Chapter 489: The Battle of Tongtian Lake

Emperor Xin’s determination to reform can be summed up in one sentence: he would depose anyone who opposed him. The closer the person was to him, the more ruthless he would be.

When the minister Shang Rong opposed him, he killed Shang Rong. When his uncle Bigan opposed him, he dug out Bigan’s heart to see if he had seven orifices.

The queen opposed him, so he deposed her. The prince opposed him, so he deposed him.

It was under such circumstances that Queen Jiang and her two sons Yin Jiao and Yin Hong were deposed by Emperor Xin. Queen Jiang was imprisoned in the cold palace, and Yin Jiao and Yin Hong were expelled from Chaoge, each going to their master’s dojo to practice.

Originally Emperor Xin wanted to kill them all, but was persuaded to stop.

In a word, the king has only three sons. If you get rid of two of them today, what will happen in the future? Who will guard the country and who will offer sacrifices to the ancestral temple?
It was this sentence that made the furious Emperor Xin regain some reason. He did not kill his two sons, but drove them out of Chaoge and left them to fend for themselves.

But the prince and the queen cannot be deposed so easily, especially since there is an extremely powerful family behind them.

It may be an exaggeration to say that Duke Dongbo is the leader of all the princes in the world, but it is no problem for him to be ranked second, and his strength is second only to the State of Zhou.

After learning that his daughter, Queen Jiang, had been deposed, Duke Dongbo had been on the verge of rebellion.

The reason why he did not rebel immediately was because he was waiting for Emperor Xin to give him a reasonable explanation. In the final analysis, it was because Emperor Xin had accumulated too much power before that the Duke of Dongbo did not dare to rebel directly.

But unfortunately, the explanation he expected did not come, but instead he received the order from Emperor Xin to summon him to Chaoge.

Duke Dong Bo was not stupid, so he knew that if he went to Chaoge this time, he might never come back.

Realizing that Emperor Xin had murderous intentions towards him, Duke Dongbo no longer hesitated and was the first to raise the banner of rebellion. Under the pretext of acting in the name of justice, he openly rebelled against the Shang Dynasty.

The rebellion of Dong Bohou immediately shook the whole world. After all, this was Emperor Xin’s father-in-law, and even he was forced to rebel, which showed how unpopular Emperor Xin was.

In addition, more importantly, no matter what Dong Bohou’s real strength is, at least in name, he is the leader of the four great princes and the chief of the eight hundred princes in the world.

With such a large scale, once a rebellion broke out, the sensation it would cause can be imagined. The entire Kyushu would be shaken, and then more and more princes who were still on the sidelines took the opportunity to make up their minds and rebel as well.

However, when Dong Bohou rebelled, he was fighting against the Shang Dynasty. But the small princes rebelled not to fight against the Shang Dynasty, but to take advantage of the opportunity to expand their power, secretly attack the surrounding countries, and expand their territory and population as much as possible.

Those small princes knew very well that no matter who won in the end, the world had nothing to do with them.

In this case, they might as well take the opportunity to strengthen themselves. After the world is pacified, the new world leader will certainly reward them greatly in order to consolidate his position and win them over.

Don’t ask them how they know this. We can only say that recording history is indeed a very useful thing, and people can learn a lot of useful experience from it.

Just like this incident, this is the conclusion they drew from history.

This was what Xia Qi did when he conquered the world, and Cheng Tang did when he conquered the world. They lavishly rewarded the surrounding princes to gain their support.

……

“The war has begun. Next we have to see what the Zhou Kingdom does.”

After a while, Ao Bing used his magical powers to look towards Zhou Guo.

All he saw was a brilliant red light, and within the red light, a giant phoenix loomed, emitting a sharp cry.

Fengming Qishan!

This was a sign that the Zhou Kingdom would rise.

The totem of the Shang Dynasty was the black bird, and the totem of the Zhou Dynasty was the red phoenix. In fact, they were both descendants of the phoenix, symbolizing that they had a common source, namely Emperor Ku, one of the Five Emperors.

The ancestors of the two countries were brothers of Emperor Yao and were both sons of Emperor Ku, who was in turn a descendant of Emperor Shaohao, the first of the Five Emperors.

The phoenix was the totem of Emperor Shaohao. Legend has it that when he was in power, he used the names of hundreds of birds to name official positions.

The phoenix is ​​the leader of all birds, and all officials have the same name as the birds. Doesn’t this mean that they rule over all birds? Emperor Shaohao thinks of himself as a phoenix.

“The Zhou Kingdom uses the phoenix as its totem, is it claiming that it is the orthodox of Shaohao? It’s a pity that the Phoenix Clan chose to bet on the Shang Dynasty instead of the Zhou Kingdom!”

Ao Bing looked towards Sanshan Pass. The commander-in-chief there was Kong Xuan, the son of Phoenix.

He was an official in Da Shang, and the attitude of the Phoenix clan was very clear: to protect Da Shang at all costs rather than cooperate with the Zhou Kingdom.

It was perfectly normal for the Phoenix Clan to make this choice. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to cooperate with the Zhou Kingdom, but that the Zhou Kingdom couldn’t give them what they wanted.

Before this, the Zhou Kingdom had already cooperated with the Chan Sect and promised all the benefits that should be given to the Chan Sect. How could there be anything else for the Phoenix Clan?
It’s not that the Phoenix Clan didn’t want to choose the Zhou Kingdom, but that they already had a better choice. The Phoenix Clan had no choice but to stand with Jiejiao and protect the Shang Dynasty.

To be honest, no one thought that the Great Merchants would lose because of Jiejiao. Therefore, the Phoenix Clan’s idea was completely correct.

There are only a few people in the Chan Sect, and how many people in the Jie Sect. If the Chan Sect fights the Jie Sect, that would be a joke. Only Duobao is needed to wipe out all the Chan Sect disciples.

In this situation, who would believe you if you told the Phoenix Clan that the Great Merchants would lose? Therefore, the Phoenix Clan’s choice was correct, because given the current situation, Ao Bing couldn’t imagine how Jiejiao would lose.

Boo!
The phoenix let out a long, sharp cry and launched an attack on the black bird, pecking off a piece of flesh from its body.

The State of Zhou also rebelled, appointing Jiang Ziya as the commander-in-chief. He set out from Xiqi and, with Lei Zhenzi as the vanguard officer, led a large army and marched towards Tongtianze in a mighty manner.

That’s right, it’s Tongtianze!
The lifeblood of the Shang Dynasty was not in Chaoge, but in Tongtianze. Why did Emperor Xin dare to carry out such drastic reforms? Of course he had something to rely on, and his greatest reliance was Tongtianze.

The water of the Tianhe River fell from the sky, passed through the thirty-six void worlds, and poured into the Tongtianze, causing this innate holy land that was about to dry up to revive again and become stronger, with a tendency to become the number one divine river in the world.

This is not bragging, it is the truth.

Tianhe is the largest river in heaven, Xianhe is the largest river in fairyland, and Tongtianze, located at the lowest reaches of them, will naturally become the largest divine river on earth with the passage of time and under their infusion.

Mastering Tongtianze is equivalent to owning countless resources. The more resources you have, the more things you can do.

In particular, Emperor Xin was digging canals around Tongtian Lake. He would build canals in any vassal state that was friendly with him and willing to cooperate with his reforms, so that the water from Tongtian Lake could flow through.

The water of Tongtian Lake is all innate spiritual water, not only containing amazing spiritual energy, but also a lot of vitality. Wherever it passes, it will be nourished by its spiritual energy, and both sides will become blessed land. The land it irrigates will also become spiritual land. And the food irrigated by it will also become spiritual things.

Drinking the water from Tongtian Lake all year round can also improve one’s cultivation, and the speed of improvement is faster than practicing hard on one’s own.

The water of Tongtian Lake has such a great effect, who wouldn’t be jealous and excited?

Emperor Xin used this river as bait to lure the princes to cooperate with his reforms. It was hard to say for the big princes, but few of the small princes and nobles could refuse.

How can we overthrow Emperor Xin without losing the support of all the princes and nobles? If we want to overthrow the Shang Dynasty, the first thing we need to do is to seize control of Tongtian Lake.

It is no exaggeration to say that the current situation is that whoever controls Tongtianze controls the world.

Therefore, if the Zhou State wanted to overthrow the Shang Dynasty and replace it, its first priority was to seize Tongtianze at all costs.

After losing Tongtianze, Emperor Xin lost the biggest card in his hand, so he had no extra benefits to win over those neutral princes.

On the other hand, after obtaining Tongtianze, the State of Zhou had enough benefits to do what Emperor Xin could not do and win over those neutral princes to join in the rebellion against Shang.

“When Dong Bohou rebelled, he only knew how to capture cities and plunder lands, but when Ji Fa rebelled, he went straight to the vital point of the Shang Dynasty. This is how a rebellion should be.”

“What’s the point of conquering more cities? As long as Tongtianze is still there, Dashan can develop new territories at any time, and even train more powerful people, and then take back the lost territories.”

“But without Tongtian Lake, what’s the use of having more cities left in Da Shang?”

“Without sufficient resource supply, these cities will not only fail to help the Shang Dynasty, but will become a burden to it, accelerating its demise.”

“What cultivators fight for is resources. Only with sufficient resources can we cultivate more powerful people, gather more luck, and seize more territory.”

Noticing Zhou Guo’s movements, Ao Bing sighed.

Zhou Guo’s behavior was what a rebellion should be like. If he didn’t take action, it would be fine. But once he took action, he went straight to the vital point. It was obvious that he had been planning for a long time and it was not a temporary uprising. He knew very well where the key to victory was.

In comparison, another rebellious prince, Duke Dongbo, seemed much more amateurish. He had no idea what he was doing and just started beating people randomly.

“All disciples of Jiejiao who have been robbed, listen up and quickly head to Tongtian Lake. There, wait for the disciples of Chanjiao and Xifangjiao to arrive and fight them to the death.”

Suddenly, Ao Bing heard the voice of Zhao Gongming. It turned out that he had returned after completing his mission and was gathering the disciples of Jiejiao who were in trouble. He was guarding Tongtianze and waiting for the disciples of the two sects to come.

This is the correct choice. The advantage of Jiejiao is that it has a large number of people!
Since having more people is an advantage, we must make use of it, gather all our strength, and fight a decisive battle with the disciples of the Western Sect.

Instead of being like in the original history, where they had the advantage of numbers but still went to die one by one.

He attempted to challenge the entire Chan sect by himself, which resulted in the good situation being ruined and the huge Jie sect being completely destroyed.

It’s good like this now. Don’t you, Zhou Kingdom, want to take over Tongtianze? Well, I, Jiejiao, will gather all our forces and wait here to see how you are going to take over Tongtianze.

Either they were forced to fight to the death with Jiejiao here, or they gave up attacking Tongtianze. However, if they did not take Tongtianze, Zhou would not be able to defeat Shang with its national strength.

At that time, as long as Emperor Xin gave up the reform and instead promoted the Shang rituals, issued a self-blame edict, and then used the resources contained in Tongtian Lake to win over the princes from all sides.

The situation would immediately reverse, and all the princes in the world would no longer oppose Shang, but would cooperate with Shang to quell the rebellion, destroy the traitors of Zhou, and then divide their interests.

“My Jie Sect has produced a master. He knows that as long as we combine our strength, even if the Western Sect and the Chan Sect join forces, they will not be able to gain any advantage and can only be included in the list with hatred.”

Ao Bing praised him, thinking that the disciple who came up with this idea was one of the few clear-headed people in Jiejiao. He knew that by threatening Tongtian Lake, he could force the Western Sect and the Chan Sect to give up their own advantages and confront Jiejiao head-on.

In this way, any conspiracy or trick will be ineffective. Who will make the list in the end depends entirely on their own abilities. It is very fair.

“Thank you, fellow Daoist, for helping me prove my Dao!”

At this time, Zhao Gongming came and returned the history book that Ao Bing had previously lent him.

After witnessing history with his own eyes, his strength indeed increased to the level of mythical Daluo.

Not only that, he also figured out the key to the magical power passed on to him by Ao Bing, successfully swallowed the twelve Dinghai Divine Pearls, and cultivated his magical powers to the realm of Daluo.

Now, if we don’t count Ao Bing, in terms of Zhao Gongming’s strength, if not the best among the three religions’ disciples, he is definitely in the top three. There are not many people who can defeat him.

Even if he met Randeng at this moment, although he was no match for him, he could still save his life.

Yes, even if he had cultivated both the mythical Daluo and the supernatural Daluo at the same time, Zhao Gongming was still no match for Ran Deng after he met him.

There was no other way. While Zhao Gongming was getting stronger, Randeng was not idle either. He practiced according to the guidance of the Taoist Ancestor and had successfully killed the evil corpse and broke into the realm of quasi-saint.

Not only that, he also swallowed the Qiankun Ruler and cultivated to the realm of the Great Divine Power. With the cultivation of a quasi-sage and the Dao Fruit of the Great Divine Power, Ran Deng’s current combat power can be said to be full.

It’s hard to say if he meets an older person, but if he meets a disciple of the three religions, even if Duobao comes, he may not be his match.

It can only be said that after years of precipitation, Ran Deng’s foundation has finally exploded. In the next long period of time, his strength will enter a period of rapid growth, far surpassing the disciples of the three religions, and then catching up with his former peers.

The accumulation of endless years is really too profound. Looking at the entire prehistoric world, I am afraid there is no second person with such a profound foundation as Randeng.

There is a reason why he becomes stronger quickly.

It’s a pity that after Ao Bing became a quasi-saint with mythological and magical powers, the realm system did not change like before, and the quasi-saint realm was also eliminated.

Obviously, the Heavenly Dao also knows the importance of things, and knows who should be touched and who should not be touched. Even if they are dissatisfied with touching the Golden Immortal, it will be useless.

But if they touch the Quasi-Saints, they can really overturn the table. If you dare to knock down my realm, I will dare to drag the heaven and earth to be buried with you.

This is the prehistoric quasi-saint, so powerful that even the Heavenly Dao dare not oppress them at will. After all, they are stained with the word “saint”, and are no longer ants. How can they be oppressed at will?

(End of this chapter)