Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 787 Reliance for the Future
Ji An smiled and waved his hand, "This isn't something I took for free; I need your help with some things."

Qin Yan, after the True Demon Tribulation ends, trade between the sect and other continents will resume. I need your help to upgrade the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag and the Plain Cloud Realm to the level of spiritual treasures.

"If you're missing any spiritual items, purchase them from outside. Calculate approximately how much merit you'll need, and I'll pay you as a deposit."

Upgrading a magic weapon requires a lot of fourth-tier spiritual items, so it's not good to ask the other party to pay for it in advance.

Qin Yan smiled, cupped his hands, and said:

"Yes, sir. Leave it to me. I will prioritize upgrading your magic weapon, True Lord."

Upgrading the quality of magical artifacts can increase practical crafting experience, verify what you have learned, and generate new insights.

After upgrading the opponent's five magical treasures, he gained a completely new understanding of refining the Five Elements magical treasures. This was a valuable asset of knowledge that could not be obtained from the descriptions passed down through generations.

The replica of the Innate Five Banners, an 'antique' level magic weapon, has many drawbacks, but these drawbacks will be minimized indefinitely in the hands of a suitable cultivator, and the upper limit will be increased instead.

He discovered that the deeper one's understanding of the Five Elements, the more suitable one is to use this magical artifact. However, no one has such a profound understanding of the Five Elements as the True Lord. One can glimpse the True Lord's power from the spirituality of the magical artifact.

"I trust you to handle things. Let's do a quick accounting."

The Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag is currently only a high-grade third-tier item and needs to be upgraded twice consecutively.

Ji An turned to look at Zhang Zeye and said:
"Can a fourth-order defensive array be crafted? I need it to seal off my cave dwelling. The coverage area doesn't need to be too large, a radius of a hundred feet will suffice."

In addition, the magic circle must be easily movable.

Zhang Zeye shook his head with a wry smile, "True Lord, my strength is insufficient. I do not have enough spiritual power to refine a fourth-order magic array for the time being. I can only refine a third-order top-grade magic array."

The fourth-order magic array connects to the spiritual veins below and the stars above, offering a comprehensive enhancement compared to the third-order top-grade magic array.

The other person had asked him this question before, and perhaps they had forgotten, so they asked it again.

In the art of formations, the third-tier top-grade and the fourth-tier low-grade are two completely different levels. If one's cultivation level does not reach the late stage of the Golden Core realm, one should not even dream of being able to refine a fourth-tier formation.

He is currently working hard to advance to the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm, hoping to have the opportunity to refine a fourth-order protective array for the sect in the future—the Life and Death Illusion Dust Array.

Ji Anlue was somewhat disappointed, but this feeling was fleeting.

"Then help me refine a set of top-grade third-tier sealing formations. It's only needed to seal the cave dwelling; there's no need to move it."

"You can roughly calculate how much work is needed, and I'll pay you as a deposit, with any overpayment refunded and any underpayment collected."

The sect's fortunes have soared in recent years, leading to its current state. However, it has taken too big a step, resulting in a lack of talent. It will need another hundred years or even longer to truly possess the grandeur of a Nascent Soul sect.

A Nascent Soul Grandmaster not only needs a stable lineage, but also needs to have various 'craftsmen' who have reached the late Golden Core stage.

A sect is theoretically a self-sufficient small kingdom that cannot have any obvious weaknesses, and the sect still has considerable shortcomings.

“Okay, but I need to go into the cave to conduct a thorough survey before I can provide a solution.”

Ji An stood up. "Senior Brother Liu, please wait a moment. We'll be right back."

"The True Lord departs."

The colorful auspicious clouds departed, disappearing like a dreamlike mist.

Qin Yan winked a few times and joked:
"Hey, what's it like to have a junior brother at the Nascent Soul stage?"

Liu Yu covered her face and gave a few bitter laughs:
"The pressure was immense at first, but I got used to it and it wasn't so bad."

He couldn't help but recall the scene when he first met Ji An. At that time, he never expected that the other party would become his junior brother, let alone that the other party would achieve what he has today.

Qin Yan sighed softly, "It is said that when the True Monarch entered the sect, I once gave a sermon to him in the Hall of Hearing the Dao. But now, alas, let's not talk about it."

The worry on his face faded, replaced by a hint of joy, as he continued:
"Actually, it's good to have a strong person paving the way for everyone, otherwise our path would be very difficult."

Putting aside other issues, the inheritance of cultivation techniques is a major hurdle. Now that the Five Elements Revolving Scripture has been passed down completely, most people don't need to worry about the cultivation techniques.

In addition, with the continued growth of the sect's agricultural hall, the disciples' shortage of elixirs has been greatly alleviated.

As long as one cultivates diligently enough, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage will not be difficult. With some luck and comprehension, one can break through to the Chaoyuan stage.

This would have been an unthinkable dream in the past.

Liu Yu wholeheartedly agreed, "Yes."

He received a lot of help from Ji An. As long as he asked, there would be no shortage of all kinds of spiritual tea and spiritual fruit. Of course, he would not take advantage of the situation for free.

About half an hour later, Ji An rode the clouds and brought Zhang Zeye back to the Cold Pool.

Qin Yan stood up and said:
“True Lord, I have roughly calculated that to upgrade the two magic treasures to the level of spirit treasures, the total cost of materials and crafting will be at least 1.6 million merit points.”

This is a conservative figure; there is a high probability of overspending, but there is also a possibility of surplus, because the price of Tier 4 resources is not fixed.

If the other party in the transaction happens to be interested in the resources he has, he can save a lot of money.

Ji An took out a golden identity jade token and handed it over, saying, "Don't be shy to say anything if you don't have enough later."

A moment later, Zhang Zeye also calculated that a great deal of work was needed, totaling 250,000.

Spending over 1.8 million merits in a short time is nothing to Ji An; he still has over 21 million merits in his possession.

After the transaction was completed, the several cultivators inquired about the problems they encountered during their cultivation, and Ji An pointed them out one by one.

Although he had not experienced these problems, by looking at them from a higher perspective, he was able to clearly see where the problems lay.

Qin Yan was already at the eighth level of the Golden Core stage. After a moment's thought, he tentatively spoke:

"True Lord, I will soon face the problem of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage. I once heard Junior Sister Han Yan say that the sect has a formula for Nascent Soul Pill. Do we have the conditions to refine the pill now?"

His words had two meanings: first, he was asking if we had the ability to refine Nascent Soul Pills; second, he was asking if we had the medicinal materials for refining pills.

The True Lord possesses a small world, the contents of which are unknown to others.

This question concerns his conception, and although it is somewhat impolite to ask, he can make targeted arrangements after learning the truth.

It is estimated that it will take him at least seventy years to reach the ninth level of the Golden Core stage. Although it seems like a long time, everything needs to be planned and prepared in advance. Otherwise, if you are not prepared when the time comes, you will inevitably waste time.

"You don't need to worry about the Nascent Soul Pill; just prepare enough merit points to exchange for it."

"A batch of medicinal herbs is growing in my little world, and they will be ready when you need the Nascent Soul Pill."

Ji An smiled kindly, saying that he currently had a batch of materials for Nascent Soul Pills, enough to make two pills, and there were five batches of materials that were not yet mature.

He would not only refine a batch of Nascent Soul Pills and put them in the Treasure Pavilion, but also go to Zhongzhou and Taixu Sect to negotiate in order to obtain a batch of Phoenix Nirvana Pills.

However, he is not in a hurry to go to Zhongzhou. He wants to wait until his cultivation level is higher before going, so that he will have more confidence in negotiating.

In another twenty or thirty years, a group of disciples will break through to the Golden Core stage. He will then obtain a batch of Dao essence, at least several thousand points. He will then use the Dao essence on his body to accelerate the ripening of spiritual fruits and improve his cultivation level as much as possible.

All three of them became excited, feeling reassured regardless of whether they would need the information later.

Qin Yan said with a smile, "After the demonic energy dissipates, we can resume trade with the far north and the southern continent."

I will personally accompany them and strive to exchange for the various materials needed to upgrade the magic weapon's grade as soon as possible.

"Thank you for your trouble," Ji An nodded with a smile. He remembered what Lian Shan Zhenjun had said: by upgrading all five flags to the level of spiritual treasures, the power of the five elements could be transformed.

At that time, when he releases spells, his magical artifacts will be able to provide a superimposed resonance effect, perhaps allowing him to roam freely in the Nascent Soul realm.

After chatting happily for half an hour, the guests got up to say goodbye, and the pavilion returned to its quiet state.

Ji An took out four golden communication swords, entered the information, and activated them.

Watching the golden light disappear from sight like a startled swan, he rode the clouds back to his cave.

The next day, at the beginning of the Chen hour.

Sunlight shone on the plaque, making the three large characters "Wuji Hall" gleam.

When Ji An entered the main hall, the sect leader, Han Yan, and two disciples had already arrived.

After exchanging greetings and taking their seats, Ji An began to speak:

"The reason we've gathered everyone here today is to discuss the future of our sect."

My little world can produce many kinds of spiritual plants that have strict requirements for the environment, which can bring great convenience to the sect, but it can also bring hidden dangers.

The realm above the Nascent Soul stage is the Three Flowers Realm. To break through to this realm, one must leave the cultivation world and enter the Starry Sky Realm. If I take this step, it means leaving.

At that time, losing certain sources of spiritual herbs would be a major upheaval for the sect.

If he cannot take the final step, the small world will remain in the sect, but he still has more than two thousand years of lifespan, and he is already at the second level of the Nascent Soul stage.

Even if you just crawl, you can still reach the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage. After accumulating enough merit, you will be qualified to leave.

Ji An felt that the cultivation world exerted a peculiar attraction on every cultivator, restricting them from reaching the outside world.

Accumulating merit is a legal way to leave; I wonder if there are other 'smuggling' methods to leave.

Han Yan nodded repeatedly and said:

"This is indeed a major hidden danger. We must figure out how to cultivate special spiritual plants without the support of a True Monarch's small world."

"My Lord, could you please provide a list so that everyone knows which spiritual plants have special environmental requirements?"

This problem won't surface now, but it will inevitably have a profound impact on the sect when it does surface in a few years.

Now that we have time to solve the problem, we should do so as soon as possible.

Ji An took out a jade slip. "I was prepared, but there will be many omissions. Everyone needs to fill in the gaps."

Furthermore, since the Five Qi Pills that only the Gathering Yuan Tree can obtain have not been replenished since I left, I still haven't figured out how the Gathering Yuan Tree reproduces.

In fact, all spiritual plants have requirements for their growing environment; they can only grow better in a suitable environment.

However, most spiritual plants are not so demanding in terms of environment, so they can grow in non-extreme environments.

The jade slip recorded the names of many spiritual plants, such as the Yin Soul Tree, the Purple Cloud Tree, and the Golden Leaf Sandalwood.

Han Yan pondered for a moment and said:
"I will make a list of the medicinal materials needed for the pills that the sect can refine, and the Ministry of Agriculture will need to collect the seeds and plant them."

Since that kind of spiritual plant cannot be grown, we need to focus on researching how to cultivate it.

She understood perfectly that the sect had to figure out how to cultivate certain crucial spiritual plants before the True Monarch took that step, otherwise the sect's supply of pills would be in trouble.

All the medicinal materials for pills such as the Golden Core Pill and the Nascent Soul Pill must be cultivated independently by the sect. Otherwise, they have to purchase them from outside, which would make them dependent on others, and they might not even be able to buy them at all.

Lin Lan nodded, "No problem, Senior Sister can just give me the list when the time comes."

The Five Elements School's lineage includes research in this area, which has given us direction.

To be precise, the growth environment of spiritual plants is nothing more than a preference for elements such as Earth (戊土), Water (癸水), and Fire (丁火).

The difficulty lies in the fact that the environment is not singular; it requires the fusion of various elements to form a complex environment. The balance achieved after this fusion is the most challenging aspect.

In addition, light, air humidity, and soil fertility are also important factors. Because there are so many variables, the research is a very large undertaking.

Ji An said:

"I have an idea: the Ministry of Agriculture can start cultivating this kind of knowledge in its disciples from the very beginning and encourage them to conduct similar research."

Now I have a continuous supply of research materials for everyone to study. Don't be afraid of failure; summarize your experiences and let more disciples participate. You might be pleasantly surprised.

Sometimes research requires luck; even a fool can have a stroke of genius. The more disciples involved, the greater the chance of getting lucky.

Han Shan pondered for a moment, then added:

“Master’s method is good. I think we can divide the disciples into groups during the Foundation Establishment stage and let them specialize in cultivating a few kinds of spiritual plants. This way, they can accumulate more experience in a certain area.”

People started discussing it and offering their suggestions.

An important direction of research is to simulate a suitable living environment. The current difficulty is that people do not know the living environment of many spiritual plants and can only judge them by their medicinal properties.

Such a method is bound to produce significant deviations, and the deviations could very well be extremely large.

To give an extreme example, some extremely yin places can produce yang-type medicinal herbs.

Lin Jiuxiao couldn't get a word in edgewise about the planting techniques, but he was very happy to watch everyone discussing.

Most of the problems encountered by cultivators are due to a lack of prior preparation. Now the sect has ample time to prepare for how to develop after the True Monarch leaves.

Ji An was also relieved at this moment. He could be a last resort, but he could never become a caregiver.

If that's the case, the prosperity will soon come to an end once he leaves the sect.

What any force needs is a sound development mechanism, so that it will not undergo major changes due to the departure of key figures.

After discussing for about half an hour, Ji An spoke:

"There's no rush. You should first come up with the charter, and then promote the experience of each group."

Don't rush for results; when you've accumulated enough experience, everything will fall into place naturally.

(End of this chapter)