Chapter 106: Divine Palace 4K – Please Subscribe

"What exactly is inside Tongtian City? Why not just them—why did you, Zi Yuan, also encourage me to come here back then?"

Following the group onward, Wang Wu asked curiously.

This is something he has never understood.

"There's a lot, and it's hard for me to explain everything to you, Wu Lang," Zi Yuan said, "but perhaps those things mean nothing to you, Wu Lang, since you are a Heavenly Demon and naturally disdain many things."

"But for these later generations, those rewards that the ancient Great Shang offered to the Heavenly Court are absolutely impossible to replicate with their current power."

"What, the older the stronger—ancient alien technology, how insane," Wang Wu retorted.

"Um, Wu Lang, what does that mean?" Zi Yuan asked, a bit puzzled.

"It's not a compliment; it's an insult. Just don't copy it."

"Oh…"

The area they had just passed was the outer district of Tongtian City, where people of lower status lived.

Of course, being adjacent to the central district, the residents here are still somewhat more noble than those on the far outskirts.

The Great Shang Dynasty is a strictly hierarchical society; even after the Son of Heaven dies, he remains the Son of Heaven, and a slave remains a slave. The three‑six‑nine classes of people are clearly delineated.

Moreover, in this regard, his successor Da Zhou surpasses even the original, outshining it.

Since everyone remained silent, Wang Wu grew a bit bored. The party soon entered the central district, the largest area of Tongtian City.

From here onward, Wang Wu and the others saw more things on the road, and they were also stranger.

Here, customs that have lasted ten thousand years still continue, though the sacrificial offerings have long changed their target, and their prayers receive no response.

Looking at the blood‑splattered altar and the bodies of humans cut open, a question suddenly sprang to Wang Wu's mind:

Does that Heavenly Court, and the demon gods within it, still exist today?

Wang Wu thought they probably do. When the Yin people first began to worship them, the civilization called the Heavenly Court had already perished, and its former followers were reduced to the civilization known as the Star People.

Yet even so, the dead, corpse‑turned‑demonic Heavenly Court still protects the Great Shang Dynasty, granting it ten thousand years of prosperity, albeit built on countless bones, wails, and despair.

And the ultimate downfall of this empire does not seem to be because of the Heavenly Court.

At least during the final grand sacrifice, the Heavenly Court still bestowed blessings upon the dying dynasty, ushering in its last era of reflected glory.

Even the greatest dynasty meets its end someday; even the Heavenly Court, does it not also face its own celestial decline?

Is that truly the god of this universe? Wang Wu does not know, and it does not matter.

"Sigh, damn it, we can't talk, just trudging here in silence—so boring," Wang Wu muttered, glancing around while chatting with the girls in the fortress to pass the time.

"I think I know where Si Tu Jin is headed."

At that moment, Zi Yuan said to Wang Wu.

"Where?" Wang Wu asked curiously.

"The Divine Palace District of the Great Shamans," Zi Yuan replied. "Tongtian City is not ruled by my royal house; the shamans are the true masters here. There may still be the Great Shamans' starships docked there, if they remain."

"And the various spiritual artifacts and treasures granted by the Heavenly Court—those are probably most abundant there."

Wang Wu was not interested in the treasures within Tongtian City; his attention was now entirely on the oddly shaped 'human' bodies in the central district.

Honestly, ever since entering, Wang Wu had been curious; Si Hun Shan is famed as a Demon Realm, and Tongtian City is a Demon Realm within a Demon Realm. Yet so far, Wang Wu has not seen any true 'demon' in the city.

In Wang Wu's view, these things seem closer to another kind—'bizarre', or perhaps ghosts.

But indeed, they carry a hint of demonic nature; you can't say they are entirely without it.

Nevertheless, they are truly bizarre.

"Are these things really demons?"

Wang Wu withdrew his gaze from a passing altar and asked Zi Yuan.

"I don't know either, Wu Lang. But they do look extremely bizarre," Zi Yuan agreed, "Perhaps since Da Zhou introduced that so‑called True Dao, some of the old things have changed."

Aside from the 'tangible' people, the city is filled with countless shadowy phantoms.

These phantoms are the flickering human silhouettes Wang Wu first saw from afar when he first entered Si Hun Shan.

Some are imprinted on the ground, others projected onto walls, but they all require a supporting object and cannot appear from nothing.

They're like shadows of people, yet you cannot see the owners of those shadows.

From their movements, they seem to repeat past events over and over.

On the wall, one silhouette thrusts a sword into another's chest; on the ground, a silhouette kneels as if praying to the sky.

But the next second, an axe blade falls, his head drops with a thud, and blood gushes from his neck like a fountain.

Besides these moving ones, there are countless static silhouettes, imprinted on the ground and walls in myriad poses.

Like the shadows left behind by people vaporized in a nuclear blast.

Under Si Tu Jin's lead, the party navigated the new area with practiced ease.

Like a longtime resident, Si Tu Jin moved deftly through the city, winding around obstacles and avoiding them before Zi Yuan could even point them out, then turning toward another spot.

'Ding—'

The group kept moving forward, everyone remaining silent, no one speaking.

Yet a crisp bell rang as they entered a new area, sounding in everyone's ears.

'Ding—'

About five seconds after the first chime, a second one followed.

'Ding—'

Thereafter, a crisp bell sounded every five seconds. After five rings, the sound paused for about thirty seconds.

At that moment, the party also halted until the next bell rang.

'Ding—'

The bell rang again, and the group continued onward.

The place seemed to be a park; Wang Wu never imagined seeing a city park in a city drawn in an ancient Chinese style.

Places like this, he thought, would only exist in the gardens of rich households; at least He Dong Xian is like that.

You won't see much green in the city, except for the lush gardens of the rich mansions.

Merchants seem to love jade, and after circling the city a great deal, seeing countless things, Wang Wu saw the most jade.

All sorts of jade.

Massive jade pillars carved with thunder‑cloud or beast‑face patterns, as well as countless demon generals, demon bodies, and even human statues.

Among them was a statue of Zi Yuan, identical to how Zi Yuan looks now.

It can only be said that fortunately Wang Wu never let Zi Yuan appear before anyone else, except Zhao Xingyue. Otherwise, it could have brought him serious trouble.

When they entered the deep part of the park, the group stopped again.

Clearly the bell was still in the five short‑interval phase, with two short intervals left before it ended. Yet Si Tu Jin raised her hand again, signaling everyone to halt.

Wang Wu was chatting with the girls in his mind, his attention not on the real world, until Yao Qing grabbed him and he stopped.

Then he looked ahead, and Wang Wu froze for a moment.

Because a person was standing ahead, watching them.

Wang Wu hadn't paid attention to it, because in his view, Si Tu Jin had been calm and composed since she entered, handling everything in the city with ease.

But now, on her delicate nape, Wang Wu saw fine beads of sweat.

"You…"

"Who are you?"

It was a person, not quite normal, because none of his skin was intact; his body was ragged, constantly oozing blood that stained the witch‑bound robe he wore.

But he was also quite normal, for he could speak and clearly possessed reason.

From the way his exposed eyeball moved at that moment, he was even still thinking.

"That is a witch," Zi Yuan's voice sounded again.

"Do you recognize it?" Wang Wu asked.

"I don't know; there are many witches, I only know the Great Witches."

One can only say that the elite truly are like that, even though a witch's status is already quite noble.

But for Zi Yuan, a princess so favored and of lofty status, a witch is merely a minor figure.

Immediately, the witch seemed to notice the hairpin on Wang Wu's head; his pupils narrowed instantly. He opened his rotting mouth, pointing at Wang Wu, as if about to say something.

But Wang Wu didn't hear his voice, because the moment he opened his mouth, a pillar of light shot down from the sky, enveloping him.

Then his body began to vaporize and melt at a breakneck speed, eventually turning completely into a pool of filthy blood on the ground.

He looked up and saw that the flying shuttle had been trailing above the sky all along; wherever they went, the shuttle followed.

Moreover, judging from the expressions on the people nearby, even those few void‑cultivators, including Li Shangxuan, had never noticed that the ship was still hovering over everyone's heads.

After that, several dozen seconds passed, and when the first short‑interval bell rang, Si Tu Jin lowered her hand.

The group moved forward again, rushing through the garden.

"The priests possess many treasures obtained from the Heavenly Court, and some items even our royal family is unaware of," Zi Yuan continued whispering into Wang Wu's ear.

"That witch—I just saw a jade pendant on his clothing; it should be the bloodline of the fallen Great Witch."

"So that's why he can still be alive?" Wang Wu turned his head, looking at the pool of filthy blood, and asked.

"Yes. But he must have just awakened; otherwise he would have either been corrupted now or dead, turning into one of those things."

At this moment, ahead of the group, recalling the Yin person they had just met. Yes, it truly was a "person".

Si Tu Jin felt her whole body trembling, not from fear but from excitement.

Seeing a living person here shows that within the Great Witches' Divine Palace District, there must be a great abundance of exotic treasures.

Is it for longevity? Or disaster avoidance? Or something else? Si Tu Jin didn't know, but she was now extremely excited.

Undoubtedly, if she could acquire all those exotic treasures from the Divine Palace District, plus that witch ship, it would greatly boost the power of the Si Tu family.

Likewise, her standing in Nan Zhou would unquestionably become more solid.

A few days ago, a secret letter from Emperor Zhou arrived from Haojing, along with the Emperor's expression of goodwill toward the Si Tu family in Nan Zhou.

Recalling what his father had told him and thinking of the Emperor's promise in the letter—"if the two families become friendly, I will certainly make Si Tu Jin his consort"—Si Tu Jin couldn't help but sneer.

In this Si Hun Shan operation, Emperor Zhou also gave the Si Tu family many aids, such as crucial intelligence even the Si Tu family didn't know, and certain magical artifacts.

There was also an imperial token sent especially to help the Si Tu family obtain the Wu Geng meat person from the Qing Ping Sect more smoothly.

But just as the Emperor intended to unite other domestic forces to challenge the Jiang family, which had controlled the upper echelons of the Zhou dynasty for years, the old Yin faction in Nan Zhou—these Yin‑Shang nobles—had long plotted against the Great Zhou.

Emperor Zhou probably knew this, so most of the promises he mentioned were merely "let them remain loyal to the Zhou royal house," without revealing much else.

As for the previously expressed goodwill, the intelligence, and the imperial token, they were indeed somewhat useful, but that was all.

All six noble families of Nan Zhou were courted by the Emperor, but he probably also knew the Yin were unreliable, so he only gave them this hint without revealing his true plan.

However, Ji Gong Sheng was clearly not suited for political scheming—perhaps he had some ideas, but his strength was lacking.

Why he courted Nan Zhou's ruling class was obvious even without explanation.

In recent years, the conflict of interests between Emperor Zhou and the Jiang family has grown, and although Ji Gong Sheng lacks ability, he does have ambition.

Next year, when the royal army attacks Shen Zhou, they may not rally a hundred calls, but at least they should not take the opportunity to cause trouble. That's the calculation Emperor Zhou is making, and everyone can guess it.

And the Si Tu family, as the Emperor's long‑standing loyal Yin vassals, naturally became a primary target for courting.

Therefore, the benefits and promises had to be greater, and more information disclosed.

All the goodwill was meant to court them, while differentiated treatment was naturally to divide.

And that fool indeed acted that way; in the letters to the other families, there were more or less some open praise and subtle slander of other clans, as well as incitement.

At this moment, the party kept moving through the Central City District, reaching the edge near the Core District.

And here is precisely where the Great Witches of the Shang Dynasty reside within Tong Tian City's Divine Palace District.

Having arrived smoothly, he gazed at the magnificent palace complex and the extremely conspicuous white warship that could be spotted at a glance. Si Tu Jin's joy at that moment overflowed into words.

Not just her, most of the cultivators present also smiled with delight upon seeing that conspicuous starship.

The moment they saw this starship, everyone realized that the good things in this place would be far more than just that one.

Si Tu Jin's body trembled as he took a step forward, formally entering the range of the Divine Palace area.

But at that moment, Wang Wu, who had been following behind, felt an inexplicable sudden jolt in his heart.

He lifted his head, and his pupils instantly dilated.

"Stop!!!!!"

He immediately shouted.

But unfortunately, that foot had already stepped onto the ground.

(End of chapter)