“Xu Zongwu, the Heaven King? The leader of the forty rebel factions, the topmost rebel king, to capture the Ten Ultimate Passes, both fortune and strength are indispensable, and he must also be a descending ominous star, but I wonder what kind of stellar destiny he possesses?”
With Xu Zongwu’s invitation, the banquet naturally could not proceed as planned.
Wu Ming outwardly accompanied Han Hulin and Holy Mother Honglian to the feast, but inwardly he was thinking: “Certainly not like Han Hulin, who only has a secondary ominous star destiny, he must possess a true celestial fate. Most likely, he is one of the Three Great Killing Stars. No! Even the killing stars might fall short. Could he be another ‘Sha Po Lang’ destiny?”
The Seven Killings is the thief who stirs chaos in the world! Breakthrough Army is the general who dominates across the land! The Greedy Wolf is the treacherous and cunning schemer! These are the foremost of all ominous stars, known as the Three Great Killing Stars! Once united, the world’s sovereignty will inevitably shift, an irreversible change!
In times of chaos, the most likely stellar destinies to descend are these three.
“The One-Browed King has arrived!”
They proceeded all the way to the main tent, with the soldiers’ loud announcement, Wu Ming and others leisurely entered. Though already prepared, Wu Ming still felt slightly surprised.
Starlight!
Fortune!
Countless brilliant rays crisscrossed throughout the entire tent, creating infinite cosmic phenomena, dazzling and resplendent, all carrying a heavy aura of killing!
“Wow! At least a dozen true celestial fates, other secondary celestial fates, over a hundred whose stars are manifesting, and those with a mere glimmer of starlight around their bodies are countless… Indeed, human affairs gather the most fortune. So many people of great destiny gathered here in one place!”
With his heavenly eye, Wu Ming was quite familiar with these stellar destinies, knowing they could generally be categorized into four levels: a mere glimmer of starlight around the body, manifestation of one’s native star, secondary celestial fate, and the highest, true celestial fate.
These stellar destinies are not fixed from the beginning, but rather represent an entry threshold and qualification, which can fluctuate and be contested in the future.
Take Wu Ming’s retainer, Wu Tiehu, for example. Initially, he only had a glimmer of starlight around his body, but later, with Wu Ming’s cultivation, he joined Wu Zhi’s ranks and now commands five hundred soldiers as a seventh-grade military officer, thus reaching the stage of manifesting his native star and steadily advancing toward a secondary celestial fate.
However, even Wu Tiehu at this point would still be considered mediocre within the current tent!
In Wu Ming’s vision, the entire tent was filled with starlight and fortune converging, blending with the killing aura and martial spirit to form their own cosmic phenomena, dazzling and brilliant, yet surrounded by a dense aura of calamity.
“Poor souls of great destiny, all must go through a deadly tribulation!”
Wu Ming silently observed this final frenzy but did not directly expose it.
After all, he was free and unattached, not aligned with the rebel kings, so there was no need for such actions. Moreover, the forty rebel factions’ demise and the blood sacrifice to break Shang Dynasty’s dragon vein were practically heaven’s will! To interfere recklessly would invite heavenly punishment!
Why should he, for a group of unknown, rough, and bloodthirsty rebel kings, risk incurring heavenly wrath? Wu Ming would have to be out of his mind to do so!
“Still, this person has treated me with respect, so he deserves a chance at survival!”
Glancing sideways at Han Hulin again, Wu Ming nodded inwardly in approval.
“Haha… Brother Han has arrived! Please be seated!”
Xu Zongwu, seated at the main position, spoke.
“Thank you, Elder Brother Xu!”
Han Hulin bowed and directly went to sit at a slightly rear seat on the right. This seat was quite large, with chicken, duck, fish, meat, bear paws, deer lips, and all kinds of delicacies. Beside him were two serving beauties who opened a jar of aged wine, its aroma filling the air.
Behind Han Hulin, there were also several smaller seats, where Wu Ming and Holy Mother Honglian sat down. Seeing the extravagant dishes, Honglian’s face showed a slight hint of satisfaction, while Wu Ming secretly shook his head.
“Brother, you came late, so you must be punished with three cups of wine!”
After Han Hulin sat down, his face was flushed with excitement, his demeanor generous and open. He directly threw away the small wine cup, grabbed a large bowl, and drank three bowls in a row.
“Haha! Brother Han indeed is bold and unrestrained!”
Seeing this gesture, Xu Zongwu laughed heartily, seemingly quite satisfied.
Taking the opportunity to toast, Wu Ming secretly glanced at Xu Zongwu.
To his surprise, Xu Zongwu was not the typical rough-faced brute but was instead quite handsome, looking no older than thirty, exuding heroic vigor and inspiring admiration.
Observing with his heavenly eye, Wu Ming was so startled that he quickly used the act of drinking to cover his face with his sleeve, hiding his shock.
“What kind of joke is this?”
Yet in his mind, Wu Ming still couldn’t believe it: “Not the Seven Killings! Not Breakthrough Army! Not even the Greedy Wolf! Nor any other messy ominous stars! But the Literary Minister and the Martial General!”
Combining Literary and Martial!
Xu Zongwu’s stellar destiny was clearly the union of the Literary Minister’s True Destiny and the Martial General’s True Destiny, a perfect blend of literary and martial excellence, unparalleled in the world!
“But such a person should either be a pillar of the court or a great general of a new dynasty, a person of both wisdom and strategy, capable of leading armies on horseback and governing the people off it. How could he end up among the rebel kings?”
Wu Ming scanned again. At this point, all forty rebel kings were seated, and he was even more surprised: “Where have the true destinies of the Three Great Killing Stars gone?”
Seven Killings, Breakthrough Army, Greedy Wolf!
Wu Ming originally thought that even if all three weren’t present in the bandit ranks, at least one or two should be here. Yet now, there wasn’t even a trace of them.
In his heart, he couldn’t help but feel some hesitation, mixed with self-mockery: “Even with the ability to perceive auras, which has always been advantageous, I still easily get confused by heavenly decrees… Seeing this scene, any cultivator would probably feel the unease of ‘heavenly will being unfathomable,’ wouldn’t they?”
Xu Zongwu, the grand alliance leader of the forty rebel factions and the chief rebel king, turned out to be a dual stellar destiny of Literary and Martial excellence! This was simply an enormous joke! The implications were enough to make any cultivator tremble inwardly.
According to reason, the Literary Minister Star and the Martial General Star should have been assisting the heavenly mandate, either serving the Shang Dynasty or under King Wu’s command. Why had they come here?
Wu Ming pondered endlessly without finding an answer: “Could it be… the heavenly mandate of the Shang Dynasty has already shifted? Even so, the beneficiary should be King Wu Ji Yi, right…”
The casting of the twelve golden figures was an act of offending heaven; unexpected developments were not impossible. However, a person with both Literary and Martial Minister Stars should have been assisting the new dynasty, enjoying immense wealth and honor. Now, he had come here, almost as if someone had forsaken a high-ranking official position to become an outlaw, which was extremely puzzling.
“I’ve heard that Brother Han has a capable subordinate named the Three-Mao Immortal, who has attained the Dao fruit of a human immortal and even fought against a terrestrial immortal without suffering any injuries. May I have the honor of meeting him?”
At this point, Xu Zongwu spoke.
“Poor Daoist Zhaixingzi greets the King!”
In an instant, all eyes in the hall gathered on him. Wu Ming had no choice but to stand up and walk to the center of the hall, bowing respectfully.
“Please rise!”
Xu Zongwu appeared quite cheerful: “With the help of such a Daoist master, how can our great cause fail? Haha… Serve wine!”
Wu Ming thanked him, returned to his seat, and soon noticed several uncertain and surprised glances.
“Reincarnators!”
This mission of the main temple was peculiar, with thirty reincarnators deployed inside. Most of them were in the rebel kings’ camp, and naturally, a few had managed to gain seats at the feast.
Only they would feel particularly surprised and curious about Wu Ming’s appearance.
“What do you think?”
Behind Xu Zongwu, a man with a slightly sinister aura asked a woman beside him.
The gathering of these rebel monarchs is only briefly mentioned in historical records, with detailed accounts reserved solely for influential military leaders. The rest are merely noted in passing—particularly cultivators like this one, whose existence was likely only documented in the secret annals of ancient sects… I’m uncertain whether the so-called Three-Mao Immortal truly existed…
The woman softly replied, her words meant only for the man to hear.
“A human immortal Dao fruit, the rank of True Lord! Even I, Song Jin, have not yet achieved that. Could there really be such a person among this cycle of reincarnators?”
The sinister Song Jin let out a chilling hiss, his faintly deranged and bloodthirsty aura forcing the woman to instinctively retreat. “Song Jin, don’t lose your mind! Though there’s no historical record, I’ve met Luo Song, the leader of the Star River Sect. The Three Mao Immortal is a senior from the Maoshan Dao, an elder’s reincarnation. He’s unlikely to be a transmigrator—and certainly not our enemy!”
Even reincarnators were reluctant to confront a Heavenly Master capable of summoning wind and rain.
“Zhi Yu, what do you think?”
At a less conspicuous table among the banquet, two individuals were conversing in low voices.
“Brother Zi Zai, I have cultivated the ‘Secret Response Sutra’ of Tibetan Buddhism’s Esoteric School, and I can faintly sense that the aura from that individual doesn’t seem like that of a reincarnator, yet he also appears somewhat distinct from the locals. In short, he is extremely formidable, so we must be cautious!”
“Alright then!”
The young man named Zi Zai smiled proudly: “Historical powerhouses naturally have extraordinary aspects, but if they provoke me, they’ll have to test the sharpness of my spear!”
…
“Hmm, two groups of reincarnators!”
The banquet began, with beauties performing dances, the atmosphere quite lively as wine flowed freely.
Wu Ming seemed to be drinking and eating, occasionally watching the performances, but in reality, he had already taken in everything within the tent.
“There are quite a few fourth-level experts, unfortunately no fifth-level at all. The strongest should naturally be Xu Zongwu himself! After all, with the True Martial Destiny, he’s at least a Martial Sage!”
“And there are two groups of reincarnators. One group is under Xu Zongwu’s command, seemingly practicing some sinister techniques at the third level. The other group, I can remember their banners and ask about them later. They seem to be a school of military experts, not too significant…”
If there was one person in the entire hall that Wu Ming feared the most, it was naturally only Xu Zongwu himself.
With the true destiny of both the Literary Minister and the Martial General, he had achieved physical sainthood! And with the blessing of star power, even a newly promoted land immortal like the Jade Clarity Daoist might not be able to subdue him.
Moreover, Wu Ming had no doubt that he had cultivated secret martial techniques. When leading troops into battle, he could unleash divine abilities, drawing upon the soldiers’ martial aura and killing intent. With a million troops gathered and numerous ominous stars present, even a fifth-level land immortal would have to temporarily retreat!
“Such formidable strength, yet historically he was directly defeated and perished, and the speed of his downfall was shocking to behold!”
A smile played at the corner of Wu Ming’s eye: “It seems there’s a deep secret behind this…”
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