Chapter 415 — The World Is Shocked

In the capital, at the Imperial Preceptor's residence of Jingping.

Old Fu hurried in to announce: "My lord, His Majesty has arrived!"

The Imperial Preceptor of Jingping rose to receive him. The two heroes of Jingping stood face to face, with Ling Yuxiu also at their side. Emperor Yanfeng cast the Imperial Preceptor a deep look; the Preceptor understood, and waved Old Fu away.

"Your Majesty has only just reached the capital and comes to me before even entering the palace. Something grave must have happened."

The Imperial Preceptor's expression was one of inquiry, and his gaze fell upon Ling Yuxiu. "There are only the three of us here. Your Majesty may speak."

"Did you feel it, Imperial Preceptor?"

Emperor Yanfeng said, "Five days ago, the tremor between Heaven and Earth."

The Imperial Preceptor nodded. "A most wondrous tremor. The Dharma transformed, the Dao altered, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth underwent mutation. Someone is reforming the Dharma. It moved me deeply."

Emperor Yanfeng took out the male and female volumes of the Primordial Spirit Guide and placed them in his hands. "Take a look, Imperial Preceptor."

The Imperial Preceptor leafed through them carefully, his expression growing graver by the moment. After a long while, he closed the volumes and said, "The handwriting belongs to the Princess and Master Shen. The Six Harmonies Reformation has altered the Seven Stars, Heaven and Man, Life and Death, and the Divine Bridge. No wonder the commotion was so great. Princess Xiu is remarkable; her future achievements will not fall short of yours or mine."

He was exceptionally perceptive. Without Emperor Yanfeng needing to spell it out, he knew this was the work of Shen Mu and Ling Yuxiu, and he had already surmised what consequences the appearance of this Primordial Spirit Guide cultivation method would bring.

Emperor Yanfeng nodded. "The source of the reformation is these two volumes. I rode without rest to see you precisely because the situation is severe. For now the effects are still faint; only grandmasters who have passed from technique into Dharma can perceive them. But for those who have passed from Dharma into the Dao, the effects are far greater. You said just now that it moved you deeply. It seems you have entered the Dao before me."

The Imperial Preceptor said, "It has not been long since I entered the Dao, and I cannot yet see clearly. But that tremor came surging in from every direction like a tide, and standing amid that tide, I felt the subtle shifts in the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth."

Emperor Yanfeng savored the meaning of his words and praised, "The Dao realm is truly wondrous. If its effect on you is already so great, then what of its effect on the gods?"

"Only greater!"

A faint, inscrutable light gleamed in the Imperial Preceptor's eyes. "These past days Your Majesty has been absent from the capital, and memorials from every region have flown in like snowflakes. Please look, Your Majesty."

He brought out several dozen memorials, all from county magistrates and prefects across the land.

Emperor Yanfeng opened them and read. The magistrate of Qining County reported that an earthquake had struck the shrine of Old Mother Qiyue in Qining County. No other place had felt the slightest tremor; only the Old Mother's shrine had been shaken down, crushing more than ten worshippers to death.

When the magistrate of Qining and his yamen runners cleared the rubble, they saw that the mountain shrine had split open, revealing a great fissure. Within the fissure stood a colossal divine statue, half its body exposed, faintly showing the hue of flesh and blood, its whole form aglow with flowing runes.

Emperor Yanfeng frowned slightly. After a moment's thought, he handed this memorial to Ling Yuxiu and picked up another.

This one was from the prefect of Quzhou. It reported that an anomaly had occurred at Great Qu Lake in Quzhou Prefecture. At midnight, a strange light had shot skyward from the lake, filling its surface. A great creature had risen from the waters, its eyes like lanterns, declaring itself the Lord of Qu Lake and demanding that the people on the shore offer up boy and girl children for it to devour. The prefect had sent yamen runners to investigate the lake, and several divine-power practitioners had already died.

Emperor Yanfeng's brows knit tight. He opened the other memorials: all were reports from officials of anomalies in their prefectures, counties, and districts. In some places, shrines had split open to reveal ancient, unimaginably old divine statues that had toppled and crushed the original objects of worship. In others, rivers and lands had shifted, and divine statues had appeared at the bottom of rivers and lakes, either motionless or speaking aloud, demanding tribute from the local people. Most strange.

In still other places, strange lights flashed repeatedly, revealing bizarre treasures that no one could take away.

"Jingping has no such gods."

Ling Yuxiu read through the memorials, set them down, and mused, "Where did these divine stone statues come from? They could not possibly have burrowed up from underground. And some of the treasures mentioned in these memorials do not look like relics of antiquity. They look like the treasures of gods."

"They did not come from underground."

Emperor Yanfeng said, "If they had always existed underground, they would have been discovered long ago. These stone statues and treasures must come from another world."

"And not just one world."

The Imperial Preceptor said in a low voice, "There are similar stone statues in the Desolate Ruins. There are rumors that the statues are the fossilized bodies of gods, that these gods lie in slumber, waiting for the moment when they can shed their stone and return to true form. If the statues in Jingping come from other worlds, then the timing of their arrival is most sinister."

"The Princess and Master Shen created the Primordial Spirit Guide, the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth mutated, and then stone statues and strange treasures appeared all across the land. There must be a connection."

Emperor Yanfeng said, "Imperial Preceptor, the origin of these statues and their purpose demand our closest scrutiny."

The Imperial Preceptor said calmly, "I am reminded of the descent of the Demon King of the Capital of Heaven two years ago. When the Demon King descended, it relied on Master Shen's sacrifice. An altar was needed to summon him from another world. Moreover, what appeared in Jingping was only a strand of his consciousness and a portion of his power. His true body required far more death, far more blood sacrifice, before it could descend into Jingping."

Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu listened quietly, not interrupting. What the Imperial Preceptor had to say was of the utmost importance, and they dared not listen carelessly.

"This shows that crossing between worlds requires immense energy. The stronger the being, the greater the energy needed to cross into another world."

The Imperial Preceptor continued, "And now the Great Dao of Heaven and Earth has changed again. The descent of these divine stone statues is likely only the sending of the statues themselves; their power cannot yet cross over. They still need countless blood sacrifices before their true bodies can descend."

Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu felt their hearts stir, and a terrible thought suddenly rose in their minds. The Imperial Preceptor had already spoken it for them: "They need a calamity that kills the common people on a massive scale before their true bodies can descend into Jingping!"

Emperor Yanfeng and Ling Yuxiu shuddered.

The last calamity had already claimed countless lives, and Jingping's vitality had still not recovered. If another calamity came, it would surely mean the ruin of the nation and the destruction of countless homes!