“You are not from this world!”
This was the first thing that the War God Chi said to Fang Yuan upon seeing him.
“So what? This world has accepted me all the same! Just like how it had accepted the Five Elements Purple Phoenix!”
In fact, this world probably held the Ancient One in higher regard. After all, the world would want to invest its efforts in someone that it expected to become a future Sage!
“It is true that you are the founding ancestor of the Shang Dynasty. If it had been hundreds of years ago, the prestige of your status might have exceeded mine!”
Chi replied in a calm voice.
“Hmm?”
His attitude made Fang Yuan speechless
“You are not the real War God!”
“I am the War God, but at the same time I am not the War God!”
Chi smiled. It was incredible.
After all, Chi was the manifestation of the collective resentment of the witch race! He was the agglomeration of all the hatred in the world!
Nevertheless, Fang Yuan had understood immediately!
The real Chi had been defeated and perished during the ascendancy of the Xia Dynasty. The entity that had been summoned during the final battle of the Xia Dynasty was but a remnant of his soul, and even that had been destroyed.
The War God Chi standing before Fang Yuan right now was not the original Chi. He was a new god that had been created by the power of faith!
Although he looked similar to Chi and even possessed some of Chi’s memories and personality traits, it would be more accurate to refer to him as simply the War God.
This was the horror of god dao!
It was subtly everchanging!
The current War God Chi might possess some of the original Chi’s memories, but he was definitely not the former leader of the witch race!
“This isn’t right…”
Fang Yuan’s eyes flashed with a golden light as he steadied his gaze on the War God Chi’s body, where terrible dark red flames burned on.
“Although most of your body is condensed from the faith of humans, it still contains traces of the witch race’s resentment. These traces must be dispelled!”
Fang Yuan smirked confidently
“This is probably why you had been paying attention to me and promptly appeared when I summoned you, am I right?”
“Exactly!”
Chi nodded and the dark red flames that had previously been obscured by the golden light instantly spread all over his body, giving him the appearance of a ferocious demon. Fang Yuan thought he could hear the angry screams of the witches.
The witch race was the indigenous people of the Ancient World and saw themselves as the most important entity in the world. However, they constantly faced suppression from the dream masters and eventually had their legacy die out. This was the reason for their eternal hatred.
These were the chains that bound Chi! He had to break free from them before he could ascend to a higher plane!
“At our level, we shall dispense with the falsities …the witch race has already bowed out from the stage of history and will never rise again! However, I can ensure that the bloodline lives on!”
Fang Yuan waved his hand and a strange light appeared. Lying within it was Er’s image.
“This person has received the blood of the witches from me and is now a member of the witch race. If he manages to start a family, the blood of the witches will be passed down through the generations. What do you think about this?”
“It’s a pity that this person won’t live for long. Also, he will probably die childless!”
Fortune-telling was one of Chi’s divine abilities.
‘Of course, if I get you a virile fellow destined for a good life, where would that leave me? ‘
Fang Yuan rolled his eyes internally.
“If nothing goes wrong, heaven’s will dictates that this man must die!”
Chi looked at Fang Yuan unhappily.
“With your abilities, along with my assistance, we would definitely be able to alter the fate of a mere mortal!”
Fang Yuan smiled and spared no effort in trying to convince Chi
“Besides…can you feel it too? The descendants of this person will one day receive the heavenly mandate and establish a dynasty of their own! If his descendants managed to achieve that, wouldn’t it fulfil your wishes?”
At that point, the War God Chi’s two greatest desires were for the witch race to rule the world as well as revenge on his enemies!
Once the descendants of Er mounted the throne, it would be half the battle won for Chi.
“Going against the heavenly will would be hard! Hard! Hard!”
The War God Chi thought for a moment and sighed while shaking his head.
“Only Western Zhou stands in our way… also, don’t you recognise who the Five Elements Purple Phoenix truly is?”
The first time the Ancient One harvested the world, he rose to power by defeating the witch race. At that time, the War God Chi was still in power!
“Or… could it be that you don’t mind this person regaining his Sage status and become as powerful as the goddess Nuwa? As long as we join forces, we won’t even have to resist the heavenly will too much. All we have to do is to prevent Western Zhou from taking over the lordship of the world, and you will get the chance to take revenge!”
Fang Yuan chuckled.
“Whether we become enemies or allies depends on your decision!”
“Whoosh!”
The dark red flames on Chi’s body rose higher. “I did not dare to hope for this but it has always been my wish!”
In other words, Chi was agreeable to joining forces with Fang Yuan. In fact, he had no reason to refuse this alliance.
“Good!”
Fang Yuan was overjoyed. He knew that although Chi did not have many devotees in the Central Plains, the barbarian tribes worshipped him with a zeal. This included the Dongyi tribes!
With Chi’s involvement, the Shang Dynasty’s chances of victory would increase by 30 per cent.
“While my priest and shaman enjoy some prestige among the Dongyi tribes, there is someone that we need to kill in order to fulfil your ambitions!”
Chi spoke as though it was an ant they had to kill.
“Is it the self-declared King of Dongyi, the leader of the Jiuxiong Division?”
Fang Yuan immediately knew who Chi was talking about.
“That’s right! This person is under the protection of the goddess Nuwa and I will incur her wrath if I touch him. The clash of kings must be self-determined by these kings!”
Chi revealed something else.
“If both divine parties do not interfere in these mortal affairs…the Shang Dynasty would definitely win!”
Fang Yuan was very confident about this and he had found out another secret.
The War God Chi was Fang Yuan’s natural ally. Not only was he the only one who could ensure the propagation of pure witch blood, but he was also very interested in taking revenge on the Ancient One.
The source of enmity between the War God Chi and the goddess Nuwa lay in Nuwa’s involvement in Dongyi affairs.
Any deity would have been offended if another deity encroached on their area of influence.
Although the goddess Nuwa was extremely powerful, her intervention in Dongyi affairs was making Chi wary of her.
“Alright!”
The red fire on the War God Chi’s body was suddenly extinguished and he assumed the appearance of a heroic middle-aged man once more. With a wave of his hand, he sent a brilliant golden ray of light towards the Shang army camp.
“Prince Pan will be going through a tribulation any moment now. Whether he can overcome it will depend on what you can do!”
Chi stared hard at Fang Yuan for a moment before disappearing into thin air.
The battlefield surrounding Fang Yuan suddenly fell apart and was replaced by the silent forest from before. It was like everything that had transpired was merely an illusion.
Still, Fang Yuan was more than aware that it had all been real.
The creation of the third divine sword in the real dream world was a key indicator.
Through the mental connection that he shared with the swords of fire and water, he could see the drama taking place in the Shang camp at that very moment.
…
“Great, Gentleman Lian has done very well in crushing the front lines of the Dongyi army! Er, who led the charge, has done well too!”
The tent had become a lively place.
Prince Pan raised his wine vessel and offered a toast.
“Gentleman Lian, I will recommend a promotion for you to the King when we return!”
“Thank you, my Prince!”
Lian drained his wine vessel with a look of elation on his face.
He was already a gentleman-bureaucrat of the first class. A promotion of one grade would make him a gentleman-minister, a member of the upper nobility.
A feudal lordship was just above the rank of gentleman-minister. They no longer just owned townships and farmlands, but feudal states. “Gentleman Lian, drink up!”
The revelry in the atmosphere had reached its peak. Hei Zhong and Ge Nie stood by in a corner and watched on coldly.
Suddenly, the two swords of water and fire let out a reverberating sound and flew out of their arms. The two men were alarmed.
“Sizzle!”
The two swords of water and fire released auras that interacted with each other like Yin and Yang before they shot out of the tent.
“Bang!”
The tent had been torn apart. As the tattered pieces of cloth floated about in the air, a figure holding a sword slowly approached.
“Who intends to kill me?”
Prince Pan held his wine vessel with a steady hand and looked at the approaching man with interest.
Prince Pan had been used to becoming master over life and death and commanding thousands of soldiers. Thus, he exuded an effortless majesty.
Still, his pupils constricted when he saw who it was.
“It’s you! The Sword Sage Cao Qiu!”
“Greetings to you, my Prince!”
Cao Qiu walked into what was left of the tent slowly and brandished his ancient sword. The surrounding warriors immediately screamed and flew backwards. Their suits of armour cracked and burst open, discharging torrents of blood from their bodies.
“Crack!”
The faces of the nobles remaining in the tent had turned pale and they dropped their wine vessels to the floor.
The power of this person and his sword was enough to take down an entire army!
“Sword Sage Cao Qiu…you actually dared to barge into this camp and make an attempt on our Prince’s life?”
A courageous gentleman-bureaucrat stood up and spoke.
“Are you not afraid of the Shang Dynasty destroying your school of swordsmanship? Spare a thought for your disciples in Shangyi…”
“Swish!”
Cao Qiu barely glanced at the speaker and thrust out his sword.
The gentleman-bureaucrat shuddered as the wound on his forehead pooled with blood and fell face-down onto the floor.
“Boom!”
The whole banquet descended into chaos as the officials gazed fearfully at this demon-like figure.
“I don’t think the Dongyi tribes have anything to offer you. Do you serve someone from Western Zhou?”
Prince Pan adjusted his clothing and spoke in a calm voice.
“Well… as the saying goes, a gentleman meets his doom with nonchalance. Prince Pan, you are an extraordinary person indeed!”
Cao Qiu nodded.
“Unfortunately…do forgive me for not being able to reveal who my employer is!”
“How dare you!”
Er roared as he lifted the wine table and hurled it towards Cao Qiu.
Cao Qiu waved his sword casually and cut the table into pieces. A metallic sound rang out as Er flew backwards and his clothes split open.
“Huh?”
Cao Qiu looked at the reckless Er with surprise. Nevertheless, he strode towards Prince Pan purposefully.
“Halt!”
Hei Zhong and Ge Nie stepped forward with their swords of water and fire in hand.
“Are you two going to stop me?”
Cao Qiu glared at them and shook his head.
“If your Master was here, I would probably leave immediately. However, with the likes of you two…”
“All talk!”
Ge Nie and Hei Zhong brandished their swords of water and fire furiously.
“Swoosh!”
The swords danced about and utilised the combined strength of fire and water to form a sword array that enveloped them.
“Hmm?”
Cao Qiu’s face changed.
“The Thunder Sword!”
“Kaboom!”
The thrust of Cao Qiu’s sword carried with it the powers of the wind and thunder. There was an ear-splitting screech as these powers came into contact with the sword auras of fire and water.
In the next moment, a crisp sound rang out from the battle’s epicentre!