Chen Changsheng stood in the light, at the very front.
The Pope was behind him.
In the great hall, several thousand bishops knelt on the ground like a tide.
In the plaza, tens of thousands of Orthodoxy cavalry and priests knelt on the ground like a tide.
Outside the Li Palace, tens of thousands of believers knelt on the ground like a tide.
At this sight, the Pope slowly narrowed his eyes, as if he had drunk a fine wine, very satisfied and happy.
His eyes narrowed until they closed, and then they never opened again.
At this point, no one could see the vast sea of stars in those old eyes anymore.
Chen Changsheng turned his head, the hand gripping the Divine Staff faintly trembling.
Mao Qiuyu supported the Pope's body and shook his head at him.
There was a faint disturbance in the nearby crowd, but there was no chaos. With An Lin and the other archbishops at the lead, everyone continued to kneel, but … there was the occasional sound of weeping.
The chanting that purified the Dao heart, the weeping of reminiscence and sorrow, drifted higher and higher in the majestic Great Hall of Light, and then was temporarily invited back to the mortal world by the toll of a bell.
The sacred bell of the Li Palace, the Bureau of Ecclesiastic Education, and the Heavenly Dao Academy all rang at the same time.
The sound of the bell swiftly spread to the entire capital and then to even further places, sending the news of the Pope's return to the sea of stars to every corner of the continent.
Clackclackclackclack! Countless sounds of metal grinding against each other seemed to resound at the same time.
The Orthodoxy cavalry in the plaza between the Li Palace and the palace unsheathed their weapons, a black tide rising from the sea of people.
Whether it was the divine crossbows, spears, or swords, they were all cold and sharp. They pointed straight at the night sky, at those millions of silent and unchanging stars. This was not a demonstration of the human world to the sea of stars, but a show of support. In other words, this was a grand and majestic procession, sending the sovereign a thousand li away.
The Grass Moon Hall, the Pure Cassia Palace, the Moss Institute, the Clear Water Tile Platform, the Hall of the Heavenly Dao, and the Autumn Residence were the six most important palaces of the Li Palace. At this moment, six extremely divine and grand Qis emerged from these palaces and soared into the cold and lonely night sky. Then, they met somewhere and became six visible rays of light.
The colors of these rays of light were not the same. They seemed like a rainbow.
No one had ever seen a rainbow in the night. The people kneeling on the ground in the Li Palace and the people kneeling in various places in the capital all raised their heads, shocked by this phenomenon in the sky. They sorrowfully thought, perhaps this is the human world's final farewell to His Holiness the Pope?
Chen Chang Sheng knew that it wasn't a rainbow, but power.
The moment those six Qis emerged from the Grass Moon Hall and the other six palaces, he and all the cultivators of Star Condensation and above in the capital clearly sensed this power. This power came from the treasures of the Orthodoxy in the six palaces, and also from the ground between the Li Palace. To be more precise, it came from the array beneath the ground.
Daoism had existed for countless years and had been revered as the national religion for close to a thousand years. In the past, it had also been the national religion of several famous dynasties. In terms of historical heritage and rich accumulation of resources, in certain aspects, even the current Imperial Court might not be able to compare to it. It was not strange for it to have this kind of formation and many unknown divine artifacts.
For example, the torch stuck at the head of the bed: the White Sun Flame.
This sacred artifact of the demons had been stored in the Lingyan Pavilion for many years and was an important part of the Imperial Design. On the night of the coup of the Mausoleum of Books, the Tianhai Divine Empress had thrown out the Frost God Spear and destroyed the Lingyan Pavilion. The portraits in the pavilion had all been burned to ash and the Frost God Spear had gone missing. People believed that it had probably been hidden away in the Imperial Palace.
But who could have expected that the White Sun Flame had ended up in the Li Palace?
The once-sacred artifact of the demons, later on a treasure of the Great Zhou, was now just an ordinary object for illumination.
It was holy and blazing, but not dazzling. Moreover, its light, devoid of any warmth, shone on the Pope's elderly face, making him feel no discomfort.
Chen Chang Sheng sat on the edge of the bed and finished reciting the Scripture of Longevity for the ninth time. He stood up and gazed at the White Sun Flame and the palace hall illuminated by it.
The Orthodoxy was the legacy left to him by the Pope, and the White Sun Flame was naturally a part of this legacy. The Divine Crown, the Divine Staff, the treasures of the six palaces, the array of the Li Palace, and the millions and millions of priests and believers still kneeling within and without the Li Palace, unwilling to leave, were also part of this legacy. There was also power.
But he remembered very clearly that there was still this legacy, but he didn't know where it had gone.
The Pope had once clearly expressed his intentions. After his death, that item was to be safeguarded by Chen Chang Sheng.
Where had the Green Leaf gone?
… …
… …
Six holy Qis formed a beautiful rainbow in the night sky. One end of the rainbow was in the Li Palace, piercing through the sea of stars and ultimately returning to the mortal world.
Many places in the capital were illuminated and decorated by this rainbow. It was very difficult to tell which place had received more light and blessings.
Everyone on the earth could see the vast sea of stars, but the starlight had never illuminated the world. At the bottom of the abandoned well near the Imperial City near New North Bridge, there was no sunlight or starlight all year round. But today, there was miraculously a great deal of light. This light was a part of the rainbow from the Li Palace.
The pitch-black, gloomy, and cold underground space that had existed for several centuries had not warmed, but at least it was no longer so terrifying. This was especially the case when the light illuminated the frost and snow on the ground, as well as the many things above the frost and snow. These things gave this place that was cut off from the mortal world the flavor of the mortal world.
Stoves of different heights could be seen everywhere, looking like termite nests. There were also all sorts of kitchen utensils, pots, bowls, ladles, and basins. The especially hot Tu Zhou charcoal was piled into a small mountain, and there were ten-some iron pots of various sizes and thicknesses. A specially made table the size of a lake was piled with countless dishes that a normal person could imagine.
About three hundred zhang across from this place was most likely a study. There were no walls, and naturally no paintings or paintings hung there. There was only an incomparably long bookshelf with no end in sight. The shelves were piled high with books, and along the bookshelf, there were all sorts of furniture arranged in order. Study tables, chairs, imperial concubines, and even further away …
There was an especially large bed there, not much smaller than the lake in the Orthodox Academy. This bed was especially magnificent, the carvings extremely luxuriant. Thirty-six layers of bedding covered the bed, and the railing of the bed was inlaid with seventy-two Night Pearls. Just by looking at it, one could imagine how comfortable it would be to lie on it.
The black-clothed dragon girl called Zhizhi, also known as Zhusha or Hong Zhuang, was currently lying on the bed, but it was obvious that she did not feel very comfortable. It was not because there was an unremarkable pea at the very bottom of the thirty-six bedding, nor was it because the last blue lobster Chen Changsheng had sent over was not fresh enough. It was because she was very nervous.
The rainbow from the Li Palace illuminated the underground cavern, and also illuminated the wall over ten li away that she did not want to face.
She was the noblest and most powerful Black Frost Dragon in the world. She could see a silver leaf thousands of li away, so naturally, she could also clearly see that the wall was currently undergoing a change — on the stone wall covered in frost and snow, a clump of green leaves had sprouted.
… …
… …
(I have to go to Shanghai for a meeting tomorrow. I will try my best to finish writing the update before leaving. I have something to report to everyone. The electronic contract for Heaven's Chosen is signed in the World of Creation, and Qidian is currently distributing the book at the same time. You can read it wherever you want. I am very grateful. I can only receive rewards from the World of Creation. I'm not saying that if you want to reward at Qidian, then move it to the World of Creation. That would be too troublesome, but I have to report this to you. And actually, from the first day of this system, my attitude has always been like this — — I will definitely urge everyone to subscribe. I feel that this is the way we should interact. As for rewards, I really don't need it at all. As long as you subscribe to the original version, that will be fine. If you are interested and have the time, write a review or vote. That would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.)
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