Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 700 Defensive Domain
Looking at the highly spiritual Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag, Qin Yan sighed:
"The water element divine intent contained in Senior Brother's blood is truly abundant. This magic weapon is not far from taking human form."

When cultivators refine spiritual weapons or magical artifacts of the offensive or defensive types, they always choose to perform blood sacrifices. However, very few people can imbue magical artifacts with such high spirituality simply through blood sacrifice.

This is a mid-grade third-tier magic weapon. The higher the grade of the magic weapon being crafted, the less likely it is to possess strong spirituality during a blood sacrifice.

When he was organizing the weapon-refining tradition of the Five Elements Sect, he discovered that many Nascent Soul True Monarchs liked to refine mid-grade or high-grade third-tier magic weapons in order to enhance their spirituality during blood sacrifices.

Cultivate the magic weapon to the level of physical transformation, and then gradually improve its grade.

If you directly use fourth-tier materials to refine a spiritual treasure, unless the materials are of exceptionally high quality, the transformation process will be extremely difficult.

Ji An smiled and grabbed the magic flag. The magic weapon shrank in size according to his will, just enough to hold in his hand.

The small flag is similar in style to other imitations, with a black flag surface embroidered with silver thread, outlining the appearance of the Xuanwu mythical beast.

"Junior brother, do you sell spirit energy here?"

To accelerate the cultivation of a magical artifact's spirituality, a large amount of spiritual energy is needed. He is not short of wealth now, so he naturally chooses to exchange spirit stones for time.

Qin Yan shook his head with a wry smile:

"The sect can produce Fire and Earth elemental spirit energy. Now that the spiritual veins have been upgraded, the quality of the spirit energy has improved significantly, but the quantity has not decreased much. Each Golden Core cultivator has an annual exchange quota, so you can go and exchange for it, Senior Brother."

The shares can be accumulated, so you should be able to exchange for a lot.

The Western Continent produces the most wood-elemental spirit energy, which can be purchased by the sect from the western markets.

Metal-elemental spirits can occasionally be purchased, but water-elemental spirits are extremely rare and hard to come by.

He paused and then said:

"The places with the most abundant water-elemental spiritual energy are only the East Sea, the South Sea, and the Western Extremity. If we want to obtain water-elemental spiritual energy, we can only purchase it from cultivators in the Central Continent."

With the increasing number of Golden Core cultivators in sects, the demand for spiritual energy is growing daily.

Ji An stored the treasure flag in his dantian to nurture it. As his cultivation improved, and with the addition of handing over the Spirit Gourd and the Ren Water Gourd to the sect to nurture spiritual materials, he now only had six magic treasures in his body.

He summoned the Blazing Sun Furnace. "This furnace has been with me for a hundred years. I want to upgrade its grade. Junior brother, see if you can do it."

In addition, I also want to refine a furnace with a cold, yin-elemental attribute to use for refining special elixirs.

Cultivating the spirituality of a pill furnace is much more difficult than cultivating the spirituality of other magical treasures. By chance, the spirituality of this pill furnace has increased rapidly, so it is too precious to abandon it.

Pills like the Nascent Soul Pill and the Soul-Refining Pill cannot reach their full potential if refined using the Blazing Sun Furnace. Furthermore, activating the Netherworld Bone Fire would damage the furnace's spiritual essence.

Qin Yan skillfully activated the alchemical fire, carefully inspected the Blazing Sun Furnace, and confidently said:

"Upgrading the grade of this alchemy furnace is no problem. The fire and metal elemental spiritual materials in the sect are sufficient to meet my needs. I just need to understand the operation of the magical restrictions within it before I can begin refining."

Not only that, I can also design how to further upgrade the alchemy furnace's rank after it's been used.

He turned his head and scratched his hair, his tone becoming troubled:
"Because we have obtained the complete inheritance of the Five Elements Sect, we can refine pill furnaces with yin and cold attributes without any problem. However, Senior Brother will definitely want a pill furnace of the magic weapon level, and we simply do not have the materials."

A furnace with the attribute of Yin and cold is not mainstream, has a narrow range of applications, and cannot be used to store high-level materials.

"In another ten years, the merchant ships of the cultivators from the Central Continent will arrive. I'd like to ask my junior brother to help me purchase the materials. What do you think?"

Ji An asked, since it involved the refining of the Nascent Soul Pill, he had to be cautious, even if the efficacy was improved by a little bit.

“No problem. Both the Southern Continent and the Far North have trade relations with the Central Continent. If you are willing to cover the price difference, we can entrust other partners to purchase the supplies.”

Ji An laughed heartily, "No problem."

Because he received the complete inheritance of the Five Elements Sect, his identity jade tablet contained 20 million merit points. It is unknown how many years it will take the sect to repay this debt.

Now that he has regained control of Crimson Flame Peak, he will receive a great reward every year.

In addition, with his own small world, he can basically be self-sufficient, unless he exchanges a large amount of fourth-tier resources in the future, in which case the sect will always owe him.

The two discussed the details of upgrading the Blazing Sun Furnace, and after a moment's consideration, Qin Yan spoke:

"Because I didn't refine the alchemy furnace, it would require a long period of testing to fully grasp the mysteries of its magical restrictions. Senior brother, you need to leave the alchemy furnace here."

It will take at least six months, but I'll try to complete it within a year.

The secret treasure in his possession would give him more time to think about how to modify the alchemy furnace; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to acquire it in a year.

"No problem, how much is it? I'll pay you first."

Qin Yan pondered for a moment and said, "Transfer 1,000 merit points to me, including all kinds of materials."

The sect leader had said in private that we should try our best to make use of the great merits held by Senior Brother Ji.

Ji An took out the jade token, handed it over, and asked:

"The protective restrictions in the sect's jade tablet can withstand attacks from early-stage Golden Core cultivators. Now that we've received the Five Elements Sect's inheritance, we should be able to refine even higher-level jade tablets, right?"

"Yes, I am confident that I can refine a jade tablet that can defend against attacks from the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, but the materials are rare, and the need is not urgent, so I have not done it."

Qin Yan sighed wearily and continued:

"The Refining Hall needs to train more Golden Core cultivators, otherwise I'll be exhausted in the future."

He enjoys studying the art of weapon crafting, but dislikes repeatedly crafting things he has already mastered.

Ji An nodded sympathetically and said:

“All the halls need to cultivate more Golden Core cultivators.”

The continuous improvement of spiritual vein grades and the resolution of the problem of cultivation technique inheritance both urgently require more high-level cultivators.

The situation at the Ministry of Agriculture was also not good, but now that Han Shan, Qinglu, and Wuselu have successively broken through to the Golden Core stage, the situation has eased somewhat.

There's no way around it; the entire sect has just experienced a turn of good fortune, and its development over the years has been too rapid. The conflicts will only ease when the sect enters a period of slower growth.

After leaving Red Copper Mountain, Ji An arrived at Chaoyang Peak via two teleportations.

As the sun sets, its last rays paint the gold paint on the plaque of the Treasure Pavilion crimson.

The vermilion walls of the main hall remain, but the old appearance of the hall is now a thing of the past and will never be seen again.

His thoughts drifted for a while before he was startled by several cheerful voices. He saw several disciples at the Chaoyuan stage descending joyfully on clouds.

The disciples noticed the style of his Taoist robe and hurriedly bowed, saying, "Greetings, Master."

The sect has now issued an order that the title of "Ancestor" is no longer allowed, because there are more and more Golden Core cultivators, so how can there be so many Ancestors!

Ji An snapped out of his reverie and smiled:
"No need for formalities. Are you here to exchange supplies?"

"Yes, exchange for some pills and array materials."

"Alright, let's go in together. You guys go ahead and exchange yours."

"Please go first, real people. You should redeem your prize first."

Ji An waved his hand, "I exchanged more items, you guys go first."

The group entered the main hall. The hall master was a female disciple with a full head of silver hair but a youthful face. She wore a plain Taoist robe and had a serene expression.

After exchanging for the supplies, several disciples in the Chaoyuan stage quickly left. The hall master smiled gently and said:
"Could it be Senior Uncle Xuanqing in person? This disciple is Zhang Yi." She had met all the other True Persons of the sect, but there was only one she had never met.

Crimson Flame Peak is a fertile land of the sect, and the reputation of True Person Xuanqing is widely spread in Lingnong. The Hall Master of the Agriculture Hall is his disciple.

A few years ago, the Si Nong Hall produced a new True Person, who was also the other party's disciple. The master and disciple were both Golden Core True Persons, which is a well-known story in the history of the sect.

"It's me."

Ji An nodded gently and took out the jade token, saying:
"I'm here to exchange for Spirit Fiends, to exchange for all the shares I can."

The damaged spirituality of the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner has been restored. Nurturing it with spiritual energy can accelerate its power enhancement. With so much merit, it must be used up.

To restore the Flame Banner, a large amount of spiritual energy would need to be invested. Fortunately, the sect's spiritual veins are constantly improving in quality, and the quality of the spiritual energy is also improving accordingly.

Zhang Yi took the jade tablet with both hands and placed it on the spirit plate. "Let me check how much of my master's share is left."

A long string of numbers came into view. She subconsciously rubbed her eyes, still feeling incredulous, and thought to herself:
'Is there some mistake in all these great achievements?'

She searched for the source of the great merit and found that it was a reward for submitting the cultivation technique, and immediately understood everything.

She coughed twice to cover her shock, and said softly:

"My master's share is 50,000 strands of the third-grade low-level Crimson Dragon Abyss Demon, 500 strands of the third-grade mid-level Demon, 36,000 strands of the third-grade low-level Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Demon, and 300 strands of the third-grade mid-level Demon."

If all of them were exchanged, it would cost 24,000 merit points.

This number was nothing to Ji An, and he nodded with a smile:

"Give it to me."

Teleported back to Crimson Flame Peak, Ji An entered the small world.

He took out the jade bottle that sealed the third-tier low-grade Crimson Dragon Hidden Abyss Fiend, and then summoned the Flame Light Banner that was lifted off the ground to absorb the wisps of spiritual energy that were drifting out.

A crimson glow flickered, and the fire phoenix cried out, its cries filled with sorrow, for it still had a long way to go before it could fully recover.

Ji An sighed with heartache. If it weren't for the stone tortoise in the ruins, he would have already met his end.

After consuming approximately seven hundred strands of spiritual energy, the Flame Banner could no longer absorb anything. He stored the banner in his dantian and summoned the Wuji Apricot Yellow Banner.

The earthen unicorn flew out lifelike, letting out a low growl, and Big Yellow, who was dozing nearby, immediately responded.

Ji An opened the jade bottle and released the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Aura. The Qilin flew directly to the bottle's mouth, and the aura was devoured as soon as it was released.

After it had eaten its fill, Ji An put away the jade bottle, left the small world, and flew away from the sect on a cloud.

They flew about four hundred miles away and found a rather desolate Gobi Desert.

He landed on the ground and summoned all his magical artifacts.

The Qilin transformed into its true form, the flagpole sank into the earth, and yellow spiritual light spread out, forming a domain filled with yellow sand.

The Azure Dragon flew eastward, transforming into sprouting grass and trees, towering trees, and blooming flowers in an instant; the Flaming Banner, rising from the ground, swept southward, transforming into a blazing sun and towering flames.

Perhaps due to spiritual damage, the blazing sun quickly faded, leaving only the strange phenomenon of flames burning the ground.

Plain-colored cloud-shaped banners occupied the western side, while silver flying swords descended from the sky, exuding an aura of annihilation.

The Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag is revered in the north, its water-based spiritual power manifesting as vast, surging waves with resounding roars.

He activated the magical artifact, and the strange phenomena that the artifact had evolved disappeared, leaving only the purest primordial colors: metal turned white and water turned black.

The four-colored rays of light began to rotate, with the central earth element at the center.

Ji An sensed the power of the five elements rotating and understood that these magical treasures had created a defensive domain.

The defense strength in this area should be two to three times that provided by Wuji Xinghuangqi alone.

Once all the magical artifacts can take form, the defensive strength will increase again.

'We've got the defense, a super turtle shell! But how do we launch a sharp attack?'

Ji An scratched his head. Defense was not his style; his goal was to combine offense and defense.

Now that we have all five elemental flags, only the Plain Cloud Banner, the Ground-Leaving Flame Banner, and the Mysterious Origin Water Control Banner can be used for attacks.

The three elements cannot yet work together effectively, and the 1+1+1 effect is not what he wants. His initial idea was to use other magical treasures to enhance the attack of a particular magical treasure.

The only possible combination I can think of right now is Ice and Fire, but that doesn't count as stacked damage. I'll need to spend a lot of time figuring out how to best utilize his numerous magical treasures and his mastery of all five elements.

Ji An put away his magical artifact, rode a cloud back to Crimson Flame Peak, and entered the quiet chamber of his cave.

As he held the gourd-shaped stone in his hand, lost in thought, his figure vanished from the spot in the next moment.

He appeared under the Gathering Yuan Tree, and two magical treasures capable of taking form flew out of his body. The injured Flame Banner in his dantian emitted a faint hiss; it longed to go out and play.

There was no one in the rattan chair where Lianshan Zhenjun usually sat. Ji An rode a cloud into the sky to search for the other party's location.

He quickly spotted the other party, flew over, and landed by the pond.

"Your Excellency is in high spirits."

Lianshan Zhenjun was sitting on a wooden stake, leisurely fishing with a fishing rod in his hand.

"When I was a mortal child, my family toiled in the soil for food. Back then, the territory of human cultivators was far smaller than it is now, and the places where ordinary people cultivated were all barren lands."

The grain we grow isn't enough to eat, so we have to make do with wild vegetables and berries. My favorite thing to do is fish by the river in the summer. I put earthworms on my hook and sit there for half a day, catching quite a lot.

Sometimes catching a big fish can be very dangerous, as it can drag you into the water.
I thought I had long forgotten those things from back then, but today I suddenly remembered them and realized they were all piled up in the baggage of my memory.

He calmly recounted the past, his eyes showing a faint joy, as well as the sorrow of his impending death.

The float suddenly sank, but almost at the same time, Lian Shan Zhenjun lifted the fishing rod, and a silver-scaled fish more than two feet long was pulled out of the water without any resistance.

"You can have fish tonight."

There was a hint of sadness in Lianshan Zhenjun's smile. He had no sense of taste or touch, and could only use his spiritual sense to perceive the aroma of food.

"I'll have Ayun do it later."

Ji An echoed, "Ayun is the puppet's name."

Lianshan Zhenjun maintained his smile and said gently:

"It's rare for you to listen to me ramble on for so long, is there something you need?"

This disciple was always very diligent in his cultivation, only stopping when he was completely exhausted.

Ji An summoned five magical artifacts, explained his previous ideas, and then asked:
"I want to unleash the full offensive potential of my magic weapon. Is there any clever method?"

　There's only one update today, which means I owe 13,000 words.

　　In the afternoon, the boss suddenly made an urgent request, and I'll probably have to work overtime until midnight tonight. I thought I could get back to normal updates, but that's not going to happen again.

　　I'm a software developer. I code at the company during the day and write at home at night. I'm basically glued to the keyboard.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)