The sixteenth day of the second month, a jiachen day.
Spring rain fell soft as cream, and thunder rumbled faintly.
Cheng Xinzhan spent fourteen days erecting a ritual altar atop the Sky Ladder.
This was a Five Thunders Altar-more precisely, the Responding to Things, Communing with Truth Altar of the Dragon Thunder Altar rites, the exact opposite of the Heavenly Gang False-Form Expulsion Altar he had used not long ago. Heaven cherished life, and this thunder altar was specifically meant to awaken false dragons of all kinds that possessed draconic forms, granting them a dragon's spirit, nature, and might.
It was another simple, circular, three-tiered altar, draped in blue cloth. On the highest tier, the Supreme Celestial Capital Register honored Marshal Deng, with two pieces of lightning-struck wood carved into Five Thunders command tokens placed on either side of the register. The second tier held the vine, laid in a circle with its ends joined. The lowest tier was far larger than the upper two, inscribed with a star chart of the Seven Mansions of the East. This was where Cheng Xinzhan would perform Gang Stepping and tread the Dipper.
The Daoist flicked a finger, sending out a drop of Gang Dew that immediately became a shower of Sweet Dew, covering an area exactly the size of the altar. At the same time, he chanted,
"Heaven and earth, in their natural course, disperse all filthy qi.
Within the cavern, profound emptiness; the Great Origin shines clear.
Mighty gods of the eight directions, grant me natural harmony.
Let foulness and corruption scatter; let Dao qi endure forever."
After reciting the Altar-Purification Divine Incantation and commanding demons and evil to disperse, the hour of the Dragon arrived right on time. Cheng Xinzhan lit three sticks of ritual incense and recited the