Chapter 666: The Dharma Assembly Begins

「September 17th.」

The Cultivators from every sect who had gathered at Qianmu Temple were all waiting for this day to arrive.

Today, by 5:15 AM, the massive plaza in front of Qianmu Temple’s main hall was already filled with people. They all looked busy. At some point, a massive, circular sacrificial altar had been erected in the center of the plaza.

Cultivators from the Daoist Palace, who were in charge of the sacrificial rites, were adjusting the altar’s angle. Nearby, someone aided by a Lighting Spell held up a huge sheet of drawing paper, sketching the altar. This was to document today’s sacrificial procedure; the records would be preserved in the Daoist Palace’s archives.

By 5:45 AM, the altar’s adjustments were complete. The busy crowd gradually gathered in the open space around it, piously chanting scriptures in low voices. Ruan Chunzi and Yuan Zheng, dressed in ceremonial attire, were carefully placing the Divine Tokens of the True Monarchs onto the altar, one by one, according to the Daoist Palace’s new ranking order.

With the placement of each Divine Token, a designated Ceremonial Officer would loudly recite a pre-written prayer. This was an invitation for the consciousness of each True Monarch to descend.

By the time all this was finished, it was already 7:00 AM. A faint light had appeared on the horizon of the late autumn sky in the south. Some of the lower-ranked members of the Daoist Palace’s Three Seats had already appeared in the plaza. Led by the Cultivators in charge of the rites, they stood in their pre-designated positions, quietly awaiting the start of the Dharma Assembly.

Another quarter of an hour passed, and the other members of the Daoist Palace’s Three Seats appeared in the plaza one after another, their arrival instantly transforming the cold, somber atmosphere into a lively one.

At a quarter to eight, the nine Standing Seats of the council finally appeared. This group was led by Jiangcun and Hua Yun Daoist, with Xia Wen Yi, the representative of Qianmu Temple, walking at the very end.

The Daoist Palace’s Three Seats system had been reformed by Wang Ping and others over a hundred years ago. Originally, the seats were assigned to individuals, but now they had evolved to be assigned to sects. Everyone felt that assigning the seats to sects rather than individuals was more convenient for management and allowed for greater maximization of benefits.

In the past, when the Three Seats belonged to individuals, there was constant trouble, and disputes rarely ended in compromise. But after switching to a sect-based system, compromise and negotiation became much easier to achieve.

Of course, there were certainly some under-the-table deals that never saw the light of day, but on the whole, the change was for the better.

Jiangcun’s position was very close to the altar. He looked at the Dragon Monarch’s Divine Token in the very center of the altar with some satisfaction, but then felt a bit uneasy. The objects of worship this time did not include a Lord, which made the array of Divine Tokens on the altar seem somewhat sparse.

“I heard that your True Yang Sect is already forging a divine seat for Changqing?” The voice of Monk Minghui, the representative from Vajra Temple, reached Jiangcun’s ears, causing him to involuntarily turn his head toward Hua Yun Daoist.

Hua Yun Daoist maintained her cold demeanor. Her gaze fell upon Ruan Chunzi in front of the altar as she said, “That’s right.”

She answered simply, with no intention of elaborating.

Just as Monk Minghui was about to speak again, Hua Yun Daoist turned to face him and said, “Fellow Daoist, if you intend to leave Vajra Temple and join my True Yang Sect, I wouldn’t mind hearing your thoughts. But for now, please do not interfere with the True Yang Sect’s choices!”

As soon as these words were spoken, the surrounding crowd looked at Monk Minghui with expressions of schadenfreude.

Monk Minghui had a fiery temper and was about to erupt when the representative from the Nine Tripods Sect also made their stance clear: “My Nine Tripods Sect is also in the process of forging a Golden Body Divine Statue of Lord Changqing!”

“The Saint is merciful!”

Upon hearing this, Monk Minghui somehow suppressed the anger in his heart. Maintaining a single-handed Buddhist salute, he said, “I hope you haven’t forgotten how the Taiyan Sect, the Earth Cave Sect, the Taiyin Sect, and the True Yang Sect all splintered. And now, the Yuqing Sect is also unstable internally…”

At this point, Jiangcun interrupted, “Master, why are you so concerned with these matters today?”

His words carried a tone of warning.

Monk Minghui turned to meet Jiangcun’s gaze, then glanced at the representatives from the Taiyan Sect and the Earth Cave Sect. After a few breaths, the anger on his face completely vanished. He then said, “It seems I am truly unsuited for such occasions.”

With that, he said no more.

Just then, Shen Xiaozhu and Liu Shuang, both dressed in wide-sleeved blue Daoist Robes and holding Dusters, walked up from the eastern passageway of the plaza. They came to a stop on either side of the altar steps. Shortly after, Shen Xiaozhu took out a prepared celestial prayer and recited it aloud. After finishing, she shouted, “The Dharma Assembly… begins!”

As her voice fell, two streaks of light flashed across Qianmu Mountain and landed ten zhang before the altar steps.

It was Wang Ping and Ao Hong.

At this moment, Wang Ping was wearing a wide-sleeved blue Daoist Robe, covered by a loose, light purple outer robe. He still wore a simple white jade coronet on his head and held an ordinary Duster. Yu Lian maintained a body three zhang long, coiling around Wang Ping, her form adorned with vibrant, patterned ribbons.

Ao Hong was dressed in dragon robes. He deliberately offset his position from Wang Ping, falling back one step, because Wang Ping was the center of attention today.

“Greetings, Changqing Zhenren, and Seventh Prince!”

All the members of the Three Seats bowed in unison, their voices crossing the plaza to echo throughout the mountains of Qianmu Temple. The disciples observing nearby also performed deep bows.

Wang Ping looked up at the sky. He saw a faint, ethereal golden halo between heaven and earth converging on his body. This was Heaven and Earth Fortune, and as it gathered around him, it automatically transformed into the light of a Divine Technique.

Seeing this, a divine light flashed in Ao Hong’s eyes. He had also practiced Divine Cultivation Techniques, so he could sense the progress of Wang Ping’s cultivation. It was no exaggeration to say that Wang Ping, based on his Divine Technique cultivation alone, was already comparable to the Fourth Realm!

In truth, the entry barrier for Divine Techniques was not high. In many places on the Western Continent, ordinary people cultivated them, so long as they had enough believers. However, casting a Divine Technique consumed one’s physical body and Primordial Spirit. Without corresponding physical and spiritual strength, the techniques were quite useless. But Wang Ping clearly possessed more than enough of both.

A flash of jealousy passed through Ao Hong’s heart, but then he seemed to think of something and felt at ease again.

Wang Ping paid no mind to Ao Hong’s thoughts, but Yu Lian saw everything clearly. She not only saw through Ao Hong, but was also observing everyone else present.

As Wang Ping walked toward the altar using the Eight-direction Step, all the members of the Daoist Palace’s Three Seats in the vicinity subconsciously bowed their heads, maintaining a posture of worship.

Only when Wang Ping and Ao Hong had ascended the altar did the members of the Three Seats straighten up.

“The hour has come! Pray for the blessings of heaven and earth!”

Shen Xiaozhu chanted these words.

Following this, everyone present, led by Wang Ping, began to pray for the blessings of heaven and earth. This process would last for a full two hours to show their piety.

When the time was up, a Cultivator from the Daoist Palace in charge of the rites used signal flags from outside the plaza to alert Shen Xiaozhu. Seeing the signal, Shen Xiaozhu immediately chanted in the same tone as before: “The hour has come! Let the sacrifice begin~”

With her chant, Wang Ping awoke from his state of prayer. He gazed reverently at the divine seats on the altar before him, then, following the sacrificial rites, led the hundred-plus members of the Three Seats in the grand ceremony of three kneelings and nine kowtows.

After the grand ceremony came the recitation of the prayer.

Wang Ping accepted three sticks of incense from Ruan Chunzi and declared in a loud voice, “Changqing, disciple of Qianmu Temple, hereby petitions…”