The Three Pure Ones Temple.
The first place the Preaching Squad had entered in the Chechi Kingdom.
There had been no incense offerings in the temple.
No Daoist priests.
Only three clay statues.
Later, the Preaching Squad had set them upright.
Wiped away the mud and grime.
Adjusted their positions.
Added an incense altar.
Beyond that, there had been nothing special.
But now.
All the incense rising from the Taotie Cauldron was drawn into the temple.
Wisps of incense smoke curled down onto the three clay statues.
On Supreme Purity's statue, the point between his brows lit up first.
On Jade Purity's statue, his left eye lit up first.
On Upper Clarity's statue, his right eye lit up first.
Three points of light joined into a line.
The line became a circle.
The circle became a wheel.
The clay shells began to crack.
Fine fissures spread from their brows to their shoulders, from their shoulders to their knees.
Nothing crumbled away.
Dark golden light flowed through the cracks.
That was not paint.
That was Dao Resonance.
It was the Dao's response after ten thousand sticks of golden Offering Incense had been lit.
The Heavenly Venerates in the Three Pure Ones Hall did not act.
They would not act.
Nor did they need to.
Because the clay statues were themselves the response.
When living beings honored the Dao, the Dao answered.
Three streams of pure light converged above the Chechi Kingdom.
They intertwined.
They meshed.
Then formed a wheel.
The wheel gave rise to an axle.
The axle gave rise to spokes.
The spokes gave rise to a rim.
Upon each wheel, yin and yang formed its face.
Between the two wheels, the Supreme Ultimate formed the axle.
Eight spokes corresponded to the Eight Trigrams.
Thirty-six markings on the rims corresponded