However, Emperor Wenchang merely pondered for a moment.
Then his vast divine voice once more filled every corner of the hall.
"Then I am rather curious. If these splendid works were not written by you, why have they come into the world through your mouth? And where did you hear them?"
Lu Chen was just about to answer.
When a shrill buzzing suddenly rang out deep within his mind!
It shook him into instinctively closing his eyes and covering his ears.
When he opened them again—
How was this still Wenchang Hall?
He was standing amid a boundless sea of stars!
An ultimate Dharma manifestation beyond imagination and beyond description slowly rose from the void.
Myriad divine lights surged like rivers, and boundless Dao rhythm spread without end.
Lu Chen felt like a single grain in the vast ocean, so insignificant he was not worth mentioning.
The majesty of the Emperor's Dharma manifestation was even several degrees greater than the soul-shaking presence of the Plague Emperor that day!
"Th-this... is the power of a top-tier incense-and-faith deity?!!"
Lu Chen strained his eyes, yet he still could not make out the Emperor's true features. He could only swallow his shock in secret.
"Speak."
The Emperor's voice was not loud, yet the pressure that blanketed heaven and earth seemed almost tangible, crushing Lu Chen's every "muscle and bone" until they creaked.
Clenching his teeth, he cupped his fists and raised his head, practically forcing out his reply from his chest.
"In reply to Your Majesty! Though these poems were not personally composed by this humble commoner, they were secretly passed down through generations by my ancestors and happened to come into this humble commoner's possession. Thus, I dared recite them today and respectfully present them before Your Majesty!"
"Passed down by your