Level Nine Fixed-Install Soul Guidance Shells: The Cicada, the Mantis, and the Oriole (Continued)

At the center of the altar, wisps of green smoke rose from the incense burner, soaring into the clouds. A massive jade disc representing the sun and moon glowed with a gentle luster beneath the sunlight. Dressed in his most solemn ceremonial robes, the ritual official began reciting the sacrificial text.

After all, this was no longer an affair of the Xu Imperial Family. Though solemn, the text was not particularly long. All the unnecessary parts tracing the empire's origins and praising the achievements of its ancestors had been omitted.

"Reverently, the vault of heaven is vast and boundless, its transformations inexhaustible; the earth bears all things with abundant virtue, giving rise to primordial chaos... Where the Imperial Mandate rests, the sacred artifact has its master. The sun and moon shine anew over the land, and mountains and rivers are remade in a new era. The myriad people look on in hope, all saying that the sacred artifact cannot remain vacant for long; the ministers have shed blood and sweat, jointly declaring that the great throne should return to supreme virtue. The Sun Moon Empire now has Empress Wang Dong'er, who accepted the mandate in a time of crisis, saving the common people from fire and water and steadying the state as it teetered on collapse... We hereby report to Heaven and Earth: she ascends the imperial throne, and the great lineage is unified..."

"...May our new dynasty endure through endless generations, long-lived as the southern mountains; may our people enjoy peace, health, and prosperity, blessed like the Eastern Sea. May the winds and rains come in season, the grains grow in abundance; may war never rise, and calamities forever cease. May virtue and grace flow through ten thousand generations, and may our renown reach the eight corners of the