Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 185 The Immortal Lineage, Using a Chicken to Lay Eggs (Seeking Subscriptions and Votes)
Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle!
Wang Cheng felt it more strongly than the others. He clearly heard a rapid scratching sound from above, as if something was trying to penetrate the boundary of the world in the book and crawl into "Water Margin".

Fortunately, this was not the first time he had encountered such strange and bizarre events.

When Wang Cheng finished writing "On Sea Power" last time, the book was so powerful it shocked even the gods and ghosts. The situation was a thousand times more serious than this time, and Wang Cheng was already mentally prepared.

You must not panic at this time, especially not be afraid. If you lose your courage, the other party will take advantage of the situation, and the fake will become real.

He immediately shut his mouth and guarded the light in his heart.

A point of blue light shone from the top of the wick, which was made of two talismans and obsession, and then shone brightly, illuminating the whole body.

Then, three flames of fortune, prosperity, and longevity burst forth from the top of his head and his shoulders.

Although the flames flickered slightly under some invisible pressure, they remained as steady as a mountain from beginning to end.

However, he was clearly not the only one who was caught off guard by danger and hidden danger, nor could everyone remain as calm as he was.

"Aaaaaah! Don't come any closer! Don't come any closer!"

In another corner, a seventh-rank official, who had somehow overheard something in the coded messages, suddenly covered his ears and screamed.

That wasn't enough. Suddenly, he pulled out a dagger and stabbed it into his own ear canal until blood gushed from both ears. Only then did he seem to catch his breath and stop convulsing and screaming.

The ability to hear thunder greatly enhances the senses of the court officials, making them far more likely than other officials to inadvertently come into contact with unclean things.

"Young man, how are you?"

Several water officers nearby took out talismans and pills, ready to step forward to treat the patient.

Suddenly, he looked up. One eye was normal, but the other eye seemed to have a life of its own, darting around and even turning over to look into the inside of his skull.

Then his mouth stretched into an arc that no human could possibly achieve, and he let out a sharp roar that was not his own:
"No going out to sea! No going out to sea! No going out to sea!"

Then he drew the short-handled musket he was carrying, aimed it at his own head, and pulled the trigger sharply. The pure yang life fire instantly ignited the medicinal pool.

boom!
Blood and brain matter splattered all over the faces of the people around him.

The Yellow Turban warriors had anticipated this and stood in front of the original treasure map to prevent it from being stained with blood, remaining indifferent to the dead man.

Shipwright Ye Chun then brandished his whip again, ordering everyone to continue working.

Although everyone was wary of the cipher, they didn't know whether failing to break through the plot loop or studying the cipher was closer to death, so they could only grit their teeth and continue deciphering.

Wang Cheng sensed the positions of his three squadrons and used the [Cross-Ocean Star-Tracking Technique] to calculate the distance to the next watch.

They calculated that it would take them about two more days to reach the ocean outside Qingque Temple, where they would use their overflowing firepower to cover the two fourth-rank officials and a large number of Qingliu party members.

Suppressing his anger, he added another note to Qingliu's record:
"Now is not the time to stand up for yourself. We'll settle accounts with you when reinforcements arrive."

Continuing to listen to the rest of the eulogy using [Thunder Listening], I finally roughly understood what it was saying:
"The two most crucial sentences in the entire eulogy are 'In the end of the Yankang era, the immortals vie for the throne! The ancient qi of the six heavens bestows official titles and ranks!' The rest are all annotations."

The practice of Shinto cultivation has been said to involve 'five kalpas' since ancient times: Longhan—Yankang—Chiming—Kaihuang—Shanghuang.

The so-called "Yankang Calamity" is a specific calamity cycle, referring to a state of yin and yang being indistinguishable, chaotic and ignorant, which is similar to the overall atmosphere of yin and yang being mixed together in this world.

As for the "Six Heavens Ancient Qi", it's not too new. The "blood sacrifice across the river" that we encountered in Yuegang was a special ritual performed by the people of the pre-Qin period to worship the Six Heavens Ancient Qi.

To this day, only the term "six-day ancient qi" remains in ancient texts.

Later generations did not even know which six qi they were, only that they were a kind of Dao qi, just like the righteous qi of the Three Officials, and that they might have manifested as some kind of ghost or god, just like the Three Officials.

However, because it opposed the righteous spirit of the Three Officials, it was ultimately replaced by the latter, which led to the prosperous and flourishing world of divine cultivation we see today.

However, when this word appears in the sacrificial text of the treasure ship's naval commanders, it carries a completely different meaning.

"Everyone knows that immortals ascend to heaven in broad daylight, while gods are worshipped after death."

Superior-rank ghosts and gods are everywhere, but no one has ever seen an immortal who can live forever.

The only known place in the world where immortals and elixirs are definitely found is the deep ocean beyond the mountain and sea curses.

Since it says above, "the immortals are vying for the throne."

Could it be that in the pre-Qin era, before the Han Dynasty sages established the Three Officials Alliance and pioneered the path of spiritual cultivation, there was also a golden age of immortal cultivation in China, where both body and mind were cultivated?
Even when the Celestial Master destroyed mountains and temples, he did not eliminate the six ancient energies related to the immortals. Instead, he caused them to retreat into the sea, which became the source of many evil spirits.
If the guess is correct, the third party who interfered when Mao Haifeng and Wang Cuiqiao gave birth to a strange baby was very likely a ghost or spirit transformed from the Qi of the Six Heavens.

No, perhaps it should be called one of the 'immortals'?

Looking back at those scumbag immortals' methods of cultivating both body and soul, are they truly the lineage of immortals?

Wang Cheng read the obscure text again but found no more useful clues, not even the name of the Six Heavens Ancient Qi.

It is completely different from the well-known Heavenly Official [Jade Void Divine Firmament True King Qi], Earthly Official [Immortal Capital Fire Thunder Treasure Light Qi], and Water Official [Heavenly One Water Golden Toad Qi].

Although Wang Cheng felt that the Dao Qi corresponding to his own Water Official was lacking something compared to the former two, and was far less domineering than them.

"what?"

After gaining some insight, he suddenly noticed that wisps of light emerged from the Niwan Palace of all the officials, including himself, and gathered above their heads to form a fragmented jigsaw puzzle.

The puzzle piece corresponding to Wang Cheng was the sacrificial text that had just been deciphered.

Two stones, one sharp and one blunt, floated in mid-air overhead. [Fu Ying Zhen Wu: Zhuo Mo (a treasure of the state).]

Jade artifacts used for sacrifices to the land are called jade cong, which is a square jade object; those used for sacrifices to heaven are called jade bi, which is a round jade object. The Imperial Seal of the State, which was commissioned by heaven to ensure longevity and prosperity, was taken from the He Shi Bi.

The ancient method of processing jade was to use sharp stones to carve it and then use blunt stones to grind it; this is the origin of the term "carving and polishing".

Like cutting, polishing, carving, and grinding. When a person focuses intently on 'carving' within a ten-zhang radius, they can gain three times the insight by expending three times the effort.

However, whoever borrows the two stones to refine their understanding must pay the stone's owner all their insights as payment.

Upon seeing this treasure, Wang Cheng felt a surge of emotions, a subtle sense that he had been manipulated by capital.

"This is even worse than my loan of gratitude!"

"How dare someone take advantage of me, Master Wang?"

Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng had clearly been on guard against them. The parts of the cipher they filled in, which they had painstakingly deciphered, would immediately be absorbed by the world within the book.

Even if you make some money, don't even think about using counterfeit goods to deceive people.

At first, Wang Cheng thought of giving the Guishan Academy some extra work, such as having them practice the "Nine Yin Manual" in reverse, and if the Heavenly Craft Treasure Ship they built didn't explode, he would consider it a loss.

But now, a feeling of unease settled in my heart:
"Novelists who deal with words all day long are really skilled. It's hard to make a fortune quietly while planting landmines for them."

They had no choice but to put aside their thoughts and carefully interpret the drawings, while sending out bookworms to copy all one-third of the drawings first.

He skipped over the "Star Chart for Crossing the Ocean," which had both pictures and text and was easier to decipher.

He definitely wouldn't go before he was promoted to the third rank.

We should start focusing on studying those ingeniously crafted ships, and at least produce one or two results to break the cycle of "Song Jiang defeating Grand Commandant Gao twice" before making any further progress.

Browsing through the general construction plan, he quickly discovered that the most crucial general technologies for the thirty-six Heavenly Craftsmanship Treasure Ships were actually quite similar, consisting of only a few items.

All of them rely on magic and are not ordinary technology; they can also be called divine technology.

First, the power system [Thunderfire Cardinal]: These warships are not entirely driven by wind, but are simultaneously driven by the Yin-Yang Thunderfire Cardinal, which is very powerful. The maximum speed can be calculated to be about 30 knots (55 kilometers per hour).

Second, the control and transmission system [Luban Pillar] integrates the power of the entire ship, making the Tiangong Treasure Ship a unified whole.

Third, the Ship God's Blessing System [Golden Jade Shrine] invites the gods to reside there, maximizing the power of the spirits and ensuring safe navigation.

Fourth, the combat system includes features such as the Five Thunder God Cannon, Ten Thousand Dragons Emerging from the Water, and Divine Fire Golden Crow.

Fifth, the secret techniques of refining and collecting treasures can be used to build different treasure ship carriers from different materials, making each ship unique.

Wang Cheng discovered that the [Surrounded Dragons] in his hand and the [Blood-Soaked Boat] in Lin Daoqian's hand were most likely one of the secret techniques for controlling and refining the Heavenly Craft Treasure Ship.

The former corresponds to the [Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship], and the latter corresponds to the [Blood River Floating Pagoda Ship].

Sixth, the [Universal Soil] used to activate the effects of the National Treasures is also the most core technology, used to adapt to and activate different National Treasures.

"It's different from ordinary warships built with teak and oak."

Building different treasure ships requires different raw materials. For example, the Wanzai Kongsang ship requires Kongsang trees that are lighter than air and harder than iron.

The Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship requires three, six, or nine dragon souls or remnants to grow like a living thing by constantly devouring various yin objects.
The most crucial raw material is to have a matching national treasure.

The White Bone Tower ship is to be equipped with a bone relic of Buddha Shakyamuni; the Nine-Bend Turbid River ship is specially designed to match the One-Eyed Stone Man.
Therefore, deciphering the knowledge is not enough; the raw materials are also extremely important, perhaps even more so.

Wang Cheng took stock of the raw materials he had on hand and quickly determined his target:
"The Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship requires a national treasure containing a dragon soul and a dragon attribute, which is extremely difficult for others to obtain. None of the seven Heavenly Crafted Treasure Ships that have already been launched possess it."

But I happen to have a treasure that's only a hair's breadth away from being a top-tier treasure: the [Dragon Pearl]!
This dragon pearl combines the residual dragon energy of the Zhao Song and Yunmeng imperial families, as well as a portion of the dragon energy of the Da Zhao imperial family. While it is not yet a national treasure, it is only missing the head of a noble member of the Han family imperial clan.

Before Wang Cheng beheaded Mao Haifeng and sold his soul to Sihai Tongbao, he naturally made sure to preserve his memories.

They already know the true identity of Han Wugui, the crown prince of Guangze.

Although killing a fourth-rank [Dragon's Blood] member of the imperial clan is extremely difficult, in Wang Cheng's view, this is the most accessible Heavenly Crafted Treasure Ship he can actually obtain.

Moreover, with the Tonghai Group of Dragons as a reference, the deciphering difficulty must be lower than that of other treasure ships.

"However, once we escape this world in the book, where can we find so many skilled shipbuilders?"

If I were to rely solely on myself to decipher it, I don't know when I would be able to gather enough technical reserves to build a ship.

Why not use this opportunity to "borrow a chicken to lay an egg" and use the manpower recruited by the Guishan Academy and the two Zhuomo stones to help me lay an egg first?

Even if time is tight, we should at least have them help lay the foundation and outline the framework, and then let the bookworms fill in the details later.

Thinking of this, Wang Cheng immediately coughed lightly to attract everyone's attention.

Then he proposed to everyone:

"Fellow Daoists, now that everyone is doing their own thing, the progress of deciphering will inevitably be slow."

Why don't we all focus on mastering one of these magnificent ships first, brainstorm solutions to overcome the relevant technologies, and then use that success as a springboard to launch a wider attack?

(End of this chapter)