Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

Inside the hall, Quan Ming, though concerned about the situation outside the Water Palace, did not forget to assign positions to the seven selected spirits and bestow upon them all a bit of the will of Chu. From this day forward, they would be the external subjects of the Water Palace.

Apart from the clam spirit Feng Hua and the red carp boy Hong Qiu, who have already been assigned positions.

The turtle spirit, named Aolai Nu, possessed immense strength. Her shell could withstand a thousand pounds of force, and it contained a space ten feet deep.

Quan Ming assigned her to be in charge of purchasing goods, so as not to waste her energy.

The lotus spirit siblings were not good with words, but the lotuses in their hands had the power to gather the essence of the sun and moon and suppress evil.

Quan Ming then arranged for them to brew wine.

The woman with the shadowy shadow was originally a blue fish spirit raised by Shao Siming, the goddess of new life in Chu. Affected by the calamity energy overflowing from Shao Siming, she kept giving birth, so she had to swallow the fish eggs she spat out to prevent her offspring from affecting her own fate.

Quan Ming sent her to the pavilions and towers in the back courtyard to look after the musical instruments, chess pieces, calligraphy, and paintings he used during his lifetime, and to serve him by grinding ink.

Finally, there was the catfish spirit with her family. The two little catfish that hadn't yet transformed couldn't do anything, but Quan Ming took them in because he saw that the catfish spirit had fertile soil and the skill to nurture spiritual plants, so he let her help him grow flowers... The water cave garden behind the water mansion hadn't even started construction yet, so it was perfect for her to take care of it.

That would be perfect!

"Let's all go down with Mr. and Mrs. Quan and find a secluded room to live in."

"A banquet will be held in the hall later, and you will all be seated there... Haha, I don't have many rules, just be loyal. I won't treat you as servants, but as half of my inner circle, to help me, the Immortal of Power, manage the Water Palace and the Quan Water area."

"promise!"

The seven men were startled by this, but quickly agreed.

During the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, gentlemen were fond of supporting scholars. These spirits who cultivated themselves into human form naturally yearned for human life and learned a lot about human affairs before daring to take human form.

Half a member of the inner circle?

"Hehe, Quan Xian said I'm a scholar..."

Feng Hua grinned foolishly, his face full of expectation, his hands clasped to his heart: "This Immortal Quan is the master we should serve. That python demon before was so filthy, it made me run away from home for so many years. I only rushed back when I heard that Young Master Ming had become the new Narcissus... Luckily, I made it in time!"

It seems that Feng Hua truly knew about Quan Ming's life.

The other spirits turned their gazes to him, especially the red carp boy, Hongqiu, who hurriedly grabbed Feng Hua's robe and whispered inquiries about Quan Ming's preferences and taboos as they left the main hall...

The others listened attentively and took notes.

This extravagance is quite ostentatious.

"..."

Once only Quan Nu and Quan Nan remained in the hall to serve, Quan Ming raised his hand, and a protective talisman flew out from one of the six large cauldrons on the imperial road outside the hall. This talisman was exactly the same as the one placed on the spirit sent by the Branch Immortal outside the Water Mansion... It was the one that the spirit secretly dropped after entering the Water Mansion.

"A feint to the east while attacking in the west..."

"Are you planning to use this to infiltrate my underwater palace?"

Quan Ming did not rush to destroy the talisman. Instead, he took out the Shang Ding he had obtained from the underground palace of Quan City. After recognizing its master, the cauldron was small and exquisite, no bigger than the palm of his hand. He placed the talisman inside and then threw the Shang Ding out. The Shang Ding continued to grow larger and larger, becoming a giant of ten feet, and fell into the Imperial Road, forming a triangular formation with the other six!

The Ding – a vessel for stabilizing the fortunes of the state!

The Seven Tripods were a power that only feudal lords could use in the ritual system, but the inscribed tablets were not living people, so why should they follow the rules of living people?

At this moment, if the talisman were to malfunction, it would immediately be suppressed by the Seven Cauldrons.

Quan Ming may not be as capable as Zhi Xian.

However, this Shang Ding contains a quarter of the Quan Kingdom's fortune. Even though the Quan Kingdom no longer exists, its people still remain. This power is enough to suppress him, a branch immortal at the second level of the Dao Heaven Realm.

But Quan Ming prepared more than just these for Zhi Xian.

The Seven Cauldrons' suppression was enough to make the Water Palace unshakeable; even with a broken head and bleeding, Zhi Xian could not break into the Water Palace.

They could even set a trap to kill Zhi Xian once, making him fearful!

but……

He's just a mere immortal; there's no need for him to go to so much trouble scheming. To control the immortal, all he needs to do is write a letter to the King of Chu and use the special nature of "buying a horse's bones for a thousand pieces of gold" to get the King of Chu to resolve this conflict. Whether the King of Chu promises benefits to the Wei clan behind the immortal or forcibly suppresses him, the immortal depends entirely on the Wei clan and has no choice but to comply.

Or rather...

Zhi Xian's arrogance at this moment is partly due to the fact that many members of the Wei clan are behind it.

After all, the power and water should have originally belonged to Zhixian.

Zhi Xian is a deity from the Chu region, born of the Wei clan. The shipping, fishing, and irrigation on both sides of the water are all huge profits... enough for the Wei clan to risk their lives to help Zhi Xian and let him compete!

Moreover, Wei Shi and Zhi Xian did contribute to the attack on the State of Quan under the King of Chu.

The King of Chu is not a foolish ruler; he will surely compensate the Wei family.

The fact that the Wei clan has not mentioned it yet proves that the other party has a huge appetite. The King of Chu does not know how to reward them. If he rewards them generously, how will he balance the other clans that have contributed to the attack on the state of Quan?

Quan Ming was well aware that things were at a stalemate.

Just waiting for him—

Give in!

Go and beg Xiong Tong to give Wei a generous reward out of consideration for his reputation, so that we can seize the benefits as soon as possible.

Or just tough it out!

He continued to withstand the pressure from Zhi Xian, giving Xiong Tong time to think of a solution. Based on his understanding of Xiong Tong, he believed that Xiong Tong would likely be rewarded for his merits, and that the Wei family would be richly rewarded after defeating the Zhou emperor. Otherwise, the merits and punishments would be offset after the defeat.

Of course, this was the idea of ​​Wei Shi and Xiong Tong.

Zhixian's waters are downstream of Quanshui. What Zhixian wants is to seize Quanshui. Otherwise, would he try to seize the river water controlled by Xiangjun and Xiangfuren?

Each of these three had their own agenda!

We must break them down one by one!

The key lies in Zhixian!

"On the day of the banquet, Zhi Xian will definitely take advantage of the situation to deal a heavy blow to me. She's just a bit reckless in her haste, probably because she's worried I'll give in!"

After a brief analysis, Quan Ming smiled slyly.

He's not going to back down!

I won't try to tough it out!

Of course, he wouldn't cut off these two escape routes directly. In fact, he had already laid out multiple layers of defense and counterattack. Now, he was just looking for the most advantageous option.

"It wasn't for nothing that I tolerated your wrongdoings under my jurisdiction!"

"Tree Fairy!"

"The time has come, and I, too, desire... the power of Zhishui."

Quan Ming gently tapped the rosewood table in front of his seat.

A plan has been made up!

He first wrote a letter to send to the King of Chu, but instead of mentioning the immortal Zhi Xian, he wrote that he had funded the copying of the classics of Quan State, and also mentioned that the people of Quan State used Quan Water to sacrifice to the dead... Finally, he left a message: "Warn Quan Water, and when Your Majesty returns in triumph, we will offer you fine wine!"

Give the letter to Quan Nan and tell him to deliver it to Jingmen immediately!

He is making a deal with the King of Chu.

He absorbed the "pressure" from Zhi Xian, relieving the pressure on the King of Chu and leaving room for maneuver in the matter of bestowing honors upon the Wei clan.

The conditions were to copy the classics of the Quan State and the right of the Quan people to perform water sacrifices.

And this is only the first layer.

Quan Ming's second tactic was to bring the Wei clan into the game, so that Xiong Tong could see how arrogant and ruthless these clans were in their pursuit of profit.

And there is a third layer, which is to give Zhi Xian a final push on his ambition, telling him: if he misses this opportunity, he will never have the chance to annex Quan Shui!

……

After Quan Nan left, Quan Ming took out several items from his sleeve and placed them on the table—a giant river snail filled with corpse energy, the river pearl that the clam spirit Feng Hua had just given him… and his own headless skeleton!

At the same time, his gaze fell upon the large cauldron outside the hall.

With Shang Ding present, he could consume the fortune of the Quan Kingdom at any time to exorcise the hundreds of Yin Corpses, severing the control of the Branch Immortal. He would waste tens of thousands of Chu land wills in vain, but it would be for Quan Ming to refine weapons. He could use the bloodline of the Shang Dynasty as a guide and the identity of the Shang Heavenly Ancestor God as a command to control this group of Yin Corpses.

But this is not enough.

He needs to bypass Chu Di Dao Tian, ​​kill Zhi Xian, and force Chu to hand over the management of Zhi Shui to him, instead of sending another person from the Wei clan to serve as the new Zhi Xian. Otherwise, wouldn't Quan Ming's efforts be in vain?

How much is it worth to kill a branch fairy?

"Um."

Quan Ming waved his hand, throwing everything on the table into the Shang Ding.

After hesitating for a moment...

Because he had left forty-nine strands of Daoist rhyme on the bronze mural, ten strands of Daoist rhyme in his sleeve, and twelve strands of Daoist rhyme in the river snail that stored his corpse energy, he had already used seventy-one strands of his one hundred Daoist rhymes, leaving only twenty-nine strands available.

"The King of Chu has already gone to Jingmen to conduct military exercises. Qu Xia is now ruling Chu in his place... This guy is not so easy to fool. Although this matter is full of flaws, once it is done, it will be a fait accompli. Even if Qu Xia knows the truth, he will have no way to do anything... Daoist principles are closely related to power. We cannot lose sight of the bigger picture for the sake of a small matter. It is not worth it to break ties with Qu Xia over a trivial matter. We should use the will of Chu instead."

A thousand fragments of Chu's will flew out and fell into the Shang cauldron!

The twelve strands of Taoist energy on the river snail have returned...

Inside the cauldron, the aura of corpses erupted!

Shang Ding had no choice but to use the power of the Quan Kingdom's fortune to suppress the evil spirits and perform exorcism. Under Quan Ming's guidance, everything was being fused together with the power of the Chu land's will, and was being refined into a strange object that could "use the enemy's own methods against them" as he had envisioned!

Quan Ming nodded in satisfaction.

He stood up and said to the silent woman beside him, "Let's go to the Chess Pavilion..."

"Feng Hua looks like he has lived in the human world for a while, so he must have some chess skills. Let's play a game. If we get into it, we'll be itching to play. We won't have time to relax during the banquet in two days."

"promise……"