Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 342 Five Sacred Mountains Coins: My name is Fuyao, what's yours?
After leaving the Strait of Malacca, Wang Cheng passed through the Sundagraba Kingdom, a vassal state of the Majapahit Kingdom that was being invaded by the Dutch.

At this time, the name of this fertile land had been changed to "Badavia," and it became the headquarters and ruling center of the Eastern Bharata Company of the Netherlands in the Far East.

Just by looking at the brilliant aura and the lingering holy sounds above the city, one can tell that there must be a large garrison here, or even high-ranking clergy from the Protestant camp!
"In the future, we can try to form alliances with the single-powerful Franco Empire and the Holy Cross Church."

However, they are essentially colonizers, and their appetites are equally large; one must be careful not to try to negotiate with them.

As Wang Cheng continued along the Java Sea, he saw fewer and fewer Austronesian kingdoms, sultans, city-states, and tribes, and in their place came various bloody spiritual lights belonging to evil spirits and great evil spirits.

He had heard that once he passed Java and continued eastward, the dangers at sea would increase dramatically.

The deserted island's forests are teeming with evil spirits, great evil spirits, and the blood-eating creatures they unconsciously raise; it is no longer a world ruled by humans.

The concept of animism is vividly demonstrated here. Humans are no longer the most intelligent beings; they even have to worship evil spirits to barely survive.

"Given the current situation, it's no wonder that Western religious groups such as the Old and New Holy Cross Churches, the Crescent and Star Churches, Brahmanism, and Theravada Buddhism are keen to establish strongholds along the main western shipping routes."

Only the weakest Austronesian Animists spread across tens of thousands of dangerous islands of all sizes, bearing the same 'destiny' as the Da Zhao Tanka people to protect others from disaster.

Conversely, if a major power controls the large islands and key outposts along the critical shipping routes, forming a maritime Great Wall and the first island chain from north to south, it is equivalent to controlling the entire South Pacific.

However, given the current chaotic situation, achieving this would be extremely difficult.

One needs at least the strength of a third-rank cultivator to get a share of the pie here, to initially establish a foothold, and only by reaching the second or even first rank can one possibly realize their ambitions.

At this moment, Wang Cheng suddenly looked up at the many islands to the west.

"My vision seems to be getting increasingly blurry."

A thin mist slowly rose in his field of vision, and the effect of the first item containing the dirty items, which carried him on his round-the-world journey, was clearly suppressed by some kind of force.

My vision narrowed, and the lingering smell of blood gradually filled my nostrils.

At this rate, let alone completing a round-the-world voyage, even just wanting to see the scenery of the fairyland beyond the walls will be very difficult.

Sure enough, upon reaching the Moluccas, an archipelago rich in spices such as cloves, cardamom, and pepper, the pace of progress slowed down considerably.

The Trinidad's trajectory twisted and turned in the core spice archipelago before finally coming to a sudden stop in front of a small island.

"This is.?"

Wang Cheng's pupils contracted as he was horrified to see a long, colorful crack suddenly appear on the edge of the small island covered with various spices.

The island has become a strange and mysterious place covered with all kinds of colorful mushrooms and lingzhi.

Several large sailing ships were moored at the edge of the secret realm, and an armed church resembling an outpost had been built there.

The Forbidden Wall, which should only appear at the boundary between day and night, is mostly revealed in this secret realm.

Unfortunately, the city bricks collapsed, the watchtowers crumbled, and the mandala dimmed, clearly no longer capable of resisting external invasion.

The five adventure ships of the Global Fleet obviously returned to the inner world from here after crossing the Celestial Realm.

The Franks followed the clues and found the crack, which led to a series of events including the long journey of three third-class ships to the colony for commissioning, the birth of the Basilisk Tail, the Red Elixir, the massacre, the attack on Malacca, and so on.

However, the location of this crack was far beyond the jurisdiction of the elderly father and father-in-law, so even if they knew there was a loophole, they were helpless.

At the same time, seeing this scene, Wang Cheng finally understood what the Duke meant by the so-called "Hell's Gate Project" and "Red Elixir" (Chapter 320).

"Western nobles also want the elixir of immortality, they want to live forever!"

Wang Cheng seemed to be talking to himself when he said something pointless.

Even a beggar would want to get his hands on such a treasure if given the chance, since if you live long enough, even a broken bowl in your hand could become an antique.

However, unlike the Shenzhou Dynasty, which had coexisted with the "Immortal Realm" for at least two thousand years and was very cautious about any exploration.

The Frankish people, who were visiting this place for the first time and seeing such a treasure, could only be described as ignorant and fearless, completely unaware of how many taboos they had violated.

"Not only do they research red medicine that can modify the bloodline of living beings, but they also dare to attempt to tame immortal scum and use them as weapons of war."

No ruler of any dynasty would have dared to have such a bold idea.

In Western terms, this is like opening Pandora's box; you can decide when to open it, but you don't have the right to decide when to close it again.

Wang Cheng withdrew his gaze from the mist deep within the crack and turned to look at the armed church.

A louder and louder prayer could be heard coming from there.

Bang!
The church doors burst open with a sudden surge of powerful spiritual energy.

Wang Cheng saw a middle-aged man in a black robe leading a group of priests and apprentices kneeling before a cross, holding a bottle of ruby-like liquid high above their heads.

The Duke remembered this person; he was none other than Leon, the alchemist who invented the miraculous red potion!
When the prayers in the church reached their climax, he drank the red medicine in his hand in one gulp.

A certain ritual for advancement was finally activated.

Three feet above his head, the alien Dao Qi merged with the intangible knowledge, creativity, and authority, transforming into a strangely shaped heart of light.

Half of it was a bronze gear mechanism, and the other half was transparent flesh and blood like rubies. It made the sounds of gears turning and heartbeats.

Although it looks somewhat strange, in Wang Cheng's eyes, who was looking at it from afar, it seemed to be the most perfect truth in the world.

Western mysticism calls it "divinity," "the Philosopher's Stone," "the Fifth Element," and "the panacea - Azot," which can enable a person's soul to achieve limited immortality to a certain extent.

In China, similar things are called divine decrees or official positions.

Using one's own spirituality, knowledge, and contributions to the world as raw materials, and a grand divine ritual as a furnace, it is ultimately condensed into a unique certificate of a high sequence and the upper three ranks.

Even if the consciousness of ghosts, gods, and heroic spirits is worn away over a long period of time, the soul's physical form can exist forever, becoming an impersonal entity.

Then the heart suddenly plunged into the body of the Alchemist Leon. Clang clang clang.
The bells of heaven tolled in the void, marking the birth of a high-ranking human hero.

The alchemist Leon stood up, looked at his incredibly strong body, and couldn't help but burst into laughter:
"Hahaha, I will usurp the Creator's authority, ascend to the highest realm, and become an eternal and immortal true god on earth, both in soul and body!"

Then, looking at his followers and the officials and knights sent by the king, he understood without being taught:

I will not keep this honor to myself.

All of you here will be among the first great beings to surpass humanity!

This was met with a deafening roar of cheers.

Clearly, besides their pursuit of wealth, this was a major reason for the Francois' massacres of their expatriates and their conquest of the Malacca Strait.

Wang Cheng's eyes turned exceptionally dangerous:
"You want to monopolize the Spice Islands, conduct immortality experiments here, and then create a mess that's destined to get out of control before dumping it on us locals who can't escape?"
What a nice thought.

I imagine both the Dutch stationed in Batavia and the Britannians stationed in Kolkata, Borneo, would be very interested in your plans.”

Wang Cheng was prepared to report them immediately.

He was about to activate the first container of contaminated items, taking advantage of this special state to continue forward in an attempt to obtain more information.

Bang!
But when they reached the boundary of the cracked secret realm, it was as if they had hit an impenetrable wall, and a muffled sound echoed in the air.

"who?"

The alchemist Leon, in a state of divine communion, immediately sensed something was wrong. He turned his head sharply, but like Zhang Taiyue, he found nothing.

At this moment, Wang Cheng was instantly bounced back into the dock of Pinghu Port.

As if struck by a strong impact, he took a step back to steady himself.

He had a premonition that this absolutely safe round-the-world trip wouldn't go so smoothly, so he didn't show any surprise on his face.

All attention was focused on the Dao Qi that had suddenly entered the eye of the [Four Seas Treasure] coin when the crack was touched.

"What just happened?"
The Four Seas Coin is my most prized possession; it absolutely cannot be damaged.

Wang Cheng was anxious, but he didn't show it on his face. He first waved away Xue Qiandai and the others who were accompanying him, and then went into the captain's cabin of the Trinidad.

Something moved in my heart.

The next moment, he found himself completely immersed in that world of money, a world of a round sky and a square earth.

Bang!

Only half of the shiny copper coin remained, lying on the deck unseen by anyone.

At first, this place could only store inanimate objects, and at most it could transport spirited bookworms and the child spirits that were the embodiment of talismans. No other living things could enter.

But now a miraculous change has occurred; Wang Cheng's physical body has entered this place directly without experiencing any discomfort.

Looking around, he discovered that the wisp of Dao Qi that came from outside the wall had long since merged into this world, and could no longer be found.

So he carefully observed what changes had occurred to his most fundamental treasure, which even his two older sisters were unaware of.

Just like at the beginning, only a small area is well-preserved with small bridges, flowing water, pavilions, and towers, with a treasury surrounded in the middle.

Kuli also has a great deal of his own spiritual wealth stored here, including gold and silver jewelry, incense and religious money, aphrodisiacs, a talisman [openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang pass], a talisman [the calming golden hoop], two plaques, a huge amount of weapons, and so on.

Once you step out of this small area, you'll find yourself surrounded by dilapidated, sprawling palaces.

The collapsed pillars, the crumbling double-eaved hall, and the overgrown weeds look as if they were once very glorious, but have been abandoned for countless years.

"Huh, something's changed."

He discovered that the double-eaved palace with a hip roof, located at the very core of the Money Eye Small World and used only by emperors, had actually repaired itself to the point of near-complete self-repair.

The dull bricks and tiles regained their divine light, faintly revealing a hint of the extraordinary.

The plaque, which had long been broken and barely recognizable, was re-hung up on one side, and the character "财" (wealth) could be faintly discerned!

Wang Cheng had long suspected that this treasure must be of great significance; even half of it was at least a "national treasure," and the complete version would certainly far surpass that.

However, there is too little information to discern which myth or legend it is anchored to.

As we walked along the shimmering, clear lake, we were pleasantly surprised to discover another change.

In the center of the lake, a small boat was quietly moored. On the table in the middle of the boat was a brand-new account book, with one column labeled "income" and the other "expenditure".

The thick ledger was completely blank, except for a line of elegant handwriting in the "Received" column on the first page:

"Hello, is anyone there? A deity? A monster?"

In the column for "branch" it says:

"Friend, you guessed right, I am indeed a monster."

What's your name? How old are you? Where do you live?

Since Wang Cheng wrote that last line, he has observed it repeatedly, but has not received any response for a whole year.

Then, just today, a completely new handwriting slowly appeared on the second line below the "Receive" column, as elegant as the first line:

"Does this copper coin really have consciousness? Are you a monster living in the ledger?"

"By the way, my name is Fuyao. What's your name?"

(End of this chapter)