The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

In the Crystal Palace of East Sea, Winged Rain-dragon sat in the front of the hall, while Ao Guang, the Dragon King of the East Sea, Ao Ming, the Dragon King of the South Sea, Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West Sea and Ao Shun, the Dragon King of the North Sea all stood around. Looking at Winged Rain-dragon, Ao Guang asked restlessly, "Ancestor, why did you suddenly order to leave? You were..."

Winged Rain-dragon replied, "I know what you are trying to say. But I was also thinking of our Dragon Tribe. The Sage Zhunti told me that he would like to support the Dragon Tribe and we could use Sect Leader Tongtian’s power before. I later learned that he just wanted to frame us."

Noticing the Dragon Kings of the Four Seas’ confusion, Winged Rain-dragon continued, "I heard from Liu Er that the Cultivation Tribulation of Heaven and Earth this time was a God Deification Ceremony of Heavenly Court, which was based on the Tribe of Humanity, the Clan of Enlightenment, the Tribe of Severity and the Western Religious Sect. If we, the Dragon Tribe, start a war against Blood Sea, countless tribesmen from our clan will die and become members of the Investiture of the Gods. We can’t allow this to happen."

After hearing that, Ao Guang understood that Winged Rain-dragon considered the whole situation. But he was very sad as soon as he thought of his son’s death. Feeling Ao Guang’s sadness, Winged Rain-dragon said, "Liu Er told me that Ao Bing had already been in the Investiture of the Gods. And you will meet your son in Heaven soon or later, so you don’t have to be too upset now. Now that God Deification Ceremony and Cultivation Tribulation are coming, the Dragon Tribes musn’t leave the Four Seas from today without permission."

...

In Zhaoge City, King Zhou sat on his throne in the palace, which was glorious and splendid. In front of the white jade Rank, the ministers of civil and military stood on both sides of it, while the leading position of the Grand Preceptor Wen Zhong was empty. Wen Zhong was not back from marching to the North so this position was empty all the time. It was evident that Wen Zhong possessed a high authority.

King Zhou sat on the throne and looked at all his ministers. Then, he said in a deep voice, "My dear ministers, do you have anything to say? If not, you can leave." At this moment, a person stepped out, keeling down in front of the white jade Rank. He made a bow to King Zhou and said, "Your Majesty, Shang Rong needs to report something. Tomorrow is March 15th, Goddess Nvywa’s birthday. Therefore, we want to invite you to the Nvywa Palace to light incenses and pray for goodness."

Hearing this, King Zhou’s eyes flickered and said, "Goddess Nvywa was the Holy Mother of our Human Tribe. I should go to worship so that Goddess Nvywa can bless our dynasty with endless Blessings of Heaven. Shang Rong, you should be responsible for lighting incenses." Hearing this, Shang Rong knelt and said, "I must follow the orders." And then all the ministers left.

The next day, along with the ministers, King Zhou arrived at the Nvywa Palace, which was splendid and fragrant. There was a statue of Goddess Nvywa at the center of the hall surrounded by curtains so humans could not see the appearance of Goddess Nvywa. It was surrounded by rich mist, adding a sense of mystery to it.

King Zhou held three long incenses in hands. Suddenly, a gust of wind blew into the hall when he was intending to kowtow. All the ministers raised their hands to cover their faces. Right at this moment, a golden light shot from the other side and surged into the center of King Zhou’s eyebrows. King Zhou twitched suddenly but later he returned to normal as if nothing had happened.

The curtains were blown apart, and the mist scattered. The statue of Goddess Nvywa inside was exposed. It was beautiful, colorful and lifelike. King Zhou was obsessed with it when he saw it. Then, he waved his sleeves and said, "Come on, take scholar’s four jewels to me." The attendant brought scholar’s four jewels to King Zhou immediately.

King Zhou took the writing brush, dipped in ink, and then wrote a poem on the wall of Nvywa Palace: The curtains and mantles were gorgeous. The statue of Goddess Nvywa was decorated with gold lacquer. The winding mountains were surrounded by green. Goddess Nvywa in was dancing and she was dressed beautifully. Her face was shy like a pear flower bathed in the rain and her makeup was like a peony but showed her charm. I must marry her and take her back to Changle if the enchanting Goddess Nvywa can turn into a real person.

All ministers were astonished at this after King Zhou finished writing. Shang Rong said quickly, "Your Majesty, Goddess Nvywa is a Sage and the Holy Mother of Human Tribe. This time, we come here for incenses and pray that all our people can live happy lives. Today, you write such a blasphemous poem. If the Goddess gets angry about this, it’s not a blessing to our Zhaoge. Therefore, please allow me to wash off this poem lest common people see it. It will make you lose your authority."

After hearing this, King Zhou said vigorously, "This poem is meant to praise Goddess Nvywa’s beauty. I have no intention of blasphemy and I am the most respectable man among humans. What’s more, all humans can look up at my poem and praise Goddess Nvywa’s gorgeous face. Why not me?" With a wave his sleeves, King Zhou left.

All the ministers were looking at Shang Rong after King Zhou left. Shang Rong said, "Bring some water here quickly. I need to wash off the ink on the wall lest other people should see it. You musn’t discuss what happened today or you will all be removed." Shang Rong cleaned the wall immediately. Then, he went away with all ministers after confessing to Goddess Nvywa.

A golden light flickered after they went away. The ink marks which were cleaned reappeared. A shadow appeared in the hall suddenly. He looked at the words on the wall with a smile. At this time, there was a burst of laughter from his back. "Haha, Zhunti, I haven’t imagined that you had such feeling in Fellow Taoist Goddess Nvywa."

That shadow was Zhunti, one of the Two Sages of the West. Zhunti’s face changed after he heard this. He hadn’t expected that there were other people. Actually, Zhunti had already known this person through his voice, Minghe. Zhunti turned his body with a gloomy expression on his face, and he saw Minghe standing behind him quietly looking at him with a smile.

Zhunti looked at Minghe and said, "My Fellow Taoist, Minghe, how could you have time to travel here? Did you see this profane poem written by King Zhou and then appearing again? King Zhou was too bold and even dared to violate Goddess Nvywa. It seems that Fate of Chen Tang will end at his generation."

Minghe smiled and said, "Zhunti, what I admire most is your spirit of shamelessness. Did you think that I’m a blind guy and had no idea about who did something underhand to King Zhou? Or else, did he do it by himself?" What Zhunti had done in the hall did not escape Minghe’s observation.

Zhunti’s face changed but he recovered himself quickly. He still looked calm and said, "My Fellow Taoist, you shouldn’t slander me. I came here just by chance. It’s Goddess Nvywa’s palace and it should be dealt with by her. I have something to do, so I will take my leave now."

With a twisted smile, Minghe looked at Zhunti who was ready to leave. He said, "Do you think I will let you leave so easily?" Zhunti was surprised at Minghe’s words. However, he had no time to react and Minghe punched him in his body. Zhunti was blown off immediately and became blood fog in the sky.

There was a shock between the Heaven and Earth. The bright sunny day suddenly changed into a bloody rainy day. Sadness permeated the Heaven and Earth as if the God was crying. All living beings of Untainted Land were astonished at this view because it represented that a Sage had passed away. It didn’t take many years that this kind of Mysterious Signs happened again in Untainted Land.