"Crunch."

The dust from the magic bracelet settled directly on the petals of the lotus. Those originally stone-carved, grayish-white lotus petals suddenly gained a new hue.

An incredibly lofty hue.

Cyan.

When the cyan appeared, the clear and bright celestial light seemed to pour down, illuminating the surroundings in just a few breaths, with ethereal yet bright clouds enveloping the area.

And then nothing else happened.

The color lingered among the stone-carved lotus petals without any power flowing out. Obviously, it required the gathering of the remaining eight colors.

Li Ye originally thought that by destroying the magic bracelet like this, the Celestial Dao might respond with another Thunder Tribulation or something, as he had seen many before—furthermore, a Celestial Tribulation was just dispelled by Mr. Xianghuai earlier, and it seemed quite normal to have another occur now.

"What a pity."

He didn't know why he felt like sighing.

Then he inquired of Mr. Sui: "What do you think of this pigment, senior? Surely it's one of a kind."

His tone was calm, but there was a hint of pride.

"Indeed one of a kind." Mr. Sui narrowed his eyes, carefully examining the cyan lotus petal, with a slight curve at the corner of his mouth: "But I forgot to tell you.

The first stroke of pigment sets the tone.

You chose the cyan of the Celestial Dao for the first color; the next eight colors must also be pigments of the same rank.

Otherwise, their colors might not coexist."

"..."

Li Ye instantly realized something was wrong and almost blacked out.

To coexist with the cyan of the Celestial Dao? Same rank?

He had to understand that his magic bracelet was already a rare treasure in the world, even Mr. Sui and the Bitter Journey Academy had never painted mural with the colors of the Celestial Dao in millennia, and now he needed to find eight of similar rank.

Had he known...

If he had known, he wouldn't have done it this way!

In that moment, he felt a flicker of regret, but just for a moment.

On second thought, the regret vanished.

He, Li Ye, wanted only the best, and although the cyan rank of the Celestial Dao was high, it might still be possible to find treasures of similar rank.

Moreover, since things had reached this point, was there just to give up? That would be truly absurd.

Mr. Sui observed Li Ye's changing expressions and found them quite interesting, and he offered praise—for a cultivator like Li Ye, if he ever thought something was impossible, then it naturally would be.

Especially for someone like Li Ye, whose Qi Fortune was abundant.

Sometimes, truly, one needs only to forge ahead.

In his heart, Mr. Sui nodded, deciding to provide a hint and establish a good relationship:

"Speaking of which."

"Our Bitter Journey Academy has a color whose rank is close to the cyan of Heaven, and it's right in your hands now."

"Young friend, once those Grotto Heavens are fully restored, I'm sure you will obtain that Spirit Scroll, leaving only two more to gather."

Li Ye naturally knew what he was referring to.

Spirit Scrolls of Plum, Orchid, Bamboo, Chrysanthemum, and Locust Tree.

Since these Spirit Scrolls were originally refined by a great practitioner of the Painting Path along with one of their ancestors, the "ink" within naturally constituted a color.

"Do you know where the remaining two Spirit Scrolls might be found?" Li Ye asked directly without hesitation.

Mr. Sui indeed appreciated this straightforwardness, he pondered briefly before responding: "The Orchid and Chrysanthemum Spirit Scrolls are quite special; they likely have long transformed into Book Spirits wandering the mortal realm.

I once sensed them, possibly within the Demon Race's territory in the Southern Domain."

Demon Race?

Though he felt it was a stretch, Li Ye recalled that the kin of the Wolf Demon had previously searched the nursery set by the Four Seasons Sect in the Ring Heaven Domain, and he couldn't help but feel there should be a connection here.

Previously, he had also inquired with Wei Qingye about the Demon Race in the Southern Domain, but even Wei Qingye was unsure what grand game their sect was playing; it's evident there's some complex matters involved here.

However.

The Wolf Demon named Shuang Li he let go earlier hadn't been in touch for a long time. Perhaps upon returning, he could see if this "spy" had any surprises for him.

But before that, he had to first see how the proper affairs were progressing.

Thinking of this, he had already crafted a plan, and he bowed to Mr. Sui:

"Thank you, sir, for your teachings."

The latter waved his hand.

"No need to be so polite, after all, I can be considered half a person of the Four Seasons Sect... Oh my, there are quite a few like me; if you visit other major sects, you're likely to encounter similar ones."

Mr. Sui gave him a meaningful wink.

Then turned around and left.

Su Ya then approached Li Ye and whispered: "Mr. Sui means...?"

"Yes." Li Ye didn't say much, just looked up at the sky.

What exactly has his sect done?

With the existence of people like Mr. Sui who clearly favored their sect, yet they exist in various major sects, calling it espionage may be an exaggeration, but do other sects not wary of this?

Or is it...

The sect holds some leverage or lifeline?

Interesting, very interesting.

Instead of fearing, he felt a bit excited.

This was just right!

It turns out that beneath the seemingly honest exterior of his sect, there was such deviousness, truly intriguing.

...

In the contaminated Grotto Heaven.

Li Ye trudged slowly.

At this moment, he was wearing a simple white robe and walked barefoot on the land, which the Dangkang Flower Ginseng Pigs struggled to restore, his robe stained with ink grime.

With every step he took, he could feel the sticky soil, and the soil clearly still contained a significant amount of ink contamination, even though he manipulated the Earth Emotion Technique, it was difficult to truly sense the entirety of this realm.

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