Chapter 459: The Last Shang King
The Heavenly Cascade was a striking sight among the Hundred-Thousand Mountains, silver-white water descending from the sky, its torrent immense, forming the magnificent scene of a thousand lakes and countless pools belonging to the Heavenly Pool Kingdom.
Chen Shi raised the Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle, standing in it with Little Duan Immortal. The shuttle transformed into a silver streak in the air, gliding up along the Heavenly Cascade.
The rift in the sky was extremely high, over eighty li above the ground; ordinary cultivators had no chance of reaching it. Even Great Ascension Realm practitioners would find it very strenuous to get there.
For the Demon-Repelling Shuttle, however, reaching it was effortless.
The Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle plunged into the water, heading toward the rift. Although the current was furious and the impact violent, the shuttle’s surface was perfectly smooth; water slid over it as if it encountered no real collision.
The shuttle threaded through the water, suddenly jolting violently as if it had entered a tremendous whirlpool. They traveled through the vortex; even though the shuttle was an immortal artifact, the vortex’s force began to make it slowly rotate.
“We can’t let it spin us around, or we’ll lose our sense of direction!”
Chen Shi hurriedly took Little Duan Immortal’s hand. The two floated in the shuttle, simply following its forward motion without being spun by it.
Little Duan Immortal tried to pull her hand free, made a tug, failed, and then let him hold it, thinking: “He says it so seriously, but it’s actually not dangerous. With my cultivation, I could just activate the shuttle and pass through.”
She did not use any power.
“His hand is broad and solid, and very warm,” she thought.
The whirlpool inside the sky rift was terrifying, twisting space and deforming the shuttle; strange grand Dao patterns appeared on the artifact’s surface, as if resisting an external force.
This immortal artifact belonged to the Thirteen Great Clans’ collection. It had originally been brought from the Divine Continent as a demon-breaking treasure, playing a major role when the Western Ox New Continent was pacified. Later, with the True King’s ennoblement and many changes of ownership, it fell into the hands of the Thirteen Great Clans.
Chen Shi couldn’t help worrying whether this treasure could withstand the vortex’s assault, but the next moment the Taiyi Demon-Repelling Shuttle shot out of the whirlpool and entered a calm stretch of water.
Ahead lay a patch of darkness.
They looked around, adjusting their eyes to the gloom, and after a moment could make out the surroundings.
They were apparently at the bottom of a great river. Enormous skulls lay in the water like fortresses, emitting a dim glow. The shuttle was currently passing through the left eye socket of one skull, stopped within its orbit.
Chen Shi urged the shuttle on and flew out through its right eye socket. Turning back, the skull’s true form came into view.
The skull’s surface bore strange patterns — the shamanic ritual markings of Great Shang. The complexity of these markings surpassed the shamanic patterns Chen Shi had seen on other ghost-clan bodies; their levels were very high.
“Like the shamanic rituals of a supreme manifestation,” Little Duan Immortal carefully identified, saying, “The skull’s owner in life should have been a water-officer deity of Great Shang. Within the water office, the ‘qi-xiang’ managed the great rivers, the ‘bing-yi’ the big waterways, and Gonggong managed floods. Great Shang had many officials for such posts; each great river would have its own qi-xiang.”
Chen Shi did not know much about Great Shang’s shamanic rites, but found it interesting and asked, “How were your gods chosen? Were they also rewarded for service to the state and then deified after death?”
Little Duan Immortal shook her head and explained, “No. Ours are inherited through bloodlines. When an elder official aged, the strongest young member in the same family would be tested and could inherit the office.”
Chen Shi puzzled, “Why not choose those who contributed to the state to be elevated as gods?”
She explained, “Great Shang had two divine lines: one was the Black Bird Celestial Court formed by ancestors, and the other was the court system. The Black Bird Celestial Court was composed of ancestor gods, the most powerful, managing the afterlife. The court was made by the living elevating people to godhood, holding mortal divine posts, managing the mortal world. The court’s officials were the divine officers; shamanic ritual markings were passed down with the bloodline from father to son, son to grandson, generation to generation. The markings are imprinted on the bloodline, so practicing becomes far more effective.”
Chen Shi said, “Like produces like: dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and mouse sons still dig holes. This world is almost despair-inducing. If power stays trapped in aristocratic houses, they shirk production and seize resources, leaving the poor with no standing — that inevitably breeds chaos. Great Shang’s defeat by Great Zhou is not undeserved.”
Little Duan Immortal wanted to argue, but after thinking it over, she admitted his point had merit.
“Great Shang always ruled this way. Shamanic ritual markings were inherited generation after generation, growing stronger with bloodline power. Your point about concentrated resources is indeed accurate.”
She murmured, “Those mortals without lineage inheritance produced many geniuses who sought power and to shake the rule of Shang’s gods. They studied the shamanic markings on the divine officers and developed various cultivation methods called spiritual practices. They called themselves Qi Refiners and pursued the immortal path, trying to cross tribulations and ascend.”
Chen Shi guided the Demon-Repelling Shuttle around the qi-xiang skull to inspect the shamanic patterns. Intrigued, he asked, “And then?”
Little Duan Immortal said, “Great Shang didn’t pay them much heed at first, but among them three of the wisest called themselves the Three Purities; they were formidable and took many disciples. Some Shang royals even became their students. Their strength grew; they surpassed Great Shang’s deities and their influence expanded. It’s said they ascended and established the Hao Tian Celestial Court. Those people later colluded with the rebels of Western Qi, rose in rebellion, and overthrew Great Shang.”
Chen Shi looked at her, puzzled, “Then why did you cultivate immortality?”
A sharp light flashed in Little Duan Immortal’s eyes. “We were defeated. The remnants were treated as criminals, expelled from the Divine Continent. We drifted in the Sea of Darkness, countless clans died; those left behind sank here. We hoped that one day we could fight back and reclaim the Divine Continent ancestral land! They cultivated immortal arts to defeat us; we could cultivate immortal arts to counterattack!”
Chen Shi smiled, “Great Zhou has been gone for who knows how many ten-thousands of years; even if you fought back, you wouldn’t find your enemies now.”
Little Duan Immortal shook her head, “Great Shang has also been gone for who knows how many ten-thousands of years.”
A melancholy sat in her heart.
The True King leading the Ming people here happened more than ten thousand years ago, but Great Shang on the new continent had already twisted and fallen for hundreds of thousands of years by then.
For hundreds of thousands of years she had sealed herself within a small world and slept, awakening rarely, as if entirely engulfed by darkness.
For hundreds of thousands of years it was like that.
Until one day, hundreds of thousands of years later, someone stepped onto the Bluestone Path and opened a strand of seal. Sunlight finally entered the darkness, casting a ray that awakened her. That was already the True King’s Era.
She watched the young man beside her; Chen Shi was diligently copying the shamanic ritual markings on the skull, utterly focused.
Little Duan Immortal thought, “The dream of retaking the Divine Continent is long dead. I only want to see my people again, and that is all.”
And all of that tied to the young man beside her.
Shamanic ritual markings contained the Dao mysteries the divine officers wielded, highly condensed Dao techniques. If one had aptitude, one could decode the markings, transform them into talismanic seals, and from them grasp extraordinary cultivation methods.
Chen Shi, experienced and well-read, recognized these patterns and decoded them into various talismanic seal forms. He discovered some parts resembled talisman diagrams from the Grand Cosmic Sacrificial Rite, and a flicker of thought crossed his mind: “The divine forms first depicted in talismanic seals might originally have been the forms of Shang-era deities, only later changing into today’s appearance.”
Chen Shi finished copying; during that time he had already deciphered two to three tenths of the markings’ secrets.
However, fully decoding these shamanic ritual markings would still require time.
The Demon-Repelling Shuttle moved on. On the riverbed were more shipwrecks, ruined and battered; hulls mostly wooden with bronze sheathing, the sheathing engraved with various grand Dao patterns: chilon dragon patterns, kui dragon patterns, cloud motifs, thunder patterns, wind patterns, water patterns.
Chen Shi copied these patterns. As they went deeper, they found more skeletons, also those of divine officers.
They found more wrecked ships; most were badly damaged, masts broken, hulls ripped open, as if having endured a fierce battle.
At that moment a huge shadow passed overhead. The two looked up to see the shuttle had somehow come under a ship.
“That ship is floating on the river surface!”
Chen Shi drove the shuttle alongside the vessel and rose to the surface, where a complete wooden warship floated.
The ship stretched over ten zhang, with row upon row of oars extending from both sides forming wing-like shapes. The stern had tail feathers for directional adjustment, and the prow bore a bronze bird head.
The bronze bird-head pattern was simple—just a few raised and recessed details—but rendered a vivid owl-like head.
“These ships are called Owl Vessels, used by the navy,” Little Duan Immortal said as she flew to the prow and tried to activate the vessel’s Dao patterns. The patterns gradually brightened and she exclaimed with delight, “This ship still works!”
Chen Shi stored away the Demon-Repelling Shuttle and landed on the prow with her. The shuttle was fast but expensive to operate and not suited for prolonged use. The Owl Vessel was an ordinary magic treasure that could be activated without great effort.
The Owl Vessel shuddered slightly, then slowly started, steering along the waterway.
The world here was dim; visibility was poor. A dense demonic energy pervaded the air, far thicker than usual, imposing a heavy pressure on Chen Shi.
With a thought, fire flared and a great sun circled behind him, hanging in the sky. Then a bright moon flew out from behind him; sun and moon circled, illuminating the surroundings.
Further off it remained dark; that oppressive force prevented his Dao Field from extending far, so the sun and moon’s light reached only about a li.
The light revealed the riverbanks; floating there were fairy mountains, small in scale, with pavilions and terraces built upon them.
But the pavilions and halls had mostly collapsed, leaving only broken walls; here and there one might see a relatively intact structure.
They looked as if they had endured brutal battles, their former splendor now ruined.
Little Duan Immortal’s expression shifted as she looked into the distance.
This place was not ordinary.
As the Owl Vessel moved forward, more floating fairy mountains and noble family palaces came into view. These mountains floated in the air and were mostly broken; the buildings on them had been destroyed by war.
Some mountain surfaces still bore dark red bloodstains, the blood appearing as if it were still flowing and had not dried.
The Owl Vessel followed the river farther, lighting the route. The fairy mountains floated silently, frozen in time, making no sound—deathly quiet.
They saw huge fragments of magic treasures stuck in mountains or wedged between two peaks.
When the sun and moon passed by these fragments, their light illuminated the profound Dao patterns engraved on them.
Some fragments were bronze, some black iron; time had left them mottled with rust.
History here was mute.
These treasure fragments are called prehistoric relics by modern people; similar treasures exist in both the underworld and the mortal world. But Chen Shi had never seen such a dense concentration of prehistoric relics before.
The long river flowed through the air. The Owl Vessel’s bird head led the way, gliding along, passing ancient ruins. Giant humanoid skeletons lay scattered in disorder; even fallen, they towered higher than the Owl Vessel.
These giant skeletons were posed as if in mid-battle, dying of exhaustion.
They moored the ship and approached the giant skeletons to examine them. The skeleton surfaces bore shamanic ritual markings, indicating their identities as Great Shang’s divine officers.
“They are the court’s divine officers,” Little Duan Immortal said in a somber voice, murmuring, “When the catastrophe occurred, why didn’t they seal their small worlds?”
Chen Shi copied the shamanic markings on those bones. Those markings contained the wisdom of the Great Shang era, likely long lost; he would copy them now and, if Shang peoples ever revived, pass them on.
Also, Chen Shi needed to transform these patterns into more talismanic seal forms to enrich his own knowledge base.
They searched along the way and found more skeletons.
At that moment, sun and moonlight dispersed the darkness and revealed a seemingly endless bronze city wall.
The wall was carved with dense Dao patterns, complex and interwoven, forming a defensive Great Wall to repel invaders!
On this unimaginable barrier there was a depiction of a black mystic bird, stretching thousands of zhang, spectacular and awe-inspiring!
Beneath the wall sat a skeleton clutching a broken sword.
Little Duan Immortal stared at that broken sword, suddenly pressed the skeleton to her chest, and tears fell like rain.
“He was my younger brother, Ziyu. He should have sealed himself too. Why did he die here?”
Her grief was overwhelming as she whispered, “When the catastrophe came, Father ordered all immortals to immediately shatter their small worlds, break the Dao Unification state, and self-seal, so as not to endanger the world…”
Chen Shi examined the skeleton and asked, “How old was your brother then? What cultivation did he have?”
Little Duan Immortal was dazed. “He was fifteen, following the immortal path, and had already formed a Primordial Spirit.”
Chen Shi said, “This skeleton is of an old man.”
He stood, scanning the surroundings, and offered his conjecture: “After you all sealed yourselves, the masters vanished overnight, leaving only people like your brother. Great Shang’s court would have been in peril; perhaps your brother led the remaining people and continued struggling to survive in that apocalypse. He built defenses here, fought until old age, and died exhausted at this spot.”
He looked toward the skeletons behind the bronze wall and said, “He was the last Shang king, leading Great Shang’s final elite; they died fighting behind this wall.”
Little Duan Immortal murmured, “Why here? What were they fighting against?”
Chen Shi shook his head. “I don’t know. But I do know why they chose this battlefield. Below is the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, Great Shang’s last citizens. They had to guard that final hope.”
He felt a deep gloom in his heart.
“Prince Ziyu thought he was protecting Great Shang’s people, not expecting them to become the ghost clan. But in any case, they survived and left a sliver of hope.”