The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Chapter 277: Three Pure Ones?

Translator: Transn Editor: Transn

Bo Yikao and Ji Fa were surprised. Shen Gongbao had made great achievements since he became an official in Xiqi, but he never asked for anything. However, today he asked them for a favor for a friend who was taught by a different master, which was unexpected of him. The same goes for Jiang Ziya. The Ordinary Grand Master was a very good post for him, but Shen Gongbao actually asked the two princes to give him a higher position. That really surprised Jiang Ziya.

Seeing this, Ji Fa whispered to Bo Yikao. "Big brother, Jiang Ziya is the disciple of The Sage and comes on behalf of the Clan of Enlightenment, so we’d better consider the feelings of both the Clan of Enlightenment and The Sage. Moreover, now that the Imperial Master is interceding for him, so it’s not a good idea to refuse. You’d better raise his post, and it’ll satisfy both sides."

Bo Yikao agreed with Ji Fa’s words, he nodded and said, "Well, in this case, I confer Taoist Priest Jiang as the Senior Grand Master." Jiang Ziya was overjoyed when he heard Bo Yikao’s words and Shen Gongbao also nodded with satisfaction. Looking at Jiang Ziya’s grateful eyes, Shen Gongbao knew that he had achieved what he wanted.

Though some officials in Xiqi were disagreeable for Jiang Ziya to be offered such a high post, they said nothing more. Bo Yikao offered Jiang Ziya a mansion, so Jiang Ziya naturally moved out from Shen Gongbao’s Imperial Master Mansion. His mansion was next to the Imperial Master Mansion, it was also a good thing as it made it easier for both to communicate with each other.

Jiang Ziya’s wife was also delighted. Luckily, she followed the instruction left by the immortal, otherwise, she would not be enjoying the splendor and wealth now. It’s only been a few months after they fled from Zhaoge to Xiqi, Jiang Ziya became the Senior Grand Master, which was better than the Primary Grand Master he once was in Zhaoge. Besides, he had such a good friend as the Imperial Master Shen Gongbao, thus it would be possible for Jiang Ziya to be conferred a rank of nobility and become a minister in the future.

It had to be said that Jiang Ziya was indeed a master in handling state affairs. It took him only a short period of two or three months to change the opinions of the officials from the initial distrust to fully trusting in him. Jiang Ziya put forward many constructive opinions on governing Xiqi and solved a lot of difficulties for Xiqi, which made Bo Yikao and Ji Fa trust him more and be grateful to Shen Gongbao for recommending such a talent for Xiqi as well.

···

In Mount Shouyang, Laozi and Honored Lord of the Origin sat facing each other on the cushions without any words. After a long time, Honoured Lord of the Origin said, "Brother, what are Zhunti and Jieyin playing at? The Western Religious Sect has already established a firm foothold in Xiqi, but they allow Shen Gongbao to recommend my disciple Jiang Ziya to Xiqi and help him obtain a good post. That’s not their style."

Laozi opened his eyes and lightly said, "It’s simple. The will of Heaven shows that the Shang will perish but Zhou will prosper, and it may refer to Xiqi. However, they must confront the Tribe of Severity established by Tongtian before destroying the Shang. By virtue of the Western Religious Sect’s own power, they are no match for the Tribe of Severity. Thus, they ask Shen Gongbao to recommend Jiang Ziya to do you a favor."

Honored Lord of the Origin’s face slightly changed when hearing Sect Leader Tongtian. The God Deification Ceremony this time mainly focused on the four religions and it was not an easy task to select 365 Gods for the Investiture of the Gods. If all disciples of the three religions were selected, that would be enough. However, the four Sages including Laozi, Honoured Lord of the Origin, Zhunti, and Jieyin would not be hardhearted enough to send all their disciples on the Investiture of the Gods, otherwise, their Taoism lineages would end.

If they did not want their own disciples to be on the list, then they could only try to make the disciples of other religions be on the list instead. Among the four religions, the Tribe of Severity was the strongest. If the other three religions began to fight among themselves, the Tribe of Severity would be at an advantage. Under such circumstances, the best way was to combine the efforts of the three religions together to fight against the Tribe of Severity, as any one of the three religions could not resist the Tribe of Severity by virtue of their own power.

However, Honored Lord of the Origin still had doubts. Regardless of whether the Western Religious Sect was playing at something, the name of Three Pure Ones was enough to make him hesitate. Once the war started, the name of Three Pure Ones would no longer exist. This was what worried both Honoured Lord of the Origin and Laozi.

Honored Lord of the Origin was silent for a long time before he finally replied, "Brother, in this case, what should we do now? Ziya is an official of Xiqi, if Xiqi sends armed forces to suppress the Shang and King Zhou, we the Clan of Enlightenment will inevitably be confronted with the Tribe of Severity. What should we do then? Besides, once the war starts, the disciples of both parties will suffer. By that time, the name of Three Pure Ones will probably no longer exist."

After hearing his words, Laozi’s dull look finally changed. After a long time, Laozi sighed and said, "This is the will of God, and there’s nothing we can do about it. Since the Tribe of Severity of Tongtian is assisting the Shang Dynasty, it’s impossible to ask him to stay out of this. However, the Battle of Gods Investiture is inevitable, thus we can only take one step at a time, while guarding against the Western Religious Sect so as not to be made use by them."

···

In Jadeite Palace, Sect Leader Tongtian was calm and steadfast. He looked at Mount Shouyang and murmured. "Big brother, second brother···" Sect Leader Tongtian was a Sage, so he surely knew both Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya were officials in Xiqi. The will of Heaven showed that Shang would fall while Zhou would revitalize, and the Zhou might refer to Xiqi. With the assistance of Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya, Xiqi had greatly strengthened. The Battle of Gods Investiture would begin anytime soon.

Now that Shen Gongbao recommended Jiang Ziya as an official in Xiqiao, on the surface, he did so because of their fellowship while Sect Leader Tongtian understood the key point. It was obvious that the Western Religious Sect tried to draw the Clan of Enlightenment over to their side so as to fight against the Tribe of Severity. However, Honored Lord of the Origin made no response, which obviously meant that he tacitly approved. This made Tongtian bitterly disappointed.

Would their brotherhood which lasted thousands of years come to an end? At the thought of this, Sect Leader Tongtian couldn’t help feeling sad because he never thought of fighting against the other two sects. His goal had always been the Western Religious Sect. There were not many disciples in the Western Religious Sect, but there were still more than one or two hundred. If he could destroy the Western Religious Sect, the vacancies of Lord Gods on Investiture of the Gods would be half filled.

In addition, the remaining vacancies on Investiture of the Gods would be filled with some humans and individual cultivators, and then the three religions would be safe. Unfortunately, Sect Leader Tongtian had the intention, but Laozi and Honored Lord of the Origin did not think so. What made Sect Leader Tongtian really sad was that Laozi and Honored Lord of the Origin might have thought about it this way, but they were reluctant to do so.

Although the three religions would safely survive the calamity of the God Deification Ceremony, there were no benefits for the other two religions as the Tribe of Severity would still be strong. Even if Shang fell while Zhou revitalized, the Tribe of Severity would still be dominating. Moreover, without the Western Religious Sect, the other two religions would be less likely to compete with the Tribe of Severity, which was the concern of Laozi and Honored Lord of the Origin.

When their cultivations reached such realms, living endlessly had no attraction to them. The immortals could only pursue higher and stronger realms. However, after being in the realm of The Sage, they could only rely on Luck to rapidly improve their strength. The fundamental cause was to strive for Luck but not for factional disputes.

Only with stronger luck, could The Sages improve their strength faster. In addition, Minghe had become the Rakshasa, which also greatly stimulated all Sages to strive for the Luck more firmly. It seemed that Minghe did not strive for the Luck, however, his Luck was far more than that of all Sages. This was one reason why Minghe made such rapid progress.

As Minghe controlled the Blood Sea, the Nether World, the Ashura tribe and the Religion of Asura, his luck was very strong. However, all Sages still remembered that although the Holy Land of Human Tribe had hidden from the world, the Selfcentric Separation of Minghe remained the ancestor of Martial Arts of the Human Tribe, who was enshrined and worshipped by the Human Tribe for generations and enjoyed 30 percent of the Luck of the Human Tribe. Though it declined, Minghe’s Luck was still horrifying and unreachable for all Sages.

The most unpleasant thing for all Sages was that even if they wanted to weaken Minghe’s Luck, it was not easy. As for the Blood Sea, the Ashura tribe and the Religion of Asura, they had no way to intervene. In addition, though Houtu was in the Nether World, Minghe had the Book of Life and Death and the Judge Pen which took charge of the Nether World. Above all, as the Nether World was an important place in Untainted Land, no one dared to fight there. Therefore, all Sages had to be overtly cautious.

Now the only way was to make an issue out of the Luck of the Human Tribe. The 30 percents of luck of the Human Tribe Minghe’s Selfcentric Separation occupied had declined. Although it was not much, only one or two points at best (with the Luck of the Human Tribe being counted as one hundred, 30 percents equal to 30 points), these one or two points would fall on sect Leader Tongtian and the Tribe of Severity.