The beginning of Ming year 449 was unusual.
The first day of the first lunar month was Dawn Day, the Spring Festival, and the second was Beginning of Spring, the first of the twenty-four solar terms.
In Daoist mysteries, a year beginning as spring unfolded, with two festivals arriving in succession, was considered an auspicious sign from heaven and earth: "Twin suns arrived together, and the energies of the year joined in harmony." Such days were especially suited to Ritual Offerings for universal salvation.
There was much to this.
First, the year's dawn meeting spring accorded with the number of Taiyi. The first day of the first lunar month was when Taiyi Jiuku Tianzun toured the realms, while Beginning of Spring on the second day corresponded precisely to the Northern Dipper's Star Lord Po Jun presiding over the changing solar terms. The divine light of the two luminaries intersected, forming a pattern of flourishing life: "The Heavenly Official bestowed blessings, and the Earthly Official dispelled calamities."
Second, the overlapping beginnings of the year and the solar terms marked a time when yang essence surged. Yang Qi first sprouted at the year's beginning, and Beginning of Spring brought the opening of the Three Yangs. The Scripture of Salvation said: "On the day of twin springs, the Dao Lord opens the Eight Gates and Twelve Earthly Branches, releasing the Qi of Nine Lights and Ten Suns."
Such heavenly timing was rarely encountered even once in a hundred years.
When the time was right, heaven and earth lent their strength, so many people wondered whether he truly was favored by destiny.
But on Heavenly Scabbard Mountain, what did the Demon Fiends know of heaven's mysterious workings? They muddled through their days refining corpses as before.
Exactly half a year had passed since the