Tian Yi thought for a moment: "But things like statues are hard to say. That Fire God could usurp the nest, seizing the statues of Zhurong and the Fire Virtue True Lord. It's possible that some monster could pop out of a Buddha statue..."

Emperor Wanli now truly felt that being an emperor was a high-risk profession. Those ministers woke up in the morning and thought they were holding a story-telling session at court. They were all right, but he was terrified.

Speaking of which, there really were a lot of temples, shrines, palaces, and Taoist temples in Shuntian! If they were all demolished, it would cause quite a stir.

Wanli decided to take a trip there in a few days. Before demolishing them, he would post a notice to let the gods move quickly. The righteous gods would be sent away directly, and if there were any evil gods, they would be turned into criminal suspects. Of course, there would be no demolition compensation.

He then asked, "Has the Zhenwu statue been brought back?"

Tian Yi comforted Emperor Wanli: "The statue of Lord Zhenwu was moved back during the day. Taoist Ji is watching over it."

Emperor Wanli pressed: "Is it definitely the one that was moved away before? Is it the statue of Emperor Shizong? You didn't move the wrong one, did you?"

Receiving confirmation, Emperor Wanli slowly breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the Grand Daoist Lord had some abilities. He hoped that his statue would still work properly after being moved back. It had been sitting in the great warehouse of the Department of Divine Accoutrements for thirty-one years....

Zhenwu is old, but can he still fight?

"At the fifth watch tomorrow, summon the Grand Secretariat and the ministers... to go to the Dongyue Temple!"

.................

In the main hall of the Longde Palace, near the fifth watch, for the people in the Forbidden City, and the people on the streets, the night seemed to pass without anything strange happening. It was quiet and peaceful.

As the night passed, Ji Xiang's eyes contained a bright divine light.

Feeling refreshed and clear-headed, I have completed my cultivation and feel good.

Essence, Qi, and Spirit condensed into shape, and a pure white lead flower shone brightly before being collected back into Ji Xiang's heavenly crown.

Ji Xiang had already refined the glory of the human body, greatly shortening the time with the help of the blank divine tablet.

Of course, those fire gods whose primordial Qi and incense he had devoured were also indispensable!

Ji Xiang felt that after another day of circulating the energy, completely solidifying the foundation of the Four Realms Embryonic Breathing, by this time tomorrow, he could try to attract a demon to help him through the tribulation. This way, the holy fetus could take a step further and enter a state of complete perfection.

He looked at the Evil Jar again. Inside the jar, the red-clothed child had been refined, and a black bean had appeared at the bottom of the jar, filled with ominous aura.

"Next is the demonic trial. I can't attract it in the Forbidden City. I'll go and report to Emperor Wanli later, and leave the Forbidden City to attract the demon. Which of the ten demons is the easiest to pass..."

Passing the demonic trial was the key to entering the next realm, and also the major threshold before the completion of this realm.

In Taoism, there is a saying of ten demons and nine tribulations, which refers to the tests given by ten types of demons, and the nine types of involuntary calamities.

Tribulations begin above the Fourth Realm, and only after passing the Fourteenth Realm can one be completely free from the ten demons and nine tribulations.

This is like taking an exam, with each demon being an examiner. Because in the Taoist scriptures, the ten demons are all employees under the command of the demon kings of the heavens, and the demon kings are high-level managers under the command of the Yuanshi Heavenly Lord. They are responsible for assessing the character and temperament of cultivators. This is different from the demons in Buddhism.

Of course, since it's an exam, one must choose an examiner that is easy to pass.

How can this be called laziness? This is not laziness, this is called choosing the best! It's like graduate students choosing a supervisor!

Generally speaking, "demons" are the easiest to attract. Go into the mountains and find a fox spirit, then point at her and shout "Change!" and "Evil creature, I want you to help me cultivate!" Then, when the little fox turns into a beauty and lust arises in your heart, the "lust demon" among the ten demons will come to crack down on pornography....

But now he was inside the palace, so naturally he couldn't do that. Lewdness in the palace was a great horror, and there were no demons here to help people cultivate.

So Ji Xiang thought about going outside the city to find a monster, and then attract the lust demon. It would be pleasing to the eye and also a test, with a very high passing rate. Moreover, the lust demon examiner has a characteristic, that is, after you pass the exam in its hands, it will "never come again."

Suddenly, there was a noisy sound in the back hall. Emperor Wanli and the others came out, and the Embroidered Uniform Guards began to move. They came here to notify Ji Xiang that there was a sacrificial activity at the Dongyue Temple today, and he was to accompany Emperor Wanli on the trip.

"The Fire God Temple incident just ended, why is the Dongyue Temple having a sacrifice again? Is Emperor Wanli courting death again?"

Of course, these thoughts could not be spoken out, only thought in his heart. Ji Xiang agreed and was led by the Embroidered Uniform Guards to Emperor Wanli's side. From the conversation of the crowd, he roughly understood what the situation was.

It turned out that some minister had been too talkative, saying that an evil god had appeared in the Fire God Temple, and they had to go around the other righteous god temples to tell Heaven, Earth, and the ancestors what had happened, hoping that they could bestow blessings, and also pray for the country and the emperor himself.

The sacrifices in the southern and northern suburbs were to sacrifice to Heaven, expressing one's gratitude....

The altars of soil and grain, and the Imperial Ancestral Temple, were sacrifices to the ancestors.

The altars of the sun and moon were places to sacrifice to the sun and moon. The sun and moon together make "Ming" (brightness), so it was a place to pray for good fortune for the country.

As for the Dongyue Temple and the Tai Sui Temple, they were both sacrifices to orthodox deities. The Dongyue God controlled life and death, while the Tai Sui God controlled fortune and misfortune.

However, Ji Xiang heard that Emperor Wanli was going to the Dongyue Temple first, which was different from the orthodox sacrificial procedure.

.........

When the court session began at the fifth watch, the Grand Secretaries of the Grand Secretariat were summoned, including some important ministers, to speak near the Fengtian Gate. Emperor Wanli expressed his idea of demolishing the Dongyue Temple first, which immediately caused an uproar.

"Is Your Majesty going to perform a grand sacrifice or a small sacrifice?"

"Now is not a major day, so we should not perform a grand sacrifice, but even a small sacrifice should start from the altars of the sun and moon..."

Emperor Wanli waved his hand: "To tell you the truth, I am going to demolish the Dongyue Temple! The sacrifice is just a formality. Next, the Tai Sui Temple will also be demolished. I feel uneasy and afraid with these temples in Shuntian!"

The ministers had no choice but to say that even if he wanted to demolish them, he should go and take a look first and not take action. Emperor Wanli agreed, saying, "Am I the kind of person who disrespects my ancestors? I respect them very much!"

If it really doesn't work, I'll change my wording. What do you mean by demolishing the temple? This is called renovating it. You have to demolish it before you renovate it, right? As for when it will be renovated, that's not up to me. You can find the next emperor to approve it.

So a group of people set out in a mighty manner at the fifth watch, heading southeast, directly to the Dongyue Temple in Chaoyangmen.

When they arrived at the entrance of the Dongyue Temple, at the Zhantai Gate, there was nothing unusual. The plaque of the Dongyue Temple was still the same plaque. The Embroidered Uniform Guards suddenly broke into the temple at this time. At the entrance of the main hall of the Dongyue Temple, there sat a person.