Amid Chaos, Zixiao Palace floated above boundless currents of Chaos Qi, its gates wide open.
Purple-gold light spilled from the palace, tinting the surrounding hundreds of millions of li of Chaos with a faint purple glow.
Chaos Qi churned ceaselessly on either side of the gates, yet could not intrude even half a step inside.
It was as though an invisible hand had separated Chaos from Zixiao Palace, creating a pure land independent of Chaos.
The entire palace had been cast from an unknown material found in Chaos, its hue ancient and vast, every brick and stone engraved with runes of the Great Dao.
Countless ages of scouring by Chaos had not worn these runes away. Instead, they had grown ever deeper and clearer, as though they had existed here since heaven and earth first opened.
Above the gates, the three great ancient seal-script characters for "Zixiao Palace" radiated a faint light of Chaos.
Every stroke contained mysteries of the Heavenly Dao. Cultivators whose cultivation was insufficient would grow dazed and find their Dao hearts wavering merely from looking up at those three characters.
An open plaza lay before Zixiao Palace.
It was paved with Chaos jade, with two rows of enormous stone pillars standing along its sides. The pillars were covered in the profound truths of the Great Dao that Hong Jun had expounded during his three lectures.
At the far end of the plaza stood the entrance to Zixiao Palace's main hall, with a Chaos stone beast standing on either side of the gates.
They resembled qilins but bore dragon horns. Their eyes were tightly shut, yet any cultivator who entered the plaza could sense the terrifying power contained within those two stone beasts.
Beyond the plaza lay Zixiao Palace's main hall. Its vaulted ceiling was immeasurably high;