Wanli twenty-fifth year, sixth month, twenty-second day, fourth watch.
Torches were lit everywhere in Shuntian Prefecture, collecting corpses.
Ji Xiang saw Old Zhang outside the gate of the Forbidden City.
The shattered statue of the Jade Emperor was placed to the side.
"My Yang Shen incarnations have all been recalled. Senior Brother, we can ascend to heaven for a visit."
Old Zhang said, holding the statue of the Jade Emperor with one hand, and explained to Ji Xiang: "This is the Jade Emperor statue from the Supreme Pavilion back then. Unlike ordinary statues, this one seems to be directly connected to the Jade Emperor's divine position."
Ji Xiang's gaze shifted to the face of the Jade Emperor statue, which was kind and amiable.
"Since that's the case, let's begin."
Two divine senses, connected to the heavens in the void, aiming to reach the Great Floating Li Land. Ordinary manipulation would follow the process of receiving the divine position.
By attempting to receive the divine position in heaven, the divine senses could reach the Great Floating Li Land.
However, this was not a true physical entry; it was merely an incarnation of a thought entering the Floating Li. Therefore, Ji Xiang knew that he would not bring his Ascension realm cultivation with him.
After all, he was not a true Ascension expert.
The main force of this test was Old Zhang.
Brilliant light enveloped them, and soon the azure sky appeared before their eyes. Old Zhang and Ji Xiang's two divine senses ascended into the Great Floating Li, transforming into ethereal forms. Upon opening the heavenly gate, they saw the divine tablet of the Jade Emperor!
Boom! The Jade Emperor, upon seeing Ji Xiang, immediately reacted. The divine tablet faced Ji Xiang, locking onto his position tightly.
Old Zhang had never seen such a scene. His ethereal form floated forward, attempting to receive the Jade Emperor's divine position to understand its current state.
But in the next moment, a powerful expulsion intent emanated from the Jade Emperor's divine position!
Within the Jade Emperor's divine position, three forms of light appeared, seemingly split from the divine position itself, or perhaps new deities born from human wishes.
These three forms of light carried strong hostility, forbidding Ascension experts from prying into the Supreme Jade Emperor!
Old Zhang narrowed his eyes, feeling his pride wounded.
He had boasted to Ji Xiang, and now, upon ascending, he was blocked by the Jade Emperor's three lights. With the title of the foremost expert under heaven, he could not afford to be disgraced here.
"I want to see what you three things are."
Old Zhang circulated his divine sense. He was a true Ascension expert; his divine sense alone could generate immense power. After all, a true Ascension expert's wish was equivalent to the wishes of millions, allowing them to transform into a "god." Ji Xiang, a fake Ascension, could not achieve this.
Therefore, Old Zhang, relying on his thoughts, could do as he pleased in the Floating Li!
Old Zhang's divine sense gradually changed. His beard grew long, his eyes bulged, appearing fierce. His hair was tied back, and his attire shifted from extreme luxury to simple, unadorned sketches.
Ji Xiang's divine sense entered the Floating Li. The inner landscape divine tablet could reflect the situation perceived by this thought!
[Ancestor Heavenly Master (Pale Red Cloud): God of the Nation! First Heavenly Master Zhang Daoling! Supreme Sage of the Heavens, Grand Heavenly Master! Sixth Rank of the Heavenly Great Position!]
[Within Grand Heavenly Master Zhang's divine position, the wishes of successive generations of Longhu Mountain Heavenly Masters are stored. The divine position's incense offerings have burned for a thousand years without extinguishing!]
Grand Heavenly Master Zhang's divine position was red, surrounded by a faint, thin red cloud!
Ji Xiang suddenly recalled that Lei Xuan Laoren's previous description had mentioned something similar, stating that the Nine Revolutions Immortal Elixir gathered the wishes of all people in the world. At the ninth revolution, it vaporized into red clouds, representing the highest attainment in Taoist cultivation!
Although Grand Heavenly Master Zhang's divine position was of the sixth rank, it was surrounded by a faint red cloud! This clearly coincided with Lei Xuan Laoren's description of the Great Elixir of the Human Body!
Divine positions bestowed powerful strength upon their holders. The manifestation of Grand Heavenly Master Zhang's divine position was equivalent to all the successive Heavenly Masters of Longhu Mountain jointly attacking these three bright lights before the Jade Emperor!
Among these successive Heavenly Masters, there were no shortage of Ascension experts!
As expected, under Old Zhang's current powerful pressure, three lines of text gradually appeared within the three bright lights.
[Laihe Tianzun], [Tianluo Wang], [Guangyao Shousheng Xiantianzun]
These three lights seemed to be divine tablets that had not yet solidified. They were also somewhat different from other divine tablets. The surrounding divine tablets of the Floating Li had gathered here at some point.
Ji Xiang saw Emperor Liang Li. The scene before him was quite astonishing.
Many Heavenly Emperors, Heavenly Gods, and Generals of Myriad Gods had gathered here, surrounding the Jade Emperor's divine position and the three bright divine positions.
"This is..."
"Nurturing."
Old Zhang saw the problem: "The Jade Emperor's divine tablet had a problem long ago, just like that empty statue. The divine power within the Jade Emperor's divine tablet has been divided into three."
"This is truly incredible. The deities born from worldly wishes represent the thoughts of countless people throughout history. These three divine positions are unheard of and unseen. There are no incense offerings to them in the world. How could they be born from the Jade Emperor's divine tablet!"
The Jade Emperor's divine position first appeared in the Five Dynasties period. Later, during the Song Dynasty, it was elevated. However, the Jade Emperor's belief among the populace has always been very high, and his incense offerings have been very prosperous.
Compared to some other ancient Heavenly Emperors, some Heavenly Emperors in folk legends have always had prosperous incense offerings.
For example, the Jade Emperor and Tian Weng.
These two deities were originally from folk legends. Tian Weng's status gradually declined with the fall of the Tang Dynasty, to the point where he was no longer mentioned by later generations. The Jade Emperor's status, however, continuously rose with the emergence of the Song Dynasty, eventually becoming one with Haotian in name.
Ji Xiang was truly amazed.
This time, it truly was the Jade Emperor's turn to rule, with today being his day!
"Junior Brother, can you destroy these three strange divine positions?"
"I'll try my best!"
Old Zhang declared, "Watch me handle them."
His divine sense circulated. The wishes of the successive Heavenly Masters of Longhu Mountain, using the divine position of Ancestor Heavenly Master Zhang Daoling, crushed towards these three strange divine positions!
When the three divine positions were attacked, they naturally emitted bright light. At this moment, countless divine tablets around the Floating Li trembled gently, emitting wisps of incense energy, seemingly assisting Old Zhang in suppressing them.
To these divine tablets, these three divine positions were extremely malicious usurpers, even more unwelcome than Ji Xiang, the outer-world demon!
Old Zhang's spirit immediately soared.
I, the Heavenly Master, guard the human world. I search the heavens and the earth! All the gods and saints are on my side, how can you fight me!
However, at this moment, a powerful and strange wish appeared from afar in the Floating Li.
That wish arrived, its ethereal form emitting a resonant sound, temporarily neutralizing Old Zhang's power. Simultaneously, it acted to receive the Jade Emperor's divine position!
Old Zhang was shocked. Someone taking the Jade Emperor's divine position and being able to enter the Floating Li with divine sense to cause trouble was undoubtedly an Ascension expert. But where in the human world was there a third Ascension expert?
Old Zhang naturally would not let it go. The Heavenly Master's wish suppressed towards the distance, along with a warning:
"Fellow Daoist, the Jade Emperor's divine position cannot be received. There is something strange within it. Abandon the reception immediately!"
The distant wish lightly pushed aside the Heavenly Master's power, neutralizing it into nothingness, and responded:
"Little Heavenly Master, I want this shell. If there were no problems, I wouldn't have come to receive it!"
"After nurturing the divine tablets for the Song Dynasty emperors for so long, and now you have separated the divine lights, I have fulfilled my promise. It's time to reclaim this Jade Emperor's divine position!"
Within the Floating Li, a phantom, grand lightning manifested, clearly the Divine Firmament technique!
As the wish was happily receiving the Jade Emperor's divine position to leave, a hand suddenly reached out from the side and grabbed the Jade Emperor's divine position.
Ji Xiang suddenly made his move. Although he did not have Ascension realm cultivation, he could still touch the Jade Emperor's divine position, and he was not rejected.
After all, a friendship of over a hundred years of picking up scraps, how could it be forgotten?
The distant wish, unable to receive the Jade Emperor's divine position, was somewhat surprised. Ji Xiang held onto the Jade Emperor's divine position, his divine sense perceiving the distance. The inner landscape divine tablet provided an astonishing description.
[Lin Ling Su: Grandmaster of the Divine Firmament, Grand Sage Yuan Miao!]
[Cultivation: Peak Ascension Realm!]