Outside the outer edge fence of Tongtian Apex, the mortal world had erupted into a spectacle of impossible to understand, staggering wealth.
Caravans of royal carriages—flanked by ninety thousand armored royal guards and draped in stitched silk brocade—stretched for forty miles down the mountain road.
Emperors from the five great mortal dynasties had traveled night and day, their horses foaming at the mouth, to lay their royal treasures before Frank’s boots.
There were chests carved from thousand-year-old rosewood overflowing with dragon-eye pearls.
There were nine-tiered pagodas of solid potion-made gold, jade carriages inlaid with the feathers of sky phoenixes, and sealed royal scrolls transferring total ownership of forty-eight fertile provinces and six hundred copper mines.
Beside the carriages stood three hundred of the most beautiful women in the mortal plane—princesses, royal consorts, and peerless fairy maidens—holding trays of candied lotus seeds and flagons of thousand-year nectar, their eyes cast down in timid hope of being chosen as the Sovereign’s mortal attendants.
Emperor Zhao of Great Da-Qi stood at the head of the royal line. His royal crown shook on his head.
“We have prepared the Grand Hall of Universal Coronation!” Emperor Zhao shouted toward the schoolhouse fence. His hands raised high held a royal golden scepter. “Three hundred chefs have roasted sixty oxen! Ten thousand musicians await the Sovereign’s command! Master Lu, please grace the mortal throne!”
