Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 916 Adding More Lightning-Struck Wood

Two years later, just as Ji An had predicted, he completed two rounds of transformations of the Spirit-Severing Land, obtaining a large amount of Xuanhuang Merit Qi, while also not neglecting his cultivation.

The central area has become his stronghold, and the spirit field has now been cultivated to the highest grade of the first tier.

Although there is still no spiritual vein and it is still water without a source, Yue Ling'er and her beast tamers are much more comfortable when they are outside.

With just over a month left before his departure for Zhongzhou, he did not linger here but instead flew back to his sect on a cloud.

The journey of over 80,000 li was completed in half a day.

He already possesses the ability to travel to the North Sea in the morning and to Cangwu in the evening. He hasn't tried catching turtles in the five oceans, but he assumes it shouldn't be a problem.

Now, he only has the achievement of reaching the moon in the heavens left to be accomplished. If he can break through to the Three Flowers Realm, he can naturally travel through the starry sky.

As the evening glow faded, Ji An rode a cloud to the summit of Chaoyang Peak and landed in front of the Wuji Palace.

The golden characters on the plaque above the main hall reflected a blood-red glow, radiating a scarlet aura.

Several young Taoist boys stood on either side of the temple entrance. Ding Yi stepped forward, his face beaming with smiles.
"Disciple greets Grandmaster. Master is in the hall. Please come in."

Ji An smiled and nodded, then stepped into the main hall.

The incense burner in the hall emits wisps of smoke, its delicate fragrance lingering in the air.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, the master and disciple sat down, and Ji An began to speak:

"The day to depart for Zhongzhou is fast approaching. In a few days, True Monarch Xuanfeng from the far north will come to the sect to find me, and then we will set off together."

The methods of Buddhist monks are unpredictable; that enemy who has mastered the power of supernatural speed is a significant hidden danger. We must not let our guard down.

During the attack on the Buddhist formation in Zhongzhou, he rarely saw the Pure Moon Monk King, who had comprehended the power of divine speed.

Lin Lan sat up straight and said solemnly:

"Master, rest assured, our monitoring range extends for hundreds of miles outward from the sect's actual control area. Any changes that do not conform to common sense will be alerted."

Her master had repeatedly given her instructions, and she herself took it very seriously, daring not to be careless.

How could she not take an enemy at the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage seriously, whose flight speed surpassed that of her master's earth-shattering golden light?

Sensing his disciple's attitude, Ji An nodded inwardly and asked casually:
"How has the sect's situation been these past two years? Have the various halls made significant progress?"

Although the sect can't provide him with much help right now, having so many disciples might allow them to discover some rare and wonderful things.

He received two Soul-Nourishing Woods and a Gathering Yuan Tree from Wei Songnian, a Phoenix Wood from Li Haoran, and a Fusang Tree from Lin Lan.

All things considered, only his Seven Luminaries Golden Finger was obtained entirely through his own luck; it was a spoil of war.

Lin Lan raised her chin slightly, her tone carrying a barely perceptible hint of pride:
"The sect is now developing steadily and is thriving."

Our spiritual vein has reached the fourth rank. With the joint efforts of the Ministry of Agriculture and the Five Sacred Mountains True Lords, the spiritual vein's rank has begun to transform from a foundation into tangible benefits.

In the last three years alone, the sect has added 240 third-grade spirit trees, and another 16 spirit trees have been upgraded from low-grade to mid-grade. Junior Brother Han Shan has even cultivated a third-grade high-grade earth spirit fruit tree.

Four disciples of the Ministry of Agriculture have successively reached the fifth stage of the Chaoyuan realm and are currently traveling outside to comprehend the mutual generation of the five elements.

The Dan Ding Academy improved several Golden Core stage pill formulas, which saved a small amount of medicinal materials, and over time, this resulted in a considerable income.

The Refining Hall and the Formation Hall have both produced disciples who are capable of great things. The Beast Taming Hall has the potential to cultivate a new Golden Core stage demon beast, an earth dragon beast with a bloodline grade of Heaven.

Furthermore, the four spirit deer, each representing a different element, are currently breaking through to the Origin Stage. Several years from now, the sect will have at least one group of 'spiritual farmers' at the late Golden Core stage.

Since Master took over, the Department of Agriculture has grown and developed, and is now the undisputed cornerstone of the sect, propelling the sect forward at an even faster pace.

Those spirit deer are all offspring of the Five Sacred Mountains True Lords, and they have been carefully selected, with their bloodline grade being at least Earth grade. Among them, spirit deer with Earth and Water bloodlines are Heaven grade.

Once they grow up, these spirit deer will become the cornerstone of the Ministry of Agriculture, raising the sect's minimum standards.

She paused for a moment, then continued:

"Not only the Department of Agriculture, but other departments have also produced talented disciples who have reached the fifth level of the Chaoyuan stage."

The disciple estimates that within the next thirty years, disciples will gradually begin to break through to the Golden Core stage.

Master, if you weren't in the sect at that time, should we postpone them obtaining their Golden Core until your return?

She didn't know what her master could learn from the tribulation lightning, but she knew that her master would definitely benefit from it.

"of course yes."

In recent years, Ji An's Daoist energy has not increased, and he needs a large amount of Daoist energy for unforeseen circumstances.

"I understand, and will make the necessary arrangements."

Ji An pondered for a moment, then said:

“If I clearly tell you that I will be leaving for a long time, there is no need to interfere with these disciples’ breakthroughs.”

Once his cultivation reaches the peak of the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage, he will travel far and wide, not to seek opportunities, but simply to experience the magnificent landscapes and spiritual wonders of this world.

Lin Lan was taken aback. "Master has plans to travel far away?"

“Yes,” Ji An briefly explained his plan, then added:

"Don't stop collecting all kinds of spiritual seeds, and keep all the rare things that you can't identify."

I will leave some of the major achievements as a reward, which will be appraised by the Treasure Pavilion.

"The collection of spirit seeds shouldn't be limited to within the sect. I request that you mobilize all cultivators throughout the Western Continent to do so, or you can entrust the collection to forces that have dealings with the sect."

Obtaining rare spirit seeds requires luck, but casting a wide net will eventually bring good fortune.

Lin Lan smiled radiantly and said in a deep voice:
"This disciple has already done so, and that's how Qingyu Mai was discovered."

She would do her utmost to handle anything her master cared about, because she understood very well that her master was the greatest support behind her control of power.

However, upon hearing that her master was planning a long journey, she decided to spend more time with Junior Brother Han and, within the rules, allocate resources to him to help him break through to the ninth level of the Golden Core realm as soon as possible.

As for whether this junior brother can break through to the Nascent Soul stage, that depends on whether he has a connection with the Dao Ancestor.

"Haha, not bad, I trust you to get things done. What has been your strategy for the Southern Continent these past two years?"

This disciple lives a somewhat extravagant life and isn't diligent enough in improving his cultivation, but in other aspects, Ji An is quite satisfied. "The Shadowless Sect is a force of ghost cultivators; I wonder what methods they used to preserve their sect's heritage."

According to sources, the new leader of the Shadowless Sect possesses Nascent Soul level power. Furthermore, since the places where the ghost cultivators reside are not suitable for cultivators to stay for long, the disciples chose not to intervene.

The environment of the Earthly Fiends Sect is relatively normal, and their lineage can almost be said to have been severed.

It is said that only two people in the early stage of the Golden Core realm survived the siege at the mountain gate, but these two have not appeared in people's sight in recent years. It is unknown whether this is a rumor or a deliberate act of hiding.

"Now, the spiritual veins of the Earthly Fiend Sect have been divided up by various Golden Core forces, who have even built a celestial city around it. Our sect receives 20% of the profits."

Lin Lan was not satisfied with the 20% return, but since several Nascent Soul True Monarchs had little interest in going out to sit, she could only send her Golden Core stage fellow disciples to stay there.

Although the sect is powerful, its deterrent effect cannot be transmitted much due to the great distance. It seems that the various forces in the Southern Continent have secretly joined forces to suppress it, so they can only reluctantly take 20% of the profits.

Nevertheless, last year they also seized more than 80,000 high-grade spirit stones, a large amount of third-tier resources, and a small number of fourth-tier spirit items from the Southern Continent.

The sect's spiritual veins are of the fourth rank, and there is no shortage of high-grade spirit stones, but resources of the third rank and above are always the hard currency.

Sensing his disciple's thoughts, Ji An smiled and said:

"The sect's focus is on the Western Continent, so never think about monopolizing the interests of other continents, otherwise it will only make others covet it."

Even with overwhelming power, we still need to find weaker allies to help us.

He stared intently at his disciple's face and said earnestly:
"The attack on Central Continent by the Buddhist monks may not be a bad thing for us. If the forces in Central Continent do not face external threats, they may not want to see us grow stronger."

The main way for late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators to gain merit is to fly to the third layer of Gangyun with their Nascent Soul body, capture spiritual objects within the 'Law Net' and return. Capturing extraterrestrial meteorites is the most profitable method.

The Nascent Soul's flight speed was even faster than the golden light it released, reaching a higher dimension. Although the Outer Heaven was vast, there weren't many areas suitable for 'hunting' because the physical body's position limited the Nascent Soul's abilities.

The appearance of each additional late-stage Nascent Soul cultivator will inevitably affect the gains of other cultivators.

The various sects in the Central Continent check and balance each other, and openly or covertly suppress Nascent Soul cultivators from other continents.

According to True Monarch Xuanfeng, previously, obtaining fourth-tier pills from cultivators in the Central Continent required paying an extremely high price.

The total value of the materials used to exchange for pills is often two or three times the value of the pills themselves, or even more expensive.

The Tribulation of True Demons and the conflict between Taoism and Buddhism caused great harm and trouble to the cultivation world. However, from the perspective of other continents, these two events shook the hegemonic status of the Central Continent and gave other forces a few hundred years of breathing room.

Lin Lan's expression became much more serious, and she said:

"This disciple will be wary of infiltration and suppression from other forces."

Compared to large forces that have been passed down for tens of thousands of years, sects have a clear weakness in terms of spiritual veins.

According to intelligence gathered from merchant ships traveling to various continents over the years, spiritual items capable of cultivating mid-grade fourth-order spiritual veins have not only become more expensive but also rarer.

Not only Central Continent, but other continents also do not want to see Western Continent become stronger; they only hope that Western Continent will be a neighbor that can stably provide high-quality resources.

Seeing that his disciple understood his meaning, Ji An took out his identity jade token and changed the subject:
"I won't go to the treasure pavilion. I'll leave a million merits listed on the reward list. You can pass it on to Zhang Yi for me."

"As ordered."

Lin Lan took out the spirit disk, drew away the great merit, and then said:

"Master, most of the newly planted Crimson Cloud Pine and Jade Leaf Mulberry on Crimson Flame Peak have reached the second-tier top-grade level and can be cultivated for the next round."

Lightning-struck wood has the potential to grow to the fourth rank, and its original growing environment can meet the requirements, which is equivalent to having an additional channel to cultivate high-rank spirit wood.

When her master mentioned the idea of ​​traveling far away, she had to make preparations as soon as possible and allocate resources to cultivate a fellow disciple who was proficient in Yi Wood Divine Thunder, so that her master's method would not become a thing of the past.

"When I get back later, I will cast a spell on the spirit fields of the entire Crimson Flame Peak and take care of things in the process."

"Master, can the sect designate the next batch of spiritual plants?"

The disciple thought it necessary to begin cultivating other types of lightning-struck wood; the Dark Moon Jade Tree, Cloud Peak Jade Tree, and Azure Ivy Tree all needed to be of fourth-tier quality.

Lin Lan said earnestly, "If Master goes on a long journey and we don't know when he will return, a huge problem will be exposed. The sect is very dependent on the small world controlled by Master, and many fourth-order resources are provided by the small world."

Ji An nodded in agreement, "Sure, just send your disciples to plant whatever spiritual plants you need, and then let me know."

There's one more thing. I'll be taking Qinglu with me when I leave this time. Tell Qinglu to return to Crimson Flame Peak.

Even if the disciples don't bring it up, he will in a few years. Now the sect needs to do one thing well, which is to maintain healthy development without his influence.

This time he will take Qinglu with him, and if he goes on a journey, he will take the Five Sacred Mountains True Lords with him as well.

Lin Lan felt instantly relieved and said:
“No problem, I will instruct Junior Brother Han Shan to personally oversee these two matters.”

The teleportation array flashed, and the next moment Ji An appeared. He walked out of the stone house and looked around at the land where he had lived for hundreds of years.

Crimson Flame Peak stands silently, letting the serene moonlight shine down, its dark red rocks gleaming with a cold luster.

Ji An flew away on a cloud and began to cast a spell on the spiritual field. When he flew back, several spiritual treasures took turns serving as his mounts. He did not consume much magic power, which was more than enough to cast a spell on the spiritual field once.

The dragon roared, thunder and rain poured down, and various lights illuminated the night sky, creating a beautiful scene.

Ji An narrowed the casting range to avoid causing a huge commotion, and performed a thunderous baptism on the second-tier top-grade spiritual plant.

More than an hour later, he arrived at the underground cave.

This time, all the spiritual plants that received the baptism of the divine lightning of Yi Wood were wiped out and turned to ashes without the protection of the Dao Ancestor. In fact, this is the norm. The gourd world can carry out a baptism every six months, and the number of lightning-struck wood obtained this time is no more than a hundred.

The bottom of the cave is divided into two areas. The inner area is planted with Soul-Nourishing Wood, while the outer area is planted with more than twenty Earth Spirit Fruit Trees. The highest level of the spirit trees is only Grade 3.

Ji An noticed that some spirit trees in the outer area were not bearing fruit, so he used a magic hand seal to release the Wood Divine Lightning towards those mid-grade third-tier spirit trees.

As the sect cultivates more Tier 3 spirit trees, the importance of these Tier 3 mid-grade spirit fruits has decreased significantly, and their future role will be limited.

If we take a chance and manage to cultivate the lightning-struck wood, it can provide cultivation resources for Nascent Soul cultivators in the future.

He controlled the intensity and range of the lightning; with each flash of cyan lightning, a spirit tree turned to ashes.

The light on the rock face flickered for the eighth time, and the dark spirit wood, retaining its main trunk, stood stubbornly upright.

Ji An extended his divine sense and, after sensing the burgeoning vitality dormant within the spirit tree, laughed heartily and cast the Thick Virtue Spirit Evolution Spell.

(End of this chapter)