Chapter 15 More People Than Usual

The usually quiet and desolate Longde Hall was suddenly bustling with people. The Northern Garrison were stationed at the entrance, the Divine Palace eunuchs were responsible for moving things, the grand eunuchs moved in and out of the main hall, and the Southern Garrison... were reduced to patrolling and doing odd jobs.

Ji Xiang directed the Divine Palace eunuchs to place the statues of Zhenwu and Ruizong in their proper positions, taking care not to make too much noise, as the Wanli Emperor was sleeping in the next room. Once the statues were in place, there was also a new large incense burner.

"The original incense burner, this old one heard, had a spirit dwelling inside?"

"Indeed, but it has already been slain by this humble Daoist. It seems to have been left over from the time of the Shizong Emperor."

The Biluo Attendant had people carry away the small incense burner and even told Ji Xiang that an incense burner with a spirit was a good thing, as it indicated spiritual energy. His Majesty had said that good things should be shared with the ancestors, and he couldn't afford to use it himself.

As for the matter of recycling and reselling second-hand magical implements, the Divine Palace Supervisor's Chief Eunuch warmly welcomed Ji Xiang to come and pick out some good merchandise.

There was nothing they wouldn't dare to do. Last year, there were palace maids who stole gold and jade objects from the palace to sell. The printing factory under the Emperor's nose even accepted propaganda orders from the White Lotus Sect. There was nothing you couldn't imagine; there was nothing that people here wouldn't dare to do. Making money wasn't shameful.

The Divine Palace Supervisor didn't have much to gain, so if they didn't engage in a little second-hand magical implement peddling, how could they live a good life?

Ji Xiang had a pleasant conversation with the Divine Palace Supervisor's Chief Eunuch, then turned back to look at the two statues. The statue of Ruizong didn't seem to have any problems, but the more Ji Xiang looked at the statue of the Zhenwu the Great Emperor, the more he felt that something was wrong.

"Lord Eunuch, could this statue have been taken by mistake?"

"Taken by mistake? Impossible. The statue entered the Divine Palace Supervisor in one form, and it came out in the same form."

The Biluo Attendant waved his hand and looked at the statue, wondering, "Where do you find it different? This old one can't see it."

"Perhaps it's just a little different from what you saw on Mount Wudang, but they are generally the same. You didn't see this statue of Zhenwu when you came here, after all, it was during the reign of Longqing that this statue was last moved."

The people from the Divine Palace Supervisor left, leaving only Ji Xiang alone, staring at the Zhenwu the Great Emperor in the hall.

After a while, the feeling of something being wrong in Ji Xiang's heart grew stronger and stronger, and at the moment when this strong feeling reached its peak, like a reflection in a mirror or a flower in the water, the face of the Zhenwu the Great Emperor underwent a small change!

Ji Xiang was shocked!

The face changed, no longer the original appearance with a beard, but a clean-shaven, white-faced warrior. Of course, other parts of the body did not change, only the face was different!

This statue has no beard!

The statue of the Zhenwu the Great Emperor after the Yongle era should be in the image of Zhu Di, but this Zhenwu the Great Emperor has no beard....

And the Zhenwu the Great Emperor without a beard should be from the Hongwu era, that is, the era of the Ming Taizu, when the statue of the Zhenwu the Great Emperor was without a beard..... Theoretically speaking, Ji Xiang had heard of the existence of such a statue, but his predecessor had never seen the real thing.

Ji Xiang looked at it and muttered to himself, "Was that change an illusion?"

It wasn't that he had seen through the illusion, but that he had noticed something was wrong. And it was precisely because the illusion was about to fail that he could feel this strangeness.

And this feeling was very similar to the illusion that the Fire Lord had used!

The statue from the Hongwu era... Wasn't this Zhenwu statue placed in the Longde Hall during the Jiajing Emperor's reign? Combining it with the incense spirit that appeared in the incense burner before, the water in this Longde Hall seems to have become extremely deep.

Ji Xiang began to touch the statue, but at this moment, after the illusion failed, the white-faced Zhenwu suddenly flashed a fierce light in both eyes, and the intermingling of yin and yang was only for a moment, bursting out with a vast killing intent, dyeing the heaven and earth with purple dust!

In Ji Xiang's true form, the white-faced divine tablet was reflected in his eyes, and his body stiffened. Incense flickered, and the white-faced Zhenwu seemed to raise his palm in this purple world of slaughter, wanting to crush him!

However, Ji Xiang was not affected by this vast killing intent.

Within the Forbidden City, the national prestige of the Great Ming protected him, and he was not subject to any shock!

Moreover, Ji Xiang's main body was originally a god of incense. He had seen many gods and main gods in Da Fuli, and this little bit of killing intent was far inferior to the power of the gods in Da Fuli!

"An illusion?"

Ji Xiang operated his national prestige, but this time he did not shatter this spell that seemed like an "illusion", so he looked at the white-faced Zhenwu in front of him again and uttered a vast sound:

"What god are you!"

Ji Xiang was not afraid at all, and scolded with a sinking face, while his hand had already touched the golden hammer.

This divine statue, you look like my ancestral master, but my ancestral master has a beard, and you don't have a beard. Now you want to mess with me? What's wrong, do you want to eat a hammer from me too?

The slightly opened eyes of the white-faced Zhenwu also stared at Ji Xiang, and at this moment, a vast white smoke rose from Ji Xiang's body!

The Tongtian Ming Smoke manifested its power, enveloping the white-faced Zhenwu. The Heavenly Mortal position would be lost. If it was the god itself, it would be directly "detained" by this vast Ming smoke!

Disturbing the peace, detained for a day!

The Tongtian Ming Smoke was used for the first time, and it showed its powerful power. White smoke filled the purple dust, grabbing the statue of the white-faced Zhenwu, and a phantom divine form was forcibly stripped from the white-faced Zhenwu.

And the moment this divine form was stripped away, the blank divine tablet suddenly released light in the inner landscape!

In an instant, the huge killing intent and purple dust illusion surrounding the white-faced Zhenwu were all sucked into Ji Xiang's body!

Like a storm sweeping away the clouds, the purple vast dust illusion disappeared in an instant, and the magnificent滔天 killing intent also disappeared without a trace.

Ji Xiang retreated, the Ming smoke fluttered, and he instantly retracted it into his body, feeling the power that had been added to his body. In the inner landscape, this huge killing intent and purple dust gathered on the blank divine tablet, and then reflected the divine form of the white-faced Zhenwu in front of him!

The Tongtian Ming Smoke only detained gods, but he did not expect that the blank divine tablet directly ate this "divine form"!

A shape, without facial features, is a phantom. This phantom expands in the body, gradually becoming impossible to see, that is, unifying with the entire body and spirit. Even the incense body can feel this change. This is not a divine position, but a more mysterious thing.

Looking up again, the white-faced Zhenwu did not move at all, still squinting his eyes, looking like he had not woken up. And the Heavenly Officials near the Longde Hall did not react in any way under such a huge killing intent just now.

Obviously, the shocking killing intent just now was only directed at Ji Xiang alone, and would not interfere with other Heavenly Officials or cultivators, so that even ordinary people would not notice it at all.

No wonder the people from the Divine Palace Supervisor couldn't see the problem. Sometimes, things that have no problems hide big problems!

"What is this statue? What was that just now was not an illusion, nor an illusion?"

Just when he was racking his brains, words began to appear on the blank divine tablet in the inner landscape, giving a set of instructions:

[White-faced Zhenwu: Demonic outsiders, ghosts and goblins, see me as blood, turn into purple dust!]