CHAPTER 445: CHAPTER 387 DONGHUA REIGNS SUPREME, LUOTIAN GREAT JIAO

The Story World.

It is currently the twenty-eighth year of King Mu of Zhou’s reign.

Now that Yangzhou has been completely conquered, a new cauldron has been opened in Haojing.

The City of Haojing.

After twenty years of effort by Song Lin, the city is no longer small; it is even more magnificent than the Forbidden City of later generations.

Within the ancestral forbidden grounds.

Song Lin gazed at the newly opened Sixth Cauldron—Yangzhou Cauldron. From its mouth billowed a pale mist imbued with a vast, overwhelming icy power.

The Sixth Level of the Qiankun Treasure—Ten Thousand Years of Frost and Snow.

This was an extremely cold force.

As he stared at this energy, Song Lin fell into deep thought.

Not far away, Ju Mang was absorbing the power of the Fourth Cauldron, while Zhu Rong absorbed the power of the Fifth Cauldron.

The primordial energy of the Nine Tripods was not finite; it continuously emanated energy.

As long as the Nine States were under control, the Nine Tripods would inevitably open, and the opened tripods would inevitably release essence energy.

However, they lacked the Emperor’s Qi and could not cultivate the Qiankun Treasure. Therefore, they could only absorb the energy of one cauldron each.

Song Lin was contemplating what techniques to develop using this essence energy.

The Frost Snow Essence not only possessed the malleability of water but also the hardness of metal and the attribute of extreme cold. It was a rather powerful energy.

If Song Lin were to use this energy, he had two options: one was to create his own unique techniques, and the other was to learn from the techniques of predecessors.

There were two techniques from predecessors: one was King Wu’s Ice Soul Divine Light, and the other was Zhou Gong’s Frost Snow Ice Sealing Divine Ability.

Both were formidable spells, especially King Wu’s technique, which stood out as the strongest.

Song Lin pondered for a long time.

Eventually, he thought of the Eight Horses.

The Eight Horses each possessed divine powers. However, if he left this world, there was a high probability that he wouldn’t be able to take them with him, as he also needed to take the Nine Tripods.

If he could transform the Eight Horses into techniques, taking them out would become much easier.

With this thought, Song Lin made his decision—to focus on the Eight Horses!

Swoosh!

The Emperor’s sigil on his forehead glimmered briefly, and golden light filled the secret chamber. Suddenly, the Sun Jade Carriage materialized out of thin air.

Eight majestic horses, each with unique expressions, pulled the radiant jade-like glowing carriage.

Since the arrival of the Eight Horses, the historical task of the Black Water Xuan Snake had been completed and it had been exiled by Song Lin to the Yellow River for cultivation.

Song Lin scrutinized the Eight Horses for a long time, sensing their inherent traits with his mind.

Given his prior experience creating the Emperor’s Four Treasures, refining the Eight Horses entirely within the Sun Jade Carriage would not be an insignificant challenge.

Each of the Eight Horses was at the Core Formation stage, and combined with the existing four dragons of the Four Treasures, there were a total of four Purple Mansion and eight Core Formation entities in play.

The strength of the Eight Horses did not lie in their cultivation levels but in their functionality.

Treading the ground without leaving a print; moving faster than birds in flight; traveling ten thousand miles overnight... galloping atop clouds, some with fleshly wings.

Their various unique abilities were sufficient to handle numerous scenarios.

Not to mention their exceptional speed for traveling—no matter how vast his territory grew in the future, he could arrive instantly. This would prevent the embarrassing situations of the past, where disciples were nearly killed while he arrived too late.

Moving his thoughts, Song Lin began absorbing the icy Qi, refining it within himself.

Before he knew it, he seemed to have become an ice sculpture.

Crack!

On this day, the ice around his body shattered, revealing Song Lin’s true visage.

With a single breath, the Eight Horses froze in an instant.

Song Lin stood up, golden mana surged wildly, forming an array of runes that sealed the acupoints of the Eight Horses, ensuring not a shred of primordial energy leaked out.

He then cast them into the Lord’s Eight Trigrams Furnace for refinement.

The Lord’s Eight Trigrams Furnace, an innate spiritual treasure, not only refined all things but could also reconstruct heaven and earth.

Before going into seclusion, Song Lin summoned Jun Ya, Lvu Gong, and Zao Fu.

"The south has been pacified for now, but the threat from the Ghost Country in Jizhou remains. I expect you to march north and completely annihilate the Ghost Country, incorporating those who pledge allegiance to the Emperor into the realm of Zhuxia," he commanded.

"If you encounter formidable enemies, you may invoke the descent of the Wood Emperor and the Fire Emperor through ritual sacrifices."

"As you command!"

The twenty-ninth year of King Mu of Zhou’s reign.

The Emperor’s Four Direction Army expanded. One division numbered three thousand soldiers, and one army comprised five divisions.

There were eight armies in each of the east, west, south, and north, totaling thirty-two armies and 480,000 soldiers.

This was the maximum standing army that current national resources could support—a fully professional elite force provided for by Zongzhou and the various vassal states.

They were the divine soldiers who patrolled and safeguarded the four directions, under the Emperor’s banner—governed by "benevolence" and solidified by "name and tools."

Thus, the Emperor ruled over Zhuxia.

The Great Zhou’s territory expanded to unprecedented heights, earning Song Lin the title of "Emperor."

At the end of the twenty-ninth year, Song Lin officially declared himself Emperor, initiating the first era name in history—Yuan Shi.

Its meaning: "The Beginning of a New Epoch."

In the first year of Yuan Shi, the Four Direction Army advanced northward, breaking through a thousand miles a day, crushing all opposition.

In the second year of Yuan Shi.

The Zhou army’s Four Direction Forces consecutively vanquished tribes such as Tu Fang, Lvu Fang, Ku Fang, Long Fang, Ma Fang, and Yu Fang, slaughtering countless enemies and accepting numerous tribal surrenders. These tribes were declared vassals, bound to abide by the Zhou Rites.

They subdued by force; they persuaded by reason.

In the third year of Yuan Shi.

The grand army reached the capital of the Ghost Country—Ghost Marquis City.

The Ghost Country lived up to its name.

The skies were filled with ghost soldiers and yin spirits. The Ghost King was a towering figure, a thousand zhang tall, with a single eye and six hundred arms.

The battle between the two sides lasted three days and three nights. Only when Lvu Gong broke through in the midst of battle was the Ghost Marquis captured.

This was followed by the Northern God Yuqiang—a legendary sea god, wind god, and plague deity.

During Song Lin’s seclusion, Zhu Rong and Ju Mang worked together to subdue him.

Song Lin looked at this figure with a human head and bird’s body, standing atop a twin-headed dragon, and suddenly laughed:

"Congratulations on joining Zhuxia! Your ancestor was the Yellow Emperor. You are, in fact, one of Zhuxia’s own. Today, I confer upon you the title of Water Emperor!"

"Thank you, Emperor!"

With that, the north was pacified, and Jizhou was annexed.

Now only Yong State and Liang State remained to complete the unification of the realm.

The Seventh Cauldron opened.

The Seventh Layer of the Qiankun Treasure—Mysterious Immortal Wind.

It turned out to contain the energy of wind!

However, the energy of wind was also acceptable.

Following Yuqiang’s instructions, Song Lin ventured to the Nine Heavens Wind Eye to comprehend the Xuanming Wind Emperor Technique.

He then entered another period of seclusion to develop his third divine skill and refine the Eight Horses.

The Zhou Dynasty’s troops were fully concentrated in the west, preparing for the decisive final battle.

This battle would determine the ultimate resolution of karmic connections.

...

The Real World.

With the addition of seventy-two avatars of Song Lin, the reconstruction progressed much faster than expected.

All the forest mansions and palaces were completed.

In the Donghua Forest, the immortals gathered en masse.

The Heavenly Law Platform was shrouded in curling incense smoke, reaching directly toward the sun and moon. Talisman banners reflected the heavens.

Song Lin stood atop the altar, with the reorganized upper echelon positioned behind him.

Their arrangement of positions reflected a meticulous hierarchy.

Song Lin stood in the first row, representing his position as the Palace Master of Taiyi Golden Flower Palace.

The second row consisted of the Inner Historian Shi Yinhua, the Liqi Mansion Master Zhengxin, the Blessed Land Mansion Earth Evil, the Black Prison Prefecture Heavenly Slaughter, the Yun River Prefecture Yuanbo, and the Plum Blossom Mountain Grandmaster Mei Hua.

The third row comprised the Left and Right Immortal Officials of Taiyi Golden Flower Palace, Xiangling, the Donghua Taoist Lord Wang Ziye, the Heavenly Sword (formerly Qingyun) Taoist Lord Yan Jiuge, the Yin Talisman (formerly Five Qi Qimen) Taoist Lord Guu Ling, the Cultivation Taoist Lord Guu Yuchan, the Tianling Jungle’s Lu Mingyang, and various Department Directors.

Among them, Lu Mingyang was relatively inconspicuous and usually had little say. However, after the reorganization, Tianling Jungle was also allocated a share of the magic veins.

The third row consisted of the temple masters of various observatories.

Though the Taiyi Golden Flower Palace was officially announced as a temporary department for coordination purposes, everyone understood it was essentially the infrastructure of the Taoist School.

Song Lin’s ambition was to become the Heavenly Master, and he naturally prepared for this foundation ahead of time.

The ceremony lasted three days and three nights, during which Song Lin reappointed positions and bestowed titles.

Everyone knelt in reverence, their faces brimming with excitement.

"Greetings to the Palace Master!"

Upon the conclusion of this grand ceremony, the Donghua Alliance entered a new Chapter.

It evolved from a loose coalition to the embryonic form of a Taoist sect, centered on Song Lin, the Palace Master of Taiyi Golden Flower Palace.

However, this was merely a prelude.

Song Lin then explained the purpose of this grand assembly.

The conquest of the Eight Sceneries World.

He relayed the contents and context of the Eight Sceneries World to the group.

Naturally, as there were many attendees, he did not delve into specifics, focusing instead on the overall significance. The remaining details would be discussed with the upper echelon to formulate a plan.

"This sacrificial ceremony concerns everyone and the survival of the Donghua Alliance. All cultivators must participate."

"The timeline is set for ten years—before the succession dispute. This event is hereby named: Luotian Great Jiao. ’Luotian’ signifies encompassing all realms and beings."

"Positions for the sacrificial ceremony are as follows: one Grandmaster Mage, held by myself; nine High Priests presiding over nine altars, filled by the Four Great Mansion Masters and the Five Forest Masters."

"During this ten-year sacrificial period, I will oversee all aspects of the Eight Sceneries Sacrifice. The remaining High Priests will each take charge of specific altars, designated as follows: Demon Extermination, Water, Fire, Blessings, Evil Exorcism, Liqi, Divine Reverence, and Filth Purification..."

"I hereby declare that for the next ten years, all matters, be they in the mortal world or the cultivation world, shall revolve around this undertaking! Failure is not an option—heed this decree as if divinely mandated!"

...

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