A bolt of thunder tore across the heavens, and the shattered sky resembled a strip of black silk ripped apart, its edges glowing with an eerie dark-red light.
The sheer-walled Sword Mountain rose from the earth, a pillar propping up the sky and pointing straight into the broken sea of dark clouds.
Mad Beauty Sword hung slanted at Xiang Yuan's waist as he landed. At the summit of the sheer-walled Heavenly Pillar Mountain, the faint outline of a palace could be seen. Entirely black, it blended into the mountain's dark hues. If not for the occasional flash of lightning, its presence would have been almost impossible to discern.
Xiang Yuan climbed the steps. Up close, the palace was imposing indeed. Its gates stood a full hundred feet tall, carved with countless twisted faces, their mouths gaping in soundless screams as they emanated a chilling aura that made one's hair stand on end.
It looked familiar!
"Where have I seen this hundred-million-wen renovation style before?"
Xiang Yuan stared blankly at the palace gates. A moment later, he slapped his forehead. If this palace were repainted, if the twisted faces were covered in white jade and golden bricks, and some colorful lighting effects were added, wouldn't it be exactly the decorating style of the Heavenly Court in the Heavenly God Realm?
The Heavenly Court of the Heavenly God Realm clearly had nothing to do with this minor pocket realm. Dry Abyss Realm, however, had indeed once possessed an upper realm reached through ascension. Unfortunately, Yan Xuanhe, master of the Heavenly Sect, had severed the ascension passage with a single sword strike. From then on, the upper realm had vanished without a trace, never to be heard from again.
"Suppose Yan Xuanhe secretly pocketed some of the upper realm Heavenly Court's infrastructure when