Chapter 125: The South China Sea Beast, Warlock Xu Fu
Nanhai County, under the jurisdiction of Bao'an County, is a small island sea area later known as the "Pearl of the Orient".
The moon is cool as water and the ocean is silent.
Suddenly, beneath the dark sea surface, a crack suddenly appeared on the seabed crust. The crack expanded rapidly, and the sea water boiled, the mud and sand rolled, and the crust shook, and in a blink of an eye it turned into a huge trench.
A dazzling red light like magma burst out from the depths of the huge trench and instantly filled the entire trench.
In the red light, a huge shadow swam out from the depths of the trench, quickly swam to the shallow water, half of its body appeared above the sea surface, and roared at the moon.
Ouch...
Under the moonlight, the huge shadow revealed its true appearance. It was actually a ferocious beast that was more than a hundred meters tall just the part that was exposed above the sea.
The giant beast had dark hide covered with bumps and growths, a huge bone plate on its head, two terrifying giant claws on its shoulders, and a pair of slightly smaller claws on its chest.
It stood in the sea with a pair of thick and huge hind paws, and its huge tail swept back and forth unconsciously, stirring up huge waves in the sea.
The giant beast roared for a while and was about to move towards the land. Suddenly, a river of swords shining with cold light poured down from the sky and pierced into the giant beast's head.
The beast that looked so mighty and ferocious was washed away by the sword river, like a statue made of sand. Starting from its huge head, it was broken into pieces. The blood and flesh fragments emitting green light and smelling of ammonia splashed like a rainstorm and fell into the sea...
When the Sword River rose into the sky again, there was no longer any trace of the monster above the sea.
But the huge crack on the seabed was still emitting a bright red light.
There are also huge shadows that appear and disappear from time to time, slowly swimming in the depths of the trench.
The Drunken Swordsman led Empress Xiao by the hand, looking drunken but with a slightly solemn look, he looked down at the sea surface, the evil trench glowing with red light. After a moment of hesitation, he said to Empress Xiao:
"How about we build a house and live on this island?"
Empress Xiao said with a smile: "It's all up to Tan Lang to tell you."
The Drunken Swordsman smiled, landed on the highest peak of the island, waved his hand, and the sword light flew, sweeping the ground, cutting down trees and building a hut...
…
“The world is becoming more and more interesting.”
Distant Taiyuan.
A man with an immortal look stood on a high hill, gazing into the distance to the south.
Although there are thousands of mountains and rivers between us, it seems that everything that happens in Jiangnan is in sight.
"The first emperor of Qin returned to the world, awakened the terracotta warriors, rebuilt the Qin Dynasty, and feared the whole world with his mighty military power; the Sui emperor Yang Guang ascended to heaven, riding a sword on the wind. Even if he had no intention of staying in the mortal world, his deterrent power was enough to give the Sui Dynasty a glimmer of hope...
"Interesting, really interesting.
"In my long life, I have never seen such an interesting situation...
"However, Li Tang is the real boss after all. If the world were without the glorious Tang Dynasty, wouldn't it lose its luster?
“Well, being a chess player is fun, but occasionally throwing myself into a chess game and rushing around is also a different kind of fun.
"Perhaps, the Romance of the Three Kingdoms can be performed again in this late Sui Dynasty..."
As the night wind blew, the immortal-looking man disappeared without a trace, as if he had melted into the wind.
…
Jiangdu.
After returning to the Yingui Sect's stronghold without any obstructions, Ni Kun sent Zhu Yuyan and others out to continue to gather information about the rebel army, while he took out the Changsheng Jue to study it himself.
The Secret of Immortality contains more than 7,000 oracle bone inscriptions, as well as seven pictures of human figures with different postures and meridian acupoints marked with red dots and arrows of various colors.
Of course he couldn't understand the words, but as long as he had the picture, he could practice according to the picture.
"Before Kou Xu, no martial artist could practice according to the diagram because the Secret of Immortality is one of the four great books and is not something that ordinary people can possess. Its owners in all generations are all martial arts masters, and only in this way can they obtain the Secret of Immortality.
“Once martial arts masters try to draw in the vital energy of heaven and earth according to the diagram, the vital energy of heaven and earth will conflict with their own internal strength, causing various signs of going astray, such as boiling blood, hallucinations, and burning meridians.
“Those warriors have rich experience in training, but they are also limited by their own experience and have prejudices in their hearts. They think that this is a wrong way of training and they are going astray, so they dare not try it in depth.
"In fact, it is not difficult to get started with the Art of Immortality. As long as you have no internal energy, or your internal energy is extremely shallow, and you dare to ignore the various signs and troubles that are similar to 'devilish possession', you can successfully draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body and cultivate the innate true energy.
"As for me, thanks to the mysterious key and the reincarnation watch, I have cultivated my inner strength, but it is still only a little bit, and I don't feel bad about actively dissipating my inner strength..."
After studying the picture for a while and memorizing the posture of the human figure in the first picture, as well as the direction of the red dots and arrows in the meridians and acupoints, Ni Kun put away the secret of longevity and recalled for a while. He first dissipated the pitifully thin internal force in his dantian, and then posed according to the picture, trying to enter a mysterious state of "neither intentional nor unintentional, neither thinking nor not thinking".
The practice of the Art of Immortality is completely different from ordinary internal skills.
Ordinary internal skills require intentional meditation and active use of the mind and breathing in order to develop internal strength.
In terms of state of mind, although there are many requirements such as being spotless and focused, it is not that mysterious.
But the secret to longevity is to directly draw in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, and to cultivate the innate true qi at the beginning.
When drawing in the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, you must not have a heart of courage and diligence, and you cannot even have any "active" thoughts. You must be in a mysterious state of "intentional or unintentional", almost like sleepwalking, in order to successfully draw the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into your body.
But how should one practice when one is “sleepwalking”?
This is a major difficulty.
Ni Kun has experience in cultivating inner strength and also has experience in attracting evil spirits from the metal element.
However, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Sutra and the Blood Evil Killing Divine Sword are both "active" methods that require courage and diligence, which are completely opposite to the state of mind required by the Changsheng Jue.
Ni Kun had no similar experience, and it was his first time trying it, so he didn't know how to enter that mysterious sleepwalking state.
As I tried, my eyelids started to droop and I fell asleep involuntarily.
Logically speaking, this was his first failure in cultivation.
However, perhaps it was because he had been reborn many times, his blood was full of life, and his soul was different. Even after falling asleep, his subconscious mind was still unconsciously running his mental method, and his body posture was still in the state of a picture, which perfectly achieved the artistic conception required for practicing the Changsheng Jue.
Then, a strand of extremely pure water-based spiritual energy flowed from the inner side of his calf, located on the "Yinwei Meridian" of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and poured into the "Zhubin" acupoint where it intersected with the "Shaoyin Kidney Meridian of the Foot". It then followed the paths marked by the red dots and arrows in the human figure diagram and began to circulate in his meridians and acupoints.
Normally, at this time, some signs of "going astray" that would discourage the practitioner from practicing should appear.
Even when a person is soundly asleep, the body will experience various abnormalities, including hallucinations and nightmares.
However, before all signs began to appear, part of the pure water spirit energy was submerged and intercepted by the mysterious key and the reincarnation watch, and part of it quietly merged into the "water spirit bloodline".
In short, in the end, not a single bit of innate true qi was cultivated.
The water-based spiritual energy was still continuously injected into the "Zhubin" acupoint, but it did not have time to complete a cycle and refine a wisp of innate true energy, and it was divided up by the mysterious key, the reincarnation watch, and the water spirit bloodline.
Ni Kun, who was sleeping soundly, did not notice anything unusual.
In fact, even if he noticed something unusual, he would just be happy to see it happen.
He studied the secret of immortality just for the five elements bloodline.
The "results" of his cultivation in the dream proved that his idea was correct and the secret of immortality was indeed beneficial to his five elements bloodline.
In this way, Ni Kun rarely woke up in the middle of the night to practice external skills.
In other words, he has been in a state of cultivation.
I slept until dawn.
After waking up, Ni Kun immediately noticed the changes in his body.
After carefully sensing his body for a while, he was greatly surprised:
“The water spirit bloodline seems to have become stronger?
"Could it be that I have succeeded in my cultivation without realizing it last night?
"The first picture is a water map?"
Water is very gentle and benefits all things without contending.
Water is the source of life, nourishing all living things. Even half to sixty percent of the human body is water.
Kidneys belong to water. If your kidneys are healthy, you will be in good spirits, have a strong body, have strong impact, and be extra energetic in everything you do.
If the kidneys are deficient, the body will be weak, the eyes will be dull, fatigued and sleepy, and you will have no energy to do anything.
Therefore, there is some truth in using water as the first diagram in the entry into the art of longevity.
“I haven’t cultivated the innate true qi… but the Samsara Watch has been charged up by a full point.
"It seems that all the water-based spiritual energy has been divided up, leaving me no room to cultivate my internal strength."
Ni Kun shook his head, but he didn't have any regrets.
If you cannot cultivate true Qi, then continue to follow the path of human immortal martial arts and the five elements bloodline.
Anyway, there are three thousand roads, and they all lead to the same destination.
In this world of reincarnation with countless power systems and countless paths, it is not necessary to refine Qi in order to reach the top.
He exhaled, raised his hand and pointed it at the teapot opposite the bed. With a thought, a stream of crystal clear water gushed out from the spout of the teapot and turned into a small water dragon, circling and dancing around him.
Water is too soft.
Ni Kun's original water spirit bloodline is essentially at the same level as the fire spirit and wood spirit, but its function is mostly auxiliary.
It is not as aggressive as fire spirits and wood spirits.
And now...
Ni Kun flicked his finger lightly, and the small water dragon immediately turned into a water arrow, which shot out and hit the opposite wall, creating a hole in the thick wooden wall that was transparent inside and out.
"It's lethal."
Ni Kun smiled and shook his head:
"But the power is still a little weak. A full-strength attack is only equivalent to an ordinary crossbow. It is still not as powerful as the Fire Spirit and the Wood Spirit."
Fortunately, the strength of the Water Spirit bloodline is not in attack at this stage.
Besides, condensing water into arrows and shooting them out is a very simple and inefficient way of using it.
There are many more efficient uses that will be developed one by one in the future.
At this time, there was a knock on the door outside, and Zhu Yuyan's voice came:
"Sir, are you awake?"
"Well, come in."
Zhu Yuyan pushed the door open carrying a basin of hot water. While helping Ni Kun to dress and wash his face, she reported what she had found out last night.
"...The mutiny ended too quickly. Under the threat of the Emperor...Drunken Swordsman, the brave and rebellious troops that attacked Linjiang Palace mostly returned to their respective barracks and did not cause any chaos. Only a few markets in Jiangdu were looted by the rebellious troops, and not many people were killed...
"After Yuwen Huaji returned to the camp, he locked the camp gates tightly and did not come out, seemingly behaving himself. However, I sneaked into the Yuwen camp and found that Yuwen Huaji, Yuwen Zhiji and his brothers, as well as the Yuwen clan's trusted generals and soldiers, and their families had all disappeared without a trace.
"After searching for a while, I found a very secret passage...
"Yuwen Zhiji was the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Army and was very good at building fortifications. This secret passage was probably built by Yuwen Zhiji as a way to escape after the rebellion failed.
"From the scale of this secret passage, it would take at least half a year to build. This shows that Yu Wenzhi was planning a rebellion at least half a year ago...
“The court is still debating the matter of appointing a new ruler, but has reached a consensus on liquidating the rebels.
"Early this morning, those who were not deceived into participating in the mutiny last night, as well as some recently promoted generals, began to lead their troops to attack everywhere, arresting the generals who participated in the mutiny last night. Soldiers were not questioned, and all those with more than 100 men were captured...
"After Sima Dekan returned home last night, he also followed Yu Wenhuaji's example and locked up the camp gates tightly, but he didn't know that Yu Wenhuaji had already escaped overnight and left him in Jiangdu as a shield. Now Sima Dekan's camp has been surrounded, and he is trying to resist stubbornly, but he doesn't know that he is only buying time for Yu Wenhuaji.
"Speaking of which, Kou Zhong and Xu Ziling, the two Yangzhou hooligans who were lucky enough to master the secret of immortality, actually made a name for themselves among the ministers by scolding and testifying against Yu Wenzhi last night. They were valued by many ministers and even the royal family. With the recommendation of Yu Shiji, they were promoted from commoners to the fifth-rank deputy general of Eagle Strike..."
After listening to Zhu Yuyan's report on the aftermath of the Jiangdu mutiny, Ni Kun smiled and shook his head:
"The Drunken Swordsman's move gave the Great Sui Dynasty a second life!
“Otherwise, once Yang Guang dies, Yuwen Huaji can gather all the 100,000 brave soldiers, kill all the members of the Jiangdu royal family, and establish a puppet emperor at will. When the time is right, he can abdicate and proclaim himself emperor.
"Unfortunately, his wishful thinking was shattered by the Drunken Sword Immortal's sword, and he could only flee in panic like a stray dog."
Zhu Yuyan smiled and said:
"That's right. The imperial court has already announced Yu Wenzhi's conspiracy to rebel. Even if he escapes from Jiangdu, he will become the target of public criticism.
"After all, no force dared to accept this traitor who killed the king, so Yu Wenzhi had to establish himself.
"Unfortunately, he has not yet succeeded in his rebellion, and does not have many bargaining chips in his hands. In my opinion, if Yu Wenzhi is smart, he should take advantage of the fact that there are many ships in Jiangdu and quickly find a ship to set sail and go to a place overseas where no one knows him and live in seclusion.
"If you still want to stay in the Central Plains, you can only become a bandit, and there will be no good ending in the future."
After a pause, she continued:
"Sir, Yuwen Huaji is finished . The Jiangdu mutiny will not have any major changes. Sima Dekan and others who were swept away by Yuwen Huaji will not be able to hold out for long. The matter in Jiangdu is over. I wonder where we should go next?"
Ni Kun pondered for a while and said slowly:
"Next, we will rest in Jiangdu for a few days, then visit the various princes and pay tribute to some ancient battlefields. After that, we will go to Chang'an to see the majesty of the First Emperor."
After that, he took out the Secret of Immortality and gave it to Zhu Yuyan:
"This book will be returned to its original owner in two days. Yuyan, call on Qian'er, Qing'er, and Caiting to copy all the words and pictures in this book within two days."
After Zhu Yuyan left with the secret of immortality, Ni Kun thought for a moment and went out to find Dongfang Bai to ask her about her future behavior.
Yang Guang has turned into a Drunken Swordsman and flown away. Dongfang Bai's mission is completed and he should not stay in Jiangdu any longer.
…
At the same time.
Taiyuan garrison.
A middle-aged man wearing a Taoist robe, with long hair draped over his shoulders, a handsome appearance, and an oval mark on his forehead, who gave people the feeling of an immortal, came to the outside of the residence and said loudly:
"Xu Fu, the Taoist priest from Yingzhou, wants to see Duke Tang!"
The voice was gentle, but it instantly spread to every corner of the huge residence, echoing in the ears of everyone in the residence.
