The Left Sage, Chisongzi

Let's hope so!

The man gazed intently at the distant farmland and factories, but there was no trace of joy in his words.

Just by entering the cave from Yunmeng Marsh, the man was already able to directly perceive the difference between the Great Xia and the Hundred Lands Mountain Range.

Such a huge gap, such drastically different mindsets...

The man simply couldn't believe that a mere Witch King could change the backwardness of the Great Xia Dynasty.

"Wu Song, sometimes you just overthink things. Otherwise, the position of the ninth Witch King wouldn't have fallen to that bastard Wu Yi."

Upon hearing this, the man could only glare helplessly at Wu Luo.

"I've said it so many times, my name is now Chisongzi."

"Since failing the succession ceremony, the former Wu Song has been dead. It was the Dao Ancestor who bestowed upon me the Method of the Celestial Person, giving me a new life. I came here simply to see what's so special about the candidate chosen by the Divine Witch."

Hearing Chisongzi's usual stubbornness, Wu Luo shrugged and walked straight ahead.

The two had been friends for hundreds of years; how could Wu Luo not know the resentment in Chisongzi's heart?

Before Wu Yi emerged, Chisongzi was the most legitimate successor personally cultivated by Wu Xian.

He listened to the voices of his people and endured pressure that most people could not imagine.

From childhood to adulthood, Chisongzi eventually even gained the personal recognition of the eighth Witch King.

Everyone believed that Chisongzi would be the ninth Witch King.

The corresponding power transition had already entered a very active phase well in advance.

There are even rumors that Chisongzi had already climbed the floating tower and inherited part of the power of the [Jianmu Cauldron].

Just then, Wu Yi emerged with a wild and reckless attitude and remarkable achievements, seizing the throne of the Witch King that should have belonged to Chisongzi. Thus, in order to quell the impending chaos in the Great Xia...

Chisongzi voluntarily relinquished his power and influence, traveling throughout the various states of Xia to persuade them to accept Wu Yi as the new Witch King. We, your subjects, are ready to fight to the death; why has Your Majesty surrendered first?

This was precisely the sentiment of all the great shamans who supported Chisongzi at that time, including Wu Luo.

However, Chisongzi had made up his mind, and in the end, he completely disappeared without a trace.

Not long ago, news spread from Wu Xian that the "Witch King Ceremony" had been restarted, and Chisongzi reappeared near Witch Mountain. To be honest, at the moment of reunion with Chisongzi...

Wu Luo could hardly believe that the disheveled man before him was the same handsome man who had once been so particular about his appearance and demeanor. According to Chisongzi himself, after relinquishing his identity as the "successor to the Witch King," he had found himself living a much more relaxed and carefree life.

In the years since he left Great Xia, he has seen too many things and sights that he had never seen before, and he has also realized how precious many things that he had taken for granted were.

No one is born with the obligation to fulfill a specific mission.

Similarly, one's life is not a failure simply because one misses a certain mission.

Chisongzi believed that although he did not become the Witch King, he had made achievements that were incomparable to those of the first half of his life.

Slay the rampaging monsters, drive away the rioting gods, and quell the disasters in various places...

Wherever Chisongzi went, his deeds spread, saving countless lives.

Some villages, towns, and states that had received his favors thus enshrined him on altars and revered him as the "Left Sage."

Left is the most honored, and sainthood is the ultimate.

Being revered as the "Left Sage" speaks volumes about Chisongzi's achievements; he no longer needed to prove himself to anyone. His ability to enter fire and burn himself, and to rise and fall with the wind and rain, has become a legend.

From then on, if Chisongzi had that idea, he could easily ascend to the divine position and become a god who controls the wind and rain.

For any Innate Divine Being, this would be an unquestionable choice.

However, Chisongzi was born in the Great Xia and almost became Witch King, so he had long since demystified the divine.

Chisongzi had no intention of becoming a deity, but just then he heard about the story of the Dao Ancestor the Dao.

Naturally, the bewildered Chisongzi chose to seek the Dao from the Dao Ancestor and thus became one of the Dao Ancestor's followers.

"Although practicing the Way of the Celestial Person is..."

"But this is the first time I've ventured so deep into the Hundred Lands Mountain Range to witness this miracle forged by the Dao Ancestor."

We continued along the river towards Gao Village Town.

Looking at the farmland and factories on both sides, Chisongzi couldn't help but sigh.

Unlike the initial cursory glance, the deeper one ventures into this region, the more apparent the differences between the Mountain Folk and outsiders become. Leaving aside their temperament and appearance...

Even if two identical people are standing in front of you.

That genuine confidence and satisfaction makes it easy to spot Mountain Folk at a glance.

Just as they were about to enter Gao Village Town, Chisongzi saw something he had never imagined before.

Those were railway tracks extending from mines and factories.

A group of large, clumsy, and rough creatures, unlike the Bronze Beast, roared and dragged extremely exaggerated carriages through the crowd. They were something that had never been recorded in the Luo River Book or the Prophet Daily.

Although they were not as agile as the Bronze Beast.

But in terms of pure power, it possesses limits that transcend those of mortal creation.

Hundreds of tons of minerals and steel were dragged along, and even the rails below trembled slightly.

Chisongzi couldn't even imagine how heavy these carriages were, requiring extra steel tracks to support them. "That's a steam locomotive, Wu Zhen's masterpiece, and also a creation developed by the Mountain Folk themselves."

Having seen a similar prototype at Wu Zhen's place, Wu Luo's behavior became slightly more normal.

Even so, looking at those steam trains that seemed capable of crushing even mountains, Wu Luo could not hide his shock.

"Wu Zhen once told me that if you consider the power of a normal Bronze Beast as 'one horsepower...'"

"Then these steam locomotives in front of us must have a power output of at least one thousand horsepower."

"They are powered by burning coal, and as long as the components don't wear out, they can have virtually unlimited range."

Wu Luo paused slightly at this point.

"To the best of my knowledge, similar steam power has already been used on ships on the Hundred Lands Canal."

"Wu Zhen said that if it weren't for the limitations of the materials, she could even have increased the power to over 5,000 horsepower."

"If we go any further up, it won't be possible to achieve that by burning coal or charcoal."

"Unless the mountain residents are willing to disclose part of their power technology, it is possible for both parties to cooperate to develop a more powerful power device."