Four great pillars supported the dome. The floor was polished to a mirror shine.
The walls, the pillars, and the ceiling were all constructed from snow-white jade.
In the center of the hall was a small platform with twenty-three steps.
Upon the platform stood a bronze statue of a divine bird. The bird raised its head, wings spread as if about to fly, but countless pitch-black chains, each as thick as an ancient tree, clung to its body, tightly wrapping around its long neck, firmly winding around its slender feet, and even brutally piercing its feathers, hooking deep into its very core.
The bird's eyes were narrowed like blades, its brow furrowed, and its beak wide open as if in an angry scream. The expression was startlingly vivid, every detail lifelike, radiating a spirit of absolute defiance and struggle that was unforgettable to anyone who laid eyes on it.
Fang Yuan appeared on the steps, looking at the towering bronze statue of the divine bird that filled his entire field of vision. Within his black pupils, twin flames seemed to burn.
"This… this… this!" The shock of the sudden discovery left Mo Yao tongue-tied.
She swallowed hard, pointed a finger, and exclaimed, "This is the Frost Jade Peacock! The land spirit of the Imperial Court Blessed Land!!"
"Ah, is there something so strange about that?" Fang Yuan smiled lightly, a faint curve on his lips. "The Imperial Court Blessed Land has always had a land spirit. Otherwise, how would it have acknowledged Giant Sun Immortal Venerable and recognized him as its master back then? A land spirit is born from obsession combined with the world's heavenly and earthly might. To eliminate a land spirit is to fight the entire Blessed Land. The destruction of the land spirit represents the destruction of the Blessed Land. Conversely, the destruction of the Blessed Land foretells the inevitable death of the land spirit. Since the Imperial Court Blessed Land is intact here, the land spirit must also be alive."
These words provoked a pained rebuke from Mo Yao. "You wretched brat, do you think I don't understand such a simple principle? How could I, a woman who has lived so long, not know that!"
During her life, Mo Yao had poured all her heart and soul into studying the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building for the sake of her beloved, Bo Qing, aiming to obtain the Attaining Heavenly Luck Gu to help Bo Qing successfully advance to Rank Nine.
In the end, although she successfully entered the True Inheritance Secret Realm, she lacked the strength to obtain the Gu. She had to settle for the next best thing, using the inheritance content within, combined with her foundation as a Refinement Path Grandmaster, to refine the Calamity Beckoning Gu.
It was precisely because of this that she knew the value of the Imperial Court's land spirit perfectly well!
Back then, when Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was not yet Rank Nine, he participated in the competition for the succession of the Imperial Court Blessed Land. He succeeded and became the master of the Imperial Court Blessed Land.
After he attained Rank Nine, became invincible under heaven, and possessed a superior Longevity Grotto-Heaven, the Imperial Court Blessed Land became one of Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's terrestrial palaces.
Giant Sun Immortal Venerable set up the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building within the Imperial Court Blessed Land.
This created a relationship — to scheme for the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, one had to first enter the Imperial Court Blessed Land. The Imperial Court Blessed Land was like a layer of a turtle shell protecting the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building.
Through Giant Sun Immortal Venerable's arrangement, this layer had been playing a massive role, blocking Gu Immortals from entry.
However, within this arrangement, there was a massive loophole, one that almost any Gu Immortal could understand!
It was the existence of the Imperial Court Blessed Land's land spirit!
This loophole did not exist when Giant Sun Immortal Venerable was alive. Because Giant Sun was the land spirit's master. Whatever he commanded, the land spirit would unconditionally obey.
But after Giant Sun Immortal Venerable died, the Imperial Court Blessed Land became an ownerless object. As long as one met the standards of the land spirit's recognition, anyone could become the new master of the Imperial Court Blessed Land.
And the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was established within the Imperial Court Blessed Land. Whoever controlled the Imperial Court Blessed Land practically had the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building in their grasp.
Any Gu Immortal, upon even slight consideration, knew this relationship.
During her lifetime, Mo Yao, when studying the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, also expended a vast amount of time and heart on this aspect.
But in the end, she achieved nothing.
All her arduous efforts in this area turned to dust.
What kind of figure was Giant Sun Immortal Venerable? How could he not know about this loophole? He handled it extremely well, deeply sealing the land spirit away. When Mo Yao explored, she couldn't even find a single feather of the land spirit.
"To think the land spirit was hidden within the True Inheritance Secret Realm! A loophole only appears when the True Inheritance flies to a certain extent, allowing a door to open into this place!" Mo Yao's heart was tremendously shaken. She had finally figured out the reasoning.
The more she thought about it, the more she admired Fang Yuan.
"This brat, I underestimated him! Just who is he to know the method to enter this place?" Mo Yao was both shocked and curious.
Fang Yuan's performance made her extremely surprised, far exceeding her imagination.
She did not know that Fang Yuan was replicating the recordings of the Gu Immortals of Central Continent in his past life.
In fact, the reason the Gu Immortals of Central Continent were able to research so thoroughly was all built upon the foundation of Mo Yao's research.
Mo Yao was a distinguished Refinement Path Grandmaster. For her love, she single-mindedly researched the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building and charged in alone. After her death, she left behind precious research materials, which were seized by Spirit Affinity House.
Afterwards, through the vicissitudes of tens of thousands of years, generation after generation of Spirit Affinity House's geniuses continuously deepened the research. At the same time, the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building, under the erosion of time, developed more and more loopholes, making it easier to exploit.
But Spirit Affinity House knew that tackling a fat piece of meat like the Eighty-Eight True Yang Building was not something a single super force could accomplish. Thus, Spirit Affinity House secretly cooperated with several other ancient factions of Central Continent, scheming and laying plans for thousands of years.
Spirit Affinity House spearheaded the alliance, always holding the primary research materials. Then, after a long period of accumulation, when the Central Continent Gu Immortals launched their full-scale assault, the team was led by Spirit Affinity House's contemporary fairy, Black Moon.
Slowly ascending the steps, Fang Yuan arrived at the feet of the bronze divine bird.
This towering statue was the land spirit of the Imperial Court Blessed Land, the Frost Jade Peacock!
But it was firmly sealed by Giant Sun Immortal Venerable, unable to move. From over a hundred thousand years ago, through endless time, it had stood here until now.