The world is like a prison, my body is holy

A snowy night in Qin Prefecture.

Wang Wen sat alone in the courtyard of the Western Army Commander's Mansion, guarding a tea set.

The copper kettle, bearing the mottled marks of time, bubbles and spews steam over the small red clay stove. It mechanically and steadily repeats the tedious yet timeless process of washing, brewing, and pouring tea, then pours cup after cup of clear amber tea onto tea pets, filling the courtyard with the sweet aroma of the tea.

The biting cold wind slowed its pace as it passed through other places.

The heavy snowflakes, falling elsewhere, automatically drifted away to other places.

He sat alone in the courtyard, yet it seemed as if he were in another world...

The snow and wind are silent in the night, with only the lonely moon for company.

Until dawn, after repeating the tea-making process countless times, he finally brought a cup of scalding hot tea to his lips and drank it down in one gulp, just like drinking alcohol.

The teacup gently landed on the tea tray.

His figure then disappeared into the courtyard.

A vibrant star has appeared on the otherwise starkly black and white western sky.

……

Ten days later, the Wells-branded human pig, escorted by eight imperial guards, entered the Wende Hall of the Imperial City in Tokyo.

Inside the Wende Hall, Emperor Tianqi, Chai Shen, dressed in imperial robes, received this uninvited guest from another world, accompanied by the immortal leaders of the three talisman sects who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news.

"Squeak..."

The palace gates slowly closed, and the four men looked down at Wells with horror in their eyes.

Wells looked up at the four, his mental energy surging: "Your Majesty the young king, the three esteemed archbishops, please allow Wells, the humblest hound of my lord, to introduce the plane of Yilinras to you..."

This New Year, Emperor Tianqi was unable to hold the grand banquet he had longed for...

……

In the fourth year of the Tianqi reign, the first bombshell to explode in the court and among the people was the Tianqi Emperor's personal proposal for peace talks between the North and the South.

On the second day of the second lunar month, the Grand Eunuch Liu Zhi'en arrived at the Yangzhou General's Mansion once again and read out the imperial edict that "Wang Wen is hereby granted the title of Prince of Weiwu and Grand Tutor, and the title of Prince of Huai and Grand Preceptor, with the title of General of the Cavalry, to be hereditary and perpetual, and to share the fate of the nation."

On the sixth day of the third month, the grand imperial guards escorted the emperor's entourage to Huangshan to perform the Fengshan ceremony on behalf of Emperor Tianqi. They presented a sacrificial text to Wu Yanzu, the Lord of Huangshan, recognizing him as "Zhou Tian Fu Mo Da Di Shen Wei Zhen Yuan Wu Sheng Di Jun" and respectfully presented him with imperial robes... Five-colored auspicious clouds descended from the sky to congratulate them!
On the fifteenth of July, Emperor Tianqi set up a round altar with a square base in the center of the imperial city and personally led all the civil and military officials to worship "Martial Saint Emperor" Wu Yanzu.

From then on, Wang Wen's power and faith in the Great Zhou gradually reached their peak!

In the same year, on the day of Liqiu, Wang Wen traveled from Longxi through Zhenyuan Pass back to Zhoutian Academy in Yangzhou and presided over the first graduation ceremony of Zhoutian Academy.

The students of Zhou Tian Academy, who had completed their three-year term of study, formed a young yet vibrant force and scattered across various sectors of the Great Zhou Dynasty. They embarked on a long and bright journey of perseverance to realize the unrealistic dream of their beloved principal, Wang Wen.

On the winter solstice of the same year, Wang Wen bestowed upon Zhi Baiqing the title of Water God of the Huai River and Demon Suppression General, commanding 20,000 demon troops to cleanse the land and eliminate all disobedient demons and monsters. Upon hearing the news, treacherous demons and monsters from all over the land colluded and launched an uprising at Beiman Mountain. They wanted to take advantage of the fact that most of the Huai Prince's forces were tied down at Zhenyuan Pass in Longxi to overturn the Huai Prince's iron-fisted suppression of the cultivation world of the Great Zhou. However, they were ruthlessly crushed by Zhi Baiqing, who had recovered to his full strength.

In this battle, Zhi Baiqing slew over 100,000 rebellious demons and monsters in Beiman Mountain. He also used the essence and blood of these 100,000 demons and monsters to break through the two-thousand-year-old shackles of the wandering corpse realm and achieve an incorruptible body... This is already the strongest zombie body, second only to the four ancient zombie kings!

After the Battle of Beiman Mountain, Zhi Baiqing led his army north and stationed troops in Xiongzhou to deter the shamanism in Liaodong.

On the fourth day of the third month of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign (the Spring Equinox), after several rounds of negotiations, eight hundred demon spirits of the Liaodong Shamanism surrendered to the Huai Prince's mansion. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Prince Qin, Chai Kun, led his troops north. After a six-month-long battle, he finally crushed the Jurchen Wanyan tribe, which had captured Huining Prefecture at the beginning of the year. After the city fell, he did not sheath his sword for three days.

From then on, the Huai Prince's Mansion, headed by Wang Wen, effectively unified the cultivation world of the Great Zhou Dynasty. Among the millions of cultivators—humans, ghosts, demons, and spirits—in the Divine Land, all regarded the Huai Prince's Mansion as the most revered.

……

The seventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the fifth year of the Tianqi reign.

Sandbars and Zhenyuan Pass, the sky is overcast and the north wind howls.

With his armor mottled and his body covered in blood, Wang Wen, supported by several Demon-Suppressing Guards, slowly jumped off the Mo Qilin, which was crawling on the ground and was also covered in blood, carrying a bent silver spear.

"Thanks for your hard work……"

Wang Wen gently stroked the black Qilin's round head and said softly, "After this fight, the other side should be quiet for a month or two. You should take good care of your injuries. If you want anything to eat, just tell me, and I'll get it for you..."

The black Qilin shook its large head with difficulty and rubbed it against his palm. Then, its massive body slowly shrank under his palm, transforming into the form of the Wudi Black Bull. Its head rested on its front hooves, and it panted like an exhausted dog, its eyelids drooping, too weak to even speak...

Wang Wen tenderly stroked his mount's forehead, then waved to the side without turning his head. Immediately, a group of burly Demon-Suppressing Guards rushed over carrying steaming hot food, hurriedly serving Hei Erniu as he ate: "Master Niu, let's eat a couple of bites before we go to sleep?"

"This is your favorite scallion pancake roll!"

"Yes, yes, just two more bites, ah..."

Wang Wen watched as a group of demon-suppressing guards coaxed and tricked Hei Erniu, whose eyes were barely open, into eating. He smiled weakly and said, "Fine, let it sleep for a while first, and eat when it wakes up..."

As he spoke, he reached to his waist and pulled out two thick "cigars" between his fingers.

He put two cigars in his mouth, spitting out a wisp of fire from his fingertip to light them, and then unleashed an epic burst of gas.

"call……"

He slowly exhaled a thick cloud of smoke. The medicinal power of the elixir, a thousand times stronger than nicotine, slightly relaxed his tired and anxious nerves, and even made his throbbing temples feel much better.

He bent down and put a cigar into Hei Erniu's mouth. Hei Erniu, with his eyes closed, habitually took the cigar in his mouth and sucked half of it in one gulp...

Wang Wen smiled, put away his silver spear and armor, and sat down on the spot, leaning against Hei Erniu, wearing only a thin undergarment soaked with sweat. He sipped a cigar and waved, saying, "Get me some food."

The battle they just finished lasted for seven days and seven nights, and its aftershocks shattered the mountains and rivers for hundreds of miles outside the pass. It was only with great difficulty that they managed to wear down the fourth subordinate god under the Undead Lord, the terrifying knight Auguston.

For the past two years, he has spent the vast majority of his time within Zhenyuan Pass, defending against the invasion of the Undead Monarch into the Great Zhou plane.

To be precise, Zhenyuan Pass, where he stood, was just an abandoned border town two years ago.

It was because of his arrival that this desolate border town was transformed into the magnificent Great Zhou Dynasty's formidable pass, now with walls ten zhang high and capable of holding two hundred thousand fierce soldiers and over five hundred thousand auxiliary troops!

Even though Wang Wen had gathered nearly 80% of the Great Zhou's high-end combat power and filled this formidable pass, it was still becoming increasingly difficult to cope with the escalating interdimensional invasion wars.

From the very beginning, it was a motley crew of mercenaries, led by Hoffman and Wells—whom Wang Wen could easily crush with a single finger—who invaded the Great Zhou.

At present, a high-ranking general under the command of a plane lord is leading a large number of high-level undead creatures such as skeleton kings, frost dragons, death knights, and liches to invade the Great Zhou Dynasty...

Only two years have passed!
Wang Wen still hasn't figured out why the undead lord of the Yilinras plane is so relentless and all-out in his pursuit of every invading plane.

Or perhaps there was something about the Great Zhou that particularly attracted that undead lord, making him determined to conquer it at all costs, even sending his fourth subordinate god to his death despite the imminent danger...

But he guessed that it was most likely the latter.

Because, based on all the information he currently has about the Yilinlas plane, he has a very strong sense of déjà vu regarding it as a makeshift operation.

Look at the Heavenly Court and the Underworld that once ruled the Great Zhou world: the Three Pure Ones, the Four Emperors, the Five Elders, the Six Ministers, the Seven Primordial Elements, the Eight Extremes, the Nine Luminaries, and the Ten Capitals... How complete the system was and how sound the laws were.

Then look at the Yilinlas plane: a Dark God King, two main gods each leading a bunch of strange and miscellaneous subordinate gods, and that's it.

A plane is like a political party; the clearer the organizational structure and the more explicit the political program of a political party, the stronger its organizational power and combat effectiveness.

A political party with a more chaotic organizational structure and a more vague political platform is weaker in terms of organizational strength and combat effectiveness.

What could be the purpose of a chaotic plane that seems like a practice creation of the great god Pangu relentlessly invading a world like the Great Zhou, a world with perfect and complete laws?
Of course, this is just Wang Wen's guess.

Currently, all his understanding of the "Three Thousand Planes" and the "War of Dimensional Ascension" comes from a group of "traitors" led by Wells.

But even a demigod isn't a high-level soldier. How much profound understanding could they possibly have of a catastrophe that spans countless planes?
Those who blindly believe them will never know how they died!

The only thing Wang Wen was certain of at the moment was... if the fighting continued like this, the undead lord from the Yilin plane would soon descend upon this world. In interdimensional wars, the battles between the two sides' living forces are merely the most superficial aspect.

The true nature of interdimensional warfare is a zero-sum game in which the laws of different dimensions devour each other.

Just like right now, it seems that Wang Wen is leading hundreds of thousands of elite troops to block the interdimensional passage and kill many undead creatures that have crossed over from another dimension.

In reality, however, the 'undead concept' of every undead creature that dies completely outside Zhenyuan Pass is subtly eroding the laws of this world.

When the laws of the dead in this world are sufficient to allow the arrival of that undead lord, He will descend upon this world.

As one side grows stronger and the other weakens, the divine authority of the Great Zhou world will likely have almost no control over this land.

Otherwise, how could a high-level Death Knight whose absolute strength is only slightly stronger than that of an Earth Immortal have fought him for seven days and seven nights?
This unsolvable problem is the source of his anxiety...

With this thought in mind, Wang Wen habitually summoned the Imperial Seal and glanced at it.

Just see:

[The Great Emperor Tianqi Renwu of Mount Huangshan (Zhou Tian Fu Mo Da Di Shenwei Zhenyuan Wu Sheng Di Jun)]

[Achievements: 145896426]

[Yin De: 4462134]

Merit: 6589648

[Yin Shen: Ghost Immortal (+)]

【Shrine: Huangshan Shrine】

[Hundred Schools: Taiyi Salvation and Protection Scripture (Seventh Heaven) (+), Pot Heaven Technique (Perfect), Heavenly Punishment and Earthly Annihilation (Perfect), Withering and Flourishing Annihilation (Perfect), Nine Tribulations Returning to Origin Body (Nine Levels) (Perfect), Boundless Ocean Divine Skill (Twelfth Level) (+), Inch-Strike Opening Heaven Spirit (Perfect), Twelve Terrifying Spears (Perfect), Pointing Through the Surface (Entering the Inner Chamber)...]

In the past two years, during the fierce battle with the Yilinlas plane, he has gained a huge amount of merit points, merits, and virtues.

Perhaps for the sake of protecting the world, the Heavenly Lord was extremely generous in the settlement of merit points, yin virtue, and merit in this protracted war, almost 2 to 5 times that of the demons and monsters of the same strength in the Great Zhou Dynasty.

The undead lord possessed one and a third of a plane, with a vast army under his command. Each invasion of the Great Zhou world involved hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops. Wang Wen's harvesting of them was like gambling, going all in and overcoming all obstacles.

In addition, there was the "achievement" he gained from leading the resistance against the invasion of the Yilinlas plane, sweeping through the entire cultivation world of Shenzhou, and restoring the bright and clear world of Shenzhou...

In the past two years, Wang Wen has been accumulating tens of thousands of merit points and thousands of good deeds every day, even while he is asleep.

After obtaining these merit points and virtues, he did not hide them. Apart from the Yin spirit realm related to his "Trinity Body Sainthood" cultivation plan and the related "Taiyi Salvation and Protection Sutra", which he did not touch, he would immediately click away any plus sign that appeared in any other item.

Including the many new techniques and methods he has learned during these two years of fierce battles.

And his divine status!

Contrary to his expectations, the former Central Town Huangshan Prefecture Lord's divine position did not directly advance to the level of the Five Sacred Mountains Emperor as he had anticipated.

Instead, she was first promoted from one of the Five Mountain Gods to the head of the Five Mountain Gods, Huangshan Yuanjun, whose divine duties changed to guarding the stability of the five directions, including the mountain gods and land gods, the weather, the people's livelihood, and so on.

In short, as the head of the Five Mountain Gods, he can temporarily assume the duties and powers of the other four Mountain Gods when their positions are vacant.

From that moment on, his jurisdiction expanded from the Central Plains to the entire Divine Continent, and the promotion channels for the warriors and underworld officials under his command suddenly expanded from the City Gods, Judges, Mountain Gods and Earth Gods in the Central Plains, Huainan and Jiangnan to the Mountain Gods and Earth Gods of the entire Divine Continent and the City Gods and Judges in Huainan.

He was promoted again and finally became one of the Five Great Emperors, becoming the Central Peak Huangshan Zhongtian Zhenyuan Emperor. The Huangshan Temple in Huangshan Cave was then upgraded to Huangshan Divine Court, and his divine duties changed from guarding the four directions to ruling over all the land, mountains, rivers and forests in the world!
The change from "guarding" to "commanding" may seem like there is not much difference, but in reality, he has expanded more than tenfold through the laws and powers that can be manipulated by divine authority!
That was in the latter half of the fourth year of the Tianqi era. The intensity of the interdimensional war was far from what it is now, and the leaders were just large-scale grunts like high-level frost dragons and high-level death knights.

During that period, no matter how many undead creatures squeezed out of the dimensional portal, he could slap them all away and reduce them to ashes!

By the beginning of the fifth year of the Tianqi reign, he had accumulated enough merit for his next promotion to a higher divine position. Without hesitation, he elevated his position from "Zhongyue Huangshan Zhongtian Zhenyuan Dadi" to "Zhongyue Huangshan Tianqi Renwu Dadi," the head of the Five Sacred Mountains. He thus fulfilled his wish to rule over the gods of the underworld and, based on the Huangshan Grotto-Heaven, rebuilt the Underworld...

The promotion of "Zhongyue Huangshan Zhongtian Zhenyuan Dadi" to "Zhongyue Huangshan Tianqi Renwu Dadi" cost him a full 1.2 million Yin virtues!

This is why the amount of unseen merit he possesses is far less than the amount of true merit he has accumulated.

According to the usual pattern of the Imperial Seal's upgrades, the next upgrade to godhood will be five times, and it will be the last five-fold upgrade. The one after that will be six times.

His divine position is already close to reaching the pinnacle of the Earth God system. He doesn't know whether to continue strengthening the Earth God's divine duties and recreate the Netherworld Lord who even controls the souls of innate gods, or to break free from the shackles of the Earth God and develop towards becoming a high-level celestial god.

Wang Wen preferred the latter.

After all, the path of the Earth God system has too many restrictions, and he is almost at the end of it. Once he reaches the end and can no longer advance, his first-mover advantage will completely disappear, and he can only watch helplessly as other immortals and gods surpass him.

As for the celestial deity system, there is still a long road ahead. Although the Five Sacred Mountains Emperors have imperial titles, they are only mid-level deities in the entire celestial and earthly deity system, at most on par with the Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, the Gods of Thunder, the Nine Luminaries, and the Twenty-Eight Mansions.

At the next level, there are high-ranking deities such as the Five Elders of the Five Directions, the Six Heavenly Emperors, the Golden Mother King, and the Three Officials.

One level above that, there are super giants at the level of the Three Pure Ones and the Four Emperors...

He secretly speculated that it was most likely the latter.

The reason is simple... The Heavenly Lord urgently needs a great general who can shoulder the burden and protect Him from the cruel interdimensional war. Otherwise, once the laws of the Great Zhou world are completely swallowed up by the laws of the Yilinlas plane, He will be gone.

Is there anyone in the Great Zhou Dynasty who is more capable in combat and more in control of the situation than Wang Wen?
Zhi Baiqing?
Not to mention that Zhi Baiqing's position as the Water God of the Huai River was personally conferred by him, he did not open up any channels for Zhi Baiqing to be promoted, thus blocking Zhi Baiqing's subsequent path to advancement.

The fact that Zhi Baiqing is a zombie without a primordial spirit means that he is destined to be unable to deeply bind with the Heavenly Dao.

Furthermore, ever since he was promoted to "Zhongyue Huangshan Zhongtian Zhenyuan Great Emperor", his combat power has completely surpassed that of Zhi Baiqing. After Zhi Baiqing cultivated an indestructible body, he was promoted to the head of the Five Great Emperors, "Zhongyue Huangshan Tianqi Renwu Great Emperor", and his combat power was still able to completely suppress Zhi Baiqing.

From this rather utilitarian perspective, as long as Wang Wen remains useful to the Heavenly Dao Lord, the Heavenly Dao Lord will continue to give him the green light.

Speaking of emotions... Wang Wen has served as the chief of the Heavenly Dao for so many years, shedding blood and making contributions for the Heavenly Dao. Even if he has no merit, he has still worked hard, right?

In short, the road ahead is long but also bright...

Holding such a good hand, if he doesn't play it like a royal flush, I'm afraid that even ten thousand years from now, he might still be able to slap himself awake while he's asleep!
……

Wang Wen summoned the Imperial Seal and immediately spotted the radiant "+" sign after "Boundless Divine Power of the Great Ocean".

He took a big, delighted puff of his cigar, and laughed with a sigh of relief, "Finally, I've collected enough!"

Indeed, just as he had predicted, even with twelve levels of this divine skill, he still couldn't advance his martial arts realm to a higher level; there was indeed a thirteenth level after the twelfth.

And indeed, advancing from the twelfth level to the thirteenth level would require a full 140 million merit points, just as he had calculated before!
In the past two years, he had tried to change his martial arts technique. He even contacted the peerless swordsman Zhang Yong through the channels of the three talisman sects, hoping to exchange Zhang Yong's martial arts technique for a high price.

Even the peerless swordsman Zhang Yong, who had reached the level of a terrestrial immortal, did not possess any martial arts techniques above the Innate Realm. According to him, he cultivated himself into a terrestrial immortal through swordsmanship, and his swordsmanship was the culmination of his life's experiences, without any reference value.

Wang Wen himself was a martial arts expert at the Divine Realm, so he naturally knew that the traceable martial arts lineage of the Great Zhou Dynasty only went up to the Innate Realm. The subsequent realms were entirely achieved by generations of brilliant martial arts masters who used great wisdom and perseverance to break through.

This is like having no stairs between the second and third floors. Most people are trapped on the second floor, while only a very few exceptionally talented individuals can reach the third floor through unconventional methods such as high jump, pole vaulting, or gecko wall climbing.

Just as no two leaves are exactly alike, no two unconventional people have exactly the same experience. Therefore, the way others climb to the third floor is not worth learning from.

Wang Wen had no other choice but to focus on accumulating merit points...

His "Trinity Physical Achievement" cultivation plan had already achieved its expected goals two and a half years ago, with the cultivation of both the physical body and the spirit already reaching its objectives.

He had already found the method to integrate the three paths of cultivation, and he had even prepared enough merit for that method.

They are just waiting to reach the desired level of martial arts cultivation so they can proceed to the next stage of training.

Unexpectedly, his martial arts realm was stuck for two and a half years!

In this matter, he also had to thank the undead lord of the Yilinlas plane. If it weren't for that kind person's tireless efforts in sending him so many walking experience packs, he didn't know when he would have been able to accumulate so many merit points and virtues.

If Wang Wenruo successfully switches to the path of physical immortality, that anonymous venerable undead lord who does good deeds will undoubtedly become his number one mentor! (End of Chapter)