Heaven Pillar Peak.
At the summit, the ground was a plaza paved with the Qi Ingestion spiritual material known as Grand Yellow Stone. One glance showed that it stretched nearly beyond sight.
Above the plaza stood an earth-yellow palace. Its great doors were tightly shut, radiating rings upon rings of indescribable brilliance that transformed in midair into divine forms of badgers, pheasants, bats, and raccoon dogs. There were also scenes of flowers, birds, insects, fish, flourishing grasses and trees, peddlers and porters, and every facet of mortal life.
Fang Wuchen sat cross-legged. With a sweep of his eyes, he had already spotted no fewer than a hundred cultivators, including several at the Dao Foundation stage.
All of them had been blocked by the palace gates, unable to advance even a single step.
Above the gates was a recess. It looked damaged, yet carried an inexplicable Dao resonance that faintly corresponded to the God-Striking Stone in his sleeve. Thinking of where his own God-Striking Stone had come from, Fang Wuchen's heart grew even colder...
At that moment, two more Dao Foundation cultivators entered the plaza. One wore a blue Dharma robe and was young and handsome; the other had a close-cropped head and carried a three-foot longsword on his back.
"Fellow Daoists..."
Yin Xuanzi stepped forward. "Do you have any tokens on you? We have been stopped by this Central Yellow Palace... We need tokens to open its gates. This is urgent. If we wait until those Purple Mansion experts outside confirm the situation and enter the Grotto-Heaven, we will not even get a mouthful of soup..."
"Central Yellow Palace?"
Fajian spoke, a trace of puzzlement in his voice.
"That is correct. I am Yin Xuanzi of the Corpse Yin Sect. I was selected for this expedition, and before departure, the