Ji Xiang's eyes blurred the beautiful scenery of the world, and his ears dulled the noisy sounds of the world.
As soon as a thought arose, his mind was filled with the strange situation of Tian Fengyu standing at the threshold just now. It seemed that he was only a little bit away from understanding what was going on, but this little bit was always like looking at flowers in a fog, or a moon in the water.
Could it be that without the strategy for the blank divine牌, he couldn't even break through minor techniques like illusions?
This fruitless trip made Ji Xiang feel uneasy.
There were so many divine arts and magical techniques in the world. It seemed he couldn't rely solely on strategies. At least he needed some skills to force his opponents into revealing themselves, so that the strategies could be more accurate.
The court session was also not held. Ji Xiang stood in the Forbidden City, looking at the former Grand Halls that had turned to dust, and fell into silence.
"It's not over yet."
Ji Xiang said silently in his heart.
It wasn't over. From the appearance to the demise of the Fire Lord, it had only been two short days, and it had only been two days since he descended into this world.
New anomalies had appeared, and perhaps the strangeness of the Eastern Yue Temple was inseparable from the chaos caused by the Fire Lord.
"No matter what appears next, as long as True Lord Zhang can successfully enter the capital, my mission will be completed..."
"After that, should I return to Wudang Mountain?"
Ji Xiang pondered, believing that in just one day, no major problems should arise. The guards of the Heavenly Court and the Underworld were all sufficient, and the Emperor was not going to the imperial harem, but staying in the Longde Hall, appearing ready to flee at any moment.
Ji Xiang planned to return to Wudang Mountain to collect incense offerings. As a god of incense offerings, although he already had the incense offerings of the common people, and two large portions at that, he would eventually use them up if he continued to cultivate. Wudang's incense offerings in the Ming Dynasty were good, and it was his old base. Returning to the mountain to absorb incense offerings for cultivation was the best choice.
As for setting up a divine temple for himself... that was not advisable. He might be labeled as the leader of the White Lotus Society!
"When I achieve success in my cultivation, and fight the Qing army in over forty years, I will definitely come to help. Although feudal dynasties are not good things, the Ming court is slightly better than the Qing court. It's just a matter of comparing rottenness..."
Even at this point, Ji Xiang still thought, even if the world was in turmoil, what did it have to do with him, an extraterrestrial demon?
This world was vast, and cultivation was always for eternal life. So many seniors had retreated into the mountains and forests precisely to avoid being tainted by the mortal world and failing in their cultivation.
"My new life is finally about to begin. I'm really looking forward to it."
Ji Xiang thought this way and felt that the real, good era belonging to him had finally arrived.
The Great Ming, a world of bright sun and moon.
Therefore, to prevent any problems on the last day and to resign safely, he submitted an application to Emperor Wanli to go out and purchase magical artifacts.
The last few magical artifacts had been smashed by the Fire Lord, and he had nothing on him now, and all his talismans were burned.
"Magical artifacts... How about this, the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices has many high-grade magical artifacts. I will have someone summon the Director of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices, and you can go with him to pick some good items."
"Anything that is in the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices, you can take it freely."
Emperor Wanli had great confidence in his grandfather's magical artifacts. Since Ji Xiang said he didn't have enough magical artifacts, he told Ji Xiang to get them from the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices.
"There are many magical artifacts in the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices, left over from the time of Emperor Shizong. Some were moved from the Grand High Purity Hall, and they should be much stronger than the original magical artifacts in the Longde Hall."
When Ji Xiang heard the words "Grand High Purity Hall," he was slightly confused. He didn't know the origin of this hall, nor had he heard anyone mention it during his time in the palace. However, according to Emperor Wanli, even the magical artifacts eliminated from this hall were still considered superior goods?
He didn't have to wait long. The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices was supposed to deliver a new incense burner today. He met the person sent by the Emperor halfway. The Director of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices came here first. Seeing Ji Xiang, he was secretly amazed.
It seemed that this Daoist Ji was a favored person by the Emperor now! He was even allowed to take the discarded magical artifacts used by Emperor Shizong!
This business of selling second-hand magical artifacts, which he had planned to do, could no longer proceed. After all, with the Emperor's words, the originally illegal private transactions had become legal online gifts.
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices paid his respects to the Emperor and then set off with Ji Xiang.
"I really didn't expect that His Majesty would give young Daoist such great convenience! If Daoist prospers in the future, I hope you will promote me."
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices had fiery thoughts again.
He looked at Ji Xiang's heroic and extraordinary appearance and wondered if this Ji Xiang of Wudang Mountain was the next Tao Zhongwen?
If he could build a good relationship with Ji Xiang, he could also leverage this to transfer from this broken place, the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices, to the powerful Directorate of Ceremonial.
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices was very enthusiastic, chatting with Ji Xiang all the way, introducing the origin of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices and the quantity of magical artifacts stored there.
The Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices had many departments, but the work of these departments mainly involved the rituals and sweeping of the Ming Thirteen Tombs, which were far from the Forbidden City.
The Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices within the Forbidden City was responsible for the procurement and recycling of second-hand magical artifacts, and then the distribution of new magical artifacts. Therefore, some of the magical artifacts used by the Longde Hall before were also provided by them.
After all, who knew if the magical artifacts you brought with you carried any strange curses? Therefore, visiting Daoists must use the internal magical artifacts provided by the Forbidden City to reassure the people of the imperial palace.
Ji Xiang muttered in his heart, wasn't this the same as schools not allowing outside food?
"During the reign of Emperor Jiajing, many Daoists performed various rituals in Shuntian. After Emperor Longqing succeeded to the throne, their magical artifacts were confiscated and are now piled up in the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices."
"The Grand High Purity Hall of Emperor Jiajing's time is also no longer in use. Our Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices has too many magical artifacts to use. Emperor Longqing said to let us handle them ourselves..."
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices explained the origin of his artifacts to Ji Xiang and told Ji Xiang that if he looked for some items used by Emperor Jiajing and opened these blind boxes, he might be able to find divine weapons.
Ji Xiang had lost four magical artifacts and was left with only a golden striker, and all his talismans were also used up. Of course, he had to get some good stuff.
"Your Excellency, what exactly is the Grand High Purity Hall? His Majesty just mentioned it..."
"Oh, the Grand High Purity Hall, you don't understand? That was the largest royal Daoist temple in Shuntian Prefecture in the past. It was a grand venue where Emperor Jiajing often performed fasting and rituals. In the front, there was the Hall of the Imperial Void, the Hall of the Three Pure Ones, the Hall of Supreme Being, and the Palace of Xiangyi. In the back, there was the Altar of Nine Heavens and Ten Thousand Laws Thunder..."
"It was the eunuchs of our Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices who were responsible for helping Emperor Jiajing set up this Daoist temple and altar."
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices explained, "The Hall of the Imperial Void is the altar for the Daoist god of the Great Void. Daoist must be familiar with this. Whenever Daoism holds a large ritual, this layout is essential, and it can communicate with the realm of the Great Void..."
"The Hall of the Three Pure Ones enshrines the Three Pure Ancestors. The Hall of Supreme Being is a bit strange. It enshrines the Jade Emperor, but it places this Heavenly Emperor on a high shelf..."
"Next to the Hall of Supreme Being is the Palace of Xiangyi, which enshrines Emperor Jiajing's Daoist robe and golden statue... Speaking of which, Emperor Jiajing's Daoist title also has the character 'Xiang' like Daoist, called Emperor Xiangyi, meaning 'holding the great image, the world will follow'."
"Finally, the Altar of Nine Heavens and Ten Thousand Laws Thunder is the pivot of the general control of yin and yang. In those days, the great demon Daoist Tao Zhongwen often held a jade sword called 'Jing Zhen' and performed rituals with Emperor Jiajing at the Altar of Ten Thousand Laws Thunder."
"However, this sword... it was rumored to be lost when the magical artifacts were moved out of the hall back then."
Ji Xiang asked, "Is this hall not used now?"
The eunuch of the Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices replied:
"Now, except for when the national destiny is used to summon gods or during large-scale rain prayers, it is rarely used. When it is to be used extensively, magical artifacts are taken from our Directorate of Imperial Sacrifices. On weekdays, there are almost no people, only two or three eunuchs doing the daily cleaning."