The End of an Era

The breathing and meditation techniques within the Five Elements True Origin Formula possessed a unique rhythm—at times fast, at times slow, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, and occasionally relaxed or steady.

This rhythm could be described as extremely bizarre and counter-intuitive.

Had it not been for the instruction of Shen Gongbao, an ordinary person could have racked their brains for a lifetime and never conceived of such a peculiar method of breathing and meditation.

Lu Chuan was initially left in a state of disarray and misery by this strange cadence, but after repeated practice, he slowly adapted to the elusive and eccentric rhythm of this breathing technique.

Following this, Shen Gongbao stood to the side, explaining the method while allowing Lu Chuan to grasp it for himself.

After the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn:

"Very well, stop and rise!"

Shen Gongbao looked at the fully risen morning sun and said, "Cultivation also has its specific times; if you miss them, all your efforts will be in vain."

Lu Chuan slowly opened his eyes to see the golden morning rays spilling over him. It was warm and not overly dazzling, leaving his entire body feeling incredibly comfortable.

Although he could not yet achieve the legendary "inhaling the clouds and consuming the qi," this brief moment of meditation today had left him feeling spirited and refreshed.

"How does it feel?" Shen Gongbao asked.

Lu Chuan stood up, sensed his condition, and replied with joy, "Better than ever before."

"Having obtained my method, even if you cannot become an immortal in the future, you can still prolong your life by continuing to breathe and meditate in this way."

Shen Gongbao stroked his beard and smiled, "A hundred years from now, preserving a sliver of your true spirit to achieve the fruit of a Ghost Immortal, or becoming a Yin God of a region, will not be a difficult task."

"Like that female demon?"

Lu Chuan hurriedly shook his head, "That is not this disciple's ambition."

The highest path is the Immortal Path, followed by the Divine Path, with the Human Path being the least of them.

The outcome of this Investiture of the Gods was to turn some immortals and mortals into the more than three hundred Orthodox Gods of the Heavenly Court.

Admittedly, it was a good thing for mortals to become gods, but for those immortals, it was far from a blessing; not only would their cultivation be severely damaged, but they would also have to bid farewell to their days of freedom and submit to the commands of others.

"Good lad, your tone is quite bold."

Shen Gongbao chuckled, "Come, let us master and disciple tour Chaoge together today."

"Master, why are we going to Chaoge?"

Shen Gongbao laughed, "The capital of the Yin Shang for six hundred years, beneath the feet of the Son of Heaven, and famous far and wide—now that I have descended the mountain, how could I not go and take a look?"

"Very well! I have only been there once, and I was in such a rush that I didn't have time to look around!"

The two traveled all the way toward Chaoge.

Before long, they appeared outside the South Gate.

The Chaoge South Gate was near the military training grounds; it was a place where the population was dense and the roads led in all directions, making it the most bustling area of the city.

Although it was still early, the city gates had long since opened, as many vegetable farmers and merchants from the surrounding villages had already entered the city.

At the city gate.

It was already teeming with people, beginning to bustle with activity.

However, when they reached a point thirty paces outside the South Gate and looked at the Chaoge City right before them, Shen Gongbao's footsteps suddenly came to a halt.

Lu Chuan asked, "Master, why have you stopped?"

The master and disciple had been chatting and laughing along the way, feeling quite compatible and as if they had met too late, yet at this moment, the expression on Shen Gongbao's face was somewhat complex.

"Demonic qi is at work. It seems the destiny of the Yin Shang has truly reached its end."

Shen Gongbao shook his head and sighed, then added, "Is this calamity truly unavoidable?"

Seeing this, Lu Chuan's heart stirred.

Listening to his words, could it be that Shen Gongbao already knew of the upcoming Investiture of the Gods calamity?

"Master, what calamity?"

"After six hundred years of inheritance, the destiny of the Yin Shang was already on a downward trend."

Shen Gongbao glanced at him, raised a hand to point at the sky above the city, and frowned, "Now, there is a powerful demonic qi surging into the heavens from within the royal palace, devouring the little remaining destiny. The day of the nation's fall is at most twenty or thirty years away."

"Demonic qi?"

Lu Chuan looked toward the sky above Chaoge City, blinked his eyes carefully, and said, "Master, I cannot see it."

Shen Gongbao shook his head and extended a hand to block his vision, "Close your eyes!"

Lu Chuan hurriedly obeyed.

Immediately after, he was shocked to discover that even with his eyes closed, he could see.

First, there was a vast, clear sky.

Then, above the center of Chaoge City, there was a bird.

A black divine bird, wings spread in flight.

Lu Chuan had read many mythological stories in the past, so he recognized many of the divine birds that existed only in myths and legends.

Phoenixes, green phoenixes, fire phoenixes, rocs... and even the Vermilion Bird, one of the four sacred beasts of heaven and earth.

Yet, the forms of these divine birds did not match the black divine bird he saw before him.

It resembled a sparrow in shape but was immense in size; when it spread its wings, it cast a shadow that completely enveloped the royal palace below.

Its entire body was a shade of black, shimmering with a swirling, pitch-black radiance.

Although black was a color that naturally made people feel uneasy, strangely enough, he felt nothing of the sort from this black divine bird.

However, at this moment, the black divine bird looked sickly and lacked spirit.

Furthermore, a strange, eerie red light flickered incessantly beside the bird's head.

"I see it..."

Lu Chuan muttered, "A giant black bird, and an eerie... red light!"

"The Mystic Bird of destiny descended to give birth to the Yin Shang. This bird is the manifestation of the Yin Shang's national fortune, and that red light is the demonic aura."

Shen Gongbao said in a deep voice, "The sun and moon are devouring the national fortune of the Yin Shang. Hmph, what a hopeless, muddled ruler! It was a waste for my senior brother Yun Zhongzi to carve a sword to help him suppress the demons!"

"Mystic Bird..."

Lu Chuan's heart stirred. "Xuan" also meant black; in the ancient Five Elements, black represented the water of the north.

Speaking of the Northern Black Tortoise among the four spirits, it was essentially a black tortoise carrying a large black snake. He just didn't know if such a strange creature was a combined evolution or if it was born as a tortoise and snake in one body.

Hmm, worth researching!

The Classic of Mountains and Seas recorded that within the Northern Sea, there was a mountain named Mount Youdu, from which the Black Water flowed. Upon it were the Mystic Bird, the Mystic Snake, the Mystic Leopard, the Mystic Fox...

He didn't know if these were divine beasts, but these animals were certainly all black.

He had originally thought the Mystic Bird was the legendary phoenix!

He had also heard the phrase, "The Mystic Bird of destiny descended to give birth to the Yin Shang." If he remembered correctly, it was a line from the Classic of Poetry - Odes of Shang.

It meant that the Mystic Bird had arrived by heaven's mandate and given birth to the ancestor of the Yin Shang.

Yet, not long after, another phrase, "The phoenix sings at Mount Qi," would come to symbolize the new master of the world.

"Master, could you tell your disciple more about this?"

"A year ago, your senior uncle Yun Zhongzi saw a demonic aura wreaking havoc above the Yin Shang palace, bringing disaster to the world.

To save the common people and prevent the great calamity, he carved a wooden sword and traveled from Mount Zhongnan to Chaoge to present it to Di Xin to suppress the demons."

Shen Gongbao said, "He only needed to hang that wooden sword in the palace for three days, and the demon within would surely perish. But do you know? The moment your senior uncle stepped out of the palace, before he had even left Chaoge, that muddled ruler ordered someone to burn the wooden sword. Hmph, muddled ruler..."

Speaking of this, Shen Gongbao was quite indignant, while Lu Chuan remained silent on the side.

Yun Zhongzi?

He had some impression of this man; he was a disciple of Yuanshi, an immortal of the Exposition Sect who usually cultivated on Mount Zhongnan.

Later, after Daji entered the palace and threw the court into chaos, he did indeed come to Chaoge to present the sword and eliminate the demon.

Even later, after the great calamity began, the Twelve Golden Immortals all suffered in the Nine Bends Yellow River Formation, and only he escaped the tribulation that stripped away the three flowers atop the head and the five breaths within the chest.

"Master, what does this have to do with the calamity you mentioned?" Lu Chuan asked.

Shen Gongbao said, "Let us enter the city first. Once we are settled, I will explain it to you in detail."

"Oh, alright!"

Lu Chuan nodded. After so many years, he could no longer remember some of the details of the Investiture of the Gods clearly, only the well-known plot points.

Furthermore, what interested him most about the Investiture of the Gods were the powerful magical treasures and the bizarre, wondrous Daoist arts within it.