Every year during the Lantern Festival, the capital city would set up a lantern market stretching for dozens of miles, starting from the eighth day of the first lunar month and reaching its peak on the fifteenth. Every night, lanterns and fireworks would illuminate the city all night long, and drums, music, and acrobatics would keep the festivities going until dawn.

In the restaurants, high-ranking officials and wealthy young men drank and made merry, gazing at the city lights.

The lantern market was packed with people; you couldn't even turn around.

Although it is the Lantern Festival tonight, the moon is not visible. The sky is full of stars, and the lantern market is as bright as day, like a cluster of fireflies, which is breathtaking and beautiful.

Men in the lantern market would subconsciously glance at tall buildings with curtains drawn when passing by, knowing that the people inside must be female relatives of noble families, powerful families, officials, or wealthy families.

This year is different from previous years; behind the curtain, besides the female scroll, there might also be a Taoist priest.

“Ti Yuanzi, instead of retiring at Chaotian Palace in Nanjing, you’ve come to the capital to wade into this mess?”

"If you can live forever, who would want to retire in your old age?"

Two white-haired Taoist priests sat facing each other by the window of a high-rise building. The entire floor was empty except for them.

Ti Yuanzi had already achieved the status of a True Person during the Yongle era. He became a monk at Xiangfu Palace in his youth and later studied under Zhao Yuanyang, learning the "Great Elixir of Returning Gold and Fire". He was the sixth-generation successor of the Jingming Dao and could summon wind and thunder.

Ren Ziwan was the 53rd generation patriarch of the Shangqing School.

Ren Ziwan looked out the window and said, "In that case, we may never see the decorated towers in Jinling City or the thousands of water lanterns lit on the Qinhuai River again."

Ti Yuanzi remained silent. At this moment, Jinling must be even more bustling than the capital.

Ren Ziwan withdrew his gaze, sipped his wine, and laughed, "Where's your disciple? Bringing him along will increase our chances of success."

“Either they didn’t come, or,” Ti Yuanzi looked at the Meridian Gate, at the ninety-meter-high five-colored lantern-lit canopy of the Ao Mountain, “they died on their way here.”

Of the cultivators who were able to enter the capital and witness this grand spectacle, less than one in a hundred survived.

Countless celestial beings, capable of ascending to heaven and descending to earth, were suppressed by imperial decrees and died by the swords of mortals.

The 90-meter-high Dengshan Mountain.

The lights, like snakes and insects, coiled and invaded along the lamp racks, covering the eaves and corners of the house.

A strong wind howled as Li Changzhou and the Jiajing Emperor stood atop Dengshan Mountain, overlooking the capital city. The entire city looked like a galaxy tilted over or a raging fire.

There was no place without lights, and where there were lights, there was laughter, singing, music, and the sound of playing instruments and singing, all of which never stopped.

The Jiajing Emperor was dressed in a Taoist robe with flowing sleeves.

It's colder at higher places; if he hadn't been "cultivating" in the Moon Palace these past few days, he probably would have been freezing and his nose would be running.

With his eyesight having improved over the past few days, the Jiajing Emperor was able to make out the crowds thronging the ground.

He couldn't help but say, "These lantern watchers, once they enter the temple gate, can neither look up nor turn around; they can only go with the tide and leave it to fate."

Making a decision is easy, but when it comes to actually doing it, it's inevitable to feel uneasy.

Li Changzhou chuckled and said, "Your Majesty, please look at the sky."

The Jiajing Emperor looked up at the sky.

"Does Your Majesty know about the Seven Luminaries?"

"Of course." The Jiajing Emperor nodded. "The sun, moon, metal, wood, water, fire, and earth are the five elements, which are called the seven luminaries."

“Each of these seven luminaries is a star, and they are spherical.” Li Changzhou pointed his finger, and lamps flew over, outlining the seven stars above his head.

"Your Majesty's Ming Dynasty is also on a star, which we'll call 'Earth' for now, and the moon revolves around 'Earth'."

Two sparks drifted in and merged into the seven stars.

"The Earth is 49 times the size of the moon." As Li Changzhou's voice rang out, Mars, which symbolizes the Earth, rapidly expanded.

"It is about 18 times the size of Mercury and 6.6 times the size of Mars." Mercury and Mars appear larger, exceeding the size of the Moon but smaller than Earth.

"Venus is almost the same size as Earth, or slightly smaller."

"Jupiter could fit two or three Earths."

The unassuming Jupiter expanded rapidly, becoming the largest planet in the world in the blink of an eye.

Before the Jiajing Emperor could react, Li Changzhou added, "Saturn could hold four Earths."

call!

The flames expanded.

Saturn surpasses Jupiter directly.

"These represent the five elements (metal, wood, water, fire, and earth), and the size of the moon," Li Changzhou said. "As for the sun—"

boom!

The Jiajing Emperor raised his arm to block out the intense, blinding light.

After getting used to it, he slowly lowered his hand and saw a huge fireball. Saturn, which he had previously thought was huge enough, was like the difference between a soybean and a watermelon in comparison. Earth was even smaller than a sesame seed.

Humans are like sesame seeds on a sesame seed.

The fireball was scorching hot, and the entire front of the Jiajing Emperor was bathed in light and heat, while his shadow struggled behind him as if trying to escape.

He was overwhelmed with incredible shock.

“One sun is equivalent to 1.3 million Earths, and there are also some stars of various sizes, which make up a complete system. Let’s call it the ‘Solar System’,” Li Changzhou’s voice came from beside me.

"This is the universe?!" Emperor Jiajing's voice was filled with shock and bewilderment.

Li Changzhou chuckled, and the Jiajing Emperor looked at him in confusion.

He saw behind Li Changzhou, fireworks soaring into the sky, like countless Kongming lanterns.

A fierce wind howled, flames raged, and then he heard Li Changzhou say, "Your Majesty, in the Milky Way, there are twenty million structures similar to the solar system!"

Amidst the countless lights, the previously awe-inspiring sun appeared as small as a grain of rice.

The lights slowly descended, returning to the earth, and the sky returned to the clean, dark night.

“Your Majesty, look.” Li Changzhou pointed to the starry sky above.

The Jiajing Emperor stared blankly in the direction he was looking.

“In the vast night sky before me, there are tens of thousands of Milky Ways in every 1/12.7 millionth of the area!” Li Changzhou stood with his hands behind his back, gazing up at the entire night sky.

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