Starting from the Tiger Demon Yaksha, the demon immortality

Chapter 184, 183: Throwing the Dragon, Mastery of the Wheel of Reincarnation

Before the swirling lake water closed in the vortex-shaped opening, Li Cunxiao's figure darted out.

With a few quick taps of its toes, and a thunderous cry, it soared to the shore in a few leaps.

Looking back, the pool was now calm and still.

There was no ripple in sight, and the hidden paradise in the dark depths of the pool seemed to be an illusion.

But the small, pure gold dragon in his hand reminded Li Cunxiao that everything had actually happened.

"What exactly is going on? Yuanjue's flesh and blood?"

Li Cunxiao frowned as he looked at the short, muscular golden dragon in his palm, its appearance completely different from the tall, graceful dragon he usually saw.

Its body is robust, and the upturned snout at the front of its mouth is very obvious. Overall, it looks strong, powerful, ferocious and majestic.

In his mind, the two pairs of Makara claws on the vajra shone with golden light, which represented two opportunities to break through the barrier. However, the seven demons, including Yuanjue, were still trembling under the vajra.

"This malevolent aura originates from the golden dragon? And what is the origin of this object?"

Recalling the boiling violence and murderous intent just now, Li Cunxiao still felt a little scared.

If it weren't for the Vajra, he would have gone mad and gone berserk in that instant, with no chance of survival.

What exactly is that other space that is faintly visible at the bottom of the lake?
Could it be that some great demon is buried or sealed at the bottom of the lake?
Did that senior Buddhist monk know something about the hidden story behind this place?

However, Li Cunxiao stood there for a quarter of an hour without any movement, so he had no choice but to go down the mountain.

As for the golden dragon, since it had been devoured of its malevolent energy, it was no longer anything extraordinary.

To the naked eye, it appears to be made with a high concentration of gold, of excellent quality, with a slight reddish tint, which seems to resemble the pure gold that Dezheng described.

I picked it up in my hand, and it weighed about a pound; it was quite heavy.

As he walked, he examined the golden dragon in his hand, unaware that the monk and the Taoist priest following behind him were also frowning. After a moment, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Did you see it clearly just now?"

"No. When Yuanjue died, there was clearly no other movement. It wasn't his fault."

"Is there really something at the bottom of that lake?"

Qici and Taiyi had been keeping a close eye on Li Cunxiao's movements, and nothing unexpected happened until the end of the battle.

They even secretly admired their disciple's insidious tactics.

Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, a strong malevolent aura suddenly erupted from the bottom of the lake. The two sensed something was wrong and immediately prepared to fight.

But to everyone's surprise, in less than a breath, everything returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

However, the fact that these two masters, who had dominated the world, could not perceive what was happening in the whirlpool at the bottom of the lake in that brief moment was itself the most abnormal thing.

"If I am not mistaken, that is casting a dragon, right?"

Qi Ci seemed to have thought of something, reached into the large cloth bag on his shoulder, and pulled out a gold piece the size of half a palm.

Taiyi, with his sharp eyes, merely glanced at the tiny characters on it and said with some surprise:
"The Dragon-Throwing Scroll? Or the Dragon-Throwing Scroll belonging to the female protagonist, Wu Shi? Where did you get it?"

“Our lineage has some connection with the Pure Land School,” Qici said, thus changing the subject.

“Your Louguan Taoist sect is close to the royal family and holds many religious ceremonies and prayers. See if this is the same thing as the golden dragon in Li Cunxiao’s hands.”

Taiyi gave the senior monk a deep look, and could tell that the monk was unwilling to say more.

“Excellent. Crimson gold represents the dragon and simplicity, a blessing for mountains and rivers, and the golden dragon relays its message.”

"Although the golden dragon in Li Cunxiao's hand is somewhat different in shape from that of the Qin Dynasty, it is indeed the genuine article, made to the specifications of an emperor's sacrificial grotto."

Upon hearing this, both of them fell silent.

In ancient times, when the state offered sacrifices to Heaven and Earth, it often used mountains and rivers as objects of worship.

As the saying goes, a mountain is not famous for its height, but for the immortals who dwell there; water is not sacred for its depth, but for the dragons that inhabit it.

Mountain caves and underwater shadows, these unknown places have always been believed to be connected to paradises and celestial realms, the so-called "other worlds not of this earth".

The ritual of throwing the dragon involves binding a slip of paper inscribed with apologies and prayers, along with sacrificial objects such as dragons, knobs, and jade discs, with blue silk and throwing them into the mountains and rivers.

To deliver these things to the unknown fairyland, a messenger is naturally needed, and dragons can travel freely through the three realms, reaching everywhere and no place is beyond their reach.

In a sense, the golden dragon is the key to entering and exiting the blessed land.

A joke from a few months ago suddenly came to mind, and Taiyi and Qici couldn't help but exchange a glance.

"Could it be that the dragon boat treasure of the former Zhou Emperor Yang is really beneath this Pingdingshan Mountain?"

"That shouldn't be the case. I've been cultivating golden lotuses here for over ten years, and I've searched the entire place thoroughly, but there's nothing unusual about it."

"Legend has it that the dragon boat was a magical treasure crafted by Emperor Yang using the resources of the entire nation."

The senior monk's words carried a questioning tone, and the old Taoist priest frowned even more upon hearing this.

"Rumors are just rumors. Spiritual treasures are innate objects, given form later in life. How many such treasures exist in the world today?"

"If Emperor Yang had possessed a magical treasure back then, even if Emperor Taizong was a peerless martial artist, he wouldn't have had to flee in such a sorry state and die on the way."

Qi Ci nodded. "That makes sense."

"But only a spiritual treasure can possibly prevent us from detecting each other."

"Or perhaps, it requires an expert of our level to intervene and cover it up."

The two were startled.

"Could it be."

"Is this a dragon-throwing object?"

Li Cunxiao sat in the Sutra Repository of Tiangu Temple, with books piled up to half his height in front of him. As he flipped through them, his fingers unconsciously caressed the golden dragon.

There are only twelve hours in a day, and despite his diligence, he dared not say that he could finish reading tens of thousands of books in a few months.

Therefore, he had previously read books on mountains and rivers, geography, martial arts, and Buddhist and Taoist classics in a targeted manner, reading whatever he needed.

Books about fasting, prayer, and rituals are subconsciously ignored.

After all, martial arts are revered in the world today, and it is not surprising that ordinary people, limited by their knowledge, blindly believe in gods and Buddhas.

But a martial artist like Li Cunxiao, who can move freely in and out of water and fire, fly through the air, and do all sorts of incredible things, would certainly not believe it at all.

Gods and Buddhas are nothing more than more powerful martial artists; all those rituals and ceremonies are obviously fake, just psychological comfort. "Sacrifices to mountains and rivers, Golden Dragon Courier... Sacrificial offerings?"

Li Cunxiao closed the book, but his doubts not only remained unresolved, but actually increased.

He had just consulted the local gazetteer of Songzhou and indeed found several records of dragon-throwing sacrifices, but they were all from seventy or eighty years ago.

Pingdingshan is a famous mountain in Songzhou, so it is not surprising that the prefect would offer sacrifices to the rivers and mountains there. However, later, as the military governors became increasingly powerful and the situation deteriorated, such events became less frequent, and have not occurred in the last fifty or sixty years.

Because Bai Juyi was a pragmatic man, he used the tax revenue from the prefectures and counties for disaster relief and poverty alleviation, or to build dikes and canals, and never used it to worship ghosts and gods.

"The dragon sacrifice is a proper ritual, and there is no precedent for human sacrifice. So why is there such a heavy malevolent aura on this golden dragon?"

"Is there a demon at the bottom of the pool? Or is there something else?"

With so little information, Li Cunxiao was completely baffled. The county annals were also incomplete, with gaps spanning several decades, precisely before Bai Xiangshan took office.

The more chaotic the world becomes, the more people value martial arts, and the less attention is paid to literature.

However, among these miscellaneous books, there is an interesting anecdote related to Songzhou.

It is said that Emperor Yang of the Former Zhou Dynasty was tyrannical and cruel, extravagant and licentious. The closer he got to the fall of the country, the more frantically he plundered the people's wealth.

Later, the capital was captured by Emperor Taizong of the current dynasty, and Emperor Yang fled with countless treasures, disappearing without a trace.

People discussed it extensively, and four places were mentioned most often: Zhuozhou in Hebei Province, Daizhou in Hedong Province, Yangzhou in Huainan Province, and Songzhou in Henan Province.

Among those treasures, the most famous is the "dragon boat".

"Tens of thousands of dragon boats, phoenix boats, yellow dragons, red ships, and multi-storied ships were built... The dragon boats were four-tiered, forty-five feet high and two hundred feet long. The upper tier had a main hall, an inner hall, and east and west court halls; the middle two tiers had one hundred and twenty rooms, all decorated with gold and jade."

The four-story dragon boat is nearly 600 meters long and 15 meters high, with pavilions and halls, almost a mobile palace. The manpower and resources required to build it are unimaginable.

The book also mentions that these dragon boats are no ordinary objects; they possess all sorts of incredible abilities, even being able to travel across land and soar through the air, which is extremely exaggerated.

The book "Da Ye Za Ji" describes the scene of dragon boats traveling as "boats stretching for more than two hundred li, illuminating the river and land, with cavalry flanking both banks."

"The dragon boat is made up of nine floating boats, with a thousand people at the foot of the boat, all wearing brocade robes and holding blue silk ropes."

The fleet, stretching over two hundred miles, shone with the brilliance of the sun, illuminating the river and the land.

A thousand beautiful women skilled in martial arts served as boatmen, dressed in fine clothes with thick black hair as ropes; they were called "Palace Foot Women".

Emperor Yang and his ministers drank and made merry on a huge dragon boat, while a thousand beautiful women in colorful clothes and brocades sat below.

The deposed king, engrossed in the sights, even pointed to one of the beautiful concubines and said:
"The ancients said that beauty is like food, like a fairy, which can truly satisfy hunger!"

This woman, named Wu Jiangxian, was immediately taken as a concubine and given the title of Lady.

When Li Cunxiao read this part, he couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

With the country on the verge of collapse, he still engaged in these absurd actions; Emperor Yang's madness was simply incomprehensible.

"The essence of martial arts is to subdue demons. The more desires a person has, the more chaotic their emotions become."

"An emperor who possesses the entire world is probably the most greedy, angry, and deluded person in the world. Could it be that Emperor Yang of the Han Dynasty went mad from practicing martial arts?"

Li Cunxiao recalled that among the emperors of this dynasty, apart from the founding emperor Taizu and Taizong, most of the later successors had mediocre martial arts skills.

Perhaps this is why the royal family gradually lost control of the situation, allowing the regional military governors to grow stronger.

"In any case, the vajra being filled twice more is always a pleasant surprise."

Leaving the Sutra Repository, Li Cunxiao felt the cool autumn breeze, but instead of feeling cold, he felt invigorated.

After being reborn as a celestial being, his body transcended the mortal realm. He was impervious to heat and cold, and unharmed by water and fire.

The higher one's martial arts realm, the closer one's life form becomes to that of gods and Buddhas.

"Once I've refined these demons, the accumulated malevolent energy should be enough for me to master both the Burning Wood Blade and the Holy King's Revolving Fist."

Back at his retreat, Li Cunxiao took out paper and pen and began reading the martial arts techniques contained within the true forms of those assassins and demons.

Once you've seen the ocean, other waters seem insignificant. With such brilliant martial arts as the Holy King's Wheel Fist preceding them, these scattered and pieced-together martial arts from individual practitioners seem rather unworthy of respect.

However, Li Cunxiao had no intention of practicing; he simply read widely and applied his knowledge to other areas.

If I don't use it myself, I might be able to exchange it with someone else later.

The only thing that really interested him was the Spider-Man's ability to exhale silk, which was somewhere between releasing true energy and transforming true energy into form.

However, after careful study, he discovered that it was not a skill, but rather the demon's ability, so he temporarily gave up his plan to learn it.

As for the "Great Wisdom Abdominal Fist" that Yuanjue learned, it was derived from the "Earth Dragon Skill" of Tiangu Temple and has some unique features.

After sorting out and recording all seven martial arts techniques, Li Cunxiao put down his paper and pen. He dried the ink with his Flame-Mao True Qi and put it away.

"Now that I have obtained the complete version of the Holy King Revolving Fist, I will first push it to its peak so that I can refine the remaining Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian."

With feet apart and fists raised, the vajra gleamed with golden light, like a stream.

A dark gray wheel appeared behind him, and the sound of ocean waves seemed to echo all around, exuding an aura of unwavering stillness like that of mountains.

The golden stream washed over the wheel, and the giant wheel turned awkwardly. At first, it seemed to be rusted and lacking lubrication, but the further it went, the smoother it turned became, and there was even a faint rumbling sound.

A touch of bronze spread across the roulette wheel, and beneath the surging ocean, it seemed as if a new continent was breaking through the water and rising.

The Copper Wheel King is one of the two continents in the southeast: the southern one is Jambudvipa, and the eastern one is Purva-videha!
Li Cunxiao let out a muffled groan. As the bronze wheel gradually took shape, his ivory-white skin also underwent changes.

It felt as if countless ants were biting and crawling under the skin, causing an excruciating, agonizing sensation, while a faint glow seeped out from the pores.

boom!
Golden streams propelled the bronze wheel, its silvery hue seemingly plucked from the moon. With each turn of the silver wheel, the waters of the four seas surged.

The Silver Wheel King governs the three continents of the East, West, and South: Jambudvipa in the South, Purvavideha in the East, and Aparagodaniya in the West!
The power of the three continents and the continuous mountains and seas poured into the Wheel of Reincarnation, and Li Cunxiao suddenly felt as if he were standing at the foot of Mount Sumeru, with the Wheel of Reincarnation in his hand subduing all sentient beings in the four directions.

In the heights of Lingxiao, flowers scattered from the Thirty-Three Heavens, amidst auspicious clouds and mist.

Just one step away!
Splash splash splash splash~~~
The internal energy of the Flame-Mao True Qi surged and boiled, spontaneously flowing towards the Stomach Meridian of Foot Yangming, which belongs to the Lung Metal element.

At first, its momentum was quite strong, breaking through four acupoints in succession, but soon, even with a whole bottle of Qi-accumulating pills to replenish it, it could only barely open seven acupoints before stopping.

And this is less than one-sixth of the Foot Yangming Stomach Meridian.

Chengqi, Sibai, Juliao, Dicang, Daying, Jiache, Xiaguan, Touwei, Renying, Fenglong, Jiexi, Chongyang, Xiangu, Neiting, Lidui.
With a total of forty-five acupoints, the amount of true energy required cannot be overcome simply by the blessing of the Holy King's Wheel Fist.

"Only the Explosive Qi Pill is powerful enough."

Having experienced the power of the Explosive Qi Pill once, Li Cunxiao felt that the effects of the Qi Accumulation Pill were somewhat weak.

I wonder if that senior Buddhist monk will come again tonight?
(End of this chapter)