Ahead lay the swirling vortex of clouds and wind.
Behind them stretched a dense thicket of spatial rifts.
After a brief pause, they lowered their altitude and continued forward, skimming just above the sandy ground. The storm cyclone hung directly overhead, their destination clearly lying deep within its heart.
Only upon drawing near did one realize that this place was far from as calm as it appeared on the surface.
The cloud vapor within flowed ceaselessly like seawater, only at a slow pace. Moreover, it was so dense, uniform, and devoid of impurities that it seemed like a single solid mass, making the movement difficult to discern from afar.
Within this deceptively tranquil cyclone, a terrifying, violent power was brewing.
If the cyclone were to collapse, hardly anyone present would escape alive—including the Nascent Soul cultivators!
Suppressing his unease, Qin Sang tilted his head back and stared at the clouds overhead.
Judging by the movements of those Nascent Soul grandmasters, Ziwei Palace had to be within the cyclone. Yet the clouds completely obstructed their vision, making it impossible to see through the vortex and discern what lay inside.
Nor could Qin Sang tell whether this immense power stemmed from the storm cyclone itself, or from the immortal formation hidden deep within that sealed Ziwei Palace.
Just as Qin Sang's thoughts wandered, the red cloud came to a halt once more.
They were now close to the core of the cyclone. Ahead, streams of cloud vapor intertwined into a colossal maelstrom. At the deepest center of the eye, there seemed to be a massive void, but from their position, it was impossible to see what lay within.
Time ticked away, and they remained stationed in place for more than two hours.
With neither the four-colored cloud nor the warship moving, everyone had no choice but to wait where they were. The Nascent Soul grandmasters showed no signs of movement either, leaving everyone wondering what they were waiting for.
Qin Sang glanced left and right.
Dongyang Bo stood with his hands clasped behind his back near the edge of the red cloud, not far from them.
Tie Guanzi, Chenyan, Martial Uncle Fengming, and the others clearly knew what was happening. Perfectly composed, they sat cross-legged, quietly regulating their breathing.
Yunyouzi was staying close beside his sect elders, making it improper for Qin Sang to converse with him too brazenly via voice transmission. Qin Sang therefore turned to Qiu Mubai beside him to ask about the situation.
Ji Qing and the others knew very little about Ziwei Palace as well, and leaned in curiously.
"The entrance to Ziwei Palace is located in the eye of the storm," Qiu Mubai said, evidently in the know. Pointing toward the void in the eye, he explained in a hushed voice, "It is not yet time for Ziwei Palace to appear. Only when an anomaly manifests at the eye, when Ziwei Palace emerges and the immortal formation destabilizes, will we have an opportunity to counter the formation with our own and enter Ziwei Palace. Right now, we are just waiting for that moment... It probably won't be much longer."
Saying that, Qiu Mubai glanced at Qin Sang.
"The spiritual formation used to breach the immortal formation of Ziwei Palace is called the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation. It is the most reliable method discovered through the trials of countless predecessors over the years. Although several other spiritual formations can also breach it, none are foolproof, and there have even been instances where they triggered a counterattack from the immortal formation, resulting in the loss of more than half our people.
"Setting up the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation requires countless rare spiritual materials, along with an indispensable curiosity called the Star Element Stone, which can currently only be found at Heaven-Pointing Peak.
"The spatial fabric of Heaven-Pointing Peak is fragile. Only a small portion of Star Element Stones can be harvested each time, or the space will completely collapse. Furthermore, Heaven-Pointing Peak constantly drifts through the Yuncang Great Marsh with an unpredictable location, making it impossible for either domain to claim it exclusively.
"Thus, the two domains agreed to share control of Heaven-Pointing Peak, unsealing it only before Ziwei Palace appears to gather the Star Element Stones for the formation. Later, it gradually evolved into one of the wager contest grounds between our two domains.
"Speaking of which, we cultivators of the Lesser Cold Domain truly owe you our thanks, Junior Brother Qin.
"You played a crucial role in that wager contest, helping the Lesser Cold Domain secure a victory. Otherwise, we might have been the ones forced to provide the spiritual materials for the formation, which would have cost a tidy sum.
"Therefore, it was only right that you earned the snow spirit lotus and iris flower."
*Star Element Stones, Heaven-Pointing Peak...*
A realization dawned upon Qin Sang. Though he had guessed some of it before, hearing the full story from Qiu Mubai allowed him to connect all the dots.
That wager contest had actually been tied to the Lesser Beichen Star Element Formation! In hindsight, the rewards given by Stargazing Island had truly been stingy!
Still, upon further thought, how many Star Element Stones one could gather at Heaven-Pointing Peak had little to do with strength or morale; it depended mostly on luck.
The Star Spirit Net Granny Jing had given him was the only anomaly.
The net was still in Qin Sang's possession, as Granny Jing had never asked for it back.
If they were to cheat with the Star Spirit Net in every future contest, the Lesser Cold Domain would remain undefeated. However, after just a couple of times, the Heaven-Traversing Alliance would surely notice something amiss.
Having learned the truth, Qin Sang and the others stopped feeling anxious and settled down to wait patiently.
To their surprise, this wait lasted more than twelve hours.
Half a day passed just like that before an anomaly finally surfaced in the storm cyclone.
A thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the clouds at the eye of the storm. The streams of cloud vapor began flowing faster and faster, their ripples becoming clearly visible to the naked eye.
Amidst the rumbling din,
the entire storm cyclone began to rotate slowly.
A powerful suction appeared at the eye, rapidly pulling the surrounding clouds upward into the sky.
It was as if a bottomless abyss had opened in the heavens, swallowing boundless amounts of cloud vapor without ever being filled.
As more and more cloud vapor drained away, the void at the eye began to expand outward, and its edges visibly grew diffuse.
The suction above the eye collided with the power within the cyclone, making the surrounding forces increasingly chaotic.
Gales howled.
Sand flew and stones rolled.
Buffeted by the clash of chaotic spiritual energy and clouds, both the Heaven-Traversing Warship and the four-colored cloud began to shudder violently.
Everyone widened their eyes, staring intently at the celestial phenomenon unfolding before them.
Ordinary people would never witness such a sight in their entire lives, let alone from such close proximity.
The storm cyclone spun faster and faster, reaching its peak in less than fifteen minutes. By then, the eye had expanded more than tenfold. Following a tremendous crash, a ray of wondrous light suddenly descended from the heavens into the very center of the eye!
The wondrous light instantly filled the entire eye and rapidly spread outward.
Jaws dropped as everyone was awestruck by the spectacle in the sky.
Through the thinning clouds, one could see layers upon layers of a sea of clouds, piled all the way up to the Ninth Heaven. There, in a place that resembled a heavenly palace, stood a heavenly gate.
In the center of the gate, three large characters were prominently written: *Ziwei Palace*—the exact scene depicted on the Ziwei Secret Talisman!
Yet witnessing the heavenly gate with one's own eyes felt entirely different from seeing it on the talisman; the drawing could not capture even a fraction of its true majesty.
The heavily damaged heavenly gate was covered in marks left by the ancient passage of time.
The moment one laid eyes upon the gate, an aura of vicissitudes spanning countless ages washed over them, carrying with it a boundless desolation.
The heavenly gate of Ziwei Palace stood lonely above the clouds. The splendor of the past had long faded, and not even crumbling walls remained—only this broken heavenly gate.
Yet it stood unbroken and upright, the three characters *Ziwei Palace* still shining brilliantly.
It left behind the final trace of the immortal palace.
And recounted the history of days gone by to the generations that followed!
Chapter 560