Chapter 291: Giving Up and Gaining

‘Using the Shangqing Thunder Method to build the Foundation, one sets up an altar and draws the True Intent of the Nine Heavens Thunder to temper the body. At that moment, a thunderbolt descends from the sky. If one passes this tribulation, the Foundation is successfully built; if one fails the tribulation, one dies and the Dao vanishes.’

Reading this, George felt a wave of dizziness. “Do many people actually use this thing? ‘A thunderbolt descends from the sky. If one passes this tribulation, the Foundation is successfully built; if one fails the tribulation, one dies and the Dao vanishes.’ To put it plainly, it’s just gambling with one’s life! And the altar, I say, an altar is not something that can be built easily!”

The so-called altar is a place where Taoist priests set up offerings, cast spells, and hold prayers. It is also called a Scripture Hall or a Fast Altar. It is mostly used by the Zhengyi Sect of Taoism. In the Taoist Canon, books like “Lingbao Leading Teaching Salvation Golden Book” and “Shangqing Lingbao Great Method” contain many records about the system of building altars and the rules for ascending them.

There were many Taoist altars. In ancient times, there were four great general altars: the Shangqing Sect Altar on Mount Mao in Jiangsu, the Lingbao Sect Altar on Mount Gezao in Qingjiang, Jiangxi, the Jingming Sect Altar on West Mountain in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and the Zhengyi Sect Altar on Mount Dragon and Tiger in Guixi, Jiangxi. Since the Zhang Heavenly Master of the Zhengyi Sect unified the “Three Mountains Talismans”.

Building a decent altar was an extremely difficult task. In fact, the establishment of most altars was often passed down from master to disciple—this was a bit like the inheritance of the alms bowl in Buddhism. After years of use, the condensation of incense and will power often made the effects of these inherited altars far exceed those of newly built ones.

The trouble of building a new altar was even harder to explain to outsiders. Because in Taoist fasting and offering activities, many combinations of ritual tools were needed to complete a series of court memorial activities. In these activities, there was one very important ritual tool that was indispensable: the Court Tablet.

The Court Tablet was a ritual tool used by Taoists during fasting and offering ceremonies to pay respects to ancestors, Heavenly Worthies, Earth Deities, Stars, Mountains, Rivers, and other holy spirits. The history of Taoists using the Court Tablet was long. It had different names in different eras and regions, and there were also some changes in the materials used for its production.

As an important ritual vessel in this activity. The Court Tablet was also called Hu, Hand Board, Hu Board, Court Board, etc. It had different names in different places and periods within the religion. It was usually called the Court Tablet, or simply “Tablet”.

It had the meaning of being concise and to the point! In the strictly hierarchical feudal society of China, there were different regulations for the materials used to make court boards for different officials. The Taoist use of the Hu, or Court Tablet, also served to solemnize the rules, awe the ritual site, and create a connection between humans and gods.

Corresponding to the “Tablet” was the “Gui”. This character was an ideograph. From heavy earth, its original meaning was the name of an ancient jade artifact. It was long and strip-shaped, with a triangular top and a rectangular bottom. In ancient China, nobles used it as a ritual vessel for court visits, sacrifices, and funerals. Depending on its size, it distinguished status, and was also called Gui.

Among the statues of Taoist gods, there were those holding the Gui, such as the Jade Emperor, the Three Officials, and the God of Wealth. There was a meaning that “Gui implies return and kneeling.” The gods holding the Gui meant they were accepting the worship and conversion of their believers.

Therefore, when sculpting god statues, one must pay attention that they are holding the Gui, not the Court Tablet. The Gui and the Tablet were also different in external shape. The Gui we commonly see now are straight boards with triangular tops. For example, the statues of the Seven True Ones and the Jade Emperor in the White Cloud Temple in Beijing all hold the Gui.

The meanings of these two ritual vessels in Taoism were exactly opposite. The Court Tablet was used to worship the superior, while the Gui was used to accept the worship of believers or those of lower status. The Court Tablet was a slightly curved, slender trapezoid shape, held by the big end, with the small end pointing up.

This was the most important core of distinguishing status and etiquette: during the ceremony, the performer of the ceremony was in the lower position, while the embodiment of the rules being worshipped was in the higher position.

This was actually somewhat similar to the relationship between Deities and believers in the world where George lived. But the believers in this time were more devout, while the faith in Tianchao before crossing over was more like a transaction. Although there was a saying in Taoism before crossing over that gods were not as good as immortals, one should not consider whether this theory was true or false. Because the ones holding the ceremony were not immortals but humans, so a Deity was ultimately a Deity, and a mortal was ultimately a mortal.

Other tools included the Ruyi used by Taoists. It was about one to two feet long, with a slightly curved handle. Some were made of gold or bamboo, but most were carved from wood or jade. Sometimes gold or jade was inlaid on the head to show its preciousness. The end was often shaped like a Ganoderma lucidum or a cloud. High Taoists held it, symbolizing the bestowal of auspiciousness. It had the function of bringing good luck and warding off evil.

In addition, the Jade Bi was also a ritual tool used in Taoist ceremonies to suppress the altar and transmit messages. In ancient Chinese etiquette, there were those who used jade tokens as symbols of faith. As the saying goes, “Jade is the essence of pure Yang, a thing of integrity and purity. It can form an alliance with the true ones above, so it is used as a token…”

The Tianpeng Ruler that followed was also a ritual tool used by Taoism to suppress the altar. There were two common types. One was cylindrical, engraved with cloud scripts, called a pestle. The other was a rectangular prism, engraved with different cloud scripts according to different functions. The Ruler had the function of driving away evil and suppressing the altar.

The Command Token was a ritual tool used by Taoism to suppress and protect the altar. It originated from the Tiger Tally used by ancient Chinese armies to issue orders. However, there were many types of Command Tokens with different specifications. Most used “Three Pure Ones,” “Jade Emperor,” or “Purple Micro” as the main content on the front, and carved images of “Heavenly Stems” or “Tianpeng” on the back, varying according to function. At the same time, characters were carved on both sides of the token, usually stars like the Twenty-Eight Constellations. Of course, folk Taoist sects also carved phrases like “If anyone dares not obey, they will be cut into inches and their form divided.”

Usually, Command Tokens were carved from thunder-struck jujube wood or high-quality wood with tough texture. However, it was said that the best material was the copper material replaced during the repair of the gold-plated copper hall on the summit of Mount Wudang. Of course, one should not believe such baseless rumors whose origin was unknown.

Finally, the “Dragon Tablet” was a ritual tool used for sealing faith after the completion of Taoist fasting and offerings. This was a composite object, made of a golden dragon, golden buttons, a jade Bi, green silk, and other items. Because gold was a hard and unyielding substance that could communicate with spirits, a dragon shape was cast in gold. It was thrown into caves, mountains, and rivers to form an alliance with the Three Elements.

The metal used for the dragon depended on the host of the fast. For example, the imperial court used pure gold, dukes and ministers used alloys, and scholars and commoners used silver or copper plated with gold. The size of the golden dragon depended on the tablet. The tablet was one foot two inches long, symbolizing the twelve two-hour periods. It was two inches four minutes wide, imitating the twenty-four true qi. It was two minutes thick, symbolizing the two forces. The top and bottom were square, imitating the square shadow of the sun. The material of the tablet also depended on the host of the fast. The imperial court used jade boards, while dukes and commoners used clean hibiscus wood boards that looked like jade. There were three types of tablets: Mountain Tablet, Earth Tablet, and Water Tablet. The Mountain Tablet was sealed in precipitous rocks in the mountains. The Earth Tablet was buried in the soil of the altar site. The Water Tablet was thrown into rivers and lakes. The Mountain Tablet used gray jade to make a round Bi. The Earth Tablet used yellow jade to make a square Bi. The Water Tablet used black jade to make a hexagonal shape, forming images based on the Five Elements.

Why use a golden dragon? Because the Taoist classics stated: ‘The dragon is the mounted messenger of the heavens. To convey messages and connect feelings, the dragon rider comes first. Carrying the tablet, it sends trust to the Three Officials. Making a vow, it reports the alliance to the Ten Poles. The method of suppressing faith takes the dragon as the head. If it is missing, one will be examined by the officials of the underworld.’ To deliver the message of prayer to the ears of heaven, such a prop became a necessity in Taoist ceremonies.

In fact, since the Zhengyi Sect Altar was renamed the “Ten Thousand Methods Sect Altar,” except for the Quanzhen Sect, large and small Taoist sects came under the command of Zhengyi, and their transmission of methods also changed to folk inheritance. This was the so-called branching of a big tree and the turning of the stars. Although the establishment of altars today might not be as strict as in ancient times, the core remained unchanged. With so many requirements and restrictions, one could say that even if George wanted to build a new altar, he had the will but not the power!

Don’t look at the fact that as the Lord of Bolerum Territory, George seemed to be able to mobilize very rich resources. But to really produce so many things, it had far exceeded his ability range.

Just the jade item alone was enough to give George a huge headache. After all, the jade used in this ceremony had to be soft jade. The so-called soft jade and hard jade were classified according to the texture of the jade. For example, emerald was hard jade, with a Mohs hardness of 7 degrees. If scratched with a sharp knife, it would not leave a mark. Soft jade had a relatively lower texture and was easy to change due to friction. The former belonged to the pyroxene class, also called pyroxene or pyroxene jade. The latter was mainly composed of colorless tremolite and actinolite.

George had a certain understanding of most of the gems on the Western Continent of this world. Some of them belonged to the category of hard jade, but he had never seen soft jade. Of course, this did not mean that the Western Continent did not produce soft jade. The greatest possibility was that no one regarded it as a gem or a similar luxury. For thousands of years, it was left underground and not mined—because there was a lack of economic interest to drive it.

The remaining carving and other production work was not easy either. Although Bolerum Territory had accepted a large number of Dwarves and Gnomes, skilled craftsmen were not lacking. If it really didn’t work, there was the “Ghost Axe and Divine Work” spell!

But what about the patterns and designs? After all, this was content that had never appeared in this world. George would probably have to learn drawing specifically now, and maybe he would need to hide the true use of these patterns and designs from the craftsmen who did the work.

Moreover, these patterns and designs could not be solved just by copying them. During the production process, one had to consider the stars, the seasons, and other comprehensive factors. At the same time, it had to be accompanied by corresponding rituals.

Like the production of the wooden Command Token:

First, choose a lucky day to fast and bathe, making both body and mind clean. Then report the matter of making the Command Token to the High God, and explain which Thunder Department was being employed and its destination.

Second, choose the wood for making the Command Token. It was limited to three types: jujube wood knots, pomegranate wood, and cypress wood. Others could not be used. The token was regulated to be three inches long and two inches nine minutes wide. The shape of the token was round on top and square at the bottom, symbolizing heaven and earth.

Third, limit the dates from wood gathering to wood opening and carving. Wood was gathered on Jia and Yi days. The shape of the Command Token was made on Geng and Xin days. On Ren and Gui days, and Bing and Ding days, the four characters “Five Thunder Command” were written on the token. The former was written in ink, and the latter in cinnabar. The above was the procedure designed by the Taoist priest. The carver had to fast and start carving on Ding days. After carving, it was packed in a black gauze bag. After the manufacturing was completed, the Command Token had to be sacrificed.

The steps for sacrificing the Command Token were even more complicated:

First, the choice of time and place for sacrificing the token. One needed to use the six Wu days, namely Wuzi, Wuyin, Wuchen, Wuwu, Wushen, and Wuxu, because they were the days when the six dragons met. The place for the sacrifice had to be on a high plateau or a place rarely visited by people.

Second, the objects used for sacrifice. There were a large rooster, five bamboo or wooden poles, black money, five pairs of clean cups, five clean plates, one black snake or black paper snake, a sword, wine, etc.

Third, the method of sacrifice. Choose a clean place, place the bamboo or wooden poles, cups, and plates in the five directions. Hang the black money on the poles. Tear the black snake or black paper snake into five sections and place them under the black money. Use the sword to pierce the comb of the rooster and drip the blood into the cups of wine in the five directions.

Fourth, communicate with ghosts and gods. The Mage made a vow with the Thunder God, inviting the five directions of barbaric thunder. After offering incense and pouring wine, the sacrificial objects were buried under the direction of the Grand Duke of the year at the sacrifice site. Then the black money was burned. After sending off the Thunder God, the Command Token was put away and packed in a bag so that others could not see it. The Command Token was placed in the altar for offering.

After weighing and considering many aspects, George immediately put this so-called true teaching at the bottom of the box. After all, if one wanted to use it, the restrictions in many aspects were really too severe.

‘Perhaps, if one day in the future I can travel to the Continent of Karatu in the East, I might have a chance to complete this ritual! If I don’t get struck to death by lightning.’ In fact, George, who had already constructed the Thunder Pool in his body, was not very worried about the so-called heavenly thunder bombardment. After all, if George, who had achieved this step, couldn’t pass the test of thunder, then this true teaching really had no practical value.

George threw this content behind him in disappointment and once again threw himself into his daily work and life. After all, he, who shouldered the heavy burden of the entire Territory, did not have time to be sentimental about such things.

In the next two days, George found that Carlton Salvin, the Swordsman, was quite capable. In fact, what Knight Val did not tell George was that although he concealed the specific reason from the Swordsman Guild, he personally assessed the candidates. Under the supervision of this Knight, whose strength could be said to be far above the rest, the selected instructor was basically suitable for George’s current situation.

However, regarding the teaching work for George, Carlton Salvin used his own words—it was very challenging. Wanting to improve George’s existing skills without affecting George’s slowly forming unique combat style was a very challenging thing even for such an experienced sword instructor.

So the other party did not teach George any sword moves—not even the most basic ones. From this point of view, the other party was not only experienced in teaching but also dared to try and take risks.

Usually, the key to a Swordsman’s teaching was the sword moves passed down by his own school. A Swordsman adventuring on the Continent needed to master at least about twenty sword moves to cope with almost most situations that would arise. The difference lay in the changes and connections of the moves between different schools. Some required more moves, while others required fewer.

But if one wanted to handle attacks and defenses against all kinds of enemies by oneself, then at least thirty or even fifty different moves were needed. This created the dazzling and magnificent skills of the Swordsman. It could be said that one of the two fundamentals of a Swordsman was the rich weapon moves used when facing enemies. The other was basically the tempered body common to melee fighters.

It could be said that asking a Swordsman to give up his proud sword moves, which distinguished him from ordinary warriors, was a very courageous thing in itself. Even if these moves were far from what George could obtain in the Sword of Military Path.

Carlton Salvin’s method focused on improving the small defects and flaws in George’s existing movements. These small defects and flaws would not actually have a big impact in normal combat. At most, the use of muscles did not reach the extreme. Or there were occasional small flaws in the connection between offense and defense.

However, improvement work that looked like patching up required a lot of time. First was finding the problem, which required careful observation and thinking during combat. Then solving the problem required the wisdom of the instructor, especially since Carlton Salvin did not know much about George’s moves and abilities and it was not convenient to ask too much.

But although this change was small, it seemed to have the effect of gathering sand into a tower. At the beginning, George almost felt no change. Even after a long period of practice, he still felt it was minimal.

If at the beginning, he followed the other party’s teaching just because of the principle of not suspecting the person you employ. The reason for George’s increased enthusiasm later was that the practice of the Iron Heart School moves became faster. Of course, this was inevitable. Although the Iron Heart School could complete certain combat skills in a nearly supernatural way, it ultimately focused on pure weapon application skills.

In the second half of this more than a month, the Dark Elves also changed their previous stalemate and probing, launching a series of fierce offensives. Mobilizing support supplies and dealing with possible risks really kept George so busy that his feet didn’t touch the ground. However, this seemed to be the final madness. After less than 15 days of fighting, those black elves never appeared on the Surface again. But the defenders of Broken Halberd Fortress did not dare to take this lightly.

After receiving the news that those Dark Elves had retreated Underground, George felt like he had let out a sigh of relief. After all, in his understanding, this was a manifestation of the Dark Elves’ logistical support failing to keep up. Their supplies were no longer sufficient to support them in continuing to confront the Duchy of Nohan.

Other aspects might not be a big problem, but the shortage of food was a fatal shortcoming restricting the combat effectiveness of the Dark Elves. As the saying goes, people are iron and rice is steel; if you don’t eat a meal, you’ll be hungry.

The scarce food resources of the Underdark could hardly support a large-scale and protracted expedition. Having failed to plunder supplies from the Surface, they had lost the opportunity to support war with war. Naturally, they no longer had the capital to continue the stalemate. After the failure of the final desperate struggle, retreating became the only choice.

Although they had to guard against the possibility that the other side was feigning a retreat, this could not stop George’s heartfelt joy. In a happy mood, he actually went through a copy of “Shangqing Shenxiao Induction Thunder Method True Teaching” that he had thrown in the corner for a long time. This time, not only was his original good mood completely gone, but he even had the impulse to slap himself.