The Twelve Golden Men were cast from the essence of all the gold and iron under heaven, with the Mandate of Heaven’s mysterious bird of the Shang dynasty infused at their core. It took a long time and great sacrifice to complete them.
Such divine treasures could indeed stabilize a nation’s fate. Their previous two deployments shook heaven and earth, moved gods and ghosts to tears!
However, activating them consumed massive amounts of dragon qi. Even the imperial qi of Shang Jie could barely sustain them!
The only solution was to fuse them with the land’s veins, allowing them to continuously draw the dragon qi from the nineteen provinces of the Shang dynasty, transforming it into endless energy, making them invincible under heaven!
With the dragon qi drained, no true dragons would be born. This was the original intent behind the Twelve Golden Men suppressing the world.
Before merging with the great dragon veins, although still formidable, the Twelve Golden Men were far from being invincible divine treasures capable of stabilizing a nation’s fate!
After previously tearing through thunder and battling the blood dragon, they had sustained damage.
“Can they be repaired? Hurry and act!”
Shang Jie roared.
“At once!”
One of the three elder monks sat cross-legged, his face showing compassion, chanting: “All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, like dew or lightning—thus should they be contemplated…”
His entire aura vanished, his physical body withered and shriveled, passing into Nirvana, while a halo of Buddhist light floated above his head, forming a dharma body with three heads and six arms.
“This… this…”
Shang Jie murmured, too shocked to speak.
“Your Majesty need not grieve. My senior brother’s rebirth in the Western Paradise is a great blessing for our Buddhist disciples!”
One of the other monks clasped his hands, a flash of lapis lazuli light in his eyes: “We Buddhist disciples are always ready to give our lives for Your Majesty!”
“Amitabha Buddha!”
Shang Jie involuntarily clasped his hands: “I shall surely have a golden statue erected for the Master, to be worshipped forever!”
Without the support of a ruler, one cannot accomplish great Dharma matters!
These three monks were leaders of the Buddhist sect, naturally well aware of this. This time, they used the completion of the Twelve Golden Men and the elder monk’s Nirvana as an opportunity to deeply plant the seed of Buddhism in Shang Jie’s heart.
Once successful, with the Twelve Golden Men stabilizing the nation’s fate, Buddhism could share the same destiny with the Shang dynasty, flourishing for ten thousand years without decline!
Compared to this, the death of a mere thousand monks and even one patriarch was nothing.
“Amitabha Buddha, congratulations to our ancestral master (great ancestral master) for being reborn in the Western Paradise!”
The remaining monks all clasped their hands and recited scriptures together.
With the aid of these vows and Buddhist powers, the three-headed, six-armed dharma body suddenly grew stronger. Three faces with different expressions simultaneously chanted incantations.
“Bodhisattvas fear causes, sentient beings fear effects! Great Karma Technique!!!”
Whoosh!
The dharma body burned fiercely, transforming into a rainbow light that flew swiftly to the golden pond and stone platform, recreating the scene where Buddhism once joined forces with the Jade Clarity Sect to suppress the black dragon.
“What more do you intend to do? Not good!!!”
The Jade Clarity Daoist’s face changed drastically.
“How could the dragon qi of a single dynasty suffice for the foundation of the Twelve Golden Men?”
The two elder monks roared like lions: “All monks, heed my command! Pull the karmic vows!”
Roar!
In the void, a red dragon with two horns and four claws, each claw having four toes, comparable to a true dragon, was dragged out by Buddhist light, roaring furiously, its body enveloped in layers of Sanskrit symbols representing fate and karma.
The Great Karma Technique traced back to the source, directly locating the true dragon of the Zhou dynasty!
Originally, Jade Clarity was sent by Ji Yi to suppress the black dragon. One could even say he received Ji Yi’s orders to suppress Xu Zongwu, all for Ji Yi’s own sake!
As the saying goes, every debt has its due. Although Jade Clarity was deeply involved, Ji Yi couldn’t escape responsibility!
Compared to this true dragon, what could a mere earthly immortal achieve, even if he paid the ultimate price?
“Heaven and earth’s karma, what is borrowed must be repaid! Twelve Golden Men, strike!!!”
As the two elder monks roared, the Twelve Golden Men extended their hands and pulled together!
Zhi la!
The red dragon let out a piteous scream as half its tail and body were forcibly torn away, becoming a red dragon only half its former size, which mournfully broke the karmic threads and fled swiftly.
The remaining half of the red dragon suddenly exploded, transforming into thick bluish-purple energy, which the Twelve Golden Men eagerly devoured. Instantly, their golden light flashed, and their injuries were completely healed.
…
Bang! Bang! Bang!
On the golden pond stone terrace, Jade Clarity stood dazed, watching the few remaining Daoists beside him fall, struck by heavenly retribution, turning into desiccated corpses, their forms and spirits utterly destroyed. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of old blood: “Bald devils! If I don’t exterminate you, I shall never be human again!!!”
That Great Karma Technique, had it targeted him directly, would have been impossible to repay even as an earthly immortal, resulting in immediate death and dissolution of his Dao, his true spirit reborn in the cycle of reincarnation, serving the Buddhist sect as ox or horse for a hundred lifetimes, a thousand lifetimes… As long as that karmic thread existed, he must continue, life after life, even after death, the debt remains!
But the Buddhist sect looked down on him, instead targeting the true dragon of the Zhou dynasty!
“Just that Great Karma Technique from the Buddhist sect demanded half of our Zhou dynasty’s mandate in repayment!!!”
Jade Clarity’s eyes were bloodshot with rage: “Originally, Ji Yi as the founding emperor received the heavenly mandate of ‘Zhou,’ ensuring at least six hundred years of rule, but with that single strike, it was halved, leaving only three hundred years!”
If Ji Yi had known, he would surely have waged endless war against the Buddhist sect, leaving instructions for his descendants to eradicate them completely.
However, even Jade Clarity did not dare to inform Ji Yi about this, fearing that he might provoke the taboo of the dragon’s aura!
Even now, having caused such damage to the Zhou dragon qi, the backlash had already arrived.
“All my companions have journeyed through the void together, yet now I alone remain!”
Glancing at his surrounding seniors and juniors, Jade Clarity almost wept.
Originally, his Dao cultivation was profound, his calculations precise, believing himself to grasp the great trend of heavenly mandate, thus daring to emerge from seclusion to assist the hidden dragon.
He was a born cultivator, secretly regarded as the foremost in the world. Indeed, his first move helped Ji Yi achieve the status of a red dragon, while he himself reached the pinnacle of earthly immortality. Originally, he estimated that if Ji Yi established a dynasty, he might glimpse the position of a heavenly immortal through these great merits, which was why he spared no effort.
But human calculations cannot match heavenly will!
The will of heaven is unfathomable!
Now, repeatedly struck by backlash, his earthly immortal foundation was largely destroyed.
“If Ji Yi successfully ascends as the Dragon Emperor, I might barely manage to restore my foundation—though any hope of attaining Heavenly Immortality would be lost… But if King Wu perishes in battle…”
Jade Clarity suddenly shivered deeply, wishing fervently that the Buddhist sect’s Great Karma Technique had targeted him instead!
For the backlash of failing to seize the dragon throne was far more terrifying than serving as ox or horse through countless lifetimes!
…
Meanwhile, at another battlefield.
Boom!
The sky changed several times, the ground trembled faintly. These standard anomalies were all accurately sensed by Wu Ming.
“Something major has happened in the direction of the Shang capital, Shengjing?”
“Could it be the Twelve Golden Men?”
Indeed, the only major event that could occur in Shengjing now was this.
Moreover, the scene where the sky’s resentment transformed into a blood dragon, flying toward Shengjing, was visible to any discerning eye.
“It seems the Shang dynasty still emerged unscathed, so powerful… Then how was it historically overthrown?”
Wu Ming felt deeply perplexed: “This mission instance… is definitely not simple…”
The initial malice, the faintly lurking shadow behind the scenes, and this world—identical to history yet terrifyingly real—all seemed to hint at something “extraordinary”!
“What exactly caused this anomaly?”
Wu Ming felt puzzled deep in his heart.
Boom!
Then, a massive shadow crashed toward him, like a thousand-pound hammer.
He nimbly turned aside, only to see the Mind-Eater Child being thrown back, while the original Seven Killers roared, his body enveloped in a purplish-red glow.
Crackling sounds continuously emanated from him, as if a fierce beast was about to break free.
“What are you waiting for? Do you think my Purple Blood Madness Cage can hold him for long?”
The Mind-Eater Child shouted furiously, fleeing rapidly: “If you want to live, follow quickly!”
Wu Ming and others hurriedly followed, soon reaching a flat area.
Unknowingly, they had already run out of the forest, seeing the miraculous sight of flames devouring the sky not far away!
The fire engulfed eighty miles of camps. Last night, it was merely the vanguard camps, but since Guo Zihe had acted, he must have made meticulous preparations, continuously setting fires, advancing layer by layer, determined to burn the previous camps along with the chaotic troops!
“Forty routes of smoke, a million troops…”
“Heavens!”
Seeing this, several rebel kings and their guards were like losing their parents, crying out in despair, knowing that the once proud rebel alliance had instantly collapsed, becoming yesterday’s smoke.
Looking around, their hearts chilled further, realizing this place was actually a barren cliff, three sides being dead ends!
“Mind-Eater Child, what are you doing?”
Li Zizai tightened his spear, his eyes clearly showing suspicion.
“How could it be like this?”
The Mind-Eater Child also looked incredulous: “The leader clearly informed me that this place not only had an escape route but also reinforcements!”
“The leader of the Blood Oath?!”
Li Zizai angrily: “So you indeed withheld information! Now we are in the same boat, no more secrets…”
His words carried a glimmer of hope, for the Blood Oath Alliance Leader was renowned for righteousness and formidable skills.
If he were here, even a deadly mission might still have hope?
“Ah, the Blood Oath Alliance Leader!”
Wu Ming’s eyes immediately flashed with sharp light.
He clearly knew that the Blood Oath was the top organization in the god space, with a strict hierarchy and formidable strength.
In the previous supernatural realm, merely three of the weakest elders could jointly withstand a True Immortal. This time, they had all emerged, accompanied by a fully-prepared Mind-Eater Child with complete sorcery. Even Wu Ming would have to exert considerable effort to defeat them.
If the enigmatic Alliance Leader were to join, wouldn’t even terrestrial immortals be on guard?
“The entire Blood Oath mobilized? Treating this divine temple as their own? And this deadly mission…”
Wu Ming felt as if he had fallen into a fog.
Then, the bushes at the cliff edge rustled, three generals leading over a hundred elite soldiers directly surrounding them. It was indeed Guo Zihe and the Seven Killers and Greedy Wolf generals!
“Indeed! The remaining rebel kings are all here!”
Guo Zihe coldly smiled: “Kill them all!”
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