A new world begins.
Rebellion against Shang?
Could it be the Yinn Shang Myth?
If that's truly the case, then the matter Hou Yi spoke of should relate to this mythological story.
"The deities of Yinn Shang are the enemies of this story's world."
Song Lin mused.
In the literature of the previous life, Yinn Shang was generally depicted positively. If they were truly transported to the Shang era, they'd probably be frightened out of their wits.
The rchants referred to themselves as the Great City Shang. The Shang era was a slave-based society comprised of the royal aristocracy and enslaved commoners. The people of Shang loved conducting rituals—for ordinary events such as building houses or holding banquets, they'd often sacrifice a few slaves for entertainnt.
Rituals were the foremost priority of the Shang Dynasty. Sotis, wars were waged specifically to capture people to use as sacrificial slaves.
Besides slaves, even minor low-ranking nobles could end up as burial sacrifices.
The recorded thods of human sacrifice numbered in the dozens—so had their heads chopped off, others had their abdons split open and hung from beams, while so had their heads placed inside tripods.
Myth has it that King Zhou made at pies out of King Wen of Zhou's son. Such tales are not without rit, as the Shang Dynasty indeed had customs involving human sacrifice and sotis even cannibalism, with raw consumption in so instances.
In later generations, Duke Jin visited the Yinn Shang remnants in the Song Country to observe their rites and was so terrified that he fell ill.
The re depiction of Yinn Shang customs could form the basis of a chilling story.
Although the Ancient Tis were broadly similar, the Zhou Dynasty was at least sowhat brighter than the Shang Dynasty. While human sacrifices still occurred, they lacked so of the Shang's horrifying punishnts.
Thus, this dynasty's practices clashed with Song Lin's principles. The Six Heavenly Old Qi already dominated it entirely.
If that was the state of the dynasty, the divine entities of Yinn Shang were even more so opposed—innately adversarial to Song Lin's presence.
"Better go in first. Wait, sothing's off!"
Song Lin suddenly noticed so inconsistencies in the information on the panel.
It turned out to be true body transmigration?
In previous physical body crossings, it wasn't the true body but rather a new physical body ford from the bulk of one's essence blood.
When that body was destroyed, his real self in the Real World wouldn't die, although he'd be severely depleted in Primordial Energy.
Closing his eyes to sense for a mont, Song Lin confird that this body was indeed his true self.
Once his body crossed over, there would no longer be any secondary body in the Real World.
As for the issue of death, there was no need to elaborate—this ti, death truly ant death.
Of course, true body transmigration wasn't without its benefits either.
The first was the issue of ti flow. It was equivalent to gaining thirty tis more ti for cultivation; in the Real World, the Demon Tribulation might span two hundred years, while in this world that would equate to six thousand years.
Six thousand years would be enough for him to comprehend nurous aspects of the Great Dao.
This would give him greater confidence in facing the Demon Tribulation in the future.
Song Lin made up his mind to enter the story world.
An arrow launched could not be withdrawn; there was no way to skip this world by rely committing suicide.
With a dizzying sensation, the world spun.
Song Lin opened his eyes to find himself in a dimly lit room made mostly of wood, with a stone slab floor and beams engraved with strange patterns.
The overall decor was modest, the structure ordinary, but the house appeared quite spacious.
anwhile, unfamiliar mories surged into Song Lin's head.
In this world, his na was also Lin, and he was a minor slave master in the Song Yi territory. Originally, Song Lin had an elder brother whom Emperor Yi greatly admired, assigning him to be a burial sacrifice for the previous king. Thus, the position passed onto Song Lin.
"Get out here! Still sleeping?"
At that mont, a middle-aged man dressed in a white robe and turban barked angrily.
The rchants revered the color white, and their attire mostly featured white as the dominant the, adorned with occasional patterns.
"Yes, I'll co out at once."
Song Lin donned his attire, fastening a circular-patterned white turban over his head, and exited alongside the man.
On the way, he probed the man for information. It turned out the king was dead, and they were attending the king's funeral.
The deceased king was Emperor Yi, who had ruled for three hundred years. Now lauded as "Emperor in Heaven," it signified his death.
As the supre lord of the realm, his funeral was naturally one of ultimate grandeur.
Before long, they rged into a crowd, all dressed in white garnts and white crowns, wearing their most formal attire.
Song Lin and the nearby Lin Zi occupied roles as "Ministers" of the ranks like "Yin," "Ya," and "Shi," signifying interdiate status, hence their position towards the rear of the procession.
Farther ahead were the vassals, kingdom ministers, Three Dukes, and Pri Ministers.
In front of them all was a pure-gold coffin.
Ahead lay Emperor Yi's tomb. The procession halted at the tomb's entrance as the coffin-bearers descended into the burial chamber.
Staring at the sea of white-clad mourners, Song Lin pondered, "Could it be that the modern custom of wearing white for funerals originated from this?"
Among the crowd, soone near the front left a deep impression on him—a burly figure with a thick beard, golden light in his eyes, exuding a refined and divine aura through his deanor.
This man was incredibly powerful, as were the guards surrounding him.
If he guessed correctly, this should be none other than Zishou, also known as King Zhou.
At that mont, a commotion erupted nearby.
The army was escorting a group of freshly cleansed, naked slaves, including children, won, and mostly brawny captives.
The group numbered roughly five thousand people.
Soon, the mass burial began. So had their feet severed, others were slain for their flesh.
With wizards chanting prayers, the atmosphere grew extraordinarily grim and macabre.
Beyond slaves, nobles also perford burial sacrifices. Unlike slaves, the nobles were viewed as attendants to journey with the departed king to beco deities.
Their flesh would be distributed to their families, who partook in consuming it, believing it to invite blessings from the Heavenly Gods.
"Perhaps King Zhou's act of feeding Bo Yikao's at pie to King Wen was ant as a reward in the eyes of the rchants back then. Difficult to comprehend," Song Lin thought to himself.
"The King of Shang is a divine king of the mortal world, 'God' in the heavens, and 'Lower Emperor' of the underworld—this is the hallmark of Yinn Shang Myth."
As the rituals progressed, Song Lin felt an overwhelming will descending from the heavens—majestic, profound, and tinged with a blood-soaked terror. This must be the will of soone at Harmonization Perfection.
At the sa ti, the blood aura of thousands of sacrifices converged into one.
Whoosh!
A fierce wind swept through.
A mighty will surged to the skies.
Aside from a minuscule few, most people present did not perceive this occurrence.
The previous king was gone, and Emperor Yi had ascended to the throne.
Contrary to historical accounts of him as an incompetent ruler, Emperor Yi displayed remarkable skill—showing reverence to the forr king, honoring the gods, and generously rewarding loyal officials. Even Song Lin received a string of shells as a reward.
From then on, everything proceeded as expected.
The departnt Song Lin belonged to was responsible for preparing als for the Emperor. Their workload was generally light.
All major nobles of Yinn Shang possessed unique abilities, their cultivation naturally strong, requiring no effort to grow stronger as their power increased with age.
This was the blessing of ancestral legacy, which was why the rchants frequently conducted high-standard rituals to honor their ancestors.
"It's better not to act recklessly. First, I'll investigate the situation in detail," Song Lin resolved.
Yinn Shang housed countless formidable cultivators, with the Three Dukes all at Harmonization, and King Zhou likely at the peak of Harmonization, on par with himself.
Since it was true body transmigration, he had no choice but to be cautious.
Three years went by.
Song Lin had served in the Shang Court for three years.
Lin Zi died after items went missing in the palace, and suspicion fell on him. A wizard brought forth a sheep, said to carry the bloodline of the Divine Beast Xiezhi, capable of distinguishing right from wrong.
The sheep gave a slight nod, and just like that, Lin Zi was executed.
Song Lin found it utterly ridiculous. "At least use a real Divine Beast—this is clearly just an ordinary sheep."
It made him realize this was little more than a stagnant cesspool. In a slave society without codified laws, the so-called Heavenly Gods wielded power but lacked any desire to develop the mortal world.
Once, when Song Lin proposed diversifying the food given its simplicity, he was sternly reprimanded by the Departnt of Food Supplies for recklessly dishonoring ancestral practices, which could provoke divine wrath.
Another year ca and went.
Due to his impeccable conduct, Song Lin was appointed Fish Master, tasked with fish farming. He managed eight boys and twenty slaves, far removed from the royal court's nucleus.
This hardly mattered to him, as he never intended to stay long. One day, he would leave Chaoge, find a suitable place, and raise an army to overthrow Shang.
The causal lesson from this world's title was clear—it was about the crusade against Yinn Shang.
One day by the fish pond, a young man appeared holding a fishing rod, fishing leisurely with a serene expression.
Hearing Song Lin's footsteps, the man suddenly rose.
"This pond has an owner," Song Lin remarked with a smile. The person before him was quite unusual, lacking any blood-stained hostility.
"My apologies, my apologies, I truly didn't know."
"It's alright. Ignorance is no cri. And you are?"
"I am Ji Dan."
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