Chapter 151 The God of the North

The emperors of the Song Dynasty prostrated themselves before the Heavenly God of the Jin Dynasty, receiving a promise of protection that, in hindsight, proved remarkably accurate. During the early reign of Emperor Gaozong of Song, the Southern Song Dynasty did indeed experience a resurgence, with repeated victories in the Northern Expeditions, creating an impression of great prosperity.

"What's the deal with this Northern Heavenly King? Why doesn't he protect his own country but instead dedicates himself to fulfilling Emperor Qinzong of Song's wishes?"

"Perhaps it's a method to acquire the complete inheritance of the Dynasty's Grand Dao."

Zhang Sanfeng found this amusing, while Ji Xiang explained, noting that the Song Dynasty was orthodox in many senses. Even though the Dynasty's Grand Dao had been fragmented into several parts during that period, the portion held by the Song Dynasty was likely the most significant.

During the Tang Dynasty, there was an attempt to construct a Human Dao Dharma Realm to control the Heavenly Dao. Within the Forbidden Dharma Realm, the Jianwen Emperor's shadow relayed that this endeavor failed, and no successors pursued it until the Yuan and Ming dynasties. Although they learned from past mistakes, their own proposed methods were still inadequate.

Over the course of centuries, countless precious items were lost due to war, famine, conspiracies, power struggles, and even unintentional acts. This was especially true for something as crucial as the Human Dao Dharma Realm. If discovered during times of turmoil, it would immediately become the target of various factions vying for its control and dismantling it.

Furthermore, the period after the Tang Dynasty was marked by the great chaos of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, during which the Human Dao Dharma Realm was inevitably disassembled. This was followed by the minor chaos of the Song, Liao, Jin, Western Xia, and Dali dynasties, to the extent that Yuan Dynasty historians struggled to determine which was the legitimate dynasty. While the Song Dynasty was orthodox in terms of legal principles, it also paid tribute to the Liao and Jin dynasties, creating a conundrum. Ultimately, separate histories were written for the Liao, Jin, and Song dynasties.

As the Jianwen Emperor's shadow in the Forbidden Dharma Realm stated:

"This Human Dao Dharma Realm began in the Tang, fractured in the Five Dynasties, transformed in the Song, shifted in the Jin, failed in the Yuan, and vanished in the Ming."

The current Human Dao Dharma Realm has become the Forbidden Dharma Realm, a severely curtailed version that falls short of what previous dynasties had hoped to achieve. It is merely a compromise, a fallback from the original ultimate goal.

"But wouldn't it be a better option to seize the entire inheritance by destroying the Song Dynasty and replacing it?"

Zhang Sanfeng found Ji Xiang's explanation unconvincing. He lived during the final years of that era and, while not as old as the old pig demon before him, he had at least witnessed the Song Dynasty's downfall. If the Heavenly God possessed such power to revive a dynasty, it would indicate that he could influence events in the human world, making him at least one of the four *Tianxin* (Heavenly Heart) realm cultivators who could oversee the mortal realm throughout history.

The Hai Deity spoke, "Do the two Immortals know of the Four *Tianxin*?"

After all, he was a pig demon who had survived from the Song Dynasty. Even if he was reclusive, he would naturally sense certain things upon reaching a certain level of cultivation. Moreover, although no one ascended after the Yuan Dynasty, it didn't mean that no one ascended before the Yuan Dynasty. During the Song Dynasty, the Immortals of the Inner Mountain and River frequently manifested in the mortal realm, maintaining contact.

"Of course, I know of *Tianxin*, the *Tianxin* realm... Any Zhenjun (Perfected Lord) or Tianzun (Heavenly Venerable) with such titles in Daoism are at the *Tianxin* level."

"However, before that, I have a question for the Deity. Was the Inner Mountain and River able to frequently send Immortals into the world before the Song Dynasty?" Ji Xiang asked.

The Hai Deity said, "There's no need to call me Deity, just call me Old Hai. It's not quite 'sending into the world.' Once you enter the Inner Mountain and River, you can't return to the human world. This is a major event known as 'becoming Immortal or Buddha' in various sects' texts, including various Eastern Pure Lands, Buddhist spiritual mountains, and even a divine palace of Confucianism, said to have established a Confucian Sage Dynasty."

Zhang Sanfeng found this interesting. "Old Senior..."

The Hai Deity quickly replied, "I dare not, I dare not. With the Wudang Immortal present, how dare I call myself senior? Just call me Old Hai. 'Deity' is just a title used by mountain animals, added upon achieving enlightenment according to the correspondence between the four seasons and the twelve divisions of the day. How can I address myself that way before an Immortal?"

Zhang Sanfeng laughed. "Don't worry about it. You're much older than me, so it's normal to call you Old Senior. We're just chatting. But what is this Confucian Sage Dynasty you speak of? I've lived for hundreds... I've lived for a hundred and eighty years, and I've never heard of it."

"Han."

The Hai Deity brought out the name of an ancient dynasty, the Han Dynasty.

"Han?"

Both master and disciple were puzzled. The Hai Deity explained, "I heard it from my old demon master. He seemed to be a disciple of some ancient Immortal sect, with some inherited knowledge, but he didn't teach me everything because I wasn't his true disciple."

"According to him, during the four-hundred-year Han Dynasty, it seems... at least four emperors are still alive. This is thanks to Emperor Wu of Han's..."

Ji Xiang's eyes flashed. "Han Zhang Cypress Beam! Golden Bronze Immortal Dew Plate!"

"That's right! That's the one!"

The Hai Deity confirmed, "According to my teacher, the Golden Bronze Immortal Dew Plate did indeed allow several Han emperors to live long and prosperously. It seemed to allow one person to achieve immortality every hundred years, but since the demise of the Han Dynasty, this ability seems to have been cut off with the damage to the Dew Plate."

"Of course, it's more likely that the Han Dynasty's destiny was exhausted, so there was no reason to allow the Son of Heaven to become Immortal again, especially since they no longer had an imperial capital."

"Although the existence of the Han emperors is a long time ago, they still left some traces in the world. Perhaps their means of achieving immortality was the Dew Plate, coupled with the Han Dynasty's luck? That's roughly it. These are just some of my past idle thoughts. Otherwise, it would be very easy for emperors of past dynasties to cultivate, since no one controlled more resources than them."

One person every hundred years?

Well, this is truly a Divine Han!

Ji Xiang thought to himself. So, according to this, the true end of the four-hundred-year Han Dynasty should have been when Emperor Xian of Han abdicated to Emperor Wen of Wei. But Emperor Wu of Han was not the founder of the dynasty. Assuming he was the first to achieve immortality on the Dew Plate... after all, there is a legend that Emperor Wu went to the Western Queen Mother, then two more Han emperors could appear. And the last one to achieve immortality with the help of the Dew Plate, because the Han Dynasty had already fallen and the fourth hundred years were insufficient, so the immortal may not be a Han emperor...

Which of the Three Kingdoms, or Sima's family, the master of reaping the benefits?

This thought only flashed through his mind.

The Han Dynasty had some strange secrets. For example, many Han Immortals are now resurrected, and the fragments of the Dew Plate in Prince Lu's hands can create sun essence. Dongfang Shuo, Dong Zhongshu, Kasyapa Matanga, Dharmaratna, Zhang Daoling—it's well known that there are five Heavenly Kings in the Four Heavenly Kings, and whether it was the earliest Dongfang Shuo or the latest Zhang Daoling, they were all among the first to enter the Inner Mountain and River, and without exception, despite the large time span, they were all Han people.

The Hai Deity spoke about Confucianism:

"Confucianism has its own divine kingdom, but it is very mysterious, and the descriptions in the human world's texts are not very clear, to the extent that the only term used has been replaced by Buddhist and Daoist words."

"In the past, it was called the Other Shore World, meaning the act of crossing the river. During the Han Dynasty, it was called the Illumination World. In this era, it is called the Emptiness World."

The mention of the word "Emptiness" caused Ji Xiang to perk up.

However, there are many things in the world with the word "Emptiness." The Emptiness World sounds like a counterpart to the Floating Dawn World, like a shadow...

"But regardless of which world, one name has never changed: the place where the Confucian divine kingdom is located, whether it is the Other Shore, Illumination, or Emptiness, is collectively called the Imperial Heaven."

"The *Book of Rites* says, 'The bones and flesh perish in the lower Yin and become wild earth, but the essence rises to the upper regions and becomes illumination. The fragrance is mournful; this is the essence of all things, and the manifestation of the divine.'"

"People during the Han Dynasty said, 'Heaven has five names, each used according to its appropriateness. To honor and rule it, it is called the Imperial Heaven.'"

"So, my personal guess is that the Confucian Sage Dynasty in the Inner Mountain and River is that the Han Dynasty has not ended, but why it did not continue to be passed down in the human world is unknown. The most common guess is that their mandate of heaven has come to an end. With some more thought, perhaps their individual states are not good. It is also possible that the Han emperors became Immortals and no longer thought about the affairs of the human world. After all, the Inner Mountain and River is the so-called Heavenly Realm of ancient times."

"How can people who have ascended to the Heavenly Realm still care about the affairs of the lower realm?"

Ji Xiang: "What about the *Tianxin*? Tell me how the *Tianxin* made you care."

The Hai Deity then said, "That's exactly what I'm about to say! During the transitions of dynasties, there will be a *Tianxin* from each of the three religions and one school—Confucianism, Buddhism, Daoism, and the alchemists—who will appear close to the human world to oversee the changes of each dynasty. Once a dynasty changes, the *Tianxin* will also change accordingly. They have certain purposes for overseeing each era, to monitor in order to achieve something, or to indirectly interfere with human disputes, just like those described in the ancient books..."

"Immortals, below the Perfected Lords and Heavenly Venerables, serve as their guards, running around in all directions. In those ancient divine murals, the Perfected Lords and Heavenly Venerables are always accompanied by many unnamed Immortals, aren't they?"

In this current world, the Outer Mountain and River does not have the power to maintain the forms and spirits of Immortals. The separation between the Outer and Inner Mountain and River is naturally severe. Immortals cannot descend; descending will inevitably damage their Dao and forms and spirits, and they may not be able to return, all of which comes at a great cost.

This is also true for the Immortals of the Outer Mountain and River. Zhang Sanfeng has passed several hundred years, and has already rejuvenated and been reborn several times. In the current environment, Immortals who stay in the Outer Mountain and River for a long time have to pay a heavy price to maintain their existence, otherwise they must ascend to the Inner Mountain and River.

However, Zhang Tianshi is not necessarily the same, Ji Xiang thought. Now that the Forbidden Dharma Realm has been established, although it is a severely castrated pseudo-Human Dao Dharma Realm, maintaining the existence of just one Immortal should not be a problem.

"The Heavenly God's purpose can be known from his assistance to Emperor Qinzong. He is not trying to destroy the Song Dynasty, but rather to help it. Although there are cases of fattening up before slaughtering, judging from the subsequent performance of the Song Dynasty, it was a complete miscalculation. As a *Tianxin* realm cultivator, he would not do something that would backfire."

Zhang Sanfeng pondered, "Unless this God was betting on the Song Dynasty a long time ago? I do know that the Inner Mountain and River has been manipulating various forces in the Outer Mountain and River, and each has its own supported object. There will be no sudden change of camp..."

It seemed that a great mole had been discovered. If he was not a *Tianxin*, then he was a great figure with the ability to reverse the secrets of heaven. His words mentioned God, indicating that he was related to the Imperial Heaven World of Confucianism?

"If that's the case, he is at most a descended Confucian Immortal."

Ji Xiang felt that this matter did not seem so important anymore. It seemed that Confucianism had intervened, and now the Song emperors in the netherworld were worshipping this divine master, wanting to use his shell to go public, and by the way, asking him for help?

This could also explain why Scholar Feng was furious when he asked the Heavenly King which system he belonged to. After all, he was your own family's Heavenly God, and you were still asking this and that. You deserved to fail the imperial examination.

"That's not necessarily true. I didn't really hear Emperor Qinzong say those words. I only gained spiritual intelligence during the time of Emperor Gaozong. When words from the north are passed down to the south, there will naturally be missing parts."

It was difficult to draw conclusions about the Heavenly God's secrets. Regarding the giant tomb and that strange world, Ji Xiang could only assume that some kind of Dharma Realm had appeared in the human world, causing some scenes of the past era to be recalled. At the end of this matter, they could only seal off the area of Taiping Town and ask the demons in the surrounding mountains to observe it.

Ji Xiang and Zhang Sanfeng invited the Hai Deity to cultivate in Wudang Mountain, which made the Hai Deity flattered, saying that he was just a demon, how could he enter the mountain of purity?

Ji Xiang then told him that the imperial court was currently in need of talent, and many demon kings had already surrendered and were about to be granted divine general status. They might be colleagues in the future, and they would all lend a hand when they became immortals. They just needed to work hard. The end of the universe is a career, and the end of a career is iron....

Oh, at this time, Tieling was not the end of a career. At least the Immortals there were not part of the system.

"Deity, you have never harmed anyone, and you have been cultivating in seclusion in the mountains for a long time. This is a model of noble Daoism. Why call yourself a demon?"

Zhang Sanfeng had no prejudice against this. After all, he had founded a sect in the past that was entirely composed of demons.

Ji Xiang rode the celestial horse back to the mountain, summoned the demons, and ordered them to block off the ancient town, not allowing anyone to enter or exit. If there were any abnormalities, they should quickly go to Wudang Mountain to report, and there would be benefits. After saying that, he gave them tokens for passage and immediately gave them some sweets. Waves of incense energy spread out, making the demons feel refreshed!

They were all mountain demons who had never been worshipped. Where had they seen such pure incense power? At that time, they felt comfortable all over, as if they were about to break through several realms immediately and temper their demon bones and demon blood. They were all happy and smiling, patting their chests and guaranteeing to Ji Xiang that they would immediately go to Wudang to report any problems.

"Well, if you do more things in the future, you will all be made divine generals and worshipped in temples at the foot of the mountain. You don't have to fight and look for blood food every day. If you have harmed people in the past, you should atone for your sins in the future. If not, don't have any intention of harming people in the future."

The old donkey demon immediately flattered, "What are you talking about, Immortal? There are many cultivators in Xiangyang City, and the surrounding villages are covered by them. With the Wudang Holy Land here, it would be a blessing if those cultivators didn't come to attack us. This place is also a remote area of ​​yang evil. How dare we harm people? We usually just kill each other to compete for territory. Now that the Immortal has promised us, there is no need to kill each other anymore. We will become divine generals and receive incense offerings."

Demons don't necessarily have to eat people to survive. Most of the time, it's because eating people is interesting. It's purely for fun, like a snack. But there are risks, after all, the Yuan and Ming dynasties were disconnected. The current cultivators are all Ming Dynasty cultivators, and Xiangyang is a big city, which was the focus of support in the early Ming Dynasty. Which great cultivator doesn't have some mortal relatives?

It's really not worth it to be annihilated for a moment of pleasure.

Ji Xiang also told them that if they saw any divine tablets or statues of the Heavenly King, they should also report to Wudang as soon as possible. At the same time, he supplemented some details, including the fact that Taiping Town was an ancient town of the Song Dynasty, mentioning that the ghosts in the netherworld were mostly released by Song Dynasty demons, so they should also be careful of strange ghosts appearing here.

After Ji Xiang and the others left, the demons in the mountains celebrated that they would soon have a career. So, during the discussion, they naturally mentioned the Taiping Ancient Town. At this time, they also knew that the town was left over from the Song Dynasty, but for these Ming Dynasty demons, the Song Dynasty was really a very distant dynasty, and most demons had no culture.

At this time, the old donkey demon stood up. He was considered to be a bit cultured among these mountain demons, so he told everyone some basic common sense about the Song Dynasty.

"Lord Donkey, it's clear now. It turns out that the Song Dynasty didn't really conquer the world. It can't be compared with our Taizu!"

Some demons started to boo. After all, they were about to have a career, so at this time, they definitely had to praise the Ming Taizu. But in their opinion, this didn't count as much praise. Which founding emperor in the past didn't have miraculous legends? Emperor Gaozu of Han beheaded the white snake to start the uprising, Emperor Wen of Sui had purple energy filling the court, Emperor Taizong of Tang, although not the founding emperor, conquered the country, and it was said that there were two golden dragons around the palace. As for the Song family, wearing a yellow robe is considered auspicious!

As for our Taizu?

I was originally a commoner from Huaishang, what does the world add to me!

"It is said that when Emperor Taizu of Song was born, red light and purple energy filled the room..."

"Isn't this plagiarizing Emperor Wen of Sui?"

The demons booed, but the old donkey demon coughed at this time, saying:

"Emperor Taizu of Song didn't, but Emperor Taizong did."

"It is said that during the Chenqiao Mutiny, a strange scene appeared in the sky. Another sun appeared under the sun. The sun below was Emperor Taizong. And when Emperor Taizong was born, a divine person came to hold the sun in front of him, and the red light illuminated the sky."

"The second legend of Emperor Taizong of Song is that he destroyed the dragon energy of the 'Three Capitals of the Heavenly King,' namely Chang'an, Luoyang, and Jinyang. Taizu wanted to move the capital to Chang'an and Luoyang, but Taizong persuaded him, and then he burned Jinyang with a big fire.... From then on, the world only had one capital of the Heavenly King, which is Kaifeng, the Eastern Capital..."

"Uh.... It's roughly the same as the saying that Immortal Liu Bowen cut off several dragon veins when our dynasty was founded. Let's just listen to it for the time being..."

The demons laughed, and the mountains were filled with happy air.

They didn't know that the original location of Taiping Town had returned to its bustling state. In the temple, the Heavenly Net King, wearing black clothes with gold trim and a mian guan (ceremonial cap), was sincerely worshipping this Divine Master Heavenly King.

His figure was illusory, but indeed, he could already affect the world.

"Thank you, Heavenly King Ancestor."

"For sending the opportunity to restore my Great Song."