Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 634 Seeing Han Yan Again
Upon learning that the Five Elements Sect ruins would open ahead of schedule, Ji An felt a sense of urgency.

I once chatted with my senior brother Zhengyang, and he told me that the sealing array of the ruins would only loosen in about two months.

If he misses this opportunity, he'll have to wait another four or five hundred years, and he can't afford to wait that long.

"Thank you for the information, fellow Daoist. I will make preparations in advance."

Ji An had no fear of exploring the ruins. His strength had been tested in actual combat, and he now had full confidence in the battle.

He already possesses a top-grade third-tier puppet, equivalent to a late-stage Golden Core cultivator, and is about to commission a second top-grade puppet. Unless he encounters danger at the Nascent Soul level, he fears no challenge.

"Fellow Daoist, you are too kind. If you are determined to go, you need to arrive at the Wanhua Mountain Range some time in advance."

The opening hours of the ruins are time-sensitive; if you receive the news too late, you may miss your chance to enter.

Master Feiyun pondered the other party's purpose in risking entering the ruins to explore. The other party was a very promising alchemist, and in theory, many resources could be accumulated and obtained slowly.

Once you understand the other party's true needs, you can further cultivate a closer relationship.

She coughed to clear her throat. "If you need my help, please don't hesitate to ask."

Whether I can actually help is another matter, but I should at least make the necessary gestures.

Three months later.

Phoenix Mountain Range, the ancestral home of the Ge family.

Master Feiyun entered the room carrying several jade bottles, and bowed, saying:

"Clan leader, these are the pills that have just been sent back from Cloud Sea Immortal City. Please take a look."

Despite having already reported Ji An's situation to the family, the first batch of spiritual herbs sent by the family to Yunhai Immortal City was only enough to refine two batches each of Peiyuan Pill and Jiejin Pill, with each batch yielding only three pills.

Acting this way with her as guarantor clearly shows a lack of trust in her, which made her slightly unhappy.

Master Tianfeng laughed and said, "You can discuss this with Uncle Qi. I don't need to worry about it."

"My seventh grandfather was quite distrustful of the person I recommended, saying that the journey to Yunhai Immortal City was too far and transportation was inconvenient, and he preferred to leave the opportunity to his clansmen."

I want the clan chief to personally inspect the quality of the elixir and urge Seventh Grandfather to act according to the rules.

She had many complaints about her seventh grandfather's behavior. On the surface, he spoke in a grand and righteous manner, but in reality, he distributed the spiritual medicine to his own clansmen for refining.

The key issue is that the alchemists' skill level is generally low, and the success rate of refining the Golden Elixir is only slightly over 50%.

This success rate is not bad among other forces, but it is unacceptable for the Ge clan to have a success rate of less than 60%.

Master Tianfeng sighed silently. There were all sorts of competitions among the family members, and he often had to mediate the conflicts.

He took the jade bottle and poured out a pill from one of the emerald green bottles. Inside was a Qi-Nourishing Pill with two red markings.

He held the pill and made hand seals; a phantom of flame rose up and then quickly dissipated.

The flames are divided into three layers, which are blue, red, and white from the inside out.

"It is indeed the Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame. That alchemist is really lucky. Why haven't the cultivators in our family had such an opportunity!"

Master Tianfeng sighed and put the pills into a jade bottle.

He poured out three Qi-Nourishing Pills with three distinct pill patterns from another jade bottle and asked:
"How many Qi-Nourishing Pills can be refined from the medicinal herbs sent?"

"Six."

"With the Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame, that cultivator's success rate in achieving the required core is less than 70%. His methods don't seem as sophisticated as we imagined."

The Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame can purify impurities, making it easier to form the elixir.

Master Feiyun pursed his lips and said:

"The materials sent to Cloud Sea Immortal City are also two batches, which can produce a maximum of six pills."

Alchemy requires a great deal of experience, and in her opinion, Ji An simply had too few opportunities to refine the Qi-Nourishing Pill.

Master Tianfeng continued counting, pouring out six high-quality Golden Core pills from the last jade bottle, and then froze.

With a 100% success rate and a 100% rate of producing high-quality pills, any alchemist who delivers such a result would deserve praise.

He himself is a ninth-level Golden Core cultivator with a six-hundred-year career in alchemy, so it's hard to say whether he could reach that level.

"Can you confirm that they were all made by the other party?"

Master Feiyun replied:
“I don’t think the other party had any motive to falsify anything. The clansman in charge of the liaison urgently borrowed several high-quality Purple Cloud Jade Mushroom Pills to obtain the Golden Elixir.”

Master Tianfeng quickly calculated in his mind that if the other party could maintain an 80% success rate in refining pills, the family's income from refining Golden Core pills would increase by several times.

Each year, young people can easily earn several thousand more high-grade spirit stones.

If broader cooperation can be expanded, the benefits will be enormous.

"I will talk to Uncle Qi and try to send more spiritual medicines to Cloud Sea Immortal City."

If the other party can maintain a high success rate and a high rate of producing high-quality pills, we can engage in deeper cooperation with them.

He felt that when the time was right, it would be necessary to discuss recruiting the other party into the Ge family.

He used to think the other party had a problem with loyalty, but now he sees that even a mutually beneficial cooperation can bring him a lot of benefits, so it's worth trying to win them over at some cost.

Master Feiyun smiled and said, "Okay."

Two years later.

The merchant ship returned to Cloud Sea Immortal City from the Western Continent. Ji An received a message from True Person Xuanmu and rushed to the Golden Puppet Pavilion as quickly as possible.

He landed, strode into the hall, and addressed the approaching maids:
"I have come at the invitation of Master Xuanmu. Please inform him." The maid bowed gracefully. "Please wait a moment, Senior."

She moved away with light, graceful steps, and soon Master Xuanmu and an unexpected fellow disciple appeared.

"Haha, my message sword was sent out only half an hour ago, and I didn't expect you to arrive so soon."

Your speed of flight far exceeded my expectations.

"Fellow Daoist, let's talk in the living room, please!"

Master Xuanmu laughed, saying that he had been to Black Stone Mountain and knew how long it would take to fly that distance.

Han Yan smiled and cupped her hands in a gesture of respect, her eyes filled with admiration, "Senior Brother!"

She learned that Ji An had achieved a 90% success rate in refining Fire Essence Pills, so she persuaded the sect leader to secure an opportunity to come to Zhongzhou on a "business trip".

The three entered the living room and began to chat about what had happened since they last met.

Half an hour later, Ji An and his companion bid farewell and returned to their cave in Black Stone Mountain.

"I didn't have time to congratulate you, Junior Sister. This is a mid-grade third-tier spirit peach as a congratulatory gift for your breakthrough to the Golden Core stage."

"Thank you, senior brother," Han Yan said sweetly as she accepted the gift box with a smile.

Ji An waved his hand and said:
"No need to be polite. I really can't understand why the sect leader would be willing to let you come to Zhongzhou."

He had originally thought that Li Haoran would be the one to come this time.

He and Han Yan were the only two Golden Core level alchemists in the sect. Now that they had both come to the Central Continent, the sect no longer had any top-notch alchemists.

"Have Senior Brother Jiuxiao take back a large number of Fire Essence Pills. The sect is not short of third-tier pills for the time being."

I've come to learn from my senior brother so I can better serve the sect in the future. Of course, Senior Brother Sect Leader is willing to accept that.

Han Yan's voice became low, "Senior Brother Yu Xiao also traveled to Zhongzhou, but his decades of travels did not bring back much inheritance for the sect."

"Senior brother, your achievements have truly impressed him. From now on, many Golden Core cultivators from our sect will come to Central Continent to broaden their horizons."

The Fire Essence Pill is a low-grade third-tier pill, and no cultivator in the sect has ever seen so many third-tier pills laid out before them.

Various spells, talisman-making techniques, and elixir recipes—these inheritances greatly enriched the sect's foundation.

She took out a jade slip that emitted a crimson spiritual light and said:

"These are the ideas compiled by the sect's weapon refiners. I hope they will be helpful to you, Senior Brother, in refining the Thunder Pearl."

Ji An took the jade slip and placed it directly on his forehead to read the information inside.

He was overjoyed to see the long list of rectification suggestions inside.

"Who wrote this? You have quite the eye."

"Junior Brother Qin Yan has broken through to the Golden Core stage. This is the conclusion he reached by gathering the high-level weapon refiners from the Weapon Refining Hall."

It's somewhat unbelievable, but the sect is famous in the Western Continent for its weapon crafting and beast taming skills. However, among the Golden Core cultivators in the sect, there is only one weapon crafter—Qin Yan.

Senior Brother Yu Xiao studies talisman making, she and Ji An are both alchemists, Lin Qiubai and Li Haoran are sword cultivators and have never studied any cultivation techniques, and Lin Jiuxiao is the same.

Ji An put away the jade slip. "I don't know much about weapon crafting, otherwise I would have bought some weapon crafting techniques and sent them back."

Han Yan smiled and shook her head, "No need for that. When I came to Zhongzhou with Senior Brother Zhengyang that time, the inheritance we bought the most was related to weapon crafting."

My senior brother isn't a weapon refiner, so he didn't pay attention. The sect's weapon-refining tradition is quite profound.

Now that alchemists have more third-tier pill formulas and the Puppet Hall has obtained the method for refining third-tier puppets, the sect's foundation will take another step forward once the Golden Core level puppeteers and spirit farmers are born.

The two hadn't seen each other for many years and had endless things to talk about. Before they knew it, the sun was setting, and its orange-red light filled the windowpanes.

Ji An said:

"Junior sister, please stay here tonight. I will take you to your cave tomorrow."

That cave dwelling is quite close to here. It was originally rented by Junior Brother Jiuxiao, but he wanted to cancel the lease when he left, which I stopped him from doing. It's perfect for you now.”

The next day at dawn, Ji An and his companion set off from Black Stone Mountain and rode on clouds to the cave that had been vacant for about two years.

Han Yan looked at the equally lush and tall spirit tree and smiled:

"Is it Senior Brother who takes care of the spiritual plants in this cave?"

Senior Brother Lin Jiuxiao has been in Xizhou for thirty years, so it's impossible for him to rent a cave dwelling full of high-grade spiritual wood. The reason is self-evident.

Ji An nodded slightly, "Yes, it is a sin to let the spirit fields lie fallow."

Many of the spirit trees have already grown to the third tier. I'll contact someone to sell them in a few days, and then the rent for the cave dwelling will be covered.

Han Yan hurriedly waved her hand, "It was all my senior brother who took care of things. I didn't do anything, so how can I accept this favor?"

The rental fee for a level three cave dwelling is not cheap, costing at least several hundred high-grade spirit stones per year.

"Don't refuse. This is a small favor I'm doing for the sect. It will give fellow disciples who come to Zhongzhou a place to stay."

Ji An activated the magical barrier by making a hand seal and handed over the jade token containing the barrier:
"The cave has a new owner. It is now in your care. Let's go inside."

The two entered the cave, where several spirit lizards were kept, feeding on the dust. Although no one had lived there for a long time, it remained spotless and clean.

After taking his seat, Ji An asked:
"What are your plans for the future, junior sister?"

He has a plan that can be implemented if the other party does not have a clear objective.

(End of this chapter)