"Destiny cannot be defied; the Great Dao is supremely impartial! The inheritor of Great Shang's direct bloodline has finally found his way here..."
An ethereal, timeworn voice suddenly rang through the vast, silent hall, startling Jian Shang and the others.
Even Xiao He looked surprised. His earlier advice had mainly been a precaution and a gesture of respect toward their forebears. Who could have known there would actually be a response-and one brimming with awareness, rather than something mechanical and rigid?
"The inheritor of Great Shang's direct bloodline?!"
After their surprise passed, everyone looked questioningly at Jian Shang, only to find his face equally bewildered. Clearly, he had no idea what the ethereal, timeworn voice meant either.
One thing was certain: King Wen must have left this voice behind. Jian Shang also seemed to have acquired Great Shang's direct bloodline through some extraordinary encounter-one even he knew nothing about.
Heaven's designs worked unseen. Although their journey through the ancient tomb had first brought an ambush by the Gemini Golden Saint and then a scheme by Yuhuang Shenao, Jian Shang and his companions had still reached its heart. This was fate; this was inevitable!
Thinking back more carefully, the Purple-Copper General had been the strongest being they had encountered, yet he seemed to have recognized Jian Shang's origins and bloodline, secretly lending them a hand while testing them. Otherwise, since the Gemini Golden Saint and Yuhuang Shenao had managed to slip inside, other Great Adepts surely could have entered as well. Jian Shang and the others simply had not discovered them!
Still, they could be certain that only the five of them were in the hall now.
"I received Heaven's decree and, by its mandate, ruled all beneath the heavens. I destroyed Shang and founded Zhou, establishing my realm beneath Qi