Chapter 1 The Beginning

In the twelfth year of the Jiajing Emperor’s reign, chaos arose within the Forbidden City as black *sheng* (ill omens) wreaked havoc. The Jiajing Emperor’s first child, barely a few months old, perished in a tenth month marked by continuous heavy rains, a victim of the black *sheng*. He was posthumously honored as Prince Ai Chong.

These black *sheng* are neither deities nor cultivators, but rather ominous entities. Hence, neither the might of the nation nor the starlight of Doumu could affect these beings, which were not even considered ghosts.

"*Sheng qi*" refers to the aura of disaster and evil.

The appearance of *sheng qi* invariably gives rise to demonic entities. They resemble hazy mists, changing according to the Five Elements, lacking fixed attributes. The most common manifestation is the "black *sheng*."

Black *sheng* have appeared numerous times, weaving their way through history. They emerged during the Han Dynasty, wreaked havoc during the Tang and Song Dynasties, and persisted through the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, like shadows lurking behind the scenes, profoundly eerie.

During the Ming Dynasty, the most infamous incident was the "Ten Days of Blood Rain" in the tenth year of the Zhengde Emperor’s reign. The event took a strange turn when a con man, disguised as a black *sheng*, exploited the bizarre phenomenon to swindle money. However, he encountered a genuine black *sheng* that had assumed human form. The con man was naturally killed by the black *sheng*, leading the populace to believe the black *sheng* was a righteous being, eliminating evil. When the black *sheng* departed that town, the entire settlement was engulfed in flames that very night, leaving no survivors.

Soon after, the black *sheng* seemed to take root in the Forbidden City, wandering about incessantly. The Celestial Court’s Yin Bureau could not capture it; it feared neither swords nor fire, causing widespread panic within the palace. The Jiajing Emperor’s second son, Prince Zhuang Jing, also fell gravely ill.

At that time, Shao Yuanjie, a senior Dharma master from Longhu Mountain, was too old to suppress the palace's anomalies. Unable to cure the prince, Shao Yuanjie recommended Tao Zhongwen to the Emperor.

Tao Zhongwen, whom the Ming court now referred to as the greatest demonic Taoist under Heaven, claimed to be a disciple of the Divine Firmament Sect of Taoism.

Tao Zhongwen used talisman water and sprayed it onto a sword, severing the black *sheng qi* within the palace, thereby curing Prince Zhuang Jing of his illness.

However, this event marked the beginning of Jiajing's knowledge of the curse.

Tao Zhongwen learned that the Jiajing Emperor’s eldest son, Prince Ai Chong, had died in the twelfth year of Jiajing’s reign, only a few months after his birth. Combining this with the recent incident involving Prince Zhuang Jing, Tao Zhongwen, after observing Prince Zhuang Jing, informed the Jiajing Emperor that they had been afflicted by a curse brought about by the black *sheng*.

Two dragons cannot meet, for when they do, one must die.

As long as Jiajing lived, the太子 (tàizǐ, crown prince) would die. Prince Zhuang Jing's recovery was merely superficial; the root of the curse remained.

Indeed, the good times did not last long. Tao Zhongwen was unable to trace the source of the palace's demonic aura. In the eighteenth year of Jiajing’s reign, after discussing the matter with the Jiajing Emperor, the great demonic Taoist Tao Zhongwen concluded that Prince Zhuang Jing was doomed and beyond saving. Consequently, he instructed the eunuchs to send the prince’s ceremonial book and seal to the then-not-yet-太子 (tàizǐ, crown prince), the palace of the future Longqing Emperor.

Later, as expected, Prince Zhuang Jing fell ill and died on the very day he left the palace to study and lecture. The position of crown prince then fell to the later Longqing Emperor.

To prevent the then-Longqing Emperor from also dying prematurely, Tao Zhongwen employed a heretical art, not to dispel the curse, but to use extreme measures to counter it!

The Longqing Emperor’s younger brother, who later sought to usurp the position of crown prince, also died suddenly.

This was Tao Zhongwen’s method for dealing with the curse.

“Succession by sons.”

Apart from the Longqing Emperor, all his brothers perished, leaving him the sole surviving true dragon. Tao Zhongwen placed the lives of others upon the Longqing Emperor, turning the extreme Yang into Yin, and then reversing Yin and Yang. In this way, even if the curse struck again, it would target the women of the royal family, using female lives to replace male ones.

However, this curse could not be dispelled. Later, the Longqing Emperor engaged in group sexual activities with his consorts, causing the Yin energy to backfire, leading to physical discomfort and, ultimately, his demise.

As a result of reversing Yin and Yang, the daughters of the Wanli Emperor, who succeeded Longqing, almost all died at birth. Only two daughters survived, a consequence of the reversed Yin and Yang. The Yang lived while the Yin were sacrificed. Of course, since women were not true dragons, there were cases of survival.

But Tao Zhongwen told the Jiajing Emperor that while those descendants had lent their lives, upon performing rites of deliverance, he discovered that their names had vanished from the Three Books of the Underworld; they had neither been crossed out nor seemed to have ever existed.

Needless to say, this bizarre phenomenon was also due to the curse.

This curse was extracting the “fate of the Emperor” from the mortal realm. Of course, this fate of the Emperor did not refer to the Emperor himself. The Jiajing Emperor also had his doubts, to which Tao Zhongwen replied that the reigning Emperor would not be harmed, for the true dragon was like extreme Yang, while the curse was extreme Yin. Extreme Yin and extreme Yang were balanced. To break the balance, one could only target "hidden dragons," those with "weak Yang."

The Jiajing Emperor asked Tao Zhongwen, what level of ability would be required to collect the souls of the imperial family and even erase them from the Underworld?

Tao Zhongwen simply stated that he himself was far from capable of such feats. He neither knew the opponent's purpose nor how to counterattack. Later, in the course of investigating clues, Tao Zhongwen calculated that the source of the black *sheng* was actually the Dongyue Temple.

There was something beneath the temple. However, this temple was built during the Yuan Dynasty by the Great Xuan Sect Master Zhang Liusun. The Jiajing Emperor's first reaction was to demolish it, but Tao Zhongwen frankly stated that the temple could neither be demolished nor should it be.

Moreover, Tao Zhongwen found something peculiar about the temple's location. The Dongyue Temple originally seemed to be a "stronghold" used to receive something, but on top of the original arrangement, another layer of arrangement had been added. This layer was a sealing technique that could nullify the previous formation.

Thus, the Dongyue Temple became an ordinary sacrificial temple.

Both of these formations were created by the Great Xuan Sect Master, indicating that he had first released the reception and then the sealing.

But now, the formation below had become effective, while the formation above had not been damaged. Tao Zhongwen explained that this bizarre phenomenon was because the object being received had found this formation and was attempting to establish contact from a distant place, thus activating the formation in reverse.

Ordinary digging would, of course, unearth nothing, and demolition was feared to cause problems. Tao Zhongwen admitted that his abilities were certainly inferior to those of the Great Xuan Sect Master. Therefore, Tao Zhongwen devised a plan. He requested the Jiajing Emperor to move the statue of the White-Faced Zhenwu from True Martial Mountain and use the "Hongwu Welcoming the Gods Technique" to suppress the problem here.

However, the White-Faced Zhenwu was no simple object either. Tao Zhongwen bluntly stated at the time that using this White-Faced Zhenwu statue to block the Dongyue Temple was robbing Peter to pay Paul. This item seemed to have a greater use and was originally not located in True Martial Mountain.

But since it had been brought here, so be it. Regardless of what it was suppressing, since True Martial Mountain could take it away, couldn't the Emperor of Great Ming take it as well?

What a Taoist can touch, can't the Emperor touch?

But the Emperor was also a Taoist.

Tao Zhongwen, together with the Jiajing Emperor, then constructed the "Great High Xuan Hall," internally setting up the Nine Heavens Myriad Dharma Thunder Altar. This was the hub of the Divine Firmament Dharma. The Forbidden City was extreme Yang, while the Dongyue Temple was extreme Yin. The collision of Yin and Yang gave birth to thunder, which in turn suppressed evil. Therefore, they constantly held fasts and prayers to operate the thunder hub, protecting the Forbidden City.

But this was still not enough.