Journey to the West: I have Nine Golden Crows Inside Me-Chapter 1356: On September 19th, entering the Imperial Palace at night

Chapter 1356: On September 19th, entering the Imperial Palace at night

Literary essence, the essence of morality, incomparably pure and noble, educates all spirits. Were it not that the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner was a transformation of the Shang Dynasty’s national fortunes, containing the will of Ancient Martial Arts and even subtly incorporating the Emperor Qi of both the Shang and Great Qin dynasties, it might have already been refined by the literary essence surrounding it.

"Someone is refining the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner!"

Seeing this scene, how could Jiang Chen not guess what was happening? Someone was preparing to use the literary essence contained in the sages’ books to educate the will of the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner, to make it serve them.

"There are other people inside Dongguan!"

In Jiang Chen’s perception, inside Dongguan, apart from the sages’ books and the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner, there were several other faint yet tenacious and strong presences.

Faint, meaning their vitality was extremely weak, no different from ordinary elderly folk, moving from middle age to old age, their vitality gradually drying up and failing.

Yet tenacious and strong, referring to their spirit and will. Although their bodies were frail, their will was exceptionally tenacious and strong, brilliant and fiery like the midday sun, as if capable of burning everything.

Confucian Dao cultivators!

Frail bodies but extremely strong wills, this abnormal condition only appeared among Confucian Dao cultivators.

Without a doubt, the people now in Dongguan were all Confucian Dao cultivators, and all were erudite scholars of the Great Confucian level, masters of their generation.

...

At the moment, several figures inside Dongguan were busy, either copying something or constantly flipping through books.

There weren’t many people, only six in total, including middle-aged and older men, but no young people.

"The Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner, a treasure obtained by the Champion Marquis of the Western Han from an Immortal Person. It is rumored that this treasure is related to the Great Shang that has long disappeared from history, recording the whereabouts of its treasury."

"Ancient Great Shang, the most prosperous era of our Human Race. Under the rule of Great Shang, even Immortal Persons had to bow down as subjects. If we could obtain the treasury left by Great Shang, then our Great Han might be saved."

"It’s an ancient legend that Great Qin was able to rise entirely because the ancestors of Great Qin obtained part of Great Shang’s treasury."

"Even if we have lost Fate and the hearts of the people, as long as we obtain Great Shang’s treasury, Great Han can extend its Fate anew and gather the hearts of the people again."

As the six men busied themselves, they also exchanged ideas. What they discussed was a way to save Great Han by finding the Great Shang’s treasury and using the treasures inside to regather the hearts of the people and extend their Fate.

A fine plan, indeed. Should they indeed find the Great Shang’s treasury and gain its legacy, it would mean that even ordinary people could ascend to the heavens in one step, let alone Great Han, which had lasted for three hundred years like them.

Not to say returning to the peak, but even improving significantly was entirely possible.

These six individuals were all Great Confucian scholars, staunchly loyal to the Han Dynasty. Usually living in seclusion, they had recently emerged after witnessing the collapse of the national fortunes of Great Han, leaving their reclusive lives. They came to the imperial capital Luoyang to begin searching for a way to save Great Han.

And they were just the vanguard; more Great Confucians were on their way to Luoyang.

It must be said, there are always more solutions than difficulties; after these Great Confucians came together, they debated for a long time and indeed found a way to save Great Han—finding the Great Shang’s treasury.

Speaking of which, their coming up with this idea was related to Jiang Chen because they found the clue among the relics of the Champion Marquis of the Western Han.

And that clue was precisely the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner that Jiang Chen had lent to Huo Qubing! ƒгeeweɓn૦vel.com

After faking his death, Huo Qubing did not take the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner with him but left it in Great Han as its foundation.

Initially, as the national strength of the Han Dynasty was strong, it could still harness the power of the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner. However, as Great Han progressively weakened, it became unable to activate the Banner’s power.

A treasure that cannot be used is also a waste; in the end, the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner was just left in the treasury collecting dust.

After the downfall of the Western Han, Emperor Guangwu of Han, guided by the Flame Emperor, found the treasury left by the Western Han, and from it, he obtained a large amount of treasures, including the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner.

Although Liu Xiu did not have the ability to activate the Heavenly Mandate Mystic Bird Banner, relying on the phoenix bloodline within his body, he vaguely sensed that this was a very important treasure, and thus, he preserved it.

Before, when the Great Han’s fate had shattered, this group of great scholars began to browse the treasures left by their ancestors, trying to find a way to save the Great Han.

It was intended as a trial, and they didn’t hold much hope, but unexpectedly, at that time, Jiang Chen happened to be searching for the whereabouts of the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner, which caused it to react and show some abnormalities.

Coincidentally, this scene was witnessed by these scholars.

After discovering the anomaly with the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner, the group began to research its origin. What is a great scholar? They are people who are extensively-read, knowledgeable, and experienced.

Under their dedicated research, soon, the details of the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner were uncovered, and they were quickly on the trail of the Great Shang treasury.

It could only be said that this was Heavenly Will; if it were not for the sign that the Great Shang treasury was about to emerge, making this matter no longer a secret of heaven, the information about the Great Shang treasury would have been impossible for the scholars to discover, even if it killed them.

"Found it!"

"Although it’s not a clue about the Great Shang treasury, it does explain the origin of the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner. The classic texts have records saying that the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner was lent to the Champion Marquis by a divine being."

"Back then, the Champion Marquis was on an expedition in the great desert and chanced upon the Stable Manager from heaven herding in the human realm, from whom he obtained thousands of heavenly horses."

"The classic texts say, the Stable Manager was a divine monkey, claiming the surname Sun, named Wukong, titled the Handsome Monkey King, hailing from Water Curtain Cave of Huaguo Mountain in the Aolai Nation of the Dongsheng Divine Continent."

A learned scholar raised a classic text, calling out to his companions.

"Huaguo Mountain, Water Curtain Cave, Sun Wukong, divine monkey? This name sounds so familiar; it’s very much like that monkey who caused an upheaval in heaven a few hundred years ago."

"Who would have thought, the Champion Marquis actually knew him and was gifted thousands of heavenly horses by him."

A scholar recognized the name Sun Wukong as quite familiar; it was indeed the same monkey who created chaos in the Heaven Court during Wang Mang’s usurpation of the Han Dynasty.

(Note: Sun Wukong was suppressed for five hundred years, which should be an euphemistic reference, in reality it was over six hundred years.)

"Could it be that this Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner was a gift from Sun Wukong to the Champion Marquis? If that’s the case, we really need to check where Sun Wukong was suppressed by Emperor Jiuchen, so we can personally go ask him about the origins of the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner."

Another scholar spoke, eager to consult the classic texts to see where Sun Wukong had been suppressed by Jiang Chen.

"Don’t rush; I haven’t finished speaking yet. The divine being wasn’t Sun Wukong, but someone else."

"The classic texts also have records saying that Sun Wukong descended to the lower realm privately, without an edict from the Jade Emperor. A Heavenly God came from the Heavenly Realm to take Sun Wukong back to the Heaven Court for questioning. This Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner was lent to the Champion Marquis by this Heavenly God."

While spreading open the classic texts in his hands, that scholar continued.

"Who exactly is this divine being, tell us clearly!" the other scholars, unable to wait any longer, stepped forward and looked down at the classic texts.

"The divine being calls himself a descendant of the Flame Emperor, surname Jiang, first name Chen, known as the Demon Suppression Heavenly God in heaven," a scholar read aloud.

Then, another scholar spoke: "Descendant of Flame Emperor, Demon Suppression Heavenly God, why does this name sound so familiar?"

"I remember now! The Demon Suppression Heavenly God is none other than Emperor Jiuchen. Wasn’t he titled Emperor Jiuchen because of his merits in suppressing the demonic monkey, or was it for some other reason?"

Suddenly, a scholar exclaimed, realizing that the Demon Suppression Heavenly God was Jiang Chen, also known as Emperor Jiuchen.

"If it’s Emperor Jiuchen, then this will be easy to handle. Just recently, the Emperor Lord made his presence known, indicating that he isn’t in seclusion. Let’s go immediately to the Nine Heavens Palace to meet him and ask Lord Emperor about the Heaven-Appointed Mystic Bird Banner."

An excited younger scholar spoke.

However, just then, the six of them suddenly furrowed their brows simultaneously, their sharp gazes turning toward the door.

"Who dares to intrude into the imperial palace at night?"