The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

However, when Minghe saw King Zhou, who was still a ball of flesh, his expression turned strange. King Zhou’s identity was out of Minghe’s expectations. Previous unintentional acts contributed to such an unexpected gain, just as the old saying goes,"a watched flower never blooms, but an untended willow grows".

In this case, Minghe did not have to do something more to King Zhou. Nevertheless, he stretched out his hand and pointed towards that concubine just in case. A red glow quietly flew into her stomach. Afterward, Minghe said with a smile, "I hope you won’t let me down." Then, he went away.

Out of the imperial palace, Minghe did not continue to stay in Capital Yin. King Zhou played a key role in God Deification Ceremony, as his fatuity provided an opportunity for Xiqi to speed up the ruination of Shang Dynasty. However, the cause for the Battle of Gods Investiture changed a little due to Minghe’s interference. Minghe was eager to know the outcome of the battle.

Leaving Capital Yin, Minghe made his way eastwards. Several days later, he came to another city named Mo City, which was extraordinarily splendid. At this moment, it was just an ordinary city and a little more prosperous at best. However, several decades later, Emperor Xin would come to power and move the capital city there, changing its name into Zhaoge, which would be well-known at that time.

Minghe’s sole purpose coming here was to find Jiang Ziya. Though he did not find the right Jiang Ziya from the Book of Life and Death, he found the information about Song Yiren. In Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya had a sworn brother called Song Yiren who lived in Zhaoge. It would be possible to find Jiang Ziya after finding him.

Minghe went straight to the south gate after arriving Mo City, since according to Book of Life and Death, Song Yiren just lived there. Minghe made himself invisible and stealthily went into Song Yiren’s home. In the study room, Minghe saw Song Yiren. His ophryon shined, indicating great wealth. No wonder his house was so big and his business was scattered almost everywhere around Mo City.

The woman standing beside Song Yiren should be his wife. He looked worried and said with a sigh, "Dear, why is Jiang Shang so obsessed with the monasticism? There are a lot of immortals in this world, but how many of those asking for immortality eventually become immortals?"

Hearing that, Minghe smiled immediately. Jiang Ziya’s whereabouts were just as he expected. It was true that his information was covered by the Way of Heaven in Book of Life and Death. Even the information of Jiang Ziya’s brother, Song Yiren, had not mentioned anything about him. Accordingly, Jiang Shang, just as Song Yiren said, was probably the Jiang Ziya who would hold the God Deification Ceremony.

Hearing her husband’s anxiety, the woman consoled him and said, "Milord, everyone has his own ambition. Jiang Shang has been devoting himself to seeking Tao but fails all the time. Now he is about 40 years old. Even if he finds the Mountain Kunlun, the immortal there may not accept him as a disciple. Once he fails, he’ll naturally come back. By that time, you can help him find a wife so that he can have posterity."

Song Yiren sighed and said, "I just hope that he can succeed. However, the day when we meet will be uncertain. If he fails and comes back, I’ll certainly treat him well. I just wish him a safe journey to the West."

Upon hearing that, Minghe rode clouds towards the West instantly, searching for traces of Jiang Ziya. But the person Minghe really wanted to find was Shen Gongbao. Shen Gongbao was accepted into Tribe of Enlightenment together with Jiang Ziya. But Shen Gongbao switched to Tribe of Severity afterward. Moreover, he even hated and crossed Jiang Ziya in every aspect. The reason was unknown.

After several days, Minghe found Jiang Ziya taking a break in the shade. Jiang Ziya, just around thirty years old, was still strong and healthy and was not as feeble as Minghe had imagined. From him, Minghe sensed that he had practiced Martial Arts before.

Although immortals could be seen in Human Tribe occasionally, few people really cultivated themselves to become immortals due to the lack of transforming exercises and famous teachers. On the contrary, Martial Arts were different. Since the birth of Human Tribe, Martial Arts was passed down from generation to generation. Though it experienced ups and downs, it had been inherited all the time. Besides, it could make a body stronger and prolong life though it could not help people seek Tao and become immortals.

Beside Jiang Ziya sat a Taoist in a black robe and they were chatting happily. More peculiarly, the person actually had the same Auspicious Mark of Winged Tiger as Jiang Ziya. Both of them were plagued by Cultivation Tribulation so it could be seen that they were destined to go through the Cultivation Tribulation. Apparently, the person in black robe was Shen Gongbao who could have destroyed many Taoists by a sentence - "Fellow Taoist, please wait!"

Being different from Jiang Ziya, Shen Gongbao did not belong to Human Tribe. He, just a panther which shapeshifted into human shape by cultivating Tao, and had reached the cultivation of Earthly Immortals. By drawing the Power of Stars as well as Spiritual Air Heaven and Earth, he was able to equip himself with a pure vital force without any kind of killing force. No wonder he could be accepted by Tribe of Enlightenment.

Now that Jiang Ziya met Shen Gongbao, they would certainly come to Mount Kunlun to visit teachers and learn skills. Since both of them had Auspicious Mark of Winged Tiger, Honored Lord of the Origin would accept them together as his disciples without confirming the right one, though he did not like people from Demon Tribe. As Shen Gongbao was from Demon Tribe, other disciples did not like him as well. Therefore, it was reasonable for him to switch to Tribe of Severity later.

Nevertheless, it was impossible for them to become fellow brothers as they met Minghe. Standing on clouds, Minghe gazed at two of them with a smile and waved his hands slightly. Then, a gust of wind blew them into a windstorm before they could react.

Both Jiang Ziya and Shen Gongbao were blown away and disappeared. Certainly, they did not end up at the same place. Jiang Ziya was blown to the place near Mount Kunlun while Shen Gongbao landed in a place in the West. In the West laid an Ashram called Square Mountain, which belonged to Zhunti.

Owing to get involved in the Cultivation Tribulation, the West got a suitable opportunity to get into the East. However, the West was a little far, so Zhunti found a temporary Ashram near the border between the West and the East, which was exactly the place where Sun Wukong visited teachers and learned skills in later pilgrimage to the west. Three Pure Ones did not allow the west to get into the east all the time, but what they could do at this time was to tacitly approve it because the West was also involved in this Cultivation Tribulation.

Over at Mount Kunlun, Jiang Ziya became conscious. He did not know where he was. Shen Gongbao, sitting with him before, also disappeared. He tried to find Shen Gongbao but failed in the end, so he gave up and felt very depressed, only wishing that Shen Gongbao would be safe.

Jiang Ziya could only proceed in this unfamiliar place without any plan. Along the way, he met many Cultivators and he became very excited about it. Was it possible that there were immortals who taught Tao? Otherwise, there would not be so many Cultivators coming here. It was naturally a good thing for Jiang Ziya who was eager to seek Tao.

He followed the Cultivators and gained a lot of information all the way. As a result, he found that the place, Ashram of Sage Jade Pure - what he had been searching for. What’s more, he heard that the Tribe of Enlightenment was accepting disciples. He was certainly tempted after hearing the news.

This was exactly what he had been longing for. Once accepted by the Sages, he would be very likely become an immortal. Excited, hopeful and a little nervous, he headed towards Mount Kunlun in a hurry. By the time he arrived at the foot of Mount Kunlun, there was a sea of people. It was not a tiny thing when the Sages began to accept disciples, so anyone who wanted to become their disciples had arrived there as long as they got the news.

How could it be so easy to become the Sages’ disciples, especially the disciples of Honored Lord of the Origin who attached great importance to innate quality and talents? Therefore, before becoming his disciples, the person had to be able to pass the tactical formation safely. Besides, he also paid great attention to testing the person’s mindset in order to ensure the quality of his disciples.