Chapter 588: Golden Hall

Five thousand large coins was a considerable sum, so He Lingchuan flatly refused him.

The leaf had clear veins and distinct patterns, making it quite beautiful. Most importantly, as soon as He Lingchuan touched it, his collar felt warm.

Was the divine bone necklace craving something again?

"I'll go back and make some inquiries for you," Old Ge said.

"Thanks," He Lingchuan said, tucking the golden-red leaf into his bosom. "Didn't you mention a suspected immortal's abode that was never found?"

"Oh, right, it's this Root Deep Pool," Old Ge said, pointing to the deep pool under the banyan tree. "Legend says that the First Shore Immortal of the Great Return Sect opened an immortal's abode here, with this clear pool serving as the entrance. He eventually transcended within the abode, and it disappeared with him, never to reappear."

"The First Shore Immortal?" He Lingchuan asked, surprised. "Wasn't Mount Xu formerly known as First Shore Mountain?"

The half sword tip that fetched an exorbitant price at the Dunyuan auction a few days ago, wasn't it broken off from the First Shore Immortal's natal magic weapon?

Famous figures are truly remarkable; even objects remotely connected to them can fetch astronomical prices.

"Yes, it only got its name changed after Beijia was founded," Old Ge said. "To be designated 'First Shore' was a great honor. This was the mighty figure who flattened the stone grottoes with a single sword stroke, clearing a path for the Dao-seeking Tree."

He Lingchuan reached out and touched the pool water; it was clear and chilling. "I'm guessing someone has already dived in to search, right?"

"Absolutely, every year," Old Ge chuckled. "I heard that for the first three hundred years, people would dive in to search every few days; it was quite a spectacle. Not only did they dive, but enthusiasts also roamed all over Tianji Peak, searching every rock crevice. They even looked for clues in light and shadow, angles, and various legends. Later, when Tianji Peak strictly forbade people from entering the water, the numbers plummeted."

Thousands, if not tens of thousands, had dived in, yet no lucky soul had found the lost abode. He Lingchuan decided he could spare himself the effort.

He guessed that Lingxu City had previously tacitly allowed people to dive, hoping to leverage the power of the masses. Since three centuries of searching had yielded no results, it was clear that no one needed to look anymore.

Everyone followed the flow of visitors. Once they finally left Tianji Peak, the path immediately became much more open.

"The next main peak is Tianxuan," Old Ge said, pointing to a towering peak in the distance. "After that, we'll reach Tianshu Peak, where the Celestial Palace is located — the final stop on our journey today!"

Everyone felt a renewed sense of excitement, except for the fellow who had received the red leaf; he found an excuse to leave the mountain early.

The scenery on Tianxuan Peak was beautiful, but everyone's minds were already on Tianshu Peak. As the mountain path ascended, the temperature dropped, roadside flowers became scarce, and frost began to appear on the blades of grass.

The biting wind became increasingly fierce. He Lingchuan surprisingly felt a sensation akin to walking on Fengmo Mountain.

Tianshu Peak, the highest peak in the outskirts of Lingxu City.

Exhaling white mist as he climbed, Jiang Tao remarked, "The Celestial Palace envoys don't have to struggle like us to go up and down Mount Xu, do they? And the Emperor, I hear he often comes up here."

"Of course not," Old Ge said with a grin. "They have teleportation arrays that take them directly from the foot of the mountain to the Celestial Palace; no climbing is needed. Important foreign dignitaries are likewise transported directly to the clouds!"

At that moment, the clouds broke and the sun rose, causing the vast sea of clouds to temporarily recede. He Lingchuan turned his head and happened to glimpse the floating islands above Lingxu City.

Viewing the floating islands from this angle offered a unique perspective. Even the highest floating island appeared to be at a lower elevation than the Celestial Palace.

From He Lingchuan's vantage point, he could look down upon the other floating islands.

They were lush and verdant, true aerial gardens with mountains, water, and hidden pavilions and towers.

He Lingchuan extended his hand as if to compare sizes, and his palm could actually block the distant floating islands from view. The mirror in his bosom asked him, "What are you doing?"

"Just this small," he said playfully. "Like a kingdom in the palm of one's hand." Gao Jilin casually asked, "Whose palm?"

He Lingchuan smiled without replying. Naturally, it was the Celestial God's.

Although it was bitterly cold, the number of visitors climbing Tianshu Peak had noticeably increased. Everyone wanted to experience the sensation of looking down upon the floating islands.

Ordinarily, it was the floating islands that looked down upon all beings.

Tianshu Peak was actually surrounded by six accompanying peaks of varying sizes, guarding it in the center like stars orbiting the moon.

Almost every peak featured buildings shrouded in clouds and mist, exuding an air of immortality.

Old Ge pointed at them and said, "These are the residences of the Cloud Envoys, Divine Attendants, and Lamp Keepers. Oh, and also the Celestial Palace guards!"

All the way from Yaoguang Peak to Tianxuan Peak, the roadside guards had been Mount Xu guards, not qualified to reside on Tianshu Peak.

At the end of the road, the magnificent great hall came into clearer view. For some reason, He Lingchuan felt a pounding in his heart as he approached, as if a fierce giant beast was perched on the mountaintop, waiting with open jaws for him to walk into its trap.

This dangerous intuition, he wasn't sure if it stemmed from his sixth sense or the divine bone necklace. After all, the summit represented the pinnacle of human power.

He took a deep breath and strode forward.

By now, the sun was already setting in the west, and the fleeting clouds and twilight mist on the mountaintop were all dyed like flowing flames.

Deep within the white clouds, glazed golden tiles shimmered, and the magnificent palace complex stood majestically. Mellifluous bell sounds echoed continuously, yet if one tried to listen closely, they couldn't discern their source.

Celestial Palace guards garrisoned the mountain steps; two guards stood every fifty steps, clad in golden armor and holding staffs, their gazes stern.

The buildings on Tianshu Peak uniformly featured white pillars and golden tiles. Their walls were either moonlight white or white with ochre-red patterns. In striking contrast to the plain black mountain rocks around them, they exuded a breathtaking beauty of luxury.

Starting from the first pair of ornate pavilions, the mountain path was paved with blue jade. After a hundred steps, it gradually transitioned to green jade, and after another hundred, it transitioned again to white jade, continuing all the way to the main entrance of the Celestial Palace.

This was the renowned Stairway to Heaven.

Countless people knelt there, climbing one step at a time, kowtowing, and murmuring prayers. The profound piety they exuded seemed to suggest that nothing else in the world truly mattered. He Lingchuan walked past them, making a light and swift ascent to the summit.

The vast plaza before them was paved with gold-flecked white jade, large enough to accommodate at least two thousand people. It was no easy feat to clear such a massive space on a high mountain. Old Ge explained that this platform was built only after the recent renovation to accommodate outdoor worship.

Tianshu Peak was Mount Xu's highest point, but the Great Return Sect's original main peak had been Tianxuan Peak. "This first grand hall is the Hall of Adoration!" Old Ge exclaimed, becoming animated as he explained loudly. "Its construction consumed 1.32 million pounds of gold, 9,900 pounds of pearls, 3,410 pounds of agate, and over 22,000 pounds of giant clam shells, coral, amber, and other precious materials!"

Up close, the architectural style of the Celestial Palace hall was completely different from ground-level buildings.

While human architecture emphasized carved beams and painted pillars, Celestial Palace buildings favored stone pillars over wooden ones and stone walls over wooden ones, featuring intricate carvings on both. The buildings themselves were sturdy and rectangular, lacking the upturned eaves and elaborate *dougong* brackets found on ground-level structures or other main peaks.

In all the places He Lingchuan had visited before, halls and pagodas were distinct and independent structures.

Celestial Palace halls, however, were built with at least three stories and often featured a pagoda on top, right in the center. These pagodas were either rounded or tapered, their style strikingly different from ground-level stupas.

He Lingchuan followed the crowd into the hall, and immediately his eyes were dazzled by a flash of golden light, making him stumble back half a step.

The hall was gilded, not just plated, but with solid gold. Pillars, beams, walls, divine statues, tables, chairs, candlesticks—basically, every object and every corner, save for the incoming tourists, glittered with gold.

Even the prayer mats in front of the offering tables were woven with gold thread.

Of course, tourists shouldn't even consider stealing anything, as the hall guards would surely notice and immediately chop off their hands.

Literally.

The hall was very tall, largely featuring round archways and vaulted ceilings. He Lingchuan looked up and saw a brilliant star map painted on the ceiling. The night sky was crafted from a single piece of natural black jade, its colors subtly gradient, truly as deep as the night sky. Most remarkably, it naturally possessed dense bright spots which, after polishing, formed the Milky Way.

As for the other shining stars, they were either pearls, crystals, or red and blue gemstones. No wonder Old Ge had just mentioned that so many treasures were used to build this grand hall. It truly embodied the saying, "Pearls are like dirt, and gold is like iron."

He Lingchuan took a deep breath; all he could sense here was the overwhelming scent of wealth and power.

These two elements were almost the ultimate dream of all beings, now overtly displayed. For all visitors entering the Celestial Palace for the first time, the shock they experienced was all-encompassing.

He Lingchuan had traveled extensively and seen countless temples and grand residences.

Using hundreds of pounds of gold to furnish a home was considered petty; thousands of pounds, tacky. But 1.32 million pounds…

That was simply grand, magnificent, and utterly unique in the world.

And let's not forget, this was the Hall of Adoration, a place dedicated to worshipping the gods.

Inside the hall were various statues of gods, large and small—some majestic, some compassionate, some fierce, some terrifying. Their golden bodies were all carved from solid gold, not merely gold-plated.

The designers of this grand hall directly linked the celestial gods with wealth and power. In front of each statue, incense smoke curled, and people prostrated themselves.

Without exception, all the divine statues depicted human or half-human, half-demon forms.

As soon as Jiang Tao entered the hall, he was overwhelmed, wishing he had two more eyes. He continuously exclaimed, "Unbelievable, unbelievable!"

The cost of building this hall was unimaginable.

For their tiny country, how many years of their national treasury income would the cost of building this one hall amount to?

Observing his and the other tourists' expressions, He Lingchuan knew that the Hall of Adoration had achieved its intended purpose. It was an overwhelming display of power.

Gao Jilin, however, was very curious. "Are the celestial gods really all like this?"

Standing in the Hall of Adoration, he didn't dare to point, only tilting his head to look at the statue on the left:

"Take this Miao Zhan Tian," he said. "Her appearance is completely different from what I saw in the Golden Light Desert, where the Nomad tribe also worships Miao Zhan Tian."

This was a goddess with downcast eyes and a solemn, dignified expression, holding a scale-shaped magic artifact in her hand.

The most peculiar thing was that the tip of the scale had a yellow single eye embedded in it, with a light purple vertical pupil.

As soon as He Lingchuan saw this single eye, he found it familiar. "What did this goddess look like in the Golden Light Desert?"

"Her attire was different, and she held a different magic artifact," Gao Jilin replied after a moment's thought. "I think she was holding a pipa."

"Oh!" He Lingchuan exclaimed, also remembering. He had seen this type of eye in Panlong City!