People in Conferred Gods: Rising from humble beginnings, I am the God of Wealth

The underworld.

Under the influence of the power of the earth, regardless of whether they were in the Netherworld or not, as long as they were members of the Netherworld, a figure appeared in their eyes.

The figure was imposing and majestic, dressed in a black imperial robe with scenes of the Ten Palaces of the Underworld, the River of Oblivion, and the Sea of ​​Blood, as if the robe itself was a microcosm of the entire Underworld.

The aura emanating from this figure was even more terrifying, as if this person possessed supreme authority, and in the underworld or even the netherworld, his words were equivalent to the decrees of a saint!
If he wants someone to die at midnight, he can't wait until the fourth watch!

Even though it was just a projection transmitted from the power of the earth, the beings of the Netherworld all subconsciously lowered their heads and felt reverence the moment they saw this figure.

A moment later, the beings of the Netherworld, realizing the truth, learned of this person's name and, with fervent expressions, offered their praise:

"Emperor Fengdu!"

No one was surprised by this outcome. The Underworld's current state was all thanks to Yang Xuan. If he didn't become the Emperor of Fengdu, who was qualified to be the Emperor of Fengdu? And who dared to be the Emperor of Fengdu?!

To put it bluntly, if the throne of the Fengdu Emperor were to fall into the hands of anyone else, it would merely be an empty shell.
Not only could he do nothing, but with just a word from Yang Xuan, the ghosts and gods of the underworld could drive that person out of the netherworld within a day.

If you're not going to leave, then don't leave!

This is Yang Xuan's authority in the underworld—unparalleled authority, the true uncrowned king!

Perhaps it was precisely because he was an uncrowned king that Yang Xuan only had imperial robes, but no crown.

But this image does not diminish his authority; on the contrary, it adds to his imposing presence and inspires awe.

at the same time.

In the eyes of all beings in the human and celestial realms, a blurry figure appeared. They couldn't make out the figure's appearance, but they could sense a terrifying aura.

It was as if this person represented death, or was the lord of the underworld.

At the same time, upon seeing this figure, they immediately understood and recognized the person's name—this was—

The Great Emperor of Fengdu!

The ruler of the underworld, whose position is equal to that of the Heavenly Emperor!

Ordinary beings may not know who this Ghost Emperor of Fengdu is.

However, once one's cultivation and status reach a certain level, even if one cannot clearly see the figure's appearance, one can still guess the person's identity.

Knowing that this person must be Yang Xuan means that Yang Xuan is the only being who holds both the titles of a second-rank emperor in the Heavenly Court and a first-rank emperor in the Underworld!

Heavenly Court, Lingxiao Palace.

Haotian looked down at the underworld, his eyes flashing, and sighed:
"Your Majesty is quick indeed, granting my beloved minister a pardon and title so soon. I thought I would have to wait a while longer, but I was too late..."

"Fellow Daoist, you must also hurry." The Queen Mother withdrew her gaze, her expression serious, and said in a deep voice:

"Now that the primordial world has successfully evolved into the Three Realms, the Celestial Realm is in dire need of rebuilding, with many areas still undeveloped and the ancient starry sky yet to be fully restored. This is precisely the time when human talent is needed."

The same applies to the underworld. Fellow Daoist, you must quickly elevate my beloved minister's divine rank, lest he harbor resentment, and absolutely must not allow him to reside permanently in the underworld!

"I know." Haotian nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.

Given Yang Xuan's contributions to the Heavenly Court, he was already qualified to become a First-Rank Emperor, but due to insufficient cultivation, he had not been granted the title.
Now that Yang Xuan has successfully severed his corpse and become a quasi-saint, he should be granted a pardon.

After becoming the Great Emperor, Haotian will be able to delegate more tasks to Yang Xuan.

However, due to the many affairs in the underworld in recent years, Yang Xuan has had less time to return to the Heavenly Court. After severing his corpse, he has been staying in the underworld to consolidate his cultivation and has not yet returned to the Heavenly Court.

Haotian originally planned to wait until Yang Xuan ascended to heaven before making any decisions.

But now that Haotian has seen Houtu grant Yang Xuan a pardon and make him the top official in the underworld, the First-Rank Emperor Fengdu Ghost Emperor, Haotian has changed his mind.

If Yang Xuan isn't granted a heavenly pardon soon, he might not be able to return.

Only those who have used him know how useful Yang Xuan is. Back when Yang Xuan was shared by both the Heavenly Court and the Underworld, Houtu might have even considered monopolizing him.

Now that Houtu has granted Yang Xuan the title of Ghost Emperor of Fengdu, she might try to keep Yang Xuan here.

This wasn't Haotian's malicious speculation about Houtu, but rather... because that's what he thought too.

If one could have Yang Xuan all to themselves, who would want to share him with someone else?

To prevent any accidents from happening, Haotian immediately summoned the Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden and asked her to go to the Underworld to invite Yang Xuan back to the Heavenly Court.

The Nine Heavens Mystic Maiden understood that Haotian wanted to elevate Yang Xuan's divine status, so she gladly accepted the task, turned around and left the Heavenly Court, flying towards the Underworld.

Kyushu.

Jiang Ziya lived in a thatched hut. Looking at the blurry figure in front of him, he guessed the person's identity.

Speaking of which, he should be the one most familiar with Yang Xuan among all the disciples of the Chan Sect. Yang Xuan had taken so many life-saving money from him, it would be hard for him not to be familiar with him!

But after a brief moment of reflection, he sighed again, looking dejected.

The reason he was willing to accept Yang Xuan's conditions was that Yang Xuan's demands were not too unreasonable and were within the range of barely acceptable.

Another reason was that he thought he would gain more benefits after completing the Investiture of the Gods, so this loss was nothing.

Who would have thought that, with the help of the Chan Sect, Xiqi was about to march on Chaoge and overthrow the Shang Dynasty?
First, the Jie Sect set up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, and then the momentous event of the evolution of the Three Realms occurred.

As the main battlefield for the Xuanmen's conferment of gods, the Nine Provinces is one of the places with the most concentrated primordial calamity energy, and it was also the most affected when the Three Realms evolved in the primordial world.

Under these circumstances, the human race could barely protect itself, let alone have the will to continue the war of the gods.
Ultimately, Huoyun Cave intervened, halting the war between Xiqi and Dashang, and relocating the human race of Kyushu to a safe area.

Three thousand years later, the primordial world successfully evolved into the Three Realms, and only then did the Fire Cloud Cave release its control over the human race of the Nine Provinces to continue the war between Xiqi and the Great Shang.

However, this time, when the war was restarted, the human sages of Huoyun Cave directly stated that this was an internal matter for the human race and they did not want the Jie Sect and Chan Sect to participate.

If it were at the very beginning of the Investiture of the Gods, when it involved a struggle over the Great Dao, the Primordial Heavenly Venerable and the Tongtian Sect Master would absolutely not have agreed. But now, there is no need for that.

In this great battle of the Investiture of the Gods, the disciples of the Jie Sect, including the Three Immortals of Sanxiao, Zhao Gongming, the Golden Spirit Mother, and the Golden Light Mother, who were originally destined to die,

Whether it was because of Yang Xuan or for other reasons, they were spared only to have their lives saved, and their primordial spirits were not included on the list.

This outcome confirmed the Great Dao pursued by the Tongtian Sect Leader, allowing him to elevate his cultivation. The Yuanshi Tianzun gained even more. Despite the Chan Sect's repeated setbacks against the Jie Sect's grand formation, and the fact that the two Western Saints took away four of them—Randeng, Manjushri, Samantabhadra, and Cihang—they were ultimately defeated.

However, after the successful evolution of the Three Realms in the primordial world, Yuanshi Tianzun's gains were even greater than those of Tongtian Jiaozhu.

The Primordial Celestial Venerable cultivated the Way of following the will of Heaven. The primordial world evolved into the Three Realms, taking a step closer to the Eternal True Realm. This was the best way to follow the will of Heaven, so how could his gains be small?

In addition, during the Investiture of the Gods war, the disciples of the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect suffered enough casualties, and the karma owed by the Xuanmen sect has been almost settled.

The Heavenly Court is already well-staffed, and there are probably too many Xuanmen immortals on the list now, so there is no need to continue intervening in the Investiture of the Gods.

Even if the Three Sovereigns hadn't brought it up, Yuanshi Tianzun and Tongtian Jiaozhu didn't want to fight anymore; they just hadn't figured out how to withdraw from the matter yet.

Now that the Three Sovereigns have taken the initiative to request it, they are naturally happy to see it happen, and they recall the immortals of the Jie Sect and the Chan Sect, leaving only Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya behind.

As those destined to bestow titles upon the gods, Shen Gongbao and Jiang Ziya had to wait until the great war between Xiqi and Shang ended before they could leave.

The Shang Dynasty was inherently stronger than the Western Zhou. Even though the Shang Dynasty suffered significant casualties in the previous battle, it was still stronger than the Western Zhou.
Now that the Chan and Jie sects are no longer involved, the outcome of this great battle is self-evident.

After the war resumed, Xiqi did not put up a resistance for long before being defeated head-on, proving to be no match for the Shang army.
Ultimately, after Xiqi was defeated at Lintong Pass, the Marquis of Xibo sent an envoy to Chaoge City to present a letter of surrender.

Everyone understands that without the help of the Chan Sect, Xiqi could not possibly be a match for the Shang Dynasty. Continuing the fight would only result in the Xiqi soldiers dying in vain.

Ultimately, whether it's Xiqi or Da Shang, they are all members of the human race. If there is any hope of winning, the Marquis of Xibo would never surrender.

But now, the gap between the two sides is too great, and Xiqi has no chance of winning. In that case, there is no need to deplete the strength of the human race internally.

Now that the primordial world has successfully evolved into the Three Realms, the area of ​​the Nine Provinces itself has also increased, and large tracts of unclaimed land have sprung up around the Nine Provinces.

Rather than letting Xiqi and Da Shang fight amongst themselves, it would be better to expand the territory of the human race.

The letter of surrender presented by the Marquis of Xibo indicated that Xiqi was willing to lead its army to the border despite its own criminal status, to expand the territory of the human race and occupy more land.

If it were Di Xin, also known as King Zhou, from the original timeline, he would absolutely not have agreed to the Marquis of Xibo's request.

Or rather, no matter which emperor in history it was, they would never have agreed to this.

But in this current context, Emperor Xin summoned the Grand Tutor Daji, as well as Shen Gongbao and other ministers of the Shang Dynasty to the palace.

After careful discussion and thorough consideration, they finally agreed to the matter.

Kyushu was originally very large, and many areas were still under construction and not yet fully developed.

Now that the primordial world has successfully evolved into the Three Realms, the scale of the Nine Provinces has increased considerably, with many more open spaces and even more unclaimed lands around it.

Even setting aside the expanded Kyushu, if the original Kyushu were to be managed solely by the Shang Dynasty, the decrees of Chaoge City would be difficult to be conveyed.

According to the discussions among Di Xin, Daji, and other ministers, the plan was to govern the Nine Provinces by granting fiefdoms to kings.

The Shang Dynasty would enfeoff one or more cities in the Nine Provinces as small states and entrust them to the rule of kings and nobles appointed by the Shang. The Shang would not actively interfere in the internal affairs of these small states.
However, the kings and nobles of these small states were subjects of the Shang Dynasty, and these small states were essentially vassal states of the Shang Dynasty.

While relieving the pressure on the Shang Dynasty, it can also promote the development of the human race and the development of the Nine Provinces.

Today, Kyushu has expanded further, and there are many unclaimed territories to contend for in the surrounding areas. In the future, Kyushu will be even larger.

The idea of ​​enfeoffing kings to govern became imperative.

However, this event never happened. How to manage it specifically, how to grant power to kings and nobles, and the relationship between small states and large merchants are all things that need to be determined through practice.

Choosing which location to pilot the program became a crucial issue.

The Marquis of Xibo took the initiative to submit a letter of surrender, proposing to expand the territory of the human race, which gave them an excellent opportunity.

Since Xiqi was already a criminal, using Xiqi as a pilot unit meant they didn't have too many worries.

If the details of the enfeoffment and rule of kings can be filled in regarding Xiqi, and Xiqi has made contributions in territorial expansion,
The Shang dynasty could then take the opportunity to grant land to Xiqi, allocating a piece of land to the Marquis of Xibo as Xiqi's territory.

This not only demonstrates Emperor Xin's magnanimity but also allows him to implement a policy of granting fiefdoms to kings, strengthen the Shang Dynasty's control over the Nine Provinces, and promote the development of the human race—truly a great achievement.

It was based on these considerations that Di Xin agreed to this matter.

However, it was clearly not enough for Xiqi to expand its territory by its own side alone.

After agreeing to Xiqi's surrender, Emperor Xin, along with Daji and a group of ministers from the Shang Dynasty, continued to discuss territorial expansion.

Once the relevant details were finalized, the entire business empire sprang into operation like a tightly wound machine.

The lords of various cities in the Great Shang Dynasty either led their armies to the frontier, arranged for soldiers to defend their cities, or led their armies to occupy the regions within the Nine Provinces that appeared due to the evolution of the Three Realms in the primordial era.

Compared to the major events in the Nine Provinces, the battle between the Shang Dynasty and Xiqi was insignificant.

Even if the human race truly needs a change of dynasty, it should be based on achievements in territorial expansion.

If someone can conquer another nine provinces for the human race, then let him establish a dynasty and become the common ruler of the human race. Who could say no?
In fact, even if no one knew of the Shang Dynasty's plan to establish a system of kingship, the reason why the city lords in various regions were so cooperative was...

They were thinking of expanding their territory to seek more benefits for themselves, or even establishing a country, becoming emperor, and replacing the Shang dynasty!
Therefore, the war between the Shang and Zhou dynasties was quickly forgotten and no one mentioned it again.

Even the soldiers and high-ranking officials of Xiqi seemed to have forgotten about this matter, and devoted themselves wholeheartedly to the great cause of expanding their territory.

Strictly speaking, the Shang-Zhou War, also known as the Investiture of the Gods War, was not something that Xiqi wanted to fight. Rather, it was an opportunity for the Chan Sect to have a doctrinal dispute with the Jie Sect.

Now that the Chan and Jie sects have voluntarily withdrawn, apart from those who have close ties with the Xuanmen sect, no one is paying attention to this matter.

However, the essence of the Investiture of the Gods war was for the Xuanmen (Taoist) sect to bestow titles upon gods, and it had nothing to do with the human race.
As later legends suggest, the Xuanmen (mystical sect) conferring of gods was influenced by the changes in human dynasties, with the change of dynasties being the dominant factor. This is rather illogical.

Excluding the three quasi-sages of the human race, how can the human race compare with the Chan and Jie sects?
Ultimately, the Xuanmen's conferment of gods was a matter between the Xuanmen and the Heavenly Court; it was about sending Xuanmen disciples to serve as officials in Heaven to maintain the operation of the Heavenly Court.
Whether or not humans help makes no difference.

However, due to Xiqi's defeat, the Chan Sect lost face to some extent.
If the Investiture of the Gods and the God-Slaying Whip had not been bestowed by the Primordial Heavenly Lord, the person in charge of the Investiture of the Gods would probably not have been Jiang Ziya.

"Alas, the world is unpredictable; I never imagined things would turn out this way..."

Jiang Ziya sighed, took out the Investiture of the Gods and the God-Slaying Whip from his sleeve, got up and walked out of the thatched hut. He nodded slightly to the gazes of the group of immortals from the Chan and Jie sects outside.

"The time is right, let's go."

Having said that, Jiang Ziya and the other immortals used their escape lights to fly towards Mount Tai... (End of Chapter)