Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 884 Fourth-Rank High-Grade Plain-Colored Cloud Banner

Li Haoran was full of confidence. He had comprehended the Sword Heart Clarity in the late stage of Foundation Establishment. After hundreds of years of honing his skills, his Sword Heart was as clear as an autumn pool, and no disturbance could escape his notice.

Many Buddhist cultivators are skilled at using methods to bewitch minds, but these methods are ineffective against sword cultivators, whose sword hearts cannot be deceived.

Ji An nodded and smiled, "Then I'm relieved."

He turned to look at the Five Sacred Mountains True Lords and Qin Yan, and said:

"If the situation becomes urgent, both of you will have to join the battle. At that time, I will provide you with intelligence so that you will not encounter enemies at the late Nascent Soul stage."

Since your opponents are not Nascent Soul stage enemies, killing low-level Shamans is also a good option.

I will stay in the sect for a while to see how strong the enemy's offensive will be, and try my best to find an opportunity to kill the Nascent Soul level cultivators.

If the enemy's strength is within the range that the protective mountain array can withstand, I plan to choose a suitable time to quietly leave the sect and head to the Southern Continent to strike at the Buddhist cultivators left behind there.

He had some understanding of the practices of the Buddhist monks and knew that their purpose in conquering continents was to acquire more people and thus gain more spiritual power.

The power of vows is as important to Buddhist practitioners as spiritual energy is to immortal cultivators.

If we can wipe out all the Buddhist cultivators left behind in the Southern Continent, we will thwart the enemy's strategic intentions. This would be even more meaningful for the entire cultivation world, and the sects would also benefit from it.

Killing a Nascent Soul cultivator at the late stage is not easy, but killing enemies at the early or mid stage is much easier; such battles are almost like crushing noobs.

Even if the enemy retreats, he can still kill enemies below the Nascent Soul level; any living force is his target.

Lin Lan guessed her master's intentions, her eyes curving like the moon:

"In this way, most of the Buddhist cultivators' efforts in the Southern Continent have been in vain. Master is truly brilliant!"

She was genuinely flattering him. She had close communication with Zhang Zeye, who assured her that the Life and Death Illusion Dust Array was sufficient to withstand a large number of enemies' attacks over a long period of time.

Such an attack would damage the spiritual veins, but given the current situation, the necessary sacrifice is worthwhile.

After discussing for a while, everyone left to return to their caves to recuperate and await the arrival of war.

Ji An returned to his cave at Crimson Flame Peak and entered the small world.

He retrieved the charred limbs from the chaotic Five Elements Lightning, pieced them together to form most of a human body, and sighed:
"Pity."

Having been bombarded by lightning, much of the spiritual matter contained in the body was lost, and a large portion of it lost its vitality.

He activated the Azure Lotus Heart-Burning Flame to begin refining the corpse, and in the end, the ashes he obtained were only one-fifth the size of those of a normal cultivator.

At this moment, Ayun had already lit the Bodhi Auspicious Incense and brewed a pot of Yunding Silver Needle Tea.

Ji An sat quietly at the table, drinking tea and occasionally refining spiritual tea to speed up the recovery of his divine sense. When his depleted divine sense had been almost fully recovered, he sat cross-legged under the Gathering Yuan Tree and activated the Five Elements Revolving Scripture.

Three hours later, Ji An's magical power had basically recovered. He ended his cultivation and took out the two Sumeru bags that he had received from Shi Xiu a few days ago.

He made hand seals, and the metal element spiritual energy surged like a mighty river, continuously attacking a certain point on the Sumeru bag.

The two Sumeru bags did not last long under his powerful attack, and were violently pierced, releasing the supplies inside.

The main ingredient stored inside was Bodhi incense, totaling more than eighty sticks, each about the thickness of a little finger, enough to meet his needs for about a year.

Among the spoils were a few fourth-tier spiritual items, but they held little appeal for him. He sorted the supplies and put them away neatly before lying down on the wicker chair and falling into a deep sleep.

The next evening, Ji An absorbed the essence of the setting sun atop Crimson Flame Peak. As the sun dipped below the distant mountains, he flew back to his cave on a cloud.

Han Shan stepped forward, cupped his hands in greeting, and said:

"Master, we have received a message from Senior Sister that a large number of Buddhist cultivators have been discovered stationed three hundred miles southwest of the mountain gate."

According to information relayed by the flying golems, the enemy arrived at their current encampment an hour ago.

With war looming, he was filled with trepidation. He was not a cultivator who enjoyed fighting and brawling; he preferred to stay in his cave and cultivate spiritual trees and herbs.

Seeing the spiritual plant grow day by day filled him with a sense of accomplishment.

Ji An nodded in satisfaction and said:
"Understood. Inform me immediately when the protective mountain formation is besieged by the Buddhist cultivators."

"As ordered."

Ji An thought for a moment, then gave the following instructions:

"Please make a trip to Red Copper Mountain for your master and invite True Lord Qin to come tomorrow at Chenshi (7-9 AM)."

"Alright, I'll go now."

The next day at dawn, the two True Lords sat facing each other in the cave.

Ji An took out the Buddhist treasure he had obtained from Shi Xiu and said:
"These things are useless to me anyway, so please help me disassemble and melt them down."

These Buddhist treasures all contain interconnected magical restrictions, and since he didn't have a deep understanding of artifact crafting, he could only entrust them to a master craftsman.

Qin Yan picked up the Buddhist artifact and examined it carefully with his naked eye and divine sense for a moment, then smiled gently:

"Senior brother, leave it to me. It will only take two days to complete."

He pointed to the shattered bronze fragments and asked:

"What is this? I can't even tell what kind of metal it is." As a weapon refiner who possessed a time-related treasure, he had a very broad knowledge base and had already memorized all the knowledge about weapon refining in his sect.

The discovery of a metal he couldn't identify was a stroke of good fortune for him.

"My understanding of refining materials is far less than yours, so please don't make things difficult for me, junior brother."

All I remember is that it was a fragment of a bronze lamp, a very strange bronze lamp that emitted a spiritual light that stirred the mind.

"Junior brother, be careful when you're melting these fragments, don't make any mistakes."

Three days later, Qin Yan hurriedly arrived at Crimson Flame Peak. After being informed by Da Huang, who was guarding the cave, Ji An flew out of the small world to greet him.

"Senior brother, congratulations!"

Ji An, completely unaware of what had happened, asked with a smile:
"What's there to be happy about?"

"Haha, senior brother, please take a look."

Qin Yan took out a piece of silvery-white metal the size of a broad bean, which looked like flowing mercury and had silky golden patterns on its surface.

"Can you guess what kind of magical creature this is?"

Ji An shook his head slightly and said helplessly:

"Junior brother, please don't make things difficult for me. I really don't recognize this thing."

He hadn't seriously studied high-level refining materials because he had fellow disciples in the sect to rely on, so he wasn't proactive in learning about materials; he only needed to know the grade of the spiritual objects.

Qin Yan suppressed his excitement and said:

"This is Heavenly Feather Gold, the last spiritual item that Senior Brother needed to enhance the Plain Cloud Realm!"
Don't let its small size fool you; it's incredibly heavy, weighing a good hundred pounds for such a small piece.

Upgrading his senior brother's spiritual treasure was a good way to increase his income. He received a very generous reward and was able to pay off a large amount of the sect's debts.

Ji An's eyebrows danced with excitement, and he nodded repeatedly:
“This is indeed something to congratulate you on! Junior brother, please wait a moment while I infuse the spiritual treasure with the power of Xuanhuang merit.”

He sat upright, and the nascent soul in the Guanghan Palace activated the magic technique, forcing the Xuanhuang merit energy out of the upper dantian and transporting it to the lower dantian. Strands of Xuanhuang energy merged into the plain-colored cloud banner.

If this magic weapon is successfully upgraded to a fourth-grade high-quality item, then only the Flame Banner of the Ground will remain as a fourth-grade mid-quality spiritual treasure.

A moment later, when the plain-colored cloud banner could no longer absorb the energy of merit, it was summoned by Ji An. The white tiger embroidered on the banner was majestic and lifelike, as if it would come to life at any moment.

He handed over the magical artifact and asked:

"Is it like other magical artifacts, which can be completed in half a month?"

"Why wait half a month? Ten days is enough. I will personally deliver the spiritual treasure after it is successfully refined."

I also have some good news to tell my senior brother: I salvaged a fourth-grade high-quality Phoenix Bloodstone and a Crimson Cloud Crystal from the withered spiritual veins beneath Crimson Flame Peak. They weigh three pounds.

If I'm lucky enough to obtain another two-pound Phoenix Bloodstone, I'll have all the spiritual items needed to upgrade the Flame Banner!

"Haha, good things come in pairs. Junior brother, go ahead and do it. Once both of your spiritual treasures are upgraded to the fourth-grade high-quality, I will give you a few fourth-grade mid-quality spiritual fruits as an extra reward."

If all the spiritual treasures are upgraded to the fourth-tier high-grade, Ji An's strength will visibly increase again.

When the five spiritual treasures are of the same grade, the speed of refining spiritual energy reaches a new level.

Qin Yan was overjoyed and laughed:
"Senior brother, you'd better keep your word!"

For him, a mid-grade fourth-tier spiritual fruit was comparable to a slightly lower-quality pill; obtaining just a few would greatly accelerate the accumulation of his magical power.

He can only improve his cultivation level now by relying on the Five Qi Pill, and he has long been itching to improve his cultivation level quickly.

"Of course I do, don't worry!"

Half a month passed in the blink of an eye, and there was still no movement from those stationed outside the Golden Spirit Sect's mountain gate.

Inside the Wuji Hall, Lin Lan recounted the events of the past few days, and said with difficulty:
"Master, fellow True Lords, the mountain-protecting formation has been fully activated, but the enemy has not attacked. I wonder what kind of conspiracy they are plotting."

With the mountain-protecting formation fully activated, spiritual energy is constantly gathering. The sect has planted a large number of spiritual plants, but the spiritual energy is being intercepted by the formation, causing the spiritual energy contained in the spiritual fields to gradually decrease.

With the increasing number of high-level spiritual plants, even a situation of surrounding without attacking can cause losses to sects.

Li Haoran's lips twitched, and finally he shook his head helplessly. The enemy was not playing by the rules, and he could not have a thorough and enjoyable battle. He felt a little frustrated.

Qin Yan scratched his head and said:

"Could it be that Senior Brother Ji's attack scared the enemy, so they dared not launch an attack immediately?"

Ji An shook his head and chuckled, "How could that be! If the enemy were scared, they wouldn't be stationed near the sect at all. I think they're playing a fishing game."

"If the monks and nuns remain in this state for a few more days, I will go out and investigate."

He worried that the enemy might use an ambush tactic, after all, he had fought against Shi Xiu, who had mastered the supernatural ability of teleportation.

If the Buddhist monks with supernatural powers relentlessly entangled him, and then gathered several other powerful Buddhist monks to launch a joint attack, he was unsure if he could withstand it.

(End of this chapter)