making it difficult for his divine sense to enter.

He seemed to have received a particularly favorite toy, and said:

"It will be difficult to achieve research results, but I am willing to take on the challenge. At what price are you planning to sell it, junior?"

Ji An did not answer directly, but asked instead:

"Has Senior Brother figured out anything about that white bone magic weapon?"

"I have made some progress, and there is still great potential to be tapped, but it is a long process, after all, I am not a Golden Core cultivator."

The magical artifact's spiritual power is waning at a rapid pace, and I worry that by the time it decays, I won't be able to produce any noteworthy results.

Zhu Xiangrong replied with shame that researching magical artifacts was beyond his capabilities.

However, studying this full-body spirit armor would be much easier, since it's only a second-tier high-grade spirit artifact, allowing him to fully utilize its abilities.

"Junior brother, you haven't said what price you're going to sell it for yet."

"I don't know what price to give either, senior brother, you can decide."

Now it was Zhu Xiangrong's turn to be in a dilemma. Giving too much would hurt his feelings, but giving too little would make him seem too unkind.

After pondering for a moment, he tested the defensive capabilities of the magical artifact and said in a deep voice:

"This magical artifact has some obvious advantages and disadvantages. I am only willing to offer ten high-grade spirit stones."

"make a deal."

Ji An readily agreed, knowing that he could never sell them for that many high-grade spirit stones on the black market.

After the transaction was completed, he recounted some information about Gu Hongming and asked:

"To be honest, if the other party weren't more interested in weapon crafting, I would have liked to take him on as a disciple myself. Disciples with Earth-grade aptitude are rare. Senior brother, would you be interested in taking him on as a disciple?"

Zhu Xiangrong quickly thought it through in his mind and said:
“Of course, no problem. I can take him as my last disciple.”

The other party has a grandfather who is a master craftsman; taking him as a disciple might bring additional benefits.

"However, I only have sixty or seventy years left to live, and I'm afraid I won't be able to teach him more."

Ji An said:

"With your Earth-grade aptitude, Senior Brother, this much time is more than enough to support Gu Hongming in raising his cultivation to the Chaoyuan stage."

"Alright, junior brother, you can ask him for his opinion. If you're willing, you can come and become his disciple."

Ji An nodded, "I'll ask him when I get back, and if he agrees, I'll come to become his apprentice tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)