Da Zaojun

Chapter 167 Lion Camel Town Mountain Protection Bureau
night.

The golden moon shines brightly.

Song Wuji looked up at the full moon in the sky.

A bright and magnificent osmanthus tree, rooted in the lunar soil, scatters countless osmanthus fruits the size of olives.

[The Emperor's Dew, the Moon's Cinnamon Fruit]

It can stimulate the mind and improve intelligence, and it can also reduce yang and nourish yin.

These cinnamon fruits, when they fell into the city, were burned by a stove fire, and the water and fire were in harmony, balancing yin and yang, and then turned into a cloud of spiritual mist.

Otherwise, if it falls on a house, the house will become a house demon.

If it lands on the city wall, the city wall will also be transformed into a demon.

Even if it is eaten by rats, cats, or dogs, it will still be transformed into a demon.

Song Wuji kept the stove fire burning, and the Taiyin Guishi transformed into spiritual mist. Although it still had some influence, it was diluted and evened out considerably.

But from afar came the roars of beasts, or inexplicable howls, pitiful cries, and eerie laughter.

At that very moment, in Taichang City, ghostly soldiers cleared the way, officials played music and danced, and paper effigies swayed and shook their heads.

[The City God Returns to His Position]
[Strangers should avoid]
[The chickens and dogs are not startled]
[quiet]
Looking over, Song Wuji saw Magistrate Tian sitting on a tall horse, dressed in a red robe and wearing flowers.

"Magistrate Tian!" Song Wuji exclaimed in surprise, "Have you finished your examination for the City God?"

Magistrate Tian dismounted and said with a relieved smile, "It's over. You've worked hard these past few days."

"Now I have obtained the title of God of the Underworld, and I am a seventh-rank ghost god, serving as the City God of Taichang, in charge of the Taichang Netherworld."

Magistrate Tian said, "Little Song, let me explain. The Netherworld is empty, the Ghost Path is broken, and the demon kings of the eighteen levels of hell have seized all the palaces of the Underworld. Only the Hall of Reincarnation remains, and it is still defended by ten generals. Behind the Hall of Reincarnation is Reincarnation, which is now also in grave danger."

"Now that we've encountered this Imperial Dew, besides the chaos caused by demons, the thing we should be most worried about is the ghosts and demons."

"When demons consume the Emperor's Elixir, it is merely a great tonic, but when ghosts obtain the Emperor's Elixir, it can directly enhance their cultivation."

"The next thing to worry about is the large number of evil spirits. The entire human world is inhabited by demons and monsters. Even during the day, evil spirits will roam around, let alone at night."

"Although I am stationed in the Netherworld, it is difficult for me to influence the real world anymore. Instead, I need to capture a large number of ghosts and demons and hand them over to the Underworld for imprisonment. Therefore, I need you to repair the City God Temple as soon as possible and create a statue for me."

Seeing the Moon Emperor's fluids flowing like rain, Song Wuji realized that this was probably the second calamity since the chaos caused by demons.

Now, having received a tip from Magistrate Tian, ​​they are even more alarmed: "Have the demons and monsters of the eighteen levels of hell already flooded into the mortal world?"

Magistrate Tian said, "Most of them do not enter and leave at will. Only a few evil ghosts who have obtained the remnants of the underworld's ghosts and gods can freely enter and leave the yin and yang realms."

"Other evil spirits mainly exist in those secret realms, which are located in the gap between Yin and Yang and are easily invaded by demons."

"These two treasures are items I brought from the underworld for safekeeping and protection. They need to be placed inside my statue and in the City God Temple."

Looking at it, Song Wuji saw a fragment of a silver mirror and a small artificial hill.

[Fragments of the Mirror of Evil]
[Amulet for suppressing evil spirits. Mount Zhengui]
"This fragment of the Mirror of Karma came from the Mirror of Karma platform that was breached by evil spirits. It can reflect sins, cause and effect, and karma."

"The Ghost-Suppressing Mountain was forged by the Five Sacred Mountains Prefecture. It is the essence of the Five Sacred Mountains and can restrain ghosts and demons. If it is cultivated and placed in the City God Temple to suppress evil spirits, it can create another Ghost-Suppressing Mountain in the Netherworld."

Song Wuji said, "We previously extracted a body from the cremation in Tian County and refined it into a container called Danxin. It can now be used as a container for the body."

"The dragon scales can also be used as a container."

“Let’s forget about the dragon scales.” Magistrate Tian sighed. “I never thought that my crippled body could still refine a cinnabar heart. Oh well, it was born from my own body, so let’s store it together.”

Song Wuji then took out three Buddhist protective artifacts: a jade lion, a golden roc, and an ivory white lion. He asked, "With this mountain-suppressing artifact and these three other protective artifacts, is it possible to rebuild the City God Temple?"

"Very good!" Upon seeing the three protective objects, Magistrate Tian immediately said, "In that case, there is no need to go through so much trouble to rebuild the original City God Temple."

"Xiao Song, you can tear down the original City God Temple."

Magistrate Tian said, "Carve shrines for me on the four city gates and place the four guardian deities there: Zhenyue Mountain on the north gate, Dapeng on the west gate, a white elephant on the south gate, and a green lion on the east gate."

"City God, this is the true City God."

"As for the statue being tainted, just place a stone statue in the open air in the center of the city, with a three-foot square base, without any domed roof or tiles to cover it."

Song Wuji was startled: "Will this work?"

“This is the most original authority of the City God. It was originally created to protect the city. What’s wrong with that?” Tian Chengbi said. “With this green lion, white elephant, and roc, plus your stove temple, which also has talismans inside, such as pottery chickens, earthenware dogs, and stone turtles, it can deter evil spirits outside and keep the livestock safe and bring light inside. That’s enough.”

"Besides, it's good for my stone statue to absorb some of the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Not setting up a temple means not setting up a threshold."

"After the temple is built, I can expend my fortune again to cast talismans and establish the twenty-four offices of the City God."

Magistrate Tian sighed, “Actually, the Twenty-Four Offices are all under the jurisdiction of ghosts and gods, and ordinary people cannot hold these positions. However, I learned a ritual in the underworld, namely ghost magic.”

"Ghost magic can use evil spirits to borrow their power. When one's own yang energy is weak, one may be countered by the evil spirits, but when one can completely suppress the evil spirits, one can use them as tools or servants!"

"This ghostly magic is a perfect match for your hearth fire. Hearth fire is the best at warding off evil spirits and strengthening yang energy!"

"If such an evil spirit is hired to serve in the Twenty-Four Offices of the City God, and this evil spirit is restrained by ghost magic, then it can indirectly obtain the power of the rituals of the Twenty-Four Offices of the City God."

Song Wuji was initially somewhat wary of the twenty-four rituals of the City God, but upon hearing about this method, his concerns were immediately dispelled.

"Wouldn't that mean that the twenty-four offices of the City God could have an evil ghost servant?"

"indeed so."

"Then, can this ghost technique be used to create more evil spirits?"

Song Wuji asked, "For example, can I cultivate ghost arts?"

"Yes!" said Tian Chenghuang. "You can even subdue not just ordinary hungry ghosts, but spirits and deities!"

"They will all become your protectors. The only thing to be careful about is that ghost magic is ultimately just ghost magic, not the great way. Evil spirits may also subtly change people's hearts."

Song Wuji nodded, thinking that although in addition to dealing with demons, there would be many more evil spirits to contend with, the ghost techniques that Magistrate Tian brought back from the underworld, combined with his own method of passing on fire and gathering fuel, made it no different from cheating.

"Oh oh oh!"

With three crowings of the rooster, Magistrate Tian's figure vanished.

Song Wuji thought to himself, "Although Magistrate Tian seems to be wholeheartedly devoted to the people, we still need to observe him for a while. After all, there's a difference between humans and ghosts. It's best not to let him interfere in matters of the human realm, but we should fully support matters concerning the ghost realm." ...

What were the results of the divination?

Song Wuji gave the [Diviner] manual from the Tiger Realm to a yin-yang master known as Hu Banxian. The exact extent of Hu Banxian's abilities was unknown, but after becoming a ninth-rank diviner, he was able to foresee some good and bad fortune.

The only thing to be aware of is that the price of foreseeing good or bad fortune is high. Although it can be compensated for by luck, it will still deplete some mysterious entities.

Therefore, Song Wuji would not easily consult divination, firstly because he trusted himself, and secondly because he felt that such things were not very useful.

Hu Banxian burned the tortoise shell, stared at it for a long time, and said, "Maintaining the status quo will bring minor good fortune, while expansion will bring great misfortune."

This is precisely the divination inscription for the journey to Jianxin County.

Last night's flood of imperial dew will rapidly increase the strength of demons and monsters. If we don't clear the path now, it will become increasingly difficult to clear it in the future.

"The divination indicates that Jianxin County has become a city of demons."

Half of Master Hu's hair was white and the other half was black, and he looked serious: "A very fierce demon!"

"A minor victory at the border?" Song Wuji frowned. "Are we left with no choice but to cower?"

"Can you figure out what kind of great demon it is?"

"I can't figure it out." Hu Banxian was quite straightforward: "Lord of the Realm, I am only a ninth-rank official, and I can only do things like predicting good and bad fortune. Moreover, this kind of divination method is quite primitive, dating back to before the Qin and Shang dynasties. The divination method I am familiar with is Xiao Liu Ren, which is good at finding lost items."

"Never mind." Song Wuji handed him a packet of calming incense: "Go back and rest well."

After a while, Song Wuji thought of something: "Master Hu, what is your birth chart?"

"Why does the Lord of the Realm ask this?" Hu Banxian asked, puzzled.

"The Iron Pillar Palace accepts disciples based on their birth charts, which include the Ten Spiritual Days, the Taiji Nobleman, the Heavenly Nobleman, the Canopy, and the Child... They have authentic Taoist methods there. If you, a half-immortal, could learn these orthodox methods, it would be better than being a half-baked practitioner."

Master Hu's eyes widened: "Is that so? I have Hua Gai! I have three!"

Upon hearing this, Song Wuji immediately nodded: "Alright, I'll give you a letter. Take it to the gatekeeper Taoist and the guest master Taoist to see what's required to become an apprentice. Even if you can't become an apprentice, you can still enter the temple to learn Taoist arts."

Master Hu was overjoyed: "Thank you very much, Lord of the Realm!"

After leaving Master Hu's place, Song Wuji personally climbed up the city gate and carved a shrine for Magistrate Tian.

Song Wuji also had a skill; one of the nine-rank rituals involved carving, which involved carving patterns on food.

Secondly, among the seven methods of the Kitchen God, building a stove is also a method of settling the temple.

Therefore, Song Wuji took direct action, since those craftsmen and workers already had enough tasks on their hands, and there was no need to add to their burden.

Furthermore, given the urgency of the situation, it is necessary to quickly place protective objects to prevent evil spirits from entering the city and causing trouble.

Of course, ordinary evil spirits cannot enter the city, but the real danger lies in evil spirits that are not ordinary.

For example, the Rakshasa demons in the Rakshasa Ghost Market, although controlled by the Weaver Girl of the Net, what if they were also affected by the Emperor's Dew? What if some Rakshasa broke free from control and influence...?

Holding the Tiger Soul Twin Blades, Song Wuji carved a shrine on the brick wall above the city gate. Because it was meant to suppress evil spirits, Song Wuji deliberately carved Magistrate Tian's appearance to be even more ferocious.

On the left and right sides of the shrine, the design of "Fire Virtue Cleanses Impurities, Heavenly Officials Have No Fear" was carved, connecting the power of the hearth fire in the city.

Only then was the talisman installed.

Once the carvings of the four city gates (east, west, south, and north) were completed, the four protective symbols were installed.

But then they heard a sound from underground that sounded like a cow or a dog barking, like some kind of animal whose tail had been stepped on.

Song Wuji even felt his feet were unsteady, as if the ground was shaking, but then the effect disappeared.

[Lion Camel Town Mountain Protection Bureau]

The green lion, white elephant, and golden-winged roc represent the three demons of Lion Camel Ridge in Journey to the West. Although they are just three protective objects, they were arranged by Song Wuji according to the "offering" method to form a unique feng shui pattern.

Under this layout, the city can draw upon the natural spirit and feng shui energy to nurture guardian beasts, namely the blue lion, white elephant, and golden-winged roc. When necessary, these beasts can manifest their illusory spirits to protect the city.

Furthermore, arranging the buildings in this pattern creates a protective barrier, which can gather vital energy, ward off evil spirits, and bring triple blessings from the Green Lion, White Elephant, and Roc. Although these blessings are minor, they can be enhanced as the city grows. Most importantly, everyone in the city will receive them.

The Azure Lion increases Qi and Blood, the White Elephant increases Strength, and the Roc increases Speed.

If one were to enter the secret chamber of Taichang Realm and observe the Qi Luck Pool, one would know that merely establishing the layout of this town had rapidly increased its Qi Luck by 10%, and it continues to grow slowly thereafter.

As for carving the statue, Song Wuji did not do it himself, but instead consulted a professional stonemason. That person was very professional; all that was needed was to choose a site before carving could begin. The only difficulty was that they needed to go outside the city to mine bluestone, which would take several days, as there were no bluestones of that size in the city.

Wood and stone are both very important resources; even in a management simulation game, these two things are fundamental.

Timber is relatively easy to find, as the Tiger Fang Secret Realm has a large area of ​​primeval forest that has already been mined. However, stone is somewhat scarce, so the city walls are built with fired blue bricks, but the carved statues cannot all be made of stone.

Even firing ceramic statues is prone to failure, let alone since Taichang City hasn't developed such a technology. Therefore, they can only ask Magistrate Tian to wait a little longer. If all else fails, they'll resort to the old method: wood bones, grass sinews, mud, and flesh…

However, this did not meet the requirements of Tian Chenghuang, who demanded that the statue be bathed in the light of the sun, moon, and stars. Clay statues were clearly unable to withstand wind and rain, so only stone statues could be used.

Even the City God Temple wasn't demolished by Song Wuji. Anyway, there would still be the twenty-four offices of the City God. The original City God Temple was just right. The statues of the gods were cleared out and it was just right to use it as an office space.

After finishing all this, Song Wuji sighed: "If this continues, I'm afraid it will hinder my cultivation. There are still a few of the five flavors I haven't found yet, the rituals for an eighth-rank gluttonous beast to manage the stove are incomplete, and it's not realistic to go directly to the Netherworld to feast ghosts and gods."

After receiving information about the underworld from Tian Chenghuang, Song Wuji became even more worried. The demons of the eighteen levels of hell had escaped, leaving only the Lunzhuan Palace to resist. They were going to host a banquet for the ghosts and gods, which was extremely dangerous.

Just then, Master Bao came knocking: "Stove manager! Found it! Found it!"

Song Wuji immediately stood up: "What did you find?"

"We've found the secret realm where Hwa Lang-jun is."

Hwarang-gun is a bee spirit who collects nectar from flowers; hence, he is called Hwarang.

Song Wuji guessed that the sweetness of the five flavors must at least contain "honey". Similarly, it is also related to Lin Pandi's nine-rank ritual. She is still missing her natal flower goddess. The Flower Prince is good at finding spiritual flowers and herbs.

"where is it?"

“In the linden forest,” Master Bao said. “There’s a big beehive there. A traveler discovered it while gathering ingredients to complete a ritual. He was then besieged by Hua Langjun and, in his panic, accidentally wandered into the secret realm. He just came out, but his condition is a bit off.”

(End of this chapter)