Supreme Golden Palace

Chapter 192 The Compass (Part 1)

Faced with Wu Wenhe's advice, Lü Shang, though the ruler, could only silently listen to his admonition.

Southern Yan, Yandu
Inside the warm chambers of the palace, bronze charcoal stoves glowed red-hot, and venison soup simmered in earthenware pots.

Ji Shi leaned back on the mat, looking at the bamboo slips in front of him, and sighed softly, "I never imagined that this Xu state with the surname Jiang would become such a thorn in my side."

"The four-nation alliance suffered a crushing defeat at the gates of Xudu. We, descendants of the Yellow Emperor, have been defeated by the descendants of the Yan Emperor. I have no face to face my ancestors!"

Upon hearing this, the members of the Ji clan, who were kneeling in the warm pavilion, became solemn.

Below the head seat, Ji Liang, an elder of the Ji clan with half-white hair and beard, slammed the jade tablet in his hand heavily onto the bamboo mat, the green jade ornaments on his body making a cold sound.

"Who would have thought that Xu Boshang would have such martial prowess? Your Majesty, Xu Boshang's power today is far beyond what he was once, a mere prince who only held onto the capital of Xudu."

"I have heard that the State of Xu is building the Golden Terrace and recruiting many craftsmen to forge weapons and repair armor. This is clearly preparation for the next great battle. Once their weapons and armor are completed, the soldiers of Xu will be armed with fine blades and drive sturdy chariots, their forces pointing eastward. I fear they will launch a counterattack against my Southern Yan."

"Golden Terrace,"

Enraged, Nan Yan Bo Ji Shi swept the bamboo slips off the table and snorted, "This boy has great ambitions; we must not stand idly by and watch him grow stronger."

He stared at the scattered bamboo slips on the ground, the heat from the bronze charcoal stove making his cheeks flushed, and said, "I have already sent people to visit the three kingdoms of E, Qi, and Yin again. Xu Boshang has dampened the morale of our allied forces. How could these three kingdoms be willing to accept this?"

"I will once again wage war. This time, I will not rest until the Xu Kingdom is destroyed."

In the two months following the Battle of Xudu, Ji Shi repeatedly sent envoys to contact the states with the surname Ji.

This time, Ji Shi intends to unleash the full might of the Ji clan's military might and crush the Xu state with absolute power.

Of the two hundred vassal states in Henan, fifty-nine were of the Ji surname. The combined strength of these fifty-nine states was a force that even most major powers could hardly match.

However, with fifty-nine states, each with its own agenda, it was generally difficult to unite them. Ji Shi had to offer some benefits to persuade these states to send troops.

Facing the assembled nobles, Ji Shi proclaimed in a loud voice, "Only when the Yellow Emperor fought the Yan Emperor at Banquan could he be said to have been ordained by Heaven."

"Now, the Xu state, a descendant of Emperor Yan, has destroyed Tongqiu, a state of the Ji clan and also a descendant of Emperor Huang, right under our noses."

"This is intolerable! If we do not conquer the State of Xu, how can we appease the spirits of our ancestors in heaven?"

"How can we silence the gossip of the world? My Ji clan are direct descendants of the Yellow Emperor. If we lack even this much courage, who among the feudal lords will still respect us as 'descendants of the Yellow Emperor' in the future?"

At this moment, Ji Shi's plan to unite the people to attack Xu has escalated into a struggle for the orthodox lineage of the two emperors, Yan and Huang.

With this banner in place, none of the fifty-nine Ji-surname feudal lords in Henan could remain uninvolved.

After all, the reason why these feudal lords were able to sit on the throne and enjoy the benefits of the state was because their ancestors had virtuous deeds.

This virtue refers to the Yellow Emperor, Di Hongshi!

At this moment, a middle-aged general wearing soft armor at the end of the table hesitated for a moment before speaking: "Your Majesty, please forgive me. I have another concern. Xu Boshang is extremely powerful, almost like a god in the world. I'm afraid our generals cannot defeat him."

Upon hearing this, the entire assembly of nobles fell silent. Ji Shi's fingers, which were pressed against the mat, suddenly tightened, and the veins at the corners of his eyes twitched slightly. He said, "Ji Wu, are you saying that among the fifty-nine states of the Ji clan, there is not a single person who can rival Lü Shang?"

Ji Wu, whose name means "martial arts," was known for her bravery and martial prowess in the Southern Yan Kingdom.

"Your Majesty, Xu Boshang's martial prowess is beyond human capability. In a battle between two armies, we would need a divine intervention to have any chance of victory."

Ji Wu paused for a moment and said, "During the Battle of Xuchang, I led my personal guards to cover the rear and personally witnessed Lü Shang wielding two iron rods, charging into the enemy lines as if they were empty. Our vanguard general Ji Xiong met him with a long spear, but Lü Shang smashed the spearhead off with one blow, and Lü Shang and his horse were swept into mincemeat."

“What’s even more terrifying is that this boy’s strength seems inexhaustible. His body is indestructible and his bones are incredibly strong. I personally witnessed three hundred chariots arrayed in formation being blown away by his double clubs, resulting in the destruction of the chariots and the deaths of the riders. This Xu Boshang has the spirit of Xing Tian!” Ji Liang, sitting below the head seat, stroked his half-white beard and tapped his jade tablet lightly on his knee, saying, “What Ji Wu said is true. This Lü Shang is indeed not easy to deal with. Divine beings are not so easy to invite.”

At the level of a god, they are the true pinnacle of existence in the Nine Provinces of the mortal realm. When the emperor and the Four Sacred Mountains do not appear, these gods are nearly invincible and can be compared to dukes and marquises.

If Southern Yan wanted to invite a divine being to help them, it wasn't that they couldn't, but the cost would be too high. Even with Southern Yan's national strength, it would be a devastating blow.

Ji Liang lowered her head and thought for a moment, then said, "Does Your Majesty still remember the 'Compass' that my Southern Yan has secretly kept?"

"Compass?"

Ji Shi paused for a moment, then looked up sharply, her eyes reflecting the firelight, and said softly, "Is it the compass chariot enshrined in front of the ancestral temple?"

Ji Liang replied, "It is indeed that compass."

The compass chariot, also known as the south-pointing chariot, was created by the Yellow Emperor, Di Hongshi.

In ancient times, the Yellow Emperor Di Hongshi and the Jiuli clan Chiyou fought a decisive battle at Zhuolu. Chiyou created a great fog that covered the area for three days, confusing the soldiers. The Yellow Emperor then ordered Feng Hou to make a south-pointing chariot to distinguish the four directions. This is the origin of the south-pointing chariot.

Ji Shi pressed on, "Can this chariot subdue Lü Shang?"

Ji Liang pondered for a moment before saying, "Your Majesty, this compass chariot was passed down from our ancestors. Although it is not the one that defeated Chi You at Zhuolu, it was also made by Feng Hou and possesses great supernatural powers. It is not a thing of the mortal world."

"If even this compass cannot defeat Lü Shang, then even if we ask a god for help, it will be difficult to succeed."

The ancestor of the Southern Yan was the Yellow Emperor. It was because the Southern Yan were descendants of the Yellow Emperor that they were able to inherit the compass cart made by Feng Hou.

As an ancient deity, Feng Hou's compass chariot, though not as powerful as the first compass chariot in the world, was still far superior to ordinary divine objects.

It should be known that the first compass chariot was made by gathering the essence of heaven and earth and absorbing the brilliance of the sun and moon.

Its wheels resemble the Tai Chi symbol, embodying the balance of Yin and Yang; its axle resembles the Big Dipper, rotating throughout the heavens. Inside the vehicle lies the mechanism of the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, while the exterior is adorned with the emblems of the Twenty-Eight Mansions. Even in the face of fierce winds and torrential rains, or when mountains crumble and the earth splits, it moves as if walking on flat ground.

The compass chariot of Nan Yan, though lacking the fortune of that compass, is still a rare and divine object.

"Convey my decree?"

Ji Shi rose and said, "Three days from now, I will hold a grand ceremony to worship Heaven in front of the ancestral temple and launch the compass chariot!"

"promise,"

The nobles of Nan Yan had different expressions, but finally they responded with a resounding roar.

As the nobles in the warm pavilion gradually withdrew, sparks from the bronze charcoal stove splashed onto the animal-patterned pottery tripod, and the aroma of venison soup mixed with the lingering fragrance of agarwood permeated the empty hall.

"Sinan,"

Ji Shi sat in the warm pavilion and sighed softly.

"Hopefully, the compass can truly suppress that brat surnamed Jiang,"

He had personally witnessed Lü Shang's formidable power. In the Battle of Xuchang, the four-nation allied forces, with their eight thousand armored soldiers, were routed. He was somewhat afraid of Lü Shang.

Ji Wu said that Lü Shang had the spirit of Xing Tian. Although Ji Shi was unwilling to admit it, he knew that Lü Shang's fierce momentum that day did indeed have some of the demeanor of an ancient war god.

(End of this chapter)