Pre-Qin Mythology: Starting with the River God

The next day was the Grain Rain season!

Rain fell heavily around Zhaoshui, and various immortals and auspicious beasts roamed in the mist, some riding boats and carriages, others carrying sedan chairs and riding the wind... all gathering at the Zhaoshui Water Palace... The Water Palace opened wide, and fish formed bridges. The Water Palace's officials led the immortals and auspicious beasts through the Water Palace's stone gate, along the imperial road, and into the main hall of the Water Palace...

Inside the main hall, sandalwood tables and purple bamboo mats are arranged on both sides.

At the very head of the table, there are seven elegant seats, all of which are currently empty.

The immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts took their seats in order of strength, chatting happily with those they knew well. However, their gazes all turned to the five seats at the head of the table.

Their eyes were glazed, but they understood: the main seat was occupied by Lord Zhaoyang, and in addition, six high-ranking immortals and gods had come to show their support.

To show your support?

That's right!

In the eyes of the immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts, Quan Ming, the newly promoted Dao Heaven Third Level Immortal God, held this banquet to promote his prestige, intimidate the three hundred and eighty miles of Zhaoshui, and make them, the immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts, submit... In this way, the unification of Zhaoshui can be accelerated and his power can be completely consolidated.

If there are those around Zhaoshui who do not come?

Things might not be easy from now on!

Look...

...The jade and gold artifacts, rare treasures, and the seven tripods on the imperial road, as well as the bronze food cauldrons placed in the fire pit inside the palace...and the fruits and snacks laid out on the table...

Melon, peach, plum, pear, mulberry, loquat, jujube, chestnut, dried fruit, persimmon cake, honey bait, rice cake, and glutinous rice flour cake!

hiss……

Even when Chinese people offer sacrifices to them, they don't necessarily have such a complete set!

Almost all the fruits available in late spring and early summer of this world were gathered on the table for them to enjoy.

"Click..."

Inside the noisy hall, when the Mountain Tiger Immortal picked up a huge melon, broke it in half with his tiger paw, and took a big bite, licking the juice from his lips... he muttered, "How can this melon be so sweet? I've never eaten one in the Chu Kingdom!"

On one side, Jingmen Shanggui, seeing Hu Xian's crudeness, said disdainfully, "This is a sweet melon, a specialty of Zheng. How could anyone in Chu, except for members of the royal family or major clans, possibly be seen with it?"

Then the tiger spirit picked up another object.

He continued—

"These are sweet persimmons from the State of Qi..."

"These are dried dates from the State of Jin..."

"These are fragrant pears from the Song Dynasty..."

"This is a large chestnut from the State of Wei..."

"These are plums from the State of Chen..."

"These are peaches from the royal domain..."

"These... are indeed mulberries and loquats from my Chu state. These mulberries have a delicate, virginal fragrance, suggesting they were freshly picked by women this morning. And these loquats are of a superior variety from my Chu state, reserved only for... Your Majesty's enjoyment."

The more Jingmen Shanggui spoke, the more Huxian's pupils dilated.

He concluded, "Just who is this Lord Zhaoyang? How can so many exotic fruits from other countries be served at our table?"

As he spoke, he ate quite a bit more, getting ahead of the others.

However, none of the surrounding immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts could answer Tiger Immortal. In fact, they were also quite surprised, not expecting that Quan Ming's banquet could gather so many items from other countries... These were clearly items reserved for the King of Chu, and their presence here at this moment showed how much the King of Chu doted on Lord Zhaoyang.

They looked at each other.

Fortunately, they had no intention of contradicting Lord Zhaoyang. They all brought gifts for the banquet, and there was no ambiguity in their preparations.

In the state of Chu, the King of Chu was always the head...

Quan Ming had not yet arrived.

With just a few fruits, these immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts already knew how powerful Quan Ming was and dared not offend him.

……

Boom!

On the imperial road, the seven cauldrons resounded, and from the outside world, a majestic divine power echoed.

At that moment, Quan Ming's voice came from behind the courtyard: "Welcome... Xiangjun and Xiangfuren."

Quan Mingyan stepped out with a smile and greeted Xiangjun and Xiangfuren, who had concealed their divine power and entered the water palace, on the imperial road. Xiangjun and Xiangfuren returned the greeting.

Xiang Jun's gaze shifted slightly as she looked at Quan Ming's aura and praised, "It seems that Lord Zhaoyang has made further progress in the past few days."

Lady Xiang smiled gently and said nothing more.

Quan Ming laughed and said, "It's just a slight enlightenment, nothing to mention."

A few days ago, Quan Ming relied on his enlightenment on the principle of "using heaven and earth to benefit humanity" to increase his strength considerably. However, Xiang Jun had such good eyesight that she could tell at a glance that Quan Ming's aura had risen to another level.

"please……"

This is not the time to talk about cultivation, Quan Ming raised his hand to invite.

Then, Xiangjun and Xiangfuren looked at each other, nodded, and entered the hall.

"Welcome, Xiangjun!"

"Welcome Lady Xiang!"

"Welcome Lady Zhaoyang!"

Inside the hall, the numerous immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts had already ceased their clamor when the divine power descended. The Tiger Immortal also put down the fruits and snacks in his hands, straightened his clothes, bowed, and clasped his hands to welcome the arrival of Xiangjun, Xiangfuren, and Quanming, the Lord of Zhaoshui.

"Everyone, please rise. Today's banquet is not a gathering of Daoist masters; it is all done spontaneously."

When Quan Ming said this, everyone smiled obsequiously and nodded in agreement, but no one actually dared to do it.

hum!

Suddenly, another burst of divine power appeared.

It's Shao Siming!

Shao Siming arrived in a phoenix carriage, carrying a little girl and holding an infant as she descended from the clouds. The phoenix carriage then transformed into a phoenix bird, following behind and entering the Water Palace with Shao Siming.

"Welcome, Young Master of Fate..."

Quan Ming cupped his hands in greeting, as did Xiang Jun and Xiang Furen.

The same applies to other immortals, gods, and auspicious beasts.

As the days passed, the sorrow on Shao Siming's face grew even deeper. At this moment, she nodded with difficulty and said softly, "Rise, all of you."

Having said that, he stepped into the hall.

He said to Quan Ming, "I didn't want to come, but I threw away some cowrie shells, and they were in the sun... so I came... cough."

As she spoke, Shao Siming covered her mouth and coughed lightly. She explained, "I've been helping Da Siming revive these past few days, and my divine power is exhausted, so I don't look well..."

Quan Ming looked slightly worried and said slowly, "...Please take a seat first."

The way Shao Siming looked didn't seem like she was exhausted from her divine power... He suddenly remembered something. Feng Hua had brought news that a few days ago, the King of Chu had held a special sacrifice for Shao Siming. The purpose of the sacrifice was for fertility... It wasn't for the King of Chu himself, but for the people of Chu. He hoped that Shao Siming could bless the people of Chu and make their offspring numerous.

This……

Quan Ming's eyes flickered. Was Shao Siming's "illness" related to this?

Puzzled, two more high-ranking immortals arrived.

A girl named [Nine Phoenix]!

With a green tail like a stream, red feathers like clouds, and nine heads with human faces, it is the totem bird of Chu, guarding the capital of Chu, and can not leave without the king's order...

Your presence today must be at the behest of the King of Chu.

Quan Ming assumed that the King of Chu was trying to bolster his image rather than spy on him, so he greeted him with a smile.

The other one is the [Goddess of the Han River].

This person was only at the third level of the Dao Heaven Realm seven days ago, but as the Han River in the Luo River section merged into the Chu Kingdom, she also received divine nourishment. She was the first immortal god to gain the advantage of victory after the war with the Son of Heaven and was promoted to the fourth level of the Dao Heaven Realm.

Quan Ming also respectfully invited him to take a seat.

Afterwards, another high-ranking deity sent a divine messenger.

One of them is Tai Sui.

When fighting in the Chu region, the soldiers ward off the Tai Sui!

Tai Sui guards the south of the Yangtze River in Chu to prevent the Yelang and Xiyue tribes from invading the Daotian of Chu. It cannot easily leave the southern border of Chu. Even if it is fighting against the emperor, the other side cannot be summoned. In fact, the other side did not even show up at the last Daotian meeting. Quan Ming was surprised that the other side was able to send a divine messenger today.

Boom!

The seven tripods trembled again.

It was Yunzhongjun who came from Jingshan riding the clouds.

……

……