Wanfa Daojun, starting from the Little Cloud and Rain Technique

Chapter 976 Obtaining the Pill Recipe
“The cultivation of the Three Flowers Realm is divided into two parts: one is the improvement of the cultivator’s own cultivation level, and the other is the continuous improvement and refinement of the laws of the small world.”

Centered on a small world, an inner world is constructed for cultivators, allowing them to transcend the larger world we inhabit.

Ji An drank a glass of wine, a faint joy flashing in his eyes.

With the distinct seasons and the changing of day and night, the laws of the gourd world became increasingly perfect, and his cultivation level also advanced by leaps and bounds.

In the six months following the enhancement of his spiritual veins, he did not consume any pills or spiritual fruits, yet his cultivation progressed at a rate comparable to someone who regularly consumed pills.

Now that the spiritual veins of the small world have stabilized, his cultivation progress has slowed down.

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord gazed wistfully into the distance, wondering when he would finally be able to take that breakthrough step.

The bloodline of the Five-Colored Deer gave him a very solid foundation. A few days ago, he learned from the inheritance that his ancestor had reached the perfect level of the Cave Heaven realm. This means that as long as he walks on the right path, he may also be able to break through to the Cave Heaven realm in the future.

Yue Ling'er pursed her lips and sighed:

"You only need to purify your bloodline step by step and you will have a bright future. Whether I will have a chance to break through is another matter."

Since breaking through to the ninth level of the Nascent Soul stage, her cultivation speed has dropped significantly. Judging from her current progress, it would take her over a thousand years to reach the threshold for a breakthrough.

When that time comes, we will inevitably encounter a bottleneck, and it's unknown how long it will take to overcome it.

The only good news is that her foundation is that of a corpse refiner, which gives her a long enough lifespan to not be so afraid of the passage of time.

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord comforted him, saying, "The spiritual vein's grade has been raised to the fifth level, which is a very favorable condition for you. In time, it will have a good effect on you."

Over the years, he and Yue Ling'er have developed a deep friendship.

If his future master assigns him combat missions, he will fight alongside him, so deep down he hopes that his partner will become stronger.

Ji An reached up and stroked his beard, asking:

"Five Peaks, are you confident that you can break through to the Three Flowers Realm within two hundred years?"

If I could have an extra helper when I go to the Vast Ocean Realm in the future, that would be great.

"I will give it my best!"

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord revealed a sly expression, chuckled a few times, and then spoke:

"Your Majesty, may I consume a fifth-tier spiritual fruit during my breakthrough?"

"If I can consume a fifth-tier spiritual fruit, my chances of breaking through will increase significantly."

Now he has a supply of top-grade fourth-tier spiritual fruits, especially the Lightning-Struck Wood Dragon Blood Fruit, which has unexpected benefits for his bloodline purification.

Ji An raised an eyebrow, knowing what the other person was thinking, but still made a verbal promise:

"The Azure Jade Fruit will ripen soon; I can save one for you."

Additionally, one fruit can be left behind when the Pan Yun tree bears fruit.

The Panyun Tree has not yet borne fruit after being upgraded to the fifth level, but it is likely that it will not be long before it does.

A few spiritual fruits are nothing compared to having a Three-Flower Realm helper in the future.

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord's eyes suddenly lit up. "It's a deal, Your Majesty, don't lie to me."

Ji An pursed his lips, "Of course I wouldn't lie to you, don't keep me waiting."

However, there's one condition: if you can't break through before heading to the Vast Sea Realm, none of this will count.

He had to put some pressure on the other party; although the other party hadn't been lazy over the years, they hadn't exactly been hardworking either.

After drinking a few more cups of wine, Ji An noticed that the wine jar was empty, so he waved his hand and said:

"That's all for today. You may go back now. I still have my homework to do."

The Five Sacred Mountains True Lord and Yue Ling'er both stood up, respectfully bowed, and took their leave.

The door was opened, and a cold wind mixed with snowflakes rushed in, causing the temperature in the room to drop suddenly.

Ah Yun, who was guarding the door, quickly closed it, put away the teacups and wine glasses, and prepared to take them out to wash.

Ji An sat cross-legged on the futon and gave the instructions:

"Break a pot of Enlightenment Tea, make it a bit strong."

By the way, we'll use the ashes of Ghost Mushrooms to cultivate the Enlightenment Tea Tree in the future, striving to raise the spirit wood's grade to level five as soon as possible.

Once the quality of the tea tree improves, he will be able to drink fifth-grade Enlightenment Tea.

Since his cultivation broke through to the mid-stage of the Three Flowers Realm, his previous cultivation methods were no longer sufficient, and he needed to create a new cultivation method for this stage.

For him, this is the most important thing right now.

With his previous experience in creating cultivation techniques, coupled with a deep understanding of Yin and Yang, he was able to create cultivation techniques relatively smoothly, but he felt that the progress was not fast enough.

Ayun lowered her head slightly and asked:
"Should we bury the ashes next to the Enlightenment Tea Tree now?"

"No need for that. It's winter now, and all things are dormant. Even if we bury the ashes, the spirit wood won't absorb nutrients quickly. Let's bury them again next year after the ice melts and the snow thaws."

"As ordered."

Three years later, A-Yun walked to the Gathering Yuan Tree with a tray containing several wooden boxes and a jade jar the size of a clay pot. She lowered her head and said softly:

"Your Majesty, the last Azure Jade Fruit has ripened, and all twelve are here."

Should we brew a pot of the fifth-grade low-level Enlightenment Tea that's already prepared in the jar?

Ji An examined the wooden box and put it into the Cave Void Stone, then pointed to the jar and said:

"There's no need to brew spirit tea for now. I'll pick a few leaves from the fifth-grade Xuan Ye Sword Bamboo and take them with me later as samples to show others."

Two lightning-struck wood and Xuan-leaf sword bamboo plants in the small world have broken through to the fifth rank. He wants to show them to Queyue Sanren and ask if such leaves can be used to exchange for fifth-rank high-grade materials.

The Yin-Yang spiritual light formed by the Five Banners has a defensive effect of the fifth-tier superior level, but he still needs to use the Five Banners to attack, so he still needs to refine a spiritual treasure to deal with the situation in the Vast Sea Realm.

"Please wait a moment, I'll be right back."

Ayun placed the tray on a table not far away, where several jars were placed, containing various teas, all produced in the Gourd World.

She summoned a flying shuttle to the fifth-tier sword bamboo and picked a dozen or so leaves.

The leaves were cast in gold, and tiny sparks of lightning flickered on the silvery surface.

When the blades touch each other, they make a sound like thin metal sheets rubbing together.

Ji An obtained the sword bamboo leaf and immediately left the gourd world.

The next day at dawn, Xuan Shuang Sanren, smiling radiantly, said in the cave:

"It's been many years, and you look even more radiant than before. Congratulations!" As a veteran cultivator at the Three Flowers Realm, she naturally had the means to ascertain the other party's cultivation level from within her own cave dwelling, and she was overjoyed.

In the future, they will bravely venture into the vast ocean realm; powerful allies are always welcome.

Ji An politely replied, "Congratulations!"

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Ji An took out a wooden box and said:
"These are five low-grade fifth-tier Azure Heaven Divine Jade Fruits. I have come here to complete the transaction with you as agreed."

As he spoke, he used his object manipulation technique to present the box to the other person.

Xuan Shuang Sanren's delicate eyebrows danced as she immediately caught the box, opened it, and extended her divine sense to carefully sense the vitality contained in the spiritual fruits, leaving none out.

After a while, she placed the wooden box on top of the box and said flatteringly:
“Fellow Daoist’s spiritual fruit is of excellent quality and contains a higher medicinal potency than the one I acquired a few days ago.”

Two jade bottles appeared in her hands, and she poured four pills from one bottle into the other.

Then she took out a cyan jade slip, and with a hand seal, sent the jade slip and the bottle out, saying:

"The jade slip contains the recipe for the Azure Sky Pill. I happen to have a few Azure Sky Pills, two of which are of the highest quality. Please examine them."

The pills were only the size of quail eggs, but spherical in shape, emerald green in color, and surrounded by white cinnabar patterns, making them quite beautiful.

Ji An used the jade slip and jade bottle to extend his divine sense and read the information inside.

Based on his knowledge of pharmacology, he deduced that the prescription was completely correct.

After receiving the elixir formula, he opened the jade bottle and immediately smelled the fragrant aroma of herbs and plants, as if he were strolling through a green mountain after the rain.

Take out an ordinary quality pill, scrape off a small amount of powder with a jade knife and put it in your mouth. Close your eyes and circulate your internal energy, carefully feeling the medicinal power of the pill.

The veins on the surface of the Wood God's Palace lit up with a brilliant light, and the breath of life rose up.

At this moment, Ji An was shocked. He felt that his lifespan had increased slightly.

He quickly refined the medicinal power of the powder and estimated that the efficacy of this elixir was about 20% lower than that of the Yin Yang Five Elements Pill.

"The pills are quite good, but the medicinal herbs in the recipes are very difficult to collect."

"May I ask how many pills you have left, fellow Daoist? I wish to exchange the remaining spiritual fruits for pills."

He currently has seven Azure Jade Fruits, and can use five of them for trading.

He only had two kinds of spiritual herbs used in the pill formula, and it was almost impossible to buy mature spiritual herbs from other places. As for fifth-order spiritual herbs, those spiritual farming forces all had stable partners, and it would be difficult for him to get involved in the short term.

There's nothing that can be done about it; the market has already been divided up, and if he doesn't make concessions, no one will be willing to cooperate.

His strategy was to first obtain the pill formula, then purchase the necessary spiritual seeds, and eventually refine the pills to sell and build his reputation. That way, he wouldn't need to actively seek out partners; they would come to him on their own.

'Such a good thing!'

Xuan Shuang Sanren was overjoyed and quickly said:

"The pills you've refined haven't been traded yet, but they should be enough for you to exchange. How many spirit fruits do you have left?"

"We can still produce five more spirit fruits."

Upon hearing this, Xuan Shuang Sanren immediately took out four pills and accepted the spiritual fruit from Ji An's hand:

"Welcome to continue exchanging in the future, fellow Daoist."

Exchanging finished pills for main ingredients is a very worthwhile deal for high-level alchemists.

Ji An put the tested pills into a jade bottle. "In the future, all kinds of high-grade spiritual fruits will be sent over, such as Panyun Purple Fruit, Remi Wood Fire Immortal Apricot, and Bodhi Fruit."

"Fellow Daoist is aware of my request: to exchange pill formulas. In exchange, I am willing to sign an agreement to provide a stable supply of a certain quantity of spiritual fruits."

He didn't have the pill formula, but he was willing to suffer some losses if he could obtain it, because he was confident that he could make up for today's losses in the future. The pill formula was the key to producing the golden elixir.

The gourd world has reached the fifth level, and its total area has doubled. There are still many empty spaces, and he is thinking about what spiritual plants to plant.

Xuan Shuang Sanren was overjoyed, but tried her best to maintain a calm expression:
"Fellow Daoist's small world is truly a treasure trove; I agree to this condition."

I have a recipe for pills that uses Panyun Purple Fruit and Bodhi Fruit as the main ingredients, but I do not have a recipe for pills that use Lightning-Struck Wood and Fire-Separating Immortal Apricot.

The spiritual fruit produced by lightning-struck wood contains the laws of lightning. Consuming it can cleanse the body and purify the soul. It is usually consumed directly; I have never heard of any elixir recipe for lightning-struck wood spiritual fruit.”

Ji An nodded slightly, "I see. Thank you for the information, fellow Daoist."

"In consideration of the information I provided, you'll have to sell me a few of the Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruits in the future."

"No problem. Can we use the Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruit to make up for the quantity of spirit fruits like the Azure Sky Divine Jade Fruit stipulated in the agreement?"

Xuan Shuang Sanren immediately shook his head, "That won't do. The spiritual fruits produced by the spiritual roots of heaven and earth have special effects. Fellow Daoist should have noticed that the Azure Cloud Pill has other wonderful uses besides improving cultivation."

She paused for a few seconds, then revealed a sly smile:
"However, I can agree that you can use the Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruit to offset the Bodhi Fruit."

The value of the Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruit surpasses that of the Bodhi Fruit, at least for cultivators.

If one has connections to sell Bodhi fruits to Buddhist practitioners, the profits will be even greater.

Ji An smiled in response, "Okay."

That was just a polite remark; he wouldn't actually use the lightning-struck wood spirit fruit to offset the Bodhi fruit.

In the future, the number of Bodhi Fruits will likely far exceed that of Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruits. Since scarcity increases value, it's better to retain the Lightning-Struck Wood Spirit Fruits.

The two of them began to discuss the agreement for exchanging pill formulas. It was similar to the agreement they had signed before. Neither of them were petty cultivators, so they signed it smoothly.

Ji An exchanged cultivation insights with the other party and gained some insights.

After noon, Ji An arrived at the cave dwelling of the Crescent Moon Hermit. The air was filled with the aroma of wine, and the hermit was sipping his drink. The side dish was something that looked like broad beans.

"Haha, fellow Daoist, please sit down quickly, let's have a few drinks together."

The Crescent Moon Hermit said enthusiastically that he would drink a few cups after each time he finished refining a spiritual treasure, a habit that had lasted for thousands of years.

“I’d rather accept your offer than be too polite,” Ji An said, sitting down and exchanging toasts with the other person.

The wine was a top-grade fourth-tier spirit wine, a bit bland compared to the pine nut and mulberry wine in the gourd world, but it did not dampen the two people's spirits at all.

Before long, the two finished off a ten-pound jar of spirit wine.

Ji An didn't forget the important matter. He took out a leaf from the Thunderstruck Wood Mystic Leaf Sword Bamboo and said in a deep voice:
"Can this be used to exchange for fifth-grade high-quality materials? To be honest, fellow Daoist, I don't have many opportunities to come into contact with fifth-grade high-quality materials. I can only rely on this method to obtain materials to refine defensive spiritual treasures."

The Crescent Moon Hermit picked up the leaf crackling with lightning, extended his divine sense to sense it for a moment, and said with satisfaction:
"I allow you to exchange fifth-grade low-level materials for fifth-grade high-level defensive spiritual treasure materials, but the exchange ratio may be as high as one hundred to one. Are you still willing, fellow Daoist?"

There are more cultivators in the early stages of the Three Flowers Realm, so there is a market for low-grade fifth-tier materials, and they can also use this to make connections.

In addition, he drove down prices significantly, so his profit margin wasn't small.

(End of this chapter)