But it was precisely because of Xia Yunqiu’s existence that his reputation was constantly undermined, his humanity’s fate worn down, as well as his control over the court politics.
Even after taking down the stubborn Admonishment Minister, he couldn’t prevent the political instability nor the deviation of the civil and military officials’ will.
Originally, Emperor Xia did not act against the civil and military officials only to preserve the dynasty’s fortune, but now, with the arrow on the bowstring, he could no longer care about anything else.
With a wave of his sleeve robe, Emperor Xia spoke in a cold voice:
"All those who have spoken, suspend your duties and be thrown into the dungeon to await disposal."
"Yes!"
Below the altar, the many imperial eunuchs standing in attendance answered in unison, each erupting with cultivation beyond the Spirit Transmutation Stage.
Although there were also many cultivators among the civil and military officials, they stood no chance against the dozen or so attendants at the Divinity Transformation Realm, and were taken down in an instant.
"What are you doing?"
"As the Great Xia Emperor, to go against the will of humanity is to utterly fail as a Mortal Emperor!"
"A foolish ruler! A foolish ruler indeed!"
The dynasty’s fortune was forcibly torn, resembling a tottering edifice. Such a significant change naturally affected the Imperial Capital Great Array Formation.
The phantom of the treasure cauldron that devoured the Heavenly Tribulation suddenly dimmed a few degrees, and the Formation roared as if it were on the verge of collapse.
Emperor Xia, heedless of everything, took another step and began climbing the grand altar.
As he stepped onto the last stair, the 3,650 City God Furnaces were all lit, and Emperor Xia arrived at the incense burner at the very top of the altar.
This incense burner was cast from bronze, its surface pitted with rust marks as if it had transcended tens of thousands of years to reach this day, and beside it on a table were three sticks of Bright Divine Path Incense.
Emperor Xia looked up at the firmament and said loudly:
"I, as the Mortal Emperor, solemnly announce to heaven and earth the reinstatement of all City Gods.
All City Gods, enjoy the incense offerings of Great Xia, with positions unyielding for tens of thousands of generations!"
As his words fell, within the 3,650 City God Temples across Great Xia, the spiritual nature of the God Statues manifested, revealing countless deities in this world.
Then, divine light rose from each City God Temple like shooting stars, converging toward the magnificent shrine hall above the great altar in the Imperial Capital.
The True Spirits of the City Gods took their places in the shrine hall, manifesting as God Statue Golden Bodies, making the majestic hall even more solid. Vast incense offering magic domains began to spread with the hall as their medium.
All eyes suddenly lifted to the sky, where the lightning tribulation that had been falling like rain was now weakening and even unable to shake the foundation of the already damaged Imperial Capital Great Array.
The more the City Gods’ incense offering magic domains expanded, the weaker the lightning tribulation became.
Amidst towering mountains and steep ridges, the spreading incense offering magic domains seemed to transform into another world, separate from the current one.
At this moment, Emperor Xia finally showed a trace of satisfaction in his smile.
The three sticks of Bright Divine Path Incense ignited in his hand without flame, streamers of blue smoke rising into the shrine hall. Emperor Xia then inserted the three sticks of incense into the bronze incense burner before him.
"Capital City God, take your place!"
A grand sound seemed to echo between heaven and earth. In that moment in the shrine hall, the True Spirits of the 3,650 City Gods converged, transforming into a magnificent deity that took the primary position in the shrine.
This deity, dressed in an imperial robe and wearing a crown, as it appeared, expanded the incense offering magic domain across the Imperial Capital, instantaneously enveloping the land of Jing Province.
The civil and military officials, suppressed by the attendants, watched in shock as the divine form that brought together the True Spirits of 3,650 City Gods, and behind the pearl-veil crown, bore a face identical to Emperor Xia’s.
"Impossible!"
"How could Emperor Xia, who holds the position of Mortal Emperor, possibly become the Capital City God?"
"The natural order is inverted, humans and gods undistinguished. This is not a deity, but a great demon!"
The officials were shocked and angry, but utterly powerless to stop it.
As the last piece of the incense offering magic domain puzzle within Great Xia was completed, the entire nation was shrouded within it.
At this moment, Emperor Xia could no longer hide his excitement, spreading his arms wide and letting out a mad laughter.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Even if the grotto heavens sacred ground tries to stop me, so what? The Secret Realm Square-Inch emerges in the world, it is heaven’s assistance, destiny is with me!"
Amidst his words, Emperor Xia’s majestic gaze turned towards the direction of the Imperial Capital Marketplace, where Gong Buyu with the Taoist artifact precious mirror was overpowering Zhou Kuang.
But in Emperor Xia’s view right now, the fight at the Spirit Refining True Being Stage seemed as trivial as an ant’s struggle.
His right hand slowly lifted, ready to erase this lingering trouble.
But just at that moment, a ray of sunlight suddenly appeared from between heaven and earth, illuminating the world that had long been shrouded in darkness.
Seven days later, the terrifying solar eclipse finally receded.
In the sky above, the black hole entrance that had formed from the Secret Realm Square-Inch began to slowly contract, and then streams of starlight streaked across the sky and descended upon the Imperial Capital.
Within the meteor shower-like starlight were the many powerful experts who had participated in the trials of the Secret Realm Square-Inch.
"You’ve arrived just in time!"
Emperor Xia’s face revealed a cold smile, showing no fear for the strong aura of the Spirit Refining True Beings within the falling starlight.
With a wave of his hand, the entire Imperial Capital Great Array Formation obeyed his will and began to operate.
Once he had not been able to fully control the humanity fate, so he needed to rely on the many armies within the Imperial Capital to mobilize the Imperial Capital Great Array to suppress the experts.
But at this moment, with the great trend of the world all converging upon himself, and with the incense offering magic domain spreading across Great Xia, Emperor Xia alone was sufficient to control the Imperial Capital Great Array.
"Suppress!"
Within the City God Temples, the Capital City God, who encompassed the True Spirits of three thousand six hundred and fifty City Gods, spoke out, and the majestic voice of heavenly might resonated through heaven and earth.
All the cultivators who had escaped from the Secret Realm Square-Inch hadn’t even had the chance to breathe a sigh of relief when they felt an endless pressure bearing down on them.
"What is this?"
"Incense offering magic domain?"
"How could Emperor Xia have gathered the incense offering magic domain in such a short time, what exactly did he do?"
The faces of the many sect cultivators turned pale, and the many Spirit Refining True Beings looked towards the Capital City God deity with an extremely solemn expression.
They had gone through the catastrophe of Dao marks in the Secret Realm Square-Inch, and the battle between the Supreme Taoist and that unknown powerful expert had nearly shattered the entire Secret Realm, even the realm’s rules being affected and prevented them from exiting.
That earth-shaking battle lasted for several days, and even after it ended, the damage caused was difficult to repair.
The Secret Realm Square-Inch replayed the creation of the world amidst the disaster of the Dao marks, evolving earth, water, wind, and fire from Turmoil to take mastery over the Secret Realm Square-Inch once more and allowed for the repair of the Secret Realm.
Until just a few breaths ago, the entrance to the Secret Realm Square-Inch suddenly opened again.
Having witnessed that battle, none of the cultivators even dared to hope for a victor of the Secret Realm; they were very clear that in the presence of such power, even Spirit Refining True Beings were no different from ants.
All cultivators chose to flee the Secret Realm and return to the mundane world, including the Spirit Refining True Beings from the Grotto Heavens Sacred Land.
Who would have thought that they had just escaped the tiger’s den only to enter the wolf’s lair, as the might of the Capital City God deity and the suppression of the Imperial Capital Great Array made them feel a threat similar to that inside the Secret Realm Square-Inch.
"Damn it!"
"Take action, hold nothing back!"
"Return to the sect, ask our ancestors for a decision!"
In that moment, the resplendence of over a dozen Sun God Dharma Images soared to the heavens, appearing like giant gods standing tall as they forcibly upheld the massive array formation.
And during this process, to everyone’s surprise, the manifestation of these Sun God Dharma Images did not attract a Heavenly Tribulation.
Before the cultivators could understand the reason, the Capital City God deity seated in the center of the shrine hall moved.
Just like Emperor Xia, the Capital City God deity slowly raised his right hand, a golden hand formed of City God True Spirits and incense offering willpower descended through the incense offering magic domain as a medium.
The golden hand covered an area of several dozen miles with ease, encompassing the region where the sect cultivators arrived and seemingly suppressing their very beings with the magic domain of the incense offerings beneath its palm.
Whether it was Divine Secret Skills or spirit treasure Spells, all were forcibly suppressed beneath this golden hand, and only the dozen or so Sun God Dharma Images appearing like the morning sun were able to preserve themselves.
However, resisting the Imperial Capital Great Array was already the limit for the Sun God Dharma Images, and with the addition of this golden hand, they were powerless to oppose it, and cracks began to appear on the Dharma Images.
At that moment, in the sky above where the shrinking black hole entrance was at its smallest, a hand that seemed to be made of Turmoil itself reached out from the Secret Realm Square-Inch and faced the descending golden hand of the Capital City God.
Where the Turmoil hand reached, the light dimmed, space collapsed, and even the willpower of the incense offerings vanished into nothingness in the midst of Turmoil.
Exerting the power to return everything to nothingness, the Turmoil hand forcibly tore through the incense offering magic domain and shattered the golden hand.
"Impossible!"
Emperor Xia’s eyes blazed with fury.
At the location of the black hole entrance, a young man dressed in a white Vestment robe stepped out of the Secret Realm, and in the blink of an eye, the black hole vanished.
In this world returned to light, there stood alone, proud and unyielding.
In everyone’s hearts, a name echoed.
Supreme Taoist!

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