Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 91 Eight Gates Golden Lock, withstanding the cannon's blow!
"Alright, big boatman."

Upon receiving the order, Zhang Wen immediately took out a large earthenware basin, first lining the bottom with red-hot charcoal, and then evenly sprinkling a handful of incense balls of "Imperial Concubine's Tent Fragrance" inside.

The ingredients for this acacia fragrance formula used to enhance pleasure in the palace are relatively easy to obtain, and its effects are quick and potent.

According to the Divine Incense Manual, among the lower three grades of incense recipes, only the [Red Pill Tent Incense] is more potent, but unfortunately, it belongs to a family secret recipe of a certain imperial physician and was not included.

call--!
White smoke drifted in the wind, transforming into countless celestial maidens scattering flower petals, instantly enveloping the downwind Babao ship, scattering large, hazy petals outwards.

"Huchi. Huchi"

Immediately, everyone blushed and their mouths went dry. Even seeing a hole in the ship's deck caused by a stray bullet, they couldn't help but have some very bold ideas.

The Qingyi did not continue to approach. The foremast and mainmast sails turned to the sides to balance with the wind, completing the braking of the sailboat and quietly stopping on the river.

They just watched as the enemy ship opposite them became increasingly strange.

Zhang Wu stepped forward to ask for instructions:
"Hey, captain, are we still going to fire our cursed stone bombs?"

Once a sailing warship loses its power, a single burning arsonist can turn the entire vessel into a torch.

Let alone a single warship, even a powerful fleet, once trapped in its anchorage and rendered immobile, is doomed to be slaughtered, no matter how large its size or how many cannons it possesses.

The "Baobao" is finished!
Logically, now is the best opportunity to send the warship to the bottom of the river like a target practice, but Wang Cheng is somewhat reluctant.

He had already covered the hull of this sailing warship with tally marks.

In his view, this was already his Master Wang's ship.

If only the crew is killed, this sailing warship, which is so valuable in the Great Zhao Dynasty that even money can't buy it, can be easily taken over and put back into battle after some minor repairs.

With two sailing warships, the Qingyi and Babao, he had enough to support the inner workings of one of the eight great ship captains.

It's better to keep them for now, just like those wounded soldiers deliberately created for the enemy on the battlefield; their greatest purpose is to hinder the enemy's manpower.

"Wang Fugui, you've ruined my plans! I'm going to eat you alive!"

Pu Shouying was ultimately a high-ranking ship captain of the third rank, and his great power was due to himself. He was not yet at his wit's end.

He chopped a burly guard who was clinging to his leg and about to make unspeakable moves to his death with a single palm strike, then suddenly inhaled and exhaled forcefully.

"call--!"

A sudden gale arose on the ship, blowing most of the incense in the concubine's tent to pieces.

When an official is in the lower three ranks, he should focus on cultivating "essence". The external physical body is the foundation. He should cultivate the body and light the lamp of the heart until the fire of life is pure yang.

When one reaches the middle three grades, one focuses on cultivating "qi" and harmonizes the body's internal and external aspects through breathing exercises, gradually crossing three barriers: filling the divine organs, offering to the yin body, until reaching the Five Temples of the Gods.

One must use the method of "eating qi and consuming the clouds" to inhale and exhale the Dao qi corresponding to one's official position and rank, add oil to the lamp of the heart, and gradually open up the temple of the five internal organs, so as to establish a palace and build teeth in one's own physical body.

Expand the administrative system of the officials and soldiers of the Great Road and create your own "Five Military Governor's Office".

He then enshrined a fragment of the spirit within the mansion as a "clay sculpture of a divine being," filling it with filth and laying a solid foundation for its advancement to the third rank.

Like those monsters, even if a third-rank official doesn't learn any special skills, he can instinctively exhale, spitting out black wind, yellow mist, white smoke, and so on.

Compared to the lower three grades, the Mind Light has a stronger ability to interfere with reality, the realm of "Sexual Cultivation" is further elevated, and the state of oneness with heaven and man is more profound.

Most importantly, Pu Shouying is not just an ordinary middle-ranked person who has just entered the sixth rank, but a fifth-rank [treasure hunter] who has taken a big step forward in the middle-ranked level!
Wang Cheng had taken precautions. The reason he did not anchor at the beginning but instead used a "sailboat brake" adapted for ocean voyages was to deal with Pu Shouying's counterattack.

He immediately gave the order:
"Hit the wind! Sail close to the wind on the starboard side and create distance!"

With its superior position and overwhelming maneuverability, the Qingyi easily broke away from the enemy ship and drifted downstream.

As soon as the warship began to move, Pu Shouying on the opposite side reacted, tearing off his robe that symbolized a businessman, revealing his muscular physique.

Light an incense stick and press it firmly above your left eye socket.

It's amazing that there was no burn on the skin, only a red dot.

Then recite the incantation:

"Heaven has eight gates to allow the eight winds to pass through. Earth has eight directions to correspond to the eight trigrams. These govern the four seasons and govern all things. The eight gates are like golden locks. First gate, open! Open!"

Then, he made a hand seal and bowed towards the northwest.

A wisp of Dao energy descended and landed precisely on the red dot he had pointed out.

Snapped!
A sound like a lock snapping open came from inside him.

In an instant, a fierce gust of wind emanated from his body and rushed out in all directions, scattering the scattering flower fairies that were gathering around him.

The only secret and orthodox method recorded in the *Shan Hai Han Long Jing* (Classic of Mountains and Seas), namely the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation, is believed to be:
Since an official's body is part of the vast world, each person also has a dragon vein running through their body, with yin and yang flowing between them, containing immense power.

Within the dragon vein, there are eight gates and eight golden locks that tightly bind it. Once the golden locks are opened, the immense power within the human body can be unleashed.

The Open, Rest, and Life gates are very auspicious, allowing for free opening and closing once opened; the View gate is slightly auspicious, requiring a certain rank to attempt; the Shock gate is slightly inauspicious, with a limited number of times it can be opened and closed in one's lifetime.

The Death, Injury, and Blockage gates are extremely unlucky; the eight gates correspond to the eight festivals.

The more doors you open, the stronger the power, and the faster you will die. This "faster" refers to both the enemy and yourself.

Opening all eight gates means certain death!

At this time, Pu Shouying only opened the first gate. The "opening gate" corresponds to the Qian trigram, which is located in the northwest and signifies unobstructed access.

Then, he leaped into the river, riding the crest of the wave straight towards the "Qingyi" ship, splashing huge columns of water behind him, his brute strength astonishing.

Pu Shouying had clearly mastered all five internal organs, forcefully unleashing the combined power of his officers, soldiers, and spirit. "Order: All artillery crews, adjust firing arcs, target Pu Shouying, tiered firing, maintain fire network! Fire!"

At Wang Cheng's command, one of the 12-pounder main guns on the lower deck fired first, and the orange-red flames suddenly illuminated the dark river surface.

A perfectly rounded rock projectile flew towards Pu Shouying.

The stonemasons' spell can turn ordinary stone projectiles into exploding shells. Although their power is far less than that of the original before it was invented, it is still extraordinary in the present day.

Boom!

With a loud bang, the flying stone projectile was detonated by the surging force emanating from Pu Shouying when it was still three zhang away from him, exploding in mid-air.

Countless sharp stones rained down on Pu Shouying.

"It's a cursed stone? A useless piece of trash that's good for nothing and good for making things worse!"

The fifth-rank [Treasure Hunter]'s face darkened.

I felt like my team was full of useless teammates who couldn't be led. They couldn't do the tasks assigned to them and kept feeding the enemy equipment, so I, as the leader, ended up taking all the blame.

But there's no way to argue with the dead; you can only grit your teeth and silently endure it all alone.

"Open the Gate of Rest and the Gate of Life!"

Then, the Eight Gates Golden Lock was used to open two more gates.

The Rest Gate (休门) corresponds to Kan (坎), located in the due north, signifying rest and peaceful dwelling; the Life Gate (生门) corresponds to Gen (艮), located in the northeast, signifying the birth of all things.

As the three gates opened simultaneously, a blurry phantom of the Star God of Douzhai, Tanlang, exploded around Pu Shouying. Clad in heavy armor and covered in starlight, Tanlang firmly protected Pu Shouying in the center.

Facing the incoming shards of rock, he slammed his palms together in front of him.

Snapped!
A violent turbulent current, mixed with air and water vapor, swept past, blowing away all the surrounding rubble.

When the second cursed stone cannonball was about two zhang away, he stepped onto the river surface, and a stream of water shot out and collided with the cannonball in mid-air.

When the cursed stone exploded again, it was buffered by the water flow, and its destructive power was reduced by more than half.

After establishing his own government and military headquarters, the fifth-rank official achieved harmony between internal and external forces, and a perfect unity between heaven and man, granting him unparalleled control over his own magical abilities.

Then, with a leap forward, he transformed into a streak of arrows hurtling across the water, his legs becoming afterimages, his upper body almost parallel to the surface, and the objects on either side rushing past him.

Dangerous!Dangerous!Dangerous!
When the third and fourth cannons had just passed by and missed their targets, the crew of the Blue Robe finally realized what was happening:

"This guy actually withstood the cannon fire? He's insane!"
With this skill, not only would you be able to escape unscathed if a single warship were to be destroyed, but an entire fleet could be wiped out.

"A fifth-rank official possesses such extraordinary skills? If given the chance to engage in boarding action, wouldn't he wipe out the entire ship by himself?"

As they watched the rapidly approaching figure, everyone on the ship felt a sharp pain in their brows, as if pricked by needles.

Their intense sense of crisis made them realize that if anyone got close, they would be torn to shreds without mercy.

Wang Cheng reminded him again:
"This unique skill is similar to divine strike, its advantage lies in explosive power, but it cannot be sustained for long."

His physical body is essentially no different from ours; once the effects of the spell wear off, he'll be just as fragile as before.

"Get me a shotgun, use area-of-effect attacks to wear him down!"

Zhang Wu immediately stood at the hatch and shouted:

"Yes, big ship!"

"Guardsman, switch to cinnabar shotgun shells and break his spell!"

Boom!

The cannon fire burst forth, like the breath of a fiery dragon.

When the fifth cannon fired, it had been replaced with a shotgun mixed with cinnabar. Hundreds of red iron balls wove together a scorching storm of death, enveloping a huge fan-shaped area with a radius of ten zhang.

"Damn it, these mundane creations from the West have actually given a group of ordinary people the ability to kill high-ranking officials."

If not for the circumstances, I would not have bought the Babaohao. If I were in power in the future, I would certainly issue an order to ban all strange and frivolous crafts and skills in the world, to set things right!

Although Pu Shouying was a Semu person, he was a rigid scholar-official at heart, no wonder he could confide in the gentry faction.

At this point, he dared not fight head-on any longer. He twisted his body, making a sharp turn on the water's surface with the howling wind, and continued to rush along the edge of the metal storm.

At this moment, the sixth cannon also arrived just in time, blocking his path with another storm of death.

Pu Shouying tried to speed up repeatedly but couldn't get through.

Just as he was about to try circling around again from the bow or stern, Wang Cheng shouted in a low voice:
"Suanni, come out!"

The guardian spirit with a single horn suddenly leaped out from the lion's head, and with a roar it summoned the "Ghost Head Wind", causing the warship's speed to soar from two or three knots to ten knots!
This caused Pu Shouying's plan to fail directly.

But it is a universal truth that what is held for too long will eventually be lost. As long as this treasure hunter is given time, he will surely be the one to win in the end.

At that very moment, a monkey's piercing scream echoed from the main battlefield downstream, followed by a deafening roar of a gunpowder depot exploding.

Then came Huang Yuanzhou's signature obsequious voice:

"Haha, godmother is awesome! The outcome of this battle is decided!"

(End of this chapter)