Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

Becoming the ancestral god of the Wu clan of the Song Kingdom was merely an interlude for Quan Ming at this time, and of little use. However, the divine position bestowed upon him by the Dao Heaven of the Song Kingdom brought him the "lingering charm of the Shang people," completing the Quan Ren Dao Heaven and granting him the "right to perform sacrifices by Heaven's mandate."

In response, aside from previously exposing the ghost soldiers and heroic spirits, he now has another powerful hidden weapon.

With this authority, even if Yongjun led an army of 50,000 to conquer him, he was confident he could resist as long as the Heavenly Mandate sacrifice was performed properly.

This is an army of 50,000.

Just like the State of Hequan, a medium-sized vassal state might not even have 50,000 people. If it wanted to have an army of 50,000, probably only a large country like the State of Yong with hundreds of thousands of people could send out 50,000 troops.

Quan Ming was slightly dazed...

Perhaps this is the way of destiny: one rises to power at an unknown time and possesses what was once hard to obtain.

Military power, a matter of utmost importance to a nation, was even more crucial to the monarch than the people's livelihood in this chaotic era.

When the Quan Kingdom was still in power, even the Quan King could only mobilize 10,000 men to fight during wartime. But now he can fight 50,000 men... With this fighting power, if the Quan Kingdom were still in power, Quan Ming would not have needed to choose the path of becoming an immortal god. He could have fought against the Chu Kingdom, or even defeated the Chu Kingdom by taking advantage of the alliances and counter-alliances.

Why bother becoming an immortal or a god?

After all, they are immortals and gods...

Gods are not to be approached by men; though they may endure, they cannot descend to earth.

Otherwise, it will be corrupted by human emotions and desires, turning into great misfortune.

This is the real reason why gods are distant from humans: gods have no physical body and cannot use a fleshly form to suppress their emotions and desires. If they come into contact with too many emotions and desires, they will instead be consumed by them...

The seven emotions and six desires are the turbid air of heaven and earth, which pollute one's clarity and wisdom.

The essence of Daotian is the pure Qi of heaven and earth.

Immortals and gods are born from the Dao and Heaven. They are given divine positions by condensing pure energy and then bestowed with divine power. If turbid energy occupies pure energy, the divine power will naturally fall, and the gods will feed on the seven emotions and six desires, turning into great evil creatures conceived by Heaven and Earth.

Human emotions and desires are at their peak.

If cholera were to spread among the people, it would be intolerable to Heaven and Earth.

……

Quan Ming suppressed the various thoughts that arose from his strong military power.

He would not willingly degenerate. Although he had left the realm of a nation, as long as people still remembered him, his divine body could continue to exist.

But without Dao Tian, ​​the immortals and gods who died in battle could no longer be resurrected by borrowing the will of a place.

Death is true dissipation.

Moreover, the essence of the Daotian assessment is to gain fortune, using the fortune of a nation to help immortals and gods advance. Without Daotian, the realm of immortals and gods would be like being lost in the fog, and they might not be able to advance even after thousands of years.

Although they didn't want to be "dependent on others," the State of Chu was the best choice at that time.

Besides, in which country is it not for the sake of China first?

Chu was also part of China.

Qin was also part of China.

Zhou is also part of China.

……

In the future, regardless of whether history follows the same trajectory, whether Qin conquers the six states or Chu defies fate and establishes a new era, what Quan Ming wants to do will not change.

All of this is my Chinese nation...

Let this statement, this heart, and this destiny be established in the world!

In the process, we should do our best to preserve the Chinese heritage that should not be lost, thereby strengthening our humanitarian foundation and ensuring that future generations are not disappointed.

call……

Suddenly, a cold spring wind blew in.

The sound of galloping horses interrupted Quan Ming's thoughts on what to do in the future and what results to achieve.

Quan Ming glanced to the side and saw three fast horses galloping towards him.

Qu Wan.

Dou Bo.

And a middle-aged man who bears a resemblance to the young general Dou Lian—could he be Dou Lian's father?

Quan Ming approached by boat and docked at the shore.

Qu Wan, Dou Bo, and the other man dismounted, quickly stepped forward, and from ten paces away, bowed to Quan Ming, saying, "Greetings, Immortal Quan."

The three bowed.

The man humbly replied, "My name is Dou Min, and I am skilled in civil engineering. I am the chief engineer in charge of reinforcing the Quanshui Pass. I have been inspecting the area around Quanshui for the past few days. I have come to see Immortal Quan to discuss how to reinforce the pass... I hope Immortal Quan can give me some guidance."

This person adopted an extremely humble posture.

Dou Bo, standing to one side, chimed in at the opportune moment: "Quan Xian, this is Dou Lian's cousin. He participated in the construction of Yingdu and the flood control efforts in Chuze in his early years. He was sent to Quanshui Pass this time by the King of Chu's personal appointment."

As he spoke, Dou Bo smiled.

Now that Quan Ming was in such a high position, Dou Bo no longer dared to be as arrogant as before. He said with a smile, "Dou Lian lost his father at a young age, and this cousin of mine is like a father to him, taking care of him as he grew up. I hope that in consideration of Dou Lian's diligence in front of Quan Xian, Quan Xian will be more..."

"well?"

Dou Min then grabbed Dou Bo's hand.

He lowered his head, showing no regard for others, interrupting Dou Bo's words, and then said, "I have heard that the Immortal Quan is fair and just. I hope that the Immortal Quan will supervise the construction of this pass impartially."

Seeing that Dou Min was showing him no respect.

Dou Bo's eyes darkened for a moment, but quickly softened. He smiled and pulled Dou Min's hand away, saying nothing more.

Quan Ming frowned as he looked at the two men's slightly hostile demeanor.

He said bluntly, "If you have any grudges, then fight them yourselves away from here. There's no need to provoke them in front of me."

"I have many things to attend to. The construction of the Quanshui Pass can be left to someone skilled in this matter. I don't need to supervise it; Qu Wan is capable of handling it... Come find me again when the fortress and pass need to be built on the upper reaches of the Luo River."

Quan Ming stood on the small boat.

Ignoring Dou Bo and Dou Min, he turned to Qu Wan and instructed, "The King of Chu has ordered me to guard the Luo River area. Beyond this place lie the states of Yong and Lu. I must be vigilant. Unless it is absolutely necessary, do not disturb them further."

Having said that, he prepared to leave.

Seeing that Quan Ming was slightly displeased, Dou Bo also glared at Dou Min and quickly stepped forward to bow: "Immortal Quan, please calm down. My clansmen are honest and straightforward. They have offended you. Please forgive them. My Dou clan will send generous gifts to make amends."

Quan Ming simply nodded, not wanting to press the matter further.

Qu Wan, however, took out a Mo'ao token, but there was a look of hesitation on his face.

But he still stepped forward and said, "Immortal Quan, there is an important matter at hand."

At Qu Wan's signal, Dou Bo led Dou Min away, leaving the place to the two of them. Only then did Qu Wan say, "A few days ago, Mo Ao went to the Jing Mountain Range, intending to persuade Prince Luo to return to Chu with his Luo people, promising that Chu would allow them to continue living in Luo territory after the war..."

Quan Ming raised his hand.

He asked doubtfully, "Living and working in Luodi?"

"At this moment, the State of Chu has conquered two parts of Luo. One is the area outside Jingmen... which is completely unobstructed and has few dangerous obstacles to block it. The other is the area that I have conquered, which is separated from the heartland of Luo by the Jingshan Mountains and has a relatively fertile Luo River basin."

"May I ask?"

"Which piece of land will Mo Ao use to make that promise?"

"Has Mo Ao... completely forgotten about me and Quan Ren? Quan Ren was fearless in the face of death, guarding the pass to the death, and I, with divine authority, summoned Quan Ren's corpse to fight... thus abandoning Quan Ren's peace after death and safeguarding the Chu Kingdom's war opportunity."

"Or is it that after granting the Luo River waters to someone else, he can then grant me other lands as a reward, benefiting all those in power?"

Qu Wan broke out in a cold sweat upon hearing this.

He dared not accept that statement.

Quan Ming smiled faintly, but he only hoped that Qu Wan would relay these words to Qu Xia so that Qu Xia would be troubled. He did not really want to make things difficult for Qu Wan, the messenger.

In a way, Qu Wan could be considered half one of our own.

He said, "Enough. Let's talk about whether Prince Luo agrees with Mo Ao's words, and what assistance he needs from me now."

……

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