Chapter 2592: Imperial Ceremony

The wind grew fiercer, the snow heavier, but Helian Zhaotu pressed onward.

The cloud realm was left behind.

Mount Qionglu could no longer block the wind and rain, and no one in the Heaven's Mirror was adorned.

The Crown Prince of Mu Country, alone, walked the heavenly ladder on a path of no return. Overlooking the multitude, his body bore the brunt of the wind and snow.

Walking in such a high place, one could hear the solitary howl of the cold night wind's eyes one by one, and see the white hair wind that connected heaven, like a top general spiraling.

At the very center of the white hair wind was the eternal sleepless cold night.

The Cangtu God relied on the white hair wind to build his domain.

In the earliest days, the grassland did not have this disaster.

The Great Cangtu God created it, and also created the herdsmen's fear. Then, by saving the herdsmen from the white hair wind, he gained his initial believers.

After the life-and-death struggle on the border stabilized, many natural disasters within the Mu Country border, formed by the invasion of demonic energy and death energy, gradually disappeared. Only the white hair wind remained, and it became increasingly dangerous.

The Cangtu God religion, like the white hair wind, grew rapidly on the grassland, finally becoming the sole religion of the grassland.

The Cangtu God religion, of course, also fused tribal traditions like the "Spring Cart," using methods to widely absorb believers, but it never forgot its "old profession."

Right up until today, the current divine envoy, Cangming, gained his initial prestige through rescuing herdsmen under the white hair wind.

Of course, Cangming initially definitely did not know the true origin of the white hair wind. This was originally a matter known only to the Cangtu God and the Emperor of Mu Country.

He once suggested to Beigong Nantuo to gather the power of the Cangtu God religion and thoroughly eradicate the white hair wind.

But the white hair wind was already a part of the Cangtu God; unless the Cangtu God was willing to damage his own origin, it could not be abandoned. How could the Cangtu God religion harm their god?

Finally, Beigong Nantuo naturally praised this "current divine envoy's" kindness and piety, giving him verbal praise.

Later, Cangming spent a period of three years, at most five years, in "closing eyes to observe god method," cultivating the "eternal close method" he has not opened for so many years. Those eyes nurtured by the god source were hidden deep under his hood. Later, he did not speak much either. His whole person became increasingly solitary and introverted.

This "closing eyes to observe god method" is said to be a cultivation method, and also a kind of bitter precept within the Cangtu God religion.

Exactly why Cangming undertook the bitter precept, perhaps only he himself knew.

Refining the white hair wind into today's rampant disaster on the grassland, and making it naturally impervious to external force, making it on the grassland like floodwaters in the human world... this was a heaven-shaking means.

No one, dissecting any array of white hair wind, could possibly trace it back to the Cangtu Heavenly Country.

Now the Cangtu God was losing blood from this, as if those cold night wind eyes, one by one, were wounds on the body of that great god, truly having some meaning of "everywhere, body is heaven and earth"!

The white hair wind was unrestrained, and in every passing moment, new cold night wind eyes were born, as if opening eyes of the god one by one.

Mu Country had to respond with the entire country. First, the safety of the herdsmen had to be protected, and the support of the human world to the Son of Heaven would naturally be weakened.

There was no road ahead, but Helian Zhaotu continued to walk forward.

In the increasingly fierce wind and snow, dots of faint light continuously gathered towards him.

He had already arranged everything.

There was no need for him to go personally; subordinates holding his order were like him.

At this moment, his personal riders were like millions of arrows loosed from strings, howling across the grassland.

He was comprehensively controlling this great empire, and increasingly more people were acknowledging his authority—

The King has gone on expedition, the Crown Prince supervises the country!

Within the court, it was like the ceremony of the Son of Heaven!

Civil officials, military generals, meritorious nobles, clan relatives, armies, common people... all submitted.

He was, in fact, the Emperor of Mu Country during this period!

There was a long chant between heaven and earth, and suddenly gold light burst forth brilliantly.

His voice was not high, nor did he need to bare his teeth and claws... while his foot suddenly rode a golden dragon and soared high.

The power of Great Mu Country manifested as a spirit form, carrying him through this "heavenly arduous" journey, for him... pushing open the door of the Heavenly Country!

The sealed door of the Cangtu Heavenly Country had been closed for many years, so long that many priests could no longer remember the appearance of the Heavenly Country.

The priests of the god religion could not contact any of the gods in the Cangtu Heavenly Country, and the Great Mu Emperors... could not contact their Taizu.

Of course, many people had tried to push open this door, but trying all methods was useless, and they eventually gave up.

Mount Qionglu could still continuously receive Cangtu divine power, and the Cangtu God religion could transmit it.

The bloodline of the Helian clan was still spreading, and the will of the ancestors was always remembered by someone.

The Cangtu God religion and the Great Mu Royal Court both, through their own growth, assisted the silent struggle within the Heavenly Country.

Time thus slowly walked to today.

The door of the Heavenly Country had been sealed and dusty for a long time, until Helian Zhaotu arrived riding a dragon.

It was said to be a "door," but in front of his eyes, there was no door, only a vast and boundless emptiness.

Saying it was "pushing a door," it was more like a headless fly randomly turning here.

But Helian Zhaotu calmly looked ahead, his eyes had a clear path—Tuohu carrying heavenly knowledge on his body had already drawn the path to the Cangtu Heavenly Country. Although he, this newly appointed god crown great priest, had never felt divine grace even once.

And precisely because of this position, Tuohu could not ascend to the Heavenly Country.

The so-called "person closest to god" was also a servant of god.

The most powerful god crown great priest was also the person most restricted by the Cangtu God.

The Cangtu God's order could not control an old farmer who did not believe in god, yet He could make His absolute peak level priest's soul scatter.

It was unknown how many years no one had passed through this place; along the way, the cloud shadows looked like spiderwebs of dust.

When the Emperor personally went on expedition to the Cangtu Heavenly Country, to cover people's ears, he did not walk through the door of the Heavenly Country, but with transcendent level power, and the power of the whole country, he killed his way into faith and ascended to heaven, directly killing into the god position.

Helian Zhaotu, although an absolute peak in the contemporary era, could only honestly walk through the main door.

The golden dragon flew fast and turned randomly in the air, yet it was truly approaching the Cangtu Heavenly Country.

The tail light of the gold wove into a complex ball of threads, which did not scatter for a long time, as if leaving a problem waiting for someone to solve.

Vaguely, an indifferent voice sounded—

"Big wind and big snow, why have you come?"

Helian Zhaotu's long cloak was already given to Jin Tan Du. At this moment, in thin clothes facing the wind and snow, standing between a pair of dragon horns, he said in an indifferent voice: "Come for the wind and snow."

He grasped the power of Great Mu Country which was his armor, and held the authority of Great Mu which was his long sword.

"What is the wind and snow to you?" That voice asked.

Helian Zhaotu said: "I am the supervising Crown Prince. This snow all falls on my shoulder."

The vague voice asked again: "What is your name?"

"Helian Zhaotu."

"Zhaotu... good name."

"This is the name my family's mother chose. Zhaotu, Zhaotu: bright also, seek also." Helian Zhaotu looked forward: "You are Cangtu, I am Zhaotu. You are already the supreme god king, still seeking Cangtian God Lord. My family's Great Mu Emperor, is seeking the bright bright heaven day."

"Then you? What do you seek also?"

"The supervising Crown Prince, like the ceremony of the Son of Heaven. Also like, what the Son of Heaven seeks!"

The gold light in an instant became brilliant to the extreme.

Rumbling!

The door of the Heavenly Country, sealed for a thousand years, opened for the supervising Crown Prince of Great Mu!

A tent is the home of the grassland people, avoiding wind and snow, separating tigers and wolves.

The Cangtu God Tent... is the home of the god spirits.

The Great Cangtu God was supreme; his divine glory sprinkled across the grassland and spread even wider to all heavens and ten thousand realms. Of course, it was impossible for him to personally manage everything and take care of every bit of faith.

But there were many main gods, subordinate gods, and even god servants who helped Him manage the boundless vast faith Heavenly Country.

Just like the initial Eternal Heavenly Country, there were also many powerful gods shining together, with only the Cangtian God Lord as the most honored.

The descent of the gods from the Cangtu Heavenly Country often occurred through the Cangtu God Tent.

Correspondingly, the ritual minister of Great Mu built the Cangtu God Tent in the underworld, also to submit the three honored true gods, promising them god positions within the Cangtu Heavenly Country, and opening up the faith resources accumulated by the Cangtu God religion for thousands of years to Them.

Of course, Mu Country is the current world hegemon and has a sound merit reward system.

To eat those few carrots hanging in front, the donkeys of these three honored true gods had to carry more goods and hurry more.

Regardless of how internal king power and god power struggled, to the outside world, they were two sides of one body. The Cangtu God Tent standing in the underworld was itself also a flag, representing that powerful grassland empire.

So when Jiang Wang crossed the boundary directly, the three honored true gods who already belonged to Mu Country, after all, also trembled and stepped out.

"True Monarch Jiang, this place already belongs to Mu Country... I wonder if you are aware?"

They were in a difficult position to choose between "immediately make way" and "say two courteous sentences then make way," while carefully watching Jiang Wang's expression. If something was wrong... they would just roll away directly.

In the current world, of course, the six great hegemonic countries awe the world, but Mu Country, after all, had not sent any strong individuals over.

Jiang Wang took out the Great Mu tally, solving their trouble.

The Cangtu God Tent is named "tent," but after lifting the curtain and entering, it was actually a secret realm.

The sky was clear and vast, the pastures green, which was instead more peaceful than the true grassland currently ravaged by the white hair wind.

Entering the tent, there was a stele, tall, thick, and heavy with divine intent, engraved with grassland characters. The words said—

"Dao Calendar three nine three zero year, Temple Master Zhao Rucheng of Minhe Temple, following orders, established the tent, bearing the power of the country, to open the god's shade."

Everyone knows that Mu Country does not have era names.

Initially, there was no necessity; what happened on the grassland had nothing to do with who the Emperor of Mu Country was. To ask what night it was tonight, moreover, there was the Cangtu God Calendar.

The grassland always used the Cangtu God Calendar to record years, which gave the grassland people a stance independent of the various countries in the current world.

You Jing Country say you opened a new era, but before the Cangtu God Calendar was opened, your Dao Calendar had no movement yet.

The earliest claim of the Cangtu God Calendar was "succeeding Yang Eternal, restarting Cangtian," and it is not hard to see that the Cangtu God initially regarded himself as a successor to the Cangtian God Lord.

Later, dissatisfied with the identity of a successor, he proclaimed himself "most ancient," "highest."

Saying yourself is the first honored god in the world, same as the original Heaven God.

Gods always don't speak many true words.

Later, the importance of the Mu Country Emperor emerged, and the so-called "era names" were all granted by god. Whichever year divine grace permitted you to be, that was that year. Later, like Emperor Mu Lie, he self-granted era names, just like the emperors of various countries.

And to the current Son of Heaven of Mu, she neither wanted a god's grant nor proposed one herself, saying that era names are not important, and self-praise is meaningless. If the common people live well, it's a good year; if they don't live well, it's a bad year. She called it "era name is the heart of the common people, era name is the vast mouths, not with god's order, not with the king's name."

After Helian Shanhai appointed Tuohu as the god crown priest and further promoted the national policy of "ten thousand religions merge and flow, faith free," Mu Country had also completely abolished the god calendar.

So on this stele inside the Cangtu God Tent, only the time of the Dao Calendar was engraved.

The changes in god positions, even the life and death of gods, were already unrelated to god; now they were all history of Mu Country.

Jiang Wang specifically paid attention to the time here because he wanted to further confirm the information about the "seizing god" within the Cangtu Heavenly Country. Only by knowing enough could he know what he should do.

If seriously calculated, this year is the Cangtu God Calendar five three eight zero year.

According to the Cangtu God religion, in the ancient era tens of thousands of years ago, the Cangtu God was born. In the near ancient era, the Cangtu God achieved dao. One thousand four hundred and fifty years after the Cangtu God achieved dao, the Dao Calendar restarted, and a new era came.

But according to what Jing Country has always emphasized, the Cangtu God achieved dao only after the Dao Calendar restarted. This time point is very possibly after Helian Qingtong founded the country!

If the Cangtu God achieved dao only in the near ancient era, without a doubt, the entire grassland was His pasture, and all living beings on the grassland were His cattle and sheep. Helian Qingtong was in the role of an absolute challenger.

And if the Cangtu God achieved dao only after the Dao Calendar restarted, then Helian Qingtong's help to Him was probably crucial. The Cangtu God, for a very long period, possibly fundamentally could not leave this Mu Taizu. Then Mu Taizu was not only in the role of "leading the sheep," but he was probably also the "herder."

Jiang Wang actually was more inclined to the latter.

Because only thus could he see Helian Qingtong's qualification to contend with god.

However, in the process of trying to clarify Helian Qingtong's relevant history, there was a period of history that confused him somewhat—

Dao Gate and the Cangtu God religion debated true names, emphasizing that the Cangtu God's achievement of dao was after the Dao Calendar restarted. This was essentially a suppression of the Cangtu God.

Emperor Ji Hongzai of Jing Qin led the Cangtu God religion into the central domain to check and balance Dao Gate, which in fact also helped the Cangtu God.

The Cangtu God sent the divine envoy Minhal to the central domain to preach. While opposing Dao Gate, he chose to rescue Dizang, backhand giving Emperor Ji Hongzai a slap.

Benefiting from the Cangtu God, Dizang who completed the central escape Zen, yet recognized Helian Qingtong's history and helped Helian Qingtong oppose the Cangtu God.

How could this Dizang not distinguish between enemies and friends, ignoring good and bad?

Even within the entire Minhal event, it was just a chaotic war; you chop me with a knife, I stab him with a sword, fundamentally unclear who was friend and who was foe.

It had a kind of absurd sense of a Hunyuan Evil Immortal.

Could it be that one by one, they all went out of control?

There must be a clear clue among them that can accurately explain things; perhaps the truth is just among them.

The three honored true gods guarding outside the tent did not come in. After Jiang Wang carefully observed this place, he lifted his hand and lightly flipped it—

Dim light like water surrounded the god tent, and above this place, stars filled the sky.

A layer of underworld heaven seal had fallen. Those below the Yang God could not touch it. Even if the Yang God came to break the seal, it would take some effort, enough for him to return in time.

It was very obvious that this Cangtu God Tent was the Heavenly Country portal that Tuohu left for him, inviting him to enter the Cangtu Heavenly Country from this place.

He did not want to walk in one moment and have the door torn down the next, becoming like the Cangtu God or Mu Taizu, silent and unheard of, with only traces in history, and not even sure when they would be erased.

After dropping the heaven seal, he then placed the tally that Helian Yunyun had added onto this stone stele.

The stone stele then rumbled high, becoming like a mountain wall, and then cracked open from the middle, truly a large door.

Jiang Wang casually hooked a wisp of Buzhou Heaven wind, buried a wisp of Samadhi true fire, and hid a wisp of Yanfu sword energy... then he stepped inside.

When surrounding and attacking Zong Dezhen, the minister of the Zongzheng Temple of Jing Country, Ji Yumin, left a deep impression on him, telling him with actual action the knack of living so long. He deeply agreed.

In a flash, the sky light turned, and time and space rippled like water waves.

When Jiang Wang stopped, what he saw was already different—

His eyes were full of white fog, and the stars and moon were unknown. He saw no mountains, waters, or buildings, no god halls or temples. This place was as if it had nothing.

"Is this the Cangtu Heavenly Country?"

Jiang Wang murmured to himself.

This subtle self-speaking sound became ripples, rippling outwards in all directions. The further away from Jiang Wang, the more movement there was.

Each sound wave continuously howled in the emptiness, continuously growing by itself. In a moment, they became dragons, tigers, leopards, and dogs, each showing spirit form, running towards the vast unknown distance and howling!

Immortal technique · All Sounds Royal Court.

Once, "ten thousand sounds come to court" was to call all sounds within a certain range to court by themselves, contributing intelligence.

This current technique, each spirit form sits on its own throne and becomes a royal court of sounds by itself.

They are also all opening up territory and expanding soil within the world of sounds.

The former immortal technique · Get Heard Fish, placed within the spirit forms of all sounds, was also just a part of them.

As soon as this technique was cast, there was immediate gain. On the vast horizon, a bell seemed to ring once.

Jiang Wang instantly gazed far, lightly lifted his foot, his body like a painting being torn! He had already disappeared within the frost fog formed scroll paper.

When he reappeared, his body, like a green pine, was already standing beneath an endlessly high mountain.

The surrounding frost fog rapidly retreated, like a bronze mirror being wiped clean of fog, thus everything became clear—

He saw ranges of mountains stretching, and god halls towering one by one.

He saw the crowd of gods inside the Cangtu Heavenly Country!

All the gods were dead.

Those god halls were all empty, only collapsed god statues were in the halls, yet faith fog still evaporated in each temple—herdsmen who believed in the Cangtu God would also conveniently worship Them.

Faith had no master, so it gathered into this kind of frost fog.

Jiang Wang only looked ahead.

Ahead was a winding mountain path, and everything after the mountain path was covered in frost fog.

Before the mountain path stood one person.

The god crown great priest wearing a full set of priest robes! That human-god integrated, very possibly the strongest in the contemporary grassland, Tuohu!

He looked at Jiang Wang with strange eyes.

Slowly he opened his mouth—

"Who dares disturb my lord, rashly prying into divine honor!?"