Chapter 373 - 372: Imperial Domain

Ku Ming sat behind them, his hands clasped together as he silently recited Buddhist scriptures. The monk’s voice was nearly drowned out by the wind, but the steady rhythm of his prayers helped him regain some control over his emotions.

His eyes remained fixed on the horizon, where the Floating Mountains gradually grew larger, their towering peaks standing above the chaos like the final remnants of an older and more stable world.

The Floating Mountains were the Fifth Wonder of the Nine Provinces.

They formed an impossible range of celestial peaks that floated high above the ordinary landscape, their enormous foundations suspended in a region where gravity and spatial principles behaved according to ancient laws.

The mountains had existed for countless years, and legends claimed that they had once served as the meeting place of the earliest cultivators who established the foundations of the orthodox path. Their summits pierced the uppermost stratosphere, surrounded by clouds that had remained untouched by the corruption spreading across the lower world.

As the Golden Immortal Beast approached, the difference became immediately apparent. The air grew thin and freezing, yet the spiritual Qi surrounding the mountains remained remarkably pure.

Archaic Dao laws flowed through the atmosphere in a stable, orderly manner, creating a stark contrast with the chaotic currents that plagued the rest of the Nine Provinces. Even the demonic miasma seemed reluctant to approach the region, its dark tendrils thinning whenever they came within a certain distance of the celestial peaks.

Lin Yuan studied the phenomenon carefully. The Floating Mountains were not protected merely by their altitude or the natural strength of their formations.

Their very foundations appeared to be connected to a deeper structure within the world, one that allowed them to maintain their stability even as the Nine Heavens Ward collapsed. The surrounding laws were old and profound, carrying traces of a cultivation tradition that had existed long before the current sects and empires rose to prominence.

However, the stability of the mountains did not mean that they were beyond danger. Lin Yuan could sense faint fluctuations in the distant spiritual currents, and the pressure of the Hollow Beyond continued to spread across the sky. The mountains might have been protected for the moment, but if Ku Ming’s theory was correct, the destruction of the lower world would eventually threaten their foundations as well.

They could not afford to waste time.

The Golden Immortal Beast climbed toward the highest peak, its Celestial Jade horn emitting a steady silver glow as it navigated the increasingly dense spatial currents. When they finally crested the summit, the true boundary of the universe revealed itself before them.

Suspended in the absolute void and anchored to the summit of the celestial mountain stood a structure of incomprehensible majesty.

It was a gigantic Golden Gate.

The gate towered thousands of feet into the sky, its enormous doors forged from a metal that defied ordinary earthly categorization. Golden patterns covered its surface, forming intricate arrangements that seemed to shift whenever Lin Yuan attempted to study them directly.

Each symbol contained a trace of ancient Dao principles, and the combined resonance of those principles produced a frequency that shook the heavens and the earth beneath the structure.

This was the threshold between the Nine Province and the Imperial Domain.

Beyond the Golden Gate lay the realm where the Grand Ascendants resided, a place spoken of with reverence by countless cultivators who dreamed of ascending beyond the limitations of the Nine Province. It was considered a paradise compared with the turbulent Nine Provinces, a domain where powerful beings cultivated in peace while the conflicts of the other realm unfolded far beneath their feet.

The Golden Gate was the singular chokepoint connecting those two worlds.

It was also the most heavily guarded boundary in existence.

Lin Yuan dismounted the Golden Immortal Beast and stepped onto the polished jade platform leading toward the colossal structure. Bai Qingyue followed beside him, while Ku Ming descended more slowly, his eyes reflecting the gate’s blinding radiance. For a brief moment, the monk seemed overwhelmed by the sight, and his expression softened with something resembling reverence.

"The gateway of the ancestors," he whispered.

His voice carried the weight of countless generations who had looked toward the Imperial Domain as the true step towards cultivation. "If we can pass through, or at least summon the guardians, we may be able to bring the situation before the Grand Ascendants. They cannot remain unaware of what is happening beyond their gates forever."

Lin Yuan studied the Golden Gate in silence. The structure radiated an authority far beyond that of ordinary formations, and the Dao laws embedded within it appeared to have been established by cultivators whose understanding of the Great Dao had reached an extraordinary depth.

Even without touching the gate, he could feel its principles pressing against his Primordial Spirit, testing his cultivation and making the spiritual Qi within his body circulate more slowly.

He activated his True Elemental Body, allowing the Five Great Secret Realms to work together to resist the suppressive aura. The Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, Azure Dragon, Qilin, and Black Tortoise responded in succession, reinforcing his physical foundation and stabilizing his consciousness. The pressure did not disappear, but his body regained enough freedom for him to continue forward.

The moment his boot crossed the invisible perimeter of the gateway’s threshold, the Golden Gate reacted.

A deep, resonant hum spread across the celestial peak.

Lin Yuan stopped immediately, his eyes narrowing as the surrounding Dao laws shifted. The air before the gate grew heavier, and the golden patterns covering its surface began to shine with increasing intensity. Ku Ming’s expression changed as he sensed the formation awakening, while Bai Qingyue instinctively tightened her grip on the Fortune Banner.

Then the sky above the platform violently shattered.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Three thousand massive, glowing brick walls descended from the heavens with the weight of colliding planets. They struck the jade platform in rapid succession, and each impact sent shockwaves across the Floating Mountains. The walls rose one after another, forming an enormous labyrinth directly in front of the Golden Gate and completely blocking the path toward the Imperial Domain.

The structure was too precise to be a natural defense mechanism. Every wall appeared at exactly the position required to connect with the others, and the combined arrangement formed a barrier whose dimensions extended far beyond what the eye could easily comprehend. The resulting formation covered the entire approach to the gate, leaving no obvious passage through which an ordinary cultivator could proceed.

Lin Yuan stared at the towering barricade.

The walls were not made of stone.

They were forged from condensed, crystallized Dao principles.

Each brick carried an overwhelming conceptual density, and the patterns embedded within its surface represented a different aspect of the laws governing the universe.

Some radiated the sharpness of metal, while others contained the heaviness of earth or the endless movement of water. Still others possessed principles that Lin Yuan could not immediately identify, their structures too profound to be understood through a single glance.

Ku Ming’s eyes widened in shock.

"The Three Thousand Great Dao Barrier!" he exclaimed.