While Zhao Shu was joking with a group of soldiers, the sky was getting dark, and the patrolling sentry in the distance shouted. Zhao Shu hurried to check, and saw brilliance flying randomly over the mountains and forests in the north, flashing and flickering.
"What's going on?" a soldier asked nervously.
Zhao Shu used Yingxuan's lighting skills, but the distance was too far and he couldn't see the specific situation. He had to explain according to the book: "The light at night may be the mountain spirits swallowing the sun's essence and moonlight, or it may be the
A sign that the treasures of the cave have appeared."
The soldier picked up his weapon: "Should we go over to investigate?"
"No." Zhao Shu stopped and said, "It's already getting late. It's too dangerous to enter the mountain at this time. It may be that the evil spirits are showing light and shadow to seduce us. Don't worry about it. Just guard the camp tonight and wait until sunrise tomorrow."
In the past, Zhao Shu might have really thought that the Immortal Cave had appeared, and he would have already packed up his bamboo basket and joined in the fun. But now that the evil spirits in Xingluo County are stirring up troubles, and Zhao Shu is leading hundreds of soldiers, it is impossible for him to take risks carelessly.
Taking advantage of the afterglow of the sunset, Zhao Shu buried spells throughout the camp and arranged bans to prevent evil spirits from attacking the camp at night. In addition, each soldier had to drink a bowl of cursed water that had been infused with the evil-controlling blessing to prevent the evil spirits from attacking.
Have nightmares.
After making these arrangements, Zhao Shu came to the fire and, as he had done over the past few days, borrowed a straight-blade sword from the soldiers and began to refine the weapon.
A few days ago, Zhao Shu and other soldiers encountered a group of earth ghosts hiding in the thick fog in the ruins of the countryside. This kind of ghosts and ghosts were born from the old spirit of lying on corpses and the earth evil spirits. They did not have much magical power. At best, they could
Throwing bricks, earth and rocks.
However, the shapes of these local ghosts can be virtual or real. The swords, guns and arrows in the hands of the soldiers are difficult to cause effective damage. It is still up to Zhao Shu to use magic to disperse the ghosts.
From this, Zhao Shu discovered that even commonplace spirits and ghosts would be difficult for ordinary people to deal with without corresponding means. However, ordinary soldiers, even if they have some courage and martial arts, know very little when facing monsters and can cut them with swords.
Even if you don't see bleeding or injury when struck with a sword, you will inevitably become timid and shrink back.
After all, not everyone can be like Luo Xixian, who can use his sword energy to ward off ghosts and gods. And no matter how many spells Zhao Shu refines, they can only be used to defend ordinary soldiers, and it is impossible for them to fight against goblins and ghosts.
But since the charm can be used to bless armor, why can't it be used to bless weapons and blades?
In fact, the Xiong Kingdom has similar magic methods, but it usually involves monks preparing their aura before the battle, making the weapons in the hands of many soldiers sharper, and allowing arrows to fly farther and more accurately. But this kind of magic relies on advanced skills.
Today's Zhao Shui simply can't learn the cultivation level.
Moreover, this method of spreading Qi on ordinary armor cannot be maintained for a long time. Just like the golden armor talisman refined by Zhao Shu, if it can be used for half a day, it is good.
As for magic weapons with complete Qi and charm, it takes time to refine. Ordinary soldiers do not have the magic power to activate the magic, nor can they display the magical effects of the magic, so they are naturally not considered.
After several experiments over the past few days, Zhao Shu finally chose to carve talisman seals on the weapon and fill it with cinnabar. The cinnabar was also refined by fire in the alchemy furnace and mixed with other materials to make a paste.
After the processing was completed, Zhao Shu handed the blade to the fire and lit it lightly. At the same time, he recited a spiritual mantra and introduced a wisp of fire evil into the blade. The naked eye could see that the cinnabar talisman bloomed with red light, overflowing to the entire straight blade.
, you can still feel the slightest warmth when you hold it.
"I made another one."
Zhao Shu stood up and looked at the straight sword with a ring head, and waved it casually a few times with great interest. Unfortunately, he was not good at martial arts and almost scratched himself.
"It was your own idea to carve the talisman seal on the sword?" Lingxiao asked.
"That's right." Zhao Shu then thought about it and said, "Not entirely. Like my family's ritual rituals, including throwing bamboo slips into rivers and mountains. The materials for the bamboo slips are not all wood and bamboo, they can also be gold, silver, copper, and iron.
The emperors of the Tianxia Dynasty especially liked to cast gold slips and jade seals into beautiful stones and jade to stabilize the mountains and rivers.
I am also following the example of my predecessors, but what I engraved on the blade is not a powerful talisman, but a fire evil talisman. Nowadays, the sword has not changed much when used against ordinary people. It is still how to cut. But when faced with the physical reality,
There are uncertain fairies and ghosts, and swords blessed with talismans can directly hurt them."
Lingxiao said: "There is still a hint of the evil-controlling blessing effect on the knife."
"Oh, the Jinghua water I prepared with cinnabar was also enlightened by the evil-controlling great blessing." Zhao Shu gently stroked the blade and said: "The "Shenhu Hidden Text" you taught is a good thing. It is specially designed to restrain evil spirits, so it saves me.
Find another way."
Lingxiao's tone was a bit sighing: "I haven't even taught you how to make a sword by carving seal characters, but you actually figured it out on your own."
"Ah? Can you do it too?" Zhao Shu looked at the ring-shou knife in his hand with some discouragement: "I thought I was the first to invent this trick."
Lingxiao smiled and said: "My sword-making method is not just about carving talismans and seals, but it is consistent with the work of opening up the cave. It combines yin and yang, regulates the heaven and earth, transports the universe, generates thunder, and is refined with the sacrifice of the True Yuan Jade Mansion.
These swords are no longer ordinary weapons, but magic weapons of the immortal family that guard the cave. Therefore, even if my true body is destroyed and the true Yuan Jade Mansion is left empty and ownerless, outsiders cannot steal the cave, otherwise they will face the consequences.
To the power of the divine sword.”
"The Divine Sword?" Zhao Shu had a flash of inspiration and asked, "I have heard about the Divine Sword for a long time, but most of the previous explanations in books were unclear. At first, I thought it was a flying sword that was tempered by the Sword Immortal.
Later, I learned about the birth of the Chiyundu Divine Sword from Senior Sister Xin, but it didn’t feel like it.”
"The god of the sword is not about the sharpness of the sword, but about the Qi of heaven and earth." Lingxiao said: "The Jingzhen sword I made cannot be said to be cast and forged, but to be understood in the realm of immortals.
The mystical laws of the creation of heaven and earth are the essence of yin and yang and the five qi. This may seem unattainable, but ordinary people can gain something by studying things sincerely and looking up at all phenomena. How much more can monks in the world perform rituals at the Dharma altar and pretend to capture the qi of heaven and earth. This is
You can do it at all."
Zhao Shu scratched his head and said: "I also have this kind of magical sword that has been refined through sacrifice, but it is not called the Chongxiao Sword Qi at all. I usually use it to collect evil spirits and sacrifice talismans. I don't use it at all in fights, because the magic sword
The sword was not sharpened at all."
"The divine swords in the world are either made from the essence of five metals and eight stones, or they are simply refined into swords." Lingxiao said: "Chiyundu casts the divine sword. I guess it is the former."
Zhao Shu asked: "Did they find some kind of treasure? That's right. This is Xingluo County. It is rich in mineral deposits, including pyrotechnic stone. It is not unusual to find blanks suitable for making swords."
"So, one's own cultivation is the foundation. If you are successful in refining Qi, you can not only refine Qi into a sword, but you can also draw Qi to write talismans, but the treasures of heaven, materials and earth are not easy to come by." Lingxiao reminded: "You can make talismans and refining them.
After all, swords are not the path to immortality."
Zhao Shu held the ring-headed straight knife and shook his head and said: "I did this not for the purpose of immortality. I just think that letting ordinary soldiers hold ordinary iron to fight against evil spirits is a waste of energy and life.
…And I also put some thought into it.”
"oh?"
Zhao Shu was embarrassed: "Actually, it's nothing, I just want to make more money with this. The effectiveness of this kind of talisman is also limited. Just like an ordinary weapon that needs to be re-polished after being hit too many times, the talisman must be re-polished after it expires.
Sacrifice, this is an opportunity to make money. There is also the golden armor talisman from before. In fact, I am also thinking about whether there is a better substitute, so I don’t have to always rely on those discarded armor pieces. Of course, what I want to earn is not
It’s not just the money of one or two soldiers, but the money of the imperial court.”
Lingxiao said helplessly: "You are really vulgar and intolerable."
…
The night was uneventful, and there was no sign of evil spirits attacking the camp.
Zhao Shu and his soldiers packed up their camp, carriages and horses. Since they saw lights flying in the mountains in the north yesterday evening, they went to take advantage of the daylight to find out.
After everyone arrived, they discovered that this place was an abandoned mine, with weeds and dead branches growing among the rubble on the ground. There were several rows of buildings and smelting furnaces in the distance, most of which had collapsed.
Zhao Shu has seen a lot of mines like this in Xingluo County recently. After a little measurement, he found that the scale of this place is not small, but judging from the growth of vegetation, the mine has been abandoned for a long time, at least no one has been mining and smelting in recent years.
.
Generally speaking, this kind of place that was once densely populated and then abandoned is indeed prone to attracting monsters and monsters. However, Zhao Shu used the Yingxuan Landscape Technique and looked back and forth, and found nothing unusual.
"Li Zhao Fu, there is a shrine here!" The patrolling soldiers shouted from a high place.
When Zhao Shu heard this, he ran quickly and found a small shrine halfway up the mountain. It didn't even have a courtyard wall. Instead, it dug a cave into the mountain wall and placed the sacred tablets and stone statues in it to serve the dishes on the table.
It was empty inside, and the surroundings were filled with dust.
"Protect the mountain and protect the cave, Mr. Iron..." Zhao Shu read the words on the sacred tablet. Anyone could see that this was the wish of countless miners to pray for safety when entering the cave.
Zhao Shu thought of the Tiegong Temple in Yanze City. Although he did not know the original architectural style of the temple, considering the vast area, the foundation and walls that had been in use for hundreds of years, and even the remains of the barrier, it should be the place where Emperor Tianxia ordered the iron seal to be sealed.
The seat of the Lord’s divine throne is located.
Temples of worship are different from ordinary houses. In addition to various orientations, the most important thing is how to make the corresponding gods descend. There are many requirements just from the beginning of carving the statues.
After the statue of the god is placed on the throne, a series of fasting rituals must be performed, the emperor's decree of canonization is read out, and the priest may be praised, curses are chanted, and sutras are recited, in order to welcome the gods to separate a little bit of the true spirit and descend on the throne.
Without these steps, what is attached to the throne of the statue is probably not the righteous god, but some monsters and monsters who are greedy for blood food and offerings.
Since the righteous gods enshrined by the imperial court enjoy the nourishing power of incense and worship, they also have the responsibility to protect one side and, together with the temple guardians and sacrifices, expel, subdue and even eliminate all kinds of local evil spirits.
The deities who were granted the title of god were just like the princes and the officials of the border areas. The Tianxia Dynasty also had a set of rules and regulations dedicated to ghosts and gods. There were even detailed explanations of the rituals that gods like Tiegong should enjoy.
However, the cave in front of Zhao Shu and others is obviously not a registered official shrine. Even the title on the god tablet has a sense of vulgarity. It must have been excavated and built by the miners themselves.
He raised his head and looked at the Tiegong statue in front of him. What surprised Zhao Shui was that the statue was quite similar to the one he had originally shown in the trick. It was just a thick stone sculpture roughly in the shape of a human. It didn't even have facial features. It didn't look like it at all.
The righteous god who is worshiped and enshrined by others.
Zhao Shu used Yingxuan's landscape photography skills and could vaguely see a thin trace of aura remaining on the statue, and it seemed to be connected to the mountain behind. He reached out and knocked on the mountain wall behind, but he did not find any hidden chambers.
Zhao Shu couldn't understand this situation. He found the wooden sign where he had previously recorded Tiegong's true form, and then said to the soldiers behind him: "I'm going to use magic to investigate. You guard outside, don't go inside."
Snoop... take this brass bell and ring it if there are thieves or evil spirits coming."
After the arrangements were made, Zhao Shu took out the incense burner, burned a piece of incense, lightly touched the life contract ring, confirmed that the golden armor protection was correct, then sat cross-legged on the floor, held the Tiegong true-shaped talisman in his hand, and said to the Lingxiao:
"I plan to imagine Tiegong's true form and see if I can sense its existence. I would like you to protect my brain palace to prevent my soul from being shaken."
"Just concentrate on your practice." Lingxiao said.
Zhao Shu breathed out slowly and began to think about Tiegong's true form, which was like the movement of a mountain range of energy and aura, thick and heavy. Zhao Shu felt that his body was becoming lighter and lighter, as if rising with the fragrance, passing through the mountain and straight up into the air.
The wind rides on the clouds and flies towards the mountains.
Instinctively lowering his head and looking down, Zhao Shu saw a rolling mountain range on the ground with swirling clouds, which were very similar to the true shape of the map.
The fragrant clouds formed a bridge, extending towards the mountains below, and Zhao Shu slowly fell. He couldn't tell whether what he saw was real or illusory. He saw a huge figure slowly approaching in the quiet deep valley.
The person who came was over three feet tall, with a torso that was like a huge rock, and short and strong limbs. The exposed ocher iron ore was curved like a seal, and a cloud-patterned iron ball suspended in front of it was spinning around, which could barely be used as a head.
Still no face or facial features.
When such a giant of iron and stone came to Zhao Shu, his steps shook the ground, but it did not make people frightened.
"A small omen in this world, the talisman of the Huaiying Hall of Huaxu State, whose surname is Zhao, and whose name is Shui." Zhao Shui bowed his hands and bowed: "Is this the God of Panlong Mountain?"
"Everyone in the world calls me Tiegong, but I don't dare to take the title of God of Panlong Mountain." Tiegong's voice seemed to echo from an iron box, with almost no fluctuation: "Tianxia has lost his virtue, and my incense and worship in the world have ceased.
"
Zhao Shuze said: "Tiegong has guarded Panlong Mountain for hundreds of years, ensuring the people's livelihood and abundant products, and has great merits. Now Xingluo County is in decline and dilapidated. If Tiegong is willing to ascend the altar again and be granted a title, Xiaozhao will try his best to facilitate this.
.”
Tie Gong's appearance showed no emotion, anger, sorrow or joy. He just said calmly: "I have fully repaid the kindness I received from the incense and faith in the past years. The people here mine hardware and smelt hundreds of utensils, so they can have food, clothing, food and clothing.
It is not my fault that everyone has gained something from their hard work. It is also not my fault that Xingluo County is in ruins and waiting to be revitalized."