Over on the Sacred Island of the Blood Sea, Minghe was laughing at the four sects that had their gates opened their gates for the man in charge of the God Deification Ceremony. It was the only thing they could do. With the tribulation looming and the secrets of heaven in a complete mess, what else could they do when the only information they have on the man was his Mysterious Signs of a Winger Tiger mark?
Many came in hopes of being accepted as a disciple, but few succeeded. Even the most talented of them were only accepted as disciples of the existing disciples. After all, their main goal was to find the man in charge of the ceremony and accept him under their tutelage. The rest were just a consequence of this goal but it was already a great Fated Chance for those who were accepted as disciples.
Minghe couldn't help smiling at the four sects blindly looking for the man. Their strategy depended on luck and resigned to fate. With a wave of his hands, a special book appeared. It was the Book of Life and Death that recorded the life and death of every creature. The book was a good way to find a person.
Jiang Ziya. Real name Jiang Shang. Minghe used his supernatural power to operate the book to find the man's whereabouts. There were many from the Human Tribe with the same name, yet Minghe couldn't find anyone who fit his criteria. Considering that the Book of Life and Death consisted every one of the Human Tribe, it was odd not to be able to find him indeed.
The only reason Minghe could think of was that the Way of Heaven had hidden Jiang Ziya's trace even in the Book of Life and Death. Minghe smiled when his opportunistic efforts failed and gave up the idea of locating Jiang Ziya in advance using the book. It wasn't a big deal. After all, he didn't plan to accept the man under his tutelage at all. He was just trying his luck.
Jiang Ziya was the person in charge of the God Deification Ceremony. Though those who controlled him would gain an advantage in the ceremony, he was a person without any talent in the Way of Celestial Immortality. It would be difficult for him to achieve anything substantial. That was why Minghe wasn't willing to accept him as an inner disciple and risk tainting the reputation of the Blood Sea. Which among Minghe's disciples wasn't a genius among geniuses?
Instead, Minghe was more concerned about Shen Gongbao, a man also with a similar auspicious mark as Jiang Ziya. He was a person with a wide network and enjoyed befriending talented people from all over the world. He was eloquent and was particularly good at persuading his friends to aid the Shang Dynasty. He was able to win the complete trust and loyalty of people with just a simple sentence of, "Please stay, my fellow Taoist."
Minghe wasn't interested to recruit him as a disciple. If he let it be, Shen Gongbao would likely join the Clan of Severity. Shen Gongbao had already convinced many disciples of the Clan of Severity to aid the Shang dynasty, resulting in them dying in the hands of the Clan of Enlightenment disciples and being recorded in the Investiture of the Gods. This truly showed his shrewdness. What would happen if he joined the Western Religious Sect?
Minghe naturally had plans to confront Laozi, Honoured Lord of the Origin, and the Two Sages of the West during this ceremony. But these Sages would never die as long as they remained on the Untainted Land. Unless he destroyed the Way of Heaven, killing them would remain a daydream. So he had no way but to turn his attention on the disciples of the Sages.
With a widespread influence in the Shang dynasty, the Clan of Severity now flourishing without a rival. This would eventually lead to the three other sects teaming up to fight against it. Minghe could be considered as having given Honoured Lord of the Origin a hand. With the Western Religious Sect also embroiled in this calamity, he and Laozi need not even ask the Two Sages of the West to deal with Tongtian's God-killing Sword Formation.
But the Western Religious Sect was rooted in the West and Minghe needed a more effective bait if he wanted to entice the whole Western Religious Sect to join the calamity of the God Deification Ceremony. The best bait would be the man with the Auspicious Mark of Winged Tiger and that was none other than Shen Gongbao. But Minghe must first find him.
Minghe also had other plans besides finding Shen Gongbao. He needed some chess pieces to counter the three religions. Since the ceremony was about to begin, he decided to tour the Untainted Land. He hadn't done so for quite a long time. Perhaps many things had changed.
He rode a cloud lazily out of the Blood Sea, disguised as a young immortal lest he exposed his whereabouts. The Sages had their guards up against him, especially Laozi, Honoured Lord of the Origin, and the Two Sages of the West. He had to be more careful when he went out.
He sighed as he looked down at famous mountains and great waters underneath. His first trip to the Untainted Land was when he had just materialized. His mind was besieged by so many different desires and obsessions that he couldn't focus on his cultivation, thus resulting in him doing many ridiculous things. Now that he thought about it, it was such a joke.
A person will eventually have to grow up, but at what cost? Minghe's cultivation was now the best on the land and his disciples now had even greater cultivation than when he had just started. He also obtained countless supreme treasures and Spiritual Treasures. if he were to describe it using the slang from his previous world, then it would be a super harvest. Yet what had he lost even as he gained so much? Only he knew the answer.
He rode his cloud into the territory of the Human Tribe, before lowering himself to the ground. He found a horse and shot a drop of dragon blood into it, helping it actualize. He also taught it some cultivation methods. It was truly a lucky horse. Minghe then toured around the area on horseback, carrying a sword and a wine gourd. he looked like a carefree and unfettered swordsman.
Minghe looked around, soaking in the prosperity of the Human Tribe. He traveled through the streets of the Shang dynasty, finding it quite the novel feeling to witness the ancient times. Without realizing it, he had already come close to the Capital Yin. The current emperor was Emperor Yi. It seemed the other famous ruler, King Zhou, was not born yet.
Since he had come here to the capital, he decided to release the horse that accompanied him for several years. After all, he had only captured it on a whim. The horse was reluctant to leave him for it had already borne consciousness. On his journey with Minghe, he had eaten numerous Spiritual Fruits and had earned the cultivation of a Veridical Immortal.
When he stepped into Yin, the prosperity unfolding before his eyes was far beyond what he had seen throughout his journey. It wasn't something that the ancient Shang dynasty recorded in history could compare either. The influence of the Shang dynasty can't be underestimated considering how many years it had prevailed and Yin was naturally flourishing as its capital.
Minghe kept his eyes and ears open as he walked in the streets. Nothing escaped his attention. The country may be flourishing now but they didn't know the curtains to an earth-shattering war was about to unveil. The Shang dynasty was about to be caught in the turmoil. Minghe wondered if they could still retain their current prosperity then.
He continued to walk until he reached the imperial palace and looked at the Luck of the dynasty gathering above the palace. It seemed that their Luck was still strong, but still much weaker than it was in the past. What was worse, there were signs that the Luck was about to fall apart.
It was likely that it was the heaven that ruined the dynasty, rather than King Zhou destroying it as was recorded in history. The subrogation of a dynasty was predestined. Even if there wasn't King Zhou or Xiqi, the dynasty wouldn't last more than a few more generations. The combined factors of King Zhou's tyranny, Daji's allure, Xiqi's attack, and the Battle of Gods Investiture had merely hasten its death. All things considered, King Zhou was quite the pitiful figure to be born right into the chaos of the God Deification Ceremony.
Suddenly, the sky lit up with a flash of purple light. Minghe fixed his eyes on it and smiled. What a coincidence! It was the birth of King Zhou. Could they perhaps be fated? He laughed at this thought and entered the palace stealthily.
Since he happened to be here for the birth, he naturally wanted to take a look. He followed the purple light and stopped in a garden where he found the current Emperor of the Shang dynasty, Emperor Yi, with one of his imperial concubines. The concubine was already pregnant with the future King Zhou, but it appeared Emperor Yi had no idea about it.
The light was Zi Wei Emperor Aura, the symbol of an emperor. The king of the Human Tribe was born with the aura that could keep all evils and demons at bay. If any immortals tried to assassinate the king, the aura would protect its owner and fight off the enemy with the Luck of the dynasty. Thus, no immortal would dare kill the king.