The Mysterious Altar stood tall, Imperial Qi spreading through the air.
This mysterious-yellow Heavenly Altar stood atop a golden peak, vast and majestic, divine light surging around it. Built of earth, it had twelve-colored jeweled steps, and within it stood sacrificial platforms for the paths of the five virtues, all encircling a wondrous clay statue of a beast.
The beast resembled both a horse and a deer. Its antlers formed a crown, and it held a precious pearl in its mouth. Marvelous runes and visions of mountains and rivers covered its body. Its yellow-white mane seemed to flutter, while its four hooves rested upon auspicious clouds.
A bronze horse descended slowly from the distant sky, carrying a man in black robes onto the golden ground before the Heavenly Altar. Then it lowered itself to let its passenger dismount. Xu Fayan stroked its head and smiled.
"Off you go."
Yet the bronze horse shook like chaff in a sieve. It hastily turned and left without once looking back, making his face darken.
"Why are you afraid of me?"
He shook his head and turned his gaze toward the Heavenly Altar before him, faintly sensing a lofty, vast presence of Sheji. [Shenmi Altar]
Xu Fayan was no illiterate. His knowledge was extensive, and he recognized the Heavenly Altar's origins at a glance.
It belonged to the Tuoba of Yuan Wei, and might even have been a major site for an entire nation's sacrifices.
His gaze moved to the twelve-colored jeweled steps ahead. They had been crafted from spirit treasures of many steams, with the turbid below and the clear above. After looking for some time, he could faintly make out a trail of footprints shimmering with mysterious-yellow light, hazy as an illusion.
"An Emperor Lord came to this altar to offer sacrifices