A streak of rosy light came from the horizon.
Drawing closer, it resolved into a True Person.
Changhongzi led the others in welcoming him warmly. Some received gifts while others showed the way, each with a clearly assigned task.
The arrival of the first guest was like a key that unlocked the gates to the banquet, and countless guests followed in quick succession.
Streaks of flying light filled the heavens, while carriages gathered on the earth below.
Xuanming's True Lord banquet far surpassed those of True Lord Chaoguang and True Lord Xianyue. More than half the cultivators of any renown in the Four Commanderies had come.
Besides Daoists, there were great Confucian scholars, Vajras, and Legalist cultivators. The great scholars mostly arrived in carriages and placed considerable importance on etiquette; the Vajras either walked with lotuses blooming beneath their feet or shrank the earth into inches. The former were Dharma masters, the latter itinerant practitioners.
The Legalist cultivators also arrived in carriages, though theirs were different in style. The great scholars' carriages had rounded exteriors, often adorned with paintings and elegantly furnished, symbolizing that a gentleman should be rounded outside and square within. The Legalists' carriages were square, with straight horizontal and vertical lines and bright mirrors often suspended from them, symbolizing that a practitioner of law should be square outside and rounded within.
Changjiangzi also brought some disciples out to greet the guests, working seamlessly with Changhongzi. Though they were only Heavenly Circuit True Persons, they were thoroughly confident. Even before fellow Daoists with higher cultivation, they were neither servile nor arrogant, their manner warm yet dignified, every gesture measured just right.
Heavenly Circuit, Primordial Heaven, golden core, sacred embryo!
The later the guests arrived, the higher their cultivation.
True Persons, Vajras, great scholars, Legalist cultivators, martial artists, agricultural