Monster Chronicles: My Daoist Skill Comes from Mythology
Chapter 147 - 143 Coiled Dragon Carries the Mountain, Trapped by Money

Chapter 147: Chapter 143 Coiled Dragon Carries the Mountain, Trapped by Money

"Huh? How do you have such a thing?"

The Coiled Dragon spat out two inner cores—one emitted a ghostly green glow, likely the Poison Pill of Tianwu, while the other was pitch-black, most likely belonging to a Tree Spirit.

After spitting out the inner cores, the Coiled Dragon stared longingly at the items on the ground, its gaze filled with greed.

"You want to eat them?" Song Lin instantly discerned the desire in the Coiled Dragon’s eyes.

The Coiled Dragon nodded frantically, worried Song Lin would refuse.

"Alright, go ahead and eat." Song Lin thought to himself that there was no use keeping them, so letting the Coiled Dragon consume them wouldn’t be a problem.

Upon hearing this, the Coiled Dragon opened its massive maw filled with razor-sharp teeth and swallowed the orbs whole, crunching them audibly.

Song Lin watched cautiously, fearing the two inner cores might explode.

After consuming the inner cores, the Coiled Dragon’s body began inflating like a balloon, swelling up dramatically.

If it had previously resembled a slim Divine Dragon, it now looked like an overstuffed pufferfish, with its bulging eyes protruding prominently.

After some time, its body gradually shrank and elongated.

Where it had been just over ten feet long, it now spanned close to thirty feet.

Its dark green mane, jade-like scales, fearsome claws, branching dragon horns, and piercing gaze—all combined to create an awe-inspiring, domineering presence as it crouched down, scanning its surroundings.

It could no longer perch on Song Lin’s body as it used to.

"What abilities do you have now?" Song Lin asked.

A sudden doubling in size couldn’t just be for aesthetics.

The Coiled Dragon tilted its head, pondering, as its emerald pupils briefly flashed with golden light.

Kaboom! Kaboom! Kaboom!

The ground trembled violently as cracks spread outward from the Coiled Dragon’s position.

"Stop! Stop!"

Song Lin quickly called for it to stop.

A divine skill causing earthquakes? Or perhaps not—it seemed to be tied to the Coiled Dragon’s own mass. Judging by what he saw earlier, it appeared to be an ability to rapidly multiply its weight—by tens of thousands of times.

"Let’s call it the Carrying Mountain Divine Skill."

It felt akin to suddenly having a mountain dropped onto one’s back.

In close combat, unleashing this ability could leave the opponent totally overwhelmed.

Song Lin retrieved the Coiled Dragon Jade and toyed with a jade pendant in his hand, contemplating his next steps.

The primary task was definitely to improve his cultivation level.

Only by achieving Yin-Yang Balance could he form his core, a process that might require guidance from a Heavenly Master or fortuitous opportunities encountered in worldly adventures.

In fact, the odds of discovering opportunities during such adventures were considerably high.

It wasn’t always some fateful arrangement.

One had to understand that the adventure worlds were opened with essence blood, and their upper limits generally matched the cultivator’s current level, perhaps surpassing it by one or two realms at most.

With such restrictions, the likelihood of finding fortuitous encounters significantly increased.

Beyond that, there was the matter of personal combat ability and refining soldiers.

The Seven Great Saints had yet to be transformed into Yang Thunder Captains. Each captain conversion would cost between three thousand and five thousand dharma coins.

He had yet to figure out a cost-efficient method, but this was definitely something that needed to be done.

Now, with the addition of the Coiled Dragon—a growth-oriented treasure that was only three zhang (~30 feet) long—its potential for destructive power would become terrifying if it grew to a thousand or even ten thousand zhang.

"Good thing I became the temple master, or where else would I find so many resources?"

Song Lin mused.

His path was the correct one—if not for becoming the temple master and leveraging the collective effort to refine and raise an army, acquiring so much military strength would have been impossible.

Since achieving Divine Establishment Perfection, Song Lin had personally commanded about eighty thousand Rampant Soldiers.

If he became a Taoist leader, even more resources would be at his disposal...

But that was far off for now—he had pressing matters in front of him.

The second priority was temple management.

First, a full reform to eliminate Jiuyou’s lingering influence. Then, recruitment! Recruitment!!

At the break of dawn the next day, the melodic sound of chanting echoed outside.

Song Lin stepped outside to find everyone in the grand hall conducting their morning study sessions.

The content of these study sessions wasn’t something Song Lin had made up on a whim.

Dating back to the distant Sanmao Era, morning and evening sessions were a tradition, though they had fallen into disuse over time.

Including Taoists and disciples, there were fewer than two hundred people altogether, but seeing their unified effort was quite inspiring.

Shortly after, the morning session concluded.

"The Three Capitals and Eight Deacons, stay behind."

The hall doors were closed.

Song Lin immediately announced the new hierarchy.

"The old hierarchical titles are hereby abolished. I now issue new rankings."

"The Supreme Dao guides all beings, its great doctrine heard throughout the heavens."

This would serve as the new hierarchy for Xuanke Temple. The Three Capitals would hold the "Yuan" title, the Eight Deacons the "Huang" title, the Taoists the "Dao" title, and Advanced Taoist Disciples the "Nian" title.

Song Lin’s own "Ming" title was directly removed.

The hierarchy had to be established clearly to solidify authority.

"Shi Yinhua, send a message to the jungle and instruct them to update the records with the new hierarchy."

"Next: recruitment! What are everyone’s thoughts?"

The temple currently had only thirty-four Taoists, about 150 disciples, and just fifty Advanced Taoist Disciples.

These numbers needed to increase by at least fivefold to restore Xuanke Temple to its peak.

"I suggest recruiting children and training them from a young age—it’s more reliable in the long term."

Disciples who started as children would be more loyal, and with time, their character could also be assessed.

"Agreed." Song Lin thought it over and approved the idea.

"I suggest recruiting boys around thirteen or fourteen years old as well, or there won’t be enough labor. Recruit them as servants first; let them endure hardships to evaluate their character," Shi Yinhua proposed.

Since Song Lin had set recruitment standards, it was no longer acceptable to haphazardly take in just anyone of age as they did before.

In the past, those who survived were naturally those of superior talent.

Now, character assessment was also required—a tricky endeavor.

"Yinhua’s suggestion is sound," Song Lin agreed enthusiastically.

This method was also the standard recruitment practice for temples in adventure worlds.

Upon entering, newcomers would perform menial tasks without being taught spells, driving a sense of disparity to test their disposition.

The more gifted they seemed, the more they would be ignored, relegated to the most tedious and grueling tasks. If they persevered, they’d be formally admitted.

The key here was to ensure there was no life-threatening danger.

If threats of death were involved, anyone could push through. Instead, leaving a figurative escape route—giving them the option to return home—would reveal true determination.

Teenagers, after all, often couldn’t resist temptation.

"Alright, it’s decided."

"By the way, I’ve established a ’Three Officials Divine General’ system for you all to study."

Additionally, the cultivation method for Yang Thunder Captains was passed down to everyone.

Upon learning that converting Taoist Soldiers to Yang Thunder Captains would cost several thousand dharma coins, the temple’s treasurer, Li Jing, nearly collapsed.

"Temple master, we’re out of money!"

"How could we be out of money? Didn’t you say we were breaking even?"

"That was before." Li Jing was so exasperated he nearly yanked out his beard. He broke down the numbers for everyone:

The temple’s primary income came from the Coin Casting Array, which generated 40,000 to 50,000 dharma coins annually, and from Yin soil remains, which brought in another 40,000 to 50,000. In the past, tens of thousands of acres of farmland, shops, and mines added another 140,000 to 150,000 annually.

However, the war had devastated the farmland, abandoned the shops, and disrupted the mines, leaving the annual income at roughly 100,000 at best.

Meanwhile, expenditures far exceeded this.

The temple’s standard expenses included stipends and pills for Taoists and Advanced Taoist Disciples, along with institutional operating costs, totaling over 10,000 monthly—at least 120,000 annually.

The maintenance costs for the Temple Emperor Seal’s monthly rituals and supplies for Rampant Soldiers, Yellow Turban Warriors, and other units had been reduced thanks to citizen worship offerings. Still, 10,000 Taoist Soldiers consumed around 10,000 per month in incense, candles, and various materials.

Recently, 50,000 dharma coins had been spent to convert Hundred-Man Generals into Yellow Turban Warriors.

"There’s now not a single coin left in the treasury. If the master intends to restart the alchemy and artifact refining chambers, it’ll also cost 3,000 monthly just to maintain the Earth Fire until skilled personnel are trained," Li Jing continued.

It all added up to over 200,000 annually.

There wasn’t even enough to complete the plans for converting Ten-Man Leaders into Yellow Turban Warriors or the Seven Great Saints into Yang Thunder Generals.

At 200 dharma coins per Yellow Turban Warrior, fully converting Ten-Man Leaders would require at least 200,000 dharma coins.

Song Lin massaged his temples—why was he so broke?

"We need revenue. The Moon Bricks—have you all seen them? Assign people to focus on producing them. How much could we profit annually?"

The laurel tree had been relocated to the mountain temple, now protected by a Moon Brick palace in the area of Yin Soil.

"With current production capacity, an annual profit of at least 100,000 is possible!"

The group lit up at the prospect—Moon Bricks were indeed a valuable resource.

"What about laurel branches?"

Song Lin asked.

The laurel tree had no immediate use for him.

Perhaps due to overharvesting, it could no longer yield First-Rank True Qi and seemed to have degenerated into producing Third-Rank Jade Liquid Qi—like degraded rice varieties.

Initially, Song Lin had hoped to mass-produce First-Rank True Qi for cultivators.

"Absolutely not!"

His suggestion was met with immediate and unanimous opposition.

This was a foundational, classified resource for the temple!

The Three Yin Qi commonly used in the Mei Mountain Jungle was only Fifth-Rank, by comparison.

"Fine, the Moon Bricks alone should suffice."

Song Lin felt a tinge of regret but realized that for quick cash generation, he could only rely on organizing a Blessing Ceremony.

The cultivation techniques of the major sects in the Nuogao Record World could still fetch a high price.

As for the synthesis of techniques culminating in the "Taiji Xuanzhen Heavenly Master Seal Scripture," also known as the Heavenly Human Six Seals, Song Lin planned to distribute it to the Three Capitals and Eight Deacons in stages.

The Peace Seal, used for defense, and the Spirit Official Seal, which absorbed enemy energy, would first be taught to Taoists. Future advancements would require Yin Merit and Taoist Merit as currency, encouraging enthusiasm for progress.

The "Beidou Red Dragon Qi Gong," however, would be made available to Advanced Taoist Disciples and the general populace alike.

By passing down new techniques, he bolstered his influence.

Aside from deeply classified methods, Song Lin rarely hoarded knowledge—it was meaningless. A technique unpracticed might as well have been a scrap of paper.

Song Lin resolved to attend the Blessing Ceremony shortly.

Of course, even this might not be enough to fill the massive funding gap for training soldiers.

Just then, a disciple knocked on the door.

"Reporting: Someone outside introduces themselves as the Jungle Grand Commissioner Book Taoist seeking an audience!"

"Hahaha, a pillow delivered when I’m sleepy—take me to him at once!"

Song Lin nearly forgot this potential source of aid.

......

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