Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 875 Azure Dragon True Monarch
Ji An flew up on a cloud, stood with his hands behind his back, and looked down at this land that was shining with spiritual light. After hundreds of years of companionship, this place had become his strongest support, second only to the stone tortoise in terms of its help to him.

In the small world, the Gathering Yuan Tree regulates the power of the five elements, and the grade upgrades of the other two spirit fields will be completed one after another. At that time, the spirit fields can be used to nourish the spirit veins.

Once the grade of the spirit field is improved, the improvement speed of the spirit plants will also be accelerated; at least the time required to improve the grade of the Gathering Yuan Tree will be shortened considerably.

A smile spread across his face. If the spiritual vein's grade is raised to the highest level, the quality of spiritual energy will also improve. This will allow cultivation techniques to be further enhanced, which is equivalent to indirectly increasing the efficiency of refining spiritual energy.

Ji An felt that keeping Daoist essence in his possession was meaningless now. He only needed to accelerate the ripening of spiritual herbs when refining the Five-Colored Pill, but that would be more than a hundred years later, so there was no need to hoard Daoist essence now.

Since we've decided to upgrade the small world, let's go all the way.

He connected with the stone tortoise, "refining all the Dao essence to upgrade the grade of the Gathering Yuan Tree."

The stone tortoise reluctantly flew out of its dantian, as if to say, 'You can't just say everything at once!'

It flew to the sky above the Gathering Yuan Tree and quickly used its earth-elemental spiritual energy to weave a huge cocoon of light that enveloped the spiritual tree.

The spirit wood was surrounded by innate Bagua patterns, the patterns were dark and deep, and occasionally flashed with light.

Just a quarter of an hour later, the light cocoon shattered into a sky full of light, and the stone tortoise returned to Ji An's dantian.

He landed, sat cross-legged on the futon, and gave the following instructions:
"Ah Yun, tomorrow we will dig soil in each of the spirit fields. I want to refine spirit treasures."

The Five Elements Divine Mountain is currently only a mid-grade fourth-order mountain, but now that it has top-grade fourth-order spiritual soils such as Yellow Emperor Virtue Soil and White Emperor Crystal Soil, the speed at which spiritual treasures can improve their grade will be even faster.

If his spiritual treasure reaches the fourth-grade superior level, he will find it much easier to deal with enemies at the late Nascent Soul stage.

Previously, he relied on skill to win battles; now, he intends to completely overwhelm opponents with sheer force. No skill is needed; in short, he'll brute force! Miracles happen through sheer brute force.

East China Sea, Mingyue Island.

As night deepened, the island was immersed in a dreamlike state.

Red Moon True Monarch sat cross-legged in the quiet room of his cave, his brows furrowed and his face full of solemnity. A few days ago, the albatross, a beast kept by the sect, discovered a treasure ship belonging to the Buddhist cultivators.

Later, he kept a close watch on the giant ship that sailed through the waves, watching the monks and nuns dock at the shore of the East China Sea.

Clearly, with the arrival of the Buddhist cultivators' support, the situation of the Central Continent sects will become even more difficult.

He understood that the Buddhist monks had realized that this was the weakest moment in Central Continent, and that these bald men were far from being as compassionate as they claimed, and were trying to continuously weaken the power of Central Continent.

True Lord Red Moon fell into deep thought, unaware that dawn had broken.

He flew to the Moon Worship Hall in the center of the island, waiting for the guests to arrive.

After discovering the movements of the Buddhist cultivators, he immediately dispatched his junior brothers and sisters to pass on the message to all the Nascent Soul forces in the East Sea, arranging an emergency meeting today.

Time passed slowly, and Nascent Soul True Monarchs arrived one after another.

"Brother Hongyue, what urgent matter has summoned us? It's not another request from the Central Continent forces to join forces, is it?"
"It's not impossible for us to work together to deal with Shi Xiu, but they should at least show some sincerity and send some fourth-tier pills and spiritual items. We can't let everyone work for nothing."

“What Dao Yuan Zhenjun said makes sense; that’s what I think too.”

The True Lord, who was walking behind, echoed, looking somewhat impatient.

Red Moon True Monarch felt utterly exhausted and cupped his hands in greeting:
"Fellow Daoists, please be seated for now. We will discuss this further once the other Daoists have arrived."

Before they knew it, it was already the hour of Si (9-11 AM), the agreed time. Only twenty-four cultivators had arrived, and twelve others had not yet shown up.

True Lord Red Moon knows that some fellow Daoists may have urgent matters to attend to, or simply do not wish to come.

In recent years, he has invited everyone to discuss matters every ten years, believing that the deteriorating situation in Central China will inevitably affect the East China Sea.

The other True Lords understood this principle, but the benefits offered by the Central Continent did not meet their expectations, so they were unwilling to risk fighting the Buddhist cultivators.
True Monarch Hongyue stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Everyone who could come is here. Let me first tell you the information I witnessed a few days ago."

He recounted in detail how the Buddhist monks had sent another precious ship, paused for a moment, and then continued:

“Middle Continent and we are interdependent. If Middle Continent’s power is eroded and collapses, we will be next.”

Gentlemen, now is not the time to calculate the gains and losses of participating in the war. If we do not make a decision soon, we will have to consider the survival of our own sects.

An eerie silence fell over the hall; even the sound of breathing ceased.

If the Central Continent cannot resist, the cultivation world of the East Sea will be no match for it either.

Dao Yuan Zhenjun coughed and calmly said:
"Fellow Daoist Hongyue, do not exaggerate. It is true that the various sects in the Central Continent suffered huge losses in the True Demon Tribulation, but currently, all the sects still have nearly two hundred True Monarchs."

The situation in Zhongzhou is far from being a matter of life and death; it's just that they are unwilling to mobilize all their forces to fight the Buddhist cultivators.

I think we can wait a little longer. If the Buddhist monks pressure us even more, they will naturally agree to our conditions.

The power of the top sects in Central Continent is beyond doubt. If these surviving Nascent Soul cultivators rely on their mountain gates for defense, the Buddhist cultivators will be unable to do anything to them in a short time.

He sneered with a crooked smile:
"Besides, this continent isn't just us and the Central Continent. There are True Lords in the Southern Continent and the far north. Even if we're going to fight, we can't be the only ones sending people."

He didn't mention Xizhou at all, because his impression of Xizhou was still before the True Demon Tribulation broke out, when there were no Nascent Soul cultivators in the Xizhou cultivation world.

He harbored some reservations about True Monarch Red Moon. The Han Hai Sect, to which Red Moon belonged, had close ties with many forces in the Central Continent. In his view, Red Moon's constant advocacy for helping the Central Continent fight against the Buddhist cultivators must have been a covert way of receiving many benefits.

"That's right, the responsibility is everyone's, and we should all share it."

"When the sects of the Nascent Soul cultivators in the Central Continent are besieged by Buddhist cultivators, that will be a true sign of crisis."

A significant number of True Lords echoed this sentiment, showing no concern as long as they weren't the ones being attacked.

A quarrel broke out in the main hall, with most of the True Lords believing that they should not participate in the battle unless the benefits were sufficient.

Red Moon True Lord slapped his forehead helplessly and said earnestly:

"Everyone, the East Sea is attacked by sea beasts every few hundred years. At that time, a large number of cultivators from the Central Continent will come to help fight."

If a once-in-a-millennium beast tide were to occur, Nascent Soul True Monarchs would come to the aid of the enemy.

Dao Yuan Zhenjun waved his hands repeatedly and said solemnly:

"Don't say that. We all know that many cultivators from major sects come here with the intention of honing their skills, or to hunt sea beasts in exchange for cultivation resources."

The human race is prosperous in the Central Continent, but the downside is that there are no decent demon beast forces to occupy the land. Cultivators can usually hunt low-level demon beasts in the deep mountains, but it is quite difficult to find demon beasts at the Golden Core level, let alone see a fully transformed great demon beast.

In his view, the so-called help from the cultivators of the Central Continent was not entirely genuine; the main reason was the lure of personal gain, with the help being merely a side benefit. The cultivation world of the East Sea also provided a reward, preventing sea beasts from attacking the coastal areas of the Central Continent.

They discussed the matter until noon but failed to reach a solution, and in the end, everyone parted on bad terms.

After everyone left, True Monarch Red Moon slammed his fist on the table:
"A bunch of idiots, only seeing what's in front of them."

"Bang!" The table made of thousand-year-old huanghuali wood broke in response.

Qingping Zhenjun sighed softly, "Senior brother, please calm down. Most cultivators make this choice when there is no direct benefit to them, because they are not the ones who suffer the direct loss."

"It will be too late when we suffer direct losses!"

True Monarch Red Moon gritted his teeth and said, "The struggle for the Dao has no right or wrong, only life and death. These people are still calculating gains and losses, but they don't know that if they lose the struggle for the Dao, the Dao lineage will be wiped out."

Perhaps they are not unaware, but they think that step is still far away, and that if the sky falls, there will be tall people to hold it up, so they feel that they don't need to worry about it.

After Qingping Zhenjun and the other senior brothers calmed down slightly, they asked:
"What should we do next? They won't be joining the war anytime soon."

In truth, she did not agree with joining the war now. If the Central Continent was sincere, it should fight the Buddhist cultivators for several years to wear them down, and then the Eastern Sea cultivation world could join the war while the stalemate was still ongoing.

Hongyue sighed dejectedly, "There's no other way but to send the message out to inform the fellow Daoists in Zhongzhou."

He tried his best to promote cooperation between the two regions, but other sects did not respond, leaving him helpless.

Qingping Zhenjun slightly bent her long neck and nodded, saying:
"I'll deliver the message tomorrow."

"I'll go in person. There are some things that need to be explained. If we can save face for our sect now, it will benefit us in the future."

Master Hongyue was not comfortable letting his junior sister take the risk. She was only a Nascent Soul Level 3 cultivator and not skilled in flying, while he was a Nascent Soul Level 7 cultivator and had a fast enough flying speed, so his safety was more guaranteed.

Two months later.

Shenmu Sect, Azure Dragon Peak.

The main hall was bustling with people, and the True Lords whispered among themselves, wondering why the Divine Wood Sect had invited them here so urgently.

Azure Dragon True Monarch has a thin face and clear, deep eyes. He is the Great Elder of the Divine Wood Sect and a cultivator at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage.

It is said that his cultivation is becoming increasingly perfect, and he is usually elusive, appearing only briefly in the heavens. It is rumored that his nascent soul spends most of his time capturing meteorites in the outer heavens in order to accumulate merit.

In the cultivation world of the Eastern Continent, only one or two cultivators succeed in breaking through to the Three Flowers Realm every ten thousand years. True Monarch Canglong is a top-tier cultivator who has the potential to take that step.

He stood up and coughed lightly, which sounded like spring thunder. The rising wood element spiritual energy filled the hall, and everyone felt as if they were in the spring breeze of March, feeling warm all over.

"I, Canglong, thank you all for coming. We learned of a major event from Fellow Daoist Hongyue of the Hanhai Sect, so we urgently summoned everyone."

Now, please welcome Fellow Daoist Red Moon to share the latest information we have obtained.

Red Moon True Monarch bowed respectfully, recounted the discovery of the Shixiu Treasure Ship in its entirety, stated the East Sea Sect's stance, and after answering everyone's questions, asked:

"Do I need to avoid it?"

He doesn't need to make any further statements; this is an internal matter for Zhongzhou.

“Fellow Daoist Red Moon has brought us important intelligence; she is one of our own, so there’s no need for us to avoid her!”

Azure Dragon True Monarch looked at the other cultivators, his gaze sharpening:
"Time was originally on our side, and the overall strength of the Central Continent should have surpassed that of Shi Xiu."

But if reinforcements continue to arrive from the Western Continent, our situation will only worsen.

Fellow Daoists, we can no longer delay; the war against the Buddhist cultivators must begin as soon as possible.

After the True Demon Tribulation ended, the main focus of each sect was on restoring order within their sphere of influence.

The few remaining Nascent Soul cultivators on the shores of the East Sea fell during the great calamity, allowing the Buddhist cultivators to quickly occupy the area and suppress the news.

By the time it was discovered that the Buddhist monks had built temples, a massive magic array had already been formed.

The forces in Central Continent have only two choices: either launch a direct attack on the magic array or proceed cautiously.

After the great calamity, everything was in ruins and needed to be rebuilt. The surviving sects had also suffered considerable losses, so no one was willing to start the next round of attacks.

It now seems that if we don't fight, we'll have to face more and more Shamans.

The atmosphere in the main hall was somewhat somber. The various sects had been recuperating for two hundred years, and the number of low-level disciples was almost the same as before the outbreak of the True Demon Tribulation, but there was still a significant gap in the number of Golden Core cultivators and Nascent Soul cultivators.

The cultivator from the Taixu Sect was Zhenyue Zhenjun. He glanced around discreetly and said in a deep voice:
"Senior Canglong is right. The battle with the Buddhist cultivators cannot be delayed any longer. We must launch the battle before the next batch of Buddhist cultivators arrives."

He and Huayin Zhenjun were the hope of the Taixu Sect. A large amount of resources in the sect were poured into them. A few years ago, they both broke through to the late stage of the Nascent Soul stage, and they were at the height of their careers.

The representative of the Cloud Sea Merchant Alliance was True Lord Pingtian, who said in a deep voice:
"If war breaks out, we must be determined to fight to the end. I think we need to prepare for a few more years, come up with a feasible plan, and store enough strategic materials."

Once the war begins, we must maintain continuous suppression of the enemy and not give the Buddhist monks any chance to regroup.

The Buddhist monks' strategy was clear: to form a tortoise-like formation using various temples as nodes, and then wear down their own forces.

If the battle begins, a bloodbath mode must be adopted, and nodes must be captured one by one in one fell swoop.

"If war breaks out, how will the deployment of troops by each side be allocated?"

"If the enemy remains holed up and doesn't come out, the siege will consume a lot of resources. How should the various sects allocate their resources?"

Everyone spoke up, especially those from the weaker sects.

Everyone understood that a battle between Taoism and Buddhism was inevitable; the only difference was when.

The weaker sects are more afraid of a protracted war because they cannot afford to lose.

Red Moon True Lord sighed inwardly. Although the war was related to the interests of the various sects in Zhongzhou, the fact that the war mobilization had entered the substantive discussion stage in such a short time was beyond his expectations.

When the beast tide breaks out in the East Sea and battle mobilization begins, all sects will first play the victim, and only those sects that have already been attacked will be particularly enthusiastic.

Looking at how the cultivation world in the Central Continent responded, he was filled with emotion; this was the atmosphere he preferred.

'Many Nascent Soul sects in Central Continent perished during the True Demon Calamity. Should we find a location here and relocate our sects back to the mainland?'

(End of this chapter)