Investiture of the Gods/Chapter 66.5
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[edit] Full Summary (Continued)
As Ji Kang and the rest of the Shang forces had returned to their respective encampment, Hong Jin had immediately treated his wounds with advanced medicine and rested for the evening, vowing that he would unconditionally dispose of the woman that had given him such deep wounds, ultimately for the sake of his credibility. Acting upon these words, Hong Jin departed from the encampment the following afternoon, taking with him a 3,000-strong unit of archers to back his assault, determined to solely tear apart Deng Chanyu, the woman who had humiliated him so deeply. As Hong Jin appeared before the eastern gates of Phoenix City shortly following and ordered the appearance of the "rock-throwing whore", Princess Long Ji, who had taken ear to the ability of Hong Jin's flag and had happened to possess a weapon that could counter such a detriment, rode from the city gates and confronted Hong Jin upon Jiang Ziya's consent. As Hong Jin was both enraged at the fact that Deng Chanyu refused to show her face, but satisfied that he could enact his revenge on another respective arm of the rebel commander, he initially awakened his void and ran inside, preparing to unleash the largest amount of dark energy that he could sum forth, tearing his enemy into pieces. To his shock, a large silver portal carrying Princess Long Ji was suddenly awakened from within the void, and she strode outside with incredible speed, smashing Hong Jin's back with such force that his armor shattered to pieces, additionally throwing him a great distance before he had reattained his footing. In a state of great panic, Hong Jin abandoned his flag and fled to the north on his mount, ordering his 3,000 archers in ambush to unleash volleys of arrows at Long Ji, who was presently in pursuit at the rear. Returning to a natural state of mind and fully confident that the woman could never survive such a heavy onslaught, Hong Jin steadied his horse and turned to look at his opponent; but to his intense fear and dismay, the Shang soldiers fell in masses as Long Ji unleashed from her magical vase an enormous sum of fire, which had been originally obtained during Luo Xuan's former attack upon Phoenix City. Gazing all around him and seeing trees falling apart with flames scattered to the very skies, Hong Jin, no matter how bold, wished to live another day, and frantically sped his horse to the north until he had reached the North Sea, at which he dismounted, throwing into the waters an imperial seal that was granted to him by noble birth, carrying with it the will of ancestors.
As the waters began to part from one another with violent waves churning consistently, an enormous guardian dragon leaped from the depths of the ocean, allowing Hong Jin to mount it as if he were its master. With Long Ji having caught up to him his position, Hong Jin stood atop his beast and loudly proclaimed before his opponent: "You are a mere tiger that has been uncaged by a rebel who wishes to overthrow the country, and you still consider yourself as being superior to I, a man of true noble birth who even the skies proclaim as their equal! Is the present situation not anything less than laughable?! I am a man that has been chosen by the Shang Dynasty to lead the masses to unconditional victory, never severing my path of duty nor giving up in the face of any opposition! You on the otherhand are nothing more than a test-animal who has been granted supreme power at birth, while at the same time you prove yourself as being too incompetent in knowing how to wield such a power, even to the extent that you shamelessly attempt to take the life of one such as I, known by all as a man of justice! If you give in now and show to me that your life is better off saving than to meet a humiliating death in the face of service beneath a deluded man of the common class, then I shall treat you as if you are my own right arm, an individual who deserves respect and gratitude, and someone who is treasured by the people alike as being a hero that has awakened from ignorance.
My ancestors have long been known throughout the land as prodigies, individuals of both great talent and respect, and saviors of nations and kingdoms, never allowing themselves to falter or give in to unfavored circumstance, but living on to fight for their resolve another day, destroying any opposition to the throne and securing themselves as men of true repute! Set your eyes upon reason and become a beacon of light as my ancestors have shown themselves to be: only then shall you make a name for yourself in this pathetic country gutted with every whim of evil and become a figurehead that is deserving of praise and power! My conviction for the people has never decayed even after so many years of service beneath a land dreaded with incompetency: think that I will simply give in to a force driven with nothing else than unconditional barbarity and lose an opportunity at guiding the masses with the power and authority that resides within these very fingertips?! The circumstances are futile for any means of victory, as even the gods have answered my noble call, and together we shall both strike down the evil in this country and blossom the future as a sword of unparalleled conviction and truth!"
In response to this, Princess Long Ji approached the sea that stood before her and casted into it her own hereditary seal, effectively summoning forth an enormous dolphin-like creature that bordered the size of Hong Jin's dragon. Mounting her respective beast, Princess Long Ji began to shout: "As you are indeed a man worthy of my respect and admiration, I shall tell you my name and title. I am none other than other than the daughter of Golden Mother of Jade Pond, Princess Long Ji, wielder of the 10,000-armed vase! Now that you are competent of my position in this world, by what means could I betray the expectations of my mother and all who serve under my right arm, simply to save my own present life? What you state is not the present way of things, as Jiang Ziya is a man guided by Heaven, destined to allocate freedom to the people and reign forth an era of unparalleled peace! No matter how noble you believe yourself to be, the will of my lord and the aspirations of the people are something that you shall never understand, and the waves of the time shall ensure that a person of greater capability rises up and seizes peace for all, and that man is Jiang Ziya! How dare you speak of delusion when you yourself are the one who is ignorant of the present circumstances! I refuse to give in to your swindler ways of trickery!"
"It is a sad state of affairs to see a woman of your beauty succumb to such a shallow understanding of this country and the figureheads that are essential in running its every ligament. Can you not comprehend that even with such a position of influence, you are nothing more than an animal bound in rope that longs to see the light of freedom, feeling every form of resentment as you are forced to unconditionally follow petty codes of filialty? If you are unable to awaken from your primitive ways of thought and see my absolute reasoning, than you are fated to be regarded within history as a fool who was destroyed out of nothing less than their own blindness and irrationality. Do you intend on such a detrimental resolution as being your fate within this world? I would hardly consider that as being reasonable by any means, as you will thus have tained any reputation you previously possessed with the blood of resent and ignorance, forever looked upon as a mere nobody that was unable to adapt to the times, let alone crushed by a man of unparalleled repute such as myself."
With this having been spoken, Hong Jin leapt to the skies atop his one-mile long golden-scaled dragon and fell upon Long Ji's beast with incredible speed and valor, tearing apart the dolphin's upperbody and etching the sea with a coating of blood. With this having been initiated, Hong Jin's dragon began to bear its heavy fangs into the flesh of Long Ji's dolphin; and taking advantage of this situation, Hong Jin leaped upon his foe and landed a crucial blow to her flesh with his sword. Taking immediate advantage of this, Long Ji pressed Hong Jin aside with all her might and ordered her Dragon Binding Rope to bind the Shang commander's body and effectively render him immobilized. Struggling to free himself with every ounce of strength as the rope tightly began to bind his ligaments from any form of movement, Long Ji grabbed ahold of Hong Jin and quickly fled back to Phoenix City, the same initial time being forced to evade many consistent attacks by his dragon, which burned with a great flushing of rage over the position of its master. Nonetheless, Long Ji was able to safely return to her respective city, at which she threw Hong Jin before the very feet of Jiang Ziya.
[edit] Categorized Events
- - Hong Jin's newly developed hatred towards Deng Chanyu
- - The retortion of Princess Long Ji; Fire is initiated from a legendary vase
- - Summoning of ancestral dragon of Hong; The words of reason
- - Mystics clash upon heightened waves; The Shang commander is humiliated through capture
