Da Zaojun

This secret realm was certainly not formed by the massive battle of Poyang Lake, which involved millions of people and resembled a meat grinder.

This is another version of the legend.

Even after the Ming Dynasty was established, the stench of corpses still frequently permeated Poyang Lake. Some people saw dragons at the bottom of the lake, some saw ghostly soldiers passing by, and some saw dragon boats underwater.

One of the most prominent rumors is that the large black cable transformed into a dragon spirit.

Fishermen from Poyang saw this large black cable covered with algae, many snails, and other parasitic things.

On sunny days, it floats quietly on the water, but on windy and rainy days, it changes unpredictably, like a dragon splashing water.

The people were terrified, claiming that too much blood had been spilled on the black cable, and that Chen Youliang's spirit had possessed it and become a dragon spirit.

Therefore, when the people saw this rope, they set up incense and offered sacrifices, and even built a Dragon King Temple.

Later, the temple was destroyed by the county magistrate, who also retrieved the large black cable, exposed it to the sun on the shore, and then burned it.

This secret realm was created based on this legend.

However, the background here is the Poyang Shipbuilding Bureau (the real shipbuilding bureau was the customs, which also managed shipbuilding), which was the place where ships were built in Poyang. The Poyang Navy was established on Poyang Lake, with a commander of the fourth rank, who trained the navy and patrolled the Gan River.

His main responsibilities included shipbuilding, escorting grain and tax revenue, and transporting Jiangxi's grain production out of the province via the Grand Canal.

There was another official among them, called the "Jiangxi Grain Commissioner," which was the position held by Jia Zheng in *Dream of the Red Chamber*.

Song Wuji is now the lord of Hongzhou, in charge of human affairs.

Although there are legends of demons and monsters in this secret realm, it is still generally considered a humane secret realm.

Ignoring the people on the lake shore, Song Wuji transformed into the Xuanming Black Dragon and entered Poyang Lake within this secret realm.

As soon as they entered Poyang Lake, they felt an extremely cold and sinister power. They saw that the bottom of the lake was full of standing corpses, all of which were rotten and decaying, but no fish, shrimp, turtles or tortoises were eating them.

Ghost ships and spirit ships also floated and drifted inside.

[Corpse standing]
[Walking Corpse]
[Water Corpse]
[Dragon Boat]

The corpses drifted towards Song Wuji with the current, their faces turned away, their giant-like figures and disheveled hair sending chills down one's spine.

Given this situation, it's no wonder that fishermen in the Poyang area believe there's something strange about Poyang Lake.

With a mere thought, Song Wuji, transformed into the Xuanming True Dragon, created a whirlpool in the water, throwing all the corpses aside.

[Yinlong Palace]

After passing through these shipwrecks, Song Wuji soon came across a water palace.

Upon entering, one finds a massive dragon boat inside.

The dragon boat is decorated with a depiction of a blue dragon. The dragon boat is huge, almost a hundred feet long, with a five-story tower. On the left and right sides, there are breech-loading cannons, and the bow is a single-horned blue dragon.

[Jiaomu Jiao].

Song Wuji transformed into human form and boarded the dragon boat, where he saw many iron chains and ropes.

The other warships also showed signs of burning.

A withered corpse dressed in a yellow robe but with straw sandals on its feet sat in the very center of the dragon boat, where there was a gilded dragon throne.

The withered corpse was riddled with arrows, but a crack appeared on its back, revealing that it was just an empty shell.

"Chen Youliang was actually a Wood Dragon."

These are all folk legends, saying that Chen Youliang was the Azure Dragon and Zhu Yuanzhang was the Golden Dragon.

But these are all prophecies. Zhu Yuanzhang and Chen Youliang rose to power around the same time. Both were rebel armies that started with the Red Turban Army in the south, and behind them was the Ming Cult, who jointly revered the Ming King, who was Han Shantong, the leader of the Ming Cult.

After Han Shantong's death, Zhu Yuanzhang pretended to honor Han Lin'er, the Little Ming King, before taking his place and establishing the Ming Dynasty. He then labeled the Ming Cult and the White Lotus Cult as heretical sects.

In short, the doctrine of the Ming Cult is [the Three Assemblies at Longhua, the descent of Maitreya, and rebirth in the Pure Land].

Song Wuji was secretly on guard. He had just dealt with a future evil Buddha, and now he was here.

With mindfulness, he saw a Buddhist dragon god with a dragon's head and a human body appear, which was the same as the Azure Dragon on the royal ship.

It was the Ming Cult's [Protector Dragon King].

The supreme deity of the Ming Cult is naturally the Ming Venerable, and the incarnation of the Ming Venerable is the Ming King.

Besides the Ming King, there were many other Dharma Kings who protected the faith, such as Chen Youliang and Zhu Yuanzhang, who were from different factions. In order to appease them, the Ming Cult also deified them.

This guardian dragon king was gloomy all over. Although he was in the form of a green dragon from the Horned Wood Dragon, he was surrounded by a corpse aura and evil spirits. He was the embodiment of Chen Youliang [Dragon King Divine Position] mixed with dragon aura, resentment and evil aura.

That large black python-like dragon spirit was merely a minor dragon under the command of this Dragon King.

At this moment, the warship transformed into the Yin Dragon Palace at the bottom of Poyang Lake, and naturally, it was this [Yin Dragon King] who was revered there.

The Yin Dragon King let out a low, mournful roar, but it was not pure Yang; it was a ghostly curse.

Chen Youliang's dragon aura sank to the bottom of the lake with this great battle, but the souls and spirits of his hundreds of thousands of soldiers still revered him as [King].

In the past, there were also eminent monks and celestial masters who held water and land rituals here, but none of them were able to convert or send them away, which shows how deep their attachment was.

But now... Song Wuji, transformed into the Xuanming True Dragon, is directly attacking this Yin Ghost Dragon.

What a load of bullshit Dragon King!
It's already died once, why is it causing trouble?

Furthermore, Zhu Yuanzhang's Ming Dynasty was associated with the element of fire, so why shouldn't I, Song Wuji, be associated with the element of fire?

What he saw was clearly the Xuanming True Dragon, but Song Wuji had already mastered the skill of "Water and Fire in Harmony," and his water and fire techniques had both reached the realm of having primordial spirits. He forcefully used Xuanming True Water as oil to spew out a ball of Xuanming True Fire.

The Xuanming True Water is one of the nine great true waters, extremely yin and cold, and incredibly heavy. When burned as oil, the resulting Xuanming True Fire is also extremely yin and cold, especially when ignited by yin energy, and can suppress all kinds of yin ghosts and demons.

That creature was an evil dragon born from a wood-type dragon, and it was still thinking of unleashing a curse and mobilizing 100,000 Yin soldiers when it was burned to ashes once again.

The fire only burned away evil spirits, but not the royal ship, because Song Wuji had his eye on this large ship.

This ship is a hundred feet long, with five decks, cannons, and other equipment. Although it is somewhat damaged, it can be repaired and is still usable.

The Yin Dragon was already a defeated dog, how could it withstand Song Wuji's burning? It screamed twice and then turned into ashes.

Only a small amount was refined and fell to the ground.

[Magic Item: Protector Dragon King Mask]
[Wood Virtue. Horned Wood Dragon Fragment]
Jiaomu Jiao is one of the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon.

It seems the rumors are true. Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed Kang Jinlong. Both of them had the Azure Dragon Star in their destiny, which fits the legend of one being a golden dragon and the other a green dragon.

The Azure Dragon is the head of the nine true dragons, also known as the Eastern Azure Dragon, and is said to have been a great god who created the world.

The Kitchen God directly devoured the incomplete grid, and then Song Wuji completed the last piece of the true dragon scale.

It immediately transformed into a fully grown Xuanming True Dragon, possessing power approaching that of a fifth-rank dragon.

Then, Song Wuji swept aside Chen Youliang's withered corpse and found a secret treasure chest. He then sat comfortably on the gilded dragon throne.

(End of this chapter)