Across the entire Inner Layer, Celestial Xia's thirteen continents undoubtedly occupied the most central territories, yet they did not encompass all the land.
Nor was that possible. After every Turbid Tide, the landmass changed or expanded, and many regions that had not existed before emerged.
These regions were suffused with Turbid Tide, teeming with all manner of savage spiritual creatures. Evil gods that had infiltrated from the Outer Layer, evil cultivators fleeing Celestial Xia's pursuit, alien gods that had fallen dormant over several past eras, and all kinds of gods and monsters mostly entrenched themselves here.
Somewhere deep within the landmass, a magnificent Dao palace stood atop a towering, majestic cliff. Its lower half was built from dark-violet metal and stone, while its upper half was made of warm gold and tough jade. Behind it, azure mountain ranges had their peaks concealed beneath thick white clouds. Bathed in light, the entire palace complex resembled a divine kingdom upon earth.
Below the Dao palace ran a river that looked like a jade belt when viewed from the sky. Its waters were exceptionally clear, pink lotuses filled the river, and tender emerald lotus leaves spread across its surface, suffusing the air with rich fragrance.
More than a dozen palace terraces stood upon the gentle slopes beyond the mountain foothills.
On one of the palace terraces to the south stood more than a dozen young men and women dressed in soft, smooth robes, all garbed like Dao cultivators.
They had long, lustrous black hair and lively black eyes. Whether in appearance or temperament, every one of them was a Celestial Xia native of pure bloodline.
Before the great terrace stood rows of tall, luxuriant trees bearing bright scarlet vermilion fruits. Beneath each tree stood a sturdy, thickset foreigner. They continually whipped strange slave