When the nine jiao dragons entered the Huai Dike abreast, they looked like nine connected mountain ridges floating along the river. Yet as these colossal creatures swam through the air above the water, they made not a sound and stirred not a wave.
The stark contrast between movement and stillness was especially stunning.
These nine jiao dragons had been handpicked from the Yellow Sea for their handsome, well-proportioned appearance. Had Imperial Uncle Gu not drawn a great number of Shu Jiao to their service, finding nine of pure colors would probably have been rather troublesome. Even so, they inevitably frightened the people on both banks. Even the cultivators in the mountains blanched in horror at the sight of these nine jiao dragons exuding the might of the Third Realm.
Fortunately, Gentle Wind and Fertile Rain still drifted down from the sky, reminding everyone that the jiao dragons above the river were not demons who slaughtered without blinking.
The jiao dragons pulled an enormous palace, with covered galleries around its exterior. At that moment, palace maids stood in the galleries holding flower baskets and scattering petals.
The petals were truly wondrous. The palace maids' slender, delicate hands were so small that each time they reached into their baskets, they could take out only a few petals. Yet when they flung them out, one became ten and ten became a hundred, filling the sky with flying blossoms. The baskets were extraordinary too. No matter how many times the maids scattered petals, until both banks of the Huai River were filled with floral fragrance, the petals in their baskets showed no sign of diminishing.
The Ritual Chariot's flying blossoms carpeted the Huai River, complementing the three-colored glazed lotus blossoms the Daoist sects had set along both banks to welcome and guide the procession,