Film and Television World Life Record

"North of the desolate land lies the Dark Sea, also known as the Heavenly Pool. There is a fish there, its breadth spanning thousands of miles, the length of which is unknown." It is also said: "Furthermore, if the water is not deep enough, it cannot support a large boat. If you pour a cup of water onto a low-lying area, a mustard seed can float on it; but if you place the cup there, it will stick, because the water is shallow and the boat is large."

"Therefore, the first principle of our school's martial arts is to accumulate internal strength. Once the internal strength is abundant, all martial arts in the world can be used by us, just as the Northern Sea can carry both large and small boats and accommodate both large and small fish."

This passage is the most complete one preserved on the silk scroll; the following section on cultivation methods is fragmented and incomplete.

Li Mu's eyes widened. This was the Northern Darkness Divine Art of the Free and Unfettered Sect! How did it end up in the hands of the Demonic Sect when there was a difference of four or five hundred years?

Thinking of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, Li Mu also thought of Ren Woxing's Star Absorbing Technique. Could it be that the Star Absorbing Technique was something Ren Woxing himself comprehended based on the incomplete Northern Darkness Divine Art?

I shook my head. Ren Woxing is gone, and no one can answer this question.

He carefully took out the second piece of silk, which was also incomplete. However, it did not seem to contain martial arts techniques, but rather some kind of... talisman. Since the writing was rotten, he did not know what kind of talisman it was.

The method of refining is also written below, but it basically does not require any other materials; it is all refined using internal energy.

For example, how to use alcohol or other substances to solidify ice flakes, how to attach yang internal energy, how to attach yin internal energy, how to attach three parts yang and seven parts yin, or six parts yin and four parts yang. Although there are only two energies, yin and yang, the order of their application and the amount of each are different, allowing for countless variations at will.

According to the effects described above, beginners will feel increasingly itchy all over, and the intense itching will gradually penetrate deeper. In less than the time it takes to eat a meal, even their internal organs will feel itchy. No matter how high their skill level is, they will not be able to endure this torment. They will feel like they are neither able to live nor able to die.

This passage, along with the previous Northern Darkness Divine Art, gave Li Mu a sudden flash of inspiration, and he realized something. Could this be the method for refining the "Life and Death Talisman"?

Tianshan Child Granny once used the Life and Death Talisman to control the masters of the Thirty-Six Caves and the Seventy-Two Island Masters, as well as almost all the evil sects in the martial arts world.

Because those poisoned suffer immense pain, it was named "Life and Death Talisman," meaning that life is worse than death and death is worse than life.

The old woman also developed a medicine that could alleviate the effects of the Life and Death Talisman, making it ineffective for a year.

That's why the cave masters and island lords of the Three Mountains and Five Peaks obeyed the Heavenly Mountain Child Granny's every command, fearing that she would no longer bestow medicine upon them.

Thinking about this, Li Mu suddenly felt that the plot was so familiar.

The Three Corpse Brain God Pill, which controls people, has a similar effect! You have to take the antidote once a year; otherwise, you'll suffer a fate worse than death and basically won't survive.

This was Ren Woxing's specialty back then. Even Ren Yingying, why did so many people from all walks of life in the martial arts world respect and fear her, and dare not disobey her orders? It was because she also controlled part of the antidote for the Three Corpse Brain God Pill!

Could this Three Corpse Brain God Pill be a copy made by Ren Woxing based on the effects of the Life and Death Talisman?

It's quite possible that the process of creating the Life and Death Talisman written on this silk was extremely complex, requiring not only extremely precise control of internal energy but also a very high level of internal skill as a foundation.

The internal energy level in The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, which relies more on techniques to win, is significantly lower than that in The Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, which relies more on internal energy. One can imagine the level of internal energy cultivation required to create the Life and Death Talisman.

Li Mu has now reached the sixth level of the Zixia Skill, which is the threshold for him to create the Life and Death Talisman.

When Ren Woxing obtained these silks, it was at least several decades ago. Given his advanced internal abilities at that time, he certainly couldn't have crafted them. So, he lowered his standards, mixed in some drugs, and modified them, creating the Three Corpse Brain God Pill.

Thinking about it, I have to complain about Ren Woxing.

He transformed the authentic Taoist internal energy cultivation method, Beiming Divine Skill, into the sinister and dangerous Star Absorbing Technique, which poses a great hidden danger.

A perfectly good life-and-death talisman, which could be implanted with internal energy and used to control a person's life and death, was turned into the Three Corpse Brain God Pill, a name that sounds extremely sinister.

He could be considered a maverick.

Li Mu carefully picked up the last piece of silk. Compared to the previous two chapters, this one was more intact, and the name was also remarkably well-preserved, reading "Tianshan Six Yang Palm".

Sure enough, since there is a Life and Death Talisman, there is also a matching Tianshan Six Yang Palm.

The Tianshan Six Yang Palm is a very profound palm technique in the martial arts of the Xiaoyao Sect.

In fact, none of the martial arts of the Free and Unfettered Sect are weak; any one of their techniques would be considered a peerless skill in the martial arts world.

The six characters in this palm technique actually represent the two yang numbers in the I Ching, hence it can also be called "Tianshan Yin Yang Palm". When performing this palm technique, the left and right palms can each use different internal yin and yang energies.

Therefore, the Tianshan Six Yang Palms is almost a complementary martial art to the Life and Death Talisman.

Using the Tianshan Six Yang Palm to create the Life and Death Talisman is twice as effective with half the effort. At the same time, the Tianshan Six Yang Palm is also the only martial art that can neutralize the Life and Death Talisman.

Li Mu felt that the Life and Death Talisman would be quite useful in the future, and he could practice the Tianshan Six Yang Palm more.

Chapter 580, Part 585: Dominating the South Seas, Planting the Flag in Australia

After briefly browsing the martial arts manuals on the bookshelf, Li Mu went to the weapon rack again, where various strange and powerful weapons were displayed, with swords being the most numerous.

The first thing Li Mu noticed was Zhang Sanfeng's former sword, the Zhenwu Sword, which sat quietly on the weapon rack, looking no different from the other weapons around it.

Who would have known that a seemingly unremarkable sword was the personal sword of Zhang Sanfeng, the grandmaster of martial arts and founder of the Wudang School?

Li Mu picked it up and examined it closely for a while. It was indeed a fine sword, but in terms of material and sharpness, it wasn't the best in the collection. The Zhenwu Sword was more about the prestige associated with Zhang Sanfeng and the significance of the legacy it represented.

The best sword here is a relatively unknown sword that is not very old.

It was the result of great effort from the Demonic Sect to collect meteorite iron from outer space. They invited several master swordsmiths from Dragon Spring Valley to forge it over several years. It was said to be able to seal a marquis with a single drop of blood and cut a hair with a single blow.

Li Mu picked it up and examined it for a while, then played with it a little. The sword shone brightly, and he immediately took a liking to it.

He decided that this sword would be his personal sword from now on.

Sheathing his longsword, he continued to examine these weapons. Although some of these weapons looked ordinary, those that were qualified to be collected by successive leaders of the Demonic Sect and placed in the inner treasury were all divine weapons that would make everyone envious when they were outside.

After looking around for a while, he saw a beautifully crafted bow. Li Mu thought of the Lin family's Silver Feather Arrow Manual. As a ranged weapon, it wouldn't be bad to practice archery in his spare time. Who knows, he might need it in some other world.

Thus, he also acquired the precious bow.

They then selected several more useful and unusual weapons before leaving the inner treasury.

……

For the next period of time, Li Mu lived a very carefree life. Sometimes he would play the zither and flute with Ren Yingying, sometimes he would practice swordsmanship and drink tea, and sometimes he would take out a martial arts manual that he had brought from the imperial treasury and study it carefully.

In the past six months, Li Mu not only improved his martial arts skills, but also greatly increased his martial arts knowledge and deepened his foundation.

By this time, the Naval Battle Hall had already thoroughly investigated Luzon Island and found it to be a fertile, unclaimed land. For the demonic sects in the Central Plains martial arts world, who would fight the righteous path to the death over a mere dispute over interests, Luzon Island was simply a piece of fat meat that could be devoured with a mere snap of their fingers.

As for the indigenous forces on Luzon Island, it's not that the Demonic Sect looks down on them; they are simply too weak. Compared to the righteous path of the Central Plains, the Demonic Sect's rival, these natives are nothing more than small fry, easily wiped out with a wave of their hand.

Profits have always been the most persuasive thing. Looking at the fertile yet weak Luzon Island, all the elders and hall masters who had previously opposed overseas expansion fell silent. They even began to clamor for an immediate departure to take over the entire Luzon Island and make it the base of the Demonic Sect.

Some even suggested moving the headquarters there as well.

Li Mu had indeed considered relocating the Demonic Sect's headquarters. The location of the Demonic Sect's headquarters at Blackwood Cliff was not ideal. Due to its location in the far north, it was arid and received little rain, unlike the fertile and densely populated Central Plains.

Most importantly, it was too close to the capital of the Ming Dynasty and too close to the Nine Garrisons.

For well-known reasons, the Ming Dynasty was very wary of the Demonic Sect. Originally, the Ming Dynasty established its capital in Nanjing, which was far away from Blackwood Cliff, so there was no problem.

Unexpectedly, Emperor Yongle moved the capital directly to the north, causing the two sides to be too close, and they could only dislike each other.

With one side now controlling the imperial court and the other controlling half of the martial arts world, if any friction were to occur, the Ming Dynasty could mobilize the elite troops from the nine border regions at any time to encircle and annihilate Blackwood Cliff.

Although Blackwood Cliff is easy to defend and difficult to attack, with many checkpoints, it is still not a good situation to leave it under the noses of the elite troops of the Nine Borders.

Furthermore, Blackwood Cliff is too far north and too far from the sea, which conflicts to some extent with his overseas expansion strategy.

Li Mu and Ren Yingying had also discussed this, and Ren Yingying agreed with Li Mu's point of view. Under the overseas expansion strategy, the geographical location of Black Cliff was indeed not suitable as the location of the headquarters.

In preparation for future expansion, it is necessary to choose regions with well-developed waterways and located as far south as possible, such as along the Yangtze River.

Or, to be more radical, as some elders have suggested, once we've taken Luzon and gained complete control, we could simply move our headquarters there, away from the sight of the righteous forces in the Central Plains.

Li Mu actually had an even more radical plan, but there was no indication of it at the moment.

For example, Borneo, the largest island in Southeast Asia, is larger than the combined areas of Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui provinces. Today, it is still largely covered by primeval forests and sparsely populated. Moving the headquarters of the evil cult to Borneo would allow for large-scale immigration and development from the Central Plains region.

Even more radical was their continued southward expansion, which led to the occupation of Australia, the relocation of the Demonic Cult's headquarters there, and a large-scale migration from the Central Plains, thus advancing the development of the last new continent by several hundred years.

Of course, these are indeed too radical and are currently just ideas.

A more prudent approach would be to proceed step by step: first take Luzon, then Southeast Asia, and finally Australia.

This was a land even larger than the Ming Dynasty, which had been on our lips for a thousand years but we had never tasted. As a result, it was grown into a powerful barbarian state supported by a few Western barbarians, and we declined to the extreme.

It would be better to occupy the land first, move the people here, and no matter what the situation is like hundreds of years later, the people living on this land will all be descendants of the Chinese.

While the Demonic Cult was mobilizing its followers and deploying troops to prepare for an attack on Luzon Island, Li Mu was quite relaxed. Firstly, dealing with the natives of Luzon Island didn't require his high-level combat power, and secondly, the Demonic Cult had always been a professional in troop deployment.

Although the Five Elements Flag has been transformed into the Seven General Flags, many professional skills have not been lost.

Previously, Li Mu had only a vague understanding of the structure of the Demonic Sect, but recently he has finally come to understand it and has gained a deep appreciation for its potential.

The Demonic Cult consists of a main altar, twelve halls, and seven major banners.

The main altar is now Blackwood Cliff, and it has the Left Envoy of Light, the Right Envoy of Light, and ten elders.

The twelve halls are Wind and Thunder Hall, White Tiger Hall, Azure Dragon Hall, Vermilion Bird Hall, Black Tortoise Hall, Heavenly Wind Hall, Naval Battle Hall, Punishment Hall, etc.

Each branch of the temple has a headmaster, deputy headmasters, five or six incense masters, more than ten deputy incense masters, and a large group of leaders.

A single branch of the sect has at least two or three thousand people.

The seven banners were named after the colors red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet, and each banner governed the territory of two to three provinces.

Just like in the original novel, Ren Woxing once said that he was the leader of the Green Banner in Jiangxi when he was young.

Below the banner lord are the banner officers, who are in charge of the territory of a prefecture. For example, the banner officer of the blue banner is in charge of the territory of a prefecture in Jiangxi.

Below the flag bearer are leaders and followers, who control the territory of a county.

In addition, all sorts of people from all walks of life, evil sects, and local gangs—who would dare disobey the Demonic Sect's orders, or even be directly controlled by it?

It can be said that throughout the entire Ming Dynasty, the Demonic Cult was omnipresent, and apart from the government, no other force had such a strong control over the Ming Dynasty.

Such a massive organization, once operational, would be incredibly efficient and produce terrifying results. The various factions in the martial arts world watched the Demonic Sect's big moves with great anxiety, wondering if it was about to go mad and attack another faction.

The Demonic Cult's actions were so grand that their purpose couldn't be kept secret. After inquiring, we learned that the Demonic Cult's target was overseas, and only then did we feel relieved.

Amidst my感慨 (feelings of deep regret and reflection), I couldn't help but feel a sense of schadenfreude. The Demonic Cult truly lived up to its name; they actually dared to attack those barbaric and disease-ridden lands. What was the point of waging war against those treacherous overseas regions? Well, that's good too. With their resources wasted overseas, the Demonic Cult wouldn't have the strength to stir up trouble in the Central Plains.