The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

As soon as he saw Shen Gongbao, Jiang Ziya laughed. "Hahaha... 40 years had passed, but you, my brother, still looks amazing! While I became like this." Jiang Ziya became an immortal in his late years, so he looked like an elderly. Although he could change his appearance into a young man, how could he do that after he had already got used to his face?

Shen Gongbao found that Jiang Ziya has aged a lot, but he had the air of a deity surrounding him. His cultivation of Veridical Immortal really shocked him. Shen Gongbao’s master once said to him that Jiang Ziya’s innate structure was bad, but it was even worse than he had expected. Even with the support and education of Honored Lord of the Origin, he could only reached the stage of Veridical Immortality, which meant how poor his innate quality was!

However, Shen Gongbao was not a person who would only make friends based on cultivation. Staring at the old lady standing beside Jiang Ziya, he asked, "Brother Jiang, who is this lady?" Ma-Shi was a mortal and was quite old. Shen Gongbao was curious and but he didn’t thought of her as Jiang Ziya’s wife. Since Jiang Ziya was an immortal, how could he marry a mortal woman.

Jiang Ziya answered, "This is my wife, Ma-Shi. Two years ago, I followed my master’s order to visit my sworn brother in Zhaoge City. He introduced her to me and we got married. We escaped to Xiqi City after offending King Zhou later on. We heard that you were here, so we intended to come to you for help."

Hearing this, Shen Gongbao laughed and said, "What are you talking about? We are like brothers, so what’s mine is yours.You don’t have to be that polite. Come on this way, I have prepared a meal to welcome you."

Then, Shen Gongbao pulled Jiang Ziya inside, and Ma-Shi followed with a smile on her face.

She thought that they might make a fortune this time. Because they were now under the care of Shen Gongbao, who was the national priest, so Jiang Ziya could at least get a good position.

Shen Gongbao was separated from Jiang Ziya for more than 40 years, so they naturally had a lot of things to share.

They felt nostalgic when remembering their experiences as apprentice. When Shen Gongbao heard that Jiang Ziya used to work for Zhaoge city as an officer, and then offended King Zhou and Su Daji, Shen Gongbao laughed and said, "King Zhou was profligate and devoided of principles. My brother, why did you choose to assist him?"

Jiang Ziya was a little bit embarrassed after hearing Shen Gongbao’s ridicule, and answered, "At first, I just went to Zhaoge City for my sworn brother. By accident, I joined the royal court. I planned to persuade King Zhou to be a good king, but he couldn’t listen to any suggestions. He even asked me to help him to build a gazebo which needed quite a lot of labor and money. I reprimanded him in a spike of anger, but I hadn’t expected that he wanted to kill me. Therefore, I had to escape from Zhaoge City with my wife."

Shen Gongbao understood after listening to him. Although he knew Jiang Ziya for a few days only, he knew he was the one who held the candle to the devil. Then, he asked, "Brother Jiang, since you have left King Zhou, what’s your plan for the future? If there is something that I can help, just asked."

Hearing this, Jiang Ziya started to say, "I followed my master’s order to assist a wise king. On the way from Zhaoge to Xiqi, I always heard that Bo Yikao, the first son of Marquis of the West, had a good reputation. Therefore, I came and joined his clan. Since brother Shen is the national priest, could you do me a favor to introduce me to the king?" If Shen Gongbao promised to introduce him to the King, it would save a lot of trouble.

In Investiture of the Gods, Jiang Ziya lived by Pan Stream of the shore of Wei River for several years and waited in silence.

Then, King Wen of Zhou came to invite Jiang Ziya to assist him. Indeed, if Jiang Ziya came to assist King Wen of Zhou in a sudden, he wouldn’t get a good position.

Therefore, he had to wait. But now, it was totally different. If he could get Shen Gongbao’s introduction directly, he could meet with Bo Yikao face to face. Only if he revealed his capability he could get a very important position. That way, he didn’t have to go back to Pan Stream to be a recluse.

Shen Gongbao was stunned after hearing this. He considered for a while and said, "Brother, you don’t have to hurry. You can live in my house for a few days and I will find a suitable moment to introduce you to Lord Bo Yikao. What do you think? With your talents and abilities, Lord Bo will entrust you with an important position. In due course, it will be the time to make a contribution to this nation." Hearing this, Jiang Ziya agreed and did not doubt his words. Later that night, after Jiang Ziya and Ma-Shi fell into sleep, Shen Gongbao head towards the west by the clouds.

Xiqi City was located in the east of the Untainted Land. After a short while, Shen Gongbao arrived at Square Mountain. Noticing Shen Gongbao’s back, the disciples guarding the mountain asked, "Martial uncle Shen, you have become the national priest of Xiqi. How can you find the time to come back today?"

Shen Gongbao didn’t answer his question directly, but said, "I naturally have something urgent to report to my master." He hurried up to the mountain top. The disciple was shocked. Usually, Shen Gongbao was a kind and polite person in his mind and even showed kindness to any third generation disciples like him. It seemed that he must have met something important.

Shen Gongbao kneeled down before Zhunti. "I, Shen Gongbao, am here meet my master." Zhunti surprised that Shen Gongbao was in haste, and asked, "Gongbao, why are you in such a hurry? Is there anything urgent? Come and tell me." In Zhunti’s memory, Shen Gongbao was always steady and modest. He must meet something urgent.

Shen Gongbao stood up and answered, "Master, a man came to me this afternoon, who was Jiang Ziya of Clan of Enlightenment. We first met on the way to go for apprentices. In a few days, we got along well with each other. But we went our separate ways. Today, he suddenly came to my house and wanted me to introduce him to Bo Yikao, the eldest son of Marquis of the West. I can’t make a decision, so I hope you, my master, could give me some advice."

Hearing this, Zhunti was a little stunned. Considering for a while, he smiled in a sudden. It seemed that he reminded of something delightful. He said happily, "Hahaha... Heaven helped us all. Gongbao, since you are on good terms with each other, you should help him and introduce him to Bo Yikao. In fact, you don’t have to ask me for suggestions."

Shen Gongbao was confused after hearing the words. He asked, "My master, you used to order me to assist a wise lord and Bo Yikao trusts me so much these days. Although Jiang Ziya is my good friend, I can’t make any possible damage to our Western Religious Sect’s interests. If Jiang Ziya gets a promotion, the Clan of Enlightenment will get benefits."

Zhunti nodded and was satisfied with Shen Gongbao’s loyalty to Western Religious Sect. He said, "I am happy to hear your concern about our Sect. However, although you are good at magic arts, you have no idea about how to deal with country affairs and military tactics. Jiang Ziya is good at both indeed. If you two could assist Xiqi together, you will have great achievement."

Shen Gongbao was confused after hearing Zhunti’s words. In the past, his master was always stopped by the three Sects of Human, Enlightenment, and Severity when he wanted to preach in the east. Now, Shen Gongbao tried so hard to make their Western Religious Sect trusted by Xiqi, but his master asked him to share their honor with Clan of Enlightenment. It did not seem to be his master’s behavior. However, he could not say anything but he felt confused.

Zhunti seemed to figure out Shen Gongbao’s confusion. Then, he said, "I can tell you why I make this decision. Now, the Cultivation Tribulation of Heaven and Earth is on the way, which can be called the Cultivation Tribulation of God Deification. In this tribulation, Heavenly Court will crown 365 main Gods, 2,000 Demigods and 84,000 celestial troops and generals. Except for the main Gods, the other will be filled with the ones who died during the Cultivation Tribulation."

While the 365 main Gods was responsible for the Tribe of Humanity, Clan of Enlightenment and our Western Religious Sect. The cause can date from the era of Three Royals and Five Emperors. At that time, the four Sects committed Killing Calamity when assisting the Human Sovereigns. Therefore, our disciples needed to pass tribulation in human’s dynasty. You should know that the Tribe of Severity is really powerful with millions of celestials following and has covered the whole Shang Dynasty. The Tribe of Humanity, Clan of Enlightenment and Western Religious Sect can’t even match it.

Now, although you have come to the power of Xiqi for our Western Religious Sect, we are too weak to defeat the Shang Dynasty on our own even when the time to fight the Tribe of Severity comes. At this moment, Jiang Shang (Jiang Ziya) came to you, so you can just do him a favor. Later on, if we can join hands with the Clan of Enlightenment, we will have more chance in winning. Do you understand?"