Atlas of Heaven and Man.

Chapter 1436 Taking the Plane to the Sky

The moment the white mist broke through, Chen Chuan and the others were able to see the layout clearly.

Anye Palace is a palace city with a traditional four-sided layout. The surrounding city walls are long and straight, and several large halls are distributed along the central axis.

To the south of the palace, and on the east and west sides, there are large lakes and green plants. The southern side is the largest, which should be the Yunmeng Garden where Emperor Wenguang usually resides.

There are also several high hills in the garden, with exquisite palaces and pavilions on them, but at this moment, you can see the light from the sky shining on those spots.

At this moment, the mist was slowly closing in, but in a fleeting glimpse, one could see many immortals riding on the clouds, surrounding a chariot as it headed towards the bright opening in the sky.

It looked rather slow, as if it were under some kind of pressure, and even the sleeves and ribbons of the immortals and gods and the canopy above them were flying backward.

At that moment, Chen Chuan keenly noticed that the anomaly surrounding him was receding and seemed to be converging in that direction.

Even so, due to the obstruction of the ritual, they are still unable to enter immediately.

"It really is a ceremony for ascension to immortality..."

Upon seeing this, Ming Chengzi's expression changed several times, and he added, "Just as I thought."

Chen Chuan glanced at him: "Mingcheng, you seem to know something about these things? Is it related to what you mentioned before?"

Ming Chengzi nodded repeatedly. Then, his figure flickered and transformed into two people in the blink of an eye. One of them held an instrument and went to the front to try to decipher the secret ritual.

The other one stood next to Chen Chuan and said, "

If I'm not mistaken, this was originally a secret method for ascending to immortality created by the ancestors of my Fulong Sect and Duanchen Sect during the time of Emperor Taizu of the Feng Dynasty.

However, it was because the founding emperor of the Feng Dynasty intended to ascend to immortality and leave the mortal world, so as to pass the throne to his successor. Therefore, both of our factions gave their full support, and our Fulong faction even presented the ascension ceremony of the ancient emperor.

This secret ritual not only requires the use of numerous relics, but also the cultivation of inner demons, and the guidance of a high-ranking person, along with the protection of many true immortals. It can be said that the entire nation's resources were mobilized to complete this ritual.

Just then, Naruko's avatar launched another device, tearing the thick fog apart once more.

Seeing that the carriages ahead were still moving slowly, Chen Chuan asked, "Did the founding emperor of the Feng Dynasty ascend to immortality in this way?"

Ming Chengzi shook his head and said, "Whether Feng Chao successfully ascended to immortality is not recorded in the books. I only know that, for fear that later generations would follow suit, both of our sects abandoned this secret ritual. There is only a general record in the ritual book, so I did not think of it at the time."

He looked at the celestial carriages and chariots, and thought, "What I see now is the same kind of ritual used by that false emperor. I wonder where he got it from."

Chen Chuan said: "Since our predecessors were able to devise secret methods, it is not impossible for later generations to do so as well."

My colleagues told me that this anomaly has been going on for about a hundred years. If the old dynasty was preparing for this a hundred years ago, it is not surprising that it has come to fruition now.

Things are very different now than in the old days. We're constantly changing, and technology is far more advanced than before. Many ideas that were impossible to use in the past can now be applied.

Ming Chengzi wholeheartedly agreed, saying, "The commander is right."

Chen Chuan then glanced at Mu Xiaoren and pointed to the location of the lower realm. The latter understood and immediately constructed a spiritual field, drawing the spirits of everyone present to it, including Ming Chengzi.

Chen Chuan then asked Ming Chengzi, "Could you please explain this secret ritual in detail, Master Gao?"

Mingchengzi immediately said, "Of course it is acceptable. This ritual is called 'Wash away the dust of the mortal world and remove the old body, the three names reverse the transformation and open the true ritual.'"

In ancient times, emperors who wished to become immortals had to kill three mortals: 'god, ruler, and father'.

I have observed that Emperor Wenguang's previous actions were all in accordance with this ritual.

The first route is named after the father. During the ceremony, a filial son should regard the father as his own. King Qiong was a rare filial son, so in this route, Emperor Wenguang should have used the father's name to replace the father's name.

The second path is the one with the name of the ruler, which is the path that Xuanji and I saw. I speculate that Emperor Wenguang promised Prince Yong his successor, so Prince Yong regarded him as the ruler at that time. These people were later blocked by Xuanji, which was also a deadly situation, and they used this opportunity to kill the ruler and prime minister.

The third path is the name of a deity, which is the most difficult. It requires someone to regard the deity as an immortal or god. Ancient emperors were considered true gods, and later generations seized their positions and killed their mortal gods. Then the deity's power ascended to heaven, and the name of the deity could also be killed.

"If all three are killed, one primordial spirit will emerge. If it has consumed the precious elixir and divine water beforehand, and is protected by remaining treasures, it will be guided away. If it can reside in the Upper Court, it will be able to be ranked alongside immortals and gods."

As he spoke, he sighed again, “My precious treasure, ‘Cloud-Piercing Lotus Root,’ possesses many wondrous properties, but it later fell into the hands of this tyrannical ruler. I suppose it will be used here.”

Upon hearing his explanation, Chen Chuan's mind raced. Judging from this method of pursuing the upper echelons, the location, precious materials, and lost items were all present, and there were also anomalies and secret rituals, indicating more thorough preparation. Ming Chengzi added, "Of these three, the first two are still manageable, but the last one is the most difficult. There is no god to kill him, so I speculate that he might use anomalies to kill him, and he could still obtain this title."

Hearing what he said, Chen Chuan agreed with the deduction. He then looked at the black mist formed by the people of Youdu in the sky and asked, "Master, what is this? Is it related to the ritual?"

Ming Chengzi also looked up. "At first I didn't know what he intended to do, but now it seems that the soldiers and civilians in the city are all aligned with him, so they must have been taken hostage by him."

The people of Youdu mostly worship ancient deities, including millions of soldiers and civilians, and millions of believers.

If he fails to ascend to immortality and loses his divine power, the entire city's soldiers and civilians will perish. Even the gods and immortals would not wish for such a loss. If it were me, I would rather protect him and see him off.”

Chen Chuanxin said that it was no wonder that none of the ancient gods appeared after they fought their way here. At most, they only showed some of their auras. Emperor Wenguang's actions were tantamount to binding these immortals and gods to his side to protect himself.

And since he himself ascended to heaven, he naturally wouldn't care about his subjects.

Wen Mingzhong judged that the ceremony was established a hundred years ago, so the Yuan clan must have started planning this after retreating to Jiaorong, but it was not officially launched until the reign of Emperor Wenguang.

He pondered for a moment, then asked, "Looking at all of Emperor Wenguang's actions, they were all taken after we launched the attack. If we hadn't come, then he must have had other plans?"

Ming Chengzi agreed: "There must be another way, but the time is not right. Your arrival is just forcing this foolish emperor to start the ceremony ahead of schedule."

Mu Xiaoren then said, "If all the believers in the city were killed beforehand, would those immortals and gods still be subject to his control?"

Ming Chengzi shook his head and said, "If the gods and immortals make a promise, then it must be a prior agreement. If I kill the people, it will have nothing to do with the tyrannical ruler. On the contrary, it will only provoke those gods and immortals to be hostile to me and protect him even more."

Moreover, even if all the soldiers and civilians in this city were killed, there are still hundreds of millions of people in the vast territory. Who knows if there might be others who could be drawn into the ritual? Must we exterminate them all? Even if we could be ruthless, it couldn't be done hastily.”

Chen Chuan nodded. Although he didn't know if what Ming Chengzi said was the same as what Emperor Wen Guang had done, it should be roughly the same.

He said, "Then let me ask Master Mingcheng, is it permissible to interrupt this ceremony?"

Ming Chengzi thought for a moment, hesitated for a while, and then said, "It is possible. The method of achieving it is not the orthodox way. From the beginning of the ceremony, there will be many tribulations and demons will come to devour it. Therefore, it is necessary to have the protection of immortals and gods. In addition, it is necessary to find a body to protect it."

Without these two, the ritual itself would not be complete…

Chen Chuan nodded and said, "So as long as we can banish the disturbances of the immortals and gods and break through that protective body, we can interrupt this ritual and pull him down to the mortal world."

Upon hearing this, Ming Chengzi was shaken. He said, "The mystery is there, but..."

Chen Chuan said, "Does Master Mingcheng think that once he reaches the upper echelons, he will no longer be able to interfere in human affairs? Perhaps we can rely on the power of the upper echelons of our Great Shun to kill him?"

Ming Chengzi hurriedly said, "I have a blood feud with Emperor Wenguang, who destroyed my sect. If I had the chance to kill him, how could I not want to?"
"I have already observed that this inner demon is unusual. If we merely observe from here, it may take a long time. However, if we break through the barrier and rush in, we might only have half a quarter of an hour. Emperor Wen Guang is protected by those immortals and gods, and he himself must be carrying many treasures. I'm afraid we won't be able to subdue him in such a short time."

Chen Chuan said, "But if we don't make a move today, once Emperor Wen Guang goes to the upper levels, he will definitely find a way to hide himself and prevent us from finding him easily."

The Great Collision, which Gao Gong referred to as the External Calamity, will arrive within a year. When that time comes, this person will definitely try to return. Rather than facing this fiend then, it's better to finish him off before then!

He knew very well that if this person were to rise to the top, it wouldn't be so easy to deal with him.

The old imperial family originally had two upper-level forces. Now that Emperor Wenguang has gone to the upper level, the threat to them is even greater. Now that there is an opportunity, he must try it.

Inside the Yunmeng Garden, after Emperor Wenguang was escorted out by the immortal carriage, he quickly departed along with all the immortals and gods. Inside the main hall, only some palace attendants and the dazed Prince Lin sat there.

At this moment, a human-shaped wisp of green smoke suddenly appeared in the hall. It looked somewhat similar to Emperor Wen Guang's outline. It suddenly transformed into the shape of a crane, circled a few times in the air, and then entered the body of Prince Lin.

In that instant, Prince Lin's eyes suddenly regained their clarity. He stood up from the couch and strode out.

Upon reaching the outside of the palace, he saw that the light mist covering the upper layer of Youdu had disappeared, and instead, a huge bright light appeared in the sky and enveloped him.

Seeing this scene, he couldn't help but laugh and said, "I am here to ride the light and ascend to immortality!"

After he finished speaking, another bell rang outside, and the entire hall shook as if the earth were trembling. He smiled deeply, leaped from his spot, and soared into the air, chasing after the carriage that had gone first in the sky.

……

……

(End of this chapter)