Story Prototype
Its prototype can be traced back to the Southern Song Dynasty’s “The Vermilion Text of King Wu’s Expulsion of Zhou”, which may also refer to the “Shang Zhou Yi” and “Kunlun Eight Immortals’ Journey to the East”.
Story Outline
Background
The world of “The Legend of the Gods” is divided into the “Immortal World” and the “Human World”. The founder of Taoism, Honjun Laojun, had three disciples: Tai Shang Laojun, Yuan Shi Tianzun and Tong Tian. The human Taoism was founded by Tai Shang Laojun; the human Taoist priests and immortals belonged to the Hierarchy and practiced on Mount Kunlun, with Yuan Shi Tianzun as their master; the animals and plants, after training and becoming elites, belonged to the Interceptor religion, with Lord Tong Tian as their master. Although both the Hierarchy and the Interceptors belong to the discipline of Honjun Laozu, the Hierarchy believes that the disciples of the Interceptors are not the correct school, so the two schools are opposed to each other, and there is a saying that “one passes on three friends, and the two teachings are divided into two parts. In the story, there is another sect, Westernism, which alludes to the predecessor of Buddhism.
The story is set in the twelfth century B.C., when the Shang dynasty, which ruled China, was in a state of decline. The fox spirit disguised as Su Daji, the daughter of Su Gu, the marquis of Jizhou, spent her days enjoying with King Zhou and corrupting the state system. As a result, the rebellious Shang Dynasty’s Xi Bo Marquis Ji Chang led a confrontation with the Shang Dynasty and eventually established a new dynasty: the Zhou Dynasty. On the other hand, the immortal world was in the midst of the 1,500-yearly killing disaster, and had to kill people to survive the disaster. Taking advantage of the chaos in the mortal world, the immortal world also started to kill, and for this reason, the three religions jointly established the “list of gods”, a list of 365 names of people, immortals, Taoist priests or demons who would be named as gods, so that those who met the requirements would be named as gods. The main character of the story, Jiang Ziya, is the Taoist priest of Kunlun Mountain who was ordered by heaven to assist King Wen and King Wu of Zhou in their crusade against King Zhou and to execute the canonization of the gods.
Su Daji enters the palace
At the end of the Yin Shang Dynasty, King Zhou was in power. On Nuwa’s Christmas Day, King Zhou led all his officials to Nuwa’s palace to offer incense, and when he saw Nuwa’s holy image, he inscribed a poem. When he returned to the palace and saw that King Zhou had blasphemed himself with the poem, he was so angry that he summoned a thousand-year-old fox spirit, a jade lute spirit and a nine-headed pheasant spirit from the Xuan Yuan tomb and ordered the three demons to confuse the ruler’s heart and destroy the kingdom of Cheng Tang. The thousand-year-old fox spirit killed Su Daji, the daughter of Su Gu, the marquis of Jizhou, and disguised as her to enter the palace to tempt King Zhou, making him addicted to alcohol and sex, and the people suffered. Although the alchemist Yun Zhongzi, Empress Jiang, Shang Rong, Mei Bo and other loyal subjects advised King Zhou, Daji’s demonic words confused the king, and two treacherous ministers, Fei Zhong and You Hun, helped him, causing Mei Bo to be executed by cannon branding, Empress Jiang died of anger after having her eyes plucked out, and Shang Rong hit a stone pillar to kill himself because he thought he had failed the country. These turmoil made King Wu Cheng Huang Fei Hu start to defy King Zhou’s will, and forced the two princes Yin Jiao and Yin Hong to abscond from the palace, and were then taken back to the mountain by the Twelve Immortals, namely Chi Jing Zi and Guang Cheng Zi, as disciples. But King Zhou didn’t stop there, he listened to Fei Zhong’s strategy and swindled the four lords into the capital city, intending to eliminate the root of the grass, the Eastern Marquis Jiang Huanchu and Southern Marquis E Chong Yu died as a result, while the Western Marquis Ji Chang escaped death by divination. This section also introduces Ji Chang’s 100th son, Lei Zhenzi, who was born after the wind and thunder, and was taken by Ji Chang as his righteous son and then taken away by Yun Zhongzi as his disciple.
Nezha
Nezha was born as the third son of Li Jing, the chief soldier of Chen Tang Pass. When Nezha was seven years old, he killed Li Guang, a subordinate of Dragon King Ao Guang, and Prince Ao C. He made Li Jing extremely unhappy. Nezha did not want to involve his parents, so he cut out his stomach and intestines to make amends. When Li Jing learns of this, he burns down the palace and Nezha has to go back to his master. After Li Jing learns of this, he burns down the palace and Ne Zha goes back to his master. Taiyi Real allows Ne Zha to be reborn with a lotus flower and passes him many magic treasures. Nezha then returns to Chen Tang Pass to kill Li Jing, but is overcome by the pagoda he has been taught by the Burning Lantern. Nezha and his son were later reconciled and trained with their respective masters, and later assisted Jiang Ziyia in his battle.
Jiang Ziya descends from the mountain
Since he was thirty-two years old, Jiang Ziya went to the mountain to study Taoism. Despite his forty years of devotion, he did not have the talent to become an immortal, but only the blessings of earth to enjoy. His master, Yuan Shi Tian Zun, asked him to go down to the mountain to become a god and assist his lord. After Jiang Shang came down from the mountain, he joined his brother Song Yiren, married Ma, and sold strainers and flour, but he could not do any business. Song Ziyin knew that Jiang Ziya knew feng shui, so he asked him to open a fortune museum. Jiang Ziya’s reputation was so popular that he was able to detect the original form of the jade lute spirit, and King Zhou gave him the post of the Heavenly Supervisor. When Daji saw her sister suffering, she made it difficult for Jiang Ziya to build a beautiful platform called “Deer Terrace”, but in fact she wanted to kill him. After Jiang Ziya escaped by water, Chong Houhu took over the post. When Ma found out that her husband had resigned, she blamed him for his lack of talent, and the two divorced. Jiang Ziya left Song Jia Zhuang and met the people who fled because they didn’t want to build the deer platform, so he sent them to Xiqi for refuge by using earth transport. Daji, on the other hand, put the lute on the star-gazing tower to absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, so that five years later she could be transformed into the beautiful Wang Guijin and enter the palace to confuse Zhou. In addition to the deer platform, Daji also built an insect bowl, a wine pond and a meat forest, forcing the loyal minister Jiao Li to kill himself after advising the king, and Yang Ren had his eyes gouged out. Afterwards, Qingxu Dao De Zhenjun saved Yang Ren and made him assist the king of Zhou.
Flying Bear in Dream
Ji Chang had spent seven years in prison. His eldest son, Bo Yi Kao, planned to pay tribute to his father to atone for his sins. Daji saw that Bo Yi Kao was young and handsome, but she could not keep him, so she falsely claimed that Bo Yi Kao had molested her. When he failed to do so, Daji chopped him into meat paste and tricked Ji Chang into eating it. Ji Chang, who was good at numbers, knew that his son’s flesh was on his plate, but resisting the order would lead to death, so he ate his son. Ji Chang’s second son Ji Fa learned that, according to the strategy of San Yisheng buy Fei Zhong, You Hun, let them in the ears of King Zhou to say a few words, King Zhou then released Ji Chang. When Ji Chang’s escape was revealed, King Zhou sent Yin Broken and Lei Kai to lead his troops to capture the fugitive. Yun Zhongzi asked Lei Zhenzi to come down to help his father, and Lei Zhenzi easily scared off Yin and Lei’s troops. When Ji Chang returned to Xiqi, he vomited three rabbits when he thought of Bo Yi Kao. Afterwards, Ji Chang wanted to build a “Spiritual Platform” to tell the wind and check the disaster of the people.
Fishing by Jiang Tai Gong
Since Jiang Ziya abandoned Chaoge, he fished with a needle in Wei Shui. Woodcutter Wu Ji laughed at him for fishing with a needle, but Jiang Ziya said he was fishing for a king and said Wu Ji would kill someone. At first Wu Ji didn’t believe him, but when he went to Xiqi to sell firewood, he accidentally killed Wang Xiang and was going to be executed, but after he took Jiang Ziya as his teacher, Jiang Ziya taught him the law to save his life and escape death. Time flies, one day King Wen led Wen and Wu to the southern suburbs to play, heard Wu Ji’s song and learned from him that Jiang Ziya was a strange man. King Wen thought that Jiang Ziya must be the flying bear in his dream, so he hired Jiang Ziya as the prime minister of the Right Spiritual Platform. King Wen of Zhou personally gave Jiang Ziya a chariot to pull, and after walking more than 800 steps, Jiang Ziya projected that the Zhou Dynasty would last 800 years. Afterwards, Jiang Ziya ruled the country well and settled the people, and the people of Xiqi lived and worked in peace and happiness.
Bikan’s Heart
King Zhou and Daji visit the completed Deer Terrace. In order to win King Zhou’s trust, Daji goes back to the Xuan Yuan tomb and has her foxes and foxes disguise themselves as gods and goddesses on the night of the full moon to create the impression that the gods have come to the Deer Terrace. King Zhou was delighted to see the gods descend, but his attendant, Bigan, found the fox smell unbearable and told Huang Feihu about it. Huang Feihu ordered his family to follow the fox spirit back to the nest, and then set fire to destroy the fox nest. The foxes were then skinned and presented to King Zhou. She pretended to be sick and wanted to eat a rare heart called “Linglong Heart” to cure her illness. Knowing that his death was imminent, Bigan remembered the brief note given to him by Jiang Ziya earlier and drank the talismanic water to protect his five organs according to the content. After the heart was cut open and taken out, Bigan went out of the noon gate and heard an old woman selling heartless vegetables, so he asked her, “What if a person has no heart?” The old woman replied, “If a man has no heart, he will die.
King Wucheng’s Rebellion
Emperor Wen
When he returned and saw King Zhou’s love for wine and sex, he ordered the destruction of the cannon, the wine pond and the insect pots, and set out for the East Sea to quell the rebellion. After the master left, King Zhou resumed his old ways. The story is divided into two parts, Jiang Ziya sent Nangong Shi to lead the troops to Chongcheng to discuss the war, and finally took down Hou Hu and his son, but Ji Chang saw Hou Hu’s head and was disturbed, soon after the death of the posthumous King Wen of Zhou. Jiang Ziya established Ji Fa as King Wu. On New Year’s Day, Huang Feihu’s first wife Jia entered the palace for a pilgrimage. Since it was against etiquette for the king to see his wife, and Daji held a grudge against Huang Feihu, she designed for King Zhou to arrive. King Zhou saw Jia’s beauty, so he molested her, and Jia was so humiliated that she jumped from the Star Ferry Building and killed herself. Huang Guifei, the sister of Huang Feihu, heard that her sister-in-law had been killed by Daji, so she beat Daji and King Zhou several times. After hearing the news, Huang Feihu decided to rebel. After hearing this, Wen Tai Shi returned from the East China Sea and sent his troops to chase Huang Feihu. Fortunately, Qingxu Dao De Zhenjun sent Huang Feihu’s second son Huang Tianhua down the mountain to save his father, and Jia’s spirit also appeared to save Feihu. The generals of the Huang family eventually surrendered to Xiqi, and King Wu of Zhou made him the founding King of Wu Cheng.
The Four Saints of Nine Dragons Island and the Four Generals of the Demon Family
The Emperor sent Chao Tian, Chao Lei, Feng Lin, Zhang Guifang and other generals to attack, but they could not win. Jiang Ziya was worried that Chao Ge would send a large number of men again, so he went to Kunlun to ask for help first. Before Shen Gong Bao’s farewell, he made a bold statement that he would turn Xiqi into a sea of blood. After that, Jiang Ziya went to the East China Sea to collect Xuanyuan Chief Military Officer Bo Jian and let him supervise the construction of the God Sealing Platform in Qishan. Jiang Ziya’s mortal horse was so frightened that it was paralyzed and had to go up to Kunlun Mountain. Yuan Shi Tian Zun gave Jiang Ziya the four not to be a mount, and gave him the whip to do weapons. After that, the Four Saints of Jiulong Island and Fenglin were both killed by blows. After Zhang Guifang knew that he could not win, he raised his gun and killed himself. After that, the Master sent Lu Xiong, Fei Zhong and You Hun to fight, but they were all frozen to death by Jiang Ziya’s magic. Wen Tai Shi then sent the four generals of the devil family to the battlefield, the two sides at first a stalemate, but the four generals of the devil family have their own magic weapons, Jiang Ziya and others defeated. At this point, Huang Tianhua and Yang Jian, the disciple of the Jade Emperor, come to the battle. Yang Jian, who knows how to change, kills a monster controlled by the demon Lishou, disguises himself as a flower fox marten, and steals all the magic treasures from the four generals after they are asleep.
The Ten Ultimate Formation, Zhao Gongming
After receiving the four generals in Huang Hua Mountain, Master Wen went to Jin Ao Island and asked the ten Heavenly Kings to help him in the battle, each of which has its own mysterious formation. Yao Tianjun firstly set up the Soul Drop Formation, he tied the straw man in an attempt to curse Jiang Ziya to death, Jiang Ziya’s soul almost drifted to the God Sealing Platform, but fortunately was saved by Tai Shang Laojun. When the immortals saw that Jiang Ziya had returned from the tribulation, they were not sure about breaking the Ten Perfections Formation, but at that time the Burning Lamp Daoist came to help, so they decided that he would be the main general. On the day of the meeting, the ten heavenly rulers against the twelve immortals, first by the Qin Tianjun set up a heavenly extinction formation, into the formation will be shattered by thunder, but by the wide method of the Heavenly Father with the Dragon Pile restraint. Zhao Tianjun set up the Earth Fire Formation, and those who entered the formation would be attacked by thunder and fire, but Fearful Liusun tied Zhao Tianjun with a rope and broke the formation. Dong Tianjun set up a wind roar formation, those who entered the formation would be cut by the sharp edge of the wind and die, after obtaining the wind pearl from Dou Er Zhen, the formation was broken by Cihang Daoist. Yuan Tianjun set up a cold ice formation, Pu Xian real into the formation with golden light to dissolve the sharp ice blade, and then kill Yuan Tianjun with Wu Hook sword. The Golden Light Virgin set up the Golden Light Formation, the person who entered the formation would be turned into pus and blood by the golden light, Guangchengzi entered the formation and killed the Golden Light Virgin with the Seal of Heaven. Sun Tianjun set up the Blood Formation, those who enter the formation will be turned into blood, Taiyi Real entered the formation and killed Sun Tianjun with the Nine Dragons Divine Fire Shield. Seeing that the six formations were broken, Master Wen went to Emei Mountain and asked Zhao Gongming to help him.
Zhao Gongming went to battle and killed Jiang Ziya with a whip. His magic treasure, the Pearl of Fixing the Sea, also overpowered the five immortals, but he was no match for Xiao Sheng and Cao Bao, who were casuals of Mount Wuyi, and went to the Three Immortals Island to borrow two magic treasures, the Golden Jiao Shears and the Mixed Element Golden Dou. Jiang Ziya was revived by Guangchengzi with an immortal elixir, and the traveling Taoist Lu Press also came to Jiang Ziya’s aid. Lu Press shot Zhao Gongming to death with a book of seven arrows, so the Ten Heavenly Kings had to set up the formation again. The ten Heavenly Kings had to set up the formation again. The blazing flame formation was set up and those who entered the formation were burned by Samadhi fire. Yao Tianjun set up a soul-dropping formation, those who entered the formation would be scattered in a moment. Wang Tianjun set up a red water formation, if the entrant touches the red water in the formation will turn into blood, Daodezhenjun entered the formation with a lotus flower and used the five fires and seven birds fan to turn Wang Tianjun into red ashes, so he broke this formation. Zhang Tianjun set up a red sand formation, and those who entered the formation would be killed by flying sand and broken bones. The three immortal nuns of the Three Immortals Island were entrusted by Shen Gongpao to help Wen Taiji, and they captured Lu Zhi for a time, but he managed to escape. The three immortal nuns set up the dangerous Nine Bend Yellow River Formation, which trapped all the twelve immortals in Kunlun, and Jiang Ziya had to ask Yuan Shi Tian Zun and Tai Shang Lao Jun to break the formation. After that, Nanji Immortal entered the Red Sand Formation and hit Zhang Tianjun in the back of the heart with the Jade Ruyi, breaking the formation and rescuing King Wu. After that, the Emperor Wen saw that all the ten formations were broken, so he was defeated and went to Mount Qishan, but he was ambushed along the way and eventually went to the Dragon Ridge by mistake.
Jiang Ziya designed to collect Deng Jiugong
Shen Gongpao sought revenge for Wen Taishi by inciting Tu Xingsun, a disciple of the Twelve Immortals, to steal his master’s rope and become the general of Deng Jiugong who was crusading against Xiqi. At first, Deng Jiugong saw that Tu Xingsun was short and ugly, so he made him the food supervisor. However, after Deng Jiugong lost to the Xiqi army and his daughter Deng Changyu was bitten by Yang Jian’s roaring dog, he remembered Tu Xingsun and made him the commander in chief. He was so pleased that he planned to marry Canyu to him. However, he failed to assassinate Jiang Ziya, and was later subdued by Fearful Sun, who surrendered to Xiqi. Jiang Ziya used the marriage between Tu Xing Sun and Deng Canyu to make Deng Jiugong abandon Shang and join Zhou. When King Zhou heard the news, he sent Su Gu, Zhang Shan and Li Jin to invade the city, with the help of Luyue, a qi refiner, and the feathered immortals of Penglai Island, but they all failed to win against the Xiqi army. When Su Gu saw that the situation was over, he returned to Zhou with Zheng Lun, while Lu Yue was defeated and returned to Nine Dragons Island, and Feixian was subdued by Daoist Burning Lamp.
Yin Jiao and Yin Hong
Yin Jiao and Yin Hong, two princes who had achieved success in monasticism, each received a magic treasure from their master and went down to the mountain to assist King Wu of Zhou. Although he was assisted by the Immortal Ma Yuan, he was turned into ashes by Chi Jing Zi with his taiji diagram. Since Ma Yuan’s name was not on the list of gods, Daoist Junti lured him to the West. On the other hand, Yin Jiao bade farewell to his master and took in two generals, Wen Liang and Ma Shan, but he was turned against Jiang Ziya by Shen Gong Bao. However, he was killed by Li Jing with a pagoda. Yin Jiao, on the other hand, was defeated by Jiang Ziya and the Burning Lamp Daoist and died by plowing. King Zhou ordered Hong Jin to go to war. Hong Jin was no match for Princess Longji and was going to be killed by her, but the old man Yuehe said that the two were destined to marry on the same day.
The army is sent to Chaoge
Jiang Ziya marched to Chao Ge with his troops after performing the ceremony of worshipping the general on the stage. Kong Xuan blocked the march at Jinji Ridge. There were five divine lights behind him, and those who saw them fell into a coma, while his general, Gao Ji Neng, released centipede bees to kill Huang Tianhua. In front of Jiameng Pass, Guangchengzi killed the Fire Spirit Holy Mother under Daoist Duo Bao, and returned her golden crown to Biyou Palace, thus disagreeing with the sectarians and laying the opportunity for the future of the Ten Thousand Immortals. Jiang Ziya was confronted by Shen Gongpao in front of the gate. Shen Gongpao injured Jiang Ziya with the Heavenly Beads, but was bound by the immortal rope of Fearful Liusun, who swore in front of Yuan Shi Tianzun that he would no longer obstruct Jiang Ziya, or he would stuff his body into the eye of the North Sea.
When the Xiqi army arrived at Qinglong Pass, Chen Qi, the ration supervisor of Qinglong Pass, was able to breathe out a yellow gas from his mouth, and Deng Jiugong was beheaded after he rolled his saddle and fell off his horse. When Deng Jiugong was hit by this technique, he rolled down his horse and was beheaded. Seeing this, Tu Xingsun made Zheng Lun, a food inspector who could hum two white lights out of his nose, to take the battle. Afterwards, the Xiqi army defeated Yu Hua and Yu Yuan, two Taoist priests, and Han Sheng, son of Han Rong, the defender of Bixi Pass, who fell to his death after his son’s defeat.
The Immortal Punishment Formation and the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation
The sect master Tongtian led his disciples to set up the Immortal Punishment Formation. When Tai Shang Lao Jun saw that his disciples were obstructing the Zhou soldiers from responding to the order of Heaven, he transformed the three clearings into one air and defeated Lord Tong Tian, while the Immortal Punishment Formation was also broken by Yuan Shi, Tai Shang, Jun Ti and Receiver. The army passed through Boundary Pass, Piercing Cloud Pass and Tong Pass, defeating Xu Gai, Xu Fang, Yu Hualong and his sons, Fa Jing, Lu Yue and many other officials and sectarians. The immortals of the Sect finally set up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation to fight with the Hierarchy, and Shen Gong Bao, who was always against Jiang Ziya, was also in the formation. The battle was even fierce as both immortals showed their skills. When the remaining immortals of the sect were discussing how to start again, the ancestor of the three sects, Honjun Lao, arrived. Honjun Laozu rebuked Tongtian for his anger and foolishness, and asked the three disciples to take the elixir, if the three had the intention of fighting each other again, the elixir in the abdomen would kick in and kill them immediately. After that, each way to return to the palace, Yuan Shi Tianzun drive back to the Jade Void Palace on the way to see the fleeing Shen Gong Bao, he will break the oath with a bushel roll to the North Sea eye.
The Seven Monsters of Meishan
During Xiqi’s march, King Zhou and Daji continued their brutal acts by cracking the shins of an old man and a young woman to compare the density of their bones, and by cutting open the bellies of pregnant women to verify the sex and orientation of their fetuses. The Xiqi army crossed the Lintong Pass and defeated the defending general Ouyang Chun and a number of his lieutenants. But what about Mianchi County Chief Military Officer Zhang Kui and his wife Gao Lanying were very powerful, and Huang Feihu, Chong Heihu, Tu Xingsun and Deng Canyu all died here. Seeing how bad the battle was, Jiang Ziya had to retreat temporarily. Fearing that his disciples had died in battle, Liusun passed on his plan to Jiang Ziyia and the others. Zhang Kui is trapped by Yang Jian with a finger-tip steel talisman, then killed by Wei Gu with a pestle and mortar, while Gao Lanying is killed by Nezha’s gun.
With a big reward from King Zhou, the Seven Monsters of Mount Meishan respond to the imperial edict of seeking wisdom and lead their troops to fight against the Xiqi army. Yuan Hong, the leader of the Seven Monsters of Mount Meishan, is in a difficult match with Yang Jian, but after Nuwa passes Yang Jian a map of the mountains, rivers and rivers, Yang Jian uses the map to trap Yuan Hong in an illusionary realm. All seven monsters were eventually killed, but the Zhou camp also lost Zheng Lun.
Shang and Zhou Change
Xiqi’s army is on a roll and kills King Zhou’s general, Yin Bacheng, but it is difficult to break through Chaoge City for a while. Jiang Ziya drew up a draft and had his soldiers shoot the notice into the city with arrows to let the people know about King Zhou’s evil deeds. At midnight, the people opened the four gates of Chaoge City to welcome King Wu’s arrival. King Zhou saw that his troops were under the city, so he had to fight. After Ziya told him the ten sins of King Zhou, the three lords fought against him, and even though three generals came forward to help him, King Zhou was still defeated back at the noon gate. King Zhou knew that God’s will is difficult to return, after saying goodbye to Su Daji, Hu Xi Mei, Wang Guiren, alone to pick the star building. The three demons are chased by Yang Jian and the others, but on their way, they meet the Empress Nuwa. Nuwa rebukes the three demons for their indulgence in murder and for harming the faithful. The three demons were eventually killed and shown to the public. When King Zhou saw the heads of the three queens on the star-gazing tower, he mourned so much that he burned himself to death.
King Wu of Zhou ordered the skeletons of King Zhou to be collected and buried with the rites of the Son of Heaven. After that, he spread the money of the deer platform and carried out benevolent policies. When Ma heard that her father was now enjoying great wealth, she hanged herself in shame and her soul flew to the Goddess of the Seals. Jiang Ziya knew that the big event had been decided, so he went to the god sealing platform to enthrone all the gods. After reading the edict of Yuan Shi Tian Zun, he enthroned 365 gods in order, and when he was finished, all the gods went to receive their orders. The next morning, King Wu ascended to the palace and enthroned the lords of the kingdoms, while Jiang Ziya continued to assist King Wu of Zhou, so that the people could live and work in peace and prosperity.