He drank half a cup of tea, looked down at the ground, and began to speak in a low, engaging voice.

"Sunrise Peak is the core node of the main spiritual vein, and also the most important formation node in the Sect’s Mountain Protection Array.

In fact, this place is a volcano, and compared to here, Red Flame Peak can only be considered a minor player.

Years ago, the sect spent a tremendous amount of resources to seal and fill the entire volcanic crater with earth and stone, nurturing the earth vein with the concept that Fire Generates Earth.

The Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend is formed within the Molten Rock Lake beneath Sunrise Peak, producing more than thirty thousand strands annually."

He raised his head and asked:

"Have you ever heard of the Yin Yang Earth Veins?"

"Never."

Ji An shook his head blankly; Array Masters need to be familiar with the knowledge of earth veins, but he currently doesn’t have the energy to study the Dao of Arrays, so he isn’t really up to date on this.

Daoist Master Zhengyang chuckled, drinking another half cup of tea to soothe his throat.

"Yin Yang Earth Veins refer to one female and one male, where Yin and Yang unite. This kind of earth vein has a notable characteristic: as long as the Yang Vein’s tier improves, the Yin Vein’s tier will naturally rise.

Sunrise Peak is the core node of the Yang Vein, while Yunhe Mountain is the core node of the Yin Vein. Yet, the fire vein of Chao Origin Peak can nourish Yunhe Mountain’s dry earth."

Ji An was dumbfounded and exclaimed:

"Such wondrous creation is beyond my understanding.

Ancestor, what is the reason for this connection?"

Chao Origin Yang Peak is twelve hundred miles from Yunhe Mountain, and he couldn’t contemplate how such a connection exists.

Daoist Master Zhengyang shook his head and sighed:

"I don’t know either; there’s no record regarding this in the sect’s heritage. However, we only need to know that these two spiritual veins are connected.

Under Yunhe Mountain, there’s a Dark River. The sect constructed a grand array to extract the water vein, transforming dry earth into wet earth. The collision of water and fire forms the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend, producing over twenty-five thousand strands of Spiritual Fiend annually.

These two types of Spiritual Fiend are kept as sect resources, sealed within the Secret Vault, never externalized, only nurtured for top-grade spiritual artifacts for the disciples."

"Ancestor, does using different evil qis to nurture spiritual artifacts affect them?"

"Yes. Take the Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend as an example: using this evil qi to nurture a spiritual artifact enhances its spiritual nature, allowing it to encompass more soul-calming divine intent.

The divine intent of the Path of Earth includes aspects such as thickness, bearing, encompassing, and soul-calming.

Thickness and bearing lean towards the Dao of Wu Earth, while encompassing and soul-calming lean towards the Dao of Ji Earth.

Utilizing Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend as material can make the spiritual artifact more stable for spirit souls, providing better protection against spirit soul attacks.

It also has some deterring effect against evil entities and is better able to handle yin souls and ghost souls."

"The Dao of Wu Earth directly enhances the defensive power provided by the spiritual artifact.

However, any evil qi will work in nurturing spiritual artifacts, so it essentially doesn’t matter, because even if you nurture an artifact spirit, you can still use the evil qi of the Dao of Wu Earth to enhance the defense of its spirit light."

Ji An scratched his head and smiled:

"I thought that nurturing an artifact spirit using Spiritual Fiend would be the end, but it turns out there’s still a long way to go.

Ancestor, can I continue using Red Dragon Abyssal Fiend?"

You can continue enhancing the Earth-Departing Flame Banner’s attack power with Spiritual Fiend, which is indeed important.

Daoist Master Zhengyang shook his head, "Leave some resources for the juniors; the sect’s storage of Spiritual Fiend is not abundant, only a few million strands after all.

As the sect grows stronger, there will be more Chao Origin Stage disciples, and one day it may not be possible to guarantee usage for all who meet the criteria.

Therefore, sect rules mandate that once an artifact spirit is nurtured, you can no longer use the same Spiritual Fiend, even if you switch to a different spiritual artifact."

Foundation is accumulated bit by bit, if the juniors don’t cherish it and use it recklessly, the sect cannot talk about long-term development.

Ji An chuckled and planned to ask the cultivators from Central Continent if they had any Spiritual Fiend for sale.

He has a few Tier Two Upper Grade spirit fruits left on hand, and there are a few Top-grade Azure Dragon Wood in Red Flame Peak, with plenty of resources at his disposal.

Daoist Master Zhengyang said seriously:

"Your most important task right now is to quickly cultivate the Water Element Divine Mansion to perfection and sooner perceive the mystery of Five Elements Mutual Generation.

This process might be lengthy; you need to be mentally prepared."

Once the Five Mansions are opened, the power of the Five Elements will spontaneously flow, but that doesn’t mean mutual generation.

Even cultivators with profound foundation need an opportunity for enlightenment, let alone needing to achieve enlightenment five times.

At this time, the cultivator’s innate talent cannot help; only comprehension is relied upon.

However, no matter how strong the comprehension, if you can’t catch the opportunity, it’s pointless.

He’s somewhat worried about Ji An and Li Haoran’s situation; both had rapid advancement in previous cultivation, and a long span without breakthrough may lead to a sense of disparity far greater than cultivators with relatively slow progress.

Noticing the ancestor’s tone, Ji An solemnly nodded and laughed:

"I understand, but I am confident in my resilience against setbacks."

When he first arrived, he didn’t have the Stone Turtle; at that time he could rely only on himself, and his mental self-construction was quite good.

Self-comfort and self-motivation were skills he was familiar with in his previous life.

Daoist Master Zhengyang arched his eyebrows, and his concerns slightly diminished.

...

"Disciple takes leave," Ji An stepped backward out of Wuji Hall, black cloud rose from beneath his feet, carrying him through the mountainside.

Black clouds controlled by Chao Origin Stage cultivators differ greatly from the demon kings’. The cloud was dark as ink yet imbued with pure and dynamic spirit light, echoing the sound of surging sea waves.

In terms of speed, gold cloud is the fastest, fire cloud is the second, but various other types of auspicious clouds each have their own wonders.

Water cloud traveling in the vast sea can absorb Water Spirit Qi to replenish itself, consuming very little magical power.

The black cloud descended upon the Treasure Pavilion, and Ji An stepped into the main hall.

Jia Yu put down his wine gourd, touched his flushed nose, and grinningly said:

"After receiving the message from the ancestor, I’ve been waiting here for you, junior brother, and didn’t expect such a long wait."

He pointed at the yellow jade bottle on the table, "Netherworld Soul-Suppressing Fiend is here, feel free to use it, junior brother."

The jade bottle was engraved with dense symbols, and inside shone a soft light, granting a sense of particular peace.

Ji An clasped his hands, "Thank you for waiting, senior brother, let me nourish my spiritual artifact first and then we can chat."

The Wuji Xinghuang Banner flew out from the Dantian, fluttering in the air as if caught by a strong wind with a flapping sound.

He pinched a spell and opened the jade bottle’s dharma prohibition, the strands of dazzling spiritual light dispersed into clouds, and the divine intent of soul-calming spread forth.

The roar of the Qilin sounded, reverberating through the hall, causing the ground to tremble.

The apricot yellow Banner enlarged again, the Qilin on its surface seemed to come alive and opened its mouth.

An immense suction engulfed the scattered Spiritual Fiend, yet it didn’t affect anything else, marvelously.

After a short while, the apricot yellow Banner shrunk and flew back into the owner’s body, entering the Dantian.

Jia Yu exclaimed, "Junior brother already possesses two top-grade spiritual artifacts, both offensive and defensive, so among the sect members, those capable of defeating you in magical combat are few."

"A total of two hundred and forty strands of Spiritual Fiend, accumulating eighty small merits."

Ji An took out a jade token and handed it over, revealing a courteous smile:

"I’m just a Spirit Farmer, uninterested in fighting and killing, these spiritual artifacts are merely for self-defense."

Currently, he has the confidence to surpass all of the same tier sect members because of his true completeness in offense and defense.

...

Leaving the Treasure Pavilion, Ji An arrived at Ningcui Cliff, where today’s the day to perform the Planting Technique on the Spirit Fields.

He has managed these Medicinal Gardens for over fifty years, now the average age of the Spirit Medicine is around four hundred years.

If not for traveling, the age should be near six hundred years, some are already ready for harvest.

Circuiting the four Medicinal Gardens on the mountainside, Ji An returned to the spiritual vein node on the mountain summit.

Azure Dragon Shocking Skill, Yellow Dragon Essence Enhancement Skill, and various other Planting Techniques flowed from his hand, Cyan Dragon’s Sky Chant resounded, the Earth trembled, a nourishing Spirit Rain fell like crystalline white jade.

Mist rose, Ji An stepped into the passage leading to the platform.

He passed through the light screen, habitually glancing at the Spirit Plants, his eyes suddenly brightened, and he broke into a silent grin.

The leaves of two Spirit Peach Trees glowed with equally bright spirit light, Purple Crystal Bees danced joyously around the Spirit Tree.

Not only that, the thicker peach tree revealed many soybean-sized flower buds.

"Two top-grade Spiritual Peaches, and one is blooming, wonderful."