My Golden Core is a Star, do you call this cultivating?

As Kong Qi chanted, Jin Li slowly ascended the sacrificial platform.
This was supposed to be a national sacrifice, but only the Minister of Rites was present to perform the ceremony. How pathetic.

Qin Yi and Duke Yu stood below the platform, looking at Jin Li on the stage with a deep sense of helplessness in their eyes.

Jin Li ascended the altar, praying for the descent of the Divine Court's army, but it was nothing more than an illusion, a mirage.

They were utterly powerless to change the situation.

Meanwhile, some of the civil and military officials beside Sima Ting watched Jin Li with a look of amusement.

Especially those who knew the origin of the sacrificial platform, they mocked her. Some even felt a pang of sorrow. The empress was cornered, with no way out.

The beautiful but doomed Empress Jin Li was destined to perish with the empire.

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Empress Jin Li slowly ascended the altar.

This time, her steps were steady.

Inside her, emotions swirled.

Foremost was her worry for Qi Yuan.

It had been four days since Qi Yuan last sent any message.

But now, with the grave situation at hand, worrying was useless. She cast aside other emotions, following Qi Yuan's steps for the ritual.

Holding a long jade tablet, she appeared devout.

As she climbed two-thirds of the steps, Kong Qi prostrated himself, curling up, tears streaming down his old face.

This was the most humiliating ceremony he had ever presided over.

Even more so than the empress's enthronement.

And this time, it was likely his last ceremony, marking the end of the Nangan Kingdom.

He, along with the empress, would be mere footnotes in history, leaving no trace.

Sima Riyue sat among the officials, legs spread, showing no decorum. He pointed at the sacrificial platform: "What do you think, will Her Majesty become a legend if she leaps off the platform?"

The last empress of the empire, leaping from the altar, would indeed be legendary.

The officials remained silent, no one answering him.

The demon emperor beside him grinned, revealing sharp, white teeth: "I hope she doesn't land headfirst, or my exquisite drinking vessel will shatter."

He spoke, then continued drinking in his peculiar way, biting the cup and swallowing it.

This strange act drew the attention of many.

Watching the demon emperor swallow the cup, Sima Riyue glanced at Empress Jin Li's elegantly coiffed head, a twinge of fear creeping in.

He knew this man was extraordinary, possibly from the Tianyun Sect, prompting him to say: "You have peculiar taste, truly an elegant man."

The demon emperor poured Sima Riyue a drink, and the two drank together.

As for the empress on the sacrificial platform?
Who cared?

Empress Jin Li reached the top.

Standing on the two-zhang-high altar, she raised the jade tablet with her left hand, tossing a jade ring into the stone brazier with her right. The ring shattered into pieces.

Her voice, clear as a mountain spring, resounded with authority.

"O gods, take pity on my thoughts, accept my jade tablet!"

Her voice rose, and the flames danced.

"My heart is restless, seeking solace from the heavens."

"O mighty heavens, look down upon me!"

...

The invocation was brief, part of it provided by Kong Qi.

The most crucial part of the ritual was given by Qi Yuan.

It was very short, just two lines.

Jin Li earnestly recited the first line.

The last line required no recitation, only a thought.

"By the decree of the Lord of the Clothing Department, Qi Yuan, the forbidden army of the Clothing Department, heed the call!"

As these words were uttered, the sun remained the same.

The civil and military officials below remained indifferent, none taking the ceremony seriously!

Duke Yu, having anticipated this, saw his last glimmer of hope vanish.

Qin Yi, recalling the experiences in Xuan Yuan's realm, still harbored a faint hope.

The sacrificial platform couldn't summon the legendary forbidden army, but if the mysterious, powerful Qi Yuan, comparable to a supreme emperor, appeared?
Though he couldn't contend with the combined might of the demon emperors or break the array outside, he could at least take Empress Jin Li away.

That would be the best outcome.

Jin Li was never meant to be an empress, having been forced into the role.

Let the Nangan Kingdom fall, but let the empress survive.

Kong Qi, lying prostrate, felt his eyes burn, his face expressionless.

At this moment, Jin Li felt a connection to something ethereal.

She sensed that, with a mere thought, the forbidden army of the Clothing Department would appear, just as Qi Yuan had said.

She had almost unconditional faith in Qi Yuan.

She didn't immediately recite the final line, but looked down at the civil and military officials below the altar.

Her voice, cold and angry: "Sima Ting, I ask you, is there a Soul-Burying Banner Array outside the imperial city?
Are you colluding with the demons, plotting to trap all Nangan citizens in eternal damnation?"

Despite her limited cultivation, her voice rang like spring thunder, reaching everyone.

Many officials were moved, but many more saw it as her last desperate struggle.

Some glanced secretly at Sima Ting, awaiting his response.

Sima Ting stood, his tall stature making him stand out. Facing Jin Li's questioning, he remained calm: "Your Majesty, why do you sow discord?

Do you think such petty tricks can alter the course of events?
As an emperor, you must act openly and righteously, winning with integrity.
Deception and trickery are not the way of an emperor!
Your Majesty, raised by women, indecisive and lacking wisdom, you are unfit to rule."

"I ask again, is there an array outside the city?" Jin Li repeated.

The officials, hearing Sima Ting's response, felt reassured.

Nangan was under the Prime Minister's control. Why would he bury his own foundation with the demons?

Sima Riyue, unable to hold back, stood and jeered: "Empress Jin Li, isn't this too boring? I was hoping to see you summon the divine army with the sacrificial platform and slay us all!"

His words drew laughter from the crowd.
No one took the empress seriously.

Nangan's throne had belonged to the Sima family for twenty years.

Jin Li remained unmoved, her voice firm: "Is there an array outside the city?"

Her threefold questioning made many officials think she was at her wit's end.

Some secretly mocked, others felt pity for the empress's tragic fate.

At this moment, the demon emperor, who had been drinking all along, unexpectedly spoke: "Beautiful Jin Li, you're right. There's indeed a Soul-Burying Banner Array outside the city!"

His words stunned the crowd.

"Prime Minister?"

"Who is this man? Is the Soul-Burying Banner Array real?"

The officials were shocked, then terrified.

The demon emperor's face twisted with a cruel smile: "Sima Ting, am I telling the truth?"

Sima Ting, unperturbed, replied: "Yes."

The officials were now truly frightened, the assembly descending into chaos.

The demon emperor, eyes gleaming with malice, shouted: "Useless scum!"

With a wave of his hand, the power of an emperor-level being surged, killing dozens of officials.

His eyes gleamed with cruelty.

More chaos, more bloodshed.

He struck again, killing hundreds more from Sima Ting's faction.

Now, most officials lay in pools of blood, utterly miserable.

Watching the chaos, the demon emperor smiled in satisfaction.

The more chaotic and bloody the capital, the stronger the Bloodless Emperor's Staff would become.

After a massacre, he turned his gaze to Qin Yi, guarding the sacrificial platform, a look of contempt in his eyes.

At her peak, Qin Yi wasn't his match, let alone now, wounded as she was.

"My drinking vessel, here I come!"

The demon emperor's body swelled, growing three zhang tall, towering over the platform.

Facing an emperor-level foe, he showed respect.

A fierce beast, mocking humanity.

Qin Yi, seeing this, leaped into the air, her slender figure blocking the platform.

At this moment, she heard Empress Jin Li's solemn and dignified chant.

"Soldiers, heed the call, kill!"

With this chant, an unexpected event unfolded.

Above the platform, the clear sky suddenly filled with dark clouds.

Thick clouds gathered, casting the capital into darkness.

A chilling, mysterious, and profound aura spread.

Everyone was terrified, hearing the sound of thousands of horses and the awakening of gods.

"What's happening?" The demon emperor was shocked for the first time.

The other demon emperors outside the city were equally stunned.

A cold voice echoed from the sky.

"By the decree of the Lord of the Clothing Department, Qi Yuan!"

"Summoned by Empress Jin Li of Nangan!"

"The Divine Court's Four Departments, the Forbidden Army of the Clothing Department, purge the traitors!"

A ray of bright sunlight pierced the thick clouds.

The sky brightened.

Then darkened again.

Looking up, near the sacrificial platform, appeared thousands of soldiers.

Clad in black armor, wielding golden weapons, they stood in the air.

They surrounded Empress Jin Li, led by ten terrifyingly powerful black-armored warriors.

Silent, but exuding immense pressure.

They seemed to have marched through history, demons from the underworld.

They did not look at the people below, as if they disdained to look, but everyone felt the unbearable pressure.

At this moment, the clothing department's imperial guards formed a military formation, holding long golden spears, announcing their arrival to the world.

Duke Yu widened his eyes when he saw this scene.

"The Four Departments of the Divine Court... The Imperial Guards of the Clothing Department are really here!"

The great sage Kong Qi, who was crawling on the ground, was also completely stunned and cried with joy: "God bless Nan Kingdom, God bless my Empress!"

Auntie Qin was also shocked: "It's all true, the Lord of the Clothing Department? Qi Yuan?"

After so many thousands of years, is there still the Divine Court in the world, is there still the Clothing Department?

Yes!

At this time, the cold and silent Imperial Guards of the Clothing Department finally moved. A Imperial Guard in red armor flew silently in front of Queen Jinli, and announced with a mechanical voice.

"My Lord brought two words."

"The master said that he wanted to say a rustic love word. With him here, no one in the world can touch you."

"The master also said..."

Hearing these two words, Jinli's eyes flashed with determination. She looked up at the ancient Qi Chun wood in the center of the world, and her eyes were like stars.