In fact, many of the imperial guards surrounding the outer field or standing on the four sides of the altar were also frightened by the lightning and thunder in the sky, especially since their long weapons were pointed up to the sky.
Yan Chang and a few officials from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau and the Ministry of Rites also hid in some houses outside, looking at the tall altar from afar under the thunder and lightning.
Because of the mooncake presentation, Yan Chang seemed to be highly valued by the emperor during this period, so he had more say among the officials in charge of the water and land ceremonies.
"Master Yan, there are thunder and lightning. I'm afraid it's going to rain heavily soon. What should the mages above do?"
Someone asked Yan Chang with a hint of worry, and the latter frowned and looked towards the platform.
"Those who have reported are just ordinary monks and Taoists who come to pray and chant sutras. They can go down the stage to take shelter from the rain and rest. As for those who have reported magical powers, they are masters, so a little wind and rain will not be a problem for them."
After hearing what Yan Chang said, the officials around him who were jointly responsible for the matter looked at each other and roughly understood what he meant.
"Even the imperial guards on and off the platform will inevitably suffer together."
"Then order all the imperial guards on the stage to retreat to the backstage. It is better to get wet in the rain than to be struck by lightning."
When Yan Chang said this, he was facing the deputy commander of the Outer Court Palace, who was the deputy commander of the Outer Court Palace's imperial guards. In terms of official rank, his position was actually higher than Yan Chang's, but in matters like rituals, the imperial guards could only serve as assistants.
"Hehe, Lord Yan is right. All my brothers have learned military martial arts. With armor on, it won't be a big deal if they get caught in the rain for half a day."
As he spoke, the deputy commander gave orders to several soldiers nearby, who drew their swords and began to move, trotting around the platform in four directions and then going up to report the order.
Then, in less than a cup of tea, all the imperial guards and strong men on the platform began to walk down the steps on all four sides in an orderly manner. In the end, there were only a few thousand mages left on the platform, and each of them continued to pray in their own way.
As time passed, the sky gradually became darker and darker. The dark clouds in the sky moved slowly and gradually covered the entire capital city of Gyeonggi Province.
. . .
"Crack... Boom... Boom..."
Lightning illuminated the face of Emperor Yuande, who was looking at the dark cloud sky under the eaves outside a palace.
Today is the beginning of the water ceremony, which can be said to be the opening of his future birthday. Nine days later, Emperor Yuande will enthrone the "Heavenly Master" and then invite the Heavenly Master to participate in his longevity banquet.
In addition to the eunuchs and guards, there were also several princes who accompanied the emperor to watch the sky, but there were no other ministers or concubines.
"Qing'er."
"Your son is here!"
When Emperor Yuande called out, King Wu beside him immediately bowed in response.
"You said that there were lightning and thunder on the day of the Water and Land Dharma Assembly. Was it God's warning to me?"
"This... your son... your son doesn't know either!"
No matter how ignorant Wu Wen was, he did not dare to answer this kind of question. The old emperor looked at him and then looked at his third son Yang Hao.
"Hao'er, what do you think?"
Prince Jin frowned, looked at his father, and then looked at the sky.
"Boom..."
The thunder was so fierce that thousands of clouds suppressed the ink.
"Father, don't worry too much. Wind, rain, lightning and thunder are common phenomena in this season. Summer snow and winter thunder are abnormal."
The old emperor just looked at him and didn't say much. Then he looked at his other sons, all of whom looked like they were saying "don't click on me".
"Crack...Crack...Crack...Boom...Boom..."
Suddenly, a burst of rapid lightning struck in the east, and the dense and loud noises startled everyone, including the old emperor.
A few breaths later, "clatter..." the heavy rain finally fell.
. . .
Far away on the altar in East City, some evil cultivators and demon cultivators only woke up from their dreams at this moment.
In the center, a skinny man with a rat-like face stared blankly in the direction more than ten feet away from him. Several thunders had just struck at the same time and hit a woman there, who had now turned into a charred corpse emitting black smoke.
Many of the "mages" around were so scared that they collapsed in the rain. The platform, which was originally filled with the noisy sounds of praying, chanting, and dancing, was now completely quiet.
"This is not ordinary thunder... This is thunder magic! Someone is controlling the thunder~~~!"
The skinny man with a rat-like face yelled in panic.
"Someone is controlling..."
"Crack...Crack...Boom...Boom..."
The man could no longer utter the second half of his sentence as six or seven lightning bolts struck him almost simultaneously, leaving him no time to react.
The most famous thing about the Lightning Control Method in killing is not its power, but its almost unavoidable speed. Compared with ordinary heavenly thunder, the thunder of this Thunder Control Method is full of magic power and true meaning. In addition, the power of these evil cultivators is even more outstanding because of their special state at the moment.
Some mages who were purely mortals or mortal warriors filling in the numbers were the first to start a panic. Except for a very few who were frightened and paralyzed, most of them crawled towards the outside of the altar.
"Ouch! Someone's been hit to death!" "Run! Someone's been hit to death!"
"Go, go, go. Money is not as important as life."
"Don't push, don't push..."
More than 90% of the thousands of people were ordinary people or people from the underworld, who wished they could grow a few more legs and get down from the platform. Among them were also some practitioners who had nothing to do with the great cause or had no evil spirits themselves.
"Boom..." "Boom..."
Thunder struck occasionally, not always hitting people, but it killed at least a dozen people as the group fled.
In this situation, the imperial guards below the stage, intimidated by the majesty of heaven, moved away from the stage and looked for places to shelter from the rain, so they did not stop these "mages" who were not supposed to leave the stage from coming down.
Some monks who had escaped safely among the crowd were very grateful. Once they were away from the altar, the oppressive feeling of fear suddenly subsided. When they looked back, they found that the entire altar seemed gray.
There were at least hundreds of people on the platform who did not escape together. It was not that they did not want to escape, but many of them did not dare to act rashly and could not act rashly.
At this moment, heavy rain fell from the sky. Although the rain would flow away, the platform under everyone's feet was covered with a layer of shallow water waves, like a layer of pure glass.
Human figures or strange shadows are reflected on the water surface. Some of them standing on the altar look like human beings, but the reflection on the water waves shows them as monsters.
This is not the key point. The key point is that the rain keeps hitting the glass-like mirror surface, creating ripples, and the shining words are also revealing their true colors.
The words carry a soft glow, like endless moonlight blooming in a mirror, or like the bright moon rising in the rain.
An extremely powerful aura was involved, and the light displayed magically in the hazy rain. All the remaining hundreds of people felt as if they were weighed down by a huge weight and could only barely stand.
"Hehe... the reflection in the mirror is reversed!"
Ji Yuan was sitting in a tea stall several hundred feet away from the platform, with his back to the table, his legs crossed and his hands on his knees, looking at the obscure light in the direction of the platform with a smile on his face and a calm expression.
Since he mastered the Heaven-shaking Sword Force, Ji Yuan has made great progress in his comprehension of his own artistic conception and the application of force.
He was very satisfied with his method of taking advantage of the situation. The moonlight, the imperial decree, the power of humanity, and the evil spirit of the demons themselves were all indispensable. The stronger the various energies were, the stronger the effect would be.
Ji Yuan thought without modesty that this move was quite imaginative in the mysterious world of cultivation.
As soon as the rain fell, the entire platform became like a glass mirror. Hundreds of words of edicts displayed the essence of Tao. Combined with the previous involvement of human energy and the blooming of the moonlight, it had produced a "mirror-turning" effect.
The Qi of these selected demons and monsters on the stage were reflected and flipped. Although their bodies were standing on the platform at the moment, their Qi was suppressed under the platform. That was why the water waves could reflect their true bodies. It was not some magical power of the magic mirror, but just the manifestation of Qi.
As long as one does not have the magical power and supernatural powers to overturn this huge stone platform, or see through this level of Taoism, one will be entangled in the qi and psychological levels and unable to move. In addition, the spiritual platform will also be obscured. The more one cares, the more frightened and afraid one becomes, the more one will be suppressed and unable to get up.
Of course, perhaps there is some unpredictable way of escape that can help break free.
"Crunch...Crunch..."
A sturdy man with bulging muscles stood upright with his teeth gritted.
"Heh...drink..."
With a "bang", one leg bent at the knee and slammed on the platform, and the whole body trembled and struggled violently. Then the other leg also slammed heavily on the stone platform with a "bang". The strange thing was that the water surface only made ripples but no splashes.
"Roar… "
Another old man at the side roared to the sky, his face showing a ferocious look, and his bones were making "creaky..." sounds. With the demonic aura rising to the sky, he took half a step forward with all his strength.
The result was endless thunder falling.
"Crack...Crack...Boom..."
The old beggar couldn't help but put his hands over the young beggar's eyes, fearing that he would be hurt by the lightning.
"Tsk tsk tsk...why not just kneel down obediently?"
In the whole scene, only the old beggar and the young beggar were the most relaxed. Not only were their auras not locked, but the old beggar also had the state of mind to see through things.
However, the old beggar was secretly shocked in his heart. After all, he had made a mistake. He had obviously taken the decree very seriously, but he did not expect that the changes would be so unexpected.
“Anghou~~~~~” “Anghou~~~~”
Amid the thunder in the sky, a faint and indistinct dragon roar could be heard, proclaiming the excitement of the dragon above the clouds.
The officials outside the platform and the soldiers who had just hidden in various houses looked at the platform in horror. Even though they saw a large number of mages escaping, they couldn't help but have an idea in their minds when they saw lightning striking the platform from time to time.
'Is there anyone else up there?'
The old beggar looked up at the sky, having seen so many tricks, so he decided not to stay on the stage any longer. He took the young beggar's hand and walked towards the stage.
During this process, the "masters" who were unable to move looked at him in surprise, pleading, or anger. Some begged him, while many cursed him because of misunderstandings. Some even wanted to help the old beggar, but as soon as they distracted their attention and used their magic, they were immediately pinned down on the stage and unable to move.
The young beggar had never seen such a horrific scene of demons dancing wildly in his life. Looking at the reflections of some "masters" on the ground, they were basically monsters. He was so scared that he kept shrinking beside the old beggar.
But the little beggar was not stupid. Grandpa Lu was a capable man and he had known long ago that, looking at the current situation, these monsters and demons could not harm anyone.
"Grandpa Lu...are they all going to die?"
"Hey, this is not something an old beggar can decide, and of course, it is not something these things can decide."