Hearing that Jiangziyao broke through Tianshiyuan Pass with an unstoppable momentum, Emperor Zhou became tense for a while, filled with tension, anxiety and various irritable feelings. He started to practice martial arts again and even had the idea of moving the capital to the north of the Yellow River again to take advantage of its natural defense against Zhou forces. He waited bitterly for over a decade until he saw Jiangziyao's severed head. He was overjoyed.
"May the ancestors bless us, Yu Hualong is indeed a capable general, what a fortunate dynasty is Great Shang!" He announced with vigor.
Fei Zhong, You Hun and the other courtiers also shouted in unison, "What a fortunate Great Shang!"
With the complete annihilation of Zhou's elite troops and Jiangziyao's death, the greatest threat to the Zhou Dynasty has been eliminated. Emperor Zhou no longer felt the need to practice martial arts and discarded his sword, continuing to watch the dancing of the River Goddess instead.
Jiangziyao's death, the Yuzhi father and son regained Tianshiyuan Pass, but the pass city was severely damaged. The pustule disease did not discriminate between friend and foe; even Yu De, the initiator of this outbreak, would be stricken by the illness if he were unfortunate enough to contract it. Tianshiyuan Pass could not withstand the Zhou nation's subsequent attacks. Yuhualong then completely destroyed this pass city and led his troops back to Tongguan.
Longxu Hu collapsed halfway there as the smallpox toxin took effect.
Zhou had no idea about the situation of Jiangziyao, and the numerous expo Kimmonks were still dealing with the aftermath of the trouble caused by the confusion bell.
Ji Fa lay on the bed, looking like an old man with a flickering candle in the wind.
His killing was too heavy, and some of the methods used by the Tianguang in forging the chaos bell involved using human blood to refine the Wuwu Sword. Ji Fa used this magical weapon, but it had a much greater negative impact than expected.
If he were the ruler of the world, he might have been able to withstand it.
Unfortunately, the Way of Heaven no longer wants the human race to pursue anything like a human king or a universal ruler. The title of Tianzi (Son of Heaven) has not yet officially appeared, but all the preparatory work has already progressed quite far.
Now the entire territory of the divine land is divided into four countries: Han, Shang, Zhou, and Qi. Ji Fa claimed that he had received one quarter of the human race's good fortune just by being in control of it.
The karma of killing civilians is too great, and the humanistic qi that resists karma is relatively small, so he couldn't withstand it.
The foundation of his cultivation is on the verge of crumbling. All the efforts he had put into cultivation over the past few years have turned to water. If he does not stabilize his cultivation foundation, at his age of 30+30, it might be that any day now he could perish.
The purpose of the Way of Heaven is "not to preserve the virtuous, nor to destroy the wicked."
In the eyes of the Way of Heaven, Ji Fa and an ordinary peasant farmer are no different. It was Wenchangtiandian who said the words "raise Zhou and destroy Shang," but all the saints recognized the will of heaven in favoring Zhou only for Wenchangtiandian's face. Zhou could indeed rise, but Zhou's rise had no necessary connection to Ji Fa; even if Ji Fa were to die, it would be of no consequence as he had dozens of close younger brothers behind him!
Now, it is Guang Chengzi who is striving to save Ji Fa.
Guang Chengzi is preparing to personally visit the Palace of the Celestial Dervishes to obtain the nine-turn gold elixir, which will be used to repair Ji Fa's damaged cultivation foundation as a result of the backlash.
Tong Tianzhuo will personally visit the Palace of the Celestial Dervishes to obtain the nine-turn gold elixir for Qiong Xiao and Bi Xiao, while Wenchangtiandian would definitely refuse to grant Guang Chengzi face. As a non-saint, Guang Chengzi's attempt will be purely on a trial-and-error basis.
He walked out of the Si Water Pass and was about to ride on the clouds when he saw Ci Houdao sitting cross-legged beside the blood-red ground, reciting scriptures and praying for the deceased.
Guang Chengzi approached Ci Houdao's side and remained silent, gazing at the land beneath his feet.
This land was once fertile, with villages, markets, and cities, fields of arable land crisscrossing. Villagers would work in the fields from sunrise to sunset. Now, none of it exists.
The strike from the chaos bell reduced all ground structures to dust, flattened mountains, altered river courses, and nearly shattered the land's pulse.
Jiapei Pass lost more than 600,000 people, and Tianshiyuan Pass lost more than 100,000. Even in a time three thousand years later, there will still be people in rural areas outside of cities.
During the Shang Dynasty, people in cities were called "Guoren," and those in the countryside were known as "Yeren." Now, over 700,000 Guoren have died, and the number of Yeren who have suffered is countless, exceeding a million souls that have gathered in this region of Jiapei Pass.
Ordinary soldiers dare not take this route, and instead must go south or north for over a hundred miles, then climb mountains and cross rivers before finally reaching Tianshiyuan Pass.
This is also the reason why Zhou had tens of thousands of troops, but Jiangziyao could only take 30,000 eastward. The supply lines were too difficult to maintain, and if too many troops were taken, they would starve to death on the way.
The million vengeful spirits refuse to leave and gather at the original location of Jiepai Pass, shouting to heaven and earth, their resentment lingering for a long time.
In the original feudal war, Han Rong had no particularly eye-catching performance. The reason why his Si Water Pass held out the longest was because at that time, the Shang were stronger and the Zhou were weaker. The Zhou added fuel to their fire and sent waves of reinforcements to keep Jiangziyao busy, fighting one wave after another. Jiangziyao was exhausted from running around, facing waves of attacks. This led to a ten-year struggle between Zhou and Shang.
Han Rong was not remarkable during his lifetime, and after his death, he was posthumously awarded the star "Liangji Star." The name itself suggests that he was not an important figure.
Now, it's just such a trivial little character who has managed to baffle the Eleven Golden Immortals of the Pervading Education.
Every day at the time of Chen and Shen, Han Rong's vengeful spirits would scream in the fields like madmen, "The heaven's law is unjust! We do not accept it! We do not accept it!"
His face is the clearest, with his million vengeful spirits crowding behind him, ranging from elderly men and young children to over 100,000 troops from the strong Shang Dynasty. There are blacksmiths, farmers, peddlers, and laborers.
Han Rong has transformed into some kind of symbol, shouting his grievances every day. The deep and heavy resentment of the million souls is extremely intense, and the heavy malice has been continuously affecting the spiritual platforms of the immortals of the Pervading Education. They have no choice but to spend several hours each day reciting scriptures, while simultaneously saving the souls and preserving their own cultivation fruits, not allowing the resentment to affect their own abilities.
Now, all the immortals are trapped in this vortex of retribution. They don't dare to approach, and if they want to leave, the karma is even greater.
The "Bian Shen Bang" wants to take away Han Rong, Qiuyin, and the others who are on the list. However, they are more stubborn than Ji Zhiyao who just died. It's impossible to capture them. Even the ghosts of the underworld dare not come and capture these "people." There are millions of vengeful spirits mixed together. Even though ghosts have great restraint over ghosts, they dare not make a move due to the sheer number of vengeful spirits.
The spirits could not be captured and could not be seized, and the situation was immediately at a standstill.
Guang Chengzi asked Ci Houdao: "Brother has been here for days, striving to gain insight. I'm sure he must have gained some understanding."
Both are Grand Realm Golden Immortals, and in the team of Twelve Golden Immortals, they represent the highest level of power. The difference lies in Ci Houdao's recent entry into the Grand Realm, while Guang Chengzi has been in this realm for a long time.
Ci Houdao said, "I wish to emulate the sages and make a grand vow. Let it be known that 'wherever there is a thousand-hearted plea, I will answer; in the vast sea of suffering, I will always be the boat that leads people to salvation.' May all beings chant my name and be freed from all kinds of pain and troubles, reaching the other shore."
Guang Chengzi's gaze became somewhat fierce: "This is not the way of our sect."
After a slight change in tone, he said: "The path to enlightenment has a thousand paths. Perhaps you can wait and see?"
Ci Houdao nodded calmly: "As Brother says, there are a thousand paths to enlightenment. But my path is here."
