Chapter 383 Sorry, We Can’t Go Along With This Performance of Yours
Li Nianfan stood on the high tower and fully felt the benefits of being an Immortal.
The view was truly scattered with stars like chess pieces on a board!
The vast galaxy was just a chess piece.
‘Immortals at that time could probably move the infinite stars around. Although they had limitations, it’s still exciting to think about it.’
Li Nianfan asked, “Lady Zi, can the galaxy be manipulated?”
“Yes. There are managers for the stars. Some were born with the galaxy, and some were assigned by the Heavenly Palace. They control the movement of the stars, the time, and the changes of the four seasons.”
Ziye paused, then said, “Taoist Xinghe’s one of them.”
Li Nianfan thought of when he first met Taoist Xinghe. He was surprised. “Yo, that’s awesome for Brother Taoist. Which one is he in charge of?”
Ziye lifted her hand. She was about to point it out. She looked for it for a long while and said awkwardly, “It’s a bit far and a bit small. And a bit dim. Can’t see it from here…”
“Ha, I understand.”
Li Nianfan laughed. He looked at the intersection of the realm and the universe again. They were star-crossed, it was extremely beautiful.
Cheng Yi smiled and said, “Mr. Li, this is just the sunset. The sunrise is more beautiful. The morning sun will pass through the Heavenly Palace.”
“So exciting,” nodded Li Nianfan. Then, he looked around and said, “Truly the Heavenly Palace. It’s such a great place.”
Cheng Yi was thrilled to hear that, she even blushed. She felt like she understood what the expert really meant. She hurriedly said in a trembling voice, “Mr. Li, if you want, you can pick a palace to stay at.”
Ziye also hurriedly said, “Yeah, Mr. Li. There are a lot of empty palaces. My Second Sister and I can pick out the best one for you.”
Li Nianfan smiled and waved it off, “Haha, no thanks. I’m just a nobody and I’m an ordinary man. How could I stay at the Heavenly Palace? I’m not worthy! Thanks for the generosity.”
Cheng Yi and Ziye secretly sighed at the same time. ‘The expert’s supposed to like it, why did he reject us? If the expert truly liked the Heavenly Palace, the future of the Heavenly Palace would be secured. Sigh, we failed to promote the Heavenly Palace. What a miss!’
Cheng Yi continued to introduce the place. She pointed at a nearby palace and said, “Mr. Li, this is our Palace of the Seven Princesses.” Li Nianfan immediately smiled. “The Palace of the Seven Princesses is located nicely, and it’s next to the observatory.”
“Hehe, we like to watch the view. We were just favored by the Empress,” said Cheng Yi. She led the way and walked towards the Palace of the Seven Princesses. “Mr. Li, how about you visit my Palace of the Seven Princesses?”
“Alright.”
Li Nianfan nodded. They entered the Palace of the Seven Princesses. It was a classic room for young ladies. It was fresh and elegant and very tidy inside. It smelled a bit like incense candles and perfume. At that moment, Li Nianfan suddenly realized something. He said, “I’m a man. It’s not appropriate for me to be in your room, right?”
Cheng Yi pursed her lips and chuckled. “Mr. Li, no need to be a stranger. We sisters don’t care about that much. If it wasn’t for the fact that five of my sisters are still sealed, we could’ve performed for you, Mr. Li.”
Li Nianfan waved it off. He smiled troublingly and said, “Stop joking, Lady Cheng. I’m not worthy. How can I let the Seven Princesses perform for me?”.
Then, everyone saw the five other Princesses that ended up as statues. They were still smiling and they seemed to be chatting. Cheng Yi and Ziye stopped talking at the same time. They silently sighed and looked down.
Nanan and Dragin stopped looking so curious. They said with sympathy, “Brother Nianfan, they’re so pitiful.”
“There’ll be a way as long as they’re alive,” comforted Li Nianfan. Then, he asked curiously, “Lady Zi, is the Jade Emperor and the Empress also sealed?”
Ziye shook her head and replied, “No. For all these years, Second Sister has been with the Jade Emperor and Empress. However, they’re stuck somewhere.”
‘The Jade Emperor and Empress are here? They’re major bigshots.’
Li Nianfan nodded, he was slightly weirded out. He was also unavoidably excited.
He focused and noticed a scroll on the table. He picked it up and inspected it in his hand. “What’s this?”
Ziye and Cheng Yi were stumped at the same time. They stuttered as they struggled to answer the question.
The scroll was previously traded from Ma Yunming with chives. They could not open it and could not damage it. Cheng Yi was studying it earlier. She simply placed it on the table because of the sudden change in the Heavenly Palace.
While they were stumped, Li Nianfan tugged the scroll. Then, he easily pulled it open, leaving them dumbfounded.
The first thing he saw in the scroll was the mountains and rivers. The ink on the scroll was already dried out. The painting scroll was long and filled up with contents.
Apart from the mountains and rivers, there were a lot of animals and all sorts of plants.
The old painting started to gleam as he opened it. A powerful and endless aura started to knock them in the face. Everyone felt their hearts thump as they felt a fearful respect.
‘This—this is…’
Cheng Yi astoundingly looked at the painting with her pretty eyes. She suddenly widened her eyes and breathed fast. She unconsciously tightened her grip because she was overly excited. The veins on her hand slightly popped up.
‘The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting!
‘That’s definitely The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting!
She was with the Empress for a long time. The Empress always told her stories of the eldritch realms because she was overly bored. It included stories of Spiritual Treasures. The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting was one of the most important ones!
The painting was an Ultimate Heavenly Spiritual Treasure but its function was extremely unique. The painting was about a scene from a prehistoric world. It was a scenery painting. It had everything in it. Also… the painting was alive!
The painting could change its scenery however its master desired. It could also absorb someone into the painting and trap them in there like a vessel.
Out of all the Spiritual Treasures, Cheng Yi was most impressed by The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting. Not because of any fancy reasons. It was just because the painting could save the Empress and the Jade Emperor!
The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting was also a seal that could trap people in it. If she placed the Empress and the Jade Emperor inside the painting, then brought it out, she could save the Empress and the Jade Emperor from being trapped, right?
The possibility of that…was high!
She dreamt of that scenario countless times all those years. She knew that it was nearly impossible to get The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting after the catastrophe. However…she did not expect that the painting would appear in front of her in the most incredible way without any warning. It was unreal.
She had to look at Li Nianfan. Thoughts were running in her mind. She did not know how to describe how she felt at all. She was irrecoverably impressed by the expert.
‘Truly the expert. He did it so easily for something that was impossible for me. He succeeds at everything without trying hard. The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting automatically appeared in front of him.’
“This is a hodgepodge of landscape paintings.” Li Nianfan finally opened the whole scroll. He looked at it for a while and gave his review. “Good painting!”
He curiously looked at Ziye and Cheng Yi. He asked, “This painting’s incredible. It has a lot going on. I wonder who painted it?”
The painting was an Ultimate Heavenly Spiritual Treasure. It recorded everything from the prehistoric world. It was born with the realm. It could not have been painted by someone.
Her mind was running fast. She quickly thought of how to answer that question.
Cheng Yi forced a smile and replied, “Don’t know. We just…think that it’s a good painting so we kept it.”
“I see.” Li Nianfan nodded understandingly. He groaned for a moment and said, “No wonder. The painting dried out for too long. There are already a lot of damages. It makes me want to paint. I wonder if I could fix it?”
It was pretty easy to understand what that meant. Everyone jolted.
‘The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting was damaged. Is Mr. Li going to perfect it with a brush?’ ‘Can he do that?’
“Of course, y-you…can,” Cheng Yi stuttered. She could not be blamed. Even the Empress would fumble in front of such an expert. It was hard to maintain calm even if she was mentally prepared. The expert constantly turned her worldview upside down. It was hard not to be shocked by that!
There was nothing he could not do that they could think of.
She hurriedly said, “Seventh Sister, hurry up and prepare the brushes and inks for Mr. Li to paint.”
“No need for all that trouble. I brought my own brush and ink. Daji, help me grind the ink.”
“Yes.”
Then, Li Nianfan placed the scroll on a long table. He held his brush and started to inspect the painting.
He did not rush to paint because it was not his painting. He was just going to retouch the original painting. He had to think like the original artist. Otherwise, the painting would end up mismatched and sloppy. The others did not dare to breathe. They felt like they were witnessing a miraculous moment. Everything and everyone, including Saints, would not dream of that miraculous moment!
Li Nianfan smirked while they stared. Then, he started to paint…
Some of the mountains were blurry, Li Nianfan sketched its sides with ink. There was a missing spot at the lake, so Li Nianfan painted a swimming fish in it. His brushstrokes were gentle as if it was dancing on the painting scroll. It was a sight to behold.
Li Nianfan retouched the painting. Everyone noticed that The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting started to change. The initial still painting seemed to be alive and flowing.
A mysterious aura was emitted from The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting. They felt as if they were in a mountain forest where the mountain was high and steep, and the sky had a sun and a moon at the same time. Then, they felt as if they were immersed in the river, waves splashing over them as fishes swam freely. Then, they imagined a starry night, feeling the vastness of the universe…
The vast universe, the mountains, the rivers, the lands, the light, the sun, the moon, the stars, the flowers, the grass, the trees, the animals, and all the living beings birthed in the realm. Everything was in place. It was as if the painting was a real land of mountains and rivers.
Everyone stared at the ever-changing painting without blinking. They almost lost themselves in it.
“Done!” Suddenly, Li Nianfan finished painting. Everyone snapped out of it.
They looked at the painting scroll again. The mysterious feeling had vanished. However, the painting was way better than before. They were not sure if they imagined it but they felt like the painting looked newer, too. ‘He did it. The expert painted the Ultimate Heavenly Treasure!’
‘Terrifying, horrifying!’
Li Nianfan satisfyingly looked at his work. He smiled and asked, “How is it?”
Cheng Yi gulped. She replied, “Mr. Li, your painting skills are truly beyond. This is too beautiful, too majestic. Cheng’s impressed from the bottom of her heart.”
Li Nianfan laughed. ‘Look, my talents impressed the Second Princess.’
He immediately said with humbleness, “Hey, it’s just some tricks. I’m not trying to brag or anything, but even though I don’t know how to cultivate, I still know a lot of odd tricks.”
‘Of course, we know you’re not trying to brag. Not only were you not bragging, you were overly humble.’
‘You call that odd tricks?’
‘You call that not knowing how to cultivate?’
‘Can you please stop attacking us? Let us be useless losers in peace.’
Li Nianfan put the painting scroll aside. Then, he gave it to Cheng Yi. “Here.”
“Thank… Thanks.” Cheng Yi did not reject it. She took the painting scroll and bowed at Li Nianfan.
She gripped The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting in her hand. It felt unreal.
The Land of Mountains and Rivers Painting was too important to her. It was so important that it was unreal to her.
The painting might help the Empress and the Jade Emperor. She would also be able to leave the Heavenly Palace!
They got the painting, opened the painting, and repaired the painting because of the expert!
If it was not for the expert, they would have been desperately helpless in whichever of those three steps. However, the expert easily solved them.
Cheng Yi looked at Li Nianfan. He had a casual facial expression. She suddenly teared up and almost cried.
‘The expert might not mind it but I have to remember this!’ She could not repay his generosity. If it was not for the taboo of the expert, she would have knelt and thanked him without hesitation.
Cheng Yi wanted to do more for the expert, as long as the expert was happy. She said with respect, “Mr… Mr. Li, let me take you elsewhere to visit.”
“Thanks, Lady Cheng.” Li Nianfan smiled and nodded. He groaned for a moment and asked curiously, “Oh, yeah, where’s the famous Flat Peach Garden? Can you bring us there?”
Cheng Yi immediately smiled and said, “Of course. Please, follow me, Mr. Li.” The Flat Peach Garden was behind the palaces. It was huge and fenced with jade-like snow. There were refined windows on the walls. The only entrance was a wonderful red door.
A sign was hung on top of the door. Three golden words were on the sign-‘Flat Peach Garden’.
Creak.
Cheng Yi pushed the door open and entered.
Li Nianfan looked over and was baffled. There was nothing in the garden, only an empty land. Even the grass and flowers were gone. A few Goddesses had baskets in their hands. They were graceful and they were laughing but they were also turned into stone statues.
Cheng Yi said, “After the catastrophe, all Spiritual Plants were wiped out. I heard from the Empress that it was hard to raise Immortals in the Absolute Era. It was even harder to raise Spiritual Plants. Hence why they were wiped out.”
“Sigh, too bad. This is the legendary Flat Peach!” Li Nianfan looked like he was in pain for a moment. He sighed, “How can it be gone just like that? I want to eat one! I also want to become an Immortal!”
Everyone had to glance at him. No one spoke because they did not know how to reply. ‘Sorry, we can’t go along with this performance of yours.’
‘What are you acting pitiful for?!’
“Tell me what’s in your backyard again?’