Unlimited employment

Chapter 154, Section 153: [Five Fingers Capture the Dragon, Peace Reigns Over the World]

hold head high--

A three-hundred-foot-long dragon struggled in the mud, trying to take flight, but was grabbed by a small golden figure and swung back to the ground.

A deafening roar, mixed with the mournful cry of a giant dragon, echoed far and wide across the water, startling countless birds and beasts.

Faced with the Arhat's golden body's punches and kicks, Zhao Ji's dragon aura continued to dissipate, his internal dragon body scales peeled off, bones broke and tendons snapped, and he was overwhelmed by the absolute violence.

If the dragon's aura hadn't weakened Chen Sheng's attack, he probably could have captured this fourth-tier demonic dragon in just a few moves.

The difference between fourth-order and fifth-order is so great.

The outcome of this battle seemed to have been predetermined the moment the two sides clashed.

But at a certain moment, Zhao Ji, who had been passively taking hits, suddenly glared at Chen Sheng with a pair of huge, pale dragon eyes.

Without warning, a spherical ice block with a diameter of 100 feet appeared out of thin air.

Because no freezing process occurred, Chen Sheng was trapped inside the ice block before he could activate the [Thousand-Spoke Wheel].

Fate-based supernatural power - [Frosty Prison Technique].

This technique is only at the fourth level, but Zhao Ji mixed a large amount of dragon energy into the ice. With the special restraining effect of dragon energy on Taoist techniques, he temporarily froze Chen Sheng, who was at the fifth level.

Although this move consumed a lot of dragon energy, causing his overall size to shrink slightly, it was all worth it.

"Haha, you can move around in space, why aren't you moving now?"
"If it weren't to lure you into a trap, why would I choose to fight a golden-bodied Arhat at close range and suffer such humiliation from you?"

With a sigh of relief, Zhao Ji shook off the mud from his body and soared into the sky.

After he coiled his dragon body around in the sky several times, the clear blue sky was immediately covered with dark clouds.

A fierce wind swept across the ground, accompanied by lightning and thunder.

The spiritual energy within a radius of a hundred miles was instantly drawn in, forming a funnel-shaped tornado that was frantically sucked into Zhao Ji's body.

In the blink of an eye, wisps of golden dragon flames emerged from its teeth, brewing a new divine power within its mouth.

The so-called supernatural powers are a kind of power that is completely different from Taoist arts in essence. Because they are not restrained by dragon energy, they can be possessed by the emperor.

In comparison, the nature of Taoist arts is closer to the various knowledge summarized by our predecessors. By inscribing knowledge into the spirit, it consumes spiritual energy and incense to achieve various extraordinary effects.

The Dao of Destiny, on the other hand, is a magical effect achieved by condensing the spirit within the body and acupoints, cultivating a series of obsessive cellular consciousness entities within the flesh and blood, projecting the landscape of the mind into these consciousness entities, distorting reality, and substituting one's own mind for the mind of Heaven.

Although they may seem to have similar effects, they are fundamentally different.

One aspect is external, which involves comprehending the mysteries of heaven and earth to gain the power to seize the creation of the world.

One approach is internal, involving the continuous exploration of inner strength to rewrite reality.

Dragon energy is the soul of the people living on a piece of land. It is not a meticulously designed object, and the power bestowed upon it by the people naturally has certain limitations.

The attributes of being immune to all evil and difficult for ghosts and gods to approach only target the Taoist imprints in the Yin spirits. They are helpless against the body spirits that are merely cellular consciousness. This is why the emperor was able to possess supernatural powers.

The Dragon Qi that suppresses spirits is a power that possesses strong defensive capabilities but also has certain flaws.

hold head high--

The long, drawn-out roar of the dragon echoed through Liangshan Marsh.

After Zhao Ji's body shrank several times over again, the Dragon Flame Divine Power, which had been infused with dragon energy, had also reached its maximum.

Without daring to delay for even a moment, he instantly swooped down from the sky and opened his dragon's mouth towards the frozen block of ice that Chen Sheng had frozen.

呲!
Like a thick, fiery spear falling from the sky.

The golden dragon flames, at an unknown temperature, instantly pierced through the crystal-clear ice, engulfing Chen Sheng, who was frozen deep within the ice, and then plunged straight into the depths of the earth.

After a brief silence.

boom!
The massive dragon flames that shot deep into the earth exploded with a deafening roar, causing a golden sun to suddenly rise from the pool of water.

At that moment, the sun on the ground was even more dazzling than the blazing sun in the sky.

The light blinded the onlookers for dozens of miles. At the center of the explosion, a giant egg, golden mixed with black, rose up. After lasting for a few breaths, it exploded again, turning into rings of crimson waves that swept across the vast Liangshan Marsh.

As the crimson flames surged, the water within a hundred miles was instantly evaporated, first turning into scorching steam, and then disappearing completely in the high temperature, no longer even existing in a vapor state.

The flames also spread to Liangshan Water Village.

Qing, who was watching the battle, only had time to gather the 108 heroes into the Udumbara flower before leaping into the sky. He then saw the water fortress built on a high ground, along with tens of thousands of Liangshan bandits in the fortress, being swallowed up by the dragon flames.

Just like the sand sculptures left by the waves on the beach, they will never exist again.

The imperial army camp, which was a bit further from the explosion site, barely survived thanks to the full protection of Zhong Shidao and Yao Pingzhong, who had escaped.

call!
A hot wind carrying dust swept across the sky, clearing his face of grime, but he paid no attention to it, only staring intently at the ground and muttering to himself.

"Nothing will happen. The golden body of the Buddha's disciple and Arhat is the fifth-order Dharma body, which no one in this world can break. There will be absolutely nothing to worry about."

That's what they say, but Zhao Ji's dragon flame was so powerful that it completely exceeded the imagination of a fourth-level cultivator.

After waiting for the explosion to completely subside, Qing flew at high speed over the areas that had been reduced to scorched earth and arrived at the center of the battlefield, above a large crater radiating high temperatures.

The pit was only 300 zhang in diameter, but 40 to 50 li deep. The pit walls were covered with flowing lava from the melting of soil and rocks, and the bottom was filled with dark red magma of unknown depth.

"It's clear, stop looking. That [Solar Dragon Flame] just now consumed a full 20% of the Song Dynasty's national fortune and dragon energy."

Under the influence of the dragon's energy, the strength of the Arhat's golden body will be greatly reduced, and your Buddhist disciple may have already been reduced to ashes.

In this battle, all the fourth-level cultivators of the Taoist sect perished, but it was a good opportunity for the Buddhist sect.

"If you can abandon darkness and embrace the light now, I will treat Buddhism with the rites due to a state religion, allowing Buddhism to replace Taoism in its current position."

With a slightly hoarse voice, Zhao Ji, who had somehow transformed into the form of a dragon, descended from a higher point in the sky, wielding the Panlong Staff, the national treasure of the Song Dynasty.

It seems that the [Solar Dragon Flame] has consumed too much energy. The dragon aura connected to Zhao Ji above his head has shrunk by a full fifty feet, and even his own aura has weakened considerably.

While Zhao Ji appeared to be clarifying things with his words, his attention was actually entirely focused on the large pit beneath his feet.

On the other side, Qing was a person with extremely strong obsessions, so how could he be bewitched by Zhao Ji? He spat a mouthful of phlegm at him and said.

"Your words are as laughable and pathetic as an old farmer speculating whether the emperor uses a golden carrying pole to do farm work."

Zhao Ji, you have no idea how strong a fifth-tier cultivator is, or how perfect my Buddhist Golden Body is. A mere fourth-tier dragon flame cannot possibly break my Buddhist Golden Body. Just wait and see, the Buddhist disciple will arrive unharmed in no time. Under his leadership, Buddhism will surely become great again.

Moreover, this is a world governed by individuals; only a human can establish a Buddhist kingdom on earth, not a monster like you who was reincarnated and usurped the throne.

Qingliao was a monk who practiced the Vajra Garbhadhatu Mantra. He always regarded demons as prisoners of his Buddhist teachings, so how could he possibly regard a dragon demon?

Even though he was a fourth-order dragon king and had the status of an emperor, it was still the same.

Emperor Huizong of Zhao had been on the throne for a long time and had not encountered such an unreasonable person in a long time. In a fit of rage, he wanted to kill him on the spot.

"Hahaha, Zhao Ji, it is my Buddhist disciple who truly understands the power of a fifth-level Arhat."

"You're just a fourth-tier demonic dragon, you've never even seen a fifth-tier being, so how dare you presume to know my power?"

The voice, blessed by the profound and distant image of the Buddha, resounded in Zhao Ji's heart.

His expression changed, and he looked down into the pit, where he saw Chen Sheng's figure emerging from the lava at the bottom of the pit.

After Chen Sheng floated out, the lava on his body slid off like water droplets, revealing a radiant golden body.

Compared to before, after being tempered by ice and fire, it became even more dazzling, like a statue in a temple.

At that moment, Chen Sheng lied.

In fact, Zhao Ji's sudden use of the [Frosty Prison Technique] was extremely clever and insidious; he was caught off guard and fell into the opponent's trap.

Under the influence of the dragon's energy, the golden body's defensive capabilities were indeed greatly reduced.

Fortunately, the Arhat's Golden Body has an extremely high defense limit. When faced with an attack that breaks through its defense, it can temporarily strengthen its defense with magic power, and is said to be unbreakable until its magic power is exhausted.

The power of [Solar Dragon Flame] was immense, consuming a full 50% of his magical power before it was blocked.

However, when fighting with others, one should not lose face even if one loses the fight. In order to avoid having one's true strength revealed, one must never show one's disheveled state.

Chen Sheng calmly flew out from the bottom of the pit, took out the Sea-Stabilizing Needle from his ear, poured in ten percent of his magic power, and threw it, causing it to split into dozens of sticks, which attacked Zhao Ji, who was holding the Panlong Staff, from all directions.

Because of their superior numbers and their aggression, coupled with Zhao Ji's poor condition at the time, he managed to defeat his opponent with just one weapon.

"You had a great time just now, now it's my turn to make a move."

Chen Sheng struck Zhao Ji with his palm, and the swastika in his hand shone brightly.

Behind the lingering dark clouds in the sky, the same Buddha's light radiated, piercing through the layers of clouds.

In the blink of an eye, the clouds broke apart, and a hand covering the entire sky appeared above Zhao Ji's head.

It blocked his view, as if the entire sky were crashing down on the earth, striking the ground.

With a deafening roar, his perception of space was distorted, and he was instantly crushed under the Five Finger Mountain, unable to move.

In fact, from the perspective of an observer, Zhao Ji's physical body remained in the same place, but in his own perception, he had been forever suppressed in the palm of a giant from which he could not escape.

Afterwards, Chen Sheng used the [topknot form] to ignite a ball of Prajna Buddha fire, transforming the flames into coils of rope that wrapped around Zhao Ji's body after he returned to his original form, serving as a second seal.

Then use the [Size Ruyi] to shrink Zhao Ji's dragon body and hold it in your hand.

Unfortunately, Zhao Ji's soul was closely connected to the dragon's energy and could not be placed inside the [Lung of the Pot Heaven]. This was the only way to carry him with him.

"It's a pity that I don't have the talent to bestow divine titles and seal spirits in this world, otherwise I would definitely bestow upon you the title of 'Mandate Treasure' of the Great Song Dynasty, to manage the dragon energy on my behalf."

Chen Sheng may be able to defeat the dragon's aura, but that doesn't mean he dares to incorporate the dragon's aura into his body.

He smiled, holding Zhao Ji's body, and dragged the dragon energy up into the sky, using his [Azure Eyes] to look at the four directions of the world.

You must understand that this world is far from peaceful, and the events that occurred at Liangshan could provoke an attack from enemy states.

But what I saw next was unexpected.

In the north, the Liao Dynasty was seemingly in a state of chaos due to a rebellion by a Jurchen man named Wanyan Aguda.

In the northwest, the Western Xia Dynasty was plunged into internal strife due to a palace coup.

In Dali in the southwest, the Gao family and the Duan family are vying for power and profit, constantly forcing successive emperors to become monks, creating a chaotic situation.

"It seems that the neighboring countries will not attack us in the short term, which gives me time to reorganize the country."

Come to think of it, the founding monarchs of the Song Dynasty, the Western Xia Dynasty, and the Dali Kingdom all seemed to have been military governors of the previous Tang Dynasty. Even the Khitans who ruled the Liao Dynasty were once a tributary tribe of the Tang Dynasty.

Therefore, this ancient land now seems to be in a state of not being truly unified.

"When I have the chance in the future, I might reconquer these territories."

After capturing Zhao Ji, everything was settled.

Chen Sheng smoothly entered the capital city of Bianjing (Kaifeng) and took over all the power of the Song Dynasty.

First, they continued compiling the Wanshou Daozang (Taoist Canon of Longevity). Using the materials in the canon as resources, they spent three years working on it. With the help of the extraordinary wisdom bestowed upon the fifth-level Arhats by the [topknot appearance], they deduced the restraining spell into a golden hoop spell that could control fourth-level masters.

Among the three bindings: Tight, Forbidden, and Golden Encirclement:
The tight band is a spell of taming; punishing it will cause pain.

The restraining spell is a fixed prohibition; violating it will cause harm.

The golden headband is a curse that binds the heart; wearing it signifies loyalty.

After being put on the golden headband, the person under the curse must not harbor any resentment or disloyalty towards the caster, otherwise they will suffer the torment of having their soul refined by Buddhist fire, enduring endless pain.

In addition, the golden headband has certain positive effects on the wearer, suppressing inner demons and warding off external evil spirits, making it quite effective.

With this Taoist art as a foundation, Chen Sheng launched a brazen attack on neighboring countries.

In the fourth year of his reign, he launched a military campaign and conquered the Western Xia.
In the fifth year, he used Buddhism to influence the people of the entire Dali region and conquered another country without shedding blood.
In the sixth year, they successively defeated the Liao and Jin kingdoms, who had been fighting each other in the northern frontier for many years;
In the seventh year, they also conquered the Western Uyghurs and the Black Khan in the Western Regions.

In the eighth year, he flew to the plateau, preached the Buddha's teachings, and unified the various tribes of Tibet.

In the ninth and tenth years, he marched south into the Hengduan Mountains and conquered all the kingdoms of Dai Viet, Champa, Khmer, and Bagan on the southeastern peninsula, only then temporarily halting his conquests.

Destroying a country only requires capturing its top experts, but achieving deep rule requires a long period of integration.

After that, Chen Sheng began to recuperate and rebuild his strength, consolidating his rule over the newly conquered territories while cultivating his inner energy in preparation for his return...

(End of this chapter)