Human sacrifice

[Negative emotion points from Daji: +1000...]

Just then, Di Xin immediately noticed a string of numbers flash through the system.

1000!

A big haul!

Wild delight immediately spread across Di Xin's face, and he inwardly reveled in his good fortune. Leaving Daji waiting had truly been a wise choice. Not only had he avoided falling under her spell, he had also earned negative emotion points. Two birds with one stone!

[Negative emotion points from Wen Zhong: +100...]

Immediately afterward, Di Xin saw another system notification flash through his mind.

Negative emotion points from Wen Zhong?!

Confusion appeared in Di Xin's eyes. Wen Zhong was thousands of miles away in the North Sea. Since taking over this body, he had not even interacted with him. How had he provoked negative emotions from him?

Bi Gan!

That old bastard Bi Gan must have secretly tattled on me to Wen Zhong. There was no other explanation!

Di Xin then understood the reason behind it, and his brows furrowed.

This was certainly no good omen. After all, Wen Zhong played a crucial role in his plan to keep his head down and survive the Investiture of the Gods war.

Judging by the events of Investiture of the Gods, Wen Zhong was unquestionably the strongest of Great Shang's native forces during the war!

Even in the later divine investiture decree, Heavenly Lord Yuanshi described Wen Zhong as "having heard of the fruition of returning to the origin, yet not realized the truth of supreme oneness." In other words, despite having cultivated for only fifty years, he had already attained three flowers gathering at the crown and five qi returning to the origin. With one foot in the ranks of Daluo Golden Immortals, he could be counted among the top three of the Interception Sect's third generation!

Beyond Wen Zhong's own formidable strength, he was also the link between Great Shang and the Interception Sect. Both Zhao Gongming and the Ten Heavenly Lords had come at his invitation.

Although Investiture of the Gods recorded Wen Zhong as utterly loyal-he had never betrayed King Zhou even after Daji bewitched him-provoking too many negative emotions from him was ultimately no good thing!

Still, Wen Zhong had yet to return to court with his army, and the number of negative emotion points was low. There was still room to remedy matters.

All this made Di Xin regard the system with newfound respect. Not only could it tell him who harbored discontent toward him, the appearance of negative emotion points also allowed him to ward off trouble before it arose, mend the roof before the rain, and prepare well in advance!

Time passed quickly. In the blink of an eye, dawn arrived on Di Xin's second day in the Primordial World.

"Your Majesty, preparations for the sacrificial ceremony are complete, and the offerings have been properly arranged. Please come preside over the rites!"

Day had barely broken when Bi Gan hurried over, knocking at the door to request an audience.

"Granted."

Hearing him, Di Xin instantly lost all trace of sleepiness. He nodded and followed Bi Gan toward the sacrificial ceremony.

As he walked, listening to the birdsong around him and recalling the original Di Xin's memories, he found these scenes very familiar. He could not help sighing inwardly. Getting up so early to handle affairs, working so diligently-how was this a tyrant? He was a thoroughly enlightened and virtuous ruler!

A short while later, Bi Gan led Di Xin to the Sacrificial Altar.

By then, Great Shang's dignitaries, including Huang Feihu and Shang Rong, had already gathered there.

"Your Majesty, please issue the decree to present the offerings to the gods!"

After escorting Di Xin onto the Sacrificial Altar, Bi Gan bowed respectfully and spoke.

"Mm..." Di Xin nodded casually, but then something caught the corner of his eye. Wherever he looked, there was nothing but a dense mass of people, with no fruit or other such offerings in sight. Instead, a great crowd of people knelt on the ground ahead, their clothes barely covering their bodies, looking little different from wild savages.

There were both old and young among them. The oldest looked to be forty or fifty, with heads full of white hair and nearly all their teeth gone. The youngest was still a swaddled infant who seemed to have just awakened and was whimpering. But the mother holding the child had clamped a hand tightly over the little one's mouth, terrified that the crying might disturb the important figures around them.

Di Xin also noticed that every one of those kneeling people wore a numb expression. There was no light in their eyes. They knelt there blankly, looking like so many chunks of rotten wood.

"Where are the offerings?"

Di Xin frowned and asked Bi Gan.

"These human sacrifices are the offerings we will present to the gods!" At his question, Bi Gan hurriedly pointed toward the crowd of people who resembled rotten wood. A strange excitement rose in his eyes, a rapacious gleam flashing through them as he enunciated each word.

Human offerings!

Human sacrifice!

The instant Di Xin heard this, a violent shudder ran through him. At the same time, numerous images of past sacrificial ceremonies surfaced in his mind. Without exception, the offerings chosen for those ceremonies had all been human sacrifices!

Then Di Xin suddenly recalled why he had inscribed that obscene poem in Wa Huang Palace that day.

The reason was that human sacrifices had been chosen for the ceremony honoring Empress Wa. The real Di Xin had been working throughout Great Shang to eradicate this evil, attempting to abolish human sacrifice so that humanity would worship no gods, only its ancestors!

"Your Majesty, the auspicious hour has arrived. Please issue the decree to slaughter the human sacrifices and offer them to the gods, that they may bless Grand Tutor Wen with a swift victory and a return to court!"

Just then, Bi Gan continued urging Di Xin, involuntarily swallowing as he spoke.

"What if I refuse to worship them?!"

"Why should living human beings be sacrificed to the gods?"

"Why should the gods on high demand offerings from the people?"

At those words, Di Xin immediately looked at Bi Gan and questioned him with a cold sneer, enunciating every word.

As a modern man, he simply could not accept this bloody practice of treating people as sacrificial livestock. He wholeheartedly approved of the real Di Xin's actions.

What had humans done wrong? Why must they exhaust everything they had to support the gods, and even offer up their lives in sacrifice?

"Your Majesty, mind your words!"

Bi Gan's expression changed drastically. Looking at Di Xin, he tried to stop him in a trembling voice.

"Your Majesty, please take back those words!"

Not only Bi Gan, but Huang Feihu, Weizi, and the others around them also trembled. Staring in tongue-tied astonishment at Di Xin after his three challenges, they all fell to their knees and cried out.

"I have grown weary of offering humans to the gods. If the gods demand human lives as sacrifices, then these gods need not be worshipped at all!"

Di Xin frowned and faced them impassively, delivering his response word by word in a grave voice.

[Negative emotion points from Bi Gan: +200...]

[Negative emotion points from Huang Feihu: +200...]

[Negative emotion points from Weizi: +200...]

The moment those words fell, Di Xin saw a long string of numbers scroll across the system interface. Without exception, they came from men who had either turned traitor and sided with Xiqi during the Investiture of the Gods war, or stubbornly clung to old conventions!

"Your Majesty, please take back those words at once! The gods must not be offended. Otherwise, they will forsake us, the Mandate of Heaven will be lost, and our Great Shang will be in peril!"

Bi Gan kowtowed repeatedly, each strike landing with a heavy thud, until blood seeped from his forehead.

"If I refuse to sacrifice human lives to the gods, they will deny me the Mandate of Heaven! Then who is the ruler of all under heaven-me, or the gods? When Nuwa created humans, did she create people, or livestock to be offered up to them in sacrifice?!" Di Xin looked impassively at Bi Gan and spoke in a grave voice, enunciating every word.

[Congratulations, Host. You have earned the Human Emperor System's recognition. Reward: negative emotion points +5000. Accumulated negative emotion points have exceeded +10000. Breakthrough to the second level of the essence refining into qi realm. Secret method obtained: Suiren Tranquil Heart Method. Remaining negative emotion points: +1300. Negative emotion points required for the next level: +20000...]

Almost the instant he finished speaking, another string of text flashed across the system interface. Immediately afterward, Di Xin felt his body suddenly become light and buoyant, as though it had grown a little more clear and open. The sensation was wondrous.

Moreover, within his mind, a diagram shimmering with golden flames swayed gently, radiating an abundance of blazing, mysterious, and inconceivable auras.

What exactly is this system trying to do?!

As Di Xin sensed the changes in his body, delight filled him, but he also noticed something else. It seemed that whenever he opposed the gods, the system would lavish recognition and rewards on him-as though it held a grudge against them!

"Your Majesty, if you refuse to sacrifice to the gods, are you not afraid of leading our Great Shang down a road to ruin and bringing the wrath of all the gods upon us?!"

Just then, Weizi pushed his way out of the crowd below, raised his head, and pointed at Di Xin. He spoke loudly, enunciating every word, with a faint note of threat in his voice!