War among Gods and Men - 2. A New Empire〈POD〉

In Volume 2, competitions of the wisdom of Tao in the ten matrices of war escalated. Eventually Interceptus lost ground, and the Imperial Teacher died as he tried to escape. However, Sect Elucidatus also suffered great losses. More disciples from Interceptus and Elucidatus joined in, and the competition on the abilities of Tao further intensified. Magic weapons and unbelievable magical feats were displayed in the battlefield. One Taoist, Terra Walker could literally disappeared into the earthen ground and walked in the earthen medium. Eventually, as competition of wisdom of Tao escalated further, Patriarch of Sect Interceptus, Savant of Heaven, became personally engaged, so did the leaders of the two other sects, Lao Tzu of Antropodus and Primeval of Interceptus. The war matrix set up by Savant of Heaven was broken, and he vowed another even more vicious war matrix, the Matrix of Ten Thousand Gods. After a fierce engagement, many disciples from both Interceptus and Elucidatus died, but the matrix was also destroyed. At this moment, the teacher of the three Sects, Eternal Prosperity, the Grand Master of Tao, appeared and ordered the three Sects to cease all hostilities. A decree of peace was issued. Leader of the three Sects promised that henceforth their Sects and disciples would never be involved in human affairs. They all went back to their respective Sect headquarters, in the deepest corners of high mountains, to continue their pursuit of the wisdom of Tao.

The commander-in-chief of the army of the new Duke West, King of Arms (who succeeded his father), Jiang Sarn, then launched the long awaited eastward campaign against the tyrant Zoe. Many free-lance Taoists came to the aid of Zoe, including some bioTaoists who used germ warfare. All efforts ended in failure and eventually the army of Duke West encircled the city of Morning Song, the capital of Shang. Jiang Sarn convinced the residents to surrender the city, which they did. Emperor Zoe came out of the Forbidden City to face his challenger, but he was defeated and then he escaped inside the Forbidden City. Both Dar Gee and another elf escaped while Zoe was fighting. Emperor Zoe, in desperation, killed himself by setting fire to his palace, the Star Plucker Pavilion. Both Dar Gee and her companion were captured by Goddess Woman Wa and they were delivered to Jiang Sarn's camp, and they were executed by a magic device. King of Arms ascended the throne and founded Zhou Dynasty in 1046 BCE. The leader of Sect Elucidatus, Primeval, was authorized by the Invisible Master of the Universe to appoint Jiang Sarn to carry out one last mission: The resurrection of the war dead. All war dead were appointed deities to serve humans. A new era had begun.

丘宏義，康乃爾大學博士，上海出生，臺北長大，旅居美國，環遊世界，時代雜誌（Times）曾冊封為「最優秀的美國科學家」。丘博士任職於美國國家航空暨太空總署（NASA）擔任天文物理及太空科學專家長達35年，曾在知名大學如哥倫比亞大學、耶魯大學、紐約市立大學石溪大學等兼任教授，著有科學著作130餘篇、書籍十餘冊、科普中文譯作十餘冊、科普文章十餘篇等。美國聯邦政府退休後與海外華人菁英創辦漢世紀集團與EHGBooks微出版公司，並且擔任資深合夥人兼任總裁，帶領漢世紀技術團隊致力研發華人世界科技與人文的資訊解決方案：2008年帶領漢世紀推動臺灣加入聯合國教科文組織（UNESCO）贊助的世界數位圖書館（World Digital Library），2012年帶領漢世紀開發全球第一套Amazon微出版漢字標準資訊解決方案（Amazon Micropublishing Chinese Solution）。

Dr. Hong-Yee Chiu, Ph. D. Cornell University, has a long and distinguished career as a space scientist with NASA while holding professorships in Columbia University, Yale University, among others. He has been actively promoting Sino-Century Cultures in Great Washington D.C. Area after his retire from U.S. Federal Government NASA. Being the Founder and President of EHanism Group and EHGBooks Publishing House, Dr. Chiu has written many books in Chinese as well in English and he has been paying attention to the trend of digital-publishing and micropublishing research.