“It’s the Emperor’s Secret Letter!”
The moment Ji Xiang saw the gilded bamboo slip, he immediately tried to retrieve it. The Tongtian Mingyan on his body surged out like a vast ocean, sealing the sky. However, as the smoke reached the gilded bamboo slip, it could not touch the object at all.
The gilded bamboo slip shone brilliantly. Within this hell, a hollow and magnificent voice continued to resound.
“The five elements flow, unceasing since ancient times; the sun, moon, and stars never lose their positions. All phenomena, from the myriad things to the universe, are born from the interplay of the five elements and the principles of Yin and Yang. Between the human world and the heavens and earth, there should be no disasters.”
“If disasters arise, it is because the five elements are out of order and all phenomena are abnormal. At such times, the heavens cease to turn, the earth ceases to bear, mountains and rivers are overturned, humans transform into demons, spirits understand etiquette, celestial gods descend to become earth ghosts, and rivers and seas rise to become desolate ruins.”
“Therefore, to maintain the normal operation of the heavens, the earth, and the human world, and to prevent calamities, there must be the ability of ‘Heaven-Human Resonance’.”
“When the order of the human world is disrupted, it draws upon the power of the heavens to compensate. When the order of the heavens is disrupted, it is corrected by the power of the human world.”
The voice from the gilded bamboo slip gradually weakened:
“The method of drawing upon the power of the Heavenly Emperor is to reach the realm of ‘Heaven-Human Resonance’. Future generations may not be able to reach this realm, hence the method of drawing upon the divine power of the Heavenly Emperor is left behind. Upon reaching the realm of Heaven-Human Resonance, one can hold this letter and enter the Kunlun Dao…”
“The art of replenishment borrowed from the heavens will inevitably have a time of return. The dynasty will collapse at that time, and the Heavenly Dao will descend. New eras will begin as old dynasties fall. The Qin Dynasty perished in haste without heavenly fortune, and it is unknown how long the Han Dynasty will last.”
*Buzz—*
The voice of the gilded bamboo slip abruptly ceased. Then, golden light erupted, shining upon Ji Xiang and Empress Bixia, as if checking who the “descendant of the Han Dynasty” calling for it was!
“This is not a letter written to the Heavenly Emperor, but a method left for future generations to summon.”
Ji Xiang spoke. At this very moment, a fluctuation spread from within him, and Ji Xiang’s form began to change autonomously. The Guangdu Chenlun Heavenly Venerable manifested, and the power within Empress Bixia also began to spread outwards. This surprised her greatly, for she sensed that the power of the Mount Tai divine position she controlled was increasing. An ancient aura emanated from the Mount Tai divine position, as if growing stronger from its very source.
Tracing back from Empress Bixia’s divine position, the Mount Tai Prefect, the Great Emperor of Dongyue, and even the Lord of Mount Tai among the Five Great Lords of the Mountains, their origin was the same divine position.
Who was the earliest god of Mount Tai?
Was the first form of the Tongue-Pulling Hell the Ghost Kingdom of Haoli?
The images of these divine positions gradually blurred. In the most ancient eras, the image of the Lord of Mount Tai was inherently vague, but it represented the origin. During the Warring States period, and into the Qin Dynasty, it was called the “Heavenly Qi God,” the master of heaven and earth!
Thus, outside Empress Bixia, in addition to the vague image of the Heavenly Qi God, another appeared.
The Lord of the Underworld, the Ghost Count, who governed the Ghost Kingdom of Haoli.
“This… this is? The divine position has changed, but the original image has not altered. Instead, a new image has appeared upon the original divine position. This is…!”
Empress Bixia was astonished!
Since ancient times, perhaps the same deities had different images. As for Mount Tai, the situation where one deity, or multiple deities, continuously evolved into other deities was quite common, not only in antiquity but also among the common folk, in imperial temples, and in various religions.
“It doesn’t seem like a return, but more like tracing the roots, drawing back the images of ancient deities from distant ages.”
Within Ji Xiang’s brow, the Great Vow Vajra was also observing this scene, and it shocked him immensely.
Just as the Great Vow Vajra’s own image was an incarnation of Ksitigarbha, and its self-awareness was a thought of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha, in relation to Empress Bixia, this identity of Empress Bixia was perhaps the “incarnation” of the ancient Mount Tai deity in the present era!
“What is the origin of worship? Is it truly the wishes of the world? Are the newly emerged deities merely incarnations of previous deities? We believe ourselves to be the本体 (běntǐ - true body/original), but are we merely fragments or thoughts of others?”
“What is the origin of the deities? Are the divine positions of the numerous celestial gods in the Great Floating Li Earth formed from the deaths of those gods, rather than the culmination of worldly wishes? Have the images of ancient deities long since vanished in the river of history, and without the worship of the world, a mere letter from Emperor Wu of Han could bring them back?”
“Then, after they return, are they the incarnations, or are we the incarnations?!”
The Great Vow Vajra’s thoughts churned violently. What he was contemplating traced back to the fundamental issue of self and clone. Furthermore, if the origin of deities was not the wishes of the world… then the entire system of deities since ancient times would be overturned.
Because if that were the case, perhaps wishes were not the means by which worldly beings created deities.
But rather, it was the means by which deities, using the power of the world, condensed their own incarnations to seek breakthroughs to higher realms.
Were the deities unliving wooden carvings and clay statues, or truly existing ancient supreme beings?
Ji Xiang could hear the Great Vow Vajra’s soliloquy, and these words seemed to reveal something to Ji Xiang.
If this were truly the case.
The image of the Guangdu Chenlun Heavenly Venerable responding to this letter, perhaps… this ancient Heavenly Venerable of Taoism, who was killed in Japan’s Eastern Yellow Springs during the Tang Dynasty, this great deity who had slumbered for hundreds of years, was also an incarnation of an even more ancient supreme being.
“Perhaps, among the divine tablets in the Great Floating Li Earth, those ancient divine tablets themselves were formed from the condensed wishes of those deities… As for the divine tablets of later generations… are they truly their incarnations?”
Ji Xiang did not think so.
This was because Ji Xiang himself had spent a long time in the Great Floating Li Earth and had seen new divine tablets condense. Moreover, even in the hands of immortals, the power of wishes was still a mysterious and great force. It was born from the genesis of all beings and had infinite wondrous uses, even being utilized by the Western Christian God.
The relationship between celestial gods and wishes still required long-term observation.
The reason why the common folk deities could condense divine positions was, on one hand, that their true bodies were generally certain ghosts or demons that received worship from the world or imperial enfeoffment, thus becoming deities. However, celestial gods did not operate under this principle. In essence, this was the case, as since ancient times, celestial gods and earth deities had always followed different paths.
The image of the Guangdu Chenlun Heavenly Venerable also began to change gradually. Meanwhile, the changes in Empress Bixia had stopped. The gilded bamboo slip seemed to deem her unqualified to obtain the Art of Heaven-Human Resonance and interrupted the light emanating from her.
“Who… is it?”
Ji Xiang tilted his head, gazing at the expanding Heavenly Venerable phantom outside himself, which was now gradually dimming. A much larger phantom appeared outside the Heavenly Venerable’s image, clad in dark imperial robes, much like the monarchs of the early Han Dynasty.