Chapter 132 Purging the Imperial Mausoleum

At the Fire Virtue Star Lord Temple, the Fire Lord and Prince Liejie recovered their breath and went to the place where the Taiyin Calamity Fire had occurred. Although this fire descended during the Southern Dynasties period, and the capitals of the Song, Qi, Liang, and Chen dynasties were all in Yingtian, this was not the same location given by the old immortals of the Stillness Wheel Heavenly Palace.

Specifically, the traces of the Calamity Fire appeared at the end of the Liu Song Dynasty, but were not confirmed. It truly manifested during the transition between the Qi and Liang dynasties.

The key figure here is Emperor Wu of Liang.

Four hundred and eighty temples of the Southern Dynasties, how many pavilions are shrouded in mist and rain. The Taiyin Calamity Fire has inextricable connections with Buddhism, but even Buddhist Dharma cannot control this true Taiyin Fire. This fire originates from the "destruction" (huaijie) of the four kalpas of "formation, existence, destruction, emptiness" (chengzhuhuaikong). When this kalpa arises, great fire disasters and wars occur in the world, causing all those below the level of arhats to die violently.

The old immortals of the Stillness Wheel Heavenly Palace told the Fire Lord that the four hundred and eighty temples were suppression measures taken by Emperor Wu of Liang after the Buddhist Heavenly Heart initially discovered the Taiyin Calamity Fire. Of course, Emperor Wu of Liang himself was a devout Buddhist follower, and the Great Buddha Lord was happy to have him build temples.

Build, build them big!

"Emperor Wu of Liang once served as the governor of Yongzhou... West of Yongzhou, the Black Water flows, cutting across Kunlun. The Taiyin Calamity Fire originated from Yongzhou. According to the immortals of the Stillness Wheel Heavenly Palace, this fire fell into the hands of Emperor Wu of Liang, later helping him to destroy the Southern Qi, and merged the classics of the three teachings, bringing them back to one source..."

"I have heard of this." Prince Liejie shook his head, "He said that Laozi and Confucius were merely disciples of Shakyamuni, and that the nature of the gods also originated from Buddhist principles, which is truly laughable."

Emperor Wu of Liang had many titles: a master of antics, a contractor of shoddy projects, a Buddhist fanatic.

Of course, it was also because of these many things that he himself took on a strong mythical color.

The two were preparing to leave the Fire Virtue Star Lord Temple. The Fire Lord looked at the shrine of the Fire Virtue Star Lord, swayed, transformed into the appearance of the Lingxiao Lady, and fell into the statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord.

"Now that we have no support, anything we do must be disguised as righteous gods to be effective."

"I once received a decree from the Ming Dynasty emperor, which was later revoked, but with the help of Prince Lu. Before the Wanli Emperor discovered Prince Lu's failed rebellion, the enfeoffment of these princes was still useful."

"Take some of the national prestige from the statues of righteous gods, devour the incense of the righteous gods. The divine position of the Lingxiao Lady has special powers. As long as they are both fire gods, we can carry out a cuckoo's nest occupation, and go to replace his sacrifices."

The Fire Lord devoured all the power in the statue, and distributed some of it to Prince Liejie. Then, she imprinted her image on the statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord. In this way, any incense and prayers offered to the statue in the future would be given to the Lingxiao Lady.

If the Lingxiao Lady's divine position was in the Heavenly Department, then she could manifest out of thin air. Even across thousands of miles, she could collect the incense and prayers of temples everywhere, and following the voices of the worshipping people, she could imprint and replicate her image onto any statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord, instead of having to replace one statue at a time as she was doing now. Such efficiency was simply too low.

The appearance of the Flame Goddess was distorting the statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord.

The Fire Lord prepared everything, and was about to succeed.

"Who's there!"

A crisp, angry shout came from the dark void, ringing out from the sounds of countless people worshipping and kowtowing. It was like a light appearing in the darkness, a thunderclap rising in a cloudy sky. The Fire Lord's aura was disturbed by this voice, and the divine female shape that was about to be imprinted abruptly stopped!

An extremely strong surge of anger erupted from the statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord. A fierce energy pierced through the universe in the void. The Fire Lord was struck by the blow, and was blasted out of the statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord, smashing the gate of the Fire Virtue Star Lord Temple!

The Fire Virtue Star Lord Temple near Yingtian Prefecture was filled with incense. Suddenly, someone flew out of the temple, frightening many worshippers!

The illusion was shattered. Prince Liejie was shocked, and the people scattered in panic because of the sudden change! The statue of the Fire Virtue Star Lord jumped down from the altar. The Fire Lord was terrified:

"Ji Xiang! You've come!"

"Who?! Ji Xiang?"

The Fire Virtue Star Lord spoke with a woman's voice. After a moment of stunned silence, she seemed to understand something, and sneered:

"So you're the thief that the Great Emperor told me to be careful of!"

"Puzhao Bodhisattva!"

The Fire Lord's eyes were filled with fear. A statue moving to attack people could only be caused by Ji Xiang's divine power!

The image of the Fire Virtue Star Lord changed. Yue Yinping conjured a blue fiery spear in her hand, and threw it forward with a bang!

The Fire Lord summoned the Fire Crow spell of the Lingxiao Lady in her hand, and Prince Liejie also produced a long halberd, but their divine power was blasted away the moment it touched the Fire Virtue Star Lord's divine power. Sensing the power of the divine position, the Fire Lord was horrified.

"This is not the power of a folk god, but the power of a true Heavenly God!"

How could anyone be able to attract a divine position above the thirteenth level of the Heavenly Department?

Without hesitation, she used Fire Escape to run again, but Yue Yinping also possessed Fire Escape. She did not know what she was thinking, but at this moment, her true body in Qiantang County also used Fire Escape!

"Let's see where you can escape to!"

The two flames disappeared, and the world returned to silence.

.......

The gates of Heaven closed, followed by a strong call.

Ji Xiang had originally intended to search for the legacy of the White Lotus Sect in the Thirty-Six Guards, but the constant surging of the national prestige within him forced Ji Xiang to first take a look at the place being summoned.

And that place was not far away.

Yingtian Prefecture, the Southern Forbidden City.

Since Emperor Yongle moved the capital to Shuntian, the gates of this Forbidden City had never been opened again. The imperial power left behind by Emperor Hongwu, Emperor Jianwen, and Emperor Yongle still permeated this ancient palace.

The real Forbidden City in the north is a replica of this Forbidden City.

Countless princes and generals have died in the Southern Forbidden City. The national prestige here is surging. Without the suppression of the prayers of millions of people, this ancient and ownerless imperial palace has finally cast off its heavy shackles.

The guardian deity of the Southern Forbidden City, the Ziwei Yandu Emperor, has granted Ji Xiang permission to enter the Southern Forbidden City.

This left Ji Xiang in doubt.

"What is this doing? The divine position of the Heavenly God guarding the imperial palace would actually grant me, an outsider, permission to enter. Even a prince like Prince Lu could not enter this imperial palace."

Deep within the palace gates, there seemed to be secrets hidden from the Hongwu and Jianwen eras. But if there were truly secrets, why would they be left in the public eye of Yingtian instead of being taken to Shuntian?

The call he felt at this time was mostly about the national prestige.

Ji Xiang deduced that the national prestige he possessed was initially taken from the fire god Song Wuji, and later enhanced by the personal decree of the Wanli Emperor. An emperor's decree was not easy to obtain. The Fire Lord had exhausted all means to obtain the special divine position of the Lingxiao Lady, and then occupied the Fire Virtue Star Lord's temple, thereby indirectly obtaining the Wanli Emperor's decree, which allowed her to enter the Forbidden City, a forbidden place where even demons and ghosts could not enter.

There were not many deities capable of occupying a cuckoo's nest. The divine position of the Lingxiao Lady was very special, and others could not replicate this operation if they did not obtain this divine position.

Strong national prestige permeated this ancient palace. Even Prince Lu did not dare to reside here, and at this time, there was not a single living person to be seen in this vast Southern Forbidden City.

There were no sweeping eunuchs, nor palace maids responsible for cleaning and maintenance. There was nothing here, except for those ancient and solemn buildings, and...

Buzz—!

When entering the Hall of Supreme Harmony, the scenery around him suddenly changed. Only then did Ji Xiang understand what kind of permission Ziwei Yandu Emperor had opened up to him, and why the national prestige of the Ming Dynasty was so eager. The root of the summons lay here.

"Prince Lu also once peered into this place, but did not discover anything. It's not that the national prestige on him was not strong enough, but that the Ziwei Yandu Emperor did not open up this kind of permission to him."

"The divine position is not used to protect the imperial palace."

"That's just the appearance."

"Its true role is to hide something within the imperial palace, within the national prestige."

The scenery around the Hall of Supreme Harmony had changed. A raging fire reflected the shadow of an emperor. The emperor had no face, and was in the sea of fire, like a homeless wandering soul, but it was not a true soul, but merely an illusion etched by the Dharma Realm.

That's right, the three great halls of the Southern Forbidden City are connected as one. Although the Hall of Diligent Governance had been destroyed by lightning during the Zhengde Emperor's reign, the existence of the hall was only a symbol. The loss of a single hall was insignificant.

The three great halls are merely the gateway to enter the "Dharma Realm"!

The sky was vermillion red, while the other eight directions were purple.

"Forbidden... Dharma Realm!"

A Dharma Realm that had never been heard of before opened its doors to Ji Xiang at this time. In this vast sea of flames, not only was the illusion of Emperor Jianwen's death in the fire reflected, but also the illusions of the successive Ming Dynasty emperors who had not resided in Yingtian were manifested in this hazy purple Dharma Realm.

The Vermillion Heaven of the Forbidden City!

The vast prayers of the people gathered here, seemingly forming pillars that supported the sky, rising up like a forest, pushing the vermillion red sky higher and higher.

But among them, pillars were constantly collapsing, breaking apart and being destroyed. At the same time, the power of the state dissipated, disappearing without a trace, and their existence could no longer be sensed, as if they had flowed out of this Dharma Realm.

Ji Xiang stopped here, unable to walk deeper. The illusions of the other emperors that he could see were also extremely distant, even incomparably faint. Only the black shadow of Emperor Jianwen in the western flames could be seen clearly.

The black shadow of Emperor Jianwen raised its palm, and the collapsing power of the state all surged towards Ji Xiang here, so that it would not disappear without a trace.

"It's not me."

"It's something on me!"

Ji Xiang's gaze shifted, and at this moment he took out the Treasure Gathering Basin.

Sure enough, the vast power of the state that was escaping from those collapsing pillars poured into the Treasure Gathering Basin like a sea of smoke!

"The power of the state is flowing away, symbolizing that the fate of the Ming Dynasty is collapsing, and the Mandate of Heaven is declining. All that I have seen is only the appearance of this Dharma Realm, it is an illusion that is reflected, and what I have witnessed is only the tip of the iceberg of this Dharma Realm, and I have not even been allowed to truly enter it."

Ji Xiang had a beam of light coming out from his head, but he could only obtain the power of the state, and could not touch Emperor Jianwen, nor could he touch those pillars of wishes.

Looking again at those continuously rising pillars of wishes, looking carefully... Ji Xiang saw that there was a clear and huge gap above the Vermillion Heaven.

The pillars of wishes seemed to be surging towards that gap, and they supported the fragments of the Vermillion Heaven, seemingly in order to fill the highest point of the sky.

"The position of the world... are all offered to one person, Vermillion Heaven of the Forbidden City, unable to be freed..."

"Positions are formed by wishes."

"But this sky has not been completely built since its birth..."

A terrifying thing happened. The black shadow of Emperor Jianwen made a sound, speaking to Ji Xiang from the illusory reflected scene, which startled Ji Xiang, and he asked uncertainly:

"Jianwen?"

The black shadow shook its head: "The image is the external manifestation. Since the form and spirit can be stolen, they can also be lost. If one's past form and spirit are extinguished, naturally no one will be able to find him again."

"The sun and moon also have eclipses. The descendants of Hongwu learned of the existence of the Vermillion Heaven of the Forbidden City and wanted to fill in this missing place..."

"Perhaps, from the beginning, this Dharma Realm should not have been born... We have failed, and embarked on the wrong path..."

The black shadow did not seem to be a living person, nor a ghost or deity. It mechanically repeated words like failure, and only responded to some of Ji Xiang's questions. It was more like the immortal wishes left behind by predecessors.

"I created... a cage."

"Dharma Realm... accumulation, soaring to the sky... but... trapped the sun, moon, mountains and rivers."

"And the person we expected who could touch the Heavenly Dao... did not appear..."

"The Yuan law is flawed. It melts everything outward, encompassing everything, but it burst its own divine realm."

"The Ming law is flawed. It absorbed the lessons of the Yuan law, melting everything inward, taking in everything, but it shattered itself... and the spiritual energy between heaven and earth suddenly declined as a result..."

"Severing the dragon veins of the mountains and rivers, the final result was actually like this..."

"The Heavenly Heart Realm, the Jade Purity evil things... are difficult to resist... Without touching the Heavenly Dao, one can only wrap the remaining power and self-seal..."

"The Treasure Gathering Basin, with the Hongwu artifact... the lost national prestige can find a home, so that it will not flow into other Dharma Realms and help increase their power..."

Ji Xiang listened with interest and tried to interject:

"It seems that the birth of this Forbidden City Dharma Realm is also related to the hidden events of the Former Yuan? Although I seem to have learned about the problem of the exhaustion of the spiritual energy of the surface world, I am not too interested."

"There is just one thing, I don't know if you can answer it?"

"What is meant by the person who touches the Heavenly Dao? Emperor Hongwu?"

The black shadow swayed, flickering in the flames:

"It's not him."

.......

Shuntian Prefecture, in the Forbidden City.

The national prestige shook violently, and the divine position of Doumu Yuanjun emitted light, discerning everything that was happening in Yingtian Prefecture in the south. At this time, the wishes of millions of people returned to their places, and the Wanli Emperor in the Forbidden City suddenly felt unwell.

He couldn't say where he felt uncomfortable, but he just felt a tightness in his chest.

In front of the Meridian Gate, Zhang Tianshi suddenly saw a fleeting black shadow. His eyes were like divine light, discerning the ten directions above and below, but he could no longer find the fleeting shadow.