Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 1045 - 757 Ancestor of Soldiers!_2

Chapter 1045: 757 Ancestor of Soldiers!_2

Indeed, Jiang Ziya had indeed perished, and it was in a manner that he could not be resurrected, a fact that the Jiang Family had already confirmed, which was why Jiang Chen felt it strange.

"Ah, the secrets of this world are indeed too numerous," Jiang Chen couldn’t help but sigh on the way.

The death of Jiang Ziya was a mystery, and so was the death of King Wen.

If Jiang Ziya was considered a strong practitioner of Martial Dao, then King Wen was not inferior either, having devised the Later Heaven Eight Diagrams from the Innate Eight Diagrams in his interpretation of the Yi Jing, recognized as a great master of divination in his era, his talents unquestionably high.

However, just like Jiang Ziya, he too had perished, dying in an inexplicably bizarre manner.

Both men, one in literature and one in martial arts, were unparalleled geniuses of the Human Race, yet both had mysteriously perished one after the other, the impact on the Human Race was imaginable.

Afterward, the upper echelons of the Human Race had secretly investigated the cause of their deaths but had come up with no results. Or perhaps they had discovered something but it was not suitable to disclose to outsiders.

"The Investiture of the Gods, the Martial Zhou replacing Great Shang, from the moment he murdered the Heavenly Emperor, the fate of Great Shang was sealed, doomed to destruction, irreversibly," he muttered.

"But the issue lies in why Zhou ended up replacing Great Shang," he pondered.

There’s nothing much to be said about the fate of Great Shang; having killed the Heavenly Emperor, no one could protect him, not even the Saints.

But at the end of Ancient Times, there were countless feudal lords under Heaven, nearly all of whom bore the Xuanyuan bloodline and were qualified to succeed Great Shang, not just the Ji Family.

Yet in the end, it was the Ji Family who gained the full support of the Chan Teaching—clearly, there was an issue there.

Moreover, for Martial Zhou to replace Great Shang, that was a Heavenly mandate. Even given the Heavenly mandate, King Wen should not have perished, and King Wu should not have died young.

The deaths of both men were fraught with strangeness at every turn.

To perish even whilst upholding a Heavenly mandate—wasn’t this akin to slapping the face of Heavenly Dao?

"We’ve arrived!"

As Jiang Chen pondered the secrets involved, Ziya’s mausoleum had already appeared before him.

Though said to be in the state of Qi, it actually wasn’t on the land of Qi but hidden within a void, detectable only by those of Jiang bloodline.

As soon as Jiang Chen reached this place, the blood within him began to boil, and then, an immense force surged forth, abruptly opening a void and revealing a gigantic portal.

This was the entrance to Ziya’s mausoleum!

There was no guard at the entrance, as it wasn’t necessary; filled with multitudinous prohibitions, only prodigies of shocking talent could reach the end of this tomb.

Though called a mausoleum, in reality, it was a place specially left by Jiang Ziya after his fall to select his successor. Apart from disciples of the Jiang Family who could come here anytime, this place would open once every thousand years, and at those times, anyone born of the Human Race could enter.

All of Jiang Ziya’s legacy was contained within, coveted by millions in the Human Race; whenever Ziya’s mausoleum emerged, countless members of the Human Race would undoubtedly rush here.

Yet, over tens of thousands of years, no one had passed the tests and obtained the inheritance within.

The tests left behind in Ziya’s mausoleum were extremely challenging, related not to power but to innate talent; only individuals of exceptional brilliance could succeed. If one’s talents were insufficient, even possessing the cultivation of a Innate Dao Sovereign, they could not pass the trials within.

In the history of Ziya’s mausoleum’s opening, although Innate Dao Sovereigns had appeared, without exception, none had passed the tests and had been expelled.

Of course, there were also attempts by foreign Quasi-Saints to destroy Ziya’s mausoleum and take away the martial saint inheritance. Unfortunately, regardless of how the Quasi-Saint attacked, they could not disturb this place. In the end, several strong Human Race cultivators were alerted and joined forces to vanquish the foreign Quasi-Saint.

The martial saint inheritance was Jiang Ziya’s life’s work, encapsulating all his wisdom, reputedly with the power to elevate someone to the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign in the briefest time.

This wasn’t just talk, but fact.

The speed of Jiang Ziya’s cultivation was very fast; though not as quick as Jiang Chen, he too reached the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign in an incredibly short duration.

According to legends, the reason for Jiang Ziya’s swift cultivation was linked to his secretive methods of martial arts.

Some say this method could capture others’ vitality to strengthen oneself. Others claim that of the vitality cultivated by the soldiers under Jiang Ziya, only ninety percent remained with them, the remaining ten percent had to be offered up to Jiang Ziya.

With more than a million soldiers under his command, it was under the nourishment of so many soldiers that Jiang Ziya was able to rapidly ascend to the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign.

It is unknown how such rumors started; they sound implausible, yet many within Heaven and Earth believed them, not to mention ordinary cultivators, even some Quasi-Saint powerhouses held undoubting faith in them.

One can only say that Jiang Ziya left such a deep impression on the world that even baseless accusations attached to him would automatically be rationalized by people.

...

...

"Is it only for the amazingly talented that this path is meant? Is this especially prepared for me?" Looking at the portal that suddenly appeared in the void, Jiang Chen’s eyes were filled with confidence.

If it was about being astoundingly talented, who else could it be but him? In the vast Chaos World, how many could stand shoulder to shoulder with him? In just a few centuries, he had achieved the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign, even strategized the destruction of Spiritual Mountain, turning thousands of Buddhas into false ones.

The things he had done in recent years could not merely be described as amazingly talented. It is not an exaggeration to say that even a reborn Jiang Ziya might not match up to him.

Thus, he was confident that he could obtain the military ancestor’s legacy. The reason Jiang Xuan sent him here was also because of this belief, considering that he would surely pass the tests left by Jiang Ziya.

"My current strength surely surpasses that of the Saint of War back then, however, I also have a premonition that his legacy will be of great use to me."

Although Jiang Chen’s strength now surpassed Jiang Ziya, he did not harbor any sense of contempt toward him.

His surpassing Jiang Ziya was not because he had greater aptitude, but because Jiang Ziya had fallen, no longer able to grow stronger. His ceiling was set while he could continuously progress, which was the main reason he had surpassed Jiang Ziya.

In Jiang Chen’s heart, his admiration for Jiang Ziya was immense. As one knows one’s own family affairs, his achievements today largely stemmed from memories of a previous life that broadened his perspective, enabling him to perform extraordinary deeds.

On the other hand, Jiang Ziya was a true creator of something from nothing, establishing military doctrines that affected the major trends of Heaven and Earth. Moreover, his rapid ascension to the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign in the conditions of the late Ancient Times had already proven his extraordinary nature.

Jiang Chen’s rapid cultivation was not because he was so outstanding, but because he had obtained enough opportune chances, like the corpses of nine Golden Crows, various Innate Original Sources...

Each was an incredibly rare opportunity, desired by others but unattainable. Were it not for these, how could Jiang Chen rise so quickly and swiftly achieve the realm of Innate Dao Sovereign within a mere century?

Jiang Chen was like one who had cheated, but what about Jiang Ziya? Had he also cheated? The suspicion that he had a rapid cultivation method just shows how fast his cultivation speed was.

"Whimsical!

The closer he got to the portal in the void, the faster Jiang Chen’s heartbeat became. Such a phenomenon of increased heart rate should not occur in him, yet it happened.

This was whimsical, signifying that ahead there was a treasure greatly beneficial to him, hence triggering these physical anomalies.

Jiang Chen’s spiritual perception was already powerful, and after becoming Human King, his spiritual perception was further enhanced. Additionally, with his cultivation of the Eight Diagrams path, his spiritual perception was extremely close to the realm of utmost sincerity.

The Path of Utmost Sincerity can foresee.

With a heart of utmost sincerity, one could know all of the future.

Although Jiang Chen hadn’t yet reached the realm of utmost sincerity, he was very close, not able to know all of future events, yet he could sense fortunes and misfortunes.

Whenever something was beneficial to him, his emotions would suddenly become excited and thrilled. Whenever something was adverse, he would feel his heart race and panic.

Now, his emotions were extremely excited, precisely indicating that inside Ziya’s mausoleum, there was a treasure that could aid him.

The stronger the reaction, the greater the benefits.

Now that his heartbeat was uncontrollably speeding up, it showed how strong the reaction was, thus it could be foreseen that the treasure inside Ziya’s mausoleum was extremely important to him.

"What could it be?"

With expectations in his heart, Jiang Chen stepped into the portal.