Chapter 199: Tiangang Great Sage Thunder Law

The Wufeng Shizhe was ultimately persuaded by Xu Jia, and he brought gifts to apologize, though he also left behind his name, promising to respond if Xu Jia were to summon him.

Xu Jia had no objections to this; since the messenger had resolved his own problem, he did not spread the black wind again.

Otherwise, if he had foolishly continued to deploy the black wind here, it would likely have become even more frantic when the flood rose.

Chang Yu could not see the Wufeng Shizhe, but he sensed something different and asked, "Were you just talking to the wind?"

Xu Jia nodded: "I already have some leads."

Chang Yu gritted his teeth: he had dodged the question.

Xu Jia patted his head: "How about this: what if I let the three of you take the place of those three Flood Dragons in Dexing?"

"Not interested. I don't want to be suppressed by a furnace, have my flesh harvested, and fail to become a True Dragon in this lifetime."

Xu Jia said: "That is a narrow-minded view. The virtue of a True Dragon lies in the public, not the private. The reason a True Dragon is a True Dragon is that he is devoted to the common people and the world, exhausting his heart and blood. When a True Dragon is present, these pythons and Flood Dragons dare not cause chaos; only after he dies do these pythons and Flood Dragons swarm up to gnaw on the True Dragon's legacy."

"To become a True Dragon, one must have a heart of devotion, cultivating the Five Virtues: benevolence, courage, wisdom, sincerity, and the inheritance of education."

"What is Dexing? Only through virtue does one flourish. How is the character for 'flourish' interpreted? To soar into the sky is to flourish. Soaring into the sky is the 'nine-five' position of the dragon in the Qian hexagram, 'Flying Dragon in the Sky.' This shows that Dexing is indeed a place where dragons flourish. These three wicked Flood Dragons do not cultivate virtue; they vainly attempt to hoard Earth Treasures, trigger floods into Poyang, and defect to the tail-severed wicked dragon, turning the Jiangnan West Circuit into a watery kingdom. If you replace them, firstly, you are Earth Dragons, so mining gold will not affect you; instead, your excess earth Qi will naturally generate gold. Secondly, by seizing the Earth Treasures, you will effectively possess Dragon Pearls and gain the opportunity to transform into dragons. Thirdly, eliminating these three wicked Flood Dragons is also an act of external merit!"

After Xu Jia finished listing one, two, and three, Chang Yu was already dazed: "Oh no, I feel like what he said makes a lot of sense."

"As the saying goes, you have the quality of gold and jade. You consume jade Qi, so why not also consume gold Qi? Jade quality leans toward yin, and gold quality leans toward yang; when yin and yang combine and transform, you will be perfect."

"But, how do we take their place?"

Xu Jia said: "The mountains in Dexing are connected to Yushan. They do not move except at specific times and only manifest within the Dharma Realm. The Dharma Realm is vast and malevolent; we cannot behead the Flood Dragons from within the Dharma Realm, so we must use methods, using Thunder Pellets and thunder seeds to leak their Dragon Qi and blast open a gap. The Wufeng Shizhe just told me where the wind-hiding earth caves are located. These earth caves are connected to these three wicked Flood Dragons, preparing for the 'walking of the dragons' during the Duan-Yang Festival. Once triggered, Earthly Evil will leak, earth water will erupt, and coupled with the fact that the fifth month is naturally full of overcast rain, it will aid their momentum."

"But we don't have any Thunder Pellets or thunder seeds."

Chang Yu remembered the last three that Cai Yu had left behind, which had been used to behead the Centipede Dragon.

"We can just make more."

Xu Jia said: "He has become my godson, his Earth Soul is sealed by me and buried in the Baozhu Land of Wugong Ling. You take me there, and I will spirit-travel into the Dharma Realm to communicate with his Earth Soul."

Chang Yu was helpless and had to carry Xu Jia there again.

The Ancestor's tomb was underwater, but a stone archway had been built outside, inscribed with the four large characters "Huaiyu Xianju."

Passing through the archway, Xu Jia climbed down from Chang Yu's head and immediately sat cross-legged on the ground, while Chang Yu provided shade for Xu Jia.

Xu Jia immediately began internal observation and spirit-traveling, and he saw the surrounding scene suddenly change; from the mere archway and surrounding green hills and lake water he had just seen, it transformed into a Peach Blossom Spring realm.

It was as if he had traveled into a flowing ancient painting.

The light and colors had all changed, showing only black and white. There was no other reason: Xu Jia had sealed the Earth Soul within the Ancestor Portrait, so entering this kind of Dharma Realm was essentially entering a world within a painting.

In the ink-wash landscape, ancient trees reached the sky, and bamboo shadows swayed gently.

Following a winding path, he saw a Daoist temple with flying eaves and upturned corners.

Inside the temple, the two characters "Heaven and Earth" were enshrined; this was the scene after Xu Jia had ordered the Ancestor of Shanju Guan to rename the Zushi Tang to "Tiandi Dian."

Because it was a world within a painting, it was mostly black and white, with plenty of empty space, full of charm. The clouds were those curled auspicious clouds, the water was that kind of stream with small ripples, the stones were sharp as if split by an axe, and he even saw deer and cranes.

These were not actually on the Ancestor Portrait, but were all pictures on the stone archway outside; that archway was carved with many scenes of immortal realms.

Therefore, they also manifested here.

If one had to say, it could barely be considered a "Blessed Land," similar to the "Painted Wall" in *Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio* or the "Bathhouse" in *Spirited Away*.

Cai Yu's Earth Soul sat cross-legged in front of the "Heaven and Earth" characters, meditating and seeking enlightenment.

Seeing Xu Jia arrive, he couldn't help but ask: "Master Xu, why have you come? How did you end up in my pure scroll of paintings?"

Xu Jia sighed: "I actually envy your world within a painting, with its idle clouds and wild cranes, pure and natural."

"I am but a soul, what is there to envy? Could it be that time in the world within the painting passes too quickly, and my original self has already reached adulthood, wanting to take me back to awaken my Past Life Wisdom?"

"Not at all. I only came for the matter of beheading the dragons, to ask you how to make those Jade Porcelain Thunder Pellets."

"So you came for this. Beheading Earth Dragons destroys the foundation of the earth and creates Cause and Effect with all living beings. Back then, it was because I consumed jade that I damaged the Earth Vein, which led to this petrification tribulation." "The ones I want to behead are wicked dragons. The three mineral veins under Dexing have obtained Dragon Essence and gestated into Flood Dragons, plotting to seize Earth Treasures and trigger a flood. If they are not beheaded, disaster will surely arise."

"So that's it. I also recognize those three Flood Dragons; weren't they suppressed by the imperial court for many years? They mine gold, silver, copper, and iron, smelting them into coins. The coins obtain Dragon Qi and circulate to extend the life of the dynasty."

"If you want to behead these three dragons, you will surely cut off the dynasty's Dragon Qi. If you injure these three dragons, within thirty years, the mineral veins will be exhausted, and no new ore will appear."

"That is why I intend to let Chang Yu and the others take their place."

"I see." Cai Yu said: "Then I will impart the relevant Thunder Law of the Jade Porcelain Divine Thunder to you. After all, this poor Daoist has already acknowledged you as my master; how can there be a student who knows something that the master does not?"

He then said: "My method originates from the Tiangang Great Sage. It has both inner and outer Thunder Laws. To cultivate the outer thunder, one must be proficient in the inner thunder method; otherwise, the outer thunder will only make a sound, serving only for intimidation, without actual power against demons and ghosts, and insufficient to borrow the power of the true thunder of heaven and earth!"

"The Tiangang outer thunder governs the Breaking Army Star among the Nine Stars of the Big Dipper, which is the Tiangang Great Sage. To worship this deity, one must visualize residing in the Tiangang Acupoint."

"Heaven has the Tiangang Star, which governs life and death, masters yin and yang, and creates life. Those who know it live; those who are ignorant of it die. Humans have the Tiangang Acupoint, which is the 'machine eye' in the body, used for cultivating truth and nourishing the body."

Xu Jia listened and felt it was of the same origin as his own internal cultivation Great Yellow Court Method, but this Tiangang Thunder Law specifically cultivated the Tiangang Acupoint and specifically utilized the Tiangang Great Sage, belonging to the 'refined,' while Xu Jia's cultivation of the three hundred and sixty-five Body Gods belonged to the 'vast.'"

"At the beginning of internal cultivation, store the left eye as the sun and the right eye as the moon. When the sun and moon combine at the space between the eyebrows, and the depth increases over time, light will burst forth. This light is lively and flickering, gradually becoming like the sun and moon; bright, round, and clear, with golden radiance—this is what the alchemy books call 'White Snow and Yellow Sprout'."

"The light of the sun and moon Tiangang shines down on the Gate of Life. Store the left kidney as the sun and the right kidney as the moon. The place where the sun and moon combine, the 'closing gate,' is where the Tiangang Acupoint is located."

"By cultivating this acupoint and visualizing the Tiangang Great Sage, one can begin to learn the Tiangang inner thunder method."

Xu Jia said: "That's just the Gate of Life acupoint, right? But this acupoint is where the human body's Gate of Life is located, which is very critical. If I cultivate the Thunder Law and it happens to vibrate, wouldn't it injure the kidney yin and kidney yang, and destroy the Belt Vessel?"

"Thunder is the pivot of yin and yang. Lightning is produced by the agitation of water and fire. In the human body, only the Gate of Life acupoint is suitable."

"Nourish this acupoint, make it as clear as a palace, pray to the Big Dipper, nourish the Life Fire, and invite the Tiangang Great Sage to enter it; then you can begin to refine the divine thunder externally."

"To refine the divine thunder externally, two things are needed. One is the jade porcelain shell; jade is a spiritual object, and porcelain is created from the Five Elements, which can bind the thunder fire so it does not explode at will."

"The other is the secret recipe for the thunder medicine. This thunder medicine is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and nitrated silver."

"What is nitrated silver? Mix green vitriol, silver, and nitrate powder, and boil them in a porcelain pot. During the process, you must recite incantations and carefully boil it dry to obtain nitrated silver."

"Stuff it into the jade porcelain bottle according to the proportions, and then finish the other parts, such as the fuse and the lid."

Cai Yu meticulously told Xu Jia the method for making the Jade Porcelain Tiangang Outer Thunder, but Xu Jia felt this was like trying to put out a fire with water from far away.

Then he wouldn't use jade porcelain; he would just make "high-risk Earth Method Tiangang Divine Thunder."

It didn't have to be jade porcelain; ordinary ceramics would do. In any case, Shanju Guan itself had already developed some Earth Deity thunders for Cai Yu's use.

The core was still the internal cultivation of the Tiangang Great Sage Method, which could endow the Thunder Pellet with the ability to break demons, eliminate evil, open mountain gates, and blast Earth Dragons.

In the memories of Xu Jia, there were also some Thunder Laws, but they were all of the type that gathered Thunder Sha—that is, places where natural thunder and lightning between heaven and earth had struck. The Thunder Sha in such places was extremely heavy; gathering it for internal refinement and observing the Thunder God through Thunder Sha was not like this method, which involved enshrining a Star Lord and using the internal water and fire of one's own body to stimulate Tiangang Thunder Qi.

However, this method was not a proper cultivation technique; it belonged to the category of "Divine Ability and sorcery," and it did not offer much benefit for Longevity. On the contrary, because what was cultivated was at the Gate of Life, it was easy to refine oneself to death, and the risk was extremely high.

Xu Jia thought carefully and decided to combine what he had learned in his past and present lives to improve this Tiangang Great Sage Thunder Law; he would not only stimulate the thunder within his body but also gather the natural Thunder Sha of heaven and earth.

Using external Thunder Sha to harmonize internal water and fire would then be able to protect the Gate of Life.

After finishing the conversation, Xu Jia did not linger any longer; he left the world within the painting, and his consciousness returned to his physical body.

He told Chang Yu to carry him down the mountain and return to Shanju Guan.

Chang Yu said, "I heard that the True Person subdued an ox spirit; why not ride that fellow?"

Xu Jia said, "He has to earn money and cannot attend to both."

Chang Yu was speechless, then said, "Should we go to the Dexing territory to take a look first?"

"Do not alert the enemy for now," Xu Jia said. "You just return to your cave and wait for my summons; there will be no lack of benefits for you."

He added, "Right, I might need you to fight that Longevity Sect Fawang with me later. If you have any poison Divine Ability that can target the Soul, refine it a bit!"

"My poison is a mixed poison; one part attacks the Soul, making people's consciousness unclear, and one part attacks the physical body, which can cause people to rot rapidly."

(End of this chapter)