“Beheaded Yuming?”
Wu Ming followed Han Hulin to watch the show, yet his expression remained unchanged.
If Ji Yi couldn’t even suppress such minor matters, he probably wouldn’t be able to maintain his position as the true dragon, so there was no need to worry about him at all.
Now, however, with the united front and clear objectives, Wu Ming opened his heavenly eye and immediately saw a thick column of heavenly mandate rising to the sky. Within it, a red dragon thrashed about, its eyes even exuding blood, glaring fiercely at Shengjing City.
Within Shengjing, although the great Shang’s heavenly mandate had long vanished, a dense malevolent aura surged into the sky. Within it, the shadows of twelve golden warriors faintly emerged, standing solemnly unmoving.
Heavenly mandate! Great momentum! At this moment, it reached its peak!
Terrifying heavenly power and spiritual pressure covered an area of hundreds of miles around Shengjing, making it impossible for ordinary cultivators to even project their yin spirits!
Even a True Immortal would find it impossible to project their Primordial Spirit against these two opposing forces!
(Note: “Zhenren” is translated as “True Immortal” based on common Taoist terminology, and “元神” is rendered as “Primordial Spirit” which is the standard translation in Taoist/Xianxia contexts. The translation maintains the original’s sense of impossibility while adapting the terms for an English-speaking audience familiar with cultivation/xianxia concepts.)
Only fourth-level Celestial Masters could perform techniques! However, if one wanted to summon wind and rain, or flood seven armies as Wu Ming once did, immediate heavenly punishment would descend.
Although this heavenly punishment couldn’t harm the twelve golden warriors, even a terrestrial immortal would struggle to withstand it, let alone Wu Ming.
“No wonder the divine path dares not interfere in human affairs…”
Seeing this, Wu Ming immediately resolved a lingering question in his heart.
The Great Shang world undoubtedly had a divine path!
Even in a mere Chufeng Prefecture, there were city gods and river deities. Although restricted, within their divine domains, they were still comparable to fourth-level beings!
Such a massive force, why hadn’t it manifested during the chaos?
Initially, Wu Ming thought it was because the incense offerings and sacrifices had ceased, causing the gods to fall into slumber. But why didn’t human-path deities like river and mountain spirits appear either, despite still having some power?
“It’s because the struggle for the dragon throne involves too many entanglements. Even cultivators in the mortal world face heavenly punishment when interfering. Would the underworld deities escape notice? They must be restricted ten times more than us!”
Moreover, the karmic consequences of the human struggle for the dragon throne were too great. Once a deity became involved, immediate destruction could follow!
Although there might be great rewards if one succeeded, as long as the faith remained unbroken and external forces didn’t invade, they could almost achieve immortality. So who would be willing to take such a risk?
“Major deities above the state level and ancient gods simply disdain to get involved… As for those at the prefecture and county levels, even if they wanted to, they lack the resources…”
Wu Ming stroked his chin: “Besides… with the entire world in chaos, corpses littering the roads, and the population halved, the resulting yin spirits and wronged ghosts would be the top priority for deities! Otherwise, hundreds of ghost heroes and ghost kings arising at once would constitute a major calamity for the divine path! Oh! It’s already happening now, so they basically can’t spare any hands!”
Despite this, Wu Ming also knew that some truly great deities might still secretly deploy a few pawns. Take Ji Yi, for example. Historical records once stated: “Empress Mother Chen, when pregnant, dreamed a deity gave her a pill!” The hidden machinations here were self-evident.
Who said the divine path didn’t interfere? Heh, they directly targeted the source, which was far more sophisticated than any later minor deities or cultivators painstakingly supporting the dragon throne.
Of course, those capable of doing this and unafraid of heavenly punishment were, in Wu Ming’s estimation, only a few ancient deities renowned in myths from ancient times.
These deities looked down upon human incense offerings. What they schemed for was probably using Ji Yi as a pawn to play a grand game across the heavens and earth!
“As for the immortal path, the highest to appear so far is only Yuqing, a terrestrial immortal? And only just broke through, come on!”
Wu Ming secretly mocked those behind-the-scenes manipulators: “The legends of the Great Shang’s blessed lands and caves have lasted for thousands of years. Were they all myths? Children’s stories?”
The higher his cultivation, the more he felt that red line spanning the entire world.
“Level five is the watershed. Going higher might mean not being tolerated by the world… Separating the blessed lands from heaven and earth, heh heh… With the Great Shang in this state, I don’t believe they can still restrain themselves!”
…
“Catapults!”
“Fire!!!”
Whoosh!
With the mechanism moving, a massive stone weighing over a hundred jin was violently hurled, tracing a beautiful arc through the air before crashing heavily onto Shengjing’s city wall.
Boom!
Amidst the deafening explosion, stone fragments flew everywhere. Soldiers accidentally hit cried out in pain, though compared to their unfortunate comrades crushed into pulp, they were quite fortunate.
Although the King Wu army’s catapults were extremely powerful, Shengjing’s city walls were also insurmountable. The moat was both high and deep. Even though they could hurl large stones onto the walls, they only created small craters. Occasionally, luck was needed for a stone to hit a defending soldier on the head.
“Quickly! Artisans come forward to repair the walls. If not completed within one day, the entire team will be punished collectively!”
The cold-hearted officer immediately loudly proclaimed the order, driving the artisans forward to repair the wall defenses with their lives.
“Archers, ready!”
Chi chi!
After several rounds of catapult bombardment, the machines were overwhelmed and forced to retreat for rest, followed by the archers.
“Scaling ladders! Arrow towers! Siege towers!”
“Fill the moat!!!”
A general waved Ji Yi’s sword, shouting hoarsely, driving the troops forward.
“Rolling logs, huge stones, molten metal! Release!”
The Great Shang side also had archers, plus hastily gathered conscripts, pale-faced, throwing down everything heavy from the walls.
Cries of agony echoed, telling the cruelty of war.
After two rounds of mutual shooting, the Zhou army surged down like a tide.
The general cursed angrily, looked at the sky, and could only issue the order to retreat.
“Two days have passed, and King Wu’s army hasn’t gained an inch. It seems we must have the cultivation world intervene to destroy the twelve golden warriors.”
Wu Ming watched with a solemn expression.
Just as Han Hulin could hold Tenfold Pass, although Shengjing was now almost isolated, it was still the Shang dynasty’s capital. They could easily muster a hundred thousand conscripts to defend the walls, plus the five thousand troops who had recently returned in defeat. Even without heavenly mandate, it was still as solid as a fortress!
To be honest, if not for the twelve golden warriors, Ji Yi’s continued fierce attack would easily be seen as tyranny.
In ancient sieges, as long as everyone was united, cities could withstand sieges for several or even ten years! To capture a city in three days, how difficult could it be?
“If this method won’t work, we’ll have to confront them directly and destroy their twelve golden warriors…”
Wu Ming would prefer not to directly confront the twelve golden warriors if Shengjing could be captured.
Such military and national treasures should be destroyed by a large army, which would be in accordance with heaven’s will. Cultivators taking the challenge might face the risk of death!
But now, there was no other way.
As night fell, in the center of King Wu’s camp, a massive altar was set up.
This altar measured ninety-nine feet in length and width, standing nine feet nine inches tall, aligning with the supreme numerical symbolism and attaining an unparalleled zenith.
“When dawn comes, it will be the forty-ninth day!”
After arranging the incense table and offerings, Daoist Yuqing wore a worried expression: “Unable to break the golden warriors with military aura, the only way left is to destroy them with supernatural powers!”
“Tomorrow is the day the twelve golden warriors integrate into the land veins. At this final moment, they will inevitably face dual backlash from heaven’s will and earth’s energy. We shall act then!”
“This old Daoist has vowed to shave his hair, determined to destroy the golden warriors!”
Looking at the surrounding Daoists, Daoist Yuqing’s face was stern, cutting a strand of hair, showing his determination.
“Obey the decree!”
Besides Daoists, there were other cultivators present, all having placed their bets in advance, their fates intertwined. At this moment, they couldn’t escape, their eyes blazing as they spoke in unison.
“For tomorrow’s matter, please don’t hesitate to assist, the Yuqing sect is deeply grateful!”
However, Daoist Yuqing also knew that his disciples had suffered heavy casualties, probably none left capable, so he immediately sought Wu Ming’s help after the meeting.
“Of course!”
Wu Ming nodded. This time, Daoist Yuqing wasn’t using personal favors but had staked the entire sect.
However, since this aligned with his own interests, assisting Daoist Yuqing in guarding the sect wouldn’t be a problem.
At this moment, he wore a slightly embarrassed expression: “Just… this poor Daoist has long admired your sect…”
“Hmm?”
Daoist Yuqing almost jumped: “What treasure of my sect have you set your eyes on now?”
“No! No!”
Wu Ming scratched his head: “I only wish to borrow some scriptures for a look! Not involving Daoist techniques, just ancient, middle ancient, and those blessed lands, deities’ secrets…”
Even the Wu family’s heritage was limited in this aspect, a long-standing shortcoming of Wu Ming’s, who had wanted to see them for a long time.
“Oh? This…”
Daoist Yuqing gave Wu Ming a meaningful look: “Alright! With your cultivation, you’re about to reach this level. Giving them to you is acceptable!”
After all, it was just some records, and at this critical moment needing manpower, it wasn’t a big deal.
However, Daoist Yuqing’s opinion of Wu Ming couldn’t help but drop again.
After all, they were in the same boat, yet he still had the audacity to be so shameless—utterly outrageous!
Unfortunately, he had no idea that Wu Ming’s bottom line was even lower than he had imagined!
For Wu Ming, this place was just a mission world, so what use were these face-saving gestures? Better to immediately gain something that could strengthen himself!
“Wait? Something’s wrong…”
Wu Ming suddenly realized: “An Earth Immortal possesses a lifespan of a thousand years. Given Yuqing’s longevity, he could very well live to witness the apocalypse three hundred years later… But is this world truly the same as mine?”
Needless to say, this sense of disorientation and witnessing history firsthand thoroughly bewildered Wu Ming, compelling him to exercise extreme caution.
“But first, I should get all the benefits I can get!”
Not caring how bad his manners looked, after finalizing this deal, Wu Ming rarely showed kindness to remind: “Although the blood sacrifice of the Seven Killing Stars is powerful, are you really confident you can destroy the twelve golden warriors?”
“Is there anything in the world with a hundred percent certainty?”
Mentioning this, even Daoist Yuqing could only smile bitterly: “However, this old Daoist has made final preparations. If things go wrong, I will immediately ask King Wu to ascend the altar and sacrifice to heaven, proclaiming himself emperor!”
“Proclaim emperor?!”
Wu Ming nodded. Although hastily proclaiming emperor was a death sentence, Ji Yi was originally the true dragon. At this moment, ascending the throne would naturally allow him to borrow heaven and earth’s great power, serving as the last resort!
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage