Fifth year of Qianyuan.
Emperor Jingxing's health declined, his body becoming weaker day by day, a consequence of age and the deterioration of bodily functions, beyond the cure of medicine.
The Imperial Physicians in the palace were helpless, but Emperor Jingxing did not mind, having experienced this once five years ago. Now, after another five years, he only needed to send trusted aides to Yunmeng Mountain to ask Immortal Master Baiyun for the elixir of longevity to solve all problems.
However, human plans cannot match celestial ones. When Feng Dehai returned from Yunmeng Mountain with the medicine, Emperor Jingxing learned that the Ru Yi Temple had been struck by Celestial Thunder and destroyed; Baiyun Daoist and all disciples had gone missing, their whereabouts unknown.
Now, the Ru Yi Temple was in ruins, with only a statue of Lord Yuan remaining inside.
Upon hearing this, Emperor Jingxing was anxious!
Whether my Immortal Master lives or dies is unimportant, but without my Immortal Master's medicine, I truly won't live long!
The elderly Emperor Jingxing was so angry he trembled: "It must be villains who harmed my Immortal Master."
This matter involved practitioners within the sect; ordinary people could not investigate.
Therefore, Emperor Jingxing ordered the Celestial Master's Mansion to divine and hunt down the culprit. The diviner was Zheng Tianxing, one of the Seven Sons of Xuanji. Upon receiving the imperial order, as soon as Daoist Zheng took out the divination disk, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck before the hall; from then on, the Seven Sons of Xuanji at the Celestial Master's Mansion were reduced to five.
Yu Celestial Master, always youthful and white-haired, now had a few more wrinkles. He warned the old Emperor not to inquire about Yunmeng Mountain's matters, lest he suffer divine retribution.
The old Emperor did not believe; he was the true Son of Heaven, rising according to destiny, sharing kinship with Heaven. He even frugally oversaw the construction of the Heavenly Sacrifice Platform; how could Heaven dare strike him, this Son of Heaven, in Jinluan Hall before civil and military officials?
Seeing Yu Celestial Master unwilling to act, Emperor Jingxing, the next morning at court, decreed an audience with the Supervisor of the Directorate of Astronomy, commanding him to publicly deduce celestial phenomena in the Jin Hall.
The Directorate of Astronomy oversaw celestial phenomena, divination, disaster records; in terms of divination and deduction, the grand diviners within were as skilled as the Daoists of the Celestial Master's Mansion.
And the Supervisor stationed within the Directorate, even Yu Celestial Master showed respect.
When the Supervisor of the Directorate of Astronomy, accompanied by several grand diviners, arrived in the hall, Emperor Jingxing Zhao Rong sternly declared: "As you are responsible for celestial timings and stellar calendars, you should use divination to root out the traitors destabilizing the dynasty!"
The Supervisor of the Directorate of Astronomy, named Pei Jing'an, was an elderly man with a haggard face and cloudy eyes.
He wore a voluminous robe, his whole being shrunken within it. Upon hearing Emperor Jingxing's command, Pei Jing'an let out a haunting sigh.
The pursuit of traitors, supposedly commanded by the emperor, was false; seeking the elixir of longevity was true, Pei Jing'an knew all too well.
Nevertheless, he could not defy the sacred name; Pei Jing'an took out a turtle shell from his robe because divine mysteries should not be divulged—unless his fortune was great enough, he could not lightly divine.
How could Yu Celestial Master, such a person, dare easily attempt divination concerning Yunmeng Mountain? His fortune may not be higher than that of the Celestial Master's Mansion's Celestial Master.
But today, within the Jin Hall, the nation's fortune should offer protection, presumably averting significant backlash.
Pei Jing'an used a palm-sized turtle shell, finding greatness in the small, sighting vastness in the minute, the small shell projecting a celestial star map with over three hundred light points.
In the next moment, the turtle shell surfaced with over three hundred words of runes.
Zhao, Qian, Sun, Li, Zhou, Wu, Zheng, Wang...
Prisoners, common folk, scholars, dignitaries—anyone from the secular world appeared, as did chickens, ducks, fish, geese, tigers, leopards, bears, wolves.
Pei Jing'an stared agape until the turtle shell could not endure the accumulation of runes and completely shattered, then he regained composure.
Emperor Jingxing saw the turtle shell shattered and frowned: "Have you divined the result?"
Pei Jing'an, dry in mouth and throat, replied: "The traitor is among the multitude..."
"Among the multitude?" Emperor Jingxing's face darkened instantly: "Absurd! How dare you speak such prophetic nonsense?"
By the time Pei Jing'an glanced at the broken shell, bloodstains had unknowingly permeated it; his mood at this moment turned utterly calm.
Facing the emperor's wrath, Pei Jing'an let out a long sigh: "Last night, I observed celestial phenomena and found the imperial star dim, while the Northern Domain shone as bright as day. The celestial officer's book describes this as 'the emergence of the virtue star in the northern corner, the mandate from Heaven'; now the purple micro star has dimmed, you, Your Majesty, neglect the ancestral temple, abandon ceremonies, and the nation. Now the north star shines bright with an omen of consuming Heaven; only by embracing benevolence and virtue can you regain Heaven's grace."
"Outrageous! Guards, strip this rabble of their official robes and throw him into the Imperial Prison!"
"I can walk myself, no need to trouble everyone." Upon hearing, the escort guards advanced, Pei Jing'an shook his head, undressed from his court attire, and turned to leave the hall.
As Pei Jing'an exited the hall doors, he turned to the Forbidden Army escorts responsible for confining him and said: "I can leave the palace and proceed to the Imperial Prison alone; if you follow me, you may face disaster without cause."
The escorts exchanged glances, though ultimately, only one quietly retreated to the rear.
"Zhou Li, what are you doing? Do you still want to work?"
The escort named Zhou Li ignored his superior's rebuke, immediately cupping his hands towards them and heading in the opposite direction.
"What are you looking at? Zhou Li left his post without leave; when he returns from the Imperial Prison, I'll find him guilty!"
The leading commander looked displeased.
Instead, Pei Jing'an laughed heartily.
Roughly two moments later, as they escorted Pei Jing'an out of the palace, an unforeseen crimson thunderbolt struck right where they were.
Simultaneously, near the east palace, another crimson thunderbolt slashed the sky. With a thunderous boom, the hundred-foot-high Heavenly Sacrifice Platform collapsed from the middle, and stones like waterfalls tumbled toward the east palace!