Tong Pass, above the boundless void.

Two golden suns clash in the emptiness.

Waves of golden Taiyang True Fire surge through the sky.

King Zhou stands bare-chested, his skin a deep gold. Strange patterns painted in blood adorn his face, golden phoenix earrings dangle from his ears, each transforming into blazing golden phoenixes, spewing out towering Fire Clouds.

An ancient, modest bronze mirror floats beside King Zhou.

With the mirror's aid, he commands the power of the sun to confront his enemy.

Opposite him, Song Lin's True Body roasts under the Phoenix Yang Fire. Calmly wielding the Ancient Green Candle Lamp, he counters his foe with composure.

The Heaven and Earth Xuan Sect locks down the air, stifling the flying swords, spears, sabers, and halberds around them.

As expected, King Zhou's cultivation defied all predictions. Though it fell slightly short of perfection, it exceeded true perfection in potency.

King Zhou practices the same Great Dao as Song Lin, yet withstands Song Lin's oppressive aura effortlessly.

The reason lies in the ancient bronze mirror.

This must be the national treasure of the Shang Dynasty; it allowed King Zhou to escape the control of the Innate Pure Yang Dao.

Boom!

Golden light erupts, the twin suns flicker.

The two combatants range over dozens of miles.

"Eastern King, I'll grant you one last chance: surrender, scatter your cultivation, and I shall crown you West Emperor. Forever preside over the West."

Two Mystic Birds circle around his figure.

"Dream on."

Song Lin sneers, splitting his form into twelve Avatars.

At the same time, a pitch-black river materializes out of nowhere.

The river stretches across ten thousand miles, its turbulent waters carrying faint echoes of endless wailing evil ghosts. Its essence churns with a terrifying purging force.

King Zhou gasps in astonishment.

This was a new Innate Dao—and this man wields two Innate Daos!

Yet what shocks King Zhou even more soon arrives: from the west, a golden light streaks toward them.

The piercing Innate Golden Qi stings his brow sharply.

The third Innate Dao—and it's the ancestral Cheng Tang's Dao.

As if that wasn't enough, the surrounding lands reveal changes invoking spring, summer, autumn, and winter.

The fourth Dao.

Witnessing this spectacle, King Zhou reels in terror.

He'd never imagined this to be possible.

This man's Taoist Realm surpasses King Zhou's wildest estimates; Zhou struggled to perfect just one Dao, while Song Lin had mastered four.

The gap between them is like an unbridgeable chasm.

The celestial phenomena accompanying Song Lin's Daos portray him as a creator of worlds.

Couple this with the Twelve Yuan Chen.

Boom!

King Zhou crumbles upon contact.

His dharma body detonates; the phoenixes plummet. He has no choice but to use the bronze mirror to block the attack, retreating miserably back to the Divine Court at Chaoge.

Song Lin watches him flee but refrains from pursuit, instead returning to aid his allies.

King Zhou's retreat as the vanguard sends ripples of panic through the ranks, demolishing their formation. The Shang forces crumble like a mountain avalanche.

The Nine-Tailed Chick commander hastily leads a retreat, leaving Wen Zhong alone to defend the Tong Pass city walls.

"Wen Zhong! Here I come!"

The Ghost Marquis charges on a Jiao-Dragon, his sword cleaving downward.

"Well met!"

Wen Zhong's Dark Qilin beneath him lets out a long cry.

Wen Zhong's third eye flares between his brows, immediately discerning flaws in the strike, and with swift hands, he swings his female and male dual whips, releasing a blast of black and white light.

The light transforms into two Divine Dragons—one black, one white.

Boom!

The move is broken, the formation crumbles.

The Ghost Marquis retreats.

Through multiple bouts of rotational warfare, Wen Zhong maintains his stronghold without wavering; the Tong Pass Array remains unmoved as a mountain.

Against all odds, Wen Zhong single-handedly preserves Tong Pass.

This heroic city, fortified through centuries of Shang labor, boasts layers of arrays harder than the shell of the Divine Turtle.

Tension builds among Song Lin's allies.

None expected Wen Zhong's dogged perseverance.

If they failed to conquer Tong Pass this round, the conflict would turn into a drawn-out siege. With Tong Pass's impenetrable strength, it would take decades to breach—how much manpower and resources would that demand?

As despair grips the group.

Song Lin descends from the sky.

He lands at the city gates.

Glaring at the stubborn Wen Zhong, Song Lin declares, "Surrender already! Emperor Xinn fled—why do you still resist?"

Wen Zhong remains silent, raising his whip for another strike.

"Blind loyalty—enough!"

Song Lin hurls the Heavenly Burial Coffin; Wen Zhong is sealed inside.

No matter how he struggles, Wen Zhong cannot escape the coffin's constraint.

Song Lin's methods grow increasingly decisive.

For defiance comes the coffin—giving traitors ample time for reflection within it.

With this battle, Tong Pass falls.

The third Heroic City is markedly more challenging to conquer, signaling that future battles will only grow in difficulty.

After all, they were waging war directly against a Heavenly Court.

The Shang Dynasty generals, commanders, and vassals wield formidable strength.

The only viable strategy is to chip away at their defenses gradually. Victory must not be rushed. Only this way could they secure the Small Thousand World at minimal cost.

Then they could explore the path to transcending the Small Thousand World, aiming to merge with West Queen Mother's Heavenly Court. Once achieved, they would fulfill Hou Yi's grand ambition, laying the seeds for future epochs.

With Tong Pass secured, the west was now safe, and the two hundred allied vassals pledged loyalty.

Song Lin had no intention of changing the current order; now was not the time to implement the county-system reforms. Such changes would alienate the vassals and collapse the hard-won unity.

His vision was to wait until King Wu passed, King Cheng ascended, and Zhou Gong took the reins. Then, and only then, would reforms begin.

Ji Dan felt frustrated, harboring expansive ambitions yet unable to enact them—he understood the importance of patience. Preserving the current state was key to gaining public favor, and the purging of influential figures must wait until after achieving total unification.

Upon his retreat, King Zhou reorganized his forces, stationing heavy troops to defend Lingtong and Chuanyun, the remaining two Heroic Cities, forbidding his army from venturing out for field battles and focusing solely on defense.

Song Lin launched two assaults but found their defenses impenetrable, forcing him to give up. At this moment, he understood the adversity Taishi once faced.

A Heavenly Court with a deep foundation requires immense effort to break—not only tenfold exertion but also tenfold the casualties.

Still, a stalemate wasn't wholly unfavorable, as it diverted substantial Shang forces, providing breathing room for allied vassals elsewhere.

During this reprieve, Song Lin prepared to comprehend additional Daos.

He aimed to perfect Heavenly Water, followed by Innate Gold and Nature.

Of course, his priority remained the Innate Eight Diagrams.

With the Eight Diagrams' deductions, Song Lin could accelerate his Dao comprehension.

As for other Daos, he would learn them according to necessity.

Time flows like an arrow.

Another sixty years pass.

The Shang and Zhou conflict drags on for a Jiazi; two more Heroic Cities are finally breached. The forces of Ehou and Xibo now converge, strengthening West Zhou further.

The Shang Dynasty's influence is now confined to the northern and Central Plains regions.

Qi Mountain.

Immortal mountains rise like Wushan and Kunlun; Abnormal Soldiers occupy Zengcheng, while higher beings dwell within the Cloud Peak Fairyland.

Palace of the Polestar.

Within the Heavenly Emperor's Back Garden.

Song Lin dims his Divine Light, resuming his ordinary self.

He approaches the garden, where Ji Chang revels in flower appreciation and wine-drinking.

"Eastern King."

Ji Chang bows in greeting, a table before him adorned with divination calculations.

"What Heavenly Mechanism do you perceive?"

Song Lin inquires.

"The Heavenly Mechanism reveals that the Zhou's conquest of Shang is destined, but a formidable figure has emerged—one that could destroy State Zhou."

"Who? Whence do they hail?"

"From the heavens."

Ji Chang gestures skyward.

"The heavens..."

No wonder King Zhou had been so subdued of late, intensifying domestic slaughter—it seems he intends to summon past kings for aid.

This defiant act surely tests the limits of the natural order.

"Let us wait and see."

Song Lin chooses not to intervene, instead focusing on how to establish contact with the Medium Thousand World.

Meanwhile, in a realm beyond the universe—a bizarre, wondrous place—a savage battle unfolds.

A white-haired man clad in robes draws his bow and fires arrows.

Swish! Swish!

The alignment of nine stars—Nine-Star Galaxy shatters into dazzling fireworks.

"It's no good—the enemy is too numerous."

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