Da Zaojun

Chapter 219 The Secret Realm [Magpie Bridge]
Song Wuji was naturally ready to step in at any time, and now that he had mastered the True Dragon Transformation, he was even more confident in persuading him.

Lin Fajing shook his head: "It's not this. I plan to have the old man sponsor this True Water of Time. Although this thing is complicated and combines the power of time, it can only be comprehended by celestial beings. It can be used to repair the Twelve Flower Sequence Time Dial, which can be considered to make the best use of it."

Song Wuji didn't believe that everything was free; what was free could only be the most expensive. Just like the fragments of the Buddhist golden body, they were convenient to use, but who would have thought they carried a curse?

But... can Iron Pillar Palace break the bald monk's curse?
Song Wuji had no objection to Lin Fajing. This guy was quite diligent in Taichang City, grooming cats, designing blueprints, presiding over the City God Temple, and enthusiastically handing over magic cultivation manuals in exchange for work points to buy a house of his own.

However, he handed over many spells, but only those spells that did not require inheritance or lineage were suitable for ordinary people. Therefore, apart from the purification spells such as the purification mantra, the purification clothing spell, the purification water spell, and the purification food spell, most spells could only be learned by becoming a [pure and bright lineage holder].

The ordination ceremony is a nine-rank ritual in Taoism. Ordination is mandatory, but it is not mandatory. Taoist children, disciples, and lay practitioners can learn Taoist martial arts, techniques, and some basic spells. However, the recovery effect and power of the techniques are halved, and the difficulty of cultivation is greatly increased.

The Nine-Rank Ritual is called "Ordination," and those who receive the ordination are called "Ordination Students."

Song Wuji had already sent some suitable students to learn Taoism, but the Iron Pillar Palace also made them start as Taoist novices first.

Song Wuji had no desire to worship Buddha or Heavenly Venerable. He never believed that any god or Buddha could save the world; he only believed in his own power.

Only after Lin Pandi delivered the twelve-flower-shaped sundial did everyone properly examine this treasure.

This is a sundial-like object with a needle in the middle. The direction of the time is determined by the shadow cast by the needle.

The twelve two-hour periods are represented by twelve different flowers, each blooming during one of the twelve two-hour periods.

Midnight is the epiphyllum, dawn is the lotus, noon is the chrysanthemum, and dusk is the rose.

In addition, the following are also included: viburnum, pomegranate, morning glory, peony, rose, and peony.

This is a chronological order, not a monthly order, so it does not follow the arrangement of plum blossoms blooming in January and peach blossoms blooming in February, but it is still a type of inflorescence.

Similar to the twelve two-hour periods of a day, these represent the times when twelve kinds of animals appear, except one is a plant and the other is an animal.

However, a large crack appeared on the sundial, causing this treasure to lose its power of time, leaving only the "power of the twelve flowers".

Lin Fajing examined the cracks in the treasure and said, "This is a sign of mutual destruction. What has been lost is the power of the Dao, but what remains is the form of supernatural power. To repair it, one must cultivate the Heavenly Gang Great Divine Power, Flower Blooming in an Instant, to restore it. Even the True Water of the Universe can only temporarily replace it. However, it is sufficient to activate the Feng Shui array I have set up to maintain the weather and time order of the city and prevent it from becoming chaotic."

"After use, it can be returned to the Qionghua Garden, where it can slowly recover with the power of the hundred flowers."

"Then leave it to you."

Although Song Wuji had some knowledge of formations, it was all about setting up tables and offering sacrifices. He had not formally studied Qimen Dunjia or Zhou Tian Yi Suan. Even though he had gained a lot of insights in the illusion, he would not dare to say that he was more professional than Lin Fajing.

"During my seclusion this time, my cultivation has greatly improved, and I have also comprehended several supernatural abilities. Huang Qiaoyun, come with me to the Huang family compound to subdue this secret realm!"

Huang Qiaoyun had long wanted to return to the Huang family compound, and upon hearing this, she immediately said, "Let me prepare!"

During this time, she had learned to weave a ninth-grade magic robe and also made an embroidered ball, similar to a football. The inside was the true form of a ninth-grade vine demon, wrapped with five-colored ropes. The openwork was sewn with leather, and each piece of leather was embroidered with a hundred flowers. There were tassels on each corner, with bells hanging from them.

Aside from the embroidered ball, her robes were also the most elaborate in design, with various small items made using weaving techniques, referencing Lin Pandi's magical artifacts.

She made some preparations, nothing more than a rope she had braided beforehand, which she called the "Demon-Binding Rope." It was woven from demon skin and tanned with ash from the bottom of the stove in the kitchen. The key parts of the rope were braided into four trigram knots: [Xun], [Li], [Zhen], and [Qian], according to the ancient knot-tying method taught by Lin Fajing.

The more Song Wuji saw her abilities, the more he appreciated them: "The way of men farming and women weaving is in harmony with the way of heaven and earth, forming the Tai hexagram, which is a stable foundation. It's just a pity that only Huang Qiaoyun has mastered the proper rituals, while the rest are not up to standard. If it could be promoted, like the Five Elements Agriculture, the fortune of Taichang City would surely increase greatly, and the foundation of the human world could be laid."

Once the foundation is laid, there's no need to worry about logistics; one can begin expanding outwards into the human realm.

"go!"

Song Wuji walked on clouds, discarding the previous smoke and dust barrier. He planned to give this thing to Lü Han, who was a scholar with a weaker constitution, but whose Three Treasures Divine Power was not bad. It could be used to travel in the city and handle some trivial matters and government affairs.

Although Song Wuji travels by cloud, it is always more convenient to travel with someone than to travel alone.

Huang Qiaoyun was overjoyed. She touched the clouds beneath her feet and found only a wisp of water vapor. She said expectantly, "Master Tianluo Weaver said that if I open up the Huang family compound, I can complete the eighth-grade ritual, [Splendid Spirit Weaving]."

"Once you become a brocade spirit weaver, you can use spiritual threads to weave cloth without being attached to tangible threads. At that time, you can try to extract the threads from the clouds and weave them into brocade."

"However, the brocade weaving also has rituals related to dyeing and coloring, called the [Spirit Color Dyeing Woman]."

Song Wuji asked curiously, "Is the dyeing industry only for women? Can't men do it?"

"No, because this is one of the rituals of the Weaver Girl. The man tills the fields and the woman weaves, which naturally requires the support of yin energy. If a man is to complete this ritual, he must have a yin birth chart and a cold yang in his destiny in order to become a Weaver Man."

Song Wuji roughly understood that it meant that males who became weavers would undergo "gender transformation," just like the witches in the novels he had read before.

"However, the Hundred Flowers Sequence of Lin Pandi and others can actually be performed by men. Among the twelve flower goddesses, many are male flower goddesses, such as Zhong Kui, the pomegranate flower goddess, and Yan Hui, the orchid flower goddess. In opera, many of the actresses who play the roles of Qingyi and Huadan are also men, only with an extra layer of makeup. After all, most flowers have both pistils and stamens."

This was the first time Song Wuji had heard of this. He had always thought that the Hundred Flowers Sequence was related to brothels and could only restrict women, but it turned out that men could also go there.

On the contrary, the weaving and dyeing industries, due to their fixed pairing of "men farming and women weaving," placed even greater restrictions on men.

Soon, the two arrived at the Huang family compound, which was like a maze, filled with spiders and spider webs.

With a slight thought, Song Wuji sent out the fire dragon hanging from his left ear to find and kill the demons.

Huang Qiaoyun's eyes lit up as she looked at the spider silk: "Legend has it that Leizu observed spiders weaving webs and learned how to weave cloth. She searched through all kinds of insects and found silkworms. My master, the Weaver Girl of the Heavenly Net, also said that she was originally the silkworm goddess under Leizu's command."

"These spider silks possess both the properties of spider silk and silkworm silk; they are indeed demons transformed from the essence of Master's physical body."

Holding a spindle, she spun it continuously, drawing out the spiderwebs and winding them around, transforming them into delicate threads. This made it difficult for Song Wuji to set the place ablaze, lest he waste materials. After all, the people lacked cloth. It was alright now, with the weather hot, but if a harsh winter came, without cloth and clothing, many would likely die.

He ordered Fire Dragon to go out, but tried not to let him burn the spiders to death; instead, he wanted to drive the spiders out.

A short while later, a flash of bright light startled a large number of spiders in the Huang family compound. The smaller spiders were the size of a man's fist, while the larger ones were the size of a millstone.

Song Wuji directly ordered the fire dragon to kill the giant spider, which was a rank-one demon, and then took out the benevolence jar to collect the remaining smaller spiders: "Collect them!"

The Goodness Jar can also collect items, but it lacks the ability to refine them.

Raising silkworms requires planting mulberry trees, so why not try raising spiders? As for what spiders eat, we can further develop insect farming.

Huang Qiaoyun said these spider silks are good, so they must be decent. We should find a way to raise them, but we don't necessarily have to do so in this secret realm. If we master the methods of controlling beasts and insects in the future, we can let the Weavers raise a spider spirit beast that can fight and produce, just like a Pokémon.

As for killing demons of the highest rank, it's simply a matter of killing any demon of the highest rank that appears outside the world, as they are all considered to have eaten people and must be killed. If a method for cultivating them is found in the future, then it's not too late to cultivate spiders of the highest rank. Song Wuji believed that there must be many spider eggs among them.

"We can collect these threads after we've cleared the secret realm." Song Wuji looked at the jar full of tiny spiders and felt a chill run down his spine. This time, he had collected at least 80,000, if not 100,000. They were all about the size of a fist. These spiders weren't ugly; their black hairs gave them a texture that resembled agate or quartz.

Huang Qiaoyun had already collected quite a few threads, and nodded: "Okay, I'll listen to the Realm Master."

The two immediately entered the Huang family compound. Inside, there were many spider webs, but more traces of human life were preserved.

With the fire dragon clearing the way, all the ant demons, mosquito demons, dragonfly demons, and others that had been taken in by the spider demon were instantly vaporized by a burst of flame.

Song Wuji casually collected the refined items. For example, the low-grade primordial demonic energy was no longer effective for his own family, but it could be used to ignite the fire and gather fuel, directly improving the stove god's movement and the essence, energy, and spirit of all the three treasures used in the stove-making ceremony. When Song Wuji gathered fuel, each person borrowed 0.01 of the three treasures, saying that he would return double the amount.

This 0.01 is calculated based on Song Wuji's conversion. Song Wuji's Three Treasures are worth ten times that of an ordinary person. In other words, Song Wuji must give each person who gathers firewood at least two strands of low-grade original demonic energy refined into the Three Treasures of Essence, Qi and Spirit. In short, the number is enormous.

But there were many insect monsters here, some of which were of high quality and some of which were not. They were all burned by the fire dragon and refined by Song Wuji to pay off his debts.

Only occasionally was Huang Qiaoyun allowed to take action and kill some who had escaped the net.

After clearing the area around the Huang family compound, Song Wuji realized that the spider demon with two knives had definitely gone back to its lair.

After observing for a while, Song Wuji quickly found the entrance to the secret realm.

A whole box!
The box was locked.

The box is carved with the character "囍" (double happiness), and several magpies are circling around it.

Huang Qiaoyun opened the box and saw a piece of clothing inside, radiating a faint glow.

[Seamless Heavenly Garment]
The seamless celestial garment had just arrived when a hole appeared at the bottom of the box, seemingly a bottomless pit, its depth unfathomable.

"Lord of the Realm!"

Huang Qiaoyun gave the seamless celestial garment to Song Wuji. This celestial garment was made of clouds and mist, but the technique used was not the "seamless weaving" that ordinary people use. It was the close-fitting garment of the Weaving Celestial Maiden.

Legend has it that if the Weaver Girl wore this seamless celestial garment, she could transform into a "bluebird" and fly back to heaven.

However, according to Song Wuji's understanding of the Stove Book, this garment allows the wearer to take flight, calm the raging winds of the heavens, and fly thousands of feet into the sky above the clouds. It also has the effect of slightly obscuring the secrets of heaven and resisting curses. In addition, it is impervious to swords and spears, and is not afraid of ordinary weapons or common spells. Only "supernatural powers" can damage it. However, as long as it is placed in a place with abundant spiritual energy, the damaged parts can slowly recover because of its "seamless" characteristic.

It is indeed a precious garment, but it also has obvious drawbacks. It is a women's dress, and Song Wuji could wear it if he didn't mind.

However... there's no need for that.

Song Wuji handed it to Huang Qiaoyun: "Take this and go back to study the techniques. See if you can replicate this fabric and weaving techniques."

Huang Qiaoyun shook her head: "Even an eighth-grade item is difficult to replicate. One needs to obtain a seventh-grade item to attempt it. This garment must be the clothing of my master, the Weaver Girl of the Heavenly Net."

The legend of the Huang Family Compound originated from the story of the Weaver Girl in the Heavenly Net.

The two crawled into the box and entered the secret realm, where the fire dragon transformed into a torch to illuminate the way.

After sinking further, a huge spider web caught the two of them.

Looking around, Song Wuji saw that the secret realm was not very large. Not far away, there was the shimmering Milky Way Shuttle, and beneath it, a female corpse with an unchanging face lay on a bed of ice.

A spider demon with the exact same appearance as the female corpse was right next to her, its jade-colored inner core constantly being swallowed and spat out, drawing spiritual energy from the female corpse.

Upon seeing Song Wuji and his companion, the spider demon didn't even turn its head. It retracted its inner core and burrowed into a portal.

That portal was the true entrance to the secret realm. It was arched, like a bridge, and covered with many magpies.

[Magpie Bridge]
"That spider demon has actually cultivated an inner core, and its aura has just reached the seventh rank. It seems that it has just broken through."

Song Wuji did not immediately chase after them, but instead went forward to examine the female corpse and the Milky Way Shuttle.

The Milky Way Shuttle exudes an extremely dangerous aura; it is a magical treasure bestowed upon the Weaver Girl by the Queen Mother of the West.

only……

How can we subdue and take it away?
Even this corpse must be returned to the Heavenly Weaver Girl. The Heavenly Weaver Girl in the Rakshasa Ghost Market is essentially just a distorted primordial spirit, without a physical body.

(End of this chapter)