Jade Emperor Peak, the main summit of Mount Tai, was also known as Heavenly Pillar Peak and acclaimed as "the foremost peak under heaven." Majestic and imposing, the mountain thrust straight into the clouds, wreathed in mist, its grandeur touched with beauty and its solemn stillness imbued with wonder. At its summit stood Jade Emperor Hall, Welcoming Sunrise Pavilion, River-Viewing Pavilion, eastern and western side halls, and many other buildings, both old and new. From ancient times to the present, numerous emperors had burned wood here in sacrifice to heaven and offered distant worship to the gods of mountains and rivers. Even the traces left by the First Emperor of Qin's ascent and fengshan rites several decades earlier remained faintly discernible.
Standing on Jade Emperor Peak and looking around was like standing proudly atop the clouds, gazing down upon the earth. Clouds and mist kept one company, peaks rose in overlapping ranks, and the landscape unfolded like a painting. To the east, one could watch the sun rise from the sea; to the west, the Yellow River stretched like a jade sash. It inspired the supreme pride of having the realm and all its people beneath one's feet, truly making every other mountain seem small.
At that moment, crowds packed the summit, while indistinct figures dotted the mountainside, adding further might to the already magnificent Jade Emperor Peak.
Among them were renowned martial veterans, secluded masters, descended immortal gods, ancient monsters hidden from the world, high officials of the Great Qin Empire, archangels of the Radiant Divine Kingdom, Buddhas of Brahmanism, venerables of India's Devil Race, Greece's Cloth Warriors, and the Dark Council's Blood Princes, Wolf Kings, and dark Grand Mages. There were also God-Kings from Canada, great lords from the United States, members of Brazil's God Race, barbarian kings