Chapter 603: The Grand Ceremony of Fengshan

During the ascent of Taishan, they encountered a heavy downpour. However, the rain did not last long before Su Xuan dispersed it with supreme magic power. This scene, witnessed by many, was destined to become a memory they would never forget for the rest of their lives.

It was not a small number of people who knew of Su Xuan’s ability to summon wind and rain.

Especially those from the former Han Guo.

That’s right, the one being referred to is Han Han Feizi.

When he returned to his home country and learned of Su Xuan, the first thing he heard was about Su Xuan’s ability to summon wind and rain. At the time, Han Han Feizi was adamant, claiming that Su Xuan’s summoning of wind and rain was nothing more than a scam, a mere trick of the eye.

The reason he could summon the heavy rain was simply because the rain was going to fall anyway; Su Xuan had merely grasped the laws of heaven and earth, discovered this fact, and then utilized it.

That Han Han Feizi held such thoughts had a great deal to do with his teacher, Does Xun Zi.

Does Xun Zi had once written "Discourse on Heaven," stating that wind, rain, thunder, and lightning were all natural changes and had little to do with the human world.

This time, when Su Xuan dispersed the heavy rain, he had also spoken the words from Does Xun Zi’s "Discourse on Heaven." Although he said this rain was one of the natural laws of heaven and earth, the methods Su Xuan displayed afterward did not look like natural laws.

With human strength, he had directly broken the wind and rain.

"Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and all things in nature—can they also be changed by human strength?"

Han Han Feizi whispered to himself. Su Xuan’s methods left him yearning and deeply shocked.

Beside him, Li Si also wore a look of shock.

Does Xun Zi looked at his two incredibly shocked disciples and said softly, "If the Heaven-Human realm means becoming one with heaven and earth and utilizing heaven and earth, then perhaps Pavilion Master Su has already surpassed the Heaven-Human realm and reached the state of changing heaven and earth with human strength."

"Truly formidable!"

Does Xun Zi was genuinely moved by Su Xuan’s strength.

Because the rain had stopped, the Fengshan procession continued toward the summit of Taishan.

Su Xuan returned to the carriage.

Having casually dispersed a heavy rain, Su Xuan felt no self-satisfaction; he was thinking of another matter.

That is "Heavenly Mandate"!

Su Xuan was no stranger to the concept of Heavenly Mandate; he had even come into indirect contact with it many times.

In ancient times, the Profound Maiden descended to the world and bestowed the divine sword upon Did Chi You; that was Heavenly Mandate.

Did Chi You was tyrannical, and Huang Di rose to power; that was the second turning of Heavenly Mandate.

It was not until Emperor Zhuanxu severed the connection between heaven and earth and Emperor Yu cast the Nine Cauldrons to solidify the Nine Provinces barrier that the gods' interference in the human world ended, and Heavenly Mandate truly belonged to the human world. However, the encounters during this eastern tour gave Su Xuan new insights into Heavenly Mandate.

The first was the incident at Bolangsha.

Even without Zhang Liang, the planner of the Bolangsha incident in original history, and even though the assassin Da Da Tiechui was already dead, the event still occurred, turning into the Xiang clan’s assassination attempt on Qin at Bolangsha.

And the second matter was the heavy rain encountered during the ascent of Taishan for Fengshan.

This was also an event that had occurred in original history.

But before this, one thing needed to be understood.

That is, because Qin Guo unified the world earlier than in original history, neither the assassination attempt at Bolangsha nor the Fengshan ceremony at Taishan took place at the time they did in original history.

Similar events were encountered at different times.

This inevitably led Su Xuan to have some thoughts.

Earlier, at the foot of Taishan, he had seen the dense dark clouds and guessed it would rain. However, because the time was different, he was unsure if the historical event would occur. When they truly reached the mountainside, the heavy rain fell abruptly.

This caused Su Xuan to ponder deeply.

One event could be attributed to coincidence, but two events could not be called coincidence.

"Is there a will of heaven in the dark?"

Su Xuan thought to himself, and then, he realized another thing.

That is, Heavenly Mandate can be rewritten.

Even if some things are destined, they are not completely unchangeable.

To say nothing else, the pace of Qin Guo’s unification of the world was faster than in the original story, and earlier, during the assassination attempt at Bolangsha, Xiang Yu, one of the culprits who destroyed Qin Guo, was also killed.

Even earlier, Zhao Gao had also died.

Even this heavy rain had been directly broken because of Su Xuan.

This proved that all things can be changed.

So-called predestination does not mean that no matter how you resist, you cannot break free from the shackles of fate.

In the end, human effort can overcome heaven!

Soon, the carriage arrived at the summit of Taishan.

The summit of Taishan was extremely vast, and in order to conduct the Fengshan ceremony, someone had long since built the altar there.

This altar was circular, representing the ancient legend of the round heaven. Even though Ying Zheng had learned the true face of the world from Su Xuan, he still followed the ancient legends and chose a circular altar. The altar was about five zhang in diameter and nine chi high, with steps on all sides to ascend. Around this altar were the altars of the five emperors—Green, Red, White, Black, and Yellow—on a very grand scale.

Upon arriving here, Ying Zheng no longer stayed in the carriage, and the many accompanying ministers walked out with him.

Standing at the summit of Taishan, even though Taishan was not as high as Nanshan or Huashan, Ying Zheng inexplicably had a feeling of looking down upon the world.

"I shall reach the peak, and see all the mountains small!"

That was roughly the meaning.

Because the auspicious time for Fengshan had not yet arrived, Ying Zheng waited for a while with everyone.

Until the auspicious time was nearly upon them, Ying Zheng gave the order, "Begin!"

Having received Ying Zheng’s order, the voice of the ceremonial officer suddenly rang out.

"The auspicious time has arrived, begin the offerings!"

Immediately, many animals prepared in advance, such as white deer, pigs, and white yaks, were slaughtered on the spot. Prime Minister Wang Wan stepped forward, representing the Emperor, to bury the jade discs prepared long ago beneath the altar, sealing them with five-colored soil.

In addition, many soldiers released some exotic beasts into the mountain forests.

As the sacrificial animals were slaughtered, a thick, bloody smell spread out.

Ying Zheng did not feel anything was amiss. He watched as everyone placed the slaughtered offerings one by one onto the altar, then adjusted his robes and the twelve-tasseled flat-heaven crown made of white jade beads, and stepped up the stairs of the altar, heading toward the highest point.

It is worth mentioning that at this moment, Ying Zheng was not wearing a sword.

This scene seemed a bit strange, but no one said anything. Everyone just thought that a sword was a weapon of slaughter, and the ceremony of sacrificing to heaven was a major event, so His Majesty the Emperor did not want to carry such a weapon.

Afterward, everyone’s eyes focused simultaneously, and their ears pricked up.

Because Ying Zheng opened his mouth and recited the oath for the sacrifice to heaven.