Chapter 726 The Meeting at the Foot of Yuanhe Mountain

Several days later, a full moon appeared in the sky above Chaoyang Peak, shining brightly against the backdrop of the setting sun.

Lin Lan successfully broke through, and everything went smoothly during the process.

The stone tortoise silently returned to Ji An's hand and merged into his skin, entering his lower dantian, where it comfortably lay beside the primordial fire.

Ji An connected with the stone tortoise to check the Daoist essence he had gained, totaling a little over 110 points, which was a pretty good number.

He flew to Chaoyang Peak on auspicious five-colored clouds, offered a few words of encouragement to his disciples, and then entered the Wuji Hall with Lin Jiuxiao and others.

After everyone was seated, Ji An began to speak:

"Now that my cultivation has completely stabilized, I'm preparing to go out and take the opportunity to purchase the resources I'm lacking."

Zhang Zeye took out a crimson jade slip, activated his object control technique, and presented it to him, saying:

"True Lord, this is the list, which includes all the supplies that the sect lacks. The more we purchase, the better."

The jade slips were prepared long ago. Things need to be done in advance, and each hall has increased its procurement of supplies.

Lin Jiuxiao said:

"Prioritize the needs of the Formation Hall, and postpone the needs of other halls."

Before leaving, the True Lord went to the treasure pavilion and took away sufficient resources.

Improving the grade of the spiritual vein is the most urgent and important task and must be prioritized.

If the spiritual vein's grade is improved a year earlier, the sect's spiritual plants can mature in less than two years. No matter how you look at it, it's a worthwhile investment.

Ji An took the jade slip, quickly read through its information with his divine sense, then stored it in the Void Stone and asked:

"How long will it take for the sect's spiritual veins to be upgraded? Can you estimate that?"

He gains more Dao essence when his spiritual vein is upgraded. It is estimated that he can get thousands of Dao essence when his spiritual vein is upgraded. Therefore, he must stay in the sect when his spiritual vein is upgraded.

Zhang Zeye stated his prediction: "I am 70-80% certain that it will happen within two to three years."

Ji An nodded slightly, meaning that the longest he could stay in the outside world was one and a half years, and it was best to return within one year.

He stood up and said:

"I'll go back and pack up before leaving. The cave at Crimson Flame Peak will be temporarily closed."

Lin Jiuxiao immediately stood up and reminded him:

"True Lord, the demonic energy has reached a place more than a thousand miles away from the sect. If you go out, you will likely have to pass through these polluted areas. Please be careful."

Ji An smiled and nodded, "I will be careful. When I was in Zhongzhou, I had experience entering contaminated areas to carry out missions, so I know what to do."

I haven't been involved in the sect's defenses these past few years. Can our protective mountain array withstand this impending crisis?

Zhang Zeye replied:

"We have already refined a top-grade third-tier Water Curtain Fire Spirit Array. This array relies on the earth's veins and can be used once the spiritual veins are upgraded."

Based on the speed at which the demonic energy travels, it is speculated that the spiritual veins will face contamination by demonic energy before their grade is improved, but our original magic array can support it.

In addition, thousands of small purification arrays have been established around the sect, sufficient to deal with the crisis in a short time.

He hadn't anticipated that the demonic energy was moving faster and faster, but refining a third-grade high-quality mountain-protecting array would only waste materials, so he might as well make do for now.

This is the confidence that comes from having a True Monarch in charge of the sect; even if there are setbacks, there is always a backup plan.

Ji An praised, "Very good. The True Demon Tribulation is called a catastrophe by the sects of the Central Continent. The pressure we are under here is relatively small, but we cannot let our guard down."

Based on the records obtained, it is inferred that after the True Demon Calamity, the cultivator population in Central Continent will decrease by nearly 60%, which is the best outcome among all the calamities.

It is hoped that Central Continent can withstand more pressure so that the situation in Western Continent can remain stable.

Lin Jiuxiao accompanied him out of the main hall and flew to the treasure pavilion.

"Zhang Yi, the Diligent Work Hall once sent you a jade slip, asking you to verify the supplies. Do you remember?"

With his silver hair and youthful face, Zhang Yi first bowed respectfully, saying, "Greetings, True Lord; greetings, Sect Leader."

I have checked the supplies list, and I have also prepared enough spiritual items to exchange for resources.

She had explained this matter a few years ago, and at that time she spent more than a month sorting out the supplies.

First, the supply list was converted to the equivalent of "Great Merit". Worried that the prices might differ from those outside, twice the amount of supplies were prepared.

It includes third-tier superior, top-tier, and fourth-tier spiritual items, encompassing spiritual fruits, pills, fire-elemental spiritual items, metal-elemental spiritual items, one Golden Core Pill, and five Qi-Nourishing Pills.

She took out a jade slip. "These are the supplies I prepared. Please take a look."

Lin Jiuxiao took the jade slip and handed it over. Ji An glanced through its contents and said:

"Let's proceed with this plan. I anticipate that these resources will be sufficient to exchange for the spiritual items we need."

He stepped out of the main hall, bid farewell to the two, and then teleported away.

After returning to Crimson Flame Peak, Ji An put the Spirit-Seeking Rat and Rock Armor Bear into his Spirit Beast Bag, and then rode the clouds into the sky.

This trip will be short, so there's no need for much preparation.

Two months later, Ji An left the Southern Continent for the far north, having already exchanged all the supplies below the fourth tier on the list.

There are only two Nascent Soul sects in the Southern Continent: the Shadowless Sect and the Earthly Fiend Sect. One is a ghost cultivator sect and the other is a corpse refining sect. Neither of them are good sects.

He still had grudges against the Earthly Fiends Sect and had not ventured deep into the territory of either of these forces.

Occasionally, he would encounter a few targets belonging to the Earthly Fiends Sect, and he would teach them a lesson without killing them.

When Ji An passed through some deep mountains, he saw black demonic energy emerging from some underground crevices, and he realized that at this time, demons and true demons were the greatest enemies of cultivators.

It's always better to have more allies, even if they're used as cannon fodder to hold back the enemy.

He rode auspicious five-colored clouds and flew at high speed in the sky, arriving at the area shrouded in demonic energy a few days later.

Perhaps it was a benefit of his improved cultivation level, but previously his gaze could only penetrate a few hundred feet of demonic energy, but now his field of vision extends to seven or eight miles.

Ji An descended from the sky, gathering his magical power as he entered the demonic energy zone.

A moment later, he understood why True Lord Pingtian of Zhongzhou had said back then that he could not hide his tracks in the demonic energy area.

The entire area shrouded in demonic energy is like a giant magnetic field. No matter how much he tries to conceal his movements, it will still cause tremors unless he remains completely still.

He was unaware of this when he was in the Golden Core stage.

The tremor was not strong, even very weak, but to high-level demons and true demons with keen senses, it was like being able to see a tiny flame in the darkest night.

A demon at the Golden Core level can sense him flying at high speed from a greater distance, and then choose to lie low or avoid him.

The demonic energy zone is, after all, the demon's home turf, and its advantages are obvious.

Ji An flew again to a place where the demonic energy could not reach, and fled towards Yuanhe Mountain.

The reason he went there was because the current environment was very favorable for demonic cultivators, and the Xuan Yin Sect should produce many Golden Core cultivators.

In his eyes, these were all Daoist principles; how could he miss them?

The clouds in the sky could not be used as landmarks. Ji An relied on his memory to reach the target area and returned to the demonic energy to search for it.

After searching for about three days, he found a mountain range by following the rumbling thunder.

The lightning-streaked tribulation clouds tore apart the demonic energy, and he happily found a secluded corner outside the great formation to hide in.

The stone tortoise has disappeared from the dantian to pursue its own happiness.

Ji An made a hand seal, releasing an energy as hard as metal and stone. He couldn't be too cautious, even though he didn't think he would encounter any danger.

The tribulation lightning gradually weakened, and the tribulation clouds showed signs of dissipating. Judging from the frequency of the lightning strikes, the demonic cultivator who had broken through should not have been able to hold on and had been reduced to ashes in the tribulation lightning.

Ji An muttered to himself, "Anyway, we've got the right timing, and there are quite a few demonic cultivators, so we're not worried about the consumption."

He only cared about the amount of Daoist energy; he didn't care about the deaths or injuries of the demonic cultivators.

The Xuan Yin Sect has Nascent Soul stage demonic cultivators in charge, so having fewer Golden Core stage demonic cultivators is not a big deal.

A moment later, the stone tortoise returned to his side and entered his dantian. His mind connected with the stone tortoise, and golden characters illuminated his upper dantian, while the three silver characters 'Guanghan Palace' emitted a serene radiance.

[Master: Ji An]

[Tao Yun: Gold 1306.4, Water 1328.3, Wood 716.5, Fire 1412.8, Earth 815.2]

All the clever ideas combined yielded approximately 150 points.

It's not that the demonic cultivators are too strong, but rather that their tribulation lightning is exceptionally powerful.

This will have two consequences: first, the number of demonic cultivators will be suppressed; second, there will be no weaklings among those who can survive the tribulation.

Just as Ji An was about to leave, he suddenly felt the demonic energy surging wildly behind him and immediately realized that he had been tricked.

Without a second thought, he made a hand seal and released a burst of golden light that seemed to leap across the ground. His body transformed into a five-colored rainbow, and in an instant, he flew five or six miles away.

The casting time of a perfect-level flight spell is less than half a second, and he can control the duration of his flight.

If all magical power is used for traveling, it should be able to fly more than two thousand miles, with a flying speed three to four times that of flying on clouds, and short distances would be like teleportation.

He only flew this far because he wanted to see who the attacker was.

Ji An turned around and saw that the demonic energy had transformed into a giant hand a hundred feet long, which slammed down on the area where he had just been standing, causing the earth to tremble with a deafening roar.

He met the person in question, a man in a grey robe with a cold and stern face, whose red-eyed raven, radiating black energy, perched on the man's shoulder.

The crow's eyes, like blood-red gems, stared indifferently ahead.

Ji An raised an eyebrow slightly and asked tentatively:

"The Master of the Xuan Yin Sect?"

The sound spread, echoing from all directions, as if there were reverberations.

Zhu Changhe nodded warily, "Indeed, who are you, daring to spy on the Holy Sect!"

Ji An smiled, and the Wuji Apricot Yellow Flag responded to the call in his heart, flying out of his dantian and transforming into a Qilin that grabbed his shoulder, staring hostilely at the enemy.

He released the golden light that shot across the ground again, then immediately stopped. At this point, he was less than two miles away from his opponent.

With a series of hand gestures, a three-foot-long silver flying sword with an ancient design swept towards the enemy, its target being his chest.

Thanks to the other party, disciple Lin Lan suffered a lot, and as his master, he had to get revenge.

The moment the flying sword appeared, Zhu Changhe's pupils dilated sharply. He sensed the chilling killing intent from the resonance of the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and the hairs on his body stood on end.

Without a second thought, he unleashed his defensive magic weapon—a white bone shield. On the front of the shield was a relief of a human face with two goat horns, its eyes open and shooting out gray rays.

Unfortunately, the flying sword was too fast and was not hit by the ray. Instead, it pierced through the bone shield's forehead, which was the strongest part of the magic weapon's defense.

(End of this chapter)