It took nearly half a day before the anomalies of the Crystal Palace finally subsided. A figure flashed out from the Crystal Palace — none other than Yang Kai himself.
Sensing pairs of eyes gazing at him with anticipation, Yang Kai nodded to the Saint Spirits. "I did not fail your trust!"
Kun Ao let out a hearty laugh. "Excellent! Now that the Dragon Clan's Crystal Palace has been refined as well, everyone should reclaim your sacred artifacts." He then added with a touch of concern, "Kid — lend a hand when the time comes!"
"Understood!" Yang Kai replied.
The Saint Spirits had been waiting for this moment for ages, so they wasted no time moving toward their respective sacred artifacts and channeling their power.
As the strength of the Saint Spirits surged, the sixteen sacred artifacts — already tightly interconnected — were raised by their respective clans' Saint Spirits. The heavens and earth shook violently, and a constant series of cracking sounds echoed through the air.
Moments later, the sixteen sacred artifacts transformed into sixteen streaks of light and were drawn back into the hands of the various Saint Spirits.
In Yang Kai's palm, he toyed with a palace that had been shrunk countless times, its entire structure as though crafted from crystal — the Dragon Clan's Crystal Palace.
His expression held a hint of surprise. He hadn't expected the Crystal Palace to be able to freely alter its size.
Once all the sacred artifacts were reclaimed, the Ancestral Spirit Force that had permeated heaven and earth no longer had a focal point to anchor it. The massive chains that had bound the Giant God Spirit began to dissolve slowly, reverting back into dense Ancestral Spirit Force that flooded the world.
The collapse of the chains was a thunderous spectacle.
Every Saint Spirit watched the Giant God Spirit warily.
Although Qing Luan, Kun Ao, and the others had previously ventured inside the Giant God Spirit to investigate and confirmed that the creature was thoroughly dead, when it came to a being like the Giant God Spirit, who could say what strange abilities it might possess — whether it might be capable of returning from death.
Fortunately, even after the chains dissolved and the sacred artifacts were withdrawn, the Giant God Spirit showed no movement whatsoever. It seemed that after eons of suppression and erosion by the Ancestral Spirit Force, even a Giant God Spirit could not endure.
Subtle changes seemed to sweep through heaven and earth — indescribable, impossible to pin down — but every Saint Spirit living in the Ancestral Land could clearly feel it. The Ancestral Land, which had been split in two since ancient times, had today fused back into one.
"Kun Ao, I think it would be best to designate this place as a forbidden zone. What do you think?" Qing Luan stared at the Giant God Spirit for a moment before turning to Kun Ao.
Kun Ao pondered briefly, then nodded in agreement. "That would be the prudent course."
With both the Phoenix Clan and the Kun Clan in agreement, the other Saint Spirits naturally raised no objections. Led by Qing Luan, the many Saint Spirits joined forces once more, surrounding the Giant God Spirit and using their own essence blood to lay down layer upon layer of restrictions. This served a dual purpose: designating the area as a forbidden zone where no Saint Spirit could approach at will, and guarding against any unexpected changes from the Giant God Spirit.
After all the work was done, ten days had passed.
This expedition to the Demon Sealing Ground had yielded considerable gains for every clan. Those who had obtained sacred artifacts needed no further mention, and even those who hadn't could now enjoy the abundant surge of Ancestral Spirit Force brought about by the reunification of the Ancestral Land.
The Saint Spirits of every clan would no longer need to worry about the propagation of their descendants or the corruption of their bloodlines.
Yang Kai returned to the Four Phoenix Pavilion with Qing Luan and the others. After consulting Qing Luan's opinion, he placed the Dragon Clan's Crystal Palace in a valley with fine scenery.
Though the Crystal Palace was an exceptionally remarkable traveling artifact, its greater significance lay in its role as the Dragon Clan's sacred artifact.
The Dragon Clan members who had originated from the Star Boundary would be coming to the Ancestral Land for their cultivation. Leaving the Crystal Palace here would be of tremendous benefit to their growth.
Had it not been for this consideration, Yang Kai would certainly have taken the Crystal Palace with him.
In the great hall, Yang Kai sat across from Qing Luan and the others and recounted, in measured detail, what he had witnessed during his great dream within the Crystal Palace.
After careful deliberation, he felt this matter needed to be shared with the Phoenix Clan. After all, some of the ancient secrets from bygone eras — perhaps the Phoenix Clan knew something about them.
Unfortunately, even after listening to his account, Qing Luan and the others could not recall any useful information. However, the revelations Yang Kai had shared shook them deeply.
"As you say, that Giant God Spirit did indeed wage a great battle against the Saint Spirits in the Ancestral Land in ancient times. In the end, the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress of that generation sacrificed themselves, burning their essence blood and channeling the sacred artifacts of every clan to summon the power of the Ancestral Land and seal away the Giant God Spirit."
"That matches what I saw!" Yang Kai nodded. "The Ancestral Land was torn apart and split in two. The origin essences of the Dragon Emperor and Phoenix Empress were swept into the void turbulence and vanished without a trace, until many years ago, when I stumbled upon the Dragon Emperor's origin essence in a very weak world through sheer chance."
Qing Luan sighed with emotion. "Every generation's Dragon Emperor is the most powerful being of the Dragon Clan. No wonder your origin essence is that of a Sacred Dragon — only a Sacred Dragon would be worthy of serving as Dragon Emperor."
Yuan Zhi spoke up. "So that generation's Dragon Emperor origin essence is with you. But what about the Phoenix Empress's origin essence? Did you see it? If both were swept into the void turbulence together, they might have ended up in the same place."
Yang Kai said, "If I'm not mistaken, the Phoenix Empress's origin essence was obtained by my Senior Sister, Su Yan."
"Truly together?" Qing Luan and the others were visibly moved.
Zhuo Hu asked, "Where is your Senior Sister now?"
"The Void Domain — within the Void Land," Yang Kai replied. "I plan to bring her and some other Saint Spirit friends here to the Ancestral Land when I return. I'd like to ask you seniors to look after them when the time comes."
Qing Luan smiled. "You've mentioned this before, so naturally there's no issue. Just bring them here."