Bells and chimes rang out with the music of immortals; rosy light shimmered around a sacred lord.
South of the Ninefold Heaven Palace, divine soldiers and generals sounded gongs to clear the way. Mighty attendants and Daoist Soldiers beat drums and raised banners, while three thousand heavenly maidens scattered nine-colored flowers around the procession. Immortal birds and spirit beasts thronged together, spreading layer upon layer of spiritual radiance. At their center traveled a glazed flying Cloud Carriage beneath a jade parasol canopy.
As the carriage approached, auspicious clouds rose and fell above it, and a Dao wheel turned slowly. A Daoist with the bearing of an immortal sat upon it, holding a horsetail whisk and wearing a warm, kindly smile.
When the carriage reached Diuniu Palace, divine lords and Star Officials bowed. "Greetings, Xiaoyun Longevity Emperor."
Xiaoyun Longevity Emperor!
Jiang Sheng looked toward the imposing procession. "Is that Daoist Lord Qiongyun of the Zhenxiao Dao Sect in Xiaoyun World?"
Lin Fan nodded, his expression complicated. "Yes. Now he's the Heavenly Court's Changsheng Great Emperor. Some of our Daoist immortals' fortune has flowed into the Heavenly Court's hands after all."
Lingwei remained calm. Could the Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect claim all the fortune from the Xuanmen Great Calamity?
Impossible.
Perfection in all things, claiming every last advantage—neither accorded with Daoist thought nor with the principles of heaven and earth.
Those who called themselves chosen by destiny and uniquely blessed by fortune left no room for others. They scraped every treasure of heaven and earth down to the bone and marrow, or smashed it so no one after them could have it. Ignorant of Karmic Cause and Effect and the tides of fortune, they were eventually devoured by the very destiny that favored them. Death was among the better outcomes.
Even the