Central Province, Heavenly Derivation Sect.
Above the towering mountain peaks that pierced the clouds floated vast, resplendent palaces.
The peaks and palaces stretched on together, seeming almost endless when viewed from the sect gates.
From afar, the sight seemed carved by ghosts and gods, magnificent beyond compare.
Many cultivators could be seen streaking between the peaks as rainbow light, while winged flying horses, top-tier mutant beasts, hauled cargo through the air.
Mutant beasts could be seen roaming freely on every peak.
Beneath a lower peak on the right side of the mountain range, a black flood dragon could be seen coiled around the mountain, resting with its eyes closed.
Even Li Yingling, who had read storybooks, would not have dared imagine such a scene.
A true immortal abode could be no more than this.
But this was only the Heavenly Derivation Sect's outward appearance.
Those who truly knew their business looked not at the lavish palaces or the coiled flood dragon, but beneath the peaks.
In the eyes of the Heavenly Derivation Sect Disciples, this was already the most ordinary of sights.
Occasionally, spiritual radiance burst into dazzling light, surging from beneath the peaks like a great river.
But before it could rush far, it struck a pale golden barrier.
Like a flood-control dam, the pale golden barrier held back most of the spiritual power, allowing only a small portion to flow beyond it.
The Heavenly Derivation Sect occupied one of the eighteen main streams of Central Province's spiritual energy network, and had poured the strength of the entire sect into measures that all but severed the spiritual energy channel here.
Only a third of the original spiritual power continued along the spirit vein toward other regions.
This was not because the Heavenly Derivation Sect was willing to leave others