Primordial Era: A brick knocks Hongyun unconscious, and he seizes the throne at the start.

Jiang Ziya's descent from the mountain marked the official start of the Investiture of the Gods calamity, drawing all eyes to Xiqi and the Shang capital, Chaoge. Lu Chen naturally wanted to "escort" him, hoping to steal something along the way.

But just as he was about to set off to intercept Jiang Ziya, he received an urgent message from another useful clone left by his main body in Wuzhuang Temple—when Zhen Yuanzi was deducing the earth's membrane, he discovered that the human race's fortune in the direction of Chaoge was fluctuating violently, and a dense aura of calamity and evil was enveloping the Shang King's Palace!

Moreover, this fluctuation even faintly contained a trace of the incense and vow power unique to Western religions!

"Western religion? Calamity? King Zhou?" Lu Chen instantly became alert and abandoned the idea of ​​immediately going to find Jiang Ziya.

According to the "plot," the direct trigger for the Investiture of the Gods was King Zhou's writing of an obscene poem at Nuwa's Palace, which angered Nuwa, leading her to send the three demons from Xuanyuan Tomb to wreak havoc on the court and ultimately destroy the Shang Dynasty's six-hundred-year reign. Could the Western Religion be behind this? Did they want to accelerate the Shang Dynasty's demise, push for the Investiture of the Gods, and perhaps even profit from it?

"Don't rush things with Jiang Ziya. The God-Slaying Whip and the Investiture of the Gods aren't easy to obtain; Yuanshi Tianzun must have a backup plan. Let's go check out Chaoge first. If someone is really up to something, we might be able to catch them red-handed, or even... pull off a counter-strategy!"

Lu Chen's mind raced, and he changed direction, using his brick-遁 (a type of teleportation technique) to head towards Chaoge, the capital of the human race.

Chaoge City, majestic and prosperous, possesses an aura as powerful as a dragon. However, Lu Chen's Primordial Divine Sense swept across the city and immediately detected the murky undercurrents hidden beneath its golden age. Deep within the royal palace, a mixed aura of lewdness, violence, and decadence permeated the air, with several obscure demonic energies mixed with Buddhist light.

He quietly infiltrated the palace, using his concealment technique to its fullest extent, making him difficult to detect even for a saint without special investigation.

Following the scent, he arrived at a luxurious yet sinister palace—the Longevity Immortal Palace. The palace gates were tightly closed, and there were restrictions both inside and out, as well as several guards, but these were useless to Lu Chen. He passed through the wall and hid on a beam.

Inside the palace, King Zhou of Shang was drinking and making merry with a stunningly beautiful woman. The woman was breathtakingly beautiful, with a graceful figure, and her eyes held a captivating and bewitching allure. She was none other than Su Daji, the thousand-year-old fox spirit! Her demonic aura was perfectly concealed by some secret technique, and if Lu Chen had not been highly skilled in cultivation and sensitive to demonic energy, he would have been almost completely unaware of it.

What made Lu Chen's eyes narrow even more was that deep within Su Daji's brow was a barely perceptible golden Sanskrit mark! Although it was shrouded in layers of demonic energy, it still couldn't hide from Lu Chen's perception of the Great Dao of Power.

The mark of Western religion's conversion! This fox spirit had actually been secretly controlled or converted by Buddhism long ago!

At this moment, King Zhou was already half-drunk, embracing Su Daji and spouting absurdities. Su Daji, with a charming smile, poured wine into his mouth while whispering in his ear, constantly arousing his lust and tyranny.

"Your Majesty, the birthday of the Goddess Nuwa is approaching, and the people are all going to Nuwa's Palace to offer incense and pray for good weather and abundant harvests. As the ruler of the world, Your Majesty, if you go there in person to pray for the people, you will surely demonstrate your benevolence and win the hearts of all the people." Su Daji's voice was charming, but a hint of calculation flashed in her eyes.

"Nuwa Palace?" King Zhou's eyes were blurry with drunkenness. "Let's go then, what's wrong with that? Prepare the carriage!"

"Wait, Your Majesty," Su Daji said again. "I have heard that the Goddess Nuwa is an ancient deity with immeasurable merits, and her image is sacred and solemn. Your Majesty should bathe and fast before going to show your piety. In addition, the palace servants should clean the palace and temple in advance, change the curtains, and burn specially made 'calming incense' so that Your Majesty can calm your mind and better sense the Goddess's virtues." As she spoke, she took out a box of fragrant incense.

Lu Chen could clearly see that the incense contained extremely fine amounts of bewitching pollen and aphrodisiac sandalwood, both of which were evil substances that could confuse the mind and amplify desires! If this incense were burned in the Nuwa Palace, combined with King Zhou's already weakened mind due to wine and women, and Su Daji's secret guidance...

The "coincidence" of writing lewd poems at Nuwa Palace is probably about to unfold!

What a vicious scheme! It not only angered King Zhou and Nuwa, thus incurring the wrath of the sage and sowing the seeds of the Shang Dynasty's demise, but also further damaged the fortunes of King Zhou and the Shang Dynasty. Meanwhile, the Western Religion, hiding behind the scenes, could both accelerate the process of bestowing gods upon the Shang and take the opportunity to spread its "Buddhist teachings purify people's hearts" doctrine, seizing the faith of the human race.

"Dream on," Lu Chen thought to himself with a cold laugh.

He didn't immediately expose or stop it. Alerting them would only expose himself and make the Western Church more vigilant. What he wanted was to turn the tables on them, or even outmaneuver them.

Over the next few days, Lu Chen secretly observed the situation. He discovered that besides Su Daji, there were two other demonic forces in Chaoge City: a nine-headed pheasant spirit (Hu Ximei) and a jade pipa spirit (Wang Guiren), both hiding in the palace and bearing faint Buddhist markings. Moreover, suspicious Buddhist practitioners were also seen operating near the residences of several previously upright ministers, such as Shang Rong and Bi Qian, seemingly attempting to influence and corrupt them through various means.

"The scheme is quite elaborate," Lu Chen thought to himself. The Western Sect intends to infiltrate the Shang Dynasty in every way during the Investiture of the Gods, planting spies everywhere, from the emperor to the high-ranking officials and even the harem.

He also noticed another person—Shen Gongbao. This future renowned "Fellow Daoist, Please Wait" was currently still unknown, merely a leopard spirit cultivating in the deep mountains outside Chaoge City. His cultivation was only at the True Immortal level, but his fortune was quite strange, seemingly connected to the Investiture of the Gods calamity. Lu Chen did not find any obvious Buddhist markings on him, but there were traces of Western Sect cultivators' activities near his cave, seemingly trying to contact and win him over.

"It seems the Western Sect also wants to acquire Shen Gongbao as a pawn," Lu Chen pondered. "This man is a key variable; if used well, he could shake the entire Jie Sect. We can't let him fall completely under the Western Sect's control."

He did not directly contact Shen Gongbao, but instead did several things:

First, within and outside the Nuwa Palace, especially in key locations such as incense burners, curtains, and walls, extremely subtle "purifying array patterns" were secretly laid using the suppressing power of the Chaos Bricks. These array patterns were inconspicuous, yet could be passively activated at specific moments (such as when the Bewitching Incense burned at its strongest), emitting a faint purifying and righteous energy to counteract some of the effects of the evil incense, at least ensuring that King Zhou's mind was not completely consumed by desire for that instant.

Secondly, he infiltrated the palaces of Su Daji, Hu Ximei, and Consort Wang, and subtly tampered with several key ornaments or magical artifacts they used to maintain their human form and conceal their demonic aura—embedding trigger seeds for "Demon Revealing Talismans." Once stimulated by a powerful external force (such as the aura impact of a saint's wrath), or actively activated by Lu Chen, these seeds would erupt, causing their demonic aura to leak out and reveal their true forms for a short period of time!

Third, he found the "middleman" in Chaoge City who secretly relayed messages and contacted demons for the Western Sect—a Buddhist monk disguised as a wandering monk. Lu Chen didn't kill him, but instead used the suppressive power of the Chaos Brick to leave a very subtle "misleading mark" deep within his soul. In the future, some key information transmitted through this person will have subtle "errors".

Fourth, regarding Shen Gongbao, Lu Chen left a seemingly accidental jade slip near his cave dwelling. Inside was a fragmented "Evil Technique of Grafting Fortune," along with a few ambiguous, provocative words, suggesting that if Shen Gongbao wanted to gain the greatest benefit from this calamity, he needed to be adept at navigating both sides and waiting for the right offer, rather than binding himself to one side prematurely. This was both a temptation and a warning.

With all these preparations completed, the birthday of the Goddess Nuwa will soon arrive.

On this day, King Zhou indeed set out from the palace to offer incense at the Nuwa Palace. The procession was magnificent, with hundreds of officials in attendance. Su Daji claimed to be ill and did not go, but her trusted eunuch, whom she had arranged in advance, had already brought specially made "calming incense" to the Nuwa Palace, replacing the original incense.

Lu Chen hid on the beam of the main hall of Nuwa Palace, quietly watching King Zhou enter the hall surrounded by his officials.

Incense was burned, rituals were performed, and everything proceeded as usual. The specially prepared incense burned, its colorless and odorless alluring aroma spreading. King Zhou, whose will was already weak, was now stimulated by the contrast between the fragrance and the solemn environment around him, and his eyes began to glaze over, a surge of lust rising from his lower abdomen.

He looked up at the statue of Nuwa in the center of the hall. The statue was dignified and benevolent, with a solemn and majestic appearance. But under the influence of the bewitching incense and driven by the evil thoughts in his heart, King Zhou, in a daze, actually felt that the statue's eyes and brows were full of affection, as if it were smiling at him.

"So...so beautiful..." King Zhou murmured to himself, his feet unconsciously taking steps forward.

The ministers beside him, including Shang Rong and Bi Qian, noticed something was wrong and their expressions changed drastically. Just as they were about to speak up to warn others, they found themselves also affected by the strange fragrance, their minds agitated, and they were momentarily speechless.

It's now!

Lu Chen secretly activated the Mind-Clearing Array he had already set up!

hum...

A faint, cool fragrance seeped from the incense burner, curtains, and floor tiles, silently brushing past King Zhou and his ministers.

King Zhou jolted awake, his dazed eyes regaining a moment of clarity. He stared in astonishment at the statue of Nuwa so close to him, then at his own hand, which had unconsciously risen as if to touch the statue. A chill and lingering fear instantly washed over him!

What...what was I trying to do just now?!

Just then, outside the main hall, the sky suddenly darkened, followed by rolling thunder and dark clouds pressing down! An immense and unparalleled saintly pressure, causing all living beings to tremble, descended from the heavens!

The Goddess Nuwa has sensed it!

It wasn't because King Zhou wrote a poem (he hadn't had time to), but because of the bewitching and evil incense that permeated the palace and desecrated the sacred site, as well as the evil thought that King Zhou momentarily revealed that was disrespectful to the sacred image!

"How dare you!"

A clear shout, like a decree from heaven, shook the entire city of Chaoge! Inside the main hall of Nuwa Palace, incense burners shattered, and curtains fluttered even without wind!

A sharp glint flashed in Lu Chen's eyes—this was the moment!

Without hesitation, he instantly activated the "Demon Manifestation Talisman" seed buried in the three demon ornaments of Su Daji! At the same time, he secretly activated the "Misleading Mark" in the wandering monk's soul, causing it to send out an incorrect message.

Inside the Longevity Palace, Su Daji, who was secretly pleased with herself, suddenly screamed in agony as her demonic aura erupted uncontrollably, instantly revealing her fox tail and ears! Hu Ximei and Consort Wang beside her also revealed parts of their true forms at the same time, their demonic aura soaring to the sky!

"A...a monster! There's a monster in the harem!"

Chaos erupted in the royal palace!

Meanwhile, at Nuwa's Palace, Nuwa's wrath had already been fixed on Chaoge. King Zhou was so frightened that he collapsed to the ground, and all his officials trembled on the ground.

Taking advantage of the chaos, Lu Chen glanced at the limp King Zhou, then looked towards the chaotic palace, a cold smile curving his lips.

In the first round against the Western religion, I won by half a point.

Now it's your turn to face the challenge.