The Three Realms, the Eastern Heaven Daoist Sect's celestial palace.
Two Ni Beasts pulled a cloud carriage from the Heavenly Court, treading on clouds as they came, and descended into the Penglai Heavenly Realm.
The golden-furred Ni Beasts stepped through clouds and pierced the mist. Wherever they passed, the sea of clouds churned, rosy light paved the way, and a thousand strands of auspicious qi hung from the heavens like brocade.
As the cloud carriage went deeper into the heavenly realm, immortal cranes fluttered all around, spirit deer held lingzhi in their mouths, and gurgling immortal springs flowed past the Jade Steps, the splashing droplets all turning into glimmering starlight.
A short while later, the cloud carriage passed over swaths of jade palaces and jeweled towers and stopped before a heavenly palace deep within the realm. Jiang Sheng stepped down from the carriage, and before him, on the towering heavenly palace, hung a plaque: Xuming.
This was the Daoist abode of the Qingyan Heavenly Venerable, Xuming Heavenly Palace.
The palace walls were neither gold nor jade, and under the shine of sun, moon, and stars, seven-colored rainbows flowed across them. Enlightenment Golden Bells hung from the eaves of the halls, and when the breeze brushed past, the chimes rang clear and bright, like the soft chanting of Dao rhythm.
Within the heavenly palace, origin immortal qi had condensed almost into substance, like mist and floss, coiling between pavilions, terraces, towers, and halls. Jade grasses and wondrous flowers grew everywhere, while immortal birds and strange beasts frolicked freely.
Nine-colored immortal deer lay beneath emerald parasol trees, feathered cranes and auspicious birds played by the lotus pond, and several spirit apes played chess under the pines and cypresses. Everywhere was leisurely, elegant, and beyond the dust of the mortal world.
Jiang Sheng