The world is like a prison, my body is holy

Chapter 167 A Living Buddha for Ten Thousand Families
After the tough battle at Tushan, the training exercise around Huainan Road by the Demon-Slaying General's Mansion was smooth sailing with no more dangerous mountains.

When the fleet arrived at a place, the commanders of each camp would follow the procedure to contact the local general's office and the supervisory office, while sending out their scouts to verify the information on demons and monsters submitted by the supervisory office. Then, based on the intelligence gathered, they would hold a battle meeting to deploy their troops in a targeted manner, either by joining forces to launch a massive sweep or by dividing their forces to launch a decisive attack.

The process gradually became standardized, and the deployment of troops became more and more familiar. Even the complicated and massive work of the high-ranking priests of the temple in creating various targeted props began to be streamlined...

Wang Wen has not made a move since he subdued Wu Dingbang at Bagong Mountain... Of course, this is also because the General's Mansion has not encountered any demons or monsters of the Ghost King level since Bagong Mountain.

At first, he would attend every joint operations meeting to listen to their intelligence reports and targeted operational plans. He would also personally lead his Demon-Suppressing Guards to oversee large-scale operations.

Later, the General's Mansion gradually got back on track. Whether it was intelligence gathering or formulating targeted battle plans, he could find no major flaws. So he slowly began to let go and eventually stopped even attending battle meetings.

At most, he would secretly use his divine sense to control the situation for them during some large-scale combat operations, and to fill in any gaps in their defenses.

Having traversed most of Huainan Road, the two thousand soldiers of the General's Mansion had demonstrated their confidence and fighting spirit, and had summarized several simple yet effective battle tactics templates for dealing with different demons and monsters.

For example, when dealing with ghosts, first set fires, then fire cannons, and then choose to either grind them to ashes or snipe them with talisman arrows, depending on the situation.

Even a vengeful ghost capable of opening the ghost realm would be severely crippled, if not killed, after taking this attack!
As for monsters, the approach is reversed: first fire cannons, then set fires, and then choose between using iron net formations or heavy crossbows to snipe them, depending on the situation.

Normally, unless it's a demon that can fly or burrow underground, taking this kind of attack will either kill it or leave it severely crippled!

As for special circumstances...

Of course, it was time for the martial arts masters from each camp and the high-ranking priests from the Imperial Academy to step up!
One hundred Five Thunder Talismans were thrown out at once, and no one below the Ghost King was exempt!
After extricating himself from these trivial and arduous tasks, Wang Wen did not remain idle.

He summarized the experience gained from the training exercise around Huainan Road by the General of Demon Suppression, discarding the dross and retaining the essence. Combining this with his knowledge of Xuanmen (Taoist monasticism) and after consulting with Master Hunkun many times, he personally drafted "Draft of the Classification System of Demons and Monsters in Huainan Road" and "A Brief View on the Special Attack Tactics of the General of Demon Suppression against Demons and Monsters," which were sent to the capital and presented to Emperor Hongtai.

Of course, he certainly didn't forget to commend his Demon-Suppressing Guards, who had fought in countless battles and risked their lives.

A month later, he received a reward from Emperor Hongtai and the Demon Suppression Chief.

Emperor Hongtai bestowed upon him three thousand taels of gold, five hundred bolts of silk, and a three-stone carved bow, and promoted him to the rank of Grand Master of the Third Rank with Silver Green Robe.

The Demon Suppression Chief rewarded his officers of all ranks by promoting them two ranks and awarding them a sum of gold and silver.

Wang Wen received the reward, glanced at the gift list, and then casually put it away.

They give him money, goods, and raises his salary, but they don't promote him or give him more troops.

All of this was within his expectations. After all, he had gone so far in this training exercise around Huainan Road by the General of Demon Suppression, and the number of local officials who died directly or indirectly at his hands was more than double digits. How could the imperial court possibly be willing to promote him or increase his troops?

What truly troubled him was that along with the imperial court's commendation, he also received the "Great Zhou Demon and Monster Ranking System" and the "Great Zhou Special Attack Tactics Against Demons and Monsters." Apart from the prefix being changed to "Great Zhou," the rest of the content remained unchanged, except that where his name should have been, it was changed to "Demon Suppression Commander."

'666, they're not even going to act anymore!'

He naturally knew why the Demon Suppression Chieftain was doing this, and although he was somewhat indignant, he just laughed it off.

Once established, the system of demons and monsters is divided into five categories, from weakest to strongest: Yin spirits, vengeful spirits, evil ghosts, fierce ghosts, ghost kings, and ghost immortals.

The demons are divided into five categories from weakest to strongest: demon beasts (intelligent), demon soldiers (demonic energy), demon generals (inner core), great demons (transformation), demon kings (supernatural powers), and demon immortals.

The last five levels of these two systems all correspond to the five realms of Xuanmen: Sorcerer, Human Master, Earth Master, Celestial Master, and Grand Celestial Master.

However, the levels of martial arts become somewhat complicated when compared to these two major systems.

The comparison table provided by Wang Wen is Ming Jin (明劲) and An Jin (暗劲) – Yin Hun (阴魂) and Yao Shou (妖兽).

Transcendent Realm, Elixir Strength—Demon Soldiers, Wronged Souls.

The Acquired Realm – Demon Generals and Evil Spirits.

Innate Realm – Great Demon, Vengeful Ghost.

Seeing the gods does not destroy the realm—Demon King, Ghost King.

Celestial beings – ghost immortals and demon immortals.

The reason he made things so complicated was that martial artists have relatively limited methods for dealing with demons and monsters, and they lack the power to restrain demons and monsters through esoteric methods. They must rely on overwhelming power to exert stable lethality.

Just like the Acquired Realm, Acquired martial artists can release their true energy and briefly fly to borrow strength. When they exert their full strength, they can also cause certain damage to fierce ghosts and transformed demons.

During the battle at the Yangzhou government office, Jiang Jin and Lin Baichuan, both at the Acquired Realm, joined forces and used their palm and fist power to make that vengeful ghost howl in agony...

However, after the two experts at the Acquired Realm fought for a long time, the vengeful ghost could only howl and scream, unable to even unleash its full power.

If it's a one-on-one situation, it's definitely a fight to the death; there's no way to escape.

However, once you reach the Acquired Realm, you can basically dominate evil spirits and demon generals. As long as you don't act recklessly, the chance of losing is extremely small.

The same applies to the Innate Realm!
Grandmasters of the Innate Realm can manipulate the primordial energy of heaven and earth on a small scale. Their true energy is as long and continuous as a great river, and their moves are as powerful as large-caliber artillery shells. Even when facing powerful demons and monsters at the level of Demon King or Ghost King, Grandmasters of the Innate Realm have the power to fight.

To say that a Grandmaster of the Innate Realm can defeat a Ghost King or a Demon King-level monster is pure wishful thinking.

Wang Wen cultivates both martial arts and magic. He has reached the innate level in martial arts and his cultivation in ghost arts is comparable to that of a celestial master. He also possesses a considerable amount of thunder magic. He almost lost when he faced Wu Dingbang before!

If it were a master like Fang La, he could have fed Wu Dingbang half a meal in less than ten moves!

As for Grandmasters of the Innate Realm, they can basically crush vengeful ghosts and demons of the Great Demon level with ease. They don't even need to fight in close combat. They can just use their powerful moves to bombard vengeful ghosts and demons of the Great Demon level from a distance and kill them.

Therefore, the comparison table provided by Wang Wen shows an overwhelmingly dominant style of play.

From the fighting style he described, it's clear that he doesn't support any martial artist risking their life to fight those demons and monsters that they can barely reach even on tiptoe.

He only supports all martial arts practitioners in using their strength to bully the weak and gang up on the few against demons and monsters...

Despite the current resurgence of spiritual energy in the Great Zhou Dynasty, the Xuanmen, Shamen, and various folk lineages are all reviving one after another, producing a great number of talented individuals.

But in fact, the largest group of cultivators in the Great Zhou Dynasty are still martial artists.

Moreover, compared to the Xuanmen and Shamen sects, martial artists have their disadvantages, but they also have their advantages.

That is, the growth rate of martial artists is faster than that of the Xuanmen and Shamen, the difficulty of popularization is lower than that of the Xuanmen and Shamen, and the difficulty of becoming a master is also higher than that of the Xuanmen and Shamen!
Out of a hundred children, you might not be able to find ten who are suited for Taoist or Buddhist cultivation, but you will definitely find twenty or thirty who are suited for martial arts!
Therefore, the future of the Great Zhou Dynasty in its fight against the resurgence of demons and monsters still depends on the martial artists.

The introduction of the "Great Zhou Demon and Monster Ranking System" is of epoch-making significance for the Great Zhou's resurgence in the fight against demons and monsters!
Prior to this, let alone within the Demon Suppression Bureau system, there was a lack of unified hierarchical understanding of various demons and monsters.

Even within the Xuanmen and Shamen sects, there is a lack of a ranking system for demons and monsters that can circulate throughout the entire cultivation world!
For example, the Maoshan School classifies ghosts into wandering spirits, vengeful spirits, fierce ghosts, vengeful ghosts, and ghost generals. At the Celestial Master's Mansion, ghosts are further classified into wild ghosts, wronged ghosts, evil ghosts, vengeful ghosts, and ghost generals.

Even more absurdly, some sects categorize ghosts into things like ten-year-old ghosts, hundred-year-old fierce ghosts, and thousand-year-old ghost kings.

The main point is that as long as we can distinguish between them, it doesn't matter whether outsiders agree with our classification...

Why is this so?
There are many reasons: limited access to information, a tendency to hoard things, and the fact that some strange and unusual items cannot be classified using a unified hierarchical system, etc.

Cultivating immortality is something that can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words!
As for the consequences of this chaotic division...

There won't be any major consequences. A proper cultivator may not use all sorts of fancy offensive methods, but they will certainly use all sorts of fancy methods to escape and save their lives.

Moreover, after the younger ones are beaten, the older ones jump out – this can be considered a traditional skill in the cultivation world.

If one person can't defeat them, their fellow disciples will join forces.

Even his fellow disciples couldn't defeat him, so the elders of his sect traveled a long distance to meet him.

If even the elders of the sect can't defeat it, then only the patriarch can...

However, the old method of traversing mountains and valleys to slay demons and monsters is clearly no longer suitable for the current environment where all sorts of evil spirits and monsters roam freely.

Because fighting against demons and monsters is no longer just a matter for the cultivation world; many ordinary people are also involved.

The cultivator misjudged the target's strength and realm, as well as their means of survival and hope of escape.

If an ordinary person misjudges the strength and level of their target, they will only be left to await their fate!
The biggest reason why the Demon Suppression Divisions in various places suffer heavy losses is that they do not differentiate between the strength and realm of the targets and rigidly follow the procedures of the Demon Suppression Divisions in handling cases.

The target is a wronged soul; sending fifty demon-suppressing guards is a waste of manpower.

The target was a vengeful ghost, and fifty demon-suppressing guards were sent to deliver it to its door.

Even if a clever officer leads the team and knows to gather intelligence on the target upon arrival, they still cannot accurately determine the target's strength and level from the intelligence; they can only get a vague feeling.

'This thing looks dangerous; we need to call for help!'

'This thing didn't kill many people, so it shouldn't be a big problem...'

Then they kicked the steel plate and all of them disappeared without a trace, not even one of them managed to escape back to report the news.

After the "Great Zhou Demon and Monster Ranking System" was introduced, the Demon Suppression Divisions in various regions began to understand it...

'Oh, so they're all ghosts with transparent souls, but those with distorted faces are wandering spirits, while those with distorted faces are vengeful spirits.'

"The former can be easily dealt with by sending a few burly demon-suppressing guards to the market to retrieve a butcher's knife, while the latter requires at least a master of the Transformation Realm to lead the team to ensure success."

"Oh, so they're all beast-like monsters, but those without demonic energy are demonic beasts, those with demonic energy are demonic soldiers, and those who play with beads under the moon at night are demonic generals."

'Demon beasts can be treated as stronger wild animals, but demon soldiers need to be led by experts at the Dan Jin level to be safe. If a demon general doesn't have a master at the Hou Tian level to support him, at least a dozen Dan Jin experts are needed to have any hope of victory...'

Combined with "The Great Zhou's Special Strategy for Combating Demons and Monsters," it's as if Wang Wen is personally teaching all the Demon-Suppressing Guards of the Great Zhou how to handle cases involving different types and levels of demons and monsters in the most stable way.

This greatly improved the efficiency of all the Demon Suppression Guards of the Great Zhou in handling cases involving demons and monsters, and also greatly reduced the casualties of all the Demon Suppression Guards of the Great Zhou in handling cases involving demons and monsters!

The influence of this exchange is so great that it's no exaggeration to call it a blessing for all families!
This is why the Demon Suppression Chief refused to sign Wang Wen's name.

This is also why Wang Wen, even though he knew that the court would not grant him promotions or titles because of these two divine artifact-level strategy guides, still spent a lot of time and energy on this matter.

Fortunately, while the imperial court may act unfairly, Heaven is ultimately just.

Ever since the Demon Suppression Chief copied his strategy and distributed it to all the Demon Suppression Divisions in the prefectures, Wang Wen has been receiving merit points every now and then.

The quantity is not large, ranging from seven or eight o'clock to twenty or thirty o'clock each day.

But its strength lies in its steady, consistent flow, ensuring that every day is productive...

While drafting two documents, Wang Wen did not slack off on his self-cultivation.

From late June to late July, within a month, he spent 160,000 merit points to push the "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body" to the sixth level of extreme cold power. His physical body became so powerful that even the Dawnbreaker Spear had to use its innate true energy to force out the spear light in order to break through it!
However, when he tried to circulate the "Taiyi Salvation and Protection Sutra", he found that the ghostly magic power of the Day Travel Realm still caused his blood and qi, which were like a furnace, to show signs of withering and decay.

This undoubtedly tells him that even the Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body, which is at the ninth level, cannot withstand the power of the Ghost Immortal cultivated after the Taiyi Salvation and Protection Scripture pushes him to the sixth level. He will be unable to complete his plan to achieve perfect Yin-Yang balance and the three paths to become a saint by cultivating the physical body when he raises his strength to the peak of the human world.

He immediately put down the "Nine Tribulations Return to Origin Body" and turned around to spend more than 1.45 million merit points to upgrade the "Lightning Thunder Fist" from the sixth level to the ninth level of perfection in one go. He cleared out the more than 1.7 million merit points that he had saved up over half a year, leaving him with only more than 8,000 points.

The "Lightning Thunder Fist," a martial arts technique that combines physical skill and magic, requires only 80 points to learn at the beginner level, but by the time it reaches the ninth level, it has already reached 1105920 points.

When he clicked that "+" sign, he felt such pain that his whole body was convulsing...

Fortunately, you get what you pay for; those 1.1 million merit points were definitely well spent!
The Ninefold Lightning Thunder Fist actually condensed his immense thunder magic, which had suppressed his Ghost Dao power at the Day Travel Realm level, into one with his innate true qi, and forcibly transformed his water-attribute innate true qi, which he had cultivated through the Nine Waves of Azure Waves, into thunder true qi!

The lightning-attribute true energy that he had mastered, having achieved the unity of martial arts and magic, once became the most powerful force within his body!

Just how strong is that force?

He hasn’t found anyone to practice on yet, but based on his own feeling, he could fight ten ghost kings like Wu Dingbang before he had dispelled all his resentment and anger!
According to his previous plan, after the completion of the "Lightning Thunder Fist", it would be perfect to connect with the "Thunderstorm Power" of the seventh level of the "Nine Tribulations Return to Origin Body".

Based on the Mountain God's Decree's tendency to advance cultivation techniques by one level every three levels, and with his vast lightning-attribute true qi as a foundation, coupled with the power of thunderstorms, he deduced that he would push the power of thunderstorms in the seventh level of the "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body" to an unprecedented level!

Having cultivated the Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body to the sixth level, he already possessed the power of the Five Elements and the sixfold extreme Yin calamity within his body. By introducing the power of thunderstorms, he perfectly completed the cycle of the Five Elements and Yin and Yang.

As the saying goes, yin cannot produce anything, and yang cannot flourish in isolation!
The unprecedented power of thunder and lightning will inevitably elevate the five elements and extreme yin power already present in his body to a level that can match the unprecedented power of thunder and lightning!

That undoubtedly evolved the entire "Nine Tribulations Return to Origin Body"!
This might cause the merit points required for the final three levels of the "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body" to rise accordingly.

Only with such a "Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body" can one hope to combine it with the Thunderous True Qi of the Celestial Realm martial arts to withstand the Ghost Immortal's power at the sixth level of the "Taiyi Salvation and Body Protection Scripture"...

The "Taiyi Salvation and Protection Scripture" is a sacred scripture of the ghost path, and its status is too high. Even with his sublimated nine-level "Nine-Rank Returning to Origin Body", combined with the nine-level "Lightning Thunder Fist" and the nine-level "Boundless Ocean Divine Skill", he was afraid that he would not be able to withstand the sixth level of this sacred scripture of the ghost path!

Wang Wen even suspected that this sacred text was truly created by the Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun!
That is the Heavenly Emperor of the Six Heavenly Courts, the supreme deity of the netherworld in Taoism!

(End of this chapter)