The upheaval at the 88-Angle True Yang Building had shaken the Holy Palace to its core. Countless people had spent their days and nights in worry, hearts clenched with dread, at a complete loss for what to do.
Fortunately, not long after the first floor of the 88-Angle True Yang Building collapsed, the situation stabilized.
The seven-colored radiance no longer shrank, but instead began to expand once more.
Perhaps stimulated by the upheaval, this time the radiant mist grew and spread a full thirty percent faster than before.
After several days, the luminous mist—dense as water—reconstituted the first floor of the 88-Angle True Yang Building.
The moment it fully took shape, Hei Lou Lan and the others immediately rushed inside. The process of entering and exiting the 88-Angle True Yang Building went entirely smoothly.
This put Hei Lou Lan greatly at ease.
The furious Hei Lou Lan gradually calmed down.
The 88-Angle True Yang Building was critically important to him. If he wanted to avenge his mother, he had to ascend to Gu Immortal status. And as one of the Ten Extremes Physiques—the Great Strength True Martial Physique—his only hope of ascension lay in obtaining a Strength Immortal Gu from the 88-Angle True Yang Building.
The *Records of the Human Ancestor* had long described it thus:
A person can live without strength, and without wisdom, but never without hope.
Hei Lou Lan's hope was reborn, and his mood improved. He began to attack the hundred challenge floors with renewed vigor.
The newly formed first floor of the 88-Angle True Yang Building had its challenges reset. Hei Lou Lan's previous efforts went up in smoke, and everything had to be conquered all over again.
For elders like Hei Pei, this was a tremendous piece of good fortune.
"This is simply fortune reversing itself! Re-conquering the challenges means we can earn even more rewards!"
"Perhaps the Immortal Venerable ancestor is just playing a small joke on us…"
"Each floor of the 88-Angle True Yang Building has a hundred challenge floors, and the further back you go, the more the difficulty skyrockets. Throughout history, the number of Royal Court Sovereigns who have cleared entire floors can be counted on one hand—we're not expecting to conquer the final challenge. As long as we clear as many of the previous ones as we can, our clan's strength will leap forward!"
The elders were brimming with joy, but for Hei Lou Lan, this was terrible news.
If he wanted to obtain a Strength Path Gu Immortal from the 88-Angle True Yang Building, there were only two methods.
The first was a superior-grade clear, which granted access to the Secret Treasure Pavilion. Using his bloodline status, he could exchange for Immortal Gu from the collection.
The second was to clear the final challenge floor of each level, which also had a chance of yielding Immortal Gu.
For Hei Lou Lan, the first method required him to produce treasures of equivalent value for the exchange, making it impractical. The only method with a real chance of success was the second.
Clearing the final few challenges was extraordinarily difficult. Now that the floors had reset, re-conquering those challenges was bound to waste his precious time.
Time waited for no one. Once the deadline arrived, they would be expelled from the Royal Court Blessed Land. If he failed to obtain a Strength Path Immortal Gu before then, Hei Lou Lan would not only be unable to avenge his great enemy but would surely face death.
For this reason, Hei Lou Lan overruled everyone and insisted on his own course of action: he expanded the scale of recruitment to include outside clan Gu Masters and threw the 88-Angle True Yang Building wide open.
Entry to the 88-Angle True Yang Building was now completely free—the Hei family charged no fees whatsoever.
With that, apart from the Hei Family Patriarch himself, the entire Holy Palace erupted in jubilation.
"Hei Lou Lan's magnanimity is unmatched! He's done something no Sovereign in history has ever done! I, Yelü Sang, am filled with admiration!" Yelü Sang was the first to enter the 88-Angle True Yang Building, his face flushed red with excitement.
He was the current patriarch of the Yelü Tribe, originally a frontrunner to become the Sovereign of this Royal Court cycle. He had won the fervent support of the tribe's Gu Immortals, who had not hesitated to entrust him with a Flame Path Immortal Gu.
But Yelü Sang had ultimately been defeated. To preserve the Flame Path Immortal Gu on his person, he had been forced to swear allegiance under Hei Lou Lan's banner.
Though he had survived, successfully entering the Royal Court Blessed Land, for him, as a fellow superpower forced to submit to the Hei family, it was a humiliation in itself. Returning to his tribe would surely mean cold shoulders, abandonment, and perhaps even punishment.
"If I reap a great harvest in the 88-Angle True Yang Building, I can redeem myself and return to my tribe in glory!" Yelü Sang's heart surged with ambition.
"Chang Shan Yin, don't get cocky. As long as you haven't ascended in a single day, I still have a chance. The 88-Angle True Yang Building is the foundation of my rise!" Chang Biao's gaze was cold and sinister. He was among the first wave of powerful Gu Masters to enter the building.
He was not traveling alone—he had a companion by his side.
None other than One-Saber General Pan Ping.
Previously, at Star Vulture Peak, Pan Ping had been publicly robbed of his opportunity by Fang Yuan, and his indignation had never subsided.
When Chang Biao learned of this, he had deliberately approached Pan Ping, and the two hit it off immediately, becoming partners.
"Go on, go on—all of you, serve as my vanguard. Use your lives to widen the road ahead for me." Hei Lou Lan sneered to himself and activated the Building Master Token from the side, calmly watching the grand tide of people stream into the building, wave after wave.
Once the flow of people had thinned, a figure appeared on the top floor of the Holy Palace—an elder with a classical appearance, a tall and sturdy frame, dressed in a white robe. It was Tai Bai Yun Sheng.
"Elder Tai Bai," Hei Lou Lan called out in greeting.
"Patriarch, your generosity is truly astonishing. This old man is grateful." Tai Bai Yun Sheng offered his praise.
He carried himself with effortless grace, his bearing relaxed and unhurried. Since entry was now unrestricted and unlimited, there was no rush to charge in immediately. Any challenge floor that offered lifespan Gu as a reward was sure to be far back in the building—he was in no hurry.
After exchanging a few more words, Tai Bai Yun Sheng entered the building as well.
"There's strength in numbers," Hei Lou Lan mused to himself before long.
Messages poured in from the Building Master Token. In a remarkably short time, thanks to the sheer volume of Gu Masters, the first thirty challenge floors were conquered in rapid succession.