Chapter 163: Alchemy (Part 2)

After several earth-shattering cannon shots, the iron ship that was originally in sailing mode has stopped.

Qi Xuansu put away his short sword, slowly rose from the river, and walked on the waves.

Although Wang Baoyue's cannons were powerful, he dodged them all and was not injured, but it gave him a great shock.

The world is developing, and Western sorcerers are no longer the ancient image of holding a staff and chanting spells. The "alchemical arcana" they developed is not inferior to the creation of Taoism.

If Xuansheng had not integrated Taoism more than 200 years ago, and had not overcame all objections to start the creation project based on the legacy of his predecessors, but had been self-contained and continued to despise firearms like Confucianism, and regarded them as strange skills, even if there are various methods circulating, but the practice depends entirely on the individual, which depends on both aptitude and time, then what will it be like facing the West today?

Even if the high-end combat power is almost the same, the basic foundation is very different. Swords against muskets, cavalry against artillery, how to win? Will the Holy Court still be a friend and trading partner of the Dao Sect at that time? Will they still be so polite?

Qi Xuansu has heard that Westerners slaughtered people in the New World and the natives had no power to fight back. They were either enslaved or exterminated.

It can be seen that these Semites are not good men and women. If the Central Plains today is still as weak as it was in the late Wei Dynasty, will Westerners talk to them nicely? I am afraid that the army has already entered the Central Plains, and the real mountains and rivers have changed color.

At this time, Xu Kou half-peeked out from above: "Are you okay?"

Qi Xuansu came back to his senses, jumped up, and jumped onto the deck.

Xu Kou also jumped down from the gap on the third floor and asked, "What happened?"

Qi Xuansu roughly recounted the incident.

"Well, the Qingluan Guards in Luzhou are just eating for free." Xu Kou shook his head, "But they are lucky to have escaped. If they had found out this person, they would have lost their lives."

Xu Kou changed the subject: "Having said that, Brother Wei is really capable. If it were someone else, he would have died in his hands long ago."

"Brother Xu, you are too kind." Qi Xuansu changed the subject, "By the way, where is Xiaohu?"

Qi Xuansu was not completely unprepared. This had nothing to do with whether Qi Xuansu had seen through Wang Baoyue's identity, but was a habit. Before he went to drink, he asked Liuhu to find Xu Kou, thinking that he would ask Xu Kou to help take care of Liuhu. Anyway, Xu Kou was just drinking, not drinking to relieve his sorrow. It was just a piece of cake. In addition, Xu Kou was an old acquaintance of Qi Xuansu, so he knew him well and felt more at ease.

"The little girl is still in the small hall on the second floor, and she is very obedient." Xu Kou said.

At this time, the ship owner hurried over surrounded by many crew members, with an ugly face.

Qi Xuansu said softly: "The Tiangang Hall has more face, so I'll have to trouble Brother Xu."

Xu Kou nodded slightly, and when the boat owner approached, before the boat owner could speak, Xu Kou had already taken out his Taoist certificate and Tiangang Hall waist badge: "Dock immediately and notify the local Qingluan Guard Hundred Households, no mistakes!"

Two hours later, the living room on the boat.

The boat owner sat with him, and both the host and the guests were happy.

The Qingluan Guard Thousand Households were far away in the city, and there were only Hundred Households in the local area. The hundred households who came to the seal boarded the boat aggressively after hearing the news, without a good face at all, but after learning about Xu Kou's identity, he immediately changed his face, temporarily requisitioned the boat owner's reception room, served fragrant tea, and talked to Qi Xuansu and Xu Kou in a very warm attitude, absolutely without the intention of interrogating.

Although Xu Kou was only a fifth-rank Taoist, he was the head of the Tiangang Hall in terms of his position, and was by no means a small figure.

"So, this person is the pirate leader that the arrest warrant requires?" The chief officer of the Qingluan Guard put down the bowl.

Qi Xuansu said: "This person has the Western 'alchemical secrets', which are very rare in our Central Plains. Only pirates who are on the sea all year round can come into contact with them."

"That makes sense." The chief officer nodded.

At this time, a trial officer walked into the reception room, glanced at the others, and hesitated to speak.

The chief centurion said, "We are all family, there is nothing to be shy about."

The trial centurion said softly, "One of the three bodies was seriously damaged, but judging from the tattoos on the other two bodies, they are definitely pirates. As for the scene... there are indeed traces of bombardment, but no shrapnel was found."

The chief centurion was silent for a while and said, "Although this guy has jumped off the ship and fled, there are black-clad men searching and patrolling along the canal. He should not run too far and is probably hiding somewhere."

Xu Kou suddenly asked, "How is the boat?"

The ship owner hesitated and looked at the chief centurion. After a glance, he said, "After all, it was bombarded and needs a few days of repair. Many guests were frightened and need to be comforted. They can't leave for the time being."

Xu Kou laughed, "Are you asking us to help catch people?"

The seal holder coughed lightly, "That's the best. After all, we are a family."

Xu Kou did not comment, but turned to look at Qi Xuansu and asked, "What do you think, Brother Wei?"

Qi Xuansu thought about it. The reason why he took the boat was to avoid the Taiping Dao people he might meet on land. It was naturally not easy to abandon the boat and go ashore at this time. If he said he wanted to help arrest the escaped Wang Baoyue, it was not impossible. He was actually quite interested in the so-called "alchemical arcana", just as he was very interested in going to sea.

"What exactly is the so-called 'alchemical arcana'?" Qi Xuansu asked.

Xu Kou pondered for a moment and said: "I stayed in Qizhou Daofu for a period of time, and Western tourists often visited Qizhou, so I still know a little bit about the Western 'alchemy arcana'."

"When it comes to 'alchemical arcana', we have to mention Western arcana. What is arcana? In the words of Western warlocks themselves, it is a spell derived from a certain mystery, which is called 'arcana'. Its fundamental power It comes from knowledge, which is similar to Confucianism's reading and nourishing energy, but it is not exactly the same. Warlocks believe that through the accumulation and research of knowledge, they can then deduce the application of certain rules and laws, such as chanting incantations and matching certain gestures. With the corresponding materials, you can cast the corresponding arcane spells, which are quite similar to our spells."

"But unlike our spells, arcana has so-called occult science. Warlocks call it 'secret knowledge', or 'concealed knowledge'. Warlocks say that secret knowledge cannot be explained or understood. That's probably What we say is that we know it but we don’t know why. After all, I am a martial artist who does not practice magic. I don’t understand it very well. It is said that it has the power to distort reality and rules. "

"Corresponding to arcane magic is divine magic. Divine magic is the power obtained by communicating with the gods. It is somewhat similar to our witchcraft, both of which rely on external forces. There is also the so-called magic, which means the devil's magic. In fact, it is the same as divine magic. There is no essential difference, the fundamental thing is that the object of the borrowing is different, so magic is considered to be a spell used by the power of the devil. Under the suppression of the Holy Court, magic has declined, but the devil is not dead, and the magic is endless. There is no essential difference between believers and Taoist spiritual officials, but there is a difference in stance.”

Qi Xuansu nodded slightly. He was not surprised that Xu Kou knew so many secrets. If Zhang Yuelu had the favor of the Earth Master, then Xu Kou had the favor of Master Qingwei, and even had an intersection with Li Tianzhen. This was also the reason why he dared to provoke Zhang Yuelu in the first place, but it was another matter if he had not beaten Zhang Yuelu.

Xu Kou continued: "Alchemy and the alchemy of our Huasheng Hall are quite similar. The ultimate goal is the elixir of immortality. Our emperors in the East make elixirs to seek immortality, while emperors and kings in the West believe in alchemy to seek immortality. Different paths lead to the same goal. The so-called 'alchemy and arcana' is a synthesis of alchemy and arcana, which is very similar to the creation project of Huashengtang. However, because alchemy and arcana can only coexist and balance in the human body, they are derived in two directions. "

"The first is to modify the human body and replace the corresponding parts of the human body with specific alchemical items. Warlocks call this 'complementation'. The pirate leader replaced his own arm with a cannon."

Qi Xuansu's face remained calm, but his heart skipped a beat.

He thought of his "secondary intention" and also thought of Sanren's "finishing point".

"The second is to create life, create new life directly through alchemy, and then give it a soul with arcane magic. According to the warlock, this is a process that is perfected through death and resurrection."

Qi Xuansu thought again of the eight secret societies, the three major evil objects, and the legendary god-making project.