Five days later.
Ming Year 482, the third day of the eleventh lunar month, the winter solstice. Auspicious for ritual offerings, sacrifices, breaking ground, praying for blessings, repairing walls, and leveling roads. A day of great good fortune.
Night.
The Western Regions, Dragon Head Plateau, Chessboard Mountain.
At the ruins of the Northern Dipper Palace, before the Dipper-Worshipping Altar, figures thronged and banners stood in a forest.
In just five days, thanks to the help of the Northern Dipper Palace disciples and the Heavenly Mountain Sword Sect, the broken, dust-covered Dipper-Worshipping Altar had been made entirely new, glowing hazily beneath the starlight. Since the surrounding shattered walls had not yet been cleared away, the altar, rebuilt from destruction amid the ruins, looked all the more magnificent and mysterious.
He Songshi, the Northern Dipper Palace's Scripture-Expounding Elder, served as the chief officiant for this ceremony. Half of the surviving Northern Dipper Palace disciples sheltered by the Heavenly Mountain Sword Sect had come to participate. The Heavenly Mountain Sword Sect had also sent observers.
Cheng Xinzhan stood below the altar, sword in hand, serving as the ceremony's Altar-Guarding Divine Official.
At the hour of the Boar, starlight filled the sky.
Jingle, jingle.
A clear peal of bells rang out. Everyone fell silent, marking the formal beginning of the ceremony.
He Songshi stepped forward in a formal Star Robe, cradling a Four-Sided Bronze Mirror. The mirror was ancient in style, with a square frame and a perfectly round surface. Each of the frame's four sides bore the seven forms of the Northern Dipper, their handles pointing outward in four directions, their bowls pointing toward the mirror's center.
"Essence streams through the great void; the Northern Dipper communes with spirits. Open death's door, unlock life's court. Your servant now holds this mirror to illuminate