Plate 113: The Scarlet Goddess of the Danxia Mountains

At long last, the Celestial Transformation came to an end. Although the Sacred Palace had not reopened, everyone was able to relax somewhat.

Then, one day at noon, the image of Sang Hongye appeared in the minds of every person throughout the world. A voice proclaimed that, from that day onward, Sang Hongye would become the supreme ruler of the Danxia Painting Realm.

Immediately afterward, nine divine palaces descended from the heavens and settled upon famous mountains and seas throughout the continent. Divine radiance shimmered around them, its brilliance visible for thousands of miles. Redleaf City itself rose from the ground and floated into the sky, thereafter being named the Sacred City.

The divine palaces shone for nine days before their radiance finally faded. On that day, their gates opened wide, and anyone who came could enter. Within lay a world unlike any other. It revealed what existed beyond the Danxia Painting Realm, explained the levels of civilization, described inner energy and spirit arts, and answered whether cultivation could lead to immortality.

In a daze, everyone passed through the Courtyard of Knowledge. All the illusions vanished, and the scene before them suddenly opened into yet another world.

Clear mountains, beautiful waters, birdsong, and the chirring of cicadas. The trees in the mountains were unlike any they had ever seen. The flowers in the water were wholly unfamiliar. The birds flying overhead belonged to unknown species, while even the noisy cicadas had grotesque appearances.

The mountains and waters looked familiar, but the flowers and birds were strange.

Was this the world beyond?

“What an abundance of spiritual energy.”

Everyone drew deep breaths. Their chronic ailments seemed to be expelled along with their stale breath, and their bodies grew lighter and more comfortable. Faintly, they seemed to hear the crisp sound of chains breaking. Their entire beings floated as though they had become immortals.

No one knew how much time had passed before the scenery around them blurred. When their vision cleared, they found themselves standing inside a grand hall. A huge painting hung upon the wall before them. Ink flowed across its surface, fish leaped, and birds soared. Though rendered solely in black and white, it was so lifelike that it depicted precisely the scenery they had just witnessed.

Anyone who had participated in the Painting Tournament and been fortunate enough to see Sang Hongye wield a brush would remember this style vividly. In the entire history of the Danxia Painting Realm, only Sang Hongye had ever dared to use a single color in a painting—and then bring forth the charm of every color through it.

Even though the style was familiar, the properties contained within the painting were utterly foreign to the people of Danxia.

How could there be space inside a painting?

This was no illusion. The flowers and herbs they had gathered were still in their hands, and the hands that had brushed against the water were still wet. This was a genuine space!

So paintings could seal not only spirit beasts and natural realms, but actual physical space as well?

No—this was more than merely a space!

An eighty-year-old man suddenly leaped to his feet.

“I’ve broken through! I’ve reached the Heavenly Rank!”

A female painter leaped up as well. “My, my premature aging disorder is gone!”

“Mother, I think I’ve become smarter! I remember everything I failed to memorize this morning!” A child threw himself against the woman beside him, while his mother stood there in disbelief, murmuring, “The unstable, agitated spiritual energy in my body has calmed down.”

Cries of astonishment and delight rose one after another. Some announced that their illnesses had been cured. Others said that their sensitivity to spiritual energy had increased. Still others proclaimed that they had broken through to a higher rank.

At last, everyone turned their eyes toward the painting before them.

“A divine painting! It truly is a divine painting!”

Some fell prostrate in worship, and the people around them followed suit. Among them were even those who had once spent time with Sang Hongye. Their hearts were tangled with fear, regret, and a hundred other emotions.

“We thought she was merely the legendary divine painter at most. Who could have known that she was a true goddess?”

“How blind we were back then!”

“If only we had known…”

Only those entering a divine palace for the first time could pass through its gates without hindrance. Anyone wishing to enter again had to undergo an examination. They had to pray with sincerity and use their faith to light a luminescent stone lamp within the palace before they could hope to continue into the painted world.

It was not long before those who had entered the divine palaces began to discover changes in their bodies. People who had believed advancement was impossible suddenly rose to higher ranks. Those whose lifespans had reached their limits and were merely waiting to die found that organs which had repeatedly withered despite countless replacements had suddenly regained their vitality.

Most astonishing of all, some women discovered that a new life had appeared within them. Just as the divine palace had described the people of the outside world, they had conceived children naturally.

According to the divine palace, children conceived naturally would not suffer bodily collapse and organ failure from the impact of spiritual energy. They might even possess innate supernatural abilities. Their ultimate potential would no longer be limited to the Heavenly Rank; they might reach the Stellar Rank or even the Void Rank. Their lifespans could extend for thousands or tens of thousands of years, allowing them to leave the Danxia Continent and behold the world beyond the stars.

The pregnant women became the focus of the entire continent, for the children in their wombs were true darlings of heaven.

Countless people prayed to Sang Hongye and swore to become devout believers of the Holy Maiden.

Sang Sang paid no attention to the enormous commotion caused by the few ordinary healing and purification faith paintings she had casually created. Once she had added the attribute of unlocking genetic locks and released them across the Danxia Continent, she began comprehending the Origin of Creation.

This time, her spiritual senses did not suddenly flash a warning. When she emerged from seclusion after reaching a bottleneck, her Law of Creation had attained the fourth realm. With the aid of the Origin Artifact, reviving the Goddess of Danxia would no longer be a problem.

The goddess’s soul was intact. All she needed was a suitable body to contain it. Whoever controlled the Origin Artifact could complete the resurrection. Sang Sang’s only advantage was that she had seen the Goddess of Danxia’s memories and knew what sort of person she was. Thus, the body she created would resemble the original even more closely.

Within the Life-Gestation Pool, the graceful woman opened her eyes. Her red pupils resembled burning flames. Luoqi held her as though she were a priceless treasure, murmuring the name Danxia while kissing her forehead.

Their reunion after tens of thousands of years was neither warm nor touching. What greeted him instead was a vicious slap.

Smack!

“Danxia!” Luoqi stared at her in disbelief, his face twisted with shock.

“I’ll settle accounts with you later.” The Goddess of Danxia casually draped an outer robe over herself and stepped out of the Life-Gestation Pool. She stopped before Sang Sang.

“Although I never wished to be resurrected, I must still thank you. There is no need for a contract. From now on, I am your believer. I shall pray and make offerings each day. May fortune accompany your martial path, and may you enter the Divine Court soon.”

Sang Sang rose to her feet. “Thank you for your good wishes.”

The Goddess of Danxia said, “I have personal matters to deal with. Lend me Luoqi for a few days.”

Sang Sang smiled. “Please, make yourself at home. Until I attain the Profound Rank, Priest Luoqi will remain the lord of Danxia and oversee the affairs of the Danxia Painting Realm.”

The Goddess of Danxia wore an extremely complicated expression.

“Thank you.”

Sang Sang was about to leave when she suddenly remembered something.

“By the way, my mastery of the Laws of Time and Space is still too shallow to alter the past. In the eyes of the cosmic will, the goddess is an aberration who should not exist. Every action, word, and movement of yours will generate cause and effect. Please do not leave the Danxia Painting Realm. I also ask that you refrain from using force whenever possible. I would not want the Origin Artifact I have only just obtained, and have yet to fully master, to be erased by the cosmic will because its causal traces were obscured.”

Luoqi flew into a rage. “You…”

“Shut up!”

The Goddess of Danxia struck him with another slap, sending him crashing into the water. Then she turned toward Sang Sang.

“Thank you for the warning. The moment I awoke, I already knew that I bore the burden of cause and effect—not only my own, but also that created by the sins of some fool. I cannot leave this small world.”

Luoqi sat in the Life-Gestation Pool, his eyes filled with astonishment.

“Impossible. How could cause and effect have fallen upon you?”

He suddenly turned toward Sang Sang.

“It was you. You tampered with it, didn’t you?”