Su Fu selected a few medicinal herbs and placed them directly into the Eight Trigrams Alchemy Furnace.
For her, this was incredibly easy.
She planned to settle things in Zhaoge and then set off for the Great Desolation.
Luckily, Divine Pantheon had some conscience; there was still time before the true Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods broke out.
She felt that this was likely a stable development period for the test takers.
It was a convenient time to explore the map, understand various relationships, and decide which side to join.
Would they choose to aid the tyrant or help Xiqi?
Once everyone had chosen a side, the Great War of the Gods would likely begin.
On the surface, Xiqi was the side destined by heaven.
Helping the Zhou against the Shang seemed like the safest choice.
But the problem was that those named on the Investiture of the Gods were destined to die.
Although Jiang Ziya’s side would win, the ultimate goal was to select 365 righteous gods for the Heavenly Court.
In other words, even if one chose the winning side, they would have to die once first.
After death, they would be deified.
This was the Grandmaster’s open scheme.
Using a great tribulation, they would complete the killing calamity while simultaneously filling the divine positions in the Heavenly Court.
“Wait…”
Su Fu suddenly thought of the reminder from Divine Pantheon:
[EX-rank Dungeon: Death state may not be completely avoidable…]
[Certain choices may lead to remaining in the dungeon forever…]
‘This is very likely the warning! Deification after death… doesn’t that mean one can only stay in this world?!’
With one’s soul bound by the laws of the Heavenly Dao, even Divine Pantheon might not be able to bring them back.
Su Fu suddenly felt a chill spread down her spine.
However, if she chose to join the Sect of Interception and help the Shang Dynasty, that would be going against the heavens.
The difficulty would be immense.
Even Grandmaster Tongtian had lost miserably; what could she do?
No matter how powerful he was, he couldn’t withstand the combined forces of three Saints: Yuanshi, Laozi, and Nuwa.
Alternatively, should she choose to be a rogue cultivator?
But if she thought she could stay out of it, she was being too naive.
Such a good thing was impossible.
This was the Great Tribulation of the Investiture of the Gods—the third great war of the Great Desolation after the Dragon-Han Tribulation and the Shaman-Demon Calamity.
No one could stay uninvolved.
An isolated person would only die faster.
Outside the window, the twilight deepened.
The bustle of Zhaoge drifted in faintly.
Su Fu collected another furnace’s worth of pills.
That left only one path: using the momentum of the deification tribulation, but with the goal of attaining sainthood in the flesh.
This way, there was no need to die; one could go straight onto the Investiture of the Gods.
Yang Jian and Nezha had followed this path.
In the (Fengshen Yanyi), the vast majority of cultivators had their true spirits placed on the list after death, and they were restricted by the Investiture of the Gods.
Only a few, like Yang Jian and Nezha, attained sainthood in the flesh, gaining divine status while preserving their freedom.
This was the only viable path.
But the problem was that physical sanctification was easier said than done.
Nezha and Yang Jian succeeded because they had powerful backers.
…Wait, she had one too.
So a rough strategy was formed: lay low and develop in the early stage, plan the alignment in the mid-stage, harvest resources amidst the chaos in the late stage, and finally hide the Investiture of the Gods in her hands—maybe she could snatch a big prize at the end.
Now, while things were stable, she had to hurry and travel through the Great Desolation map to get some good things.
After all, while the Investiture of the Gods war was a struggle between Shang and Zhou on the surface, it was actually a fight for luck, merit, and Dharma treasures.
Everything else was fake; only the ability to fight was real.
She had to raise her strength to S-Rank.
When the tribulation reached a fever pitch and the Saints were too busy to notice anything else, that would be the best time for her to strike and harvest.
At that time, there would be truly countless Dharma treasures.
Zhao Gongming’s Sea-Fixing Pearls, the Three Fairies’ Golden Dragon Scissors, the treasures of the four generals of the Mo family…
They were too numerous to count.
Overall, she wouldn’t interfere with the fates of key figures in the early stage to avoid attracting the Saints’ attention.
But she could provide timely help, lay low in her planning, develop steadily, and side with Western Zhou in advance to strive for a legal chance to pick up a divine position!
Su Fu quickly developed a line of thought.
First, she could befriend some third-generation or even more peripheral disciples that the Saints wouldn’t notice.
Second, she could use multiple aliases.
If she were discovered, she would fake her death and escape.
She absolutely could not let the high-tier figures calculate her background.
Besides, she had Nuwa behind her—a true Saint of the Demon Race!
Once Nuwa took action, she could shield Su Fu from the heavenly secrets, keeping her safe.
Just then, a new image came through the sparrow’s perspective.
A brawny man arrived at the entrance of Hundred Grasses Hall.
The shopkeeper immediately greeted him with a flattering smile, “Oh, Master Liu from the Fei Mansion! Your presence brings light to my humble shop!”
That Master Liu spoke arrogantly, “The Master has been busy with state affairs lately and hasn’t been sleeping well. Give me ten more of those calming pills from last time!”
“This…” The shopkeeper rubbed his hands and said, “What a coincidence. The last furnace was already taken by Lord You’s mansion…”
“Hmm?” Master Liu’s face darkened.
“However!” The shopkeeper’s tone shifted, “My boss just returned from Zhongnanshan and brought an even better formula! It will be sent to Master Fei first thing tomorrow morning!”
Only then was Master Liu satisfied.
He tossed down a silver ingot and left.
The corners of Su Fu’s mouth curled up.
The opportunity had come faster than expected.
The Fei Mansion… as in Fei Zhong.
As long as she established this connection now, she could easily help Ji Chang when he fell into trouble later.
***
A week later, Su Fu had refined enough pills to last half a year.
The intelligence network was also set up.
In fact, with Fei Zhong involved, it was effortless, as he was the greatest treacherous official in the imperial court.
Looking at it this way, the Shang Dynasty was much easier to infiltrate than Xiqi.
After giving the shopkeeper instructions, Su Fu prepared to leave Zhaoge.
But just as she stepped out, she saw a new decree posted on the noticeboard in the market across the street.
[By Decree of the King: From this day forward, those who present rare and exotic treasures shall be rewarded with titles, land, and houses according to the value of the treasure…]
Without even thinking, she knew Daji wanted to collect these.
This was the start of building the Deer Terrace and creating the Lake of Wine and Forest of Meat.
In fact, it wasn’t that she hadn’t considered the Daji route.
After all, she had the Nine-tailed Fox among her summoned gods.
But the problem was that Daji was a pawn of “Nuwa.”
She was ruining the Shang Dynasty on Nuwa’s orders, and a Saint was definitely watching from behind the scenes.
Any anomalous existence approaching Daji would be the same as exposing themselves directly to a Saint’s gaze.
That would be an immediate game over.
At that moment, many people crowded around to look.
In this world, what did a title mean?
It meant life or death, honor or disgrace.
It meant the rise or fall of a family, and immense wealth and power.
Su Fu thought to herself that many test takers from other pantheons would probably take the initiative to act.
After all, even if they didn’t know the background of the Investiture of the Gods, they knew who was in charge here.
In Zhaoge, King Zhou and Daji were undoubtedly at the very top.
Pleasing them would certainly put one in an invincible position.
‘Uh, wait… Surely, surely no one would be stupid enough to try and kill them early to replace them, right?’
The moment this thought appeared, Su Fu felt it was somewhat absurd.
But on second thought, it was actually possible.
The Greek and Norse Pantheons were accustomed to “killing gods to usurp the throne.”
For example, Zeus overthrew Cronos, and Loki murdered Baldur.
To them, killing someone else to take their place was a routine matter.
Test takers from the Egyptian and Indian Pantheons probably understood that divine power was irreversible, but they likely couldn’t guess how deep the waters were in this world.
They only saw King Zhou and Daji holding the power in Zhaoge, but they didn’t know how many Great Desolation Saints stood behind this “couple”!
When they approached, they would likely already be within a Saint’s sight.
If they went against a Saint—
Well, may they rest in peace.
Su Fu observed a moment of silence for those potential warriors.
Just then, the official who had posted the notice arrived.
“Who just took the notice?” The official’s loud voice rang out through the market, and the crowd instantly grew quiet.
Immediately after, a young man raised his hand and replied, “Me.”
The official frowned and looked him up and down.
The man was tall and slender, but he wore dusty cloth clothes.
A few snickers erupted from the surrounding crowd; clearly, no one believed this poor boy could have any treasures.
The official snorted contemptuously, “You? What treasure do you have to present?”
The young man was quite confident and unhurried as he pulled an object from his robe.
He held up the “Golden Apple” in his hand and smiled.
“This is a Golden Apple. It can make one’s beauty eternal.”
“Hiss–”
The people around him gasped, their eyes all focused on that glittering golden apple.
Under the morning sun, the apple was incredibly dazzling.
At a glance, it was clear it was no ordinary object.
The official’s attitude changed instantly, his voice suppressed with excitement, “You… you come with me!”
He hurriedly led the young man away, afraid someone else would snatch the opportunity.
Su Fu realized what was happening when she saw this.
‘A Golden Apple? Wasn’t that a treasure from Greek mythology?’
It was said that eating such an apple allowed the gods to maintain eternal youth and beauty.
Without these Golden Apples, the gods would age and die like mortals.
Moreover, this item had sparked a rivalry between Hera, Athena, and Aphrodite, ultimately leading to the ten-year-long Trojan War.
‘Good heavens, this person wanted to use a Golden Apple to get in touch with Daji.’
Su Fu thought, ‘How should I put this?’
In the Greek Pantheon, this kind of offering was a standard operation—pleasing a queen or king to gain status and power.
But the key was that once he contacted Daji and sent such a treasure…
He would definitely fall into a Saint’s eyes.
Furthermore, it was the equivalent of choosing to side with the Shang Dynasty, which was the side destined to be destroyed.
Even though it was just the beginning, his end was already decided.
Seeing this, Su Fu didn’t hesitate anymore and slipped away.
Zhaoge was already fraught with danger, and with these test takers making a mess, it was no longer suitable to stay.
Going out to venture into the broader Great Desolation was the right path!