The seventh day of the seventh month. It was close to 11 pm.
The Imperial Palace of the glorious Tang Empire, the Forbidden City.
The little monk that walked into Luoyang during the day was now standing tall on the roof of the Ziluo Golden Palace with his hands clasped behind his back and pale green kasaya billowing in the air. It made for an incredibly peculiar scene.
On the worshipping square several kilometers away from the Ziluo Golden Palace, the Emperor of the glorious Tang Empire was leading a dozen or more of his cabinet ministers. He waved his hand and looked at his ministers. "Is this the person the astronomer of the Star-harvesting 18-storey Tower?"
"In response to Your Highness: This person is called Zhai Xingzi. Even though he looks about eight or nine, he's more than 60 years old. He's the most senior astronomer in the Star-harvesting 18-storey Tower. If even he fails to calculate where the River Soldiers would be born, then in this world, or at least in the glorious Tang Empire, there would be no one else who can calculate it."
Tonight, the Herdsman and the Weaver Maid would be meeting at the bridge. The bright stars twinkled as the moon hung in a night sky that was clear for miles and miles.
Out of the blue, 108 sky lanterns rose into the sky and surrounded the Ziluo Golden Palace as well as the five halls that surrounded it. Together, the sky lanterns formed a Five Elements Heaven-concealing Formation.
The little monk, the one everyone called Astronomer Zhai Xingzi, stood in the heart of the formation.
The roofs of the five halls were engraved with charms of the element Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth respectively. The charms were approximately ten meters wide and twenty-five meters long.
Looking at this scene from high above, spiritual energy was undulating and the fire of incantation was raging!
Zhai Xingzi looked up at the firmament above. The River Soldiers were about to be born. To be frank, the astronomers of the Star-harvesting 18-storey Tower had tried calculating this a few times but all of them failed. In his opinion, all those calculations lacked a certain something.
The Luck of the Imperial Court!
Since they were calculating the birth of an invincible Divine Tool, then they must rely on and sacrifice something of corresponding value. The Ziluo Golden Palace under his feet, as well as the surrounding five halls, represented the highest authority of the glorious Tang Empire.
Using the Imperial Qi to calculate heavenly secrets and using the Five Elements of Heaven and Earth to reveal the divinatory diagram would certainly make their mission successful.
Midnight had just passed. Cumulonimbus clouds shrouded the sky above the Imperial City, discharging electricity. It was as if heaven had heard the questions of the Human World and was warning it not to speculate about heavenly secrets.
Ignoring this natural phenomenon, Zhai Xingzi clapped his hands together. Suddenly, his kasaya shattered and the wind turned into a raging fire. He then spat out a lotus flower from his mouth and a section of closely-written seal script drifted in the air. When they crossed the fire, they would separate into five. All of a sudden, they ignited the charms of the Five Elements Heaven-concealing Formation.
It didn't take long for Zhai Xingzi's forehead to become drenched with sweat. One could tell from his face alone, just how challenging and taxing it was to decipher heavenly secrets.
It must be known that Zhai Xingzi wasn't an ordinary cultivator. His cultivation had long broken into the Psychic Realm, surpassed the Starburst Realm, and entered the Formless Realm. The realm after his current realm would be the boundary between the Human World and immortality.
"The birth of the River Soldiers will bring disaster to the Human World. For the sake of all lives, I hope that Heaven will comprehend your disciple's call and painstaking efforts and reveal your heavenly secrets to me."
"I offer my blood as a tribute to Heaven!" Following a slash of Zhai Xingzi's finger sword, the blood on his palm instantly spilled on the Hall of Supreme Harmony that represented the element of fire. "I ask of you a question, Heaven. When will the Divine Tool be born?"
The moment the words left his mouth, a highly-charged lightning bolt descended from the firmament and struck Zhai Xingzi's right arm.
Zhai Xingzi calmed himself and controlled his breathing as he activated the True Energy flowing throughout his body. He used the strength of the Formless Realm to withstand the lightning bolt. Finally, he poured his power out and flung it. The power of the lightning bolt fell on the fire charm engraved on the roof of Taihe Hall.
Out of the 108 sky lanterns in the sky, the light in 23 lanterns extinguished!
The flames died out, the thunder and lightning subsided, and the last spark converged atop the Hall of Supreme Harmony to form three characters: "Human, demon, blood."
"There's divinatory script! It worked!" the minister next to the Emperor exclaimed.
"Write down the divinatory script first and discuss it later!"
Zhai Xingzi silently gauged the meaning of the divinatory script but his expression didn't relax. Deciphering heavenly secrets was an act that incurred karma. He knew better than anyone just how devastating the karma could be.
"I must determine the exact information of the birth of the River Soldiers no matter what. Chaos will soon descend upon us. Whatever that can raise even a little of our winning chances is worth it." Zhai Xingzi had steeled his resolution.
With both of his hands fluttering in the air, a series of incomparably abstruse incantations dispersed. Every incantation drew a golden wisp of Imperial Luck. The colors azure and gold intersected into an entity that resembled a formless dragon soaring into the sky.
"The emperor shoulders the weight of his people's expectations. I ask of you the second question, Heaven. Where is the birthplace of the Divine Tool?"
Following the second question, the azure and golden dragon instantly split in half. The azure dragon charged into the Hall of Perpetual Peace, which represented the elemental power of water, while the golden dragon charged into the Hall of Precious Unity, which represented the elemental power of gold.
"Kaboom! Kaboom!"
Following two resounding explosions, dozens of hole appeared in the huge column in the middle of Hall of Perpetual Peace and Hall of Precious Unity respectively at the speed of visible to the naked eye. The halls that had stood firm and tall even after hundreds of years were unexpectedly making sounds of crumbling at this moment.
Moments later, another loud explosion resounded as half of both halls collapsed. Out of the 108 sky lanterns in the air, another 36 was extinguished!
Stones flew in the air.
The dust scattered in the air.
15 minutes later, the words "Dragon's Heir" appeared on the ruins of the Hall of Perpetual Peace while the words "Imperial Mausoleum" appeared on the ruins of the Hall of Precious Unity.
"The birthplace of the River Soldiers is the Dragon's Heir Imperial Mausoleum!"
"What should we do?"
"Both the Hall of Perpetual Peace and the Hall of Precious Unity have collapsed. This is a bad omen."
The ministers immediately started discussing this in quiet voices. Even the Crown Prince and Second Prince, who stood next to the Emperor, were frowning.
"We can rebuild the halls if they're destroyed. The key is obtaining the Divine Tool to protect the nation." The Emperor exhaled in a stern manner. "Now isn't the time to discuss. Open your eyes wide, all of you. Don't miss any details. Deciphering heavenly secrets is the greatest destruction one can do to his cultivation. If the astronomer so unfortunately dies, you must restore the whole process."
"Please rest assured, Imperial Father. Everyone in the Judicature is making notes of the astronomical observation. There won't be any issues, I assure you," the Crown Prince whispered into the Emperor's ear at just the right timing.
What he received in return was his Imperial Father's gentle nod.
He then turned to look at Zhai Xingzi who stood atop the Forbidden City. The astronomer, who had the appearance of a child, had grown wrinkles on his face after asking two questions. It must be known that he was a cultivator of the Heaven-defying Rejuvenation Arts; a situation like shouldn't happen at all. This was likely the condemnation of heaven and earth to him.
"There are already divinatory answers for when and where."
"The third question is on the verge of being asked."
"Who obtained the Divine Tool?"
Right now, the wind was howling and the lightning was flashing incessantly in the firmament. There was even a faint sound of rage reverberating in the sky. It seemed that Zhai Xingzi had asked heaven one too many questions and provoked divine anger.
"Mad that I'm deciphering heavenly secrets?" Zhai Xingzi muttered to himself as he looked at the sky. Suddenly, he grinned. "The more you dislike it, the more you try to stop me from doing it, the more I want to do it. What astronomer have you met that fears heavenly power? Those who join the ranks of astronomers are doomed to be shackled by karma and I'm no longer without a care in this world."
The sky was thunderous.
The warning sound was vast and powerful.
Zhai Xingzi, who had the Forbidden City under his feet, suddenly straightened his back. He turned from a child into a teenager, from a teenager into a young man, from a young man into an old man.
The Image of Heaven Realm, where one's life was a totem condensed into an illusion. In order to ask heaven the third question, Zhai Xingzi had to put all his life's accomplishments on the line and gamble on it!
"I ask of you the third question, heaven. Who has obtained the Divine Tool?"
Zhai Xingzi's voice reached the nine layers of heaven. The Celestial Totem blossomed and the Five Elements Heaven-concealing Formation subsequently exploded. The fire in all 108 sky lanterns was snuffed out.
15 minutes passed.
When the Emperor led his ministers to get a closer look, they found that Zhai Xingzi seated cross-legged on the roof of the Ziluo Golden Palace. He was completely lifeless. A vigorous and powerful word suspended in the air.
"Sword!"
Countless thoughts came to everyone's mind. Who did the word "sword" represent? Was it a person? Or was it a sect? Perhaps it was too dark around. They had a clear look at the word "sword" but no one noticed the word was slightly different from the typical word for "sword". The character on the left seemed to be missing a dot. It was as if the dot had been swallowed by someone.
It had taken two hours, at the very most. It was still completely dark out. Over in the courtyard with a small forest of green-jade bamboo inside the Qian Manor, rapid knocking resounded at Ye Que's door.
Ye Que frowned slightly after being disturbed in his concentration.
"What happened?"
"Something big! The birthplace and birth time of the River Soldiers, the Divine Tool, have been determined!"
"Really?"
"100 percent correct! My aunt is the Crown Princess, you know!"