Chapter 109: Bronze Sword Slays the Demonic Dragon
Chapter 109: Bronze Sword Slays the Demonic Dragon
The bearded man scratched his head and said, "I think it's Chen Shi who has been contaminated by evil spirits. This kid doesn't sleep in the middle of the night and keeps making trouble. He hasn't had any attacks in the past few days. I guess Old Chen is doing a good job in the underworld. I'm going to bed now."
"Don't sleep, Xiaoliang. Something big might happen."
Qing Yang stared at Chen Shi nervously and said, "I always feel that this kid will do something big!"
"You say something big is going to happen every day, and you're acting so nervous every day. I haven't slept for many nights since I came back from the underworld."
The bearded man said angrily, "I'm not like you, a lonely man. I have so many beautiful concubines to take care of. If I don't go back, my family will be in chaos!"
Granny Sha was also tired. She had been running around these days, living in fear. She had to watch out for Chen Shi getting into trouble and build a temple for the mountain tiger. Firstly, her family fortune had been drained, and secondly, she had no time to rest.
After all, she was an old woman, and her energy was not as good as before. She smiled and said, "I have seen that although Chen Shi has done a lot of bad things these days, he is still doing his job and has not caused any big trouble. Now that the mountain god is no longer in his small temple, he has calmed down. The passage to the underworld is guarded by Old Chen, so it is foolproof. Everyone is tired, so I will leave a ghost king to monitor Chen Shi, and everyone will go back. If anything happens, my ghost king will report it."
She left behind a ghost king and instructed, "If Chen Shi gets into trouble or is in trouble, you must report here immediately."
The ghost king was the third of the five ghost kings. He crossed his hands and said, "Yes, sir!"
After saying that, he stood in the shadows and looked at Chen Shi from afar.
The three of them left.
That night, the ghost bride was tormented greatly, but the ghost foxes had no idea that the person in the big red sedan was no longer the ghost bride, but Chen Shi. They still took Chen Shi running around, playing various instruments and singing everywhere.
It was also that night that many people saw Master Chen Fu from Huangpo Village sitting in a sedan chair, wearing a groom's attire, looking very happy and scaring people everywhere.
When this incident spread, people said that Master Chen Fu had married a ghost bride and would die suddenly soon.
However, for a long time afterwards, Chen Shi was still fine and in good spirits.
But people never saw the ghost bride again.
"Master Chen Fu took the essence of the ghost bride!"
While going to the market, Old Lady Wuzhu said to Old Lady Wang from the next village in a serious tone, "They were making love in the sedan chair, and the ghost bride screamed for mercy, but she was still sucked dry!"
"Master Chen Fu is so powerful?"
"Isn't it? He is a scholar, the god of literature incarnate!"
Old Lady Wuzhu said solemnly, "I have been in a relationship with the Ghost Bride for five lifetimes. This time I came to the mortal world specifically to subdue the Ghost Bride. Master Chen Fu will ascend to heaven soon!"
For a time, the village was full of rumors about Chen Shi and the ghost bride.
Chen Shi let the ghost bride go, and for several days she was not seen coming out to look for food.
Later, I heard from other evil spirits that the ghost bride encountered an evil spirit in the middle of the night and was severely tortured, so she moved to another place, found a dilapidated temple, turned over a new leaf and became a godmother.
Chen Shi was originally quite fond of the Ghost Bride, thinking that using her as a divine fetus would allow him to cultivate faster than other evil spirits. However, the Ghost Bride moved away without even leaving a letter for him, which was very heartless, and he was helpless.
For a period of time afterwards, the area around Qianyang Mountain was in a state of panic. When the evil spirits heard that an evil spirit had appeared nearby, they specialized in catching the evil spirits. After catching them, they would throw them into a strange house, from which they could not get out. Then they would be tied up with invisible ropes and placed in a small box with an open door.
Although the door was open, I couldn't move.
Then a strange heat would drill in and out of his body, and he would be controlled to make strange gestures to attack other evil spirits.
There were fewer evil spirits around Qianyang Mountain. Some moved away overnight, some hid, and some clung to rocks and trees to avoid the new evil spirit. After all, they could eat people at any time, but if they were caught by the evil spirit, they would suffer great humiliation.
Some people just don't believe in it and go out at night to bask in the moonlight, and then they disappear.
When we met again a few days later, he became silent and taciturn, as if he had been abused.
What is even more strange is that any evil spirit caught by Chen Shi, after being offered incense in his small temple, would have less interest in eating people and would instead have a strong interest in incense.
Some evil spirits will hide in ancient trees, or rugged rocks, or find a randomly broken ancient stone statue, and begin to appear, protecting passers-by and seeking incense.
In just half a month, the number of evil spirits in Qianyang Mountain decreased by more than half, and instead, there were more safe places protected by spirits.
Some villagers who fled from other places came to Qianyang Mountain and saw many homeless spirits. They offered incense and worshipped the spirits as godmothers, and then built houses nearby, forming the prototype of a new village.
"It seems Chen Shi did a great thing."
Grandma Sha was also very surprised to see that there were more and more villages in the Qianyang Mountain area.
"His little temple is amazing. This little temple can make evil spirits receive incense and turn from harming people into godmothers who protect people. This kind of situation, I have lived for so long, and I have never heard of it. Who is Xiao Shi's godmother? What kind of existence can give Xiao Shi a temple with such an effect?"
She was puzzled.
"I'm afraid the only one who knows the origin of the stone tablet's godmother is Qianyang Mountain Monarch, but the mountain lord has been petrified these days and never responds to my incense."
She was even more curious about Chen Shi's godmother.
"Strange, the third brother hasn't come to report Xiao Shi's whereabouts for quite some time."
She was busy with her own affairs and was just a little surprised that the Three Ghost Kings did not come to report. Then she put the matter behind her and continued to use the Sheep Horn Sky Spirit Lamp to search the underworld.
The villagers in the Qianyang Mountain area were a little surprised. There seemed to be fewer evil spirits these days. Even the most diligent Piao Skull was rarely seen.
They went out at night, walking from one village to another, and didn't even encounter a single evil spirit.
When they go out to work in the fields, they don't have to worry about being disturbed by evil spirits, which makes them feel much more relaxed.
After a while, there were fewer and fewer evil spirits, and when there was an occasional encounter, it was usually the work of a passing evil spirit.
Later, even the evil spirits passing by Qianyang Mountain became quiet and did not do evil in the Qianyang Mountain area, but only did evil outside Qianyang Mountain. They probably heard that there was an evil spirit named Chen who was doing evil here, and they would catch the evil spirits and lock them up in the strange house, so they became quiet.
Chen Shi did a great thing, but he never ascended to heaven under the expectant gaze of Old Lady Wuzhu. Instead, he looked a little worried.
His golden elixir had been cultivated to the second level, and his dantian had transformed into the Zhuling Palace.
As the saying goes: The elixir is being refined in Zhuling Palace, and the innate furnace is turning.
In his dantian, a sea of fire evolved into a wheel-shaped furnace. The golden elixir was at the center of the wheel. Qi and blood were surrounding it like flames, constantly flowing into the golden elixir. The golden elixir was as red as cinnabar and extremely bright.
It only took him one month to advance from the first stage of Golden Elixir to the second stage of Golden Elixir, which was extremely fast.
This speed is already comparable to that of a cultivator with a top-level divine fetus.
However, his grandfather once told him that as his cultivation level deepened, he would need to take more medicine every day, and the amount of herbs used for medicinal baths would also need to be doubled.
Naturally, the money spent will also double.
Chen Shi sighed. There were fewer evil spirits, more godmothers, and business was worse.
He now often goes to the county town to buy medicine. The medicine costs ten taels of silver every day, which is a hundred taels in ten days.
"In a year, I will become a pauper like Tianqing and won't be able to marry Xiaojin."
These days, he spent more and more money, but had no income, which made him worried, "Xiao Jin is also poor. How can my husband and I afford to raise our child if we are both poor? Yes, what should Xiao Jin and I name our child? Should our child take Tian Qing as his godfather?"
He took out three sticks of incense, lit them and placed them in front of him. At this time, a green ghost hand stretched out from the small temple behind his head, grabbed the three sticks of incense and retracted into the small temple. The three ghost kings of Granny Sha were sitting on the shrine in the temple at this moment. They inserted the incense into the incense burner in front of the shrine and inhaled the fragrance, feeling very happy.
It was originally watching Chen Shi from a distance, but was somehow discovered by Chen Shi's black dog. Chen Shi caught it as soon as he saw it, and placed it in a small temple, asking it to help him practice.
The three ghost kings struggled and resisted, but the incense given by Chen Shi was too much, so they obeyed him and helped him practice.
In the past few days, Chen Shi has been practicing, and it has benefited a lot, so it no longer mentions leaving.
"Watching Chen Shi from a distance is no different than watching Chen Shi in the temple."
The three ghost kings accepted the incense and thought, "And I can see more clearly in the temple. If my mother-in-law knew, she would definitely praise me for being smart!"
Fu Leisheng's private school was in Qiaowan Town and had opened a few days ago. The old gentleman was very happy and invited Chen Shi to be his guest. He said to Chen Shi, "I have achieved Nascent Soul stage and I haven't thanked you yet."
Chen Shi was also happy for him and said, "Sir, when you have cultivated to the point where your Nascent Soul has left your body, stay away from pregnant women and livestock that are about to give birth."
Fu Leisheng asked in confusion: "Why is this?"
Chen Shi then told the story of how his master and his apprentice's Nascent Soul mistakenly entered a pregnant woman's body, and said, "Any Nascent Soul that enters the mother's body will die no matter what. The purple river placenta is the innate cushion, the umbilical cord is the Naihe Bridge, and the amniotic fluid is the Mengpo soup. If you are not careful, you will fall into the mystery of the fetus. If you enter the mother's womb when the pregnant woman is about to give birth, you can still keep the memories of your past life, but if you cry out, the innate true qi will be leaked, and the memories of your past life will dissipate. You have to not speak for five years to keep the memories of your past life."
Fu Leisheng was stunned: "Is this true? Isn't it dangerous to cultivate to the Nascent Soul stage?"
"In addition to this, there is also heavenly thunder. Because the Nascent Soul is not pure yang, it will attract heavenly thunder. Do not leave your body during a thunderstorm. Because the Nascent Soul is unstable, it will be blown away by the wind, so you cannot stand in the wind for a long time. If you stand in the wind for a long time, you will become weaker and weaker."
Chen Shi explained the taboos of the Nascent Soul and asked in confusion, "You don't know all this?"
Fu Leisheng laughed and said, "How would I know? We are scholars. If we don't have any adventures, we will be scholars all our lives and will never become juren. We will never be able to get in touch with superior skills. It's amazing to cultivate the golden elixir. Not to mention cultivating the Nascent Soul. Cultivating the Nascent Soul is often the privilege of children from noble families. What does it have to do with poor people like us? If you don't tell me, I will definitely die when my Nascent Soul leaves my body."
He used to speak in a very literary way, but after living in the countryside for more than a month, he had already adapted to the local customs.
However, what Fu Leisheng said is also a common phenomenon.
Ordinary cultivators simply cannot pass the stage of tempering the body with elixirs, and have no idea about the seven returns, eight transformations, and nine returns. Even if they use elixirs, they cannot afford one with their life savings. Plus, they don’t have high-level enough skills. Therefore, the Golden Core Realm is the upper limit of a cultivator from a poor background, and there is absolutely no possibility of surpassing it!
Those who can make the leap are often like Mr. Zeng, who enters a wealthy family to become a slave and servant, and only when he is promoted by a noble person can he have the possibility of cultivating into a Nascent Soul.
Chen Shi sighed, "Cultivation seems to be a fair thing, but I didn't expect it to be unfair."
Fu Leisheng felt the same way, nodded, and said, "The Hermit Qianyang used a technique called Tianxin Zhengqi Jue to lower the threshold of cultivation from the wealthy to the level where poor children can also practice. But Tianxin Zhengqi Jue can only support up to the Golden Core Realm. It is as difficult as ascending to heaven for poor children to go further. Unfortunately, there is only one Hermit Qianyang in the world."
He looked gloomy.
Qianyang Shanren is an eternal monument to all poor and humble people.
It’s a pity that no one knows his real name and appearance, otherwise he would be extremely popular!
Chen Shi's heart moved slightly. He felt that he might be able to fill in the missing parts of Tianxin Zhengqi Jue for Qianyang Shanren, so that this technique could be cultivated to the Nascent Soul level.
"Adding the contents of Seven Returns, Eight Transformations, and Nine Returns, it can be elevated to the Nascent Soul Stage! How should I add it so that I can practice safely? This is a difficult problem..."
He was thinking about making up for the Tianxin Zhengqi Jue when he suddenly heard the roar of the river and the sound of bells ringing in Qiaowan Town. It was clanging very quickly and someone shouted, "Burn incense quickly! Burn incense quickly! Worship your godmother!"
Chen Shi was surprised to see many townspeople pouring out and heading straight for the center of Qiaowan Town, each holding incense sticks and bowing to the godmother of the town.
The godmother of this town is a stone statue with a dragon head and a human body, with only half of the body left. She looks like the Dragon King in an ancient temple. Although only half of the body is left, she is still as tall as three or five people, and her spiritual power is extremely powerful.
Because Qiaowan Town often floods on rainy days, the stone statue of the Dragon King is extremely popular and many people come to burn incense.
The sound of waves became more urgent. Chen Shi looked towards the Dejiang River and saw that the water was actually a dozen feet higher than the river bank. It was blocked by an invisible wall and did not flood Qiaowan Town.
However, many people in the river were swept away by the flood, and houses and trees were also rolled downstream by the waves.
It looked like a village upstream was flooded, sweeping away one or two hundred people.
These people had been drowned. Some had crashed into the invisible wall set up by the godmother of Qiaowan Town, and stuck to the wall as if they were still alive, staring at the people in the town with wide eyes, and were then swept away by the flood.
Faintly, Chen Shi saw a huge creature swimming in the river and passing under the arch bridge. He couldn't make out what it was, and it caused the arch bridge to shake a few times.
"There's something in Dejiang!"
Just as he thought of this, Fu Leisheng said, "There is a dragon crossing the Dejiang River and causing trouble. It has taken advantage of the heavy rains these days and has caused a flood, drowning people and destroying six or seven villages on both sides of the river."
"A dragon crossing the river?"
Chen Shi was puzzled and asked, "Is there a dragon nearby?"
"It should be a dragon, on the eve of transformation, and needs to use human souls to cultivate and strengthen its demon core, so that it can become an evil spirit."
Fu Leisheng was not sure either, and said, "It passes by the river every noon. This time it destroyed the village upstream, and it may become stronger."
Chen Shi looked at the flood and saw that it came quickly and went away quickly. Soon the water level receded and the river became clear again.
Chen Shi came to the stone arch bridge in Qiaowan Town, looked around, took out one or two taels of silver, and said, "Sir, please go to the shop in the town and help me change it into copper coins."
Fu Leisheng was confused, but he still took the silver and soon exchanged it for copper coins.
Chen Shi took the copper coins to the blacksmith shop, and with a clanging sound, he forged the coins into a copper sword that glowed yellow.
He called for a black pot, mixed black dog blood with cinnabar, and carved various talisman patterns on the bronze sword. He then painted them with cinnabar, burned them in the fire, and forged them again. He did this over and over again, and the bronze sword could no longer see its original appearance.
Chen Shi took a boat to the bridge, hung the bronze sword on the bridge hole, and said to Fu Leisheng: "My grandfather once taught me the art of slaying dragons, but I don't know if I can do it. If I can, you in Qiaowan Town must give me ten taels of silver."
Upon hearing this, Fu Leisheng found the town’s elders and told them about the matter.
The elder said: "If it can really be done, ten taels is ten taels!"
At noon the next day, the flood came again, and the river water overflowed the embankment and became higher and higher.
Suddenly, there was a flash of yellow light at the bridgehead, followed by a dragon's roar. The river water immediately turned blood red. People looked and saw a huge dragon-like creature in the river with its head chopped off and its body separated, floating downstream with the flood.
The flood water receded.
Another day passed, and at noon, there was no more flooding. Chen Shi came to collect the money. Fu Leisheng was shocked and asked, "Chen Shi, who is your grandfather? Why does he have the skills to slay dragons?"
"Just an ordinary country old man."
Chen Shi said, "Where is the origin?"
The dragon corpse downstream was washed ashore, attracting a large number of onlookers. Chen Shi and Fu Leisheng rushed over and saw many talismans carved on the horns of the dragon head. They couldn't help but frown.
"This is a captive dragon, not a wild one!"
Fu Leisheng whispered, "Most likely he ran away from a big shot's home. We might be in trouble!"
Chen Shi was puzzled and said, "Releasing the dragon caused trouble and killed so many villagers. It is the other party who caused the trouble, right?"
Fu Leisheng shook his head, pulled him away, and said, "Anyone who can raise a dragon is definitely not a nobody! How can a commoner like you decide right and wrong? Isn't it the other party who has the final say? Let's go!"
——A long chapter of nearly 5,000 words, please vote for me by the end of the month!
(End of this chapter)