Chapter 129: Heavenly Thunder Hooks Earth Fire

"What is the point of setting up this array?" Xiaopangdun asked curiously.

"The evil Daoist I killed last time wanted to refine Five Elements Sha. Once the Five Elements Sha is refined, it can form an army, and nothing within the Five Elements can harm it. Every time the Sha kills a person, it becomes a Five Elements Chang. Five Chang make a squad, ten Chang make a platoon. I estimate that this Saintess of the White Bone Hall has also refined such things, so I am using the Five Elements to confuse the Five Elements, and with the City God's troops, we can drag them down."

"We want to topple the Yushan Mountain God from the position of a True God, which is also a good thing for the Evil Sect. It is just right to turn from righteous to evil. This White Bone Saintess sent this dwarf here to stir up trouble and inserted an evil Daoist into Shanju Guan; her intentions are not simple. This is all I know about her. However, once I open the altar, with Yuxu Mountain as a blessing, and stack thirteen layers of altars—for the first nine layers, each layer adds a fold of Dharma Power, so nine layers mean nine-fold blessing; from the tenth layer on, each layer adds nine-fold blessing—with a thirteen-layer Dharma Altar, I will have four times nine, thirty-six times the power. Although it is danger upon danger, it is extremely powerful!"

"So dangerous?" Xiaopangdun was scared silly. Last time, the nine-layer altar had already scared him so much he couldn't move. With thirteen layers like this, and on the top of a mountain peak where the ground is uneven and it is windy all year round...

"It's fine, Chang Yu is here." Xu Jia stroked Chang Yu's scales.

Chang Yu was truly impressed by Xu Jia. You got a three-day trial card, are you going to use it until you die?

Plus, Xu Jia had a Wind Calming Pill here, and after drawing two "Foot-Cloud Generating Talismans," he could stabilize the wind around him. Even if he fell off the Dharma Altar, by operating the Foot-Cloud Generating Talismans in time, he wouldn't fall to his death.

Chang Yu was Xu Jia's "Altar-Protecting Great God."

However, this time it wouldn't be thirteen layers of thirteen tables. Xu Jia planned to lay nine tables for the first layer, seven for the second, five for the third, and three for the fourth, then stack nine single tables on top. That would be much more stable.

After setting up the array, Xu Jia closed his eyes to rest, letting them prepare individually.

That hare-lipped nun Miaoren stepped forward: "Benefactor, I have the Wonderful Music Celestial Kalavinka within my body. She has the form of a bird and can deal with the centipede. With the protection of the Cold Forest Kasaya, I am enough to bind it alone; there is no need for the Benefactor to take such a risk."

"Although I don't like you, I am a normal person after all, and I don't treat people as tools. If I could suppress or kill it, I wouldn't let you take this risk. If I cannot do it, that is when your usefulness comes in. Although I don't want to make such a choice, compared to Yushan suffering a disaster, if only you are sacrificed, it is indeed the best choice."

"If I do not enter Hell, who will?" Miaoren said: "No matter what, this poor nun will not live by compromising, nor will I be afraid of death."

"Didn't you say death is liberation?" Xu Jia said: "The human world is like Hell. Buddhism says there are eight great Hells, which are actually the eight kinds of suffering in the human world. People sink into the suffering, and their hearts fall into Hell. These eight sufferings are: birth, old age, sickness, death, not getting what one wants, meeting those one hates, separation from those one loves, and the Five Aggregates Flourishing."

"These sufferings are unavoidable experiences in life. Your parents, from the moment they were born, experienced these eight sufferings one by one. The former birth, old age, sickness, and death are fine; everyone must experience them."

"But not getting what one wants, meeting those one hates, separation from those one loves, and the Five Aggregates Flourishing—these cannot be resolved without great wisdom. That couple experienced suffering, looked past suffering, and escaped suffering; they can already be considered to have Didao. Your realm is far inferior to theirs."

"The Benefactor is right," Miaoren said. "This poor nun has been taught."

"Being taught is useless. You are currently in the realm of meeting those one hates and the Five Aggregates Flourishing."

"Thank you for your guidance, Benefactor."

Xu Jia saw her "yes, yes, everything you say is right" expression and knew that this Miaoren had already fallen into "Attachment to Self." She only insisted on what she thought was right and could not listen to others' advice. Even the words of the former Blind Diviner and the Sha Huofo could not get through to her, so how could his?

Suffering for the sake of suffering, seeking trouble for oneself.

He immediately couldn't be bothered to point it out to her anymore.

It would be better to give Xiaopangdun a few pointers; after all, Xiaopangdun had high comprehension, he just didn't read much.

"County Commandant Chen, tomorrow you and Jingzhu Daoren will hold the Retreating God Ritual, then charge forward, overturn the Mountain God's altar table, smash the Incense Burner, and then have two Daoists born in the years of the Dragon and Tiger kick the Mountain God statue over from behind. That will be a successful Destroying Mountains and Breaking Temples!"

"Good!" County Commandant Chen spat on his hands and rubbed them together: "I love doing this kind of thing the most. Is there anything else?"

"Nothing else, just this job needs you. Of course, you can also take your bow and come to shoot the centipede spirit!"

Thinking of what he saw when he opened his Heavenly Eye just now, County Commandant Chen lost his nerve: "Although this official is not afraid of him, there is a specialty in every trade, so I will leave it to you all. Once that Longevity Sect's whatever-bullshit Saintess or whatever-bullshit Elder appears, this official will definitely let them know what a Martial Scholar is!"

After saying this, he practiced a set of punches on the spot, humming and hawing, quite imposing...

Xu Jia closed his eyes to rest until the Yin hour. Chang Yu and the others had already helped roll various tables to Yuxu Peak. Hu Jinhua helped set up the base altar, while Huang Pipo, Chang Yuying, and Chang Yu'e leveled the ground to avoid any slight tilt in the altar tables.

At Shanju Guan, Xiaopangdun assisted the Martial Scholar Chen in preparing to break the altar.

When the time came, the group headed over there.

They first went to look at the ant hole at the tail of Wugong Ling. The ants inside had finished moving overnight, leaving behind empty shells. It seemed Niu Congcong's threat was still useful.

Zhang Zhenji used the Jade Porcelain Divine Thunder to blow up the Qi vent at the tail. One entrance, one exit; now that the inside and outside were blocked, it became increasingly "stiff."

The Centipede Dragon Mountain God of the Dharma Realm was almost mad, and the ground of Wugong Ling began to tremble slightly.

Four of the eight Dragon-Fixing Stakes had already developed cracks; the effect was not very ideal.

"There is an evil sacrificial altar in the abdomen of Wugong Ling, but we have diverted water to submerge it; that place has become a dead zone," Xu Jia said. "When the water comes out from the tail, this centipede will be completely stiff and dead. However, the more it is dying, the more it struggles."

"You should go and guard the Dharma Altar of the Five Elements Inverted Great Array first!"

"Good!" Zhang Zhenji nodded, indicating he understood.

Xu Jia then followed the directions pointed out by Chang Yu. He had previously checked the Earth Veins of Yushan, and now he "had a count in his heart" for the acupoint-dotting positions of the Five Elements Dandan.

He followed the positions of "Yujing," "Yuxu," and "Yuhua," corresponding to the three Dantians and the positions of the three treasures of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. Based on the positions of the five internal organs, he selected the places where the Earth Qi of the five surrounding small mountains gathered, called for Chang Yu to drill out of the earth hole, and threw the Five Elements Dandan into them to dot the acupoints.

This was combining the "External Scene" with the "Inner Landscape."

When Xu Jia threw the last of the Dandan, he saw a bolt of lightning from a clear sky, a dry thunder strike that fell straight down, hitting the groundwater Xu Jia had diverted at the centipede's head.

Instantly, it was as if a crack had opened beneath the earth. Parts of the ground began to collapse, the water surface began to bubble, and it even reached a state of "fire burning on water."

"Heavenly Thunder hooks Earth Fire!" Xu Jia laughed: "Heaven helps me!"

The acupoint-dotting was successful, triggering the Dragon Qi.

The Dragon Qi of this centipede dragon began to leak toward the five directions.

However, Chang Yu was a bit scared: "Is this thunder good or bad?"

"Thunder in a dry land is a thunder that executes demons and evil; it represents that a monster has been born in a certain place. It is a bad omen, but for us, it is Heaven's help, representing that we are acting in accordance with Heaven this time!"

Xu Jia patted the scales on Chang Yu's head and said: "Quickly take me to Yuxu Mountain!"

Chang Yu immediately soared, traveling through the canopy of the forest sea, and finally delivered Xu Jia when the first light of dawn appeared.

In the forest at the foot of Yushan, a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl wearing a shaman's robe changed her expression. She carried various Bone Dharma Artifacts on her body, and in her hand, she held a scepter made of a human thigh bone inlaid with gems. Beneath her was a Yin Sedan carried by eight ghosts, and around her were five-colored Yin soldiers, each holding a Command Flag.

"Why can't you trash pass through the Dharma Realm?"

"My Lady! The forest ahead has the Five Elements inverted, and we have lost our way!"

(End of chapter)