Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

hold head high!

The earth roared, and a deep abyss split open in this ancient battlefield. From the abyss, a pair of enormous tiger claws stretched out, supporting huge, ferocious heads... Demons roared, and a deep, deathly aura spread, nourishing the battlefield's clamor of malevolent energy.

—Uncle Tu!

Quan Ming's eyes narrowed. This immortal, whose enmity with him was no less than that with Zhi Xian, was also ranked in the fourth level of the Dao Heaven.

Like the Xiangjun, their divine authority was limited by the size of the Chu territory.

Once the Chu Kingdom expands, they will be the most direct beneficiaries, and under the expansion of divine authority, they will immediately ascend to the fifth level of the Dao Heaven.

Oh……

Quan Ming made no attempt to conceal his gaze as he looked at the deity from Youdu.

In fact, he was not afraid of the other party when he was a wandering ghost, and dared to use his power to suppress him. Now that he is an immortal god, what is there to fear? He will not bribe the other party with the soul of a powerful person like Zhi Xian did, and make things difficult for himself!

Tu Bo noticed Quan Ming's gaze.

With a roar, as loud as a bull or python, it shook the heavens and earth.

"How dare you!"

"How dare you, a mere first-level Dao Heaven God, defy me!"

A giant hand is about to reach out from the abyss and crush Quan Ming...

Boom!

Suddenly, a water dragon from Xiangjun swept in from afar, swirling around Tubo's arm; Xiangjun stood in front of Tubo, frowning slightly, then relaxing, and advised, "Tubo, please calm down. We came here from the Daotian for the sake of the great plan of the Chu Kingdom. At this moment, the enemy's immortals and gods have not attacked us, yet we are in chaos... This is wrong, it is wrong."

Xiang Jun is known as a kind-hearted person, and at this moment she is mediating between Quan Ming and Tu Bo.

As both being from the fourth level of the Dao Heaven, Tu Bo naturally had no fear of Xiang Jun.

However, with Xiang Jun beside him was Xiang Furen, a water-elemental immortal god of the fourth level of the Dao Heaven Realm. He had to be cautious, otherwise, if the water flooded Youdu, he would not be able to have a good time either. But at this moment, he lost face in front of Quan Ming, an immortal god of the first level of the Dao Heaven Realm. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. With his reckless mind, he could only snort angrily and neither advance nor retreat, but just stared at Quan Ming.

It's as if it's saying: Come quickly and beg for forgiveness, then I'll let you off the hook.

Quan Ming laughed in exasperation, without uttering a word.

Thus, Xiangjun couldn't help but feel a headache coming on, as if she hoped that Quanming could consider the bigger picture.

Seeing this, Quan Ming composed himself and said, "The feud between Tu Bo and me is a blood feud, a feud between family and country. You should all have heard about it. Such a grudge, even if the will of the people of Chu were placed before me, I... could not let it go."

When Quan Ming was a wandering ghost, he was sacrificed as a water fairy by the King of Chu. Tu Bo tried to stop him, but it was only because of the existence of the Dao Heaven Rules that Quan Ming was able to escape.

The reason why Tu Bo took action was because Zhi Xian offered the souls of the powerful soldiers as payment.

Now that the power has been returned to Chu, Quan Ming is his ancestral deity...

This back-and-forth has made the feud irreconcilable!

All the gods and immortals know this.

Therefore, no one could say anything, but due to the authority of the local magistrate, even though the magistrate was in the wrong, he had no intention of siding with Quan Ming.

Even more so.

"Quan Xian's arrogance is too great. Tu Bo is an innate deity since the founding of our Chu state. He holds a high position and is in charge of Yin and Yang affairs for our Chu state."

"You are but a minor water spirit, how dare you be so disrespectful and rude!"

Quan Ming looked in the direction of the sound.

Then they saw a mountain spirit at the third level of the Dao Heaven realm, who was a mountain lord like the Lord of Jing Mountain.

Quan Ming smiled.

"What does my business with Tu Bo have to do with you?"

"Or is it that since the souls of your people all enter the mouth of the Earth God, you must also greet him with a smile and bow respectfully, becoming a 'polite immortal'?"

"Heh, you Chu Kingdom immortal, you've been reading too much of the *Zhou Li*!"

Uh……

Upon hearing the term "Zhou Li" (Rites of Zhou), the man choked on his words, unable to speak properly under the watchful eyes of the crowd. His face flushed red, and he dared not utter another word.

At that moment, the Zhou emperor declared: "Chu is a barbarian state!"

As a celestial being of the Chu Kingdom, how could he dare to provoke such misfortune? You must know that there are still members of his family serving as ministers in the court!

He slunk away and kept silent.

Quan Ming withdrew his gaze and looked at Tu Bo: "If you're so capable, Tu Bo, come and cause trouble in Quanshui and let's have a match."

hiss……

The surrounding immortals and gods were startled by the sound, secretly thinking that Quan Ming was actually using the matter of the branch immortal to subtly mock Tu Bo.

At the same time, the face of the Lord of Jingshan, who was among the immortals and gods, darkened.

He was killed by Quan Mingyi's long spear during the incident involving that immortal... He was a celestial being at the third level of the Dao Heaven realm!

Seeing the expression on the face of the Lord of Jing Mountain, the immortals and gods realized that Quan Ming was quite capable and probably held considerable power in the Quan River. In addition, given his status as the ancestral god of the Quan people, he must have had some hidden tricks up his sleeve. Even the Dao Heaven Third Level cultivators were defeated there...

—Also, someone who's not easy to get along with—

"Thump!"

Just as the situation was at a stalemate between Quan Ming and Tu Bo, a bell rang.

A goddess with a cool and aloof demeanor, exuding majesty, emerged from the moon and descended from the clouds.

"Welcome the Great Master of Fate!"

Upon the arrival of the Grand Master of Fate, even the Earth God lowered his head slightly...

This is because this is a deity who governs lifespan and death. Logically speaking, he can be regarded as a superior deity of Tu Bo, who guides the souls of the dead and resides in the Yin-Yang Netherworld. Even if Tu Bo can take advantage of the expansion of the Chu Kingdom to advance to the same level of Dao Tian Wu, Da Si Ming can probably also take advantage of the situation to advance to Dao Tian Liu Tian.

Or rather, the Grand Master of Fate does not get promoted.

Where did he get his position, Tubo?

As this goddess, known for her majesty, mystery, loyalty, oversight of good and evil in the human world, and power of life and death, descended, everyone in Daotian stood still and returned to their positions, no longer participating in the entanglement between Quanming and Tubo.

Xiangjun was also cautious and careful.

She gave Quan Ming a look that said "Don't cause any more trouble," and then took Madam Xiang's hand and returned to their seats.

And at this moment, the High Priestess...

"Young Master Ming, how have you been lately?"

The Grand Master of Destiny, who always prioritizes official business and treats all immortals and gods, even those of higher rank, fairly and justly, and who is good at restoring order from chaos, did not concern himself with the conflicts among the immortals and gods at this moment, but instead greeted the Junior Master of Destiny first.

The immortals and gods dared not say a word.

Just listen quietly.

Silent, seated on her lotus throne and ignoring the outside world, finally showed some reaction to the questioning of the Great Master of the Sea, but she only shook her head.

I don't know if it's good or bad.

The Grand Master of Fate frowned, about to step forward.

Shao Siming raised her hand, her calm demeanor revealing a hint of distance, and said softly, "Da Siming, you don't need to worry about me. This is the will of Heaven, how can we go against it... Rather than talking to me more, it's better to settle today's affairs as soon as possible so that I can go back to rest."

Ok……

The Grand Master of Fate nodded.

Her gaze followed to Quan Ming, her tone rebuking but not infuriating, because what she said was fair.

"Your affair with Tu Bo is Tu Bo's fault."

"The crime is to assist the immortal in harming the gods."

"Especially when he made a move during the King of Chu's sacrificial ceremony, it was a sign of contempt for royal authority."

"Therefore... I, representing the Dao Heaven, will strip away a sliver of the Earth Lord's authority. This authority will be... for the souls of those who have perished in the waters under your jurisdiction. You will guide them into the Yin and Yang realms, and the feedback they receive from the will of Chu will be under your control... This will continue for a hundred years."

"Is this sufficient?"

"Great Master of Fate!" Tu Bo's voice boomed, his eyes filled with shock and anger, as he tried to argue.

But what could he possibly argue? His actions were far too blatant, even offending the King of Chu. If it weren't for the dignity of the Earth God, the Grand Master of Fate would have already taken action…

Of course, this is also related to Quan Ming's attack on Daotian.

Fortunately, Quan Ming didn't make a scene, and Da Siming pretended not to see it, while considering a gentler form of punishment.

But now that Quan Mingming has openly brought this up, if the Grand Master of Fate doesn't take action, her reputation as an impartial inspector will likely become meaningless. This is why she appeared ahead of time. You should know that some immortals and gods at the fourth level of the Dao Realm haven't even arrived yet... she shouldn't have been the first to arrive.