Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me
Chapter 879 - 675 King Wen and King Wu, one for culture and the other for martial valor

Chapter 879: 675 King Wen and King Wu, one for culture and the other for martial valor

The problem facing the Human Race was clear, they lacked a unified sovereign power and a responsible leader.

The saying, "When the forest lacks a tiger, a monkey will proclaim itself king," aptly described the current situation of the Human Race.

At this time, should a Human King emerge, sweeping away all before him, then all the demons and ghosts within the Human Race would vanish without a trace. The Human Race would once again display the majesty of the principal force between Heaven and Earth, awe-inspiring all races, with none daring to offend.

A unified sovereign power would be more conducive to the rule of the Human Race. Take the masters of the Law Palace, for example. The reason they were so arrogant was precisely because, with no Human King and none to suppress them from above, they dared to stir up trouble within the Human Race.

Since Ancient Times, after the fall of King Yu, his son Xia Qi appeared out of nowhere and founded the Great Xia Dynasty, transforming the world from a public realm to a familial one.

From then on, the authority of the Human King weakened day by day, to the point where, later on, the lords of dynasties couldn’t even consolidate the position of Human King.

After King Yu, only three Human Kings appeared among the Human Race, namely the progenitor of Great Xia, Xia Qi, the ancestor of the Shang Dynasty, Shang Tang, and First Emperor Ying Zheng.

Apart from these three, only King Wen of Zhou and King Wu of Zhou came closest to the Human King, yet sadly, both fell before reaching that position, mysteriously perishing.

The absence of a Human King for many years led to the concept gradually becoming a legend.

The various palaces of the Human Race were born during this time. Countless Human Race experts, under the pretense of managing the Human Race in place of the Human King, established many divine palaces, thereby seizing part of the power of the Human Race.

In essence, the emergence of the Human Race’s palaces was meant to replace the Human King.

To put it plainly, some of the Human Race’s experts desired a slice of power, but without the ability to become the Human King themselves. So they established divine palaces to grasp at the power of the Human Race.

If the Human King were alive, he could naturally have stopped them, but with no Human King for many years, these experts became the upper echelon of the Human Race. Who could oppose their will?

...

...

"Alas, due to King Wu’s war against Heaven, our war faction of the Human Race came under suppression from various forces and gradually lost its voice within the Human Race."

"This is what led to powers like the Law Palace gaining the upper hand, advocating a strategy of hiding our capabilities and biding our time, causing the dignity of the Human Race to diminish by the day, slipping away daily."

In the void, that aged voice sighed, its tone full of helplessness.

The most powerful faction within the Human Race had always been the war faction, a situation that had continued up until the late Shang Dynasty, during the era of King Wu.

Then the Battle Against Heaven erupted, and although the Shang Dynasty emerged victorious, they paid a terrible price for it. And the war faction, which had always been extremely dominant within the Human Race, suffered heavy losses.

Today, Jiang Chen’s status had already changed dramatically, becoming even more honorable, and having entered the upper echelons of the Human Race, he was finally qualified to know the hidden secrets of that year.

When the Shang Dynasty was passed down to Emperor Wu Ding, a tremendous event had taken place in the Prehistoric World. The Northern Heavenly Emperor among the Five Elemental Heavenly Emperors, Black Emperor Zhuan Xu, had completed his term and announced his abdication.

At that time, Jade Emperor Haotian had not yet returned to his position, still in the throes of his tribulation. Therefore, the one to succeed the Heavenly Emperor’s throne was not Haotian, but a Great Divine Transcendent from the Mystic Sect.

That person’s name and origins were impossible to investigate, for all records about him had been eradicated by the Great Shang Dynasty with the full force of the nation, ensuring "he" vanished completely from this world.

In any case, this Heavenly Emperor died miserably, leaving nothing behind, not even his name.

The Five Elemental Heavenly Emperors were those among the Human Race who had ascended to the throne of Heavenly Emperor, and Black Emperor Zhuan Xu was the last of the Human Race to hold that title. His abdication also marked the official end of the era of the Human Race’s rule over gods and mortals.

At that time, the Human Race, at the peak of its power, was naturally very dissatisfied. Many experts clamored to overthrow the new Heavenly Emperor and support Di Ku, one of the Five Emperors, to ascend.

However, unexpectedly, before the Human Race could act against the new Heavenly Emperor, the new Heavenly Emperor could not wait to make a move against the Human Race.

He decreed to the Human Race, demanding they respect him as Emperor, serve him as Lord, heed his commands, fight against myriad races on his behalf, and unite the Prehistoric World in order to consolidate the Fate of Heaven and Earth.

How could the Human Race possible comply with this decree? And so, hostilities between the two parties broke out, starting a period in which the Human Race no longer venerated the Heavenly Emperor.

This event in history is known as the heavenly discord.

The Heavenly Emperor had good intentions; he wanted the Human Race to become his sword, to wage wars on his behalf, thus consolidating the Fate of Heaven and Earth, emulating Di Jun, the Great Ancient Heavenly Emperor who achieved Tao through Fate.

At the time, with the Five Elemental Heavenly Emperors completing their cycle, the Fate of the Human Race reached its pinnacle, making even Saints wary. Then, the Five Saints joined forces, pressing down on the Human Race together and forcing the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to seclude themselves in the Fire Cloud Cave, never to emerge.

Without the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors, the Human Race was as good as lacking its greatest support. The new Heavenly Emperor, seeing this, thought he could manipulate the Human Race and hence issued that imperative decree.

Nonetheless, he still underestimated the Human Race. Already dissatisfied with him, upon seeing his decree, they grew even angrier. Not only did they tear up the imperial edict on the spot, but they also declared that the Human Race would no longer respect the Heavenly Emperor.

And thus, the discord between Heaven and the Human Race began.

Following the discord, the Heavenly Emperor frequently oppressed the Human Race, first by causing never-ending natural disasters, and then by manifesting ominous celestial phenomena to confound the people.

At that moment, Emperor Wu Ding of Great Shang, no longer able to tolerate it, retrieved the Human Race’s treasured Innate Heaven and Earth Great Array from the Ancestral Land, and using Jian Mu as a ladder, led his forces towards the Heaven Court, initiating the Battle Against Heaven.

This battle, while started by Emperor Wu Ding, had far-reaching implications; the entire Human Race was drawn into it. As a result, the main assaulting force on the Heaven Court was not the grand army of the Shang Dynasty but rather the war faction of the Human Race.