Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 867 Fourth-Order High-Grade Wood Heart
Lin Lan suddenly sighed and said:

"Junior Brother Zhang has raised a thorny issue, which is bad news for the sect."

Before both spiritual veins are fully upgraded to the fourth rank, we only need to prioritize upgrading the rank of the Yang vein, and then indirectly upgrade the Yin vein through the Yin-Yang transformation.

The advantage of doing this is that it can save a lot of resources, allowing some fellow disciples to enjoy the benefits brought by high-level spiritual veins in advance.

We can no longer use this method to gain benefits. We can only upgrade both spiritual veins simultaneously, and the interval between the grades of the spiritual veins should ideally not exceed three years.

Junior Brother Zhang said he had previously overlooked the situation in Yunyang Valley. If there is a difference in the grade of the spiritual veins, it will create an imbalance of Yin and Yang.

If the Yang meridians are elevated first, the Yang energy will shift northward, and those Yin spiritual plants planted near the Yin-Yang boundary will suffer.

The dividing line between Yin and Yang is the area where the land is most fertile and cannot be left empty.

Another very important point is that the mountain-protecting formation also requires a balance of Yin and Yang between the spiritual veins in order to perform its proper function.

If one force becomes too strong, causing an imbalance between Yin and Yang, the smooth operation of the magic array will be affected, leading to unpredictable and adverse effects during intense battles.

Therefore, we can no longer use magic arrays to improve the grade of spiritual veins as we did before.

Her tone was somewhat frustrated, as if the price she had paid was heavy.

Ji An placed his hand on the table, tapped his fingers lightly twice, and comforted her:
"You don't need to worry so much. In my opinion, the resources consumed will not increase much when both spiritual veins are upgraded at the same time."

On the contrary, doing so would take less time to improve the quality of two spiritual veins than it would have taken to improve a single spiritual vein.

Because two spiritual veins can coexist for many years, they must be in a balanced state of yin and yang progressing together.

The difficulty in simultaneously upgrading two spiritual veins lies in the increased variety of resources required, which adds considerable complexity.

Since Yin and Yang are different, to improve the grade of a spiritual vein, it is necessary to clearly distinguish between Yin and Yang attribute materials, and to obtain a stable and continuous supply of materials.

Lin Lan's eyes suddenly lit up, as if a built-in light bulb had suddenly illuminated them.

"Master, what is the basis for your statement?"

“Cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage need a deeper understanding of the power of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang are not only opposites, but also interdependent and mutually transformative.”

Only a state of balance and mutual flow between Yin and Yang is the most perfect. The sect's previous practices unilaterally strengthened the power of the Yang meridian, causing the Yang power to transform into the Yin power.

Because the yang energy is stronger, a healthy flow cannot form between yin and yang.

Ji An chuckled self-deprecatingly a few times and continued:

"This is something I've only gradually come to understand in the last two years; I had no concept of it before."

Some things, if one's level of understanding is insufficient, even if others present the truth to them, they will selectively ignore it because it is beyond their comprehension.

Lin Lan breathed a sigh of relief. "Tomorrow I will tell Junior Brother Zhang this good news and have him make a list so we can simultaneously improve the grade of the two main spiritual veins."

She changed the subject and said:
"In the past few years, three more disciples have reached the Five Qi Gathering Realm. I originally planned to send someone to deliver the news to you in the next few days."

Now that Master has returned, I will inform the disciples that they can exchange for Golden Core Pills to break through to the next level.

A year ago, some disciples submitted applications to the Treasure Pavilion to exchange for Golden Core pills. The sect knew that several disciples were at the Five Qi Gathering Origin stage and their progress was similar, so they asked the disciples to wait for the time being.

The purpose of doing this was to allow them to focus on their breakthroughs so that they could inform True Lord Xuanqing of their return.

Ji An nodded. "Okay, where is the breakthrough point?"

To avoid disrupting the order of Chaoyang Peak due to disciples breaking through to the Golden Core stage, the sect had already decided to change the location of the breakthrough, but he did not know exactly where it was changed to.

"Fifty miles southeast of Chaoyang Peak lies Stone Monkey Mountain, a small node on a branch line. It's only at the mid-grade level of the third rank, more than enough for disciples to break through."

Stone Monkey Mountain is named for its main peak, which resembles a monkey. The entire mountain is covered with black rocks and has sparse, low-lying vegetation.

When a cultivator breaks through to the Golden Core stage, the range of the tribulation clouds is only a few dozen acres in radius, and it is impossible for them to affect Chaoyang Peak.

Ji An took out a map jade slip from inside the sect, located the Stone Monkey Mountain, and said:

"Remember to inform me of the specific time when your disciples break through, and I will go to Chaoyang Peak at that time."

"As ordered!"

Lin Lan agreed and tentatively asked:

"Master, Uncle Qin gives a sermon to his disciples every three years to answer everyone's questions. He gave a sermon last year. Do you have time to give a sermon for everyone?"

During cultivation, one will always encounter various problems. Golden Core cultivators who know each other will gather together to discuss them, but they may not necessarily be able to find a solution.

"Yes, but the sermon should be held after all the disciples have made breakthroughs."

Ji An did not refuse but readily agreed, explaining to his disciples that cultivation was a process of reviewing the old to learn the new.

"Okay, I will inform my fellow disciples to prepare in advance. Once the time for the lecture is confirmed, I will notify all Golden Core cultivators again one day in advance."

By the way, there's something I need to tell you. Senior Sister Zhang from the Treasure Pavilion informed me that she has redeemed all the wood-elemental spiritual items for you, and you can pick them up tomorrow.

Two years ago, when the other party informed her, she realized that her master had been exchanging for fourth-grade high-quality spiritual items for a long time.

"Returning to the sect brings a constant stream of good news! I'll head to Chaoyang Peak tomorrow."

Ji An felt that his luck was actually better when he was in the sect than when he was away. "There's another matter. What should be the reward for cultivating a fourth-order spirit tree? The sect's regulations in this regard are somewhat lacking."

When he entered the sect, he was rewarded for cultivating second-tier spirit wood. He has already cultivated fourth-tier soul-nourishing wood. Even though the fact that True Person Zhengyang and True Person Yuxiao are buried there is an important reason, there should still be a reward scheme.

Lin Lan's expression turned serious, and she said:

"I will convene a meeting at an appropriate time to discuss this issue with all the Golden Core cultivators and come up with a practical solution. You will have to wait a few more days."

If the sect continues with its previous reward system, Master alone could "destroy" the sect's merit system.

"I'm not in a hurry. I'll have the results when I return to the clan next time."

The next day at dawn, when Ji An stepped into the treasure pavilion, the sunlight shone directly on his profile.

Upon recognizing the newcomer, Zhang Yi immediately rose and bowed respectfully.

"Greetings, True Lord."

"Haha, no need for formalities!"

Ji An, beaming with pride, nodded in acknowledgment. "Lin Lan said that I already have enough wood-elemental spiritual items to exchange for?"

"Yes, this is something True Monarch Qin Yan obtained from a cultivator in the Southern Continent. I'll go and retrieve the spiritual item."

Zhang Yi made a hand seal to open the mimicry array and entered the inner treasury. He quickly came out and handed over several spiritual items.

Ji An inspected it and smiled with satisfaction.

“True Lord, the merits you left here have been completely used up, and you still owe the sect more than 70,000 merits.”

Ji An took out his identity jade token and said with great pride:

"A great achievement of taking away 1.5 million."

The significance of the sect has been demonstrated; it can help him with these time-consuming and laborious tasks, greatly saving him time.

After exchanging a few words, Zhang Yi asked about a problem he had encountered during his cultivation.

Ji An said:

"I have things to do today. I will be giving a lecture at the Wuji Hall in a few days, and I will answer your questions then."

"Ok."

After leaving the treasure pavilion, Ji An took the teleportation array back to Crimson Flame Peak, immediately activated the Golden Light of the Earth to return to his cave and enter the small world.

He flew on a cloud to the azure spirit field, found a lightning-struck Azure Dragon Wood, focused his mind on his dantian, and nervously issued the command:
"Refine the Dao essence and upgrade the spirit wood to the fourth-grade superior level."

The core of a fourth-grade superior spiritual wood is the final piece of the puzzle to upgrade the grade of the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner.

Strictly speaking, lightning-struck wood has already exceeded the scope of the Five Elements. I wonder if it can be upgraded in rank using Daoist principles.

When the stone tortoise appeared above the spirit tree, he felt relieved.

The cyan threads formed from the wood elemental energy quickly transformed into a giant cocoon of light. Unlike before, this time the threads that made up the cocoon of light were of two colors, whereas when the wood elemental plants were being upgraded, there was only one color.

Both colors are cyan, one emerald green like leaves after rain, the other dark green like a deep emerald.

Ji An suddenly slapped his forehead, realizing that thunder techniques like the Yi Wood Divine Thunder were all generated by the collision of Yin and Yang forces of the Five Elements.

Gradually, the cocoon of light solidified into a giant blue egg, its surface flashing with lightning from time to time.

He rode a cloud back to the center of the small world, reclined on a rattan chair, took out the inheritance jade slip to examine it, and learned something new by reviewing the old.

After waiting for more than three hours, the stone tortoise returned to his side.

Ji An focused his mind on his dantian and connected it with the stone tortoise to check the consumption of Dao energy.

[Tao Yun: Gold 0, Water 0, Wood 0, Fire 123.7, Earth 736.5]

He smiled wryly, "It's really exhausting."

The lightning-struck Azure Dragon Wood had been at the mid-grade fourth rank for many years, and in theory it should have accumulated a lot of foundation, yet it still consumed several thousand points of Dao essence when upgrading its rank.

Ji An flew to the side of the fourth-grade superior Azure Dragon Wood, sighed and patted the trunk a few times, then activated the Golden Light Technique to begin chopping it down.

The silver moon blade kept bombarding the same spot, scattering large amounts of sparks.

Amidst the mournful roar of the dragon, the Azure Dragon Tree collapsed, and Ji An discovered that its core was a vibrant emerald green.

He processed the spirit wood, removed the heartwood, and cut the trunk into small sections more than ten feet long.

After collecting all the materials, Ji An infused the Xuanhuang Merit Qi into the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner until the spiritual treasure could no longer absorb any more Merit Qi.

Ji An asked to ride the clouds to leave the small world, flew to the foot of the mountain, and took the teleportation array to Red Copper Mountain.

Inside the cave, Qin Yan was instructing his disciples on weapon crafting. When he looked up and saw Qin Yan enter, he waved his hand to dismiss the disciples.

After exchanging pleasantries, Ji An took out the various wood-elemental spiritual items he had prepared and said:
"Junior brother, the supplies are ready. We need you to upgrade the grade of the Azure Lotus Banner one more time!"

(End of this chapter)