Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 641 Expanding Business
After a satisfying meal, Ji An and Wan Jinrong parted ways and returned to Black Stone Mountain.

He summoned the golden-haired man and the blue-water turtle to guard the cave, and then entered the gourd world himself.

The two beasts were used to their life guarding the outside and showed no dissatisfaction. They arrived at the cave entrance one after the other.

The cave floor was made of polished black stone, and even the golden retriever preferred to play on the dirt.

Ji An entered the small world and ordered several magical treasures to remain in his dantian.

He put the Spirit Gourd into his dantian and nurtured it in the Fire of Life, immediately feeling a heavy pressure.

The golden flames flickered, like a candle dying in the wind.

It felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him; the heavy weight made it difficult for him to breathe and slowed his thoughts.

He exhaled a breath of stale air and shook his head slightly. He was not yet capable of nurturing five magical treasures at the same time.

Just as he was about to let the Five Elements Flags leave his dantian, another change occurred. The Spirit Gourd flew out with the Flame of Life and hovered near the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame.

They occasionally enter the spiritual fire of heaven and earth, conveying emotions of joy.

Its surface has brighter gold patterns and flows faster.

After the Spirit Gourd left the Flame of Life, Ji An immediately felt the pressure dissipate and his whole body feel relaxed.

"A pleasant surprise."

He happily said that the Spirit Gourd prefers to stay in the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame, so that it can store all the magic treasures in its dantian for nourishment.

He no longer suppressed the restless Five Elements Flags, and the Qilin, Azure Dragon, and Fire Phoenix flew out joyfully, frolicking in the small world.

Ji An arrived at the cabinet where the spiritual items were kept, summoned the Spirit Gourd, put the accumulated processed red pine resin particles into the magic weapon, and then put the magic weapon back into his dantian.

The Spirit Gourd seemed to be drunk, swaying as it entered the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame, where it floated and sank in the innermost layer of azure flames.

Ji An took out various materials and placed them on the table, then began to refine the Thunder Pearl.

First, he activated the alchemical fire to refine the outer shell of the Thunder Pearl using the Cleansing Spirit Sand. Then, he changed the hand seals in his hands and injected the magical restrictions into the outer shell.

The magical restrictions provided by the sect's weapon refiners were far more complex, but they were no match for his exceptionally strong divine soul.

As the legal restrictions were continuously added, the white shell emitted a crimson light.

About an hour later, the outer shell was completed, and it had now turned completely red.

Various materials are filled in through the pre-drilled holes and then completely sealed.

Ji An eagerly tested the activation energy reaction method, and the runes on the outer shell lit up one by one.

The scale representing energy intensity kept rising until it finally stopped.

This is a small feature he added, which may make the explosive intensity of the thunder bead more intuitive.

"Approaching the mid-grade level of the third rank, not bad at all. It's good to have a powerful backer."

Ji An smiled; he hadn't expected the sect's weapon-refining skills to improve so quickly.

With Qin Yan's breakthrough to the Golden Core stage, the sect now has the ability to refine magical treasures.

Given the sect's current financial resources, it's estimated that they've begun crafting magical artifacts to enrich their secret treasury.

Ji An persevered and crafted another Thunder Pearl, then put away the materials.

Having confirmed his ability to refine a third-tier lightning bead, he will wait for better materials to be nurtured before proceeding to the next round of refining.

A month later.

As dusk fell, the setting sun shone like blood, and Ji An rode the clouds to the Crimson Flame Pavilion.

Han Yan came forward and transmitted her voice:

"Senior, the shop is having problems."

Ji An raised an eyebrow. "What exactly happened? Is someone causing trouble?"

"Let's talk in a quiet room."

The two sat down in the quiet room on the second floor. Han Yan, her delicate brows furrowed, said:
"The two spirit farming forces that had originally partnered with our shop came to our door today, claiming that their spirit fields had been polluted by some unknown source and that they could not deliver the spirit medicine they had promised to provide tomorrow."

In addition, our shop's pill business has been booming these past few days, and we're out of pills and urgently need to replenish them.

"The Li family isn't one of the two companies that breached the contract, is it?"

In order to establish a stable cooperative relationship with the Lingong forces, the penalties for breach of contract were very small when the agreement was signed, making the cost of breach of contract relatively low for the Lingong forces.

"No."

"That's good. The other two companies didn't offer many pills."

The problem of elixir shortage is difficult to solve. Without the supply of spiritual herbs, no matter how good our alchemy skills are, it will be useless.

By the way, haven't you managed to acquire enough materials for even a single batch of pills this month?

In order to create unnecessary competition, they bought elixirs at the same price as other shops.

Ji An was somewhat troubled. He still had some Vajra Pills that he could use in an emergency, but it was simply not feasible for such a large shop to only sell one type of pill.

"We've acquired quite a few medicinal herbs, but they're all auxiliary ingredients, not enough to fill a whole batch."

Han Yan's gaze was full of solemnity as she continued:
"The sale of pills was originally quite normal, with a steady outflow of small amounts."

In the past few days, a large number of customers have suddenly flocked in and bought up all the pills.

It's understandable that second-tier pills sell out quickly, but it's abnormal that the Fire Essence Pill sold out in such a short time. I think the shop is being targeted.

If our shop cannot replenish its elixirs for an extended period, it will severely damage our reputation.

Ji An scratched his head, "Even if someone is targeting us, we still have to complete the transaction as long as we use spirit stones to buy it."

"Alright, I still have some spirit fruits and a lot of spirit stones. I'll take them all out and exchange them for medicinal herbs."

This is a difficult situation; we can't refuse to sell the pills to people who come to buy them.

Shops are happy to exchange spirit fruits for materials, but you can only buy a small amount with spirit stones unless you are willing to pay a high premium.

That would be equivalent to working for other shops, and he didn't want to do that.

Having already sold a large number of spiritual fruits, he also didn't want to attract too much attention.

Han Yan nodded and took out several large boxes:
"This is the only way for now. These are the high-grade spirit stones we recently obtained from selling pills. The account book is also in there. Please take a look, Senior Brother."

Ji An opened the box, took out the ledger, quickly checked it, and then counted out some high-grade spirit stones:
"Junior sister's payment will be settled in cash."

"No need, the shop urgently needs spirit stones to get through the crisis."

"Junior sister, take this. You may have forgotten that there is still a large amount of Azure Dragon Wood in the more than 20 acres of spiritual fields in our cave dwelling."

I informed Fellow Daoist Xuanmu of the Golden Puppet Pavilion that everyone will be able to obtain a large quantity of spirit stones soon.

"At crucial moments, we still have to rely on my senior's planting skills."

"By the way, how many spirit stones do you estimate you can get by selling the spirit wood?" Han Yan felt relieved. In the spirit field outside her cave, all the spirit trees were at least second-tier top-grade, and there were also twelve third-grade Azure Dragon Trees.

Ji An made a rough estimate in his mind and said:
"A second-tier top-grade Azure Dragon Wood is worth more than seventy high-grade spirit stones, and a third-tier Azure Dragon Wood is worth seven hundred high-grade spirit stones."

Selling all the spirit wood will yield approximately 40,000 high-grade spirit stones.

He sighed inwardly. For him now, obtaining spirit stones was too easy; the difficulty lay in converting them into resources.

He couldn't help but recall the days when he first entered the sect and lived on borrowed money, as if it were a lifetime ago.

Han Yan didn't know what to say; she had never had more than five thousand high-grade spirit stones.

Now that she has broken through to the Golden Core stage, she can also participate in refining third-tier pills, but she keeps most of the Fire Essence Pills she obtains for her own cultivation.

Ji An continuously took out talismans from the Void Stone and placed them on the table, saying:
"Junior sister, I don't know if the problem of the pills can be solved smoothly, but the shop can't be without anything to sell."

You can put up another sign saying that we'll be in the talisman business from now on, selling Earth Escape Talismans, Fire Dragon Talismans, Mysterious Armor Talismans, Cleansing Talismans, Stabilizing Talismans, Geng Metal Divine Thunder Talismans, and Bing Fire Divine Thunder Talismans.

We will acquire animal hides and demonic beast blood of tier two and above. Additionally, we have commissioned Zhang Liangyu to find suitable talisman makers; we can offer them discounts to secure a stable supply of talismans.

The Earth Escape Talisman, Fire Dragon Talisman, and Mystic Armor Talisman were all leftovers from before. He had more than twenty Earth Escape Talismans and Mystic Armor Talismans left, and more than one hundred Fire Dragon Talismans, all of which were of high-grade or top-grade quality.

He took out one hundred Cleansing Talismans and twenty Stabilizing Talismans, most of them of high quality, with a few of medium quality.

There are fifty Thunder Talismans of each kind, which are drawn using talisman paper made from spiritual plants produced in the small world. Most of them are mid-grade third rank, and a few are high-grade.

He also possessed the Earth Divine Thunder Talisman, the Wood Divine Thunder Talisman, and the Water Divine Thunder Talisman, but taking them out would be too shocking, so he played it safe.

Han Yan's expression was somewhat blank, and it took her a while to react:
"I've never seen my senior brother sell talismans before. I didn't know he was hiding it so well."

Ji An chuckled twice and said proudly:

"This is nothing. We don't need to worry about the lack of pills. We'll just expand the business scope of the shop."

I've already mastered crafting third-tier lightning beads, and I'll start selling some later.

He devoted most of his time to cultivation; otherwise, he would have accumulated even more talismans.

For him, the supply of raw materials is the only factor limiting his performance.

If it weren't for the outbreak of the True Demon Tribulation, he would have asked his junior sister to convey a message to his senior brother, the sect leader, requesting that some disciples in the Chaoyuan stage be sent to Zhongzhou. But he couldn't do that now, as there was no guarantee of safety.

Han Yan breathed a sigh of relief, "This way, the problem of pill supply will be covered up, which is a relief."

Ji An stood up and said:

"I was originally supposed to take over from my junior sister, but now that the shop is in trouble, I'll have to trouble you to stay for a few more days."

I'm going to the Golden Puppet Pavilion now; I won't be returning to the shop tonight.

"Senior brother, you are too polite. We are one, so there is no need for such formalities."

Ji An arrived at the Golden Puppet Pavilion, found an old acquaintance, and smiled:

"Fellow Daoist, a big business opportunity has arrived!"

Master Xuanmu smiled and said, "Could it be that you are going to refine a mid-grade third-tier puppet? The Pavilion Master has received another order to refine a top-grade third-tier puppet. I wonder when I will have the opportunity to participate in refining puppets of this level."

He was surprised when he saw the top-grade Bodhi wood in the warehouse, and even more surprised when he learned that it was custom-made by Ji An.

"The third-grade superior Vajra Bodhi tree was cultivated by the sect by chance, and there will be no more spiritual materials available in the future."

Low-grade Vajra Bodhi trees can be supplied reliably, but the sect did not send any this time.

The big deal I mentioned is the sale of Azure Dragon Wood. I'm selling the spirit wood outside the Black Stone Mountain cave and from another cave to your esteemed establishment. I want to sell it quickly to get some spirit stones for urgent use.

Ji An became wary; his decision to commission three top-tier puppets in succession seemed hasty.

He decided to stop providing third-tier superior resources, and that third-tier superior spiritual fruits produced in the small world should not be sold twice in the same place, and even the number of shipments within a region should be controlled.

Master Xuanmu smiled more. "No problem. How many third-tier spirit trees do you have?"

"There are twenty trees in total, and several hundred more second-grade top-quality spirit trees."

"Another bumper harvest! Fellow Daoist's expertise in planting is top-notch even in the Divine Wood Sect."

"I'll take some men to Black Stone Mountain before 7 AM tomorrow, what do you say?"

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

The next day, as the sun dipped below the distant mountains, Master Xuanmu took out the spirit stone:

"A total of 54,800 high-grade spirit stones, fellow Daoist, please count them."

In all the businesses he had handled, setting aside transactions with major powers, this was the first time he had ever had such a large volume of transactions with private individuals. He couldn't help but marvel that earning spirit stones through spiritual farming was the most stable way.

After counting the spirit stones, Ji An directly put them into the Cave Void Stone, saying, "Deal."

He asked with some curiosity, "I have a question. What kind of puppets does your esteemed establishment use Azure Dragon Wood to craft?"

He was quite certain that he had never seen a puppet made of Azure Dragon Wood, but the other party had been buying up large quantities of this material.

"It is crafted into a defensive puppet, which is then protected by a protective aura."

The element of wood has the characteristic of continuous growth; as long as the defensive aura is not broken through in one go, it can defend for a long time.

In addition, the aura can be stacked, and as the number of puppets increases, the defense can be increased, making it very suitable for defending fixed targets.

With the True Demonic Calamity imminent, many small and medium-sized forces have placed orders with us as mobile forces to defend against the potential violent impact—a precautionary measure, I suppose.

We may not need it, but we must minimize risks as much as possible in critical moments.

Ji An became interested and pressed for more information:

"Can second-tier top-grade spiritual materials be used to refine a third-tier puppet?"

Master Xuanmu gently shook his head and smiled:
"Second-tier top-grade and third-tier low-grade may seem to differ by only one rank, but they represent a vast difference in realms, making it impossible to craft a third-tier puppet."

For example, among us cultivators, unless we possess a talismanic treasure, even the most powerful cultivator at the Great Perfection of the Origin Realm will be crushed by a Golden Core cultivator.

He wasn't telling the truth. The Golden Puppet Sect has a secret technique that can elevate spirit wood materials to a higher realm through the Layered Spirit Technique, allowing for cross-realm advancement.

Seven or eight portions of Tier 2 top-grade materials can yield one portion of Tier 3 low-grade material, which is not much different from normally grown Tier 2 materials.

This secret technique is also applicable to higher-grade spiritual materials, and can upgrade third-grade high-quality materials to the highest grade. However, the higher the grade of the spiritual material, the more waste is caused by the stacking technique.

Ji An asked casually:

"Fellow Daoist said that defensive spiritual light can be stacked. So how many second-tier top-grade puppets need to activate their spiritual light together to reach the third-tier defensive level? What is the defensive area?"

"About thirty, covering a defensive area of ​​three zhang in radius."

Ji An didn't ask any more questions; he felt the scope was too narrow and impractical.

The two discussed the situation at Misty Mountain, and Master Xuanmu remarked with emotion:
"I have received news that a demon cultivator at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm has already been born, and this is only thirty years later."

Those demonic cultivators who feed on the flesh, blood, and soul of other cultivators can only achieve this much in thirty years.

(End of this chapter)