Chapter 728: The Great Legacy
Chen Changsheng stood in the light, and at the very front.
The Pope was behind him.
In the great hall, thousands of bishops knelt like a tide.
In the square, tens of thousands of national religion cavalry and clergy knelt like a tide.
Outside the Li Palace, hundreds of thousands of believers knelt like a tide.
Watching this scene, the Pope slowly narrowed his eyes, as if savoring fine wine, filled with satisfaction and joy.
His eyes grew narrower and narrower, until they closed, and then never opened again.
The vast sea of stars in those aged eyes would never be seen by anyone again.
Chen Changsheng turned to look, his hand holding the Divine Staff trembling slightly.
Mao Qiuyu supported the Pope's body and shook his head at him.
There was a faint stir among the nearby crowd, but no chaos. Led by high bishops like Anlin, everyone remained kneeling, though... occasional sobs could be heard.
The chants refining the Dao heart, the cries full of remembrance and sorrow, rose higher and higher in the magnificent Hall of Light, until a bell toll briefly called them back to the mortal world.
Both the sacred bell of the Li Palace and those of the Pontifical Council and the Heavenly Academy rang out simultaneously.
The bell sounds quickly spread throughout the entire capital, then traveled further, carrying the news of His Holiness the Pope's return to the sea of stars to all corners of the continent.
Clang, clang, clang—countless metallic scraping sounds seemed to ring out at once.
In the squares between the halls of the Li Palace, the national religion cavalry drew their weapons, and a black tide rose from the sea of people.
Whether divine crossbows, iron spears, or swords and blades, all were equally cold, equally sharp, pointing straight at the night sky, at the silent, unchanging billions of stars. This was not a challenge from the mortal world to the sea of stars, but a show of support, or rather, a grand farewell, sending the sovereign on his journey thousands of miles away.
The Grass Moon Assembly Hall, the Laurel Clear Palace, the Moss Dwelling, the Clear Water Tiled Terrace, the Heavenly Dao Hall, and the Autumn Residence—these were the six most important palaces in the Li Palace. At that moment, six extremely sacred and majestic auras emerged from these palaces, heading toward the cold, desolate night sky, and then, meeting somewhere unknown, they transformed into six visible beams of light.
The colors of those lights were not the same; they looked like a rainbow.
No one had ever seen a rainbow at night. The people kneeling in the Li Palace, the citizens kneeling in various places throughout the capital, all raised their heads, shocked by this celestial anomaly, and thought sadly, could this be the mortal world's final farewell to His Holiness the Pope?
Chen Changsheng knew it was not a rainbow, but power.
The moment those six auras emerged from the six palaces like the Grass Moon Assembly Hall, he, along with all cultivators in the capital at the Star Condensation Realm or above, clearly perceived that power. This power came from the national religion's treasures within the six palaces, and also from the ground beneath the Li Palace, or more precisely, from the formation below the surface.
The Daoist sect had existed for countless years, revered as the national religion for nearly a millennium, and before that, it had been the state religion of several famous dynasties. In terms of historical depth and accumulated resources, in some aspects, even the current imperial court might not compare. Having such a formation and many more unknown divine artifacts was not surprising.
For example, the torch stuck in the headboard at this moment—Daylight Flame.
This sacred artifact of the demon race had been stored in the Lingyan Pavilion for many years, an important part of the Imperial Carriage Diagram. On the night of the Mausoleum of Books incident, the Heavenly Sea Holy Empress had thrown the Frost Remnant Divine Spear, destroying the Lingyan Pavilion. The portraits inside were all burned to ashes, and the Frost Remnant Divine Spear had vanished, presumably re-hidden within the imperial palace.
Who would have thought that the Daylight Flame had ended up in the Li Palace?
Once a demon race sacred artifact, later a Great Zhou treasure, it was now just an ordinary lighting fixture.
The sacred, blazing yet not harsh, and completely heatless light fell upon the Pope's aged face, surely not causing him any discomfort.
Chen Changsheng sat by the bedside, finished reciting the Longevity Scripture for the ninth time, stood up, and looked at the Daylight Flame and the dim hall it illuminated.
The national religion was the legacy the Pope had left him. The Daylight Flame was naturally part of that legacy, as were the Divine Crown, the Divine Staff, the treasures in the six palaces, the formation in the Li Palace, and the billions of clergy and believers still kneeling inside and outside the Li Palace, unwilling to leave. And power.
But he remembered clearly that there should be another legacy, yet now he didn't know where it had gone.
His Holiness the Pope had once very clearly expressed his intention: after his death, that object was to be kept by Chen Changsheng.
Where had that pot of green leaves gone?
...
...
The six sacred auras formed a beautiful rainbow in the night sky. One end of the rainbow was at the Li Palace, traversing the sea of stars, and finally fell back to the mortal world.
Many places in the capital were illuminated and adorned by this rainbow. It was hard to tell which place received more light and blessings.
Everyone on the earth could see the vast sea of stars, but starlight had never shone universally upon the world. At the bottom of the abandoned well near the North New Bridge close to the imperial city, sunlight never reached all year round, nor could starlight be seen. But today, miraculously, many rays of light appeared, part of the rainbow from the Li Palace.
The pitch-black, gloomy, cold underground space of the past few centuries did not become warm because of this, but at least it was no longer so terrifying. Especially since those lights illuminated the frost and snow on the ground, and also illuminated many objects upon the frost and snow. Those objects gave this place, isolated from the mortal world, a touch of the human realm.
Everywhere were stoves of varying heights, looking like termite nests, along with various kitchen utensils. Pots, bowls, ladles, plates—nothing was missing. Piles of particularly high-calorie Tuzhou charcoal formed small mountains. There were over a dozen iron pots of different sizes and thicknesses. A specially made table as large as a lake was piled high with countless dishes that ordinary people could imagine.
About three hundred zhang away, there should be a study-like area. There were no walls, so naturally no paintings hung, only incredibly long, seemingly endless bookshelves, stacked with books. Following the bookshelves, various styles of furniture were arranged forward in sequence: desks, chairs, a chaise lounge, stretching far into the distance...
There was an exceptionally large bed there, not much smaller than the lake at the National Academy. This bed was extremely ornate, its carvings incredibly intricate. The bed was covered with thirty-six layers of bedding, and seventy-two night pearls were inlaid on the bed rails. Just by looking, one could imagine how comfortable it would be to lie on it.
The black-clothed dragon girl, called Zhi Zhi, also known as Zhusha or Hongzhuang, was lying on the bed at this moment, but clearly, she didn't find it very comfortable. Not because there was an inconspicuous pea under the bottommost of the thirty-six layers of bedding, nor because the blue lobster Chen Changsheng had last brought wasn't fresh enough, but because she was very nervous at this moment.
The rainbow from the Li Palace illuminated the underground cavern, and also illuminated the wall over ten li away that she didn't want to face.
She was the most noble, most powerful Xuan Shuang Giant Dragon in the world, able to see a silver leaf thousands of li away, so naturally, she could clearly see the change happening on that wall at this moment—a cluster of green leaves had sprouted from the frost-covered stone wall.
...
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(Tomorrow I'm going to Shanghai for a meeting. I'll try to finish the update before I leave. There's something I need to report to everyone. The electronic contract for "Ze Tian Ji" was signed with Chuangshi. Qidian is now posting it simultaneously. You can read it wherever you like. I'm very grateful. As for tipping, I can only receive it through Chuangshi. I'm not saying that if you want to tip on Qidian, you should switch to Chuangshi—that's too much trouble. I just have to inform you of this. And actually, from the very first day of this system, my attitude has been this: for subscriptions, I will definitely urge everyone to do it. I think this is the proper way for us to interact. As for tipping, it's truly completely unnecessary. As long as you subscribe to the official version, that's enough. If you have the interest and time, writing a book review or casting a vote would be more than I could ask for. Thank you.)