Chapter 78- Tongtian's Array Was Crushed and Jiang Ziya Leads His Troop A....

Set the scene immediately. This is way more than just a fight, isn't it? It feels like a tipping point, where everything changes. Tung Chin Chau Zu is making his last stand inside this, like, incredibly deadly formation. Absolutely, and the way the sources describe the array itself really tells you everything. You get this picture of furious yellow fog, chaotic winds, thunder fire everywhere. It's protected by these four really powerful ancient items, the Immortal Slaying Swords. Basically, the idea is it's impossible to break unless you have, well, a truly cosmic level team-up. And initially, it's more of an internal conflict, right? You've got the Classic Three, Lao Tzu and Yuan Shi Tian Zun, facing off against their, let's say, former brother-in-arms, Tung Chin Chau Zu. Exactly. It starts kind of like a family feud, a major theological disagreement, but it escalates really fast. They quickly realize they need help from, well, elsewhere. They need backup. Big time. Precisely. To break this thing, they have to look beyond their own circle, beyond the existing power dynamics. Okay, so let's dive into that first move. Before this big alliance forms, Lao Tzu, he's the eldest, maybe the most respected sage, he goes in alone. That seems incredibly risky. What was he thinking? Like, a solo mission? Well, it probably wasn't about winning single-handedly. It seems more like a reconnaissance, proving just how tough the array was. He uses this really deep esoteric technique called, Yi-Ki-Hua-Sen King. Oh, okay. Yi-Ki-Hua-Sen King. I've heard that phrase. What exactly did he manifest? Were these clones? Actual copies of him? The sources suggest they weren't physical bodies. Not exactly. They're described more as manifestations of Yuan-Ki primordial energy. Think of it as pure cosmic essence taking form. So more like dazzling illusions. Kind of, yeah. The poem Lao Tzu recites confirms it. It basically says, Okay, so it's a brilliant diversion, but it doesn't last forever. Right. Lao Tzu sees the energy forms starting to fade. So before Tang Tian can fully recover, Lao Tzu quickly uses his own weapon, that flat stick, the Bian Gui, and lands a couple of, well, rather embarrassing hits on Tang Tian while he's still disoriented. Okay, adding insult to injury. That must have provoked a reaction. Oh, definitely. Tang Tian's top disciple, Duobao Doran, gets furious and jumps into counterattack. But Lao Tzu just brushes him off, calls him something like a grain of rice trying to shine. Total dismissal. And then Lao Tzu captures him. With something called the Windfire Cushions. That sounds weirdly comfortable for capturing a powerful opponent. Yeah, the name's deceptive. They're described as incredibly powerful, magical restraints. Super fast, super strong. They basically tied Duobao up instantly. Just, poof, took him right out of the fight. Okay, so here's a really key point from that first encounter, right? Lao Tzu doesn't just capture Duobao. He immediately sends him west, to Xuandu. And the source explicitly says Duobao truly has affinity with the West. Exactly. That's crucial. It's not just about taking out a key player. It's this cosmic signal, almost. Sending him west, stating that connection, it directly sets up the need for Western involvement. It's like a karmic invitation. So the first skirmish basically proves the array is too strong and points the way towards the solution. Get help from the West. Precisely. Lao Tzu goes back to Yuanqi Tianzhen, confirms, yep, this thing is incredibly fierce. They figure out they can only really handle two of the four gates themselves. Yuanqi agrees. They need four top-tier individuals. And this is where the story totally pivots. It goes from this internal squabble to this massive, unprecedented alliance, like bringing in outside powers. It's the absolute turning point. And the two empty slots get filled pretty quickly. Yuanqi and Lao Tzu are there when Xunti Daren shows up. He's from the Western teachings. Hold on. Bringing in someone from a completely different tradition, a major power, that feels like a huge political gamble. Were they just desperate? Or did they actually trust these guys? Well, the way it's presented, it feels less like politics and more like destiny or maybe a cosmic necessity. Xunti doesn't arrive because they sent an invitation. He says he came because he saw something, hundreds of red glows rushing to the sky in the southeast. Red glows? What did that mean? It signaled people who had an affinity with the Western teachings. So for Xunti, it wasn't about meddling in Eastern affairs. It was about following the spiritual sign, an opportunity to spread the Western dharma, shifa, and connect with these potential followers. Ah, okay. So he's basically following a spiritual bat signal looking for recruits. That makes his arrival seem much more ordained, I guess. Less like interference. Exactly. And Lao Tzu immediately welcomes him, saying his arrival fits Heaven's arrangement. The need for four sages just trumped any, you know, sectarian differences they might have had. But Xunti showing up is only half the solution. He needs his partner, right? Jian Doran. Yes, and Jian apparently needed some persuading. He represents that Western ideal of non-involvement, detachment. The sources say he preferred his pure and quiet land, didn't really want to get mixed up in the affairs of the red dust, you know, all the chaos and conflict. He sounds like he wanted to stay home and meditate. Can't blame him. Right. But Xunti makes this interesting argument. He says, look, since we're both free and non-active, we are actually perfectly suited to break this sensible array. The logic being the array is an active disturbance, so intervening to dismantle it is actually restoring balance, not causing chaos. Huh. That's a clever philosophical justification for getting involved in a massive fight. It worked. And when Jian finally arrives, the description really emphasizes the kind of power they're bringing in. What does it say? He's described as Zangliu, which is like six feet tall, signifying great presence and power. And he's associated with these really profound symbols, the 12 lotus platforms, the eight virtues pool. It signals he's a being of incredibly high spiritual attainment. This isn't just another warrior. This confirms the Alliance now has immense cosmic authority. So the team is assembled, the Three Religions Alliance is formed. Four sages, and the plan is clear. Right. The strategy is precise. Each sage takes a gate and its corresponding sword. Yanqi gets east, the Zen Square and the Zuxian Sword. Jian takes south, the Li Palace with the Luxian Sword. Lhatsa goes west, Dewey Palace, Yangtze Sword, and Zunti heads north, Con Land, for the Zhuoxian Sword. Okay, the moment of truth. Tong Pian tries to blast each of them with the swords as they enter, but the sages, they come prepared. They use these incredible divine defenses. It's less about attacking, more about just neutralizing the array's core power. Exactly. It's an amazing display of defensive artifacts. Let's quickly go through them gate by gate. Okay, Yuanqi turns on first at the main Zuxian Gate. Yuanqi unleashes the Cloud of Celebration, the Qinyan. It's described as this active, totally impenetrable shield, radiating light like a thousand golden flowers and falling pearls. The Zuxian Sword, supposed to be the deadliest, just bounces off. Can't get through. Wow. Okay, next, Jian Doronin, the Reluctant One, at the Luxian Gate. Jian does something incredible. He doesn't just block the Luxian Sword, he stops it dead. He manifests his three relic beads, Sankei, Shayli, Zi. They shoot out and literally fix the sword in place, making it stand still like a nail. Like a nail. That's not just blocking that. That's completely nullifying its power. Totally. Robbing it of all magical force. All right, Lao Tzu, back in action at the Jianxian Gate. Lao Tzu brings out the big guns, his ultimate defensive treasure, the Linglong Treasure, Pagoda. Linglong Bioda. This thing just erupts with light, ten thousand streams, overwhelming the Jianxian Sword and pinning it down. Complete containment. And finally, Zunti Doronin, at the Zuexian Gate, with his western tools. Zunti uses the Seven Treasures' wonderful tree, the Qibao Miaoshu. This is amazing. It releases a thousand green lotuses, but its job seems to be actively sweeping away or suppressing the Zuexian Sword's energy, basically rendering it useless, inert. That is just an unbelievable collection of divine artifacts. It's like a coordinated display of pure defensive light and power, systematically shutting down the array's four corners all at once. So now they're all inside. Right. The strategic part, neutralizing the array, is done. Now it turns into, well, a direct confrontation. A brawl, essentially. Tang Tian finds himself attacked from multiple sides immediately. Lao Tzu hits him with his flat stick, the Bi'an Guai again. Yuanqi strikes with his three treasures, Jade Rui. Tang Tian's getting hit from both sides. But the decisive blow, the one that really ends it, comes from Zunti, doesn't it? It does. While Tang Tian is busy parrying Lao Tzu and Yuanqi, Zunti does something extraordinary. He manifests his ultimate form, his Dharma body. What did that look like? The sources describe it, right? Oh, yeah. It's depicted as this utterly terrifying, overwhelming figure. 24 heads, 18 hands, holding all sorts of powerful weapons, including the Adding Support Divine Pestle, the Jiachi Shenshu. 24 heads and 18 hands. Wow. It's the absolute peak of his spiritual power made manifest. And with that pestle, Zunti hits Tang Tian hard, knocking him right off his mount, the Kui Bo. So once Tang Tian is down, that's pretty much game over. He tries to escape, I remember. He does. He tries to use an earth-tunneling technique to get away. But the Alliance had planned for everything. Ah, there was a backup plan. Sort of. Randing Darin, another major figure, wasn't inside the array, but was positioned strategically outside, waiting up in the sky. As Tang Tian tries to flee underground, Randing spots him and hits him again with his own treasure, the sea-calming pearl, Ding Hai Zhu. Ouch. Knocked down again. Yep. So, total defeat. Complete dominance by the Alliance. Escape wasn't an option. Okay, so Tang Tian is deceited. But the array itself, the swords, they still need to be physically secured, right? How did that happen while the sages were busy fighting Tang Tian? Ah, good point. Yuan Shi Tianzhen, the master planner, had thought of that, too. Before the whole assault began, he'd given special protective talismans, Fu Yin, to four of his most trusted disciples. Smart move. Very. So once the main fight was won, and the array's energy was fundamentally disrupted by the sages, these four disciples rushed in at the same moment. The talismans protected them, and they grabbed the swords. And the sources tell us who got which sword. They do. Guang Chengzi grabbed the Zixian sword, Qi Jingzi took the Luxian sword, Yuting Zhenren secured the Xianxian sword, and Daxing Tianzhen got the Juexian sword. Job done. Array broken, swords captured, Tang Tian escapes, but basically alone, his followers scatter. And then Yuan Shi delivers that final poem. It's pretty scathing, isn't it? It is. But it's also doubly philosophical. That line, bu zi shun ni qin yan za ru, it's more than just gloating. It means something like, you didn't understand the proper order of things, the flow of destiny, and so you suffered humiliation first. So framing the victory not just as brute force, but as Tang Tian basically defying fate and paying the price. And what's really striking is how quickly those heavenly powers check out once their main goal is met. They declare the Great Tribulation over, for them anyway. But that neat conclusion completely ignores the very personal, very dangerous revenge plot being hatched by the loser. The divine war might be done, but the grudge? Oh, that's just warming up. That's a really important point. Okay, let's dig into that cosmic cleanup first. So after the array is destroyed, the four big players, Lao Tzu, Yuan Shi, Ji Yin, and Xun Ti, they meet up. Yeah, it's like a post-conflict summit. High stakes, you know? And what really jumps out, at least to me, is this moment where Yuan Shi, the winner, basically, says something pretty surprising, almost candid. It really is stunning. He makes a point of thanking the Western masters, Ji Yin and Xun Ti, for helping out. But then he admits, quite openly, that this whole mess was necessary because disciples broke the precepts. But then you have Lao Tzu, who brings it back to the, let's say, official justification. He frames it very clearly. They won because they were following the ways of heaven. And Tung Tien Chau Tzu, he lost because he was acting against heaven. Simple as that. Orders restored, heaven's will is done. Case closed. So with that settled, the masters just head back to their mountains. Yep. All right, your job now, go take the pass, win the war, the gods are out, it's a human problem now. Or so they think. Because Tung Tien Chau Tzu, the defeated sect master, he's not just fading away, not by a long shot. Remember, he was physically beaten down. Yeah. The sources mention Lao Tzu's flat cane and Xun Ti's mace, plus he lost his super powerful swords. Humiliating. Totally. The text says he was too ashamed to even face his remaining followers. So what does he do? He doesn't regroup his forces, he doesn't plan a new battle. No, he goes somewhere else entirely. ZZ Cliff. And he starts making something. An occult weapon. Exactly. This is where it shifts from military loss to, like you said, cosmic malice, pure targeted revenge. He creates the Six Soul Banner. The Lu Hun Fan. The Six Soul Banner. Just the name sounds ominous. And it's not for fighting armies, is it? It's personal. Deeply personal. It's ritual magic aimed at assassination. Mass assassination, really. Targeting the architects of his defeat, both divine and mortal. So the banner has six tails, and each one has a name written on it. That's right. And the names tell you everything about the scope of his hatred. It's Lai Tzu, Yan Shi, Jin, Xun Ti. The four masters who defeated him. Okay. His celestial peers. Makes sense. Who else? And King Wu and Zhang Shang. The mortal leaders of the zoo. He wants to wipe out the entire leadership structure, top to bottom. How is it supposed to work? Just wave the banner. The plan is pretty chilling. He intends to perform daily rituals, make offerings, build up the power. And then on the right day, he'll shake the banner. And supposedly, poof, all six lives extinguished instantly. That is just, wow. It's pure magical assassination on a cosmic scale. He's moving way beyond battlefield tactics. He's trying to decapitate the entire New Order. It's a massive escalation. Defeat turns into this focused, occult vendetta against everyone he blames. He's basically willing to tear down the heavens to settle his score. Makes that divine departure seem a bit hasty then. They think it's over, but Tongtian's just set a magical time bomb ticking. Precisely. A ticking time bomb aimed right at the heart of the new mandate of heaven. Okay, so that's the supernatural threat looming. But let's pivot back to Earth. Because while Tongtian's brewing cosmic revenge, the Zhu dynasty is ironically getting a huge boost from sheer incompetence back in the Shang capital. Right. We shift scenes abruptly to Jipai Pass. The commander there, Zhu Gai, he sees the Zhu army coming and he's worried. Sends an urgent report, a memorial, straight to Chiyosh. And the chief advisor, Ji Zhu, gets it. Reads it. And he's horrified, right? Absolutely. The report confirms Jiangshan has, like, 600,000 troops. A massive force. Ji Zhu calls it a heart-and-belly great concern, basically. A five-alarm fire for the dynasty. He rushes it to King Zhu. And he pleads with the king, stop the partying, deal with the... Classic scene of dynastic decay, isn't it? The loyal advisor brings the terrible truth, but the king, he's kind of checked out. Lost in his pleasures. And right on cue, enter Daji and Hu Xiumei. They see the king looking worried for maybe a second. And Daji just laughs. Laughs it off. She dismisses the entire intelligence report. Calls it fake news, essentially. But what's her reasoning? It can't just be, nah, don't worry about it. Oh, her reasoning is insidious. It plays right into paranoia and cynicism. She tells King Zhu it's all a scam. A conspiracy by the border generals. Wait, conspiracy? How do you... She claims they're making up the invasion, the 600,000 troops, Jiangshan, all of it, just so they can request huge amounts of money from the treasury. To embezzle it. She's saying the entire existential threat is just budget fraud. Exactly. She calls them Bianting Weijiang, basically crooked border officials running a grift. It's an objectively insane claim, but think about it from King Zhu's perspective. Okay. What's easier to believe? A massive, terrifying army is about to crush you, or some corrupt officials are trying to steal money. Right. He latches onto the comforting lie. The problem isn't an external invasion, it's internal corruption, something he thinks he can easily fix. And Daji's advice on how to fix this supposed fraud? Execute the messenger. The poor guy who brought the report, kill him as a warning to stop this supposed embezzlement scheme. That's unbelievably stupid. He's killing his own intelligence pipeline. He's killing the truth. Symbolically, literally. He's choosing denial. And horribly, King Zhu buys it completely. He orders the execution. Done. Problem solved. He must have lost his mind. He rushes back, tries desperately to stop it, warns the king, you do this, you lose the border troops, their loyalty is gone. He argues, look, the 600,000 troops, Jiangshan becoming commander, everyone knows this, it's public knowledge. But the king's already made up his mind. Completely. He waves it off, calls Jiangshan just some sorcerer, a Xuxi. He puts his faith in, oh what, the mountains, the Yellow River, geography and wishful thinking. Jinzi just gives up then. Leaves in tears. Writes this incredibly sad poem comparing King Zhao to the legendary tyrant, King Ji, saying the kingdom's going to be nothing but ruins. It's heartbreaking. The dynasty isn't just falling to invaders, it's collapsing because the king preferred a convenient lie. And that political disaster has immediate consequences on the battlefield. Jiang Ziya marches on Jipai Pass. Commander Shugai knows they're doomed, especially now the king killed the messenger. But one of his generals, Peng Zun, is hardcore loyal. He's like, nope, we eat the king's rice, we fight to the death. Duty above all, even when the leadership is failing. So Peng Zun steps up, but the Zhu quickly find out that conventional fighting isn't going to cut it here. Tell us about the first magical defense. The Handan Array. Right. First Zhu challenger is Wei Ben. He charges Peng Zun, they fight for about 30 rounds, standard stuff. Then Peng Zun pulls the classic fake retreat. Lures him in. But the trap isn't just spears and arrows. Not at all. Peng Zun throws down this device, the Handan Array, or Handan Zhan. And the text specifies it's based on the eight trigrams, the Bagua. It's complex mystical geometry laid out as a weapon. Wei Ben falls for it, rides right in. He does. And Peng Zun triggers it. There's a huge thunderbolt, a lightning strike, and Wei Ben, along with his horse, is just annihilated. Turned into fine dust. Zhen Wei Ji Fen. Whoa! Okay, that's terrifying. Total erasure. Message sent. Big time. But the Shang aren't done with the magic tricks. Next up, another Shang general, Wang Bao, gets surrounded by several Zhu generals, including Su Hu and his son. They think they have him outnumbered. Four against one. Yeah. But Wang Bao has his own ace up his sleeve. Something called the Pen Yin Lei. Face-slicing thunder. Or lightning. Face-slicing thunder. Doesn't sound pleasant. It isn't. He zaps one general, Cao Bing, heals him instantly. Then he hits another, Sun Zi Yu, with a blast described as having thunder and fire. Wounds him badly in the face, then finishes him with a halberd. So Su Hu and the others have to pull back. They realize what they're up against. Exactly. They recognize it as Yao Shu's sorcery, powerful magic. Normal tactics are useless. So Zhang Ziya needs to fight fire with fire. Okay. Or magic with magic. He needs a specialist. And he's got just the guy, Lei Zhenzi. Ah, Lei Zhenzi. The descriptions of him are always so vivid. Oh yeah. Blue face, tusks sticking out, red hair, giant mouth. Plus, you know, the wings. He's built for this kind of work. So Lei Zhenzi steps up to face Peng Zun, the master of that deadly hand and array. Peng Zun tries his fake retreat trick again. Bait him into the array zone. But Lei Zhenzi's not falling for it. Nope. Lei Zhenzi doesn't chase on the ground. He just unfolds his Wind Thunder wings, Feng Lei Qi, and BAM! He's airborne, wielding his golden cudgel. Changes the whole dynamic. Peng Zun can't trap him on the ground if he's flying. Exactly. Lei Zhenzi swoops down, catches Peng Zun midair, smacks him hard on the shoulder with the cudgel, kills him. And then? Then, for good measure, takes his head and puts it on display at the zoo camp gate. Mm-hmm. Message received. The magical defender has been defeated by countermagic. So Xu Gai, the Shang commander, sees Peng Zun's head. And that's it. He knows it's over. Pretty much. The pass's defense relied heavily on those magical specialists. Once they start getting taken out by zoo's own supernatural assets, he knows the conventional troops don't stand a chance. The pass is as good as lost.