Chapter 1250 Nonstop Development, Great Firm Strength, Calamity of the Dead Moon and Frosty Sky

It roughly goes like this.

During the Dahe era of the Tang Dynasty, Zheng Renben's good-for-nothing cousin often went sightseeing and playing in the mountains with his disreputable friends. One day, they again had nothing better to do and went up the mountain to play, only to get lost. They were so anxious, they couldn't even find their bearings.

They ran around randomly through the forest.

Then, hey, they heard someone snoring.

Now this was something new. In this desolate wilderness, how loud would a snore have to be to be heard?

These idle bastards had plenty of nerve, and followed the sound to find its source. What they found was a person dressed in clean white robes, using a bundle as a pillow, sleeping wherever he pleased in the forest.

Upon seeing this, they didn't even stop to wonder why someone would be in this remote mountain forest. They just ran up brainlessly and asked.

"Bro, what the hell is this place you've brought us to? We can't find the path. Wake up and point us the way?"

The person sleeping soundly, hearing their words, turned over and started cursing, "Where'd you idiots come from? You don't even say a proper hello when asking for directions. Screw you, you deserve to be lost."

Zheng Renben's cousin saw this wasn't working. "Move aside, let me demonstrate the art of language."

He walked up and said, "Oh my, where'd this handsome guy come from? Even his sleeping posture is so elegant."

This guy, the sleeping figure's ears instantly perked up.

He got up and turned his head.

"What did you just say?"

Zheng Renben's cousin: "I said your sleeping posture is... so elegant?"

White-robed man: "Not that. The sentence before."

Zheng Renben's cousin: "Oh my?"

White-robed man frowned, "Are you fucking messing with me?"

Zheng Renben's cousin finally caught on, "Oh oh oh, I said, where'd this hand~~~some guy~~~ come from?"

White-robed man: "Oh ho ho ho ho ho... say it again."

Zheng Renben's cousin: "Hand~~some guy....."

The white-robed man was thoroughly pleased by this. At a glance, he could tell that Zheng Renben's cousin was no ordinary creature.

He immediately slapped his bundle, "I can see you're a talented one, discerning eyes recognizing quality. I hid it so deeply and you still saw through to my handsome essence. Of course, you've only seen my superficial surface. You should get to know my talented inner self. Do you know what I do?"

Everyone followed his lead and asked, what do you do?

The white-robed man said he repaired the moon. He said the moon was made of seven treasures, and there were eighty-two thousand people up there repairing the moon, and he was one of them. He'd just gotten tired and come down for a nap, slacking off, goofing around.

As he spoke, he even showed them the axe, chisel, and a series of other tools in his bundle.

He was so smug about it.

They'd chatted pleasantly and he'd shown off nicely, so he even took out a rice ball and gave it to Zheng Renben's cousin to eat, saying that after eating this rice ball, though it couldn't grant immortality, it could cure all illnesses and prevent sickness for a lifetime.

He even added, the last person who was this good at socializing was named Li Bai. He invited me to drink, saying, "Raising my cup to invite the bright moon, with my shadow we make three."

The others wanted to eat too, and just as they were about to reach for it, the man pulled his hand back, "Eat your mom. How can you be so shameless? Did I offer it to you? You just grab? You don't even call me handsome guy. Am I obligated to you? Get lost, get lost, scram to the side, you shameless things."

Quite the hot-tempered fellow.

Only after Zheng Renben finished eating did he point out a path for everyone to leave.

Hot-tempered but good-hearted too.

These materials flashed through Lu Ding's mind.

He continued to look at the second one.

The reward that burst out from killing Linjiang Xian's old man.

【Contain Monster: Sea Tiger】

【Containment Reward: Great Firm Strength】

【Great Firm Strength: Brahma-voice firm strength, ashore to tame tigers, into the sea to seize dragons, soaring to hold up the sun, sweeping mountains to subdue demons】

Though the name sounded rather crude, in Lu Ding's comprehension, it could be interpreted by another name: the Power of Adaptation!

This strength didn't simply refer to physical body power, but the rule-power that touched upon the law of force!!!

Furthermore, 【Great Firm Strength】 had a synergy with Lu Ding's 【Four Fundamental Evil Aspects・Invulnerable Vajra Body】.

In the 【Diamond Sutra・What Brahma】 it was written thus.

【How does one attain longevity, the indestructible Vajra body】

【And by what causes and conditions, does one attain great firm strength】

【How does one, through this sutra, ultimately reach the other shore】

【May Buddha reveal the subtle secrets, and widely expound for all beings】

It was also a Buddhist divine ability. Though in this context its function wasn't a divine ability, in Buddhist scriptures, the Great Firm Strength was something that everyone from novice monks to Arhats and Buddha-honored ones had to cultivate.

This thing was essentially opening an adapter for Lu Ding.

Hereafter, when his spells and divine abilities were unleashed, their power would multiply, but the consumption would remain unchanged. Even 【Fallen Sun Setting Sun Transformation】 could enjoy the benefit.

Moreover, it could not only augment external spells and divine abilities, but also augment himself.

It was also a passive skill!!!

Same as before, anything that's a passive skill has value through the roof!

His gaze fell on the words Sea Tiger.

Lu Ding was baffled: "The daughter's a fish, the old man's a shark. Truly absurd. I've never heard of a daughter and father not being the same species."

As he thought about it, Lu Ding's expression turned a bit strange.

He seemed to understand!

So this king of Blackwater Flow had been raising someone else's child?

Sea Tiger, also called tiger shark. In the legends along the Fujian and Guangdong coastal areas, sharks could come ashore, and once ashore they would turn into tigers!

In the 【Miscellaneous Records of Fujian】 it said: 【Tiger sharks... deer sharks, both named for their ability to transform into tigers and deer. Each time they ride the great tide onto the beach, when the tide recedes they cannot leave, and after thrashing about for a while, they each transform......】

Besides these two.

The remaining rewards were actually all rather ordinary, more or less overlapping with other divine abilities and spells Lu Ding already possessed.

They could basically be ignored.

However, there were some that could be refined.

For example.

【Contain Monster: Yao Toad】

【Containment Reward: Lone Moon Calamity】

【Lone Moon Calamity: Lone moon death calamity, stars do not shine, heaven and earth lose their way, absolute sorrow weeps together】

The power was ordinary, the numerical value was fairly large, but it couldn't compare to 【Fallen Sun Setting Sun Transformation】.

However, Lu Ding valued the origins of 'Yao Toad'.

In the ancient text 【Huainanzi】 it was recorded.

【Yi requested the elixir of immortality from Xiwangmu. Yi's wife E stole it and fled to the moon, lodging her body in the moon, becoming a toad, and thus the moon spirit. Old saying: in the moon there is a cassia tree, and a toad........】

This toad was Yao Toad.

In this version, E fantasized about the wonderful life in heaven, so she stole and ate her husband's elixir of immortality and ran to the sky. But she was not well-received by the gods, so she ran to the Moon Palace to seek refuge with Changxi. But Changxi also didn't welcome her, and made her pound medicine day and night. Gradually, E turned into a white toad spirit.

In ancient times, the character for toad 'chu' was also homophonous with 'rabbit', and 'chan' with 'chang', hence Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit.

Of course, there were many versions. Some versions said that a fellow named Peng Meng, taking advantage of Yi being out hunting, charged into Yi's

</path> home with a blade, wanting to force Chang'e to hand over the elixir of immortality, and even harbored indecent intentions toward Chang'e.

Chang'e, unwilling to suffer humiliation, swallowed the elixir of immortality and fled to the moon.

As for which version was correct, Lu Ding didn't know either.

But the origins of this Yao Toad thing were extraordinarily impressive!

Yet it had been killed by him with 【Fallen Sun Setting Sun Transformation】.

One could only say it hadn't developed enough.

He dragged 【Lone Moon Calamity】 to the refine module. Let the gambling begin!!!

Two, four, eight, sixteen. Hey, it came out!!

This time it didn't take Lu Ding too much effort!!

And it even produced a big red that could coordinate with 【Fallen Sun Setting Sun Transformation】!

【Divine Ability: Calamity of the Dead Moon and Frosty Sky】

【Calamity of the Dead Moon and Frosty Sky: Frosty sky moon, mortal calamity, sea sinks the lone moon, coming and going tides】

....

Sorry dears, I've been updating late recently. Poor health is one factor, and the references are truly hard to find. I also bought a lot more books. Lu Ding needs to gain a lot in Demon Province before he can go back to fight the Hundred Dynasties War. Rejecting evenly-matched battles, direct overwhelming crushing. Once I'm feeling a bit better, I'll re-add the bonus chapters for the big shots I owed before. Soon, soon.