Chapter 967 Magnetic Ore

The restrained sharpness and solidity appeared simultaneously, and the crescent moon hermit's temple throbbed suddenly.

He sensed the aura of destructive power within the metal element's spiritual energy, and from this alone, he could judge how profound the other party's understanding of the metal element's power was.

He remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he felt a surge of joy. If the other party's combat ability surpassed that of his previous teammates, he would have a powerful ally when entering the Vast Ocean Realm in the future.

The vast ocean realm is extremely dangerous, and none of the team members can be a burden.

Ji An sensed the sharpness of the metal elemental energy, nodded slightly, stopped channeling his magic power, and revealed a gentle smile.

As the Plain Cloud Banner upgrades its grade, the power of metal-based spells will increase by about 40%.

The essence of the Yin-Yang Transformation Technique is that the Yin and Yang energies are transformed into the power of the Five Elements. Any improvement in one's control over any of the Five Elements will be reflected in the power of the spell.

Thinking that two more spiritual treasures will be upgraded to the fifth rank in a few months, the power of the Yin-Yang Spirit Transformation Technique will be greatly enhanced.

As the power of planting spells increases, the spirit field can accumulate more spiritual energy, and the improvement speed of the spiritual veins will accelerate accordingly.

Ji An summoned the Xuan Yuan Water Control Flag, its black surface radiating a moist luster, the Xuanwu pattern seemingly hidden in the waves.

"Fellow Daoist, the next item to be upgraded is this water-elemental spiritual treasure."

The Crescent Moon Hermit gripped the flagpole; its touch was cool, as if he were holding ice jade. He could feel spiritual water flowing through the veins of the flagpole.

"Fellow Daoist, your spiritual treasure is well nurtured, which will save a lot of effort when upgrading its grade."

Having learned from the experience of upgrading the Five Banners, the process will be completed more quickly this time. I will inform you promptly upon completion.

Not only does it save effort, but it also conserves some spiritual materials when upgrading the grade of a spiritual treasure, as demonstrated when upgrading the Plain Cloud Banner.

After chatting with the other party for a while, Ji An presented him with a five-jin (2.5 kg) jar of top-grade fourth-class pine nut and mulberry wine:

"Thank you for your trouble, fellow Daoist. This is just a small token of my appreciation."

Pine nuts are the nuts of pine trees struck by lightning, while mulberries are produced from mulberry trees struck by lightning.

After hundreds of years of cultivation, there are also dozens of fourth-grade top-quality plants in the Jade Leaf Mulberry.

A glint flashed in the eyes of the Crescent Moon Hermit; he loved wine and drank several cups every day.

He reached agreements with many forces to purchase a significant amount of spirit wine each year.

In addition, there was a huge wine cellar in the small world he refined, which stored a lot of spiritual wine.

The lowest grade of these spirit wines is fourth-grade superior, and the best is a ten-jin jar of fifth-grade superior spirit wine, which was purchased at an auction for a high price.

"It would be impolite to refuse, but I gladly accept it."

After a while, Ji An took his leave. The Hermit of the Crescent Moon saw him off and returned to his cave. He picked up the wine jar and smashed the seal. The fine dust caught his attention.

After studying it for a moment, he was startled and whispered:

"This loess can actually be refined into the Yellow Emperor's Virtuous Soil! Where did the other party dig it up from? Could it have been naturally formed within the small world he refined?!"

The more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed, and he was filled with envy. Huangdi De Tu was also a very good adhesive material. It was formed in a very special environment, and most of the Huangdi De Tu circulating in the market was refined from spiritual objects.

At this moment, he became increasingly curious about Ji An's background, and he could deduce a part of the opponent's strength from the power of the Five Banners.

In addition to information gathered from other sources, this cultivator who claimed to be an expert in planting was probably much stronger than he had anticipated.

Two months later, Ji An obtained the Flame Banner, which was his fourth low-grade fifth-tier spiritual treasure.

The cry of the fire phoenix echoed in the cave, and he could feel the destructive power gestating within the spirit treasure.

Metal-elemental magical treasures can provide continuous attacks, but fire-elemental power can continue to grow stronger as it is continuously compressed.

Among the five elements, the fire element has the strongest instantaneous burst of power and the metal element has the strongest average destructive power per unit time.

"Fellow Daoist, if we exchange fifth-grade low-level spirit fruits for materials to refine a fifth-grade mid-level pill furnace, approximately how many spirit fruits would be needed?"

He asked, "The fact that the fifth-grade low-level five-colored flower I possess cannot be converted into an increase in my cultivation level makes me quite anxious."

Crescent Moon Hermit quickly calculated in his mind and said:

"The spiritual fruits I need are Lightning-Struck Wood Spiritual Fruit, Dragon Blood Fruit, and Fire-Burning Immortal Apricot, or fifth-grade low-quality Jade Dew Golden Bud Tea. Fellow Daoist, you need to prepare thirty of each spiritual fruit and ten catties of spiritual tea."

He paused, then explained:

"This is the most favorable price. The core materials for refining the alchemy furnace are several kinds of mid-grade fifth-order spiritual materials, which account for about 40% of the refining cost."

Ji An nodded, "Understood. I have another question. If I can provide a few low-grade fifth-tier lightning-struck Azure Dragon Woods, could you please gather the other spiritual materials needed to enhance the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner?"

When all five flags reach the same rank, a special effect will be triggered, which will significantly increase his combat power.

Once the spiritual vein reaches the fifth rank, he can begin cultivating the Azure Dragon Wood.

Azure Dragon Wood is the variety of lightning-struck wood with the most potential to be upgraded to the fifth tier. If there is only one type of lightning-struck wood that can reach the fifth tier, it must be Azure Dragon Wood.

"Of course we can gather them. If you can provide three pieces of Lightning-Struck Azure Dragon Wood, I can upgrade the Azure Lotus Treasure Banner."

The man with the crescent moon beamed with joy; he hadn't encountered such a generous client in many years.

He upgraded four spiritual treasures to the fifth tier and also refined a mid-grade fifth-tier alchemy furnace. He made a lot of money from these deals.

His smile vanished, replaced by a solemn and serious expression.

"Two months ago, a fellow Daoist gave me a jar of wine. The soil used to seal my Dharma image is quite extraordinary. I wonder if you have any connections to obtain a large quantity?"

Although he guessed that the yellow mud came from the small world that the other party had refined, he couldn't be sure. Even if he was sure, he couldn't say it rashly, otherwise he would only cause disgust.

Ji An was slightly startled. He had forgotten the special nature of the gourd world and hadn't expected that the other party could see something from the seal clay.

He coughed lightly and said generously:

"Fellow Daoist, your true intention is not what you seek; you wish to inquire about the Yellow Emperor's virtuous land, do you?"

What's so special about the sealing clay? It must be the special ingredients it contains. He was glad that all the sealing clay for the wine jars was made of loess, because loess soil recovers the fastest when excavated.

"Haha, it can't hide anything from your discerning eyes, fellow Daoist. That's indeed the case."

"So that fellow Daoists may know, I do indeed control a place containing the virtuous soil of the Yellow Emperor, but we are at a critical moment and cannot excavate the soil to refine the virtuous soil of the Yellow Emperor."

When the time is right, I may conduct this transaction with you, fellow Daoist, without affecting the land.

The yellow earth in the gourd world is already a fifth-grade low-level spirit field, but he is unwilling to dig it up. Now, his focus is on improving the spirit veins; otherwise, he would have already begun to cultivate the Five Elements Divine Mountain.

Crescent Moon Hermit bows:

"Thank you for your kindness, fellow Daoist. I will certainly offer you a price that will satisfy you."

Ji An returned to the gourd world, made a hand seal to release the Yin-Yang Spirit Transformation Technique, and as the huge Tai Chi diagram spread to every corner of the world, spiritual rain fell from the sky.

As the spiritual rain falls on different lands, the divine will of various five elements rises up, and a wondrous rhythm resonates with the entire microcosm, falling into the same beat.

Ji An closed his eyes and carefully sensed the intensity of the spell's divine intent. His eyebrows twitched slightly, and the spell's power was 30% stronger than before he obtained the second fifth-tier spiritual treasure.

Not only can the spiritual fields replenish more spiritual energy to the spiritual veins, but the ripening cycle of spiritual fruits will also be shortened, and the aging of spiritual herbs will also increase much faster.

He made a hand seal and released Yin-Yang Divine Thunder. The Five Directions Flags could also enhance the power of this spell. After comparison, he found that the spell's power had increased by about half a percent.

Half a percent, or five percent, may not seem like much, but the Yin-Yang Divine Thunder is at the Great Perfection level, and the impact of this improvement is actually enormous.

This means that the ability to attack targets has been greatly enhanced, and with strong enough firepower, there is no fear of any challenge.

Ji An began to activate the golden light that seemed to rise from the ground, his magical power surging within the immortal veins, and all the five flags would also provide a bonus.

A giant ring appeared above the small world, and Ji An had circled the arena once and returned to the starting position.

"Haha," his laughter echoed throughout the small world. Once the speed reached a certain level, it became extremely difficult to increase it further, but the speed of the Golden Light Leaping Across the Ground increased by another ten percent, while the mana consumption decreased slightly.

Ji An suppressed his smile and pondered how to create a completely new flying escape technique, since the Golden Light Across the Ground was merely an improved version of a Nascent Soul level technique.

Ideally, new spells should be created before entering the Vast Ocean Realm, so that one can escape in case of unforeseen circumstances.

To put it bluntly, if disaster really strikes, he has to be faster than his teammates.

His other teammates were all cultivators who had broken through to the Three Flowers Realm thousands of years ago, and he lacked confidence in their foundation.

Three years have passed in the blink of an eye. Ji An rode a cloud to tour the gourd world, a faint smile on his face.

With ample 'nutrients', the Seven Luminaries Golden Branch was upgraded to the fifth tier.

The spirit tree happens to bear fruit, and in a few years, it will be able to harvest resources of the fifth tier.

With this resource, he might not need spiritual fruits to gather enough resources to refine the pill furnace.

There's also good news: under the regulation of the spiritual roots of heaven and earth, the spiritual fields of the four lands—yellow, red, white, and cyan—have all reached the fifth level.

Although there is no water-elemental spiritual root in the small world yet, based on the characteristic of the Gathering Yuan Tree to balance the five elements, the black soil will soon be upgraded to the fifth-grade low-level.

He returned to the Gathering Yuan Tree, sat cross-legged on the futon, and activated the Yin-Yang Cave True Technique.

Ayun immediately stepped forward, lit the sandalwood incense, and the wisps of smoke transformed into ever-changing clouds before quickly dissipating.

The spiritual energy of the entire small world converged on him, and countless five-elemental spiritual lights rose from the spiritual trees and the land, also converging on him.

However, the spiritual energy vortex was not large. This was because too many high-level spiritual plants grew on this land, and he dared not use the maximum power to operate the spell, otherwise he would excessively plunder the energy in the spiritual field.

The five elements were refined into yin and yang energies. A portion of the energies were absorbed by the stone turtle, while the remainder was sent along the immortal meridians to the upper dantian, where it was devoured by the nascent soul.

Within the Divine Palace, the Yin-Yang Dao Seed emitted wisps of black and white spiritual light, which were channeled to the Middle Dantian and Upper Dantian, respectively nourishing the Qi and Blood Inner Core and the Nascent Soul.

During the cultivation process, Da Huang entered the small world from the outside and guarded a place a dozen feet away from the Gathering Yuan Tree.

Ji An's hair shifted between black and white, and his forehead seemed to become a curtain, periodically displaying images of sunrise and sunset.

When his spiritual power was mostly depleted, he stopped circulating his cultivation technique.

Ayun brought over the brewed Yunding Silver Needle Tea, and he grabbed the teapot and drank it all in one gulp.

Ji An looked at Da Huang and asked:

"What's up?"

Normally, Big Yellow and Green Deer stay in the cave and act as liaisons between the outside world and the small world.

"Master, Lord Queyue has sent a message requesting that you come to his cave at Chenshi (7-9 AM) tomorrow, saying that he has important matters to discuss."

The next day, Ji An arrived at the cave of the Crescent Moon Hermit as promised and found that both the Frost Hermit and the Cloud Mist Hermit were there.

He was curious; Yunmiao Sanren had gone to the outer sea a month ago, so he shouldn't be in Haixing City now.

Now that they've returned, they're likely to have made a significant discovery.

After exchanging pleasantries, everyone took their seats. Yunmiao Sanren, looking excited, began to speak:

"Gentlemen, I was tracking a fifth-level abyssal sea serpent in the stormy sea into a seabed fissure, where I found that the outside was narrow but the inside was open and spacious, a hidden paradise."

Deep within the rift, I discovered a vein of elemental magnetic ore, but this place is the lair of abyssal sea serpents. To obtain the elemental magnetic ore, I must either kill or drive away these sea beasts.

The profits from a single mineral vein are enormous, and if the vein is of good quality, they are bound to make a fortune.

Ji An didn't know what the Abyss Sea Serpent was, but he knew what Yuan Magnetic Ore was. It was a special type of magnet in the cultivation world that had a strong interfering effect on all spiritual treasures refined with the power of the five elements.

The vast majority of cultivators possess spiritual treasures made from the five elements. It can be said that as long as one obtains a spiritual treasure made from Yuan magnetic ore, one can naturally restrain most cultivators.

Crescent Moon Hermit picked up the conversation and said:

"This is a great opportunity for everyone to hone their combat teamwork, and who knows, they might even gain a huge fortune."

We plan to depart in three days. Fellow Daoist Xuanqing, please prepare accordingly.

There was once a powerful cultivator who used a massive amount of elemental magnetic ore to forge a spiritual treasure, achieving great fame. To this day, his legend still lingers in the cultivation world.

Ji An smiled gently, "We can set off at any time. I've long wanted to see how to fight sea monsters."

Three-Flower Realm cultivators have all refined their small worlds, so they can be said to carry their lair on their backs without needing to make any special preparations.

Xuan Shuang Sanren said:

"The battle with sea monsters must take place in the deep sea, which is a challenge for us who are used to land warfare."

Everyone must adapt, because most battles in the Vast Ocean Realm will take place underwater.

This hunt is a rehearsal for battle; it's time to test each other's strength.

Ji An patted his chest confidently, "It is an honor to fight alongside my fellow Daoists."

Yunmiao Sanren covered his mouth and chuckled, "We must not be careless. The existence of the Yuan Magnetic Mine will greatly reduce our combat power, but the Abyss Sea Serpent will hardly be affected."

By the way, Fellow Daoist Xuanqing, are you familiar with the habits and weaknesses of this sea beast?

Knowing yourself and your enemy is the key to victory in every battle; rich experience and combat expertise are invaluable assets.

(End of this chapter)