Sword in hand, follow me!
"Guards, protect His Majesty!"
Emperor Wanli summoned the great eunuch Tian Yi. His eyes were red, his breathing heavy. Everything in the room that could be smashed had been smashed by Emperor Wanli.
The scene was a mess, and Tian Yi, upon entering, immediately kowtowed.
"Stop kowtowing. Did any ghosts or spirits enter just now? Did you see anything strange?"
Upon learning that something had infiltrated again in the middle of the night, Tian Yi quickly wiped his sweat and stated that he had not seen any monsters or apparitions.
Outside, a crowd of divine generals had gathered, all summoned by Emperor Wanli.
"This Forbidden City is truly unbearable. According to True Man Zhang, a piece of the national prestige is missing, which is why so many spirits and ghosts have appeared. If I didn't have this sword in my hand, I would have been assassinated again just now!"
"I don't understand why these assassins can come and go freely here, yet all of you divine generals can't detect anything? It's almost the fifth watch. Everyone go back and reflect properly today."
Emperor Wanli lost his temper at the numerous divine generals. The great eunuch Tian Yi asked Emperor Wanli what he had chopped.
"I don't know what I chopped, but it died."
Emperor Wanli issued an order for Old Zhang to conduct a thorough inspection of the entire imperial palace today. No one was allowed to leave, as he couldn't even sleep peacefully anymore.
Moreover, Emperor Wanli had one thing he didn't understand.
Couldn't these things wait until daytime to make their move instead of coming at night? He was half-asleep.
"Where is True Man Zhang?"
"He is at the direct office of the Meridian Gate."
"Why is he guarding the gate in the middle of the night! Summon him... No, I will prepare for court first. Have True Man Zhang go directly from the Meridian Gate to the Fengtian Gate later. I want him to thoroughly examine all civil and military officials!"
Emperor Wanli calmed his agitated mood. If the hole in the national prestige wasn't fixed, every night would feel like a battlefield. This was not a sustainable situation.
It just so happened that most people had arrived for the morning meeting. He would have Old Zhang check everyone to see if there were any problems.
...
In the Great Fu Li Earth, Ji Xiang still held the position of the Jade Emperor, not letting go, mainly because the abnormal situation on his body had not been resolved.
"Although this Jade Emperor divine position is an empty shell, the feeling of that mark still exists..."
"However, it seems to have weakened considerably... it has been separated!"
Ji Xiang felt that the mark of the Jade Emperor divine position had weakened and separated, but in its place, the three separated divine positions had all obtained the mark of the Jade Emperor. In other words, there were now three more entities targeting his divine position.
Old Zhang, having annihilated the wish of Yuan Miao Great Sage, comforted Ji Xiang.
"The Jade Emperor divine position sealed by the Song Dynasty naturally obeys the sacrifices of the Song Dynasty. However, now, the Jade Emperor has split into four. The empty shell's power has greatly decreased, and no one is guiding it. There is no need to worry. The main concern is those three divine positions."
"These three divine positions have forcefully entered the Great Fu Li, and the gods are already furious... They are the Jade Emperor's power split into three, and let me try to see if I can slay them."
Old Zhang sensed the anger of the gods. Although the wish of Yuan Miao Great Sage had been extinguished, those three divine lights were still present. Moreover, the anger of the gods in the Great Fu Li Earth was not directed at Yuan Miao Great Sage, but at these three divine beings.
As if sensing the failure of Yuan Miao Great Sage, the three divine lights flickered, seemingly about to escape.
Old Zhang's divine sense moved again, and the Three-Five Male-Female Evil-Slaying Sword Intent instantly flew out. The sword tip pressed against one of the divine positions, and with the blessing of Patriarch Heavenly Master Zhang Daoling, it was almost split open!
"All spirits and deities, all gods, under this sword, shall be discarded!"
Even some gods and spirits with titles in Fu Li had to avoid the sharpness of the Three-Five Male-Female Evil-Slaying Sword. These three divine positions of the Song Dynasty had not yet received the recognition of the Great Fu Li and had already incurred the wrath of the gods. How could they not be slain?
One of the plaques was gradually split into two halves, with a crack appearing in the middle.
However, the other two divine lights seized the opportunity to escape. At this moment, a chanting of scriptures echoed from within Fu Li, rising from the depths to the sky. Instantly, Old Zhang's vision was obscured by a cloud of incense smoke, making it difficult for his consciousness to function properly!
Ji Xiang asked curiously, "This is..."
Old Zhang's expression contorted, and he sighed, "This is not good. The Song Dynasty is waiting below to receive them. Just now, Yuan Miao Great Sage's transgression to the heavens used a Taoist memorial, which is a document for communicating with celestial spirits. Now, in the Wanshou Palace, countless so-called immortal officials are burning such memorials in large numbers!"
"They are using memorials for sacrifices and conducting large-scale rituals to receive them. Those two divine positions descended, and they escaped."
"The burning of a large number of memorials results in this. It forms the effect of a grand sacrifice by the populace. We cannot break through this cloud of incense, because the wishes of us high-level flying immortals are equivalent to the sacrifices of the populace. We cannot take others' incense..."
Old Zhang's voice suddenly became quieter as he spoke.
He remembered that just now, Ji Xiang had consumed the incense of Yuan Miao Great Sage.
"Oh? It's incense."
At this moment, Ji Xiang's eyes subtly emitted a wolf-like glint.
The Inner Scenery Divine Tablet also provided a prompt, indicating that this incense could be directly consumed.
Therefore, without further ado.
It was a buffet, and he would eat his fill.
This incense was different from the three streams of incense from Yuan Miao Great Sage. Those three streams of incense were formed by Yuan Miao Great Sage burning his own vital energy, so it required finding the connected plaque and reciting the divine incantation.
However, the incense currently being sacrificed and burned by the Wanshou Palace, within these pillars of incense smoke, most of them still bore the inscription of the Jade Emperor's divine position. They needed to connect to the Jade Emperor's divine position to find these three divine lights. Simply put, the object of sacrifice did not match the actual item, and the incense was temporarily retained at the collection point.
Thus, Ji Xiang, the scavenger, arrived.
You don't want this incense anymore!
Ji Xiang's divine thought phantom flew forward. In the middle, the divine position that Old Zhang had split into two halves was inscribed with [Tian Luo Wang]. The power of this divine position had decreased, and a portion of the Jade Emperor's divine power overflowed.
The Inner Scenery Divine Tablet provided appropriate descriptions:
[Jade Emperor Divine Power: Source is not comparable to mortal things, inherently born in the celestial realm!]
[A portion of the divine power of the Jade Emperor that was plundered!]
"Huh, Jade Emperor's power?"
Ji Xiang remembered that when he encountered Fire Lord, Fire Lord had "Zhu Rong's Power" on him.
At that time, it had scared him quite a bit. Moreover, Fire Lord's Zhu Rong divine power was also residual, and its effect was singular: it only increased the Fire God's divine power by twelve times. Furthermore, at that time, the Divine Tablet's final description was that the reception of Zhu Rong's divine position had failed.
It was clear that Fire Lord had attempted to receive Zhu Rong's divine position but had failed, though she had obtained a portion of Zhu Rong's power.
Ji Xiang continued to examine the descriptions within the Inner Scenery Divine Tablet:
[Any deity below the Heavenly Emperor level, upon encountering the Jade Emperor's divine position, will have their divine power reduced by twenty percent.]
[(Incomplete Power) When holding the Tremor Artifact, the power of the Tremor Artifact will be amplified by two times, and the vital energy consumed in driving the Tremor Artifact will be reduced to one-third.]
Tremor Artifact?
Ji Xiang only had a Golden Striker as his Tremor Artifact. It was clear that this ability belonged exclusively to Tian Luo Wang. Tian Luo Wang's divine position nurtured this power within the Jade Emperor, but now a portion of it was incomplete and had been forcibly split out by Old Zhang.
Looking again at the escaping plaque of Tian Luo Wang, it indeed displayed a similar description within it.
This meant that this new divine position, Tian Luo Wang, should be adept at using the nation's Tremor Artifacts, a deity capable of wielding national prestige in battle.
"Forget it. Although you escaped, I still gained something. I'll let you go this time."
Although this fellow had escaped, its divine power must have greatly diminished. The Song Dynasty's divine positions were not officially ranked within the Ming Dynasty, but with this incident, even the most powerful Divine King would likely fall from the Heavenly Emperor level.
With a wide opening of his mouth, the heavens and earth churned within Fu Li. Ji Xiang swallowed the ten directions of the world, continuously devouring the incense being sacrificed and burned by the Wanshou Palace!
As Ji Xiang devoured the incense, his divine thought phantom became increasingly solidified, and the cultivation he could wield also increased.
The three divine lights descended very quickly. They were seen leaving Fu Li and entering a certain Dharma Realm, disappearing without a trace.