The Spiritual Attainment of Minghe

Having noticed the angry voices of the subjects, an officer called Guan Longpang chastised Xia Jie. "An emperor should be modest, faithful and loyal. He should be frugal and value talents to secure a peaceful and stable dynasty. However, Your Majesty is wasteful and sanguinary. Your subjects are hoping for you to die earlier. Your Majesty, you have the heart of your people! Only by rectifying your mistakes than can you gain it back."

Jie cursed him with anger and sentenced him to death. Jie thought his governance would never perish, saying, "The sun in the sky is like my people. Will the sun disappear? Never!" He also convened leaders from his tribe to plan a crusade against the other tribes.

Gradually, Jie lost the support of his subjects and was left fending for himself, alone. During this time, Shang Tribe in Human Tribe began to prosper under Tang’s leadership. Jie was worried that Shang Tang would imperil his governance, so he imprisoned Shang Tang in Xiatai. Upon knowing so, Tang’s tribesmen hurriedly send a large sum of money to Jie and bribed his followers to get Tang released.

Shang Tang’s generosity and compassion won people’s trust after his returned to the tribe.

He once went out for a leisure trip and spotted a man hanging nets on trees, he mumbled to himself, "Wherever the birds fly from, the sky, the ground or in all directions, they will fly into this net." Tang told him, "You have gone too far. How could you kill them all without mercy?" You can release one side of the next and leave three others instead.

The farmer did as he was told. Tang then prayed, "Dear birds, you can go wherever you choose. Only those that do not listen to me will enter this net." Tang’s compassion towards animals spread and people praised him for his kindness and generosity which supported his governance, further expanding his influence.

At that moment, disciples of Tribe of Severity had completely abandoned Xia Dynasty. After seeing Shang Tang’s virtues, Tongtian Sect Leader ordered his disciples to come out again and assist Shang Tang. Shang Tang’s reputation grew tremendously and finally began to officially fight against Xia Dynasty under their support.

Tang revealed how ruthless and tyrannical Xia Jie was and advised Jie’s tributaries to betray him and pledged their allegiance to Shang. Those who didn’t take Tang’s advice were wipe out to imperil Jie’s governance like Ge, Wei, and Gu dynasty. Shang Tang became stronger after every battle. He was invincible after his 11 battles with other tribes, landing Xia Jie in a desolated position.

Tang relocated its capital to Hao as a stronghold to conquer Xia Dynasty. Tang also took Yi Yin’s advice to stop paying tributes to Xia Dynasty to test Xia Jie’s power. Seeing this, Jie ordered troops from nine Yi tribes to suppress Shang, which indicated that Jie was still capable of mobilizing troops.

Noticing that not everyone were upset about Jie’s governance, Tang and Yi Yin immediately confessed his mistakes and restored paying tributes to Xia Jie. Jie did forgive Shang Tang. Several years later, nine Yi tribes couldn’t stand Jie’s brutal governance and betrayed him in succession, weakening Jie’s power greatly. Seeing that the opportunity had come, Tang and Yi Yin summoned troops to fight against Xia Dynasty. Jie led troops to Mingtiao after hearing this news.

The fight ended quickly because Xia’s troops were not willing to fight for Jie and escaped successively. Xia Jie failed to stop the attack and escaped to the inner city with Shang’s troops closing behind him. Jie escaped to Nanchao with Mei Xi and his treasures in a hurry. Later, he was captured by Cheng Tang and exiled there.

In the following vassals’ meetings, Tang wanted to abdicate as a vassal while other vassals voted him to be the emperor. As a result, he took the position, established the so-called Shang Dynasty and chose Hao as the capital. Since then, the Xia Dynasty from Qi to Jie ended. It lasted for 3500 years with 13 generations and 16 emperors.

Meanwhile, Tribe of Severity enjoyed an increasing reputation in Human Tribe. People gradually forgot the Holy Land of Human Tribe and some even considered it a legend since its people hadn’t come out for several thousand years. After all, 3000 years was an attainable period of time for ordinary people and it was natural to forget the Holy Land of Human Tribe.

Since Shang Tang established Shang Dynasty with the help of Tribe of Severity, he valued Tribe of Severity greatly and set it as the national tribe. The following emperors were assisted by disciples from Tribe of Severity or were accepted as disciples of Tribe of Severity. Consequently, Tribe of Severity’s reputation in Human Tribe surged, far surpassing its former existence.

Tongtian was not narrow-minded. Although Tribe of Severity enjoyed its pinnacle in Human Tribe, he didn’t suppress other clans on purpose, especially Tribe of Humanity and Clan of Enlightenment because their Sect Leaders were his seniors. He even left some tributaries for other tribes to preach, which upset Honoured Lord of the Origin.

Laozi didn’t care about Tongtian Sect Leader’s benevolent concession, but Honoured Lord of the Origin was prideful. Internally, he was the second eldest brother of Sect Leader and publicly, he was the second senior disciple of sect leader. Consequently, Honoured Lord of the Origin was not resigned to let Tongtian have his way.

Luckily, his disciples didn’t let him down. Guang Chengzi and Dipankara Taoist both reached the Sage-to-be Realm, which made Honoured Lord of the Origin the center of attention before all Sages. Except for Minghe, he was the only Sage with two Sage-to-be disciples. How could he not be proud?

Compared with the competition in the Untainted Land, the Blood Sea was much more peaceful. For the past several thousand years, there had been no turmoil in Blood Sea. Protected by Cosmic Stars Formation, Minghe’s Clone of Blood God was cultivating silently, and Ashura tribe hid in Blood Sea absorbing Evil Blood Aura while cultivating their flesh with cosmic stars.

But one day, a crack appeared on Sacred Island and a shadowy figure walked out. Red Lotus Taoist in Closed Door Meditation woken up when he saw the figure and said, "Your Veneration, you are back so soon. I expected you to return when the God Deification Ceremony begins."

The shadowy figure was Minghe. He asked, "Hasn’t the Battle of Gods Investiture begun? I have been away for over 5000 years. I thought it would have ended, but who knew that it hasn’t even started yet."

Red Lotus Taoist replied with a smile, "This is the Untainted World, so you can’t judge it based on human history. Although emperors in Human Tribe can’t be immortals, they can cultivate the Way of Celestial Immortality or Martial Arts to prolong their lives, thus lasting a longer time. At present, Xia has ended and Shang Dynasty is in its prime with less than 10 emperors. It will take around 1000 years before the Battle of Gods Investiture."

Minghe laughed, saying, "Well, I forgot. This is the Untainted Land with a different way of how dynasties will change. But it’s better this way. I can catch up with God Deification Ceremony and I will need to make a thorough arrangement."

Red Lotus Taoist smiled as a reply, feeling Minghe’s vital force and Heaven and Earth Taoist hidden within the Humanly Flower. He said, "Your Veneration, it seems you have got a lot from this trip to The Chaos."

Minghe nodded with a satisfying smile, saying, "Of course, or it’s not worth my spending over 3000 years there. And your Red Lotus of Fire has attained Fulfillment and become a Highest Grade primordial supreme treasure. Although you haven’t made a Breakthrough in cultivation, it’s around the corner."

Ever since Minghe left, he had begun to absorb Golden Lotus of Merit with his natal Red Lotus of Fire. After he succeeded, Red Lotus of Fire got its Fulfillment and advanced to the realm of Highest Grade primordial supreme treasure. Since Red Lotus of Fire was Red Lotus Taoist’s human body, the advancement of Red Lotus of Fire would lift his cultivation as well. Unfortunately, the Principle of Karma and the Law of Killing were still at Early Stage of the Origin, but they would be making Breakthroughs very soon.

Minghe then asked Red Lotus Taoist, "I have left the Untainted Land for over 5000 years. Are there any great events? How are Liu Er, Kong Xuan, and Black Tortoise? Have there been any changes to any Sages and their tribes?"

Red Lotus Taoist laughed, "Other than the Sages fighting to seize Luck in Human Tribe, their disciples, Xuandu, Guang Chengzi, Dipankara, Abundant Treasures, and Medicine Buddha made a Breakthrough to the Sage-to-be Realm successively. Other than that there’s nothing else. As for Liu Er, Kong Xuan, Black Tortoise, they have all made Breakthroughs in their cultivation, they’re living quite well."

Minghe nodded. There were not many changes. Although some disciples from the four religions reached the Sage-to-be Realm, Liu Er and Kong Xuan were far better than them. Minghe didn’t care about these, but he noticed that Red Lotus Taoist looked strange when he mentioned Liu Er. Minghe asked curiously, "Has anything happened to Liu Er?"

Red Lotus Taoist laughed, saying, "Yeah, but it’s a good thing. He has fallen in love with Haotian’s sister, Yaoji. They are touring the Heaven and Earth now like an immortal couple from heaven. How envious!"