Chapter 288: The Great Ritual of the Dragon-Hidden Lotus

Xu Jia's father was no longer in a rush to leave this time; using the Thousand-Mile Courtyard Household Round Light Technique, he reported his safety to Xu Mu.

In the local area of Poyang, he began to pacify the commoners, communicating with the Poyang County Magistrate to manage the disaster and the water.

The scripts of him angrily cursing the Shunji Little Dragon at Laoye Temple had already been compiled, and many commoners had witnessed him being snatched away by a great dragon right after he finished cursing.

Even the subsequent lightning and fire that shattered the temple Daochang became a sign that the heavens had eyes.

Xu Jia's manifestation was not as effective as his father's at gathering prestige and reputation.

That Poyang County Magistrate dared not be negligent, assuming he was a great reclusive scholar who had just emerged from the mountains; after making a few inquiries, he learned that Xu Zhiyuan was participating in the Nanchang provincial examination to become a provincial graduate this time.

Upon further conversation and discussion of the warp and weft of classic texts, Xu Jia's father had already been "reborn" in this regard, appearing quite extraordinary; he often had profound insights and could hit the nail on the head.

It was just that he had not yet experienced the officialdom, so his words were very sincere; if it were an ordinary scholar, the Poyang County Magistrate would only find it laughable and naive, but when Xu Jia's father said it, it struck straight at the heart, making him recall that he was the same back then.

……

Yuan Jiangjun was truly imposing this time; ever since he took a stand as the vanguard during the Lishan Sect incident, he had caught Xu Jia's eye, and this time he was very brave in charging into battle without slacking off, so Xu Jia sent him to issue a summons and subdue the various tribes of Poyang water demons.

He had originally cultivated in Poyang and only left because he couldn't stay there any longer; now, it could be considered a "glorious return to his hometown," and his face was full of splendor.

He only sighed that following the right person was far more useful than cultivating for another thousand years of Daoist Practice.

"You bunch of down-and-outs!" Yuan Jiangjun scolded several little Flood Dragons.

The Flood Dragons at the Earth Immortal realm had all been used by Xu Jia for Sacrificial Sword to increase the power of his two immortal swords, while for the little Flood Dragons at the Human Immortal realm, he had borrowed the Wicked Mirror from the Poyang County City God.

Those with heavy wicked karma were killed and done with, their souls demoted to Youming Diyu, while those who had not yet committed minor wicked karma were captured to serve as laborers, working to atone for their crimes.

"Today, the Heavenly Master has not killed you, which counts as your good fortune. Properly reform yourselves, cooperate with the orders of your master, the Dragon God Ao Jin, and renovate the Poyang Water Mansion. In the future, when it nourishes the Nanchang Plain and turns it into a land of abundance in Jiangnan, you too can become meritorious ministers and be enfeoffed. For now, cultivate the Dharma method for me and spit out the filth to purify!"

The demonic atmosphere in Poyang was too strong and suitable for the birth of monsters; it needed to be changed into an "immortal spirit atmosphere" to conform to the cultivation of the immortal family.

From what could be observed in the Dharma Realm, the Poyang Great Sea and its surroundings had a Yao Cave every three steps and a Yaofu every five steps, and the surrounding villages and towns mostly worshipped demonic ghosts and evil gods, managing this place like a demon kingdom.

The original intention of the Shunji Longwang was to flood the Nanchang Plain, draw in the waters of the Yangtze River, the Pearl River, and the Gan River to become an inland sea... and transform the land of Nanchang into the Poyang demon kingdom.

Therefore, he often stirred up winds and rain, scattering seeds in the void to propagate many descendants, helping himself achieve this goal.

To govern Poyang, one must first prioritize managing the many Yao Caves and Yaofu in the Dharma Realm.

Otherwise, even without Shunji or Anji, there would be other great water-attribute demons to integrate the Yao Caves and Yaofu and become the new Poyang demon king.

What Xu Jia was doing now was "replacing demons with gods."

Or finding "agents"; these little Flood Dragons, having been scared out of their wits, were just right to control, and if they dared to rebel, they could be used for Sacrificial Sword.

Now, these little Flood Dragons were all cultivating the Water Virtue Dragon Scale according to Ao Jin's "Water Virtue Technique"; of course, Ao Jin was also cultivating it himself. His first dragon scale was of the virtue of rivers, and this time, by occupying Poyang, he could cultivate the virtue of lakes.

He wanted to carry out a major renovation of the Poyang Water Mansion, transforming the "water evil" of the "floods" that frequently ravaged the land of Nanchang into "benevolent water."

This was a massive project; he alone would take forever to complete it, so he spared the lives of these little Flood Dragons, changed their cultivation methods, and turned them into "water purifiers."

"Yuan Jiangjun... now that Poyang is leaderless, why don't you come and lead us again? We are willing to be led by you? When the Heavenly Master leaves, you will be our new Great King? We are all willing to follow the General!"

Yuan Jiangjun understood the implication and looked at this glib water snake demon with a smile, saying meaningfully: "Here, there is only one sky and one sun. Do you think I am a thousand-year-old turtle who has lived too long, that you are tired of living and want to tell me, the God of Longevity, to hang myself, or are you lighting a lantern in a latrine?"

Immediately, he used two Pear Melon Hammers to give this water snake demon a "double peak piercing the ears," shattering its head; white and red, thick and thin, it all came out.

Then he shouted loudly: "Here, there is no second voice, no second thought! Don't let me hear similar words again! Otherwise, he will be the warning for the future!"

Then he went to find Ao Jin.

Ao Jin was refining the "Sanshisan Zao Hua Long Qi."

Xu Jia had checked this treasure the moment he got it and discovered that he couldn't use it himself; only the Dragon Race could master and cultivate it, as it contained the fortune of the Poyang Dragon Race.

So he handed it to Ao Jin. Ao Jin was Xu Jia's attendant, always doing auxiliary work without much combat power, so this item was given to him for self-defense.

Ao Jin, however, believed that these thirty-three treasures each contained a dragon soul and were refined from dragon corpses, so he could change the refining method, alter the foundation, and refine them into the "Sanshisan Water Virtue Zao Hua Long Qi," setting them up as an array to purify the Poyang Dharma Realm.

Now, the corpses and Dragon Soul of the various Flood Dragons he had killed were all requested by him to be used for this purpose.

"Ao Jin Tongzi, the water tribes over there have been pacified; a batch was suppressed and a batch was killed, but after all, this place has been managed for many years and requires longer-term edification. The Water Virtue Technique has also been spread, but does anyone really do this kind of thing that benefits others before oneself and dissipates Dharma Power?"

Although Ao Jin was a child, he was doing bloody work at this moment. On the ground were seven or eight-zhang-long dragon corpses that he had dissected, and beside him was a box containing beads as small as eggs and as large as fists—all Flood Dragon Pearls—which he intended to offer to Xu Jia.

"Without cultivating virtue, it is difficult to enter the superior path. Just look at the end of Shunji and Anji. A thousand years of Daoist Practice and the God Immortal Realm—are they not powerful? But why could our Heavenly Master, who only has the Earth Immortal realm, subdue them? Because he obtained the help of heaven and earth. Why did he obtain the help of heaven and earth? Because of his great compassion and great benevolence..."

Yuan Jiangjun thought to himself: Isn't it because he has connections above? Whoever has the higher rank and the greater power wins? "Don't look at me. I cultivated Water Virtue; before, I couldn't beat you and was occupied by you in the Water Mansion, but look at me now—my usefulness and benefits are far greater than yours."

"If you don't cultivate virtue from now on, you won't be able to pass the Thousand Year Tribulation in the future, and you won't be in step with our Heavenly Master."

"Why did our Heavenly Master clash head-on with the Lishan Sect? It was because he had many little demons under his command who were not recognized by them. Although the Master said that he didn't need their recognition, don't we need to be recognized in our hearts?"

"To be legitimized, to be whitewashed, and to walk into the light, one must do this kind of self-sacrificing and altruistic thing. Besides, the Master must have more ambitious pursuits and longer-term goals that you haven't seen. Otherwise, my father, who was doing fine in the Shangjie as a Seventh Rank Dragon God, why would he insist on coming to the lower realm? Whether being a human, a demon, or a god, one cannot be too short-sighted."

Ao Jin looked preachy and sarcastic; he stood on tiptoe and patted Yuan Jiangjun on the shoulder: "You still have a lot to learn!"

Yuan Jiangjun was angry, but he wasn't someone who didn't think; he felt that what Ao Jin said was indeed reasonable. If he didn't cultivate virtue, he would sooner or later be marginalized, as could be seen from Xu Jia's previous ways of doing things. So he hardened his heart, learned the Water Virtue technique, transformed the demon-cultivation Dharma Power in his body, swallowed evil water, and converted it into benevolent water. His Daoist Practice slowly transformed; although it shrank a bit, it actually had a sense of clarity, and there were fewer distracting thoughts in his mind, allowing him to suddenly understand many things.

Virtue in the body is also a "sharp weapon in the bosom"; it cannot be absent, as it is a "Dharma-protecting tool."

As the saying goes, "The higher the cultivation and the stronger the Dharma Power, perhaps one can become a backup for solving problems, but one cannot fundamentally solve the problem."

If one wants to suppress by force, problems will only accumulate and erupt more violently.

Only by putting virtue first can one solve problems well and have the possibility of further progress; otherwise, one can only be troubled by the same problem for many years.

On the path of cultivation, Dharma Power is easy to accumulate—the immortals in Xu Jia's hall could already cultivate at ten times the speed—but the "Calamity" is hard to pass. The Hundred Year Tribulation, the Five Hundred Year Great Tribulation, and the Thousand Year Tribulation are each more violent than the last. With the Eight Difficulties and a hundred turns of Calamity, how could it be that whoever is strong can pass?

Now, looking at it, cultivating this virtue solves things from the internal cause. Cultivating virtue internally and accumulating merit externally is the "Right Path." Since I am the Right Path, if you oppose me, you are the crooked path.

Ao Jin entered the Poyang Water Mansion, went into the Dragon Palace, and then traveled through the Dragon Palace to enter the Dragon Nest.

The Dragon Nest was a huge sponge-like cavernous mountain with thousands of caves and ten thousand holes, hiding many dragon eggs inside. Dragon servants shuttled through it, like the "soul-eating insects" of Kikyo in *Inuyasha*.

The soul, essence, and Qi of the dragons that died in the outside world were all transported by these dragon servants into the Dragon Nest for transformation.

The Dragon Nest itself was like a plant and also like something transformed from flesh and blood; it had a root at the bottom that connected to the earth, absorbing the Qi of the southern Dragon Vein to nourish itself.

Xu Jia was naked at this time, sitting cross-legged in the center of the nest. Underneath him were the internal organs of a Flood Dragon made into the shape of a meat lotus, with the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella standing behind him to protect him.

Since Zhang Fajing left, he had divided the key points of all matters and explained them to Yuan Jiangjun, Ao Jin, and the various Body Gods of Jiujiang Shuidi.

He was cultivating here himself; what was he cultivating? The urinary system. The water of Poyang could correspond to the human bladder, the dragon could correspond to the Spirit Root, and the Dragon Nest corresponded to the two external kidneys.

Originally, it nurtured the Long Mu, and Long Mu used it to nurture and breed herself. With the union of yin and yang, she gave birth to various dragons, obtaining the perfection of yin and yang; therefore, little dragons were at the Earth Immortal level as soon as they were born, and many even grew to the God Immortal level.

This Shunji Longwang is male, so he only enhanced his own reproductive ability, capable of ejaculating into the void, using lewd Qi to copulate with all things, giving birth to hybrid Flood Dragons, which are only at the Human Immortal realm and must pass the Five Hundred Year Great Tribulation to achieve Transformation into a Flood Dragon.

Although Xu Jia is not of the dragon kind and does not need the powerful function of "ejaculating into the void" to make whoever he stares at pregnant, after all, the urogenital system is also a part of the body; by utilizing this Dragon Nest Daochang, he can cultivate the Body God of this system, and the "Water Deity path" within the human body can then be perfected.

As for this Dragon-Hidden Lotus Great Secret Ritual, it is used for crossing the tribulation.

Cultivating this Body God will inevitably attract lust demons, desire demons, lewd demons, wanton demons, and such demons of the celestial cycle to come and seduce Xu Jia's "Original Yang essence," breaking Xu Jia's Diamond Indestructible state, so as to seize the opportunity to ascend and become the various Heavenly Maidens within Xu Jia's body landscape, thereby obtaining an official position.

The Dragon-Hidden Lotus Great Secret Ritual is an Esoteric Buddhism secret ritual used to cultivate concentration, and it is also a ritual for sacrificing to demons; even with the protection of the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella, Xu Jia would not dare to say he is completely unafraid of the demons within it.

Back then, Xu Xun studied under Dadong True Monarch Wu Meng and heard that a great snake spirit was causing chaos in the south; this snake spirit was also a creature of greed for pleasure, copulating with hundreds of men and sucking them dry.

Wu Meng wanted to select from his disciples those who could subdue the snake demon, so he set up a test; at the time, there were 1,200 disciples, so he took 1,200 charcoal sticks and performed magic, turning them into beauties.

When the next day came, these disciples either had black hands, black crotches, or some even had black teeth... only Heavenly Master Xu was in white robes, unstained by the black charcoal, and thus he was taught the True Dharma to go and slay the snake demon.

What Xu Jia wants to do is the same kind of thing, worrying that at a critical moment, his cultivation will be broken.

In his past life, he lost his virginity early, which was a regret, and he walked a heterodox path; in this life, having the opportunity for a flawless true body and un-leaked Original Yang, he naturally wants to challenge it.

At this moment, he had not yet begun the practice, nor had he actively summoned the various demons to subdue them; he was only calming his heart and spirit, adjusting his state.

Seeing Ao Jin arrive and offer these Dragon Pearls, he said: "I also have some beads here, such as Cooling Beads, Bichong Beads, Wind Calming Pills... help me inlay these precious beads onto the Three Sovereigns Ten Thousand People Umbrella and hang them down; that will suffice, no need for excessive ritual refining."

Seeing the scene here, Ao Jin was also somewhat astonished; Xu Jia had never displayed this kind of flesh-and-blood ritual in front of others; it looked more like the rituals of the Longevity Sect or the Mizang Yu.

He silently installed the beads and then said: "This disciple has already initially refined the hub of the Water Mansion; does Master need to close the Dragon Nest to prevent interference from outsiders?"

Xu Jia nodded, praising him for being thoughtful: "This cultivation of mine will take forty-nine days at the longest, or two or three days at the shortest; during this period, if my father wishes to return home, you may send people to escort him by water; there is no need to come and ask me."

Ao Jin acknowledged and withdrew; after going out, he locked the entrance to the Dragon Nest and set up restrictions, not allowing outsiders to interfere.

After Ao Jin, Xu Jia sat still for several more hours, sensing that the outside world had entered the night, during the Zi and Chou hours, and only then did he begin the sacrificial ritual to summon, using the power of subduing demons to refine Pure Yang and cultivate the various internal Body Gods.

"Om!"

"Dalu Ding!"

"Soha!"

The secret mantra emitted from Xu Jia's mouth carried infinite demonic power, shaking the Dharma Realm and reaching the deepest depths; the Sea of Desire and the Heaven of Sin were stirred by the infinite yin demons, heavenly demons, and realm demons.

The various demons were in an uproar, but few demons truly descended to test him; in the end, they only heard a "dragon roar."

They saw the various demons retreating one after another, clearing a large space to give this demonic creature enough face.

This demonic creature had the appearance of a Bodhisattva on the upper body, full of compassion, naked, with two breasts exposed, wearing necklaces and adorned with various gemstones; the lower body was a dragon, with the dragon body coiled around the upper body, forming a circle.

Behind her head were several halos, within which celestial beings and Heavenly Maidens could be faintly seen copulating.

"Homage! Dragon Mother Bodhisattva!"

The various demons transformed into celestial beings and kowtowed to her.

(End of this chapter)