“Such immense power could nearly slay a terrestrial immortal. It’s hardly worth the effort to handle Li Zizai and his insignificant pests! The only plausible explanation is that this is targeting my plans!”
Wu Ming’s eyes lit up: “That means the person behind the scenes, let’s tentatively name him the Blood Oath Alliance Leader, his original target was me all along! From the moment I arrived here, my identity has been exposed!”
This was almost impossible!
Even Li Zizai and Ruan Zhiyu, who had been in close contact day and night, still couldn’t confirm whether Wu Ming was truly a reincarnator. How could the leader of the Blood Oath Alliance be so certain, even appearing resolute to never give up?
“Could this be the ability of his privilege?”
Unable to figure it out, Wu Ming could only attribute it to this possibility.
“Perhaps… when the Shang dynasty’s vanguard arrives, I’ll be able to verify this hypothesis to some extent!”
“But… this matter is probably extremely complicated! I refuse to believe that the Blood Oath Alliance Leader’s privilege could surpass mine, and even go unnoticed by me!”
If the possibility that the Blood Oath Alliance Leader had higher privileges than Wu Ming was one in ten thousand,
Then the possibility of leaking information without triggering any alert regarding privilege entanglement would be less than one in a billion, essentially impossible!
Even during the previous mission in the Japanese world, at the beginning when privileges were being contested, and he was still a Primordial Deity’s disciple, Wu Ming had seen the task prompts and changes!
There was no reason for the current Primordial Deity Controller to be completely unaware.
Unless the opponent had already taken total control within the Primordial Temple! But if that were truly the case, killing Wu Ming would be as simple as lifting a finger.
“I just can’t figure it out… unless…”
Suddenly, Wu Ming’s eyes brightened, his hands and feet almost trembling with excitement, before his expression turned deep and contemplative…
…
King Wu controlled two provinces and was famous throughout the land. This time, he had dispatched 100,000 troops, advancing with unstoppable momentum. Within half a month, they had cleared most of the passes. It was estimated that within another half month, they would arrive at the Ten Death Traps Pass.
At this time, the Jade Clarity Daoist had already arrived, negotiating as an envoy with Han Hulin. Although it was called an alliance, Wu Ming watched coldly, estimating that once Ji Yi’s army arrived, Han Hulin and the several kings would immediately open the gates and surrender.
Of course, he and Li Zizai were quite happy to see this happen.
After all, all the reincarnators knew from historical records that in the end, it was Ji Yi, the great ancestor of the Zhou dynasty, who destroyed the great Shang dynasty!
This time, King Jie of Shang had such an overwhelming advantage that Wu Ming felt it difficult to maintain control. He wanted to find a top-class enforcer!
With the throne of the Divine Land calling, Ji Yi, who had already proclaimed himself king and established a feudal dynasty, would have no path of retreat!
Therefore, the two sides naturally reached an agreement. Even the ragtag troops had nothing to say, only requesting conditions such as avenging their fallen comrades. Wu Ming estimated that this was the influence of heavenly will.
With the Celestial Eye, and after so many observations, he had generally understood how heavenly fate and fortune worked—they functioned by amplifying or diminishing certain probabilities.
For example, this time, these ragtag troops might have originally scattered in chaos, but since Han Hulin and Ji Yi still had some destiny left, they managed to barely maintain control, even beginning to mobilize and regaining a certain level of combat effectiveness.
This was achieved by forcibly boosting their morale to a threshold level.
“Of course! There must also be a possibility, or a ‘trigger,’ for this to work. Whether these disorganized soldiers scatter, support someone, pretend obedience while secretly resisting, or obey resolutely, all were possibilities. Because Ji Yi had strong fortune, the best option was selected! Otherwise, if it were the Shang dynasty, even if heaven gave King Jie an advantage and immense fortune, it would still be unlikely for these troops with deep grudges to suddenly defect!”
“Similarly, even if one’s fortune is waning, if arrangements are made properly and external calamities don’t arise, one won’t easily fall to fate!”
Wu Ming immediately recalled the “Final Destination” movie series he had seen in his previous life, where even Death needed a trigger.
As for directly pulling in asteroids or meteors to destroy the world, or casting world-level enchantments?
Wu Ming felt that without a chosen one of fate, or even a child of the world, the entire world wouldn’t expend its primal essence to achieve such feats!
Otherwise, if the Shang dynasty defied heaven, why wouldn’t this world just send a giant meteor to wipe everything clean?
Or have nine days of thunderous lightning continuously strike for forty-nine days, erasing the capital from the map?
Not that they wouldn’t, but that they couldn’t!!!
Free will is the most precious thing. Even exhausting the essence of an entire world might not be enough to forcibly reverse the will of the entire populace!
“Therefore, even if King Wu Ji Yi has unparalleled heavenly fate and is a true dragon among men, and King Jie of Shang is tyrannical and has lost his fortune, the army sent must still fight. It’s impossible for a situation where someone shouts at the city gate and immediately all officials and generals kneel in welcome—such absurdity doesn’t happen at a time like this!”
“In the end, even if heaven wishes to punish the Shang dynasty, it still needs our hands to do it!”
Standing before the Ten Death Traps Pass, Wu Ming could already see the dense sea of heads below.
The great Shang dynasty’s black bird banners of heavenly mandate fluttered high, with at least 100,000 troops visible.
“These are the penal troops of the Shang Ministry of Works, the last remaining assets of the dynasty…”
Don’t ask where the regular army went—when the entire world is in chaos, the capable ones have already been wiped out.
Previously, Guo Zihe had led these Ministry of Works penal troops, fighting back and forth against the thirteen rebel kings and twenty-seven rebellious armies totaling millions, until finally setting a fire that left them with no way to escape, neither to heaven nor earth.
“Although they lack the advantage of timing, terrain, and even popular support, if they win, they can still reverse the heavenly mandate! This is the triumph of human will over fate!”
Wu Ming understood this well. The outcome of this battle would now begin to affect the shifting fortunes between the Shang and Zhou dynasties in their struggle for supremacy.
Setting aside fortune and looking purely at reality, if Han Hulin were defeated and the Ten Death Traps Pass fell, how many more casualties and how much more effort would Ji Yi’s 100,000 troops need to retake it?
At that time, King Jie of Shang had already cast the twelve golden statues into the divine dragon veins, suppressing all under heaven.
Therefore, aside from King Jie and a group of high-ranking Buddhist monks who were occupied with setting up formations and casting the golden statues, the Shang dynasty had essentially mobilized all its forces for this battle!
“How is the King?”
At this moment, Han Hulin, Li Zizai, and others were approaching in armor, accompanied by the Jade Clarity old Daoist.
“Although our morale is low and our command is not effective, our divided forces make us weak, but defending the city should not be much of a problem!”
Han Hulin gave a bitter smile.
Having walls or not makes a completely different situation.
If it came to a siege, even conscripted civilians could be forced into service, let alone these troops who had received some training and had seen battle?
Moreover, the Ten Death Traps Pass was no small city—it was a perilous fortress towering dozens of zhang high!
In fact, Wu Ming felt that the fact that 50,000 soldiers had been gathered at all was practically due to their side having cheated outrageously.
“Please Your Majesty rest assured, as long as we hold out for half a month, my master will surely arrive. I have already urgently ordered our merchant spies to deliver essential supplies!”
The Jade Clarity Daoist also made assurances.
Of course! As long as Han Hulin could ensure the defense of the Ten Death Traps Pass, no matter what conditions were set, King Wu would have no choice but to agree immediately!
After all, this battle would decide who would ascend as the dragon emperor of all the land!
“With General Li and the other officers working together, defending the city should not be a major issue… but I still fear enemy trickery!”
Han Hulin also expressed his concerns.
If it weren’t for the fact that these weren’t his own troops, even if these 50,000 soldiers were replaced with his original 10,000, with so many favorable conditions, he could not only defend for fifteen days—he could treat those 100,000 enemy troops below as if they were already dead!
But these 50,000 unruly soldiers didn’t know their officers, and the officers didn’t know their soldiers. After being burned once, they were like frightened birds. If elite enemy forces launched a sudden attack and created chaos within the pass, triggering a panic among the troops, then the situation would truly be hopeless.
“Regarding elite assault units and the like, Your Majesty need not be concerned. Isn’t the Jade Clarity Daoist present precisely to prevent such matters?”
Wu Ming laughed heartily.
The supernatural beings in the Zhou dynasty world were far more destructive than the ninjas in the Japanese world. Flying over walls and leaping across roofs was commonplace. If an elite squad was organized, they could potentially breach the Ten Death Traps Pass and capture it in a single strike!
But Wu Ming and the Jade Clarity Daoist weren’t fools—they naturally had to guard against such a weakness!
With the Jade Clarity Daoist, a terrestrial immortal, personally stationed here, all manner of sinister schemes were basically eliminated. To truly breach this city, one would have to rely solely on overwhelming force, engaging in a bloody war of attrition until one side collapsed completely.
Boom! Boom!!
Boom! Boom!!
The war drums thundered, and massive formations surged forward. The enemy ranks stood in perfect order, armed with an array of siege engines—scaling ladders, siege towers, giant shields, catapults, battering rams… many of which Wu Ming could identify, and countless others beyond his recognition. Constructed from wooden beams and reinforced with bronze or even iron joints, they loomed like terrifying, monstrous beasts.
“I’ve heard that the Mohists also served the Shang dynasty. Could these siege weapons be their contribution?”
Han Hulin’s expression darkened slightly as he watched.
“If it were the Mohists, what we’d be seeing would be rows of mechanical chariots, even wooden birds soaring through the sky…”
Wu Ming shook his head, though he was still impressed by the Mohists’ craftsmanship.
“The ingenuity of the Mohist school is indeed incomparable to these current devices. However, this old Daoist has received news that the Mohist leader has announced his retirement, and the Mohist sect has sealed its mountains, so they certainly won’t go back on their word!”
The Jade Clarity old Daoist stroked his beard with a smile, though his expression soon turned solemn: “However, the Shang dynasty’s army has inherited the legacy of the Mohists, and must not be underestimated either!”
“Yah!”
At this moment, a rider burst forth from the army, carrying a mounted general whose skills were superb. He rode straight up to the Ten Death Traps Pass: “I am Liu Wengui, the vanguard of the great Shang dynasty! You rebels listen well—my general says that if you immediately open the gates and surrender now, it’s not too late. Otherwise, when the heavenly army enters the pass, countless lives will perish, and both jade and stone will be destroyed together. It will be too late to regret!”
This general clearly possessed formidable martial prowess, his voice thunderous. As he shouted while channeling his energy, the entire walls of the Ten Death Traps Pass seemed to vibrate.
“Indeed, it’s the genuine martial arts technique of the Bing School!”
However, Wu Ming opened his Celestial Eye and saw that although this general had entered enemy territory, his celestial acupoints seemed to be open, connected to the army’s energy behind him, making him appear dangerous but actually safe, while greatly enhancing his spirit and vitality!
“General Li!”
Seeing this, Han Hulin immediately gave a cold shout.
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