Minghe walked among the crowds in Zhaoge City, which was more prosperous now than last time he had been here. This should be attributed to King Zhou, who scored political and military achievements and even revitalized the Shang Dynasty to become much more powerful than the period when his father Emperor Yi was in governance.
It was time to meet King Zhou since 30 years had passed. The Battle of Gods Investiture would start from the prayer in the temple of Goddess Nvywa. King Zhou was greedy for the beauty of Goddess Nvywa and wrote a poem which irritated her. Therefore, she then summoned Three Evil Spirits of Xuanyuan Tomb to interrupt the administration of the government, so as to trigger resentments across the board and revolts from vassals. This provided an opportunity for Xiqi to build the Zhou Dynasty.
Actually, the origin of the battle was odd, for King Zhou was anyway an emperor, and no matter how lecherous he was, he should not be so bold as to violate Goddess Nvywa. After all, immortals existed in this era. Moreover, why King Zhou's subordinates could not erase what he, a mortal, had written? There must be a reason.
Before King Zhou was born, Minghe had instilled wisdom in him and helped him to remember everything in several previous lives of him. By the way, with the Book of Life and Death in hand, recalling one's preexistence memory was a piece of cake for Minghe. So how could King Zhou not know that the Sage could not be violated but wrote the junk to offend Goddess Nvywa?
However, if the Shang Dynasty wouldn't be in chaos, how could Minghe lead the Clan of Humans, the Clan of Enlightenment and the Western Religious Sect to the trap? So Minghe came to see King Zhou. The palace was more magnificent than his father Emperor Yi's. Besides, there were also some rules in its layout, with a tactical formation set in secret. It was built by the Luck of the dynasty and could not be broken in by anyone lower than Da Luo Golden Immortal.
Looking at the palace layouts, Minghe shook his head and smiled. King Zhou was very careful. The Human Tribe was the ruler of Heaven and Earth and the most powerful one in Untainted Land. Although the Holy Land of Human Tribe didn't expand, who could be brave enough to risk offending the whole Human Tribe to kill their emperor, which meant to play with fire?
Only through his Spiritual Thoughts, Minghe just found King Zhou, Emperor Xin, who was in his cultivation in the hidden room. That was a little strange, with a black flag floating above his head, black smoke around his body, and an odd dim figure behind him with three heads and six arms, which was similar to the Ashura body cultivated by the Ashura Tribe in the Blood Sea.
Minghe nodded his head. King Zhou had a good aptitude. Although he was born in the Human Tribe, he succeeded in cultivating the Dharma Laksana of Shura. He was only 32; however, he got the cultivation of Golden Immortal which could not be obtained by the others in their whole lives. But the vital force around him was wholly concealed. Unless the cultivation was higher than that of the tactic demonstrator or King Zhou was willing to expose himself, his weirdness wouldn't be found.
The tactic demonstrator was Minghe, so in Untainted Land, the Sages might not see through what Minghe had done to King Zhou. Seeing that King Zhou was so diligent to cultivate himself, Minghe was satisfied. It was worthwhile for him to teach King Zhou, but now it was time to repay him.
One step forward, Minghe had already been in the hidden room. Watching King Zhou absorbed in cultivation, he quietly called, "Emperor Xin, wake up!" Although the voice was not loud, it had the power to reach into one's soul, and got into King Zhou's mind like a clap of thunder. King Zhou suddenly woke up, with a panic look on his face.
After figuring out who called him, King Zhou was shocked stood up from the cultivation terrace, and kneeled down, saying, "Your Ancestor, for I... No, Wu Zhiqi didn't know of your presence, please excuse me for not going out to meet you." It's true that King Zhou was the incarnation of Wu Zhiqi, the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey whose Origin had been taken by Minghe. It was certain that now the appearance of Minghe shocked him.
Minghe walked onto the cultivation terrace, sat down, and said, "Wu Zhiqi, you're so lucky that you've incarnated into a royal family even become the Human Sovereign enjoying the Luck of the Human Tribe. At the time when King Zhou was born, I found that he was your incarnation, so I helped you to recall your previous life memory. To my surprise, after the short time of 32 years, you're a Golden Immortal. It seems to be working out just fine."
King Zhou knelt and bent down under the cultivation terrace, saying, "I thank your Ancestor for releasing my preexistence and cultivating me in the incarnation. Your Ancestor inspired me when I was born and bestowed the Origin of Shura, the Shura Flag, and the Grade Six Red Lotus of Fire and its transforming exercises on me, otherwise how could I achieve the Golden Immortal Fruit in mere 30 years?"
At that time, Minghe took the Origin of the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey from Wu Zhiqi, sent him into reincarnation, and gave him some Origin of Shura which didn't awaken in several of his previous lives. In his present life, it was converted by Minghe. Besides, he also granted him transforming exercises of the Spiritual Treasure. Otherwise, how could he get into this realm in such a short time?
Looking at the respectful appearance of Wu Zhiqi, Minghe nodded with satisfaction saying, "Very good! You know who gives you everything that you have. Well, you should also know that there is no such thing as a free lunch. I teaching you in such a way isn't meaningless. I need you to do something for me. After it's done, I will definitely reward you."
Hearing that, King Zhou suddenly sweated with fear. He was the Red-Bottomed Horse Monkey Wu Zhiqi in his preexistence who was good at seeking Luck and avoiding calamity. Although he lost Magic Skills, he knew that the Evil Spirit gradually developed between Heaven and Earth, which was the sign of the arrival of Cultivation Tribulation. Judging by this, the thing Minghe required him to do must not be easy and could not be refused.
King Zhou could only say cautiously, "Whatever your Ancestor asks, I will try my best. But nowadays the Cultivation Tribulation of Heaven and Earth had come again. Although I'm the Human Sovereign, my cultivation is low so I'm afraid that I cannot finish the task your Ancestor gives. So... So..." He wanted to refuse Minghe directly but was too timid to speak out.
Minghe said peacefully, "What a monkey! Although your previous life Magic Skills is gone, your intuition is great. Yes, the Cultivation Tribulation of Heaven and Earth is coming, and what I ask you to do is truly related to it. But you cannot decide whether you will do it or not, for you have no choice. If you do not listen to me, the consequence will be unbearable."
Hearing that, King Zhou was stunned and terrified, saying at once, "Your Ancestor, please don't get me wrong. I only worried my strength is too weak to let your Ancestor down. If your plan is delayed by me, I'm the one to be blamed." Hearing Minghe's words, King Zhou suddenly changed his implication, and was eager to convince Minghe that the reason for his unwillingness was his concern that he would hamper Minghe.
Noticing King Zhou trembling with fear, Minghe knew that he had misunderstood his meaning. King Zhou must have thought that Minghe was threatening him. But who was Minghe? Did he need to threaten a small Golden Immortal? Although he was the Human Sovereign, Minghe could dispose of him and set a puppet to fulfill his plan. Threatening him really dishonored Minghe.
Minghe said, "Since you know the Cultivation Tribulation is coming, I'll tell you that this time Shang will perish and Zhou will prosper. That's the general trend of Heaven. Through the replacement of the dynasty, Ancestor Hongjun wants to launch the Battle of Gods Investiture for God Deification Ceremony of Heavenly Court. The Clan of Humans, the Clan of Enlightenment, the Tribe of Severity and the Western Religious Sect are all in the tribulation. With the Tribe of Severity assisting your Shang Dynasty, what do you think the rest will do?"
Hearing that, King Zhou was frightened, with cold sweat running down. Now the people of the Shang Dynasty believed in the Tribe of Severity, of which most disciples worked as officials in the court and even the Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong was one of them. Thus the rest clans could not take a part in it. However, since Shang would perish and Zhou would prosper, the three religions would probably assist Zhou together. Although the Tribe of Severity was powerful, it was hardly possible, if not impossible for one Sage and one religion winning four Sages and three religions.
Then Minghe continued, "If the Western Zhou wants to develop, the Shang Dynasty has to be in a mess first. Although you are not so proficient in governing a country, under your administration the Shang Dynasty is somehow in a stable and smooth situation. If the country is in order, how could the Battle of Gods Investiture start? Guess, what will the Sages do?"