Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 558 The Second Magic Treasure

The valley was deep and lush with vegetation. Ji An lowered his altitude and his gaze became increasingly focused.

Apart from the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves, he could not detect any signs of animal life, not even the chirping of insects, and not a single bird in sight.

He flew deeper into the valley and found that the situation was the same. He began to think about the cause of all this.

Just then, he caught sight of two cultivators flying towards him in the distance, circling around the valley, seemingly searching for something.

He activated his magic, and the crimson auspicious cloud shone even brighter, trailing a long, fiery tail as it sped away.

Before long, he flew to the vicinity of the two.

A man and a woman were piloting the flying shuttle, watching him nervously.

The male cultivator cupped his hands and forced a smile, saying:

"Senior, what are your instructions?"

In the wilderness, monks who do not know each other will keep their distance as much as possible to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

When the opponent flew towards them, he and his partner tried to avoid it, but the opponent's speed was extremely fast, far exceeding the maximum speed of the flying shuttle, and they had no time to avoid it.

They dared not hide any longer and could only wait where they were.

Ji An nodded slightly, revealing a gentle smile:

"Don't be nervous. I have some questions. Just answer them truthfully. What are you two doing here?"

The two were only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage and were intimidated by his imposing presence.

"Reporting to the senior, we have come here to gather herbs."

In Jilei Valley, there is a special spiritual plant called Thunder-Attracting Grass, which contains a trace of thunder power and is an excellent medicinal ingredient.

Every now and then, the two of us come here to gather herbs.

"I have discovered that apart from plants, no other living things have been found in this valley. Do you know why this is happening?"

Also, will you be affected?

"Reporting to the senior, when the thunder roars, a special field will form in the valley, and low-level creatures will suffer devastating blows."

The spiritual veins in Jilei Valley are of the second-tier low-grade, and cannot nurture particularly powerful demonic beasts and insects.

Lower-level creatures cannot survive, and higher-level creatures have no food to sustain their lives. Over time, this has led to the extinction of flesh and blood creatures.

For both of us, as long as we don't enter Jilei Valley during thunderstorms, there won't be any problems.

The two cultivators breathed a slight sigh of relief, realizing they had encountered high-level cultivators from other regions.

Ji An nodded slightly; the other party's explanation was reasonable. He then asked:
Are thunderstorms occurring at fixed times?

"Most of the time it happens around noon, and very rarely in the afternoon. The morning is the safest time, and I have not observed any thunderstorms in the morning."

Ji An raised a question:
"Since the morning is the safest time, why didn't you collect the lightning-attracting grass in the morning?"

The male cultivator explained:
"The vegetation here is lush, and the Thunder-Attracting Grass has a restrained spiritual nature. It grows among dense grass, making it quite difficult to find."

However, after a thunderstorm, the spiritual energy of the lightning-attracting grass will be active for a period of time, making it much easier to collect herbs during this period.

Simply releasing one's divine sense and flying at a slow pace greatly increases the efficiency of the search.

He spoke frankly, for fear of offending the other party.

Ji An took out a mid-grade spirit stone and tossed it out, saying, "Thank you for your answers, this is a reward for you."

After saying that, he rode away on a cloud and flew towards the highest point of Mount Nufeng.

He got the information he wanted and understood what he needed to do next.

The male cultivator happily accepted the spirit stone, saying, "Thank you for your generous gift, senior."

Ji An quickly scouted the area and found a suitable place to build his cave dwelling.

This is a cliff, from which you can overlook most of Jilei Valley.

He released the Golden Feathered Eagle from his spirit beast pouch. The fourth-level Chaoyuan demon beast let out a clear, cold cry, like a howling snow wind.

"Patroll the area and notify me immediately if you spot any creature approaching."

Ji An instructed that the spiritual veins here were of a low level and could only nurture demonic beasts at the Chaoyuan stage at most.

However, you never know what unexpected situations might arise in the wild, so you can't be too cautious.

The golden eagle let out another cry, its golden crest spreading out, making it look just like a woodpecker.

It gracefully flaps its wings and hovers in the air, its sharp gaze sweeping down upon the earth.

Ji An created a simple cave dwelling and set up a sealing array.

Refining a top-grade spiritual weapon into a magic treasure using heavenly lightning is a long process, and he was prepared for a protracted battle.

It may take several years, but as long as it can be refined into a magic weapon, it will all be worth it.

The Phoenix Stone was refined within the Flame Banner, allowing it to slowly recover even from damage caused by lightning.

Wood-based magical artifacts inherently possess restorative properties; unless they suffer a devastating blow, they can be restored by refining other types of wood.

Over the next few days, Ji An observed the situation in Ji Lei Valley and found that it was indeed as the cultivator had said.

When the dark clouds once again shrouded the valley, he resolutely rode the clouds and rushed in.

The Flame Banner was summoned, and it used fire elemental energy to transform into the form of a phoenix, which flew around its master.

It has four tail feathers, in red, yellow, blue, and white, representing the different forms of flame.

The red, yellow, and blue colors are bright and vibrant, while the white is somewhat dull. Only when the Flame Banner is transformed into a magical artifact will the white tail feathers become dazzling.

The high-pitched cry of the phoenix pierced through the dark clouds, reaching even higher in the sky, carrying arrogance and domineering power, perfectly matching the spirit of the fire element.

The clouds grew thicker and thicker, and the entire sky darkened completely, as if it were dusk.

Ji An flew swiftly to the vicinity of a deep pit. There should be a metal vein deep underground, and this place is very "attractive to lightning," receiving the most lightning strikes.

A forked bolt of lightning descended from the sky, illuminating the dark world. The phoenix spread its wings and flew after the lightning, letting out another arrogant cry that harmonized with the thunder, like a harmonious melody.

Ji An's face shimmered with silver light under the lightning as he watched the phoenix unleash a crimson spiritual tide, dancing gracefully amidst the storm of lightning.

He could feel his blood and qi surging as the lightning struck, and he immediately understood why lower-level creatures could not survive.

He was a Golden Core cultivator and also a Body Cultivator in the Chaoyuan stage. Even so, he felt his blood and qi surging. Those low-level beings would probably explode and die instantly when their blood and qi reversed.

Only cultivators at the Chaoyuan stage can withstand the constant surge of qi and blood.

Perhaps the thunder had a temper; it sensed the provocation, and lightning struck one after another, while the phoenix's high-pitched voice gradually weakened.

Unable to maintain its illusory form any longer, it reverted to its original form and fled in a sorry state.

A muffled rumble of thunder sounded, and large raindrops traced silver streaks across the surface.

Thunder and lightning roared, torrential rain poured down, and the world was shrouded in a vast expanse of white.

Ji An laughed heartily as he watched the Flame Banner fly to his side. He quickly examined the artifact's condition and saw that it had some small black holes on its surface, but no major damage. The reason it was in such a sorry state was that its spiritual essence had been injured by directly confronting the lightning.

Ji An immediately stored the Flaming Light Banner in his dantian to nurture it, while simultaneously summoning the Azure Lotus Banner.

It spewed out a blue aura, which, with the help of the wood element spiritual energy, transformed into a blue dragon.

Because it was created through illusion, the details of the Azure Dragon are rather blurry, and the texture of its scales is not shown at all.

With a series of dragon roars, the Azure Dragon, carrying a large cloud of mist, entered the giant pit to await its fate of being struck by lightning.

Ji An reached out and stroked his beard, lost in thought.

He rarely summoned the Azure Lotus Banner, and he was unaware that the Azure Dragon possessed the ability to control water vapor.

A true dragon can summon clouds and rain, but the Azure Lotus Banner is merely a wooden magical artifact. How can it achieve this?

At this moment, Ji An gained a deeper understanding of "the boundless Dao," and his knowledge of the power of the Five Elements was far from over.

Perhaps there is no end point; what he originally thought was the end point was a self-imposed limitation.

More and more water vapor was drawn in by the Azure Dragon, which stretched its body amidst the lightning, using the water mist and the spiritual power of the wood element to consume the power of the thunder.

Unexpectedly, yet logically, the Azure Lotus Banner held out for an even longer period.

The dark clouds gradually dissipated, the heavy rain stopped, and the air was filled with a fresh scent, carrying the fragrance of grass and trees and the unique earthy smell of soil.

Ji An put away the Azure Lotus Banner and rode the cloud back to his cave.

He made a hand seal to open the magical barrier and entered, taking out two spiritual artifacts to check the situation.

The flaming flag that was lifted off the ground suffered considerable damage; the flag surface was severely damaged. It was too stubborn and should have been taken down sooner.

However, these damages are within a tolerable range; they just need to be nurtured for a while longer, or he can refine some more Phoenix Stones into it.

Ji An did not intend to do that; he planned to wait until the Flame Banner on the Ground transformed into a magic weapon before refining the Phoenix Stone.

At that time, he would take a piece of third-tier phoenix wood and refine it into a new flagpole. At the same time, he would refine the phoenix stone, which could directly increase the power of the magic weapon and reduce the gap between it and the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag.

He stored the Flaming Light Banner in his dantian and checked the condition of the Azure Lotus Banner. Its flagpole was charred, and large areas of the embroidered dragon scales were charred.

The Azure Dragon almost turned into a Black Dragon, and it kept emitting black smoke.

The damage appeared to be quite severe, but Ji An saw that the damaged area was constantly emitting emerald light, repairing the black area.

The power of the Wood element is not good at offense, but in terms of endurance and the ability to heal injuries, it is the best among the Five Elements.

It would take a long time for the artifact to recover using only its own repair capabilities. Even if it were placed in the dantian for nurturing, it would probably take seven or eight days to complete the repair.

The thunder in Jilei Valley is highly seasonal, so Ji An couldn't just sit and wait. He took out a piece of Azure Dragon Wood and used the Withering and Flourishing Technique to extract the life energy contained within the spiritual wood.

A cyan radiance quickly gathered in his palm, eventually condensing into a vibrant green cube-shaped life crystal.

Ji An placed the crystal on the spiritual artifact and refined it by performing hand seals. The cyan cube shrank continuously, like a melting ice block.

The Azure Lotus Banner shimmered with light, and the charred areas on the flagpole and dragon scales shrank at a visible speed.

When the cyan cube completely disappeared, the magical artifact was damaged and repaired by about one-third.

Ji An once again activated the Withering and Flourishing Technique, extracting all the life force from the entire Azure Dragon Wood and obtaining two Life Crystals.

The Azure Dragon Wood was completely rotten, like a withered tree that had been battered by wind and rain for many years.

Ji An refined another piece of life crystal, and the damage to the Azure Lotus Banner was almost completely repaired.

The smaller the damage, the greater the effect of the same amount of life crystals.

He summoned the spiritual artifact back to his dantian and nurtured it with the fire of his primordial life. Tomorrow, the Flame Light Banner will be absent, and only the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner will be tempered by heavenly lightning.

Ji An recalled the Azure Dragon Wood he could use and decided to subject the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner to a higher level of tempering.

Trading resources for time is an inevitable choice for him.

Thinking of this, he took out another piece of Azure Dragon Wood, activated the Withering and Flourishing Technique, and obtained three Life Crystals.

He then summoned the Flame Banner that had risen off the ground, using the life crystals to repair the damage to the magical artifact.

The life crystal contains abundant wood-elemental spiritual energy, which can also play a certain role in fire-elemental spiritual artifacts.

After the two life crystals were used up, Ji An carefully examined the repair effect and couldn't help but shake his head.

The effect was not ideal, and it is estimated that more than a dozen Life Crystals will be needed to fully repair it.

He wanted to trade resources for time, which is fine, but consuming too many resources is another matter.

A second-tier top-grade Azure Dragon Wood can be sold for more than seventy high-grade spirit stones, but only eight or nine life crystals can be extracted from a single spirit tree.

Refining the Flame Banner from the Ground only requires a little over two hundred high-grade spirit stones, but the cost of repairing it is too great for him to bear.

Three months passed.

Dark clouds filled the sky above Jilei Valley, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

The Azure Lotus Banner transformed into an Azure Dragon, bathed in lightning. Its voice was vast and high-pitched, carrying a strong sense of joy.

It can sense the effects of thunder, and it can also feel the transformation within itself.

At this moment, it had only one wish: that the thunder would come even more fiercely!

The frequency of the thunder grew slower and slower, and the Azure Dragon let out a provocative roar. It had already sensed that a transformation was brewing, but it was still one step away from completion.

Perhaps the heavens heard its plea, for a bolt of lightning, far thicker than before, shot out from the dark clouds.

When the lightning struck the Azure Lotus Banner, it could no longer maintain its transformed Azure Dragon form. Its flagpole dropped significantly, and several palm-sized holes appeared on the flag.

Upon seeing this, Ji An was greatly alarmed. Just as he was about to summon back his magical artifact, a dragon's roar resounded in all directions.

The sound soared into the clouds, carrying the joy of new life, and drowned out the booming thunder.

A cyan light emanated from the magical artifact, like a rising cyan sun.

The light was so intense that Ji An instinctively closed his eyes.

When he felt the light dimming and opened his eyes again, he saw a blue dragon coiled in the void, its graceful movements captivating.

All the green plants in the valley seemed to be summoned by a mysterious force, dancing wildly, with many plants growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Azure Dragon's scales are like lustrous, dark green jade, with exquisitely detailed patterns, completely unlike the plastic texture it had when it was transformed.

Without a doubt, the Azure Lotus Banner has transformed into a magic weapon, becoming his second magic weapon.

Ji An was overjoyed. He looked up to the sky and let out a long, loud roar that soared into the clouds.

The Azure Dragon gracefully swayed its slender body, emitting a powerful, masculine roar.

It deliberately lowered its voice to make it more resonant, serving as the background tone for its master's long howl.

Because it is spiritually gifted enough, it knows how to be a good supporting comedian.

(End of this chapter)