Chapter 567: Golden Emperor Bathing Beauty Picture

Jiang Ding looked at the scroll before him, so close he could almost touch it, hesitating and unable to make up his mind, daring not to reach out for a long time.

Immortal arts carry pollution!

It is not that it intends harm or holds malice toward people; it simply exists there, utterly indifferent, having existed since time immemorial.

It is merely too complex, too terrifying for mortals to comprehend; it is like forcing a primitive ape to understand modern technology—a clash of common sense that inevitably drives one mad.

The brain cannot accept such information, and combined with the tangible power of immortal arts, mortals will suffer terrifying distortions and deformities.

After pondering for a long time,

he instructed his main body to be ready to flee at any moment and return to the Immortal Gate to seek protection from the Central Array Spirit Computer.

No, that is not safe enough.

He should set a fixed time to return to the Immortal Gate; once that time arrives, no matter what happens, he must return immediately to undergo the highest standard of divine soul, flesh, and Gong Fa inspection, as well as the crucial causality inspection.

The main body gave no response.

They are merely speculating.

His gaze swept over those nearby.

Their bodies stiffened as if doused with a basin of cold water; cold sweat poured down, and they hurriedly retreated, bowing and clasping their hands repeatedly.

Jiang Ding took a deep breath, placed his right hand on the sword hilt, and slowly extended his left hand to grab the scroll.

"It looks very ordinary... but those who cultivate the Dao of Causality are treacherous; precautions must be taken in this regard."

Jiang Ding's hand landed on the scroll.

Seemingly stunned, encountering something of this level for the first time, he was thinking, weighing all conditions from various angles.

The Six Paths Saint Son and the Blazing Lie Yang Jianzi both paused in their steps.

His arm was steady as if cast in iron, without a single tremor.

After a long while, the main body sent back a reply, agreeing with his judgment.

"It is acceptable."

"In that case..."

Many gazes from the surroundings fell upon him; seeing him so solemn, many people immediately formed numerous imaginative speculations in their hearts.

He picked it up and held it before his eyes, yet there was no abnormality.

Moving slowly, moving slowly.

The touch was warm and smooth like jade; there was no sudden violent eruption as imagined, nor did thousands of dazzling sharp blades shoot forth; it was just an ordinary scroll.

"It might be dangerous, but it must be opened."

The Six Paths Saint Son and the Blazing Lie Yang Jianzi both showed expressions of unparalleled desire, ignoring the ancestral tablets and inheritances around them, staring fixedly at that scroll.

A clone, separated by hundreds of thousands of kilometers, might indeed be unsafe; things like immortal arts, even if merely clues, deserve treatment of such a standard.

Jiang Ding murmured to himself.

Upon seeing that hand extend, the desire and greed in their eyes grew even more intense; their steps could not help but move forward several paces, like moths flying into a flame.

Jiang Ding paid no attention; after thinking for a moment, he used his magic power to lift the scroll, and with his left hand, he slowly spread it open, revealing the scene within.

This was a painting of exquisite craftsmanship.

It was not overly complex: a graceful and gentle woman with cloud-like hair and flower-like features, draped in rainbow garments, playing in a lake; her soaked clothes clung tightly to her curvaceous and delicate body, surrounded by mist.

In the sky, the setting sun shone down, casting a layer of golden haze over the lake surface and the beauty within, making her incomparably stunning.

"Very ordinary, nothing mysterious; I cannot confirm it is what I am looking for."

Jiang Ding sighed.

"Further confirmation is needed."

He lowered the protective barrier of his Annihilation Sword Intent, allowing his divine sense to flow in, carefully contemplating every stroke and every twisted pattern within the painting.

This was extremely dangerous; for someone cultivating the Dao of Causality to contact it with an unguarded divine sense was no different than placing one's vital heart directly under someone else's blade.

But it was necessary; otherwise, there was a high chance of bringing back a painting of no value whatsoever.

The touch was icy cold.

Jiang Ding shivered, instinctively sensing something cold and sticky contact his divine soul briefly before vanishing without a trace.

He once again activated the Annihilation Sword Intent to scan his entire body, especially every part of his divine soul.

Nothing was found.

It was as if that intuition, which had been close to the level of a Dao Son, was merely an illusion.

"Very good, very good..."

Jiang Ding's heart lake was like a mirror, without any ripples; his divine sense continued to gaze at the beauty bathing in the lake under the setting sun.

At that moment, upon looking, he immediately discovered a tremendous change.

Light!

Golden light!

The beauty in the lake, the lake surface, the setting sun, and the evening clouds were all now radiating boundless light, woven from brilliant golden threads, emitting an aura of immortality and sharpness that far exceeded the limits of fourth-tier heavenly treasures and earthly materials.

At least fifth-tier, Soul Transformation-level Jin Chong Guang!

After a short while, the Jin Chong Guang vanished, and the evening clouds, lake surface, rainbow-skirted palace robes, and the beauty returned to their original vivid colors.

Jiang Ding concentrated and held his breath.

The shimmering waves on the lake surface now seemed to contain twisted lines, resembling the flexibility of the Metal element of the Five Elements;

the sharpness at the beauty's eyebrow tips pierced the sky, cutting through space, seemingly containing the sharpness of the Metal element of the Five Elements;

the dots and strokes of the evening clouds also seemed to depict the causality between the Metal element of the Five Elements and the Blazing Sun...

Every single stroke contained a variation of the Metal element of the Five Elements; all manner of things, encompassing everything, were extraordinarily mysterious, containing the various realizations of an invincible figure within the realm.

Merely looking at these, countless inspirations regarding the Metal element of the Five Elements arose involuntarily in Jiang Ding's heart; regarding flying swords, regarding refining, regarding inscribing the Earthly Fiend Seals, and even regarding the Great Sun Nascent Soul Secret Art, he suddenly had many new ideas, wanting to rush into the laboratory to verify them immediately.

"The research progress on the Great Sun Nascent Soul Secret Art is far too slow."

A thought that Jiang Ding had once entertained, then hidden away, surfaced in his mind: "If a large number of Jin Dan cultivators were used for verification, and then subjected to physical and divine soul dissection, the progress should be greatly accelerated."

"This does not violate the law."

"We could consider using captives of the Jiudaxian Sect, or hostile Jin Dan cultivators, or death-row criminals of the immortal gates — even if somewhat cruel, these are all necessary sacrifices."

"Furthermore, Zhang Zhang Junsheng is far too lazy, always spending vast amounts of time on cultivation, leaving almost none left for researching the Great Sun Nascent Soul Secret Art…"

"And Yuan You, and the other Soul Transformation cultivators — why don't they come help me?"

"These selfish lot, only caring about their own cultivation…"

"Also, Jiang Yuan and I are siblings of the same blood — perhaps she holds extremely high experimental value…"

Unknowingly, Jiang Ding's face grew ferocious. Streaks of blue-black qi swept across his face, magic power within his body churned violently, madly battering the meridians everywhere, straining to break free of its bonds for a wild, unrestrained revelry.

Never again any need for benevolence, righteousness, propriety, or morality — only to immerse oneself in the ocean of knowledge, with nothing beyond the heart, nothing else at all.

Clang!

Clang clang!

The Annihilation Sword Intent hummed and sang, blooming with endless light of law-breaking and spirit-destroying, suppressing the surging stray thoughts within the heart lake. Those that refused to submit were cut down directly, reduced to dust on the spot.

Sword after sword — any that dared to show its head must die.

The ringing clangor of sword cries and the violent sword intent blazed out wantonly in all directions. Any Jin Dan cultivator who drew even slightly closer felt as if struck by lightning, vomited blood, and retreated in terror, fleeing this place in fright.

In the end, the heart lake calmed.

Should any wave chance to surge, it was immediately suppressed by the Annihilation Sword Intent, unable to stir up any more trouble.

(End of this chapter)