Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 812 The Qi of Xuanhuang Merit
With the breakthrough in cultivation, the nascent soul grew stronger, and the previously nearly depleted spiritual power was greatly restored.

The primordial fire of life intensified, and wisps of golden blood energy surged into the middle dantian, where it was absorbed by the golden elixir of blood energy.

This thing is very mysterious. It feels like the inner core of a demon beast. Ji An consulted a lot of the Five Elements Sect's inherited knowledge, but still couldn't figure out how it was formed.

However, after having it, one can clearly feel that the speed of physical tempering has increased.

Since it was a good sign, he paid no further attention to it.

Ji An dispersed his nascent soul form, calmed his mind, and continued to circulate his cultivation technique to stabilize his cultivation level.

The light emanating from the Five Elements Divine Palace became much gentler, and the speed of the cultivation technique did not slow down; instead, it maintained the super-limit speed it had at the beginning.

This is the benefit of breaking through in cultivation. Although the amount of magical power needed to continue improving increases significantly, the efficiency of cultivation also increases accordingly.

Half a day later, Ji An finished his cultivation, stood up with his arms outstretched, as if to embrace the whole world.

Ayun walked over with light steps, curtsied, and radiated joy.

'Congratulations, Master, on your cultivation breakthrough.'

"Haha, thank you very much."

"Master, the Five Sacred Mountains True Lord visited not long ago and said that a strange thing happened outside Crimson Flame Peak."

"Oh? What's the strange thing?"

'I don't know; he didn't say so explicitly.'

"I'm going out to take a look. You cook some spiritual food, and I'll have a few drinks when I come back later."

Ji An left triumphantly on auspicious five-colored clouds; of course, he had to celebrate his improved cultivation.

After improving one's cultivation level, the quality of the refined mana increases by about 20%, while the mana capacity increases by more than 40%.

The effects of spells will be stronger in the future, and as cultivation level increases, the upgrade of the natal magic weapon's grade will also begin its countdown.

It can be said that the improvement of cultivation is something that any cultivator should celebrate. Apart from the leap to a higher realm, the breakthrough from the early stage to the middle stage, and from the middle stage to the late stage is the most valuable.

More and more cultivators gathered at Crimson Flame Peak, with most of the sect's Golden Core cultivators congregating on the summit, discussing the matter in hushed tones.

In the years since the end of the True Demon Tribulation, a total of thirty-two people have attempted to break through to the Golden Core stage, but only eleven have succeeded, a success rate of less than forty percent.

Cultivators who break through to the Foundation Establishment or Yuanxing realms have the opportunity to start over even if they fail. However, if they attempt to break through to a realm above the Golden Core stage, they will die if they fail.

Those who failed perished in the tribulation of lightning, achieving their desired outcome. The cruelty of cultivators defying the heavens was vividly demonstrated.

Even so, when their cultivation level is high enough, cultivators will still fight without hesitation. Those who are afraid to risk their lives in the face of great events will never reach the Golden Core stage.

"Hey, look!"

A Golden Core cultivator shouted, and everyone saw the seven-colored light in the sky suddenly fall, like a shooting star streaking across the sky, and plunge into the rocks under the glow of the sunset.

There was no collision as expected; the glimmer of light vanished without a trace, as if it were an illusion.

Just then, Ji An left the small world and entered the cave.

He felt a friendly aura descend upon him, rapidly approaching him at a speed that exceeded his expectations.

Then, a warm and gentle aura descended upon the Moon Palace, spreading out into several auspicious clouds, their color a dark yellow.

After a moment of stunned silence, Ji An realized what it was and exclaimed in delight:

"The Qi of Xuanhuang Merit!"

This is the ticket to leave this world and enter the starry sky. Without sufficient merit, one cannot break through the web of laws woven by the world—the 'Heavenly Net'.

The Xuanhuang Merit Qi has many uses. Adding some when refining spiritual treasures can significantly enhance their spirituality. It is especially beneficial to natal magic treasures, as it can accelerate the speed at which their grade is improved.

Adding a small amount of merit during alchemy can improve the quality of the pills, and enough merit can also increase the speed of cultivation.

The only downside is that the Xuanhuang Merit Qi can only be used by cultivators themselves and cannot be traded with others.

It's not that they can't be traded, but if you give a pill made with Xuanhuang Merit Qi to someone else, it won't increase the pill's efficacy at all.

The world is conscious, and although this consciousness is very programmed, 'she' knows what is best for herself.

Because the Xuanhuang Merit Qi has so many beneficial effects, cultivators are willing to acquire merit even if they don't expect to break through to the Three Flowers Realm.

If a cultivator is willing to dissipate the condensed essence of the sun and moon into the world, they can gain merit, but under normal circumstances, no cultivator is willing to do so.

Generally speaking, accumulating merit is a 'benefit' that only cultivators in the late Nascent Soul stage can enjoy. Only they have the ability to pass through the Gangyun (罡云) to reach the outer heavens and gain merit by capturing passing meteorites.

"What's going on? How did I get merit?"

Ji An couldn't understand it; he hadn't done anything good, had he?
These past few years I've been cultivating in seclusion in my small world, accumulating power to break through my cultivation level. I haven't had time to do any good deeds.

If there's anything truly related to merit, it can only be something from the North.

With this in mind, Ji An made a hand seal and released a golden light that seemed to leap across the ground. He wanted to get to Yuanhe Mountain as soon as possible to verify whether his guess was true. If it was true, he would have a new way to gain merit!

At this point in time, there are plenty of opportunities to acquire the Xuanhuang Merit Qi.

Five-colored rays of light shot out from the rocks above the cave, and a long rainbow stretched across the void, drifting northward.

The name of the Golden Core cultivators was well-known, and Ji An had released it many times within the sect. Therefore, when the five-colored rainbow appeared, everyone on Crimson Flame Peak knew that it was True Monarch Xuanqing who had left.

Lin Jiuxiao said in astonishment:

"Strange, what happened to make the True Lord so anxious?"

Just now, the seven-colored light fell down, and everyone was wondering what had happened. They were just about to ask the True Lord.

Li Haoran frowned, his concern was for his senior brother's flying speed. Even if he activated his secret technique to release sword escape, he was far inferior and couldn't keep up at all.

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord subconsciously gripped the deer antlers on his head, lost in thought.

When he left the small world, he instructed the puppet A-Yun that she would definitely inform the emperor of his instructions.

In other words, Your Majesty originally came to the mountain peak, and the place where that ball of spiritual light fell was right above the cave!
Lin Jiuxiao realized what was happening and exclaimed in surprise:
"Does the appearance of the True Lord at this time mean that his cultivation has broken through to the mid-stage of the Nascent Soul realm?!"

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord raised his head, trying his best to make his voice sound calm and steady:
"That's natural."

Your Majesty's speed of flight has increased even further; what else could it be but a breakthrough!
Upon hearing this, Lin Lan and her two siblings all smiled, feeling honored.

After releasing a burst of golden light and flying away for a moment, Ji An summoned the Flame Banner and continued his journey aboard the fire phoenix.

He flew more than 40,000 miles from the sect to Yuanhe Mountain. Although he had broken through to the fourth level of the Nascent Soul stage, his internal mana was not full enough.

Moreover, even if his magical power were at its peak, it wouldn't be enough to allow him to fly to Yuanhe Mountain.

At this moment, the sunset on the horizon resembles a giant red carp edged with gold, while the gray-blue background looks like the boundless sea.

As the sky darkened, all the splendor slowly faded, and the giant fish merged into the night, disappearing from sight.

The moonlight was absent, but the starry sky was dazzling, as if countless celestial beings were lowering their gazes and gently caressing the vast earth.

The phoenix ignited the sky, its tail feathers trailing streaks of five-colored light.

On Xiaozhu Mountain, many cultivators witnessed the flamboyant flames tearing the sky apart.

Yuanhe Mountain stood silent in the deep night, like a large dog lying on the ground. In Ji An's eyes, the fire elemental energy emanating from this area was the most conspicuous sign.

The phoenix's loud cry pierced through the golden clouds and echoed across the vast plains, further emphasizing the stillness of the night.

The magical artifact swooped down, and Ji An gracefully landed in the area where the Thick Virtue Evolution Spirit Spell was always being cast.

He probed his divine sense into the ground, one zhang, ten zhang, a hundred zhang, three hundred zhang. The concentration of spiritual energy here could only barely reach the first-grade low level, but all the pollution had been eliminated.

"Haha, no wonder I obtained the Xuanhuang Merit Qi."

Ji An clapped his hands and accepted the gift with a clear conscience.

If we consider the world as a giant, then this polluted area is like an inflamed hair follicle. He cured the giant's disease with his medicine, so it's only right that he receives some reward.

Enhancing the world's fundamental potential can yield the primordial energy of merit, and healing the sick can also bring merit.

Purifying areas polluted by demonic energy can earn merit. There are many desolate places in this world; can we also earn merit by gradually transforming them?

Ji An felt as if a broad road had suddenly appeared before him. He didn't know how long it would take to accumulate enough merit to accelerate his cultivation, but he could use it to upgrade the grade of his natal spiritual treasure.

As the grade of a spirit treasure increases, the effects of earth-based spells also improve, significantly reducing the time required to purify an area.

Thinking of this, Ji An immediately focused his mind on his dantian, connecting with the stone tortoise, and gave the command:
"Refine the Dao essence and upgrade the grade of the Wuji Earth Dao Seed."

As the rank of his Dao Seed increases, the effects of his Earth-based spells also improve. He'll be able to gain merit even in the mid-Nascent Soul stage, something that will make others incredibly envious.

Ji An's consciousness was drawn into the mysterious space of the stone tortoise, transforming into a speck of dust buried deep in the earth, sensing the divine will that nourishes all things; as the earth slowly rose, he transformed into a mountain rock on the mountaintop, facing a thousand years of wind, frost, snow and rain, sensing the earth's profound weight.
Time passed in the space, but only for a moment in the outside world. Ji An's consciousness returned to his body and gazed at the words above the Guanghan Palace.

The mysterious and virtuous energy playfully covered certain words before slowly drifting away.

[Taoist Seed - Earth (Superior Grade): Located in the Earth Palace of the Spleen, it allows one to comprehend the benevolence of the earth and the solidity of the mountains, enhancing one's understanding of Earth-based magic.]

[Daoyun: soil 2158.2→256.7]

He manipulated the magic weapon into his upper dantian, and the earth unicorn absorbed this small amount of Xuanhuang merit energy, making the scales on its body shine brighter and adding a sense of weightiness.

Ji Anfei fled to the polluted area nearby, pulled up his Taoist robe, and cheered himself on:
"Get to work!"

Purifying this demonic vein would eliminate the threat facing the Western Continent, and more importantly, there would be benefits to be gained, so of course he was excited.

Ji An made a hand seal and released the Great Virtue Spirit Transformation Incantation. The five magical treasures combined their power and resonated with his rhythm, causing the earth to surge with a warm spiritual light.

(End of this chapter)