Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 78 Forging the Dragon Robe: Every Second Counts (Available Tuesday, please read on!)
As the youngest member of the Wang family genealogy, Wang Fugui naturally had the longest lifespan. Even if he could only get one percent from the evil spirits, he would still have more than half a year.

Afterwards, they could even blame it all on evil spirits, saying that it was all done by evil spirits controlling me, and that it had nothing to do with me personally.

Old Man Wang was perfectly aware of what he was doing.

The evil in human nature was fully revealed at this moment.

However, when Old Man Wang excitedly raised his head, what he saw was not his family descendant who had died of old age.

Instead, it was a shoe sole that kept getting bigger in front of you.

Bang!
The old man was kicked four or five meters away by Wang Cheng.

Struggling to lift his head, he looked at "Wang Fugui," who was completely unharmed and whose hair hadn't even turned white, and murmured in disbelief:

"Wealth and honor, but what about your lifespan?"

However, he did not realize that the evil spirits and Wang Fugui's evil fate in the shadows beneath his feet had already coiled tightly around his body like snakes.

The "kowtowing to borrow lifespan" energy within his body was trembling.

The old man's fragile neck was broken by Wang Cheng, who caught up with him.

Even on his deathbed, he couldn't understand why he had failed when he had killed someone according to the rules of kowtowing to extend his lifespan and had his descendants witness him kowtowing.

Wang Cheng was initially startled, but only realized he was just acting as Wang Fugui when the old man kowtowed for the first time.

The real Wang Fugui is long dead. This old man kowtows to him to borrow a lifespan, but not only will he not get a single year's worth, he might even owe him three years' worth of lifespan.

The old man kept hitting himself until he died, but there was nothing he could do about it.

He spat fiercely at his corpse:
"You little bastard, you've really gotten too big for your britches! You think you can borrow my lifespan?"

With a flash of light from his sleeve, the treasured sword Chiwen, transformed into a [Guardian Spirit General], automatically unsheathed itself and plunged straight into the ground, pinning the evil spirit, who resembled an old man, to the ground.

After thinking it over, Wang Cheng decided that using the identity of "Wang Fugui" to ruthlessly kill the old master would ultimately damage the reputation of his fourth master and Wang Banjie.

A crimson light emanated from his palm as he sold both the human and the demon's corpses to [Sihai Tongbao], disposing of them cleanly.

And according to the newly unlocked function, it was transformed into wealth that could satisfy his most urgent needs.

I turned my head and looked around, but nothing had happened.

The battle ended so quickly that even the patrolling soldiers and managers of the Shanhai Temple were not alerted.

Just as I was about to get up and leave, the rooster above my head suddenly crowed again.

Immediately afterwards, accompanied by a strange rustling and wriggling sound, a hoarse voice came from behind him:

"Hiss, try to be taller than me! Try to be taller than me!"

Wang Cheng turned his head and saw a large snake, over ten feet long, with black fur and white markings, slithering up behind him.

A normal person would probably be paralyzed with fear and unable to move upon seeing such a large, triangular-headed venomous snake.

But looking at its slender, boneless body, Wang Cheng licked his lips with undisguised longing:
"Slurp~, bro, you've come at the perfect time!"

The phrase "rare commodity" clearly indicates the visitor's information.

[Evil spirit: Bi Gao snake.]

Throughout China, there are snakes that can measure human height, also called tall snakes. The shortest are six or seven feet long, while the longest are one or two zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

When no one is around, it likes to coil up quietly, just like any other snake. But once it encounters a person, it will immediately stand up and try to compete with them in height.

Taboo: If it encounters someone who is not as tall as it stands, it will bite that person to death; if it is shorter than the person it encounters, it will bite itself to death.

Folk custom origin: Some people like to compare themselves with others. They feel happy and proud when they are better than others, and unhappy and resentful when they are worse than others.

The strong will of these people can cause folk legends to be attributed to various snakes, leading to the proliferation of evil spirits like the Bhikkhu snake.

Of course, the power of this evil spirit itself is not the point.

The key point is the snake itself, which is anchored in the folk legend!
It turned out to be a silver-ringed snake that had lived for over a hundred years and had long since become a spirit, the most venomous snake in the land of China, almost without exception.

The silver-ringed snake itself is quite legendary, also known as the money-flowered snake or the bone-melting dragon.

There are folk sayings such as "Even a unicorn son can't defeat a bone-melting dragon" and "If you have a bone-melting dragon in your family, it's a debt collector," which shows that it is greedy and can eat a lot.

It is also recorded in "The Story of the Snake Catcher":

"In the wilds of Yongzhou, there is a strange snake: black with white markings, which kills all vegetation it touches; and if it bites a person, there is no cure."

This strange snake with black markings and white spots is the silver-ringed snake.

Because of their extremely high medicinal value, the imperial court allowed snake catchers to use snakes as tax payment, resulting in none of them meeting a good end. The author can't help but lament, "Who knew that the harm caused by exorbitant taxes was even more severe than the venom of these snakes?"

This snake is a living legend, far superior to the blue-ringed snake of the Han family.

The only problem is how to get the owner of the "snake skin" to willingly hand over his skin to Master Wang.

If this were a beautiful snake, he would even be willing to go against his principles and use the "Beauty Undressing Technique".

call--!
At this moment, the Bigo snake, carrying a stench that filled the air, stretched its body upwards in a winding motion.

At first, the snake only reached the top of Wang Cheng's shoes, then its calves, knees, thighs, waist, chest, and shoulders were about to surpass his head, proving that the snake was taller than a person.

For a snake that is ten feet long, this is not a difficult task at all.

Just as the snake's head was about to pass Wang Cheng's nose, it suddenly dropped down and landed on his chin.

"sizzle"

The Bigo snake twisted and stretched its body with all its might, but just as it reached Wang Cheng's nose, it fell back down.

This time, the fall was unstoppable from the start, hitting the chin, shoulder, and chest.
It finally realized something was wrong and turned to look at its tail.

He noticed that the shadow beneath him was rippling like water, and a terrifying, dark figure was pulling him down slowly by grabbing his tail with both hands.

Pulling at one end and stretching at the other, no matter how much it stretches out, it's useless; in the end, only the snake's head remains outside.

In the end, all you can see when you're trying to outdo your opponent is the sole of their shoe?
Enraged, the silver-ringed snake turned its head and bit its own body. Its venom, unparalleled in China, took effect quickly, killing itself in the blink of an eye.

A relaxed smile appeared on Wang Cheng's face:

"Once we find the pattern, those mere little snakes are no match for us!"

Of course, just like kowtowing to borrow lifespan and competing with the snake, the evil spirit [the Crown Prince who patrols on behalf of Heaven] who has made another contribution also has his own taboos.

According to legend, whether in the East or the West, the souls of the dead must pay a toll to cross the river.

Therefore, all it takes is to throw money at him and forcefully dismantle the "sending off the king's boat" folk custom that he is anchored to.

Ordinary copper coins are the least powerful, while large silver ingots and silver coins that have been circulating in the market for a long time can smash him and make him run away with his head in his hands.

If you encounter a large, thick, and heavy gold ingot or brick, it's not entirely impossible to be crushed to death by the money.

This will probably be the only way for evil spirits to die!
However, Wang Cheng himself is not as mechanical and rigid as evil spirits. His living body and the evil spirit's yin body work together, and the combined combat power is far greater than the sum of its parts.

Step forward and press down on the snake's head with the scabbard to prevent it from jumping up and biting you if any nerves are still alive.

Then, lifting the ten-foot-long tail, he skillfully peeled off the complete snake skin with a fish-cleaning knife, and then washed it clean with salt water.

The remaining part can no longer be used normally in medicine, but it is still a real poison. If used properly, it is more potent than any sleeping potion and can be extremely deadly even to officials of the middle third rank.

Then Wang Cheng took the century-old snake back to his own courtyard.

After burning incense and bathing, he took out the materials for refining magic that he had plundered from the Han family, and recited: Incense Burning Mantra, Water Purification Mantra, Incantation Paper Text, Incantation Brush Text, and Invocation Mantra.
He sat down at a table, and the evil spirit manifested itself and sat opposite him.

Two Wang Chengs, one in white and one in black, stretched out their hands and pressed them together like they were playing with a Ouija board, each holding a wolf-hair talisman brush between them. At the same time, they drew two [Water-Gathering Talismans] with great flourish.

When drawing talismans, officials of various lineages need to borrow power from their ancestors or other spirits and deities. Only when the power of the deity, their own power, and the power of the talisman are combined can the drawn talisman be effective.

Wang Cheng learned the "Ghostly Talisman" technique from the Toad Palace Treasure Record, which not only allows him to borrow divine power but also ghostly power to help him draw talismans.

Many members of the Mountain and Sea Society who learned this strange skill would raise spirits using the Ouija board, and those ghosts who were skilled at drawing talismans in their previous lives were especially sought after.

With the help of a malevolent spirit with two sides, Wang Cheng could draw the [Water Gathering Talisman] needed to refine the dragon robe quickly and well.

Considering the unstable situation in Yuegang and the possibility of accidents happening outside for seven consecutive days, an altar was set up early the next morning at the coin hole of Sihaitongbao.

At Chen Shi (7 to 9 AM), the snake molt is placed in a white silk bag and offered as a sacrifice under the Haotian Chengxiang Altar to begin the ritual.

With feet planted on the characters "Kui Gang," hands forming the Dragon Subduing Seal, head raised to draw in a breath of eastern energy using the exquisite Chenlong Breathing Technique, and chanting the incantation seven times in succession:
"Serpent Master, Serpent Master, rolling and coiling on the ground, flashing with lightning and sparks, easily seen yet easily hidden, roaming freely in the sea, once captured, it will hibernate. By imperial decree!"

Then burn another water-gathering talisman that I drew myself last night.

Although the sun has risen, the starry sky remains. Among the seven constellations of the Azure Dragon, starlight, invisible to the naked eye, descends, passes through the eye of the coin, and falls into the altar, generating a talisman.

Watching the snake molt in the silk pouch being imbued with spiritual power, gradually radiating divine light, transforming from death to life, gaining a unique vitality.

Wang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief:

"Everything is ready. I just need to wait another six days, and by February I will no longer be a blank slate official and will have combat power corresponding to my rank."

I hope everything goes smoothly and there are no more unexpected incidents.

(End of this chapter)