Soon, Wang Wuxie led a group of disciples to greet the emperor. Zu An took a closer look and found that in addition to Wang Wuxie, all the peak masters of the Zhengyang Sect had come, clearly showing that they dared not be negligent in the slightest.
However, the other eight sects of Taoism were not present. It was unclear whether they had already left or what had happened. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Zu An did not feel comfortable asking for details.
Upon seeing Wang Wuxie, Zhao Hao acted quite warmly towards him, after all, the other party was the national teacher and the number one person in the Taoist sect, and the two had a friendship in their early years.
Soon, Wang Wuxie led the group to the Reception Hall halfway up the mountain and then reported that the altar and other arrangements had been set up on the Golden Summit during this time.
Zhao Hao nodded in satisfaction, then instructed the others to wait in the Reception Hall while he went to the Golden Summit to conduct the sacrificial ceremony to Heaven.
Offering sacrifices to Heaven is a way of communicating with Heaven. In theory, only the emperor and empress are qualified to do this. If other ministers were to do it, it would "pollute" the sacredness of the ceremony.
Of course, his main concern was that the King of Qi might be associated with the divine nature of the sacrificial ceremony and be perceived by the common people as having received divine authorization.
However, Biqi immediately expressed her concerns: "Your Majesty, this may pose a security risk."
Zhao Hao laughed and said, "There are civil and military officials all over the mountain, so what safety risks could there be? Besides, the Imperial Advisor is with us."
At this moment, Zhang Zijiang and Wang Bolin from the Imperial Guard also came out to claim credit: "This humble general has already scouted the Golden Summit and other locations in advance, and everything is normal."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Wang Wuxie. He had been quite respectful to the court over the years and was also a renowned expert, so they didn't say anything more.
Soon, Zhao Hao, led by Wang Wuxie, headed towards the Golden Summit.
Of course, although he did not bring other ministers, he was still accompanied by Eunuch Wen, a group of embroidered-robed envoys led by Zhu Xie Chixin, and imperial guards.
After they left, Zu An finally found Xie Daoyun in a corner and quietly walked up to her to ask what had happened these past few days.
Seeing him return safely, Xie Daoyun visibly breathed a sigh of relief. Knowing what he wanted to ask, she quietly replied, "For some reason, the Daoist secret realm did not open at the scheduled time, and His Majesty's arrival date has also been brought forward."
"Those people from the Daoist sect were worried that staying in Zishan would arouse suspicion about their motives, so they left first. Now only the Zhengyang Sect remains on Zishan."
...
Zu'an was taken aback: "The Daoist Secret Realm isn't over yet?"
Generally speaking, the flow of time in secret realms is different from that in real life. Time flows much faster in secret realms. In some secret realms, many years may have passed, while only a few months may have passed outside.
Chu Chuyan and the others have been in the secret realm for many days now, so they should have come out by now.
"Don't worry, Brother Zu. Miss Chu and Miss Pei are both highly skilled and intelligent. They will definitely be safe and sound," Xie Daoyun reassured her.
Zuan forced a smile, but he was still somewhat worried.
Meanwhile, Zhao Hao followed Wang Wuxie to the Golden Summit and chatted with him along the way. However, the other party seemed somewhat hesitant and timid. He couldn't help but sigh, "You seem to have become much more dull. The days when we fought side by side are still fresh in my mind, but I didn't expect that we would still be estranged now."
Wang Wuxie replied, "The ruler is the ruler, and the subject is the subject; the emperor is destined to be alone."
Zhao Hao was touched by something he had been thinking about, sighed, and said nothing more.
Soon we arrived at the Golden Summit, where a high platform had been built and everything was prepared for the sacrificial ceremony.
After arriving at the Golden Summit, Zhu Xie Chixin sharply scanned the area and found that the summit had been basically cleared out. Apart from a few Zheng Yang Sect disciples in charge of the sacrificial ceremony, there were no other people around.
He breathed a sigh of relief, but still arranged for guards and embroidered-robed envoys to occupy the key passages around the golden roof, keeping the emperor far away in the center.
Next, Wang Wuxie led Zhao Hao to a huge furnace, where Zhao Hao threw a torch into the furnace to light it. Inside the furnace were various precious elemental stones, rare medicinal herbs, and top-grade minerals.
Wisps of fragrant smoke slowly rise from the top of the furnace, condensing and soaring into the sky, conveying the human reverence for heaven to the heavens.
Then Zhao Hao knelt down before the Jade Emperor on the high platform and the various deity tablets to express his respect.
Although he was invincible in the world, he still held great reverence for the things in the heavens.
Legends of immortals have been passed down through the ages. Although no one has seen a true immortal in thousands of years, he still harbored a sliver of longing and hope that he could one day ascend to the immortal realm.
With him kneeling, no one else on the golden roof dared to stand, and they all knelt down in reverence.
Next, a disciple of the Zhengyang Sect brought over a jade basin filled with clear spring water. After washing and wiping himself dry, Zhao Hao took the incense sticks from the side and offered incense three times to the shrines on the high platform. Then, he took the precious gifts, such as jade and silk, prepared by Wang Wuxie and walked up the high platform step by step to offer his respects to the shrines of the gods in heaven.
This high platform is incredibly sacred; he is the only one in the entire world qualified to ascend it, while everyone else stays far away, guarding the area around the platform.
Zhu Xie Chixin surveyed his surroundings. For some reason, he had a feeling of unease today, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong. He could only secretly pray that nothing bad would happen today.
But what they feared most came to pass. Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out, and the entire platform flashed with dazzling flames, as if a lone cloud had risen. Explosions echoed throughout the golden roof, and the embroidered-robed envoys and imperial guards, caught off guard, suffered heavy losses.
"Your Majesty!" Zhu Xie Chixin was shocked, because the center of the explosion was the high platform where the emperor was located. Just a moment ago, the emperor was engulfed by the flames and could not be sensed at all.
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