The Zhou Dynasty's Mandate Comes to an End; a Struggle for the Dao's Succession in the Mortal World!

Just as Lu Yuan had expected, with the State of Jin split into three and the State of Qi changing hands, the two greatest pillars of the Chengzhou Dao Lineage—

the Ji-clan State of Jin, its strongest kinsman state, and the eastern power of Jiang Qi—had utterly collapsed.

The remaining Ji-clan vassal states, such as Lu, Wei, Zheng, and Yan, were either weak, remote, or struggling to survive themselves. They could no longer provide any real protection for Luoyi.

The royal city of Luoyi now looked more like a gigantic tomb.

The palace buildings were dilapidated, its attendants few, and even the birds seemed forlorn.

Inside the palace, the Zhou Son of Heaven was haggard and gaunt, his eye sockets sunken. He was on the verge of death.

Above Luoyi, the Yuqing Talisman bestowed by Primordial Heavenly Venerate protected the final trace of destiny belonging to the Chengzhou Dao Lineage.

This divine treasure, which sustained the Chengzhou Dynasty's last mandate of Heaven, now flickered violently, like a guttering candle in a gale.

The Zhou Son of Heaven's lips trembled, and his eyes were filled with sorrow.

The magnificent Chengzhou Dynasty had endured for three hundred and sixty thousand years. King Wen had expounded the Changes, King Wu had campaigned against Zhou, and the Duke of Zhou had established the rites. At its height, all nations had paid homage, and the Nine Tripods had secured the realm.

But what of now?

The State of Jin had been divided among the three houses of Han, Zhao, and Wei, and its ancestral temple had fallen.

The eastern Jiang Qi had actually had its state usurped by the Tian Clan through acts of benevolence!

Images seemed to flash before his eyes: the ancestral temples of Jin and Qi brought to ruin.

The pillars holding