Free Web NovelChapter 324: Chapter 323: The 2nd New Spring Grand Rite
"With utmost sincerity, I take refuge in the Innate Chief General, the One Qi Divine Monarch!"
"The All Heaven Inspector General, the selfless and brave officials and generals of the Three Realms. With golden eyes and red hair, known as the Three-Five Train Thunder God. With a phoenix beak and silver teeth, commanding a million Pi Xiu divine generals..."
Taoist Qingyuan focused his mind and recited, the Magical Power within his body interacting like Yin and Yang, forming a Tai Chi.
Taoist Jing Hong stood to the left, Taoist Jing Fa to the right. Dragon Gate True Qi, from the same root and source, merged into the Yin and Yang.
The three of them occupied three positions, yet they merged into a single entity. Everyone standing in the Spirit Official Hall was affected by this cyclical path of Tai Chi and Yin and Yang, which seemed to lead directly to the Great Dao.
They heard the proclamation of Wang Spirit Official, the Taoist Sect’s foremost Mountain Guardian, and felt the Dao rhythm of Tai Chi and Yin and Yang envelop them. For a moment, their hearts and minds were captivated, and they were filled with awe for Daluo Palace.
Celestial True Monarch, Ancestor Mie Yang, and the White Spirit Mountain Master were naturally not as easily influenced as the others, but that didn’t mean they were any less shocked.
On the contrary, they were all masters with thousands of years of Dao Practice and could clearly sense the profound and unfathomable Tai Chi Dao and Inner Alchemy True Qi of Taoist Qingyuan and the other two.
It was faint and elusive, mysterious beyond comprehension. Even they could not grasp its esoteric meaning, but they could tell that the theoretical sophistication of the Cultivation Method practiced by Taoist Qingyuan and the others was even higher than their own!
This was terrifying.
The White Spirit Mountain Master was friends with the Spiritual Law Institute Director, Ancestor Mie Yang had founded a sect that awed the world, and Celestial True Monarch was the current Island Master of Chaoyang Island. The Dharma Gates they cultivated were already the pinnacle of this world. ’And yet, they couldn’t gauge the depth of the three Daoists before them?’
The White Spirit Mountain Master remained ethereal and serene, Ancestor Mie Yang maintained a warm smile, and Celestial True Monarch was poised and unreadable. They listened quietly as Taoist Qingyuan and the other two recited the proclamation, committing it to memory.
With the recitation complete, they offered incense and paid their respects, concluding the ceremony.
Taoist Qingyuan and the other two withdrew their Magical Power. Only then did the crowd recover from the profound state they had been in, their eyes flashing with shock as they looked at the three Daoists.
The three old Daoists flicked their Magical Robes, walked around the Wang Spirit Official Divine Statue, and entered the first courtyard. The crowd followed, only to see four other old Daoists already standing solemnly before the Four Imperial Lords Hall, dressed in purple cloud Magical Robes and holding Dusters.
When Xu Yan of Chaoyang Island saw these four, he couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief. ’Thank goodness, I recognize them all.’
If he had encountered another group of strangers, he would have started to wonder just how deep Daluo Palace’s foundation was, and whether it surpassed even Chaoyang Island’s.
Taoist Shen Hao, Taoist Jing Feng, Taoist Yu Zhang, and Taoist Yan Ling.
They came from the Shangqing Sect, the Fengyue Sect, the Northern Emperor Sect, and Gu Qingcheng, respectively. In the hall behind them were enshrined the Emperor Ziwei of the North Pole in the Middle Heaven, the Emperor of Longevity of the South Pole, the Emperor of the Upper Palace of Gouchen, and Houtu Huangdi Qi.
The appointed hour arrived, and the ritual began. The four old Daoists opened their eyes in unison. Magical Power surged within them, their Divine Souls connected with the Divine Statues, and they began to chant. Incense smoke swirled before the assembled guests, who felt as if the Divine Statues in the hall had opened their eyes, their immense pressure blanketing heaven and earth.
Celestial True Monarch’s gaze was like a torch. He saw that Taoist Shen Hao’s Five Qi had condensed a transcendent Divine Soul, that Taoist Jing Feng’s Beiyin True Qi was of the ultimate yin and purity, that Taoist Yu Zhang seemed to merge with heaven and earth, and that Taoist Yan Ling’s body emanated a pure and natural Divine Light.
Although their external manifestations were different, their core Cultivation Techniques clearly shared the same origin. Moreover, their Dharma Gates were obviously no less profound than those of the three old Daoists who had just officiated in the Spirit Official Hall.
’Where in the world did this Daluo Palace pop out from?’
The White Spirit Mountain Master’s expression was unchanged, but the smile on Ancestor Mie Yang’s face had faded slightly. His gaze was not on Taoist Shen Hao and the other three; instead, it passed over them to the four Divine Statues within the Four Imperial Lords Hall.
Celestial True Monarch quietly watched the four old Daoists offer incense and pay their respects. He paid special attention to the names of the four honored deities in the Four Imperial Lords Hall, a divine light flickering in his eyes as he silently committed them to memory.
A moment later, the ritual at the Four Imperial Lords Hall concluded. Taoist Shen Hao’s group of four joined Taoist Qingyuan’s group of three. They once again walked around the Four Imperial Lords Hall and arrived before the Jade Emperor Hall.
There were three people presiding over the ritual in front of the Jade Emperor Hall. They wore Flying Crane Hats and Cyan Cloud Magical Robes, with the white hair of an elder but the youthful complexions of a child, and their bearing was calm and steady.
One was Taoist Yan Song, who had followed Gu Zhao the longest and cultivated both the Quanzhen Dragon Gate and Shangqing Ancient Methods.
One was Taoist Yi Hong, who guarded the Quanzhen Dragon Gate Ancestral Court White Cloud Temple and held a high and respected status.
One was Taoist Ming Yu, a Master from the Dragon Tiger Heavenly Mountain Heavenly Master Mansion, who led the Southern Taoist Sect.
Celestial True Monarch looked at the hall’s plaque, then at the Divine Statue inside, and finally at the deity’s name. He couldn’t help but swallow. ’Such audacity.’
Ancestor Mie Yang’s eyes darted around. He looked past the Jade Emperor Hall at an even taller building behind it and felt his teeth ache. ’There’s something even more formidable in the back?’
Most of the Demons and Ghosts present didn’t know the inside story and simply assumed these deities were names Daluo Palace had fabricated to gather Incense. But Celestial True Monarch and Ancestor Mie Yang, who recognized that Daluo Palace was anything but ordinary and knew some of the hidden details, were reading much more into it.
Ancestor Mie Yang looked at the White Spirit Mountain Master. "Mountain Master, you’ve never met the Daluo Palace Master before?"
The White Spirit Mountain Master shook his head slightly. "Never."
Ancestor Mie Yang narrowed his eyes. Noncommittal, he simply asked, "Are there any legends of this Emperor Haotian Jade Emperor in the Spirit Court?"
The White Spirit Mountain Master replied faintly, "Never heard of him."
Ancestor Mie Yang carefully studied the three old Daoists presiding over the ritual, then glanced at the other seven. He said no more.
The White Spirit Mountain Master also fell silent. He watched as the three Daoists paid homage to the Jade Emperor and the Queen Mother, then joined the previous seven. A total of ten old Daoists in ornate Magical Robes walked around the Jade Emperor Hall together and arrived at the final hall: the Three Pristine Hall.
In front of the Three Pristine Hall, Gu Zhao, dressed in a golden Magical Robe, was waiting for them. He watched as the ten old Daoists approached in two columns, then split to stand on his left and right. They bowed in unison and said, "We respectfully invite the Sect Leader to preside over the ritual for The Three Pristine Ones!"
Gu Zhao’s gaze swept over Celestial True Monarch, Ancestor Mie Yang, and the White Spirit Mountain Master without any sign of acknowledgment. He turned around to perform the final ceremony of the New Year’s Grand Ritual.
Honoring The Three Pristine Ones!
Lighting the lamps, paying homage, reciting the scriptures, chanting the spells, and presenting the memorial!
Inside Daluo Temple, bells and drums rang out in unison. The seven-colored auspicious clouds that had been blanketing the sky above the temple grew even brighter, and from within them, the faint, synchronized sounds of scripture recitation and chanting could be heard.
Everyone looked up and saw seven-colored flowers emerge from the clouds and descend slowly. In their descent, they transformed into a fine, drizzling rain that shimmered with a seven-colored radiance before landing on the ground.
This fine drizzle carried Spiritual Qi. It was gentle and nourishing, providing considerable benefits even to cultivators like them. As for the ordinary mortals who let the rain fall upon them, they felt their Divine Souls become clear and their bodies purified. Their entire beings were washed by Spiritual Qi, and it seemed even their chronic, old illnesses were healed.
But the attention of Celestial True Monarch and the other two was not on the fine drizzle. It was on the final spell being chanted in unison by the ten old Daoists, led by Gu Zhao.
"The Dao is learned from the heart; the heart is conveyed through incense. The incense smoke rises from the jade censer; the heart resides before the Emperor. May the True Spirit gaze down; may the immortal banner arrive at the terrace. Let this subject’s report directly reach the Nine Heavens."
Under the focus of the trio’s Divine Sense, a wisp of incense smoke materialized from thin air. Carrying their Divine Thought, it shot straight into the sky, paused for a moment high above the Nine Heavens, and then vanished into the great unknown.
Celestial True Monarch’s expression changed drastically. "They actually have a way to contact the Upper Realm!"
