Think of how magnificent this place once was, with its dazzling displays and vast sea of books. What a spectacular sight it must have been.

Yet as everyone walked through, they could only sigh:

Gone. All gone.

No matter how vast the collection of books had been, it couldn’t withstand the ravages of time or the plunder of thieves. Everyone split up to look around, but returned with the same report: nine out of ten rooms in the library were empty, and what remained was either worm-eaten or torn to shreds—good for nothing but kindling.

This situation was exactly what Feng Miaojun had expected. How many times had defenseless Yingshui City been looted over the past three hundred years? No one could keep count. Treasure hunters and scavengers had taken everything of value—what could remain?

Yet it must still hold some hidden value, otherwise, why would the King of Yan repeatedly send people to search for it?

Thinking of this, she was struck by another doubt:

The Nineteenth Prince of Yan, Zhao Yun, who had once operated here, was killed by Yun Ya. The commoners Zhao Yun had brought to live here were promptly evacuated by local officials. Afterward, New Xia regularly sent patrols to Yingshui City to drive away thieves and intruders, including Yan’s secret agents.

Strangely, the people of Yan seemed to have withdrawn completely. At least, New Xia hadn’t caught any Yan spies since then.

Based on Feng Miaojun’s understanding of the King of Yan, he wasn’t one to give up easily.

So, had he already achieved his goal?

To search such a vast library, her small group wasn’t enough. So Feng Miaojun wrote a letter, sealed it with the private seal of the Queen of New Xia, and sent someone to deliver it to the local officials.

Yingshui City was enormous. By the time they walked from the outskirts to the royal city, it was nearly dark.

Feng Miaojun had no intention of leaving the city: “Let’s spend the night in the Divine Temple.”

No one in the group objected.

In the early days of the Haoli Empire, various temples existed, dedicated to all manner of deities, with thriving worshippers. However, after the Upper Realm closed and spiritual energy waned, the Haoli Empire deliberately discouraged the worship of deities. As a result, temples were either demolished or slowly decayed over the long years. Very few remained standing today.

By the time the Haoli Empire fell, only one temple remained in Yingshui City. It had been built under the personal supervision of the Haoli Emperor, and his descendants dared not disturb it, allowing it to survive.

This temple stood south of the royal city, less than a thousand paces from the main palace gate, covering an area of two qing (130,000 square meters). Capital land was never cheap, and during the Haoli Empire’s time, land in Yingshui City was truly worth its weight in gold—money alone couldn’t secure it. Yet the Haoli Emperor willingly dedicated such a large piece of central city land to build a temple, clearly demonstrating his sincere devotion.

He even issued a strict order in his final edict that future generations of the royal family must not alter a single piece of wood or soil of the temple. This prevented the temple properties from being encroached upon or plundered, allowing the temple to be preserved intact for posterity.

For first-time visitors to Yingshui City like Feng Miaojun and Chen Dachang, their initial reaction upon seeing the temple’s exterior was to gasp in astonishment, speechless for a long moment.

The temple complex was as majestic as the palace, but it wasn’t built with bricks and tiles—it was formed from wood.

More precisely, it used not a single brick, nail, or tile, but was “grown” naturally from trees. Dozens of ancient trees reached toward the sky, their trunks twisted by some mysterious force into pillars, beams, walls, eaves, rafters… and of course, the elaborately patterned, magnificent main gate!

This was a temple complex formed entirely from giant trees, showing no trace of human construction, yet its structure was extraordinarily beautiful. Anyone standing before the temple gate and looking up would marvel at its grandeur and feel their insignificance.

A divine miracle!

Without question, this was the work of gods.

The ancient trees remain lush to this day. These dozens of trees formed a forest, and when the morning breeze blew through, it created the beauty of ocean waves rushing through the woods.

Although it was getting dark and the forest was pitch black, the group standing outside the temple gates didn’t feel fear or uncertainty. Instead, they experienced an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if every leaf in the forest was exceptionally gentle.

The marks of the doors being violently broken open by the army three hundred years ago had disappeared as the trees continued to grow. But the temple gates stood open, not refusing anyone’s entry.

Feng Miaojun led the group inside.

Like the palace city, this place was in disarray, with discarded objects scattered everywhere, all ransacked.

Walking toward the main hall, the straight and spacious central courtyard with its four entrances presented a fusion of grandeur and decay, stirring deep emotions.

Then, they reached the main hall dedicated to the Celestial Deity.

This was the most spectacular building in the entire temple complex. Though its glory had faded, its magnificent structure and layout seemed somehow familiar.

As soon as Feng Miaojun entered, she knew she had been here before—

In Yun Ya’s dream.

What Yun Ya had dreamed of was probably the scene just before the temple was attacked; what she saw today had endured three hundred years of decay.

Yet it was the same place; she could tell at first glance.

But entering today, she realized that her previous dream visit had only shown her the side halls, while now they had entered the main hall first.

Being the main hall, its scale and contents were much grander than the side halls. She had thought the temple she saw in her dream was the most magnificent she would ever see in this lifetime, but the main hall before her now once again overturned her understanding.

The area here was at least three times larger than the side halls. Looking up at the beams and the ornate ceiling in the center, they seemed as distant as heaven.

Standing here, whether in ancient times or now, one could only feel—

The insignificance of all beings, the boundless power of divine law.

In the center of the great hall stood a statue of a deity in a proper seated position, but only the lower half remained; the upper half was missing. Feng Miaojun could only tell it was female because it was carved wearing a skirt. If the statue had been intact, it would have been at least twice the size of the Realm Deity she had seen before.

She instinctively raised her hand but quickly suppressed the urge to point: “Is this the Celestial Deity?” Pointing at a divine statue would be extremely disrespectful, and she didn’t want to commit such a taboo in this solemn temple.

Yu Haizhen spoke softly: “This is the Creation Deity, but not just one—there were two. According to legend, they were a married couple.”

Feng Miaojun felt immense regret. Divine statues were commissioned by the royal family and reproduced the deities’ appearances with at least ninety percent accuracy. If this statue had remained intact, she could have glimpsed the true face of the Creation Deity.

Strangely, in all the surviving historical records of the Haoli Empire, there were no portraits of these two Creation Deities. Later generations could only rely on imagination.

Was this a coincidence or deliberate?

Feng Miaojun toured the other side halls in turn and discovered that they primarily enshrined various demon deities, with few human ones. The Realm Deity from this world was among them. Seeing is truly believing: “Was the Creation Deity truly of demon origin?”

She had read many debates about the Celestial Deity’s origins in the Yanhai Tower, with some arguing for demon ancestry and others for human ancestry, neither sounding particularly convincing. Visiting the temple today, she felt the former was closer to the truth, given that the temple enshrined mostly demon deities.