Late at night, a dilapidated temple, an old man, offering prayers to the gods...
Zhong Shenxiu leaned against the wall, seemingly observing a play unfold, and waited until the elder had finished worshipping the deities before asking, "Do you believe in Niu Shenjun?"
"The gods are many under heaven, and at each place I offer respect. It is my custom, ha-ha, young friend, do you need any provisions?"
The old man chuckled, looking at Zhong Shenxiu.
"No need." Although hungry, Zhong Shenxiu was an old Jianghu hand and wouldn’t rashly eat food from strangers, especially not such an odd grandfather-grandson pair.
"Speaking of which... Niu Shenjun is no simple deity; he protected the Shang Dynasty for a cycle of sixty years before the Wu Dynasty. He is incomparable to other orthodox deities..."
The elder seemed interested and began to discuss the topic.
"Oh? I would like to hear more details, Elder."
Zhong Shenxiu grew curious.
The long night stretched on and he needed some distraction, not to mention Xun Liuyi was not well-read; this he truly did not know.
"The current dynasty is named ’Great Wu,’ with the founder being the number one expert under heaven. He created Martial Arts, established the nation with martial prowess, and our history now spans a thousand years. It is since the founding of the Great Wu Dynasty that Martial Arts have rapidly developed, boasting the Three Lists of Heaven, Earth, and Man, enduring for five hundred years!"
The old man smiled, revealing his blackened and yellowed teeth: "About a thousand years ago, hundreds of small nations fought incessantly on this land, without any Martial Arts heritage. At that time, martial skills were merely simple killing techniques."
Zhong Shenxiu nodded in understanding, automatically imagining the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period.
"At that time, there was a small state named ’Shang,’ its ruler was Shang Jun, who had been passed down through seven generations." The elder continued, "This seventh-generation Shang Jun had some unique and wonderful ideas, proposing to equalize wealth, distribute farmland to households, treating citizens and wild people the same, punishing nobles the same as common folk for crimes, and establishing papermaking and iron forging departments..."
Zhong Shenxiu was astonished: ’Doing this during the Spring and Autumn Warring States Period? Could this guy be a transmigrator?’
He hurriedly asked, "What happened next?"
"Later on, the papermaking and iron forging were unsuccessful; there was national chaos, and neighboring countries took the opportunity to attack, losing sixteen cities in one fell swoop, with only the last capital holding on desperately..."
The old man said with a peculiar smirk.
’Ambitious as the sky, fragile as paper, this is the epitome of having one’s reach exceed his grasp... But it’s also normal, not everyone who transmigrates comes with an encyclopedia, and being one step ahead of the times turns you into a madman...’ Zhong Shenxiu silently nodded, "Then, abandoned by everyone, how did he turn the situation around?"
If there had been no reversal, this person would probably not be remembered, and after a thousand years, people would still speak of him.
"At the time, tens of thousands of enemy troops besieged the city for three years, with the capital about to fall... Just then, within the military and city, an epidemic broke out!" the elder’s voice became ethereal.
In ancient warfare, sieges lasting several years with cities falling after their food supplies ran out were commonplace.
And with many deaths, the rise of plagues was all the more typical.
"That epidemic was smallpox!"
"Smallpox?" Zhong Shenxiu was startled and compared the symptoms with Xun Liuyi’s memory, immediately realizing it was indeed smallpox. Despite being controlled by modern medicine, it was a serious contagious disease in ancient times with a mortality rate that could reach thirty percent!
"The smallpox first spread from within the city and quickly infected the besieging enemy troops, causing heavy casualties. As a result, each country retreated, and Shang Country narrowly escaped death..." the elder’s voice regained its calm: "But that generation’s Shang Jun didn’t stop there; instead, he claimed to have been blessed by Niu Shenjun, built a temple in his honor, and proclaimed immunity to smallpox. He established an army of a thousand troops, began to reclaim lost lands, even attacked other countries. While armies from all countries were plagued with disease, Shang Country’s troops remained unharmed, hence they were invincible. In every conquered place, there was no need to lay siege, as the military and civilians inside immediately surrendered, fearing contagion... And so, Shang Country rose swiftly, dominating the world, establishing the Shang Dynasty, and built numerous temples to Niu Shenjun, yet it fell after just two generations and sixty years..."
Zhong Shenxiu’s expression became even stranger: ’Smallpox, cowpox, immunity... Damn it, this is using gods to cover up the truth about inoculation, right? This Shang Jun must have been a transmigrator who even came up with germ warfare.’
The fact proved that as a transmigrator to the ancient era, it didn’t matter that I knew nothing about papermaking, farming, iron forging, or leading troops, and that I lacked any personal charisma.
All it took was capitalizing on a bit of advanced insight and seizing any opportunity to turn the tides!
It was just that Shang Jun’s limits were indeed a bit too low.
Zhong Shenxiu realized that this person not only vaccinated his own troops but likely also deliberately spread smallpox to pave his path with an epidemic, otherwise his victories wouldn’t have come so smoothly.
"In the ancient times, thinking about vaccines is purely fantasy, only this method of cowpox is most convenient..."
"It still feels a bit too smooth, perhaps the smallpox in this world has a higher mortality rate and contagiousness?"
"However, even if one conquers the world with an epidemic, it’s all useless once the transmigrator dies..."
Zhong Shenxiu asked, "Why did the country perish in only sixty years?"
"Hehe, Shang Jun brought disaster upon the world with an epidemic, how could he not incite public wrath? The founding emperor of our dynasty rose in rebellion, was divine in martial arts, established Martial Arts, allowing everyone to practice Qi Refinement and strengthen their bodies, thus no longer fearing the epidemic. Later, after breaching the capital city of the Shang Dynasty and eradicating all of Shang Jun’s bloodline... The Shang Dynasty met its end from that point on. However, Niu Shenjun Temple spread widely across the world as the god presiding over diseases..."
The old man slowly explained the origin of Niu Shenjun Temple, which left Zhong Shenxiu somewhat sighing.
This Shang Jun, he was such a talent too!
Then, looking once more at the image of the deity with a bull’s head and human body, robed and holding a jade tablet, Zhong Shenxiu suddenly felt a wave of emotion.
Just then, a muffled boom came from the sky, followed by a downpour of rain.
In the pouring rain, the old man handed a steamed bun to the girl in red and spoke leisurely, "There’s even a rumor about the founding emperor of our dynasty establishing Martial Arts after receiving a divine revelation in a dream, and it was also from Niu Shenjun! So even though the Shang Dynasty fell, the faith in Niu Shenjun persists, though most people consider it nonsense..."
Zhong Shenxiu nodded. Otherwise, there would be a big problem with this Niu Shenjun.
"Things from a thousand years ago are now just old tales... Rare for you to still take an interest." The old man smiled and continued to roast the steamed buns. "Sure you won’t try some?"
"Thank you, I appreciate the gesture."
Zhong Shenxiu smiled and politely declined.
Just then, the dilapidated temple door was pushed open, and a man dressed in sturdy attire, carrying a long saber, and dressed like a Jianghu wanderer, entered.
He seemed a bit surprised to see three people inside, but then he ignored it and found a corner to rest and shelter from the rain.
’This desolate temple has really attracted a crowd today, so many people?’
Zhong Shenxiu rolled his eyes inwardly and said to the old man, "It’s boring to talk about history on such a long night. Let’s talk about Jianghu instead; I’m quite interested in the Heavenly Ranking."
"Those who are listed on the Heavenly Ranking are Supreme Grandmasters with unfathomable powers; they can shatter mountains with a punch, sever rivers with a palm, and even reverse life and death. We could count ourselves blessed just to catch a glimpse of them in eight lifetimes, that I dare not speak of, dare not speak of..." The old man waved his hands repeatedly.
Zhong Shenxiu was dumbfounded: ’Is this still a Martial Artist? There’s something wrong with this