The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 134 A Thousand Miles of Rescue
Ji Liang knelt down and bowed deeply to the two holy chalices on the ground with utmost reverence.

As a professional Taoist priest, he was certainly familiar with the Holy Grail, a tool widely used by believers in coastal areas to consult the gods.

It is precisely because he understands this that he feels awe…

'Your Excellency is the God of Huangshan, a deity whom even He must respectfully consult by casting divination blocks; he must be a supreme deity… Could it be the Lord of Taishan?'

He whispered his guess, deeply shocked.

Wang Wenyi gazed at the Holy Grail on the ground for a long time before bowing down to pick up the two Holy Grails and offering them to the shrine with both hands.

"last question."

He turned around and looked down at Ji Liang: "When your soul returned just now, did you see your senior brothers... I mean, are they still alive?"

Ji Liang was overjoyed and nodded hurriedly, "I've seen them, I've seen them! Master Uncle and the others are all still alive!"

Wang Wen pondered for a moment and then waved his hand: "Everyone, get out and close the palace doors."

The officials of the shrine clasped their hands in salute, bowed, and left the main hall, gently closing the door behind them.

Wang Wen stood alone under the shrine, looked around, found an ordinary wall and sat down against it. Then, with divine power, he activated the Water Mirror Technique.

Wisps of misty water vapor surged from all directions as he drew circles with his hands, gathering between them to form a hazy, almost solid mirror that floated before him.

In the early morning, after his communication with Hunkun Zhenren was lost, he tried to contact Hunkun Zhenren again using the Water Mirror Technique.

But whether it was because the Water Mirror Technique was affected by that forbidden land, or because Master Hunkun was too busy to answer the phone, all his attempts to use the Water Mirror Technique to reach Master Hunkun ended in failure.

Even this time, he still wasn't very confident.

After all, that forbidden land was beyond the authority of the Huangshan God.

Fortunately, judging from the attitude of the Heavenly Lord, it is not difficult to determine that the "principles" of that forbidden land are not too strong.

The first attempt at the Water Mirror Technique failed.

The second attempt at the Water Mirror Technique failed.

The third attempt at the water mirror technique failed.

Wang Wen relentlessly unleashed his fourth Water Mirror Technique.

This time, amidst the hazy blue light of the Water Mirror Technique, a real cacophony of roars and wind could be heard.

Wang Wenzheng straightened his posture, a glimmer of hope igniting in his heart.

Before long, Master Hunkun appeared in the water mirror with his disheveled hair and beard. He looked extremely anxious and distressed. When he saw Wang Wen, he forced out a bitter smile that was more like a grimace, and asked hoarsely, "Junior brother, what's the matter that you're in such a hurry?"

As he spoke, he didn't forget to draw a talisman in the air and send it out.

The magical light flickered continuously in the dark space, the scene resembling a large-scale construction project being rushed to completion overnight, with welding going off everywhere.

Wang Wen hurriedly said, "Senior brother, please listen to me. I have already opened an altar and pleaded with Venerable Wu. He has agreed to spare no expense and use his great power to clear a path for you and save you from extinction. The time is set for one incense stick's time. Senior brother, you must quickly gather the masters of the three sects and hold out until Venerable Wu clears a path for you. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, so you must seize it!"

Upon hearing this, Master Hunkun's eyes immediately lit up with ecstatic joy: "Junior brother, I can't thank you enough. I'll wait for your return..."

The old Taoist priest's voice even carried a hint of sobbing.

Wang Wen could understand his breakdown, and with a forced smile, he waved his hand to interrupt him: "Alright, let's save these words of gratitude for when you get back. Time is running out, so you'd better hurry!"

The old Taoist priest nodded repeatedly in agreement and immediately withdrew the Water Mirror Technique.

Wang Wen stood up, strode back to the shrine, looked up at his own statue, pondered for a moment, and then, without turning back, flicked his sleeves.

"Clang."

The temple doors opened wide, and a piece of thousand-year-old pine wood drifted down from the mountain and flew towards the main hall, silently dropping a large amount of wood chips that turned into four ancestral tablets.

Wang Wen reached out and used his magic to create an invisible hand to lift his own statue and place it securely on one side of the main hall. Then, he took the Dawn Spear, which served as a hairpin, from his hair bun, transformed it into the size of a carving knife, and personally carved the names of the gods on the four ancestral tablets stroke by stroke.

A spirit tablet, inscribed with the characters "Heaven and Earth," sits facing south at the top.

A spirit tablet, inscribed with the characters "Zhongtian Ziwei Beiji Taihuang Dadi", is located on the left, facing south.

A spirit tablet, inscribed with the ten characters "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder and Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable", is placed on the right, facing south.

A spirit tablet, inscribed with the eight characters "Tianpeng Yuzhen Shouyuan Zhenjun," is located at the very center of the bottom, facing south.
Four ancestral tablets were placed in a trapezoidal shape on the shrine.

Wang Wen lit three sticks of incense, then bowed three times to the four ancestral tablets facing him. Holding the incense, he stood tall and proud, saying, "Your Excellency above, and my three elder brothers, I have performed this ritual not to show off my power or seek fame, but solely to save the virtuous from life-or-death situations, to preserve a sliver of vitality for the Great Zhou Xuanmen, to cleanse this world of filth, and to safeguard the peace of the people. I humbly request Your Excellency and my three elder brothers to grant me some divine assistance… If there is anything I have done improperly, please forgive me!"

After offering his sincere prayers, he stepped forward and placed three sticks of incense into the incense burner.

Wisps of smoke rose and enveloped the four ancestral tablets.

Wang Wen stood tall with his hands behind his back, closed his eyes, and repeatedly chanted in a low voice: "Heavenly thunder rumbles, earthly thunder roars, water thunder surges, fire thunder blazes, wind thunder roars. Five thunders, heed my command, quickly descend, true spirit..."

His murmurs, carried through the high mountains and deep valleys of Huangshan, turned into a strong wind, stirring up the forests for dozens of miles. The starry sky was quickly filled with dark clouds that churned and swelled... Birds and beasts were frightened and returned to their nests, and spirits trembled in fear, thinking that the mountain god was angry.

Before long, the last bit of ash fell from the three sticks of incense at the same time.

Wang Wen opened his eyes at the opportune moment, turned to face southwest, gripped his sword and pointed it at the sky, muttering incantations: "Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, the Great Lord of Heaven, manifest your mighty power, the Heavenly Venerable of Universal Thunder and Lightning of the Nine Heavens... Slay the demon!"

As the sword pointed downwards, a muffled thud suddenly exploded above Bright Peak.

……

One hundred and eighty miles west of Mount Emei, deep within a bottomless sinkhole in the Black Bamboo Valley.

More than four hundred high-ranking Taoist priests from the Three Mountains formed the Big Dipper Seven Stars Life-Protecting Array, chanting the name of the Thunder Ancestor, "Nine Heavens Responding to the Origin of Thunder, Universal Transformation Heavenly Venerable," to resist the endless tide of ghosts and monsters surging in from all directions.

One after another, enormous ghosts exuding a vast and ancient aura mingled with the ant-like horde of ghosts, wielding their massive fists and frantically hammering at the dim golden array barrier...

Exhausted high-level sorcerers were repeatedly struck by the terrifying recoil, coughing up blood and collapsing to the ground, barely breathing.

However, the fellow disciples around them could only desperately continue to squeeze out their remaining magical power and chant the name of the Thunder Ancestor louder and louder, taking over the responsibility of their fallen fellow disciples.

The three sect leaders, who were responsible for the three most important points of the formation, were extremely anxious as their disciples fell to the ground one by one, but they could not move at all and could only grit their teeth and endure the pain.

If they were to flee to save their lives, these highly skilled mages, each with their own formidable life-saving techniques, might be able to hold out for another day or two.

But even when they gathered together to fight off the horde of monsters, they couldn't last a quarter of an hour... Is this hellish place the eighteen levels of hell?
How can such a terrifying, ghostly place exist on earth?
Having reached this point, no one dared to think any further about whether Master Hunkun's words were reliable, or whether the God of Huangshan could actually save them from their predicament...

They could only hold on tightly to their hearts, struggling and enduring the hardship.

It's like waiting for a day that will never come, even as the sunrise.

Time passed by, and they gradually lost their sense of time, feeling that each breath was as long as a winter...

Until, a sudden burst of intense light, almost blindingly bright, illuminated the space in an instant, revealing every detail.

In that brief moment of blindness, they saw countless, endless hordes of ghosts, like a tidal wave, vaporizing in large swaths amidst the intense light; they saw ancient, gigantic figures with disheveled hair and animal skins around their waists, roaring to the sky as they leaped into the light…

All the high-level talisman masters from the three sects looked up, staring blankly at the scene. Their minds, dulled by the long torment, didn't react immediately. They just stared blankly at the bright light, a vague but immense feeling of amazement rising in their hearts.

That feeling of astonishment can be simply summarized as: 'Holy crap!!!'

"Stab!"

A deafening roar shook the heavens, and thousands of ferocious, thick purple lightning bolts fell simultaneously, sweeping across every inch of land within a hundred feet of the Big Dipper Life-Protecting Array, causing large amounts of black smoke to rise.

It was the three sect leaders who were the first to realize that this was the "great power that spared no expense" that Huangshan God had mentioned.

That's a huge investment!
"Go quickly!"

The three sect leaders roared in unison, their voices hoarse with fury. With a flick of their sleeves, they swept up more than a dozen exhausted disciples and soared into the sky against the raging thunderstorm.

The seemingly impenetrable thunderstorm, however, seemed to have eyes, avoiding them as it struck down.

Hundreds of high-ranking masters from the three sects suddenly realized what was happening and followed the example of the three sect leaders, pulling up their exhausted fellow disciples and desperately trying to rise into the sky.

This time, they did not crash into that invisible array barrier again, and smoothly passed through the thunderclouds to escape to safety!

It was at this moment that they realized something: the place they were in was a sinkhole shaped like a gourd's mouth... or perhaps an abyss would be a more accurate description.

"Pfft."

"Pfft..."

The three high-ranking Taoist masters fell around the sinkhole like dumplings being dropped into a pot. They looked around at the endless, dense forest, and then looked up at the shimmering moon peeking through the treetops.

Countless people broke down in tears and laughter...

Those who survive this hellish ordeal will become the most resilient warriors on the front lines of upholding righteousness and warding off evil.

……

"Rumble..."

At the summit of Huangshan, with a thunderous roar, two lines of bright red characters flashed before Wang Wen's eyes: "Merit-4081" and "Virtue-16.6".

Even though it was something he had eagerly requested himself, seeing that the Heavenly Lord hadn't even left him with his last bit of good karma, he still felt a sharp pain in his heart.

That complicated feeling, how should I put it...

I can buy you drinks and food, but leave me that two-dollar lighter, you bastard!
He reluctantly tucked the Dawn Spear back into his hair bun, stepped out of the main hall, and prepared to find a place behind the hall to build a palace and place the ancestral tablets of the four old men on the shrine.

Inviting a god is easy, but sending him away is difficult...

No, the moment he stepped out the door, a line of shimmering golden characters appeared before his eyes.

【merit +7680】

'Huh? What's this?'

Wang Wen stopped in his tracks, exclaimed in surprise with a hint of doubt in his heart, and looked up at the sky, thinking to himself, how could there possibly be any benefit in this situation?

This is like his friend going to suppress bandits but getting surrounded by them instead. He can't handle the bandits himself, so he has to pay a lot of money to his superiors to rescue his friend who is surrounded by bandits. Surely the superiors can't share in the spoils they get during the bandit suppression and rescue operation.
This doesn’t make sense!

If this works, then why would he need to be the Demon-Slaying General in the future?

Switch to intelligence chief on the spot and focus on exploiting bugs. From now on, if any demons or monsters are harming people, just ask the Heavenly Lord to send a lightning bolt to kill them from afar, and then sit back and collect your money!

Given the status of the Heavenly Dao, there is nothing in this world that He cannot cleave. That is the true meaning of "as long as the payment is right, even an emperor can be crippled"...

If this snowball advantage can be rolled into action, even if the Heavenly Court and the Underworld return to this world in the future, he will be able to establish his own great power!

'etc……'

Wang Wen pondered for a long time, then suddenly thought of something: 'Since I'm using my own funds to hire the Heavenly Dao Lord to rescue people, I shouldn't get a share of the spoils the Heavenly Dao Lord gets during the rescue, but I should definitely get a share of the credit for the rescue, and a large portion at that!'

Suddenly, he understood everything, thinking, 'No wonder I had over 5,000 merit points when the merit column first appeared; it was from when I helped those refugees from Kuaiji in Hangzhou…'

To be honest, whether it was rescuing those refugees from Kuaiji in Hangzhou before, or rushing more than 500 miles today to provide all his resources to help Master Hunkun and the others, he never expected anything in return.

He had killed many bad people, but he still genuinely respected and revered life, and never used any material possessions as a bargaining chip to measure the lives of others.

There's no conflict!

He killed people with a clear conscience, saved people with a clear conscience, ate well, was in great health, and slept soundly until dawn!

In other words, the source of unseen virtue is killing ghosts, while the source of merit is saving people…

He pondered to himself: 'To extend this further, the source of unseen virtue is the affairs of the underworld, while the source of merit is affairs of the human world!'

'No wonder the imperial court's bestowal of titles led to the creation of a merit column within the Mountain God's decree...'

Wang Wen immediately turned around and ran to the shrine. He lit three sticks of incense, held them respectfully with both hands, and bowed three times to the 'Heaven and Earth' ancestral tablet at the top of the shrine: "Your Excellency, you are truly selfless!"

Just as he was about to insert the three sticks of incense into the incense burner, the embers suddenly went out.

Seeing this, Wang Wen, with a shameless grin, lit the three sticks of incense again, held them in his hands, and bowed three times to the 'Heaven and Earth' ancestral tablet: "Great Lord, I know I was wrong, and I will never dare to do it again. You are a magnanimous old man, please don't hold a grudge against a young and ignorant thing like me, okay?"

He stepped forward with a grin and inserted three sticks of incense into the incense burner. The smoke curled around his face.

But this time, the incense did not go out.

Indeed, boys who smile a lot are usually lucky...

(End of this chapter)