The grand sacrificial ceremony passed through [Five Qi Returning to the Origin], [Ninefold Welcoming of Mount Jiuyi], and [Three Offerings Ritual], before the atmosphere reached its peak with the Mount Heng Sect Leader's sacrificial address, which all but declared war.
Then Deng Qingyang descended from the altar, scattering the five grains as he went. Once he reached the ground, the altar behind him blazed with light again, then rapidly shrank within that light, becoming a great seal with a golden tripod for its knob, which Deng Qingyang held in his hand.
Holding the great seal, Deng Qingyang led the sacrificial procession onward into the ceremonial hall. They paid homage to the statue of Emperor Shun, and he respectfully placed the Tripod-Knob Great Seal on the incense table before it. Then the procession went around Shun's statue, paying homage to his two consorts in turn and presenting offerings.
The procession then passed through the hall and continued to the Hall of Heroes in the imperial temple gardens. They took fire from the firepit along the spirit way and lit the ever-burning lamps in the Hall of Heroes. Then, within the hall and witnessed by the Haoran Alliance's Three Xiang Chief Executive, representatives of the various sects of the Three Xiang Daoist Sect swore their alliance oath, formally establishing the "Jiuyi Assembly," with its headquarters on Mount Jiuyi.
In their oath, they explicitly pledged to "defend our native soil together, avenge our wrongs, and wash away our humiliation."
Early the next morning, the Jiuyi Assembly held its first meeting since its founding at the Hall of Hanhxu on Mount Jiuyi.
The topic was whether to attack the Miao Borderlands or the Southern Wastes first, and precisely where to strike.
The Haoran Alliance's Three Xiang steward and Cheng Xinzhan attended by invitation.