Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 745 The Hunt Begins

Ji An flew out of the sect's protective array and headed straight west.

The wind howled in his ears, while the sun silently spread its light and heat across his back.

It's the height of summer now, the earth is lush and green, birds with bright feathers flit through the forest, and playful monkeys climb the branches.

The stream babbled through the mountains, and several deer leaped gracefully across, unaware that a magnificent tiger lurked nearby, hidden among the weeds.

The forest is full of life, and the scenes of running and chasing are happening all the time.

Deer herds flee for their lives, tigers fight for food; regardless of justice or evil, survival and reproduction are the main themes.

As Ji An ventured deeper into the mountains, the forests grew denser, and the number of monsters increased.

Black smoke billowed from a deep valley, and most of the nearby vegetation withered, but some twisted plants grew unusually lush.

The black mist quickly spread and faded, enveloping the entire area in gray fog, causing all the monsters and ordinary animals to avoid it.

Shadows occasionally flickered through the fog, but upon closer inspection, there was nothing there.

This black mist is demonic energy. There must be a rift in the valley that connects to the true demon realm. Those faint shadows are the result of the demon stirring up the demonic energy when it flies.

Demons are invisible and cannot be discerned by the naked eye unless one has cultivated some special eye technique.

Animals still have room to escape the demonic energy, but in a few years they will have nowhere left to retreat, which will lead to a mass extinction.

Ji An hovered above the deep valley, casting a spell to release the Chaotic Five Elements Thunder.

The flashing light resembled a five-colored lightning flower in full bloom, purifying the demonic energy with powerful magic, and bringing clarity to the world.

We haven't entered the heart of the Ten Thousand Mountains yet, so there's no need to worry about attracting the attention of high-level monsters. Doing this will reduce pollution and also allow us to practice our spells.

Such deep valleys are not uncommon, and Ji'an continued speeding westward.

Soon, the valley was left far behind, and the demonic energy filled it again.

After speeding along for most of the day based on his memory, Ji An arrived at a 'familiar' place, bathed in the orange-red glow of the setting sun.

Mingfeng Mountain is full of broken walls and ruins, and weeds have swallowed up the former immortal city. Several black wind wolves stand arrogantly on the mountaintop, squinting and looking at something.

The roars of the monsters rose and fell, seemingly asserting their dominance or perhaps signaling the start of a meal.

This place was originally a second-tier high-grade spiritual vein. It was damaged during the demonic calamity and was later detonated. Now it is only a second-tier low-grade spiritual vein. It is unknown whether it can regain its former glory.

Ji An gazed at the clouds on the horizon, their crimson hues inlaid with gold, like a sea flowing across the sky.

Looking down, the mountains resembled rows of statues, and the earth was stained with blood.

He landed on the mountaintop. It would be dark soon, and there was no need to continue traveling in order to conserve his energy.

The Black Wind Wolves that were originally standing here had long since fled with their tails between their legs. They couldn't sense Ji An's cultivation level, but the bloodline suppression that higher-level creatures exerted over lower-level creatures was still present.

"They're quite sensible, saving me the trouble of doing it myself."

Ji An chuckled twice, extended his divine sense to check the surroundings, and activated the Golden Light Technique to excavate a cave about ten feet deep from the rocks.

After setting up the Xuanwu Armor Formation, he took out the gourd stone and entered the small world.

The gourd-shaped stone floats in the air, casting a clear light and shadow on the stone wall, but this is invisible to the outside world. The entrance to the cave has been transformed into mountain rocks, which is the mimicry effect of the magic array itself.

After entering the small world, the magical treasures that would have excitedly flown out in the past now stay quietly in the dantian, where they can only be healed from their injuries.

Ji An frowned slightly. All five magical treasures were damaged. If he encountered a Nascent Soul stage transformed demon in the Hundred Thousand Mountains, he would be at a disadvantage.

If slow, gentle healing takes several months, their recovery must be accelerated, but he has more important things to do now.

He removed the Void Stone bracelet from his wrist; it was a trophy he had obtained from the demonic cultivator, whose ashes had been buried under the Fusang tree to contribute to the growth of the spiritual roots of heaven and earth.

Ayun walked over to his side and stood guard, ready to obey his orders at any time.

"I hope you are a wealthy person. I like to make friends with 'rich people'."

Ji An shook the bracelet and made a wish. Then he took out a bottle of the body fluid of the Spirit-Slaying Insect from his Void Stone and slowly poured it onto the bracelet.

A moment later, one bottle of spiritual liquid was used up and another was used.

After repeated attempts, the cave stone was finally corroded into a small hole.

Ji An immediately probed into it with his divine sense, and without distinguishing anything, took out everything and piled it into a small mountain about ten feet high.

"It's so big inside, what a waste."

He said regretfully that this Void Stone space was a perfect cube, with a side length of about 27 feet, which was larger than his largest Void Stone.

As soon as he finished speaking, the Void Stone made a cracking sound, and then cracks appeared everywhere, quickly turning into a pile of fine dust.

After clapping his hands, Ji An happily began to count his spoils.

The largest piece here is a kind of dark, demonic spirit wood, a mid-grade fourth-tier material. Its outer skin is extremely hard, comparable to metal of the same tier, but the harder it is, the closer it gets to the center. The heartwood emits a delicate and elegant fragrance.

The thickest section of the spirit wood is as thick as a bucket, while the thinnest section is only as thick as an upper arm.

He couldn't recognize what this material was; it must be a specialty of the True Demon Realm.

“This is a bit difficult,” Ji An said, clearing the spirit wood aside. There were five sections in total, which should be a whole tree, each section about three zhang long.

It's unknown whether this spiritual wood can be purified; if not, it can only be burned as firewood.

He slowly took stock of the items: a spiritual herb with black stems and white flowers, blood-red ore, the black skeleton of a magical beast, an egg the size of a bucket with dense veins, a black stone resembling a spirit stone, and two black jade slips.
There were many things, but he didn't recognize any of them. Many of them were clearly not things that a cultivator could use.

"I hope it's all for nothing."

Ji An sighed, feeling a pang of regret for the five bottles of the Spirit-Slaying Insect fluid he had used.

It would be too embarrassing if you didn't get any benefits at all.

Holding the two black jade slips in his hands, he placed his right hand on his chest and prayed sincerely:
"I hope this friend has the habit of keeping a diary."

He probed the jade slip with his divine sense and found that it contained a demonic cultivation method, which was of no value whatsoever.

He quickly glanced through it and then ignited the jade slip with the Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame.

The cultivation technique he has now been granted allows him to reach the Three Flowers Realm, so there's no need for him to follow the path of demonic cultivation.

He probed the second jade slip with his divine sense, and a slight smile appeared on his lips. Inside was an introduction to spiritual plants and minerals.

As he examined the contents of the jade slip, he took out the corresponding spiritual items from the spoils of war.

After reading through all the information on the jade slip, the purpose of all the spoils of war was confirmed.

Some unused items were directly placed into jade boxes and sealed with mid-grade third-tier spirit-sealing talismans for preservation. It wasn't that he couldn't draw higher-grade spirit-sealing talismans; it was that the limited materials allowed him to only draw talismans of this grade.

These unused spiritual items are for cultivating demonic arts and can be sold to demonic cultivators in the Central Continent, provided they don't betray the cause. Currently, the only usable items are five-section black spiritual wood and pale green ore.

The skeletons of magical beasts can be purified with the Azure Lotus Burning Heart Flame and sold to cultivators who refine bone-based magical artifacts, but if a demonic cultivator is willing to buy them, they should be able to fetch a higher price.

There's no rush to purify it now; we can do it when it's necessary.

The black spirit wood is called Nine Nether Soul Wood. Its hard outer part can be used to forge a kind of demonic armor, which is extremely effective in resisting direct attacks from magical weapons.

The core of the wood is the key part. The core alone can enhance the soul, and it can also be refined into high-level soul incense.

However, Ji An lacked the necessary materials, so he could forget about refining it into Soul Incense.

This is a mid-grade fourth-tier spiritual item; its effects should be no worse than the Sandalwood Soul-Nourishing Incense, right?
After years of use, Ji An had little of the fourth-grade sandalwood soul-nourishing incense he had left. Most importantly, he didn't have enough golden sandalwood heartwood, and the three newly cultivated spiritual trees were currently only mid-grade third-grade.

What needs to be verified is whether demonic energy will be generated when the wood core burns, as that would be difficult to handle.

The pale green ore is called Demon Iron, a low-grade fourth-tier spiritual item. It contains a special toxin. After being refined, it only needs to be added to a magic weapon to take effect, greatly reducing the self-healing ability of a true demon's wounds.

Once we return to the sect, we'll have the weapon-refining hall test it out to see if this type of ore can be added to magical artifacts used by cultivators.

If possible, we could forge some standardized magical artifacts specifically for use in battles against true demons.

Using fourth-grade low-level Blood Demon Iron as raw material to refine magic weapons should be extremely lethal against true demons at the Golden Core level.

Ji An used the Golden Light Technique and spent more than an hour to split open the thinnest piece of Nine Nether Soul Wood and extract the core.

He cut off a piece of wood about an inch long and ignited it with the fire of his life force.

The wisps of white smoke were refreshing and invigorating. White mist surged in the Guanghan Palace. The nascent soul made hand seals and its lips moved. The mist entered its mouth, and the nascent soul felt even more solid.

It is even more effective than sandalwood soul-nourishing incense, and most importantly, it has no demonic energy and does not require self-purification.

By sheer coincidence, Ji An's soul strength is significantly stronger than that of other cultivators of the same level. Coupled with the fact that he has always had the means to nourish it, his soul strength should now be comparable to that of a fourth-level Nascent Soul cultivator. Otherwise, he would have been ambushed when fighting the true demons of Yuanhe Mountain.

"not bad."

Ji An smiled and said to the puppet:
"Ayun, store these resources in a special warehouse and don't mix them with other supplies."

The spirits here contain demonic energy, and if not properly preserved, they may contaminate other spirits.

Ayun nodded to indicate that she understood, and then began to get busy.

Ji An began cultivating by circulating the Five Elements Wheel Sutra, and a vortex of spiritual energy quickly gathered above his head.

Five days later, Ji An activated the Melting Gold Divine Fire Technique, and the primordial fire of his life force flickered vigorously.

The sound of a phoenix's cry rang out, and he stopped casting his spell, wearily rubbing his head.

The Melting Gold Divine Fire Technique, a Golden Core level spell, can temper the primordial fire. Activating this spell can greatly accelerate the recovery speed of magical artifacts damaged. It is only suitable for magical artifacts that have suffered impact damage but have not suffered physical damage.

These past few days, after he had completely removed the core of the Nine Nether Soul Wood, he spent most of his time activating his cultivation technique without closing his eyes for a moment, and finally restored all the damage to the magical treasures.

The magic weapon's condition has been adjusted to its optimal state, and now we can continue our journey into the depths of the Ten Thousand Mountains.

However, what Ji An needs most right now is a good night's sleep to allow his body to recover.

He shouted to Ah Yun nearby:
"Prepare a table of spiritual food and open a jar of top-grade third-tier spiritual peach wine."

Ayun went to prepare food, and he took out the jade slip of the Fudo Myo-o Kyo to study.

His cultivation method has deviated significantly from the original technique. If he wants to break through to the Nascent Soul level as a body cultivator using this technique, he must study the core mechanism of the technique; otherwise, it will be very difficult to break through.

About 15 minutes later, Ayun prepared a table of spiritual food and brought it to the table.

The arowana was plump and delicious, the braised musk beef was rich and flavorful, and paired with the fragrant peach wine, it was a very enjoyable meal.

After a hearty meal, he used the Five Elements Refining Scripture to refine the food and drink, then lay down and fell into a deep sleep.

Three days later, at the hour of Mao (5-7 AM).

Ji An packed his bags and set off again, continuing his westward journey.

This time, he did not fly away on clouds or use magical treasures, but sat on the back of a golden-feathered eagle.

This flying beast has just reached the fifth level of the Chaoyuan stage. Its bloodline is much better than that of the golden-haired beast. It spends most of its time in the gourd world, so its improvement speed is not slow.

The reason for riding the beast was that as we gradually entered the heart of the Ten Thousand Mountains, we couldn't be too conspicuous.

Otherwise, if those demonic beasts spot him from afar and then hide, the plan to capture Golden Core level demonic beasts will be ruined.

A clear, sharp cry occasionally escaped from the golden eagle's beak, and the crest feathers on its head stood on end.

The space in the gourd world was still too small, so it couldn't fly freely. Now it can finally experience the feeling of freedom.

Even in the towering mountains, there are demonic caves, which the Golden-feathered Eagle avoids from a distance.

Ji An surveyed the land, searching for any prey that appeared to be at the Golden Core level.

At noon the next day, Ji An spotted a huge black wind wolf walking in the mountains.

There's a simple way to judge the strength of a monster: look at its size. Those that are much larger than normal are stronger individuals with higher cultivation levels.

Judging from its size, this should be a demon beast at the early stage of the Golden Core realm.

Ji An patted the back of the beast, "Do you see that Black Wind Wolf walking on the outskirts of the mangrove forest?"

The golden eagle let out a low hiss, indicating that it had spotted it.

"landing."

As Ji An spoke, he pressed himself against the back of the beast, trying to lower his profile as much as possible.

The golden eagle immediately swooped down, while the black wind wolf looked up at the sky warily, its gaping maw revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth, seemingly a silent mockery.

Its ostentatious declaration of existence, judging from the intensity of its aura fluctuations, indicates that its cultivation level has reached the third level of the Golden Core stage.

Ji An revealed a bright smile, and when he was 150 feet away from the Black Wind Wolf, he released a mental roar.

The arrogant Black Wind Wolf suddenly felt a darkness before his eyes and immediately fainted.

Ji An leaped down from the beast and landed beside the Black Wind Wolf, forming a talisman by performing a hand seal.

Five-colored spiritual light outlined a beautiful pattern, and the sealing talisman landed on the demon beast, then quickly merged into its fur.

First prey secured!
Ji An stored the demon beast in the prepared spirit beast bag, where it would automatically hibernate.

With the constitution of a Golden Core demon beast, a year or two of slumber will not affect its life.

(End of this chapter)