Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 1019 - 741 Great Shang! Great Shang! _2

Chapter 1019: 741 Great Shang! Great Shang! _2

"Where is this?"

Realizing something, Jiang Chen closed his eyes and carefully searched his memory, finally finding records concerning this void.

"The old land of the Shang Dynasty, the Ruins of Yin!"

"This was one of the ancient capitals of the Shang Dynasty, erased from history’s river when it was destroyed by the Zhou Dynasty. Unexpectedly, with the revival of the Nine States, it seems to be re-emerging."

Knowing the origin of that void, the shock on Jiang Chen’s face intensified.

The Shang Dynasty, the strongest dynasty of the Human Race, unmatched by any other. Who could deny its power when it dared to slay the Heavenly Emperor?

The kings of the Shang Dynasty presumptuously declared themselves as Emperors.

The Emperor of the Heavenly Emperor!

Throughout the era of the Shang Dynasty, the prestige of Human Race reached its peak, subduing countless tribes everywhere they went. The Earth’s resources were there for the taking.

Thus, the Shang Dynasty was incredibly wealthy, possessing endless resources, which in turn gave rise to many masters.

"Could the treasury of the Shang Dynasty be reappearing?"

Jiang Chen was shaken, feeling that this sign might be indicating that the legendary treasury of the Shang Dynasty was about to appear in the world once more.

The might of the Shang Dynasty needs no further elaboration; even the fallen Heavenly Emperor of the Mystic Sect couldn’t leave his name behind—this serves as the best proof.

Of course, the replacement of the Shang Dynasty by the Zhou Dynasty was also related to the Battle Against Heaven. Although Wu Ding was victorious in this battle, it was a pyrrhic victory. To assimilate the Heavenly Emperor, at least ninety-nine percent of the Shang Dynasty’s masters were sacrificed.

One Battle Against Heaven had depleted a million years of accumulated foundation of the Shang Dynasty.

Without that Battle Against Heaven, Zhou Dynasty’s dream of annihilating the Shang would have been ludicrous. Even without the assistance from the Jiejiao Sect, the combined forces of the Zhou Dynasty and Chan Teaching were no match for the Shang Dynasty.

Because, the Shang Dynasty followed the Ancient Martial Arts!

Ninety percent of the civil and military officials of the Shang Dynasty were Ancient Martial Artists. The entire court honored martial arts above all, and to make a name and enter the court, one had to be an Ancient Martial Artist first.

There were those in the Shang Dynasty who practiced both Immortal Dao and Martial Dao, but only a few ever obtained high positions, and those were thanks to their ancestors’ blessings.

A common person looking to alter their fate and become superior among men had only one option—practice Ancient Martial Arts.

A nation built entirely of Ancient Martial Artists was unimaginably powerful. Who would dare provoke them? With genuine martial virtue abundant, the fact that the Shang Dynasty didn’t strike others already kept many content, let alone someone insane enough to provoke them.

One could only say that the Heavenly Emperor of the Mystic Sect really lost track of himself after becoming the Heavenly Emperor, actually believing that he was supreme, unchallengeable by anyone in heaven and on earth.

Thus, he dared to provoke the Shang Dynasty, expecting them to revere him as supreme. This Mystic Sect’s Heavenly Emperor’s death was well deserved; he asked the Shang Dynasty to regard him as their lord and deserved to be refined to death.

"Shang Dynasty, ah!"

Recalling the records about the Shang Dynasty he read in the Jiang Family’s library, his heart was indeed filled with astonishment.

The Shang Dynasty existed for one million and eighty thousand years, and under the support of the entire nation, produced thirty-six Innate Dao Sovereigns, as well as hundreds of accomplished Ancient Martial Artists.

Such power was sufficient to sweep through the Prehistoric World even in ancient times. All forces, even those with Saint’s inheritances, could not compete with Great Shang.

In the time Great Shang ruled the Prehistoric World, there were not any demonic beings causing chaos. Even quasi-saint level beings were forcefully suppressed, testament to the terrifying might of Great Shang.

It’s a pity, such a powerful nation, due to the Battle Against Heaven, completely fell.

In order to refine and kill that Innate Dao Sovereign of the Mystic Sect, the Thirty-Six Innate Dao Sovereigns of the Great Shang, along with hundreds of accomplished Ancient Martial Artists, sacrificed themselves, pulling the Mystic Sect’s Heavenly Emperor to oblivion, disappearing completely from this world.

The Great Shang had sacrificed all their national experts, who vanished with their kingdom into oblivion, just to ensure that not even the name of a Heavenly God survived.

No name of the Xuánmén Heavenly God was passed down, and likewise, none of the Great Shang experts had their names preserved. Many years ago, when Jiang Chen was younger, he had suspected that the history of the Great Shang was deliberately obscured.

But in reality, nobody had hidden the history of the Great Shang; instead, it was the history of those experts that was erased due to their self-sacrifice, enriching the enigmatic aspect of the Great Shang’s history, making it filled with irregularities.

"Is the Great Shang treasury really going to reappear?"

"Perhaps, it is the shift in the Human Race’s fate that has precipitated its emergence, but that’s not certain."

At the very thought of the Great Shang treasury, Jiang Chen’s heart was filled with longing, even more so than for the First Emperor’s treasury.

The establishment of the Qin Dynasty gained momentum from inheriting some of the legacies of the Great Shang, which ultimately led to the rise of Great Qin.

However, what the Qin Dynasty obtained from the Shang Dynasty’s legacies wasn’t even worth mentioning compared to the treasures of the Shang Dynasty’s treasury.

Though the Shang Dynasty fell completely due to the Battle Against Heaven, there were still many valuable items within its treasury.

Such as the Jian Mu that reached the heavens!

Initially, to storm the Heaven Court, the Great Shang specifically acquired the main trunk of Jian Mu, nurturing it into a towering Innate spiritual wood that pierced through both the realms of heaven and man.

Because the Jian Mu linked the realms of heaven and man, the Great Shang managed to channel Human Race’s fate into the Heaven Court, successfully suppressing the fate of Heaven Court and thwarting the strongest strategy of the Heavenly God.

Otherwise, with the heavenly fate enhancing him, the Xuánmén Heavenly God would have at least unleashed power comparable to a Daluo Jinxian of the Primordial, and how would the experts of the Great Shang ever contend with him?

The major purpose of the Jian Mu bridging the heavenly and human realms was not to send Great Shang’s experts to heaven but to send the Human Race’s fate to restrain the Heaven Court’s fate.

At its peak, Jian Mu was one of the Ten Great Prehistoric Spirit Roots of the Primordial Era, its power comparable to an Innate Treasure. Though the Jian Mu nurtured by the Great Shang wasn’t as potent as an Innate Treasure, it matched the best of the Innate Spiritual Treasures, and even the supreme ones.

This Jian Mu was one of the foundational pillars of the Great Shang, with at least half of its prosperity due to this tree.

Jian Mu, as an innate wood attribute spirit wood, contained rich innate vitality. As is widely recognized, the practice of Ancient Martial Arts involved burning one’s own vitality.

Control over the Jian Mu meant access to an uninterrupted source of vitality, effectively compensating for the flaw in Ancient Martial Arts. Thus, during the era of Shang, Ancient Martial Arts were exceptionally prosperous.

If Jiang Chen could obtain this tree, he could revive and promote the glory of Ancient Martial Arts once again.

The Tiandi hairpin resonated with the Great Shang treasury precisely because of the Jian Mu, as the Tiandi hairpin had once absorbed an Innate Jian Mu to ascend. Due to this event, a connection was formed, allowing for mutual resonance.

Beyond Jian Mu, there are many treasures stored in the Great Shang treasury, such as the wills left behind by the fallen Ancient Martial Artists.

After the fall of an Ancient Martial Artist, though the body perishes, the martial will endures, still capable of fighting for the Human Race. Once revived, they could unleash at least sixty percent of their former power and, if fully transcended, even match their peak lifetime strength.

However, doing so comes at a great cost, as the martial will would completely dissipate after such an exertion, eliminating any possibility of its reappearance. Thus, unless in a life or death crisis, the martial will would not fully transcend.

The Great Shang survived for one million years, amassing countless martial wills, all sealed within the Great Shang treasury.

This is the foundation of the Great Shang, and the treasure they left for the Human Race.

In those years, when Zhou Dynasty overthrew Shang, if Shang had utilized these foundations, their defeat might not have been assured, and even if they had lost, Zhou would have won only at a great cost.

But since Ancient Martial Arts were developed to protect the Human Race, how could they be used to deplete the Human Race’s strength through internal strife? Hence, even in the face of annihilation, these martial wills did not reawaken, only springing to life during external invasions.

Of course, there were other reasons why the Great Shang did not deploy these resources.

After Wu Ding campaigned against heaven, he knew the fate of the Great Shang was sealed, beyond redemption. Thus, he concealed the existence of the Great Shang treasury and never disclosed its existence to his successors.