Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 809 Spatial Rift (Bonus Chapter for 3k words, still owed)
Any power that spends resources to train disciples does so in order to maintain its development.

The mediocre laborers take on more miscellaneous tasks to support the powerful; this type of person is the most numerous, and although they do the lowest-level work, they are indispensable.

Mediocrity is a relative concept. In recent years, the Golden Spirit Sect has recruited disciples based on the best of the best in terms of aptitude and character, but as time goes by, obvious stratification has also emerged.

Ji An believed that if Li Haoran took his disciples on a journey, these disciples would not make any contribution to the sect, but would enjoy the sect's hidden benefits, with the cultivation techniques being the greatest benefit.

In the end, these people had a master-disciple relationship with Li Haoran, but lacked a sense of identity with the sect.

Why do various factions prefer to recruit teenagers as disciples rather than young cultivators with a certain foundation?

It's obvious that only by nurturing children from a young age can they develop feelings and a sense of belonging.

No matter how high a disciple's aptitude or talent, you can't continue to invest resources in them if they don't feel a sense of belonging. That would be like throwing spirit stones down the drain, a complete sunk cost.

Li Haoran remained silent for a moment, then nodded and said:

"What you say is very true, senior brother. I did not consider it carefully."

If he had grown up outside the sect with his master, he certainly wouldn't have felt a sense of belonging to the sect.

"Junior brother has nothing in his heart but the sword. It's not that he didn't consider it carefully, but that he didn't think about it at all."

Ji An said with a smile that in his eyes the other person was the kind of fisherman who only had eyes for the float, only had eyes for the target, and subconsciously ignored all kinds of potential risks.

Li Haoran paused for a moment, then nodded in agreement:
"Upon closer reflection, it really is true."

Ji An's gaze passed through the cave entrance, watching several birds fly by, and he offered a suggestion:

"People always have particularly deep memories of the first few years of their lives, and subconsciously they tend to embellish those memories."

I think you can train your disciple to the Chaoyuan stage before mentioning the matter of traveling. If you think that takes too long, you should at least train him to the late Foundation Establishment stage.

At that time, one could apply to the sect to leave and travel with the Qi-Nourishing Pill.

The sect is a major Nascent Soul sect with a fourth-order spiritual vein. With its inheritance secure, the way it trains disciples must be changed, and lower-level disciples must be restricted from going out.

We can wait until the disciples have reached the Foundation Establishment stage before giving them the opportunity to travel or hunt monsters, and stipulate that they cannot leave the Western Continent.

Li Haoran nodded slightly in agreement, then changed the subject to talk about cultivation, explaining his understanding of sword intent.

When he was still weak and honing his skills in the Western Continent, his greatest wish was to break through all defenses with a single sword strike, for his enemies always had a thousand variations that could be overcome with a single sword.

After years of bloody battles in Central Continent, I finally realized that this was just wishful thinking.

When he first arrived in Zhongzhou, he was only at the fourth level of the Golden Core stage. He fought in the Misty Mountain area. Although he had the ambition to destroy demons, he was still struggling to defend against those true demons at the late Golden Core stage.

Previously, the sword could kill enemies as easily as cutting melons and vegetables, but it was no match for the true demons who had stronger physiques. Although it could kill the enemy, it was difficult to inflict fatal wounds.

More importantly, he cannot afford to make the slightest mistake, or he will face utter ruin.

Having learned a lesson through blood and fire in battle, he finally understood and admitted that the "One Sword Can Break All Laws" technique was extremely ineffective against enemies beyond his own level.

This was the collapse of his belief. He was depressed for a long time, but finally found a way out by exploring the path of creating myriad laws from a single sword.

The attacks are not as sharp, but they are more varied, allowing for a close fight with stronger enemies. While I wouldn't dare say I'd win, I can at least maintain a draw.

Now he walks on two paths of sword cultivation, not bound by circumstances, like flowing water without form, changing his fighting style according to different enemies.

Ji An didn't know much about sword intent, but the opponent's sword intent had traces of the five elements, so he could speak to him. He carefully analyzed the opponent's performance during the lightning tribulation and praised him with clasped hands:

"Junior brother's sword intent has reached the third level. Congratulations."

With an additional layer of sword intent, the resulting variations are many times greater.

"Senior brother, you truly have an unparalleled understanding of the changes in the power of the five elements. I admire you."

Li Haoran solemnly stated that when he comprehended the third level of change, it was precisely when the Purple Heaven Divine Thunder was at its peak, and he originally thought that all traces had been concealed.

Ji An smiled and waved his hand, then said:

"I suspect that my junior brother's path is to transform sword intent into the five elements, then the five elements are divided into yin and yang, and finally yin and yang are unified into one."

When the sword falls, it will be as dazzling as a galaxy, rendering all tricks and schemes futile.

A hint of shock flashed in Li Haoran's eyes, and he smiled:

"I was surprised that my senior brother saw through it so clearly. I did have that thought."

The core technique of the sect is the Five Elements Revolving Scripture. After his breakthrough, he studied this technique and found that the technique's explanation of the power of the five elements helped him comprehend the Five Elements Sword Intent.

Today, I specifically talked about my cultivation, intending to learn from the top expert in his sect, and I indeed benefited greatly.

The two continued to discuss their understanding of the power of the five elements, and before they knew it, the sun was setting.

half a month later.

The sect leader came to visit Crimson Flame Peak, and Ji An received him in his cave dwelling.

After exchanging pleasantries, Lin Jiuxiao said:

"True Lord, after decades of unremitting efforts, the basic order of the Western Continent has begun to be restored, and the population has begun to grow explosively. However, Yuanhe Mountain has always been a hidden danger. The spiritual veins there have been completely polluted and, after withering, have turned into a demonic vein."

Haoran Zhenjun once entered the Demon Cave to investigate and found that there were still many demons and a small number of true demons inside, and the Demon Cave was still spewing out demonic energy.

Although very little demonic energy overflows, it nourishes the demonic veins so that they do not run out.

The Yuanhe Mountain area has now become a hidden danger; if left unchecked, it will have a devastating impact on the ley lines of Xizhou many years later.

A bitter smile appeared on his face. The sect had become the overlord of the Western Continent, and its vassal forces needed time to recover. Only they could fill this hole.

"The only solution we can think of right now is to use a sealing array to block off the entire area, but to do this we need to invest a huge amount of resources to refine the array flags and array plates."

These one-time investments are manageable, but due to the severance of nearby spiritual veins, a large amount of spirit stones need to be invested every year.

If this continues, it will be a huge burden on the sect.

The purpose of my visit today is to request that the True Lord investigate and see if there are other ways to prevent pollution.

In the past, sealing off the Demon Cave would have solved most of the problems; this was the approach taken after the last True Demon Calamity.

Then, the demon cave was suppressed based on the spiritual veins of Yuanhe Mountain, so there was peace for hundreds of thousands of years.

Now that the Yuanhe Mountain spiritual vein has transformed into a demonic vein, the method of sealing the demon cave is completely useless.

Ji An frowned, pondered for a moment, and then said:

"This is indeed a tricky problem. I'll take a look at it tomorrow, but don't get your hopes up too high."

Given the area covered by Yuanhe Mountain, the amount of spirit stones consumed by the sealing formation will be astronomical over time, which is unacceptable.

If the area contaminated by demonic energy is not cut off, it will continue to expand. Even if it expands outward by just one inch each year, the accumulation over tens of thousands of years will form an area far exceeding the size of the Golden Spirit Sect's mountain gate.

When the next True Demonic Calamity erupts, the sect will probably cease to exist.

Furthermore, with its continuous development, who knows what kind of hellish place it will become?

"Thank you for your hard work, True Lord."

Lin Jiuxiao sighed inwardly. This was a hidden danger that would arise tens of thousands of years from now, and since it was impossible to eliminate, the sect would have to find a way out.

The following day, at the end of noon.

Ji An slowly descended into this area shrouded in a thin gray mist. The mist was demonic energy. Sunlight could penetrate the demonic energy, but visibility was low. Upon entering this area, one could feel a chilling aura emanating from it.

He found the demon's lair, summoned five magical artifacts to form a defensive domain, and then unleashed the power of metal and stone.

One should still exercise due caution and not act arbitrarily just because one has high cultivation.

The Demon Cave has many winding tunnels. As you go deeper, you can see wisps of demonic energy emerging from the cracks in the stone walls. There are more than a hundred such cracks of varying sizes.

Ji An entered the very bottom of the demon cave, used his magic to crush the rocks, and finally saw a black, spindle-shaped slit, three fingers wide and more than six feet long, floating in the void, with wisps of demonic energy still escaping from it.

No matter which angle you look at it from, the shape of the gap is exactly the same.

He sensed an extremely dangerous aura spreading through his spiritual perception; this was a spatial rift connecting the world of cultivation and the world of true demons.

With a change in the hand seals, he released the Sharp Metal Technique, and a torrent of silver particles surged into the crevice and disappeared without a trace.

Moments later, demonic energy continued to surge forth.

He unleashed various techniques and spells, including Geng Metal Divine Thunder, Wu Earth Divine Thunder, Bing Fire Divine Thunder, Yi Wood Divine Thunder, Li Fire Flying to Heaven, Chaos Five Elements Thunder, Tai Bai Extinguishing Spirit Sword, and so on. He tried all the attack spells above the Golden Core level, and the result was the same.

The spell was swallowed by the crack, and no demonic energy would leak out for a short time, but after a while, it would remain the same.

The gap, like an eerie vertical pupil, seemed to emit a silent mockery.

Ji An activated his magic power and performed the Vermilion Bird Profound Brightness Technique, causing the Flaming Banner to resonate from the ground.

The divine intent of the fire-elemental spell spread along the passage, and the escaping demonic energy was burned and turned into black particles that fell down.

There were still wisps of demonic energy emanating from it, but they were immediately burned away by the fire element divine will.

After carefully examining the labyrinthine cave, he breathed a slight sigh of relief.

The divine intent of the spell encompassed all the passages of the Demon Cave. Although the divine intent of the fire element was somewhat dissipated due to the obstruction of the rocks, it could still last for a long enough time, at least ten days to half a month.

If the source of the demonic energy can be blocked, at least the situation won't deteriorate too quickly.

Ji An flew outside the Demon Cave and continuously released the Blazing Fire of Heaven, burning away all the demonic energy in the area. At the same time, he released the Vermilion Bird Profound Brightness Technique to ensure that the area had sufficient fire element divine intent.

He's only dealing with the surface of the problem now; the real challenge lies in delving deeper into the demonic veins.

Ji An used his earth-遁 (earth-遁) technique to penetrate deep into the earth, and immediately felt himself enveloped in darkness.

In the past, when I traveled underground, I would feel darkness, but this time it was completely different. The darkness in this land had a deep sense of filth.

　4.2 words still to go
　　
　
(End of this chapter)