Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 222 Temple Army Ghost Soldiers: Five Directions Dragon Scale Soldiers!

Just kidding, one person against a thousand, there's no way you can win this battle!
Moreover, all of Wang Cheng's students, whom he taught using the five volumes of "Jinghai Training Techniques," were just like him, showing no martial ethics whatsoever in crucial moments.

"Array up!"

Most of these people were low-, middle-, and high-ranking officers from the elite troops. Together, they used the secret military strategy, and the surging yang energy of the furnace connected all the imperial guards into one, marching in neat steps like an iron wall pressing in from all directions.

Together they wielded their heavy iron maces, smashing them down with the force of a collapsing mountain. The fact that they weren't met with a hail of blows was entirely due to past favors they had shown him.

When Wang Cheng unleashed his divine skill [Wind and Thunder Interlocking], his pair of iron-spined maces were nearly as formidable as a battering ram. However, while he could overturn one, two, or even ten squads of imperial guards, he couldn't overturn twenty or thirty.

Don't even mention that he's just a newly promoted fifth-rank cultivator; even if those fourth-rank ghost god seeds who had completed all their feigned evil came, they would have the same fate.

If all these people were replaced with temple soldiers and ghost soldiers, a thousand elite troops forming an army would be enough to overwhelm those ordinary local deities and ghosts who were trapped in one place and unable to move.

Wang Cheng kept his word. After losing the battle, amidst the cheers and jeers of his personal guards, he returned to his old trade as a fishmonger, scooping up a considerable amount of seafood. He didn't return to the palace until evening, reeking of fish, finally releasing all his pent-up energy.

"The fifth rank is not the end; we still need to keep training!"

The essentials of the fifth-grade cultivation of sexual energy are not a secret. This step involves opening the six orifices, controlling the six desires, eliminating the six thieves, and transforming the clay-molded divine embryo into a human-like form. Only then can one proceed to the fourth-grade practice of "filling the divine statue with filth".

Among the three religions of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Buddhist scriptures explain this stage of cultivation most clearly. The so-called "six orifices" are the "six roots," which refer to the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind.

Eyesight: Represents the eyes, which can enhance eyesight and insight, allowing one to see clearly even in a dark room. Once the eyes are opened, one will no longer fear boarding action in the cabin.
Hearing anger: Represents the ears, which can enhance auditory perception. With the ears open, even a blind person can dodge bullets.
Nose-based love: Represents the nose and can enhance the sense of smell;

Tongue tastes: representing the tongue, which can enhance the sense of taste;

The body is inherently prone to worry: representing the physical body, it can enhance vitality, recovery ability and endurance;

Desire for opinions: Represents the brain, can enhance wisdom, make people remember things they see, and even a brief astral projection is not a big problem.

The scriptures also say that these six senses are not only the senses, but also the medium through which the mind interacts with matter.

The eye sense comes into contact with the "color dust" of the outside world through sight, the ear sense comes into contact with the "sound dust" through hearing, and the nose sense comes into contact with the "fragrance dust" through smell.

The tongue comes into contact with "taste dust" through the sense of taste, the body comes into contact with "touch dust" through the sense of touch, and the mind comes into contact with "dharma dust" through thought.

When these six senses come into contact with the six sense objects, various afflictions and confusions arise, hence they are also called the "six thieves." They rob practitioners of their "Dharma wealth" and damage their spiritual cultivation.

The "six desires" are various physiological needs that all originate from the same source.

Once the officials of the divine path reach this stage, their desires will inevitably surge, leading to greed for wealth, food, sex, and power. They will need to use their own obsessions to subdue these six thieves.

The advantage is that it requires no external resources; it is purely a spiritual practice.

It is said that a highly accomplished monk who had cultivated for many years and long since seen through the illusions of the world was able to achieve sudden enlightenment and open all six orifices in a single day after breaking through to the fifth rank, directly entering the fourth rank of the [Five Temples Divine Treasury] realm.

Zen Buddhism is particularly adept at this.

Of course, many people are also controlled by the six thieves, distorting their own aspirations and obsessions, taking the six desires as their own obsessions, and completely sinking into the inverted slaves of desire.

Without an extraordinary stroke of luck, such a person would find it difficult to advance further in their entire life.

Wang Cheng took out the original manuscript of his family's ancestral secret Taoist book, "The Righteous Method of Sending the Wind Across the Land".

This book records the cultivation secrets left by the ancestors of the Wang family, starting with Wang Bangyan, the first ancestor of the Wang family five generations ago who wrote the book. It also includes the insights of the old father.

Even if it is not as profound as Zen Buddhism, it has been tested over time and is absolutely practical.

One generation: "Refining one's heart in the mortal world."

Second generation: "Find a wife."

Third generation: "Find a bunch of wives."

Fourth generation: "Find a group of beautiful women, and often go to brothels to listen to music."

Fifth Generation: "Find a group of beautiful women, and then take a bunch of brothers to high-class brothels to listen to music. Order seven at a time to prove to the brothers that I, the boss, am the most powerful!"

Wang Cheng (sixth generation):

"Six! So this is what you all are like, Old Wang!"

The Wang family has been a group of rough and unsophisticated boat people for eight generations. They have produced many boatmen, but never a single scholar. Naturally, the methods they have used are simple and crude.

In summary: "Food and sex are human nature. Start with a person's most fundamental desires, and you will naturally see through them after experiencing more."

Therefore, the methods they came up with were increasingly effective and insightful.

It is said that lust is the worst of all evils. This saying does not mean that people should become monks and be celibate. Rather, it means that one should not indulge one's greed and obsessions excessively. "Lust" means excessive.

For the officials of the Eight Outer Gates, the six desires of human beings can never be completely eliminated, and as long as they are not excessive, they will not have a negative impact.

"Learned it!"

then.

"Boom!"

In Moon Harbor, within a magnificent dragon palace situated at the confluence of the Kowloon River's veins, Lady Yan, the Dragon Goddess, glanced silently at the seemingly unaffected Wang Cheng, her voice cool and clear:
"What? You just broke through to the fifth rank and came running to your sister, helping my 'Insightful Eyes' to reach a higher level, just for such a small reward?" Wang Cheng smacked his lips and savored the moment, noticing that the clay-sculpted divine embryo trembled slightly in its six orifices, but the effect was limited.

Just as he was wondering if their relationship wasn't deep enough, he perked up immediately upon hearing what the Dragon Girl said:
"Sister Axiao, can you give me more?"

The Dragon Girl smiled, but firmly denied it.

"No! Go ask your fox sister for it."

"If you want it, wait until you can beat me."

Since Ah Xiao's best friend, the fox spirit, left, she has lost her competitive spirit and returned to her original ethereal self.

Unfortunately, Wang Cheng's progress in winning over Wang Cheng stopped at just holding hands and kissing.

He also had to temporarily disregard the earnest advice of Old Wang and the old old Wang to "find a beautiful wife" and first solve another urgent problem after reaching the fifth rank - refining his own temple army ghost soldiers.

"The hallmark of a fifth-rank official is that he has a dedicated military organization within his body, and can wield military authority and train his own troops."

They summon the power of the Dao and the spirits to the altar to assist in the creation of their own unique temple army of ghost soldiers.

Only after obtaining the military tally can a "White Water Gentleman" truly begin to unleash his full potential.

Among all the fifth-rank officials who have mastered the Temple Army Ghost Soldiers, [Bai Shuilang], who is essentially a summoner, ranks in the top tier.

They share a deep connection and abilities with their guardian spirits, making them no less formidable than the temple soldiers and ghost warriors blessed by secret military manuals.

Moreover, at most, others might borrow the power of one or two ghosts or gods to help them refine their magic.

I have money that can communicate with the gods; theoretically, there is no limit to the power of ghosts and gods that I can borrow as long as I have money.

And I also have a quick and easy way to achieve this!

Having made up his mind, Wang Cheng immediately went into seclusion for seven days to practice his magic.

Using A Xiao's dragon molt as a foundation, he mastered the second level of the "Crossing the Ocean Star-Traveling Technique".

"I lead the Three Elements into the Kan Palace, pass through Gen and ascend to Qian to reach the heavenly firmament. Returning to the Zhen Palace, I ride the Azure Dragon, and the Dui position commands me to traverse a thousand layers. The Kun chariot and the Li horse gallop in the Xun wind, I bow my head in the Three Platforms and the Canopy. So be it!"

The sound of dragons echoed in the quiet room of Fenglinzhai.

A ray of blue light descended from the eastern sky and entered Wang Cheng's divine court.

This secret and orthodox method can draw the celestial power of the Three Enclosures, Four Symbols, and Twenty-Eight Mansions into the body, allowing for gradual cultivation from low to high levels.

Wang Cheng cultivated the [Horned Wood Dragon] of the Twenty-Eight Mansions in the first level, and after cultivating the second level, he finally attracted the [Azure Dragon of the East] of the Four Symbols into his destiny, transforming it into a new natal star official.

"Ow—!"

In a flash, it transformed into a golden-bearded azure dragon ten zhang long, complete with scales and claws, exuding divine might.

With a flick of its claws, a gleaming golden-blue military talisman appeared.

The blank military token that was formed seven days ago when it was promoted has changed drastically.

The treasure shimmered, and the runes and characters on the military talisman outlined five shrines and temples, with the five dragon kings of red, black, yellow, blue, and white sitting in them.

Each Dragon King wields a different weapon—swords, spears, halberds, firearms, and cannons—making them incredibly powerful.

Wang Cheng, like his senior sister Shen Yueye who also practiced the "Crossing the Ocean Star-Tracing Technique," used the power of stars to achieve this skill after reaching the second level.

A ten-zhang-long azure dragon emerged from the quiet room and entered the courtyard, holding the military tally and letting out a low shout:
"Summon the Five Dragon Scale Soldiers!"

With a shake of its body, it shed a hundred luminous, multicolored dragon scales, each scale bearing runes that depicted dragons and phoenixes dancing in the air.

A gust of cold wind blew, and the hundred dragon scales instantly transformed into a hundred seven-foot-tall ghost soldiers of the temple army, clad in scale armor.

Wang Cheng possessed the method his father used to refine three thousand [Five Peaks Selection] techniques. As the strongest water gatherer, the soldiers he trained were naturally among the best in the world.

Based on this, the power of the Four Symbols Azure Dragon was borrowed free of charge for adaptive modifications.

Thus, the Five Dragon Scale Soldiers came into being.

Despite being named "Five," it is not five types of soldiers. Instead, each Dragon Scale Soldier can freely switch between the five elements and five directions: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, adapting to the combat needs of different environments.

Furthermore, they all inherited Wang Cheng's abilities, being able to change size at will, varying between one foot and nine feet, with their strength also increasing accordingly.

They can form their own independent army. In this case, the mechanical units are rigid and inflexible, and can only perform simple charge missions.

It can also possess existing ghosts, evil spirits, or living people, temporarily turning them into temple army ghost soldiers [Five Directions Dragon Scale Soldiers], achieving an effect greater than the sum of its parts.

In addition, it has the most crucial advantage.

Other mortals who want to become temple soldiers and ghost soldiers must pay a huge price: the [Sea Nether Ghost] needs to sacrifice five years of their lifespan, and the [Steel Rock Ninja] needs to sacrifice ten years of their lifespan.
But this dragon scale is like a plug-and-play accessory; it doesn't require the target to pay any price. Once plugged in, the target can have dragon scales attached to them, and their strength will skyrocket.

The only drawback is that if Wang Cheng, the Dharma Master, were to remove the dragon scales from their bodies, they would instantly lose this power!
"With the Iron Rod Flying Thunder Cannon and the Mirage Cloud Dragon Ship on the outside, and the Five Directions Dragon Scale Soldiers on the inside, it's enough to give the Otomo family a little surprise."

(End of this chapter)