Beyond the Dao Enlightenment Grove, one did not immediately reach that ancient woodland of a thousand streaks of Auspicious Radiance, with Dao resonance soaring into the heavens.
An immense, majestic gateway, seemingly linking heaven and earth, stood like a guardian that had existed since time immemorial.
It towered at the outermost edge of the Dense Forest.
The gateway was cast entirely from some unknown chaos-colored divine stone. Tens of thousands of feet tall, it thrust straight into the clouds.
Countless intricate, ancient images were carved into its frame: forebears offering sacrifices, gods and devils waging war, fierce beasts roaring, stars evolving...
Every carved groove carried the breath of passing ages and radiated boundless divine might.
Across the gateway's surface, countless profound runes flickered like stars, while chains of order condensed from pure laws wound around it.
They slowly slithered like living creatures, exuding a heart-quaking power of confinement and rejection.
This was the only passage into the Dao Enlightenment Grove—the Myriad Laws Heavenly Gate!
Only by passing the Heavenly Gate's trial and earning its recognition...
Could one truly enter that supreme hidden realm, which held the fortunes and opportunities left by ancient sages.
At that moment, the vast ancient plaza before the Myriad Laws Heavenly Gate already rang with voices, while divine light surged into the heavens.
Powerful auras intertwined and collided, churning the spiritual qi of this region into a boiling ocean.
Figures crowded the plaza, broadly divided into two sharply distinct camps.
On one side stood the native prodigies of the Myriad Heavens North Sea. They were numerous, their auras varied and powerful, with several groups forming particularly conspicuous cores.
There were scions of the True Dragon Imperial House, dragon aura coiling around them, crystalline dragon horns crowning their heads, and vertical slits for pupils.
They stood proudly,