From ancient times until now, formalized sacrifices among humans were divided into two parts.0

First came the ancestral sacrifices. Then came the heavenly sacrifices. The ancestral sacrifices, as the name implied, were supposed to be for Dark Serenity. Though the empress actually didn’t mention Dark Serenity, but rather the Forefathers, it fell within the realm of what was reasonable, and didn’t count as a usurping of proper authority. For the leader of humankind to offer sacrifices to the Forefathers of humans just barely fell within the scope of etiquette.0

However, the ‘heavens’ from the heavenly sacrifices could not be changed. Before Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity left, the ‘heavens’ referred to the ancient heavenly daos of Revered Ancient.1

After the departure, word spread that the meaning of the ‘heavens beyond’ had changed. Starting with Emperor Eastglory, those ‘heavens’ referred to the holy lands. That wasn’t just the case for humans. All species in the Revered Ancient mainland who weren’t connected to a god would conform to that view of the ‘heavens beyond.’ Their heavenly sacrifices also involved worshiping their bloodline as it existed in the holy lands. Not offering worship was considered an act of defiance. Species who did things like that always ended up being destroyed somehow.5

People from the holy lands were not commonly seen in Revered Ancient. They existed in the heavens beyond, lofty and above all else. However, they could still use special techniques to affect the hearts and minds of the species in Revered Ancient.2

For generations, the human emperors had used the ceremonies of the heavenly sacrifices to make offerings to the holy lands. Apparently, the empress was not going to be an exception.1

She stood on the Temple of Heaven, straight and tall as a mountain, as if she could provide...1