Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 164 Nine Bends of Loess
The banquet lasted from noon until sunset. Du Huaiyuan was drunk and drank five jars of spirit wine, as if he wanted to drink back what he owed for the year.

He stood up shakily and said slowly in a drawn-out voice:
"It's getting late. I had a great time today. I'll come back and treat you another day."

Ji An smiled and said:
"Brother, you are a little drunk. Please stay at Scarlet Flame Peak tonight."

The other party's speech was already slurred, and at this moment he should practice his skills to refine the spiritual wine in order to recover.

However, considering the other party's love for alcohol, this is absolutely not allowed. He believes that drinking is just for the sake of getting drunk, and rarely practices the skills to refine the art.

He winked at Xia Yuhan, who immediately stepped forward to support him.

"How am I drunk? This is called tipsy! Drinking to this state is just right."

Du Huaiyuan broke free from the maid's hand, took out the flying boat and shouted:

“Don’t help me, I’m not drunk.

Junior brother, we'll meet again later."

Ji An grinned, thinking to himself how could he say something like "You are drunk" to a drunk.

He stepped forward, held the other's arm, and said:
"Brother, you have to pay attention to the surrounding situation when you are controlling the shuttle in your current state. You have lost some of your free and easy spirit. I will let Feihu help you control it."

When they drank in the past, the other party would drink two jars at most, but today he drank too much and he was worried.

If something happens and the shuttle falls from the sky, I don’t know how badly it will get hurt.

"What Junior Brother said makes sense."

Du Huaiyuan chuckled and said, the three words "immortal in wine" hit a sore spot for him.

Ji An handed over his shuttle and said:

"Feihu, be careful on the road. Send your Uncle Du to the cave before leaving. Don't be stingy with the spirit stones."

"Uncle Master, you can trust me to do the job."

Huang Feihu took the shuttle with a smile, activated it, and used the object control technique to grab it and put it in, saying:

"Uncle Du, please sit down."

The two of them boarded the flying boat, spun around in the air, and then sailed away.

……

Ji An only drank two jars of wine, which did not affect his movements at all.

He leaped to the edge of the cold pond and performed the Thick Earth Returning to Origin Mantra and the Green Wood Transformation Mantra in turn.

Cultivating more top-quality emerald leaf mulberry trees as quickly as possible would not only increase one's influence in the sect, but also help one win the bet, killing two birds with one stone.

The land lit up with a warm light yellow, and the sky was dotted with emerald green spots of light, as brilliant as the Milky Way and brighter than the afterglow of the setting sun.

Several top-quality emerald-leaf mulberry trees showed super strong attraction, and more wood-element spiritual light gathered towards them, so that the plants around them could only obtain scarce spiritual light.

Before long, the plants will become noticeably shorter.

Ji An narrowed his eyes slightly, thinking that the same is true for cultivation. More resources are gathered around stronger cultivators, and the way of man is to take from the insufficient and to give to the abundant.

Because the Thick Earth Return to Origin Spell covers a larger area, it takes less time to cast the spell in the spiritual field.

Not long after, Sang Tian had finished casting the spell. Ji An came to the red cloud pine forest and saw a large group of fire crystal ants moving around near the second-level spiritual pines, including many ants at the second and third levels of Qi Refining.

The population of fire crystal ants has expanded a lot, currently numbering more than 50,000, and the queen ant has grown to the eighth level of Qi Refining.

Most of the high-grade pine honey collected by the ant colony in the past two years was left to the queen ant.

Ji An is ready to devote all his efforts to supporting the queen ant to break through the foundation-building stage. By then, the number of second-level red cloud pines should be able to increase further.

……

Ten days later.

Wei Songnian controlled the flying boat to slowly land and said:
"The trade fair is being held at Senior Brother Gao Qinggang's cave residence. He just broke through to the late Foundation Establishment stage half a year ago. I wonder if he can release late Foundation Establishment elixirs at this trade fair."

His heart was full of anticipation. A transaction was not just a sale, but also a communication.

If he could get the elixir for the late stage of foundation building, he could use it as a springboard to reach higher-level circles.

Ji An jumped off the flying boat and said with a smile:
"You have a wide network of contacts now. You even know alchemists in the late foundation building stage."

The other party only stayed in the sect for two months out of the year, but his network of contacts was much wider than his.

He only met some alchemists through selling spiritual charcoal, and most of them were just casual acquaintances.

Wei Songnian bared his teeth, smiled mysteriously, and said:

"I established this friendship by helping Senior Brother Gao deal with some low-quality pills."

Every time an alchemist refines a batch of pills, it is inevitable that there will be some inferior pills with insufficient medicinal properties and high toxicity, as well as some completely unusable waste pills.

Alchemists will not sell inferior pills in the sect, so they can sell them in packages to merchants to recover some costs and increase profits.

The two of them stepped into the cave, where there were already more than twenty cultivators sitting in groups of three or four. More than half of them were in the middle stage of foundation building, and there were also several cultivators in the late stage of foundation building, which showed the considerable appeal of the organizer of the trade fair.

Ji An didn't know anyone, but Wei Songnian could chat with most of the cultivators, and it was obvious that they had some friendship.

"Okay, everyone who's willing to come should be here, let's get started."

A cultivator with an elegant face walked onto the stage, emitting the spiritual pressure of a late foundation-building cultivator. It was none other than Gao Qinggang, the owner of the cave.

He took out a few jade bottles and said with a smile:

"I currently have three kinds of elixirs in my hand: twelve each of the Flaming Sun Pill and Red Lotus Pill used by cultivators in the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, and three Fire Dragon Refining Heart Pills used by cultivators in the late stage of Foundation Establishment.

As per the old rules, spiritual herbs over three hundred years old are best exchanged for, with fire-type spiritual herbs being the best. Ji An nodded slightly. Spiritual herbs over three hundred years old have always been the main ingredients in late-stage foundation-building elixirs.

The Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill contains a rich divine power of the Fire Element Law, and is of great value to some cultivators.

"It's no wonder I rushed back from Mingfeng Mountain to attend Junior Brother Gao's trade fair. Let me ask you, was the Fire Dragon Refining Heart Pill made by Junior Brother Gao?"

A sturdy monk with a faintly red beard stood up and spoke in a sonorous and powerful voice.

Gao Qinggang bowed and said:

"So it's you, Senior Brother Li. Thank you for your support. These pills were made by me."

Everyone was talking about it. The Fire Dragon Heart Refining Pill could accelerate the cultivator's comprehension of the divine will of the Fire Element Technique. Its difficulty in refining was one of the most difficult elixirs in the late stage of foundation building.

The other party can refine it now, and it is very likely that he will be able to refine pills for Chaoyuan period cultivators to take in the future.

Wei Songnian transmitted the message:

"Brother Ji, the one with the red beard is Brother Li Yuangong, only eighty-seven years old, at the eighth level of Foundation Establishment, and works in the Law Enforcement Hall.

He is one of the sect's most influential late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators, and many of his senior brothers believe he will definitely be able to break through to the Chao Yuan Stage."

He sighed inwardly. Since he did not have a three-hundred-year-old elixir, he was not qualified to exchange it for a high-level elixir.

Li Yuangong laughed loudly, and the sound made everyone's eardrums buzz:
"I happen to have a few dragon blood fruits that are about 350 years old. They are the main ingredient of the Fire Dragon Refining Heart Pill. I can exchange them with Senior Brother Gao, but I have a request."

He didn't say anything, but communicated with Gao Qinggang through telepathy.

After the two men discussed for a while, Li Yuangong handed over a wooden box and the two parties signed a legal agreement.

After they completed the transaction, a cultivator at the sixth level of foundation building came on stage, took out a fist-sized bright yellow gem and said:

“This is the Exploding Flame Pearl, a first-grade, top-grade magical weapon that has been with me for many years.

Injecting mana can unleash an attack comparable to a perfect-level explosive fireball, which can explode three times in a row, after which mana needs to be re-input to recharge.

The charging speed is very fast, only half a breath is needed.

I want to exchange it for a Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill. I wonder which senior brother is willing to exchange it?"

Everyone fell silent upon hearing this, and in the end no one responded. The monk sighed softly, shook his head, and walked off the stage.

As the name suggests, the Purple Heart Barrier Breaking Pill is a pill that increases the chance of breakthrough, improving the chances of a cultivator breaking through to the late stage of foundation building, and can save the cultivator many years of effort in honing his magic power.

The elixirs for breaking through realms have always been the most expensive, so it is normal that no one is willing to exchange them.

Ji An was not very interested in this kind of elixir. His magic power had been honed to a very pure level at Chiyan Peak, so he probably wouldn't need this kind of elixir.

After more than a dozen people had passed, Li Yuangong stepped onto the stage and said in a deep voice:
"Process three beast skins and monster blood from late Foundation Establishment cultivators in exchange for elixirs and second-order low-grade fire-type spiritual objects for late Foundation Establishment cultivators."

Just as Ji An was about to open his mouth, a short, thin, elderly monk at the table next to him stood up and shouted:
"I have a dozen Fiery Crystals. Let's see how many hides I can get in exchange."

Ji An grinned. The other party was only at the fifth level of foundation building and looked very old. He must be a talisman maker.

It's a pity that I am in my forties and in the prime of my life, but I am not as quick-witted as the other person.

The old cultivator took out enough Flame Crystals to exchange for all the animal skins, and walked back to his seat happily, his beard fluttering.

People came on stage one after another, and Wei Songnian exchanged some mid-stage foundation-building pills and a top-grade defensive magic weapon.

Without anything that interested Ji An, he gained nothing.

Seeing that no one else came up to the stage, he walked up and said:

“I’m in Ji’an, practicing at Scarlet Flame Peak.

I want to exchange for the second-grade low-grade Xuanhuang soil and the second-grade medium-grade Jiuqu yellow soil. I can trade them with the second-grade low-grade Lieyan crystal and Chiyan iron.

I also have second-grade, low-grade Red Cloud Pine Nuts, first-grade, top-grade Jade Leaf Mulberry and Copper Pattern Mulberry Leaves, first-grade, top-grade Spiritual Charcoal, and Earth Spirit Fruit. I wonder if any of my brothers would be willing to exchange them for some?"

He listed a long list of item names and listened to the other monks whispering to each other.

Li Yuangong stood up and said:

"I have some Nine-bend Yellow Earth in my hand. How much do you want?"

Ji An was overjoyed and said,

"Half a pound will do."

"I want to exchange it for twenty kilograms of Red Flame Iron, and the remaining difference can be made up with two thousand kilograms of second-grade low-grade pine nuts. Are you willing?"

Ji An looked at Wei Songnian. He was not very clear about the usual prices of these things.

Wei Songnian nodded slightly and said:
"It's fair."

Ji An bowed and said:
"Brother, I have enough red flame iron, but I can only give you 800 kilograms of pine nuts at the moment. I need to wait a few months for the pine nuts to mature before I can give them to you.

I can give you 2,400 kilograms of pine nuts over three years. Do you think that's feasible?"

Ji An said, testing whether the other party would agree to his "installment" application.

Li Yuangong raised his eyebrows and said with a smile:

"Second-level Red Cloud Pine was actually planted by Junior Brother?"

He looked carefully at the monk opposite him and had no impression of him at all.

Ji An heard that there was a way, and kept a reserved smile:
"exactly."

(End of this chapter)