Chapter 99: Chaoge Exorcises the Demon

  Jiang Ziya made a living by fortune-telling in the city of Chao Ge. As a disciple of Yu Xuan, he was extremely skilled at deducing heavenly secrets and numerology. Although Jiang Ziya had not yet achieved success on the path to immortality, he still grasped some of its mysteries. By comparing heaven's way with human affairs, Jiang Ziya could also glimpse a thread of changes in the Shang Dynasty's fortune. The dragon energy was rapidly dissipating.

  Day by day, as the King Zhou's tyranny grew, the city of Chao Ge, where the great merchant Long's aura gathered, could no longer suppress the evil spirits all around. Moreover, with Daji entering the capital and bringing the evil star beside the Emperor Star, the evil energy constantly eroded the imperial energy, causing the Emperor Star to become dim and lightless. Jiang Ziya gazed up at the sky, observing the changes in the stars, and his heart was also deeply moved. Suddenly, he saw a wisp of evil energy coming from outside the city, disappearing into the Imperial Palace.

  Jiang Ziya was extremely enraged. At this time, he still considered himself a subject of the Shang Dynasty and naturally did not want to see the imperial capital being polluted by monsters. Jiang Ziya secretly calculated that when the monsters returned to the city's south gate, he would give them a lesson.

  Daji has been extremely influential since she arrived at the imperial palace. Originally, Nüwa only instructed her to bewitch King Zhou, but unexpectedly Daji thought that with the support of a holy person, she could act arbitrarily and recklessly, without any scruples, frequently taking the initiative to secretly harm court officials, completely unaware that great karma had already been imposed on her, truly pitiful.

  Daji was unaware of her impending death, still indulging in pleasure, and even had the audacity to invite her former demon friends to the palace for a drinking party, pretending to be gods, deceiving King Zhou, it's really pitiful that an emperor was deceived by a little demon, unable to distinguish between truth and falsehood, willingly being fooled.

  On this day, Daji invited her good friend Yushi Pipa Jing and several apprentices to the top of the Zhai Xing Lou, where they joined King Zhou for a wild drinking party that lasted all night until dawn. As the sky was about to light up, Daji's fox sons and grandsons were drunk beyond their limits, fearing that once the sun came out, they would reveal their true forms.

  Daji was also somewhat afraid, after all the big business of the city was full of people and scholars, so she dispersed the wine party, found a place with no one, let a few fox children change back to their original shape, quietly escaped from the palace, Yu Shi Pipa Jing self-deprecatingly said that his skills were high and strong, and he drove a cloud of magic out of the palace in a big way.

  Jiang Ziya waited bitterly for half the night, and as soon as a strange cloud appeared, he hastily took out his mulberry bow, strung it with a peach wood arrow, and drew it lightly. The bow, which was like a child's toy, was drawn to its full length, and the peach wood arrow shot straight at the strange cloud. The pipa spirit on top of the cloud was dizzy and disoriented, never thinking that someone would secretly attack her.

  Suddenly, a small peach wood arrow shot over, and he didn't take it to heart. He raised his hand, and a strange gust of wind blew by, thinking that he could break through this attack. Who knew that Jiang Ziya's peach wood was taken from the Kunlun Mountains, the sacred place of the saint, born strong and able to dispel evil spirits.

  Jiang Ziya used the Jade Clear Secret Method to refine his skills, and even ordinary heavenly immortals and demons would find it hard to withstand a single blow. Now Jiang Ziya was enraged, using all his might, with an astonishing display of power. The small peach wood arrow pierced through the demon wind and shot onto the body of the Pipa Essence in an instant.

  All that could be heard was a loud, pained cry from the Pipa spirit as it fell from the clouds. Although Jiang Ziya was no longer young, his movements were extremely swift at this moment. He took out several talismans and instantly sealed the Jade Stone Pipa spirit inside. Then, he took out a wooden sword and placed it on the Pipa spirit's neck.

  At this time, the sky had not fully brightened up, and there were no pedestrians on the road. Although Jiang Ziya had captured the Pipa Jing, he didn't know how to deal with it for a while. Suddenly, a horse-drawn carriage came from afar, and the person sitting in the carriage was Ya Nei Bi Gan.

  Bi Gan has been worried and troubled lately, Zhou Wang's temperament has changed greatly, watching the country in chaos day by day, he himself is helpless, filled with regret. Zhou Wang had not attended court for a long time, but today he suddenly came up with an idea to attend court. Bi Gan was thinking whether to take this opportunity to remonstrate with him and fulfill his duty as a minister.

  Suddenly, a family member reported that an old man on the street ahead had seized a beautiful woman, seemingly with some ulterior motive. Bi Gan was greatly enraged and couldn't believe that such an illegal act could occur right under his nose in the imperial capital. He personally came out to take a look and felt something was off.

  The old man in Taoist attire grasped the woman, holding a peach wood arrow. The woman now lay on the ground, seemingly unconscious, with several talismans on her body. Compared to Gan Sheng's seven apertures and Linglong Heart, he had long felt an uncomfortable aura emanating from the woman, vaguely reminiscent of Daji.

  Jiang Shang suddenly saw a horse carriage coming towards him, with many family members protecting him. He was worried and couldn't speak clearly. But the person who came was Ya Xiang Bi Gan. Jiang Zi Ya told him that he was catching demons, and Bi Gan immediately believed him and asked if Jiang Zi Ya had any way to deal with this demon.

  Jiangziya thought for a moment, "Reporting to Master, my Taoist powers are shallow and weak. To make her appear, I must borrow the help of a little yang fire at dawn, combined with my true fire from Taoist practice."

  Bi Gan was extremely interested after hearing it, and he immediately thought of a plan. He had long felt that Daji was a demon, but he himself could not capture her demonic energy. Now that he had caught a demon, would he be able to show it off in front of King Zhou and make him suddenly realize his mistake?

  Bi Gan thought of this and immediately took Jiang Ziya and the Jade Stone Pipa Essence to the Golden Temple. The civil and military officials of the court had not seen any monsters, and even King Zhou was extremely curious, so he let Jiang Ziya display his magic on the spot and let the Jade Stone Pipa Essence appear.

  Daji stood beside King Zhou, originally intending to use this morning court session to get the ministers' agreement to build another pleasure palace, which she had already named Lutai. But unexpectedly, she saw her good sister being caught by an old Taoist priest. Her heart was filled with hatred and resentment, but under the watchful eyes of everyone, she could do nothing but watch as Jiang Ziya used true fire to burn out the original form of Pipa Jing.

  Jiang Ziya studied Taoism for many years, but never had the opportunity to show off. The old man also had a competitive heart, and on the spot, he summoned a thread of true sun fire, then added his own painstakingly cultivated true fire, and in less than an hour, he burned away a beautiful woman, leaving behind only a jade stone pipa.

  "Your Majesty, I have seen strange creatures appearing in the capital. I must speak out what is on my mind. Since Your Majesty ascended to the throne, you have been diligent and the atmosphere of our great nation has changed for the better. However, in recent years, you have not heeded loyal advice, instead trusting and favoring petty individuals, indulging in wine and lust, neglecting state affairs. Your Majesty's loss of virtue is why these strange creatures have appeared in the capital. I implore Your Majesty to reflect on your mistakes, reform the government, and revitalize the nation. This would be a blessing for all under heaven and a joy for the people."

  Bi Gan finished speaking and knelt down in the great hall, along with other court officials. After all, witnessing a monster's stimulation was too great. King Zhou saw Bi Gan speak again and felt somewhat displeased in his heart, but looking at the jade stone pipa again, he also felt a slight shock.

  "The words of Wang Shu are indeed correct, let me consider it for a moment. Moreover, Jiang Ziya has made great contributions in eliminating the demons, and is appointed as the Lower Grand Master." King Zhou then went to indulge in pleasure with Daji after finishing the appointment of Jiang Ziya.