Now that the idea was in his head, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. If not for Chi Mei holding him back, Ye Zichen might have rushed back to Raging Flame City and hurried to the Sky Great District.
There were so many immortal kings sitting around longing for Sea Condensing Pills. If he went to the Sky Great District, wouldn’t he make a killing?
His eyes gradually glowed with a greedy light. He could practically see a swarm of spirit coins, growing wings and flying right at him.
“Moneygrubber.” Chi Mei gnashed her teeth hatefully and kicked a stone by the side of the road into the air.
Ye Zichen naturally noticed this action, and knew he’d come across as a bit too greedy. Chi Mei was currently pissed at him; for safety’s sake, he ought to reign it in a little.
“Ahem. Shouldn’t we hurry?”
Those words had no substance to them. Chi Mei rolled her eyes at him and glowered disdainfully, “So, you know how to hurry, huh? And here I thought you were so overcome with greed you lost all sense of direction.”
“If you keep going on like that, let’s just cancel our deal.”
“You…..”
For the sake of the Sea Condensing Pill, Chi Mei gave in, just like Ye Zichen did when she threatened him with Zhou Wu. When Ye Zichen saw that his threat had been effective, he couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, “hey moron, this is what you get for threatening me! I’ll give you a taste of your own medicine!”
Chi Mei was absolutely unwilling to give up on the Sea Condensing pill, so she restrained her temper and no longer provoked Ye Zichen. She pulled out her landscape painting, then reached out her hand expectantly.
“What are you doing?” asked Ye Zichen.
“What do you mean, ‘what am I doing?’ We’re here. Give me your landscape painting and w’ll go inside.”
Ye Zichen instinctively looked at both sides of the path. All he saw was the usual ancient trees and craggy rocks.
He stretched out his immortal awareness too, but felt no trace of a spiritual formation at all.
Chi Mei said they’d already arrived. Ye Zichen furrowed his brows, but didn’t question her. He simply pulled out the painting and handed it over.
As soon as he did, he saw Chi Mei take both paintings and place them atop a nearby boulder.
At a glance, there was nothing at all special about the boulder. The ancient path was surrounded by both sides on craggy rocks; it looked like just another ordinary rock.
However, even as Ye Zichen was struggling to discern what was so special about this particular boulder, he saw that the landscape paintings had both melted into the rock, while the rock itself took on the shape of a human hand. It was missing a finger, though.
It rumbled, and a formless barrier instantly traveled through Ye Zichen and Chi Mei’s bodies. The next moment, everything went white. When Ye Zichen next turned around, he realized that he’d appeared within an endless ocean.
This….. This is where the raft was in the painting.” Ye Zichen was so shocked, he had no words to express it. All he could do was step onto the clouds and stare, stunned, at the world around him.
The lake water was clear and transparent, but even so, he couldn’t see any deeper than the first couple feet of water. The water’s surface was calm with only an occasional gentle breeze blowing by and stirring up faint ripples.
When the ripples disappeared, the water was calm once more, as if the entire world had come to a stop.
There was a stone mountain in the center of the lake. Just the part sticking out of the water was already ten thousand feet tall, but who knew just how deep the water was? However, it wasn’t hard to imagine that, should this mountain exist on dry land, it would be a vast and imposing sight.
A fiery red sun hung above the mountaintop, radiating warm light. However, even after a long time passed, it showed no signs of setting. It stayed put above the mountain, just like painting. Everything was utterly still.
He saw no trace of living things. All he sensed were the five elements of Heaven and Earth. In here, the Dao of the Five Elements was extremely clear. Just standing there for a few breaths of time was enough to deepen Ye Zichen’s understanding of the five elements. As for other Daos, it was as if they didn’t exist. He couldn’t connect with them at all.
“Hmph. Surprised, huh?” Chi Mei seized the opportunity to tease him, but in truth, she’d ractd the same way when she first came here.
The world was completely still, and every Dao was sealed off and inaccessible save for the Great Dao of the Five Elements.
Ye Zichen nodded slightly. There was no need to pretend otherwise. This place was simply too strange. Nevermind him, even if people from the Divine Mountains were here, they’d react in much the same way.
“This is actually the world inside the painting,” said Chi Mei calmly.
“Painting? Are you saying we’re currently inside the landscape painting?”
And here he’d thought the boulder transported them to a separate dimension. He never would have guessed this was the inside of a painting!
“That’s right.” Although Chi Mei had already been here a few times, she couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. “The Five Elements Great Emperor was far too powerful. Before he fell at the God Emperor’s hands, he transformed this painting into a separate world and sealed his tomb within. At the same time, he sealed the outside world’s Dao of the Five Elements within. Look at the mountains, rivers, the sun, the wind…. In truth, all of them are formed from the five elements.”
More importantly, just how strong was that God Emperor?
He’d killed the Five Elements Great Emperor in an ambush before seizing his destiny, stealing his fortune, and usurping his rightful throne. Since he’d resorted to ambush, the Five Elements Great Emperor might be stronger than the God Emperor, but since he’d succeeded, the difference couldn’t possibly be too great.
He absolutely couldn’t take any of this place’s great fortune. If he did, he’d be unlikely to live much longer.
“Are you thinking ‘I absolutely can’t touch this place’s great fortune?’” Chi Mei seemed to see right through him. She couldn’t help but chuckle, “It’s too late. The moment you stepped in here, you already obtained it.”
“Quit talking nonsense. I haven’t even entered his tomb yet, nor have I taken even a single spirit coin. How can you call this ‘obtaining his good fortune?’” Ye Zichen rolled his eyes. If Chi Mei had to get revenge against the God Emperor, that was her problem. He didn’t want anything to do with it.
No matter how he looked at it, avenging the Five Elements Great Emperor wasn’t realistic!
“Isn’t the power of the Five Elements contained in this place already good fortune? No matter which of the five elements you cultivate, coming here will deepen your awareness of that element. Isn’t that ‘good fortune?’”
Chi Mei’s gaze carried a hint of a sneer as she looked out over the boundless lake. “In truth, the Five Elements Great Emperor tricked us. He said his great fortune was in his tomb, but eleven just stepping in here tied us to him irrevocably. We’re already stained with his karma. You can’t escape it no matter how hard you try.”
Standing above the clouds, Ye Zichen’s expression shifted repeatedly as he grappled with his emotions. Finally, hee glowered at Chi Mei and roared, “You knew? That means you lied to me…. You led me into a trap.”
Sensing Ye Zichen’s fury, Chi Mei simply smiled calmly. “Well, yeah. Really though, it’s not that we tricked you, so much as that the Five Elements Great Emperor tricked us all… calm down. We’re all stuck on the same boat now, so your big sister will take good care of you.”
