Xiao Yun followed Sea Maiden Douluo, ascending the Sea God Stairway one step at a time.
Xiao Yun counted a total of 999 steps. When he reached the final one, he arrived at the summit of Sea God Mountain and finally saw Sea God Island's most important structure—the Sea God Temple.
The Sea God Temple stood at the highest point of Sea God Mountain.
The mountain itself was not steep. The slope from its foot to its summit was gentle, but the path was paved with solid slabs of dark rock. Polished by sea winds and dampness over many years, their surfaces carried an even matte sheen and did not easily collect water even on rainy days.
The plaza before the temple was somewhat broader than the mountain itself, as though the rock layer at the summit had been leveled and expanded outward in a ring. The ground was pieced together from stone slabs of the same material, with extremely fine gaps left between them for smooth drainage, leaving no traces of standing water.
There were no railings or low walls around the plaza. Its edges transitioned directly into the grassy slopes and belts of shrubs, leaving the view open enough to reveal the layered rooftops below and the winding coastline in the distance.
The main structure of the Sea God Temple stood at the far end of the plaza, facing east with its back to the west. Its facade was supported by several dark gray Stone Pillars, their surfaces free of excessive carvings, marked only by shallow grooves running across them like natural patterns formed by repeated washing from seawater.
The temple doors were two dark wooden panels that opened outward, their surfaces formed from interlocking horizontal and vertical strips of wood, without rivets or metal fittings.
The roof