Divine Path Chief
"Chief?" Eight of Clubs fell into thought.
"What? Does this also belong to the unspeakable secrets?" Chen Ling said helplessly. "Then you have a bit too many secrets in the Floating Life Painting."
"There aren't really any secrets about the Chief... or rather, his very existence is a kind of secret. Even we Hall Masters know extremely little about him..."
"Isn't he your boss?"
"He is the boss, but we've never met him. Even the Second Hall, who has lived in an abstract painting for hundreds of years, has never seen him with his own eyes... He seems to have always stayed behind that Grand Relief Gate, not knowing what he's doing."
"Are you saying the Chief has already lived for hundreds of years?" Chen Ling asked in surprise. "He hasn't died of old age, right?"
"Impossible." Eight of Clubs shook his head firmly. "The Chief is the Azure Spirit Dao Chief. If he died, the unseen destiny of the Pathway Chief would change hands, and all possessors of the Path of the Arts would be able to sense it... But ever since I can remember, the position of the Azure Spirit Dao Chief has never changed hands."
"Divine Path Chief..."
If the "Divine Path" was compared to climbing a mountain, the "Path" was the road taken when climbing. There were many roads to climb the mountain; some were broad avenues, some were unpopulated trails... And the Pathway Chief was the person who walked the furthest on their respective Path. As the [Judgment] Pathway Chief, Gu Yuan was undoubtedly powerful. Because there were not a few people on the [Judgment] Path, for him to walk at the forefront of this Path meant he was the strongest of [Judgment].
Some trails had extremely few climbers to begin with. There might only be two or three people in the world who stepped onto this Path. The Pathway Chief of this Path might just have walked relatively further. As for a Path that only one person stepped onto, like Tan Xin, from the moment he stepped onto it, no matter how low his Rank was, he was the Pathway Chief.
And the Divine Path Chief, was the person walking at the very front among all the people who stepped onto this Divine Path, regardless of the Path... That was the "Chief" of "Chiefs".
A Divine Path had and could only have one "Divine Path Chief"; what he represented was the pinnacle of this Divine Path in the corresponding era.
"Then how strong is this Chief exactly?"
"I don't know... But in the early years, there was a saying circulating among the Nine Great Realms. It's said that a Pathway Chief of the Path of Divination prophesied that after the 'Silver King' of the Path of the Thief's Fire-Stealers, the next Rank 9 Demigod would be born from the Path of the Arts." Eight of Clubs paused for a moment. "So, we've always guessed... the Chief has already stepped half a foot into the Demigod realm."
A hint of surprise flashed across Chen Ling's eyes.
Putting aside his master, who was suspected to be Rank 9 but had never taken action, the only Rank 9 Demigod Chen Ling had come into contact with now was only one of the Nine Monarchs, the Lord of the Aurora... And listening to Eight of Clubs' meaning, there were actually Rank 9 Demigods from Divine Pathways in the world, such as the "Silver King" worshiped by the Fire-Stealers. The whereabouts of these Demigods were extremely hidden, and news about them could rarely be heard.
And the Path of the Arts was currently still in a state of not having a Rank 9 Demigod.
After Eight of Clubs said this, Chen Ling became even more interested in this Chief Hall. But before he could ask anything more, Eight of Clubs' expression suddenly changed!
Eight of Clubs' facial features twisted up. Deep sorrow and despair surged on his face. The eyes that were still slightly bright when talking to Chen Ling just now instantly became like dead ashes... He curled up on the bed, trembling so much that the whole bed was creaking.
"What's wrong with you??" Chen Ling frowned and immediately stood up.
"They... are here..." Eight of Clubs said hoarsely.
They?
As if remembering something, Chen Ling turned around and walked to the window, pulling open the curtain painted with cartoon butterflies.
In the nothingness outside the window, a massive figure burning with black flames all over was frantically running around like crazy. Even though both the figure and facial features were extremely abstract, Chen Ling could still feel her terror!
On the back of her neck, there was also an "arrow" and Eight of Clubs' mark. It was just that now this "arrow" was spinning rapidly as if out of control.
"Is it a Role in the painting?" A hint of confusion flashed in Chen Ling's eyes.
The emotions of the Roles in the painting could affect them. Chen Ling had long experienced this personally... But he didn't understand. Right now, that woman on fire was still some distance away from them. Why was Eight of Clubs' reaction so huge?
Before, Chen Ling could only feel the emotions when the Roles were right up against his face. Now, Chen Ling indeed didn't feel a single thing.
"You... can't feel it?" Eight of Clubs asked, forcefully enduring the pain.
"She's so far away, and it still has an effect? I don't feel anything," Chen Ling retorted. "You can feel it?"
Eight of Clubs froze.
While the two were talking, the woman burning with flames all over was already howling and rushing rapidly towards this house. Under her massive size, Eight of Clubs' house was like a building block that could be shattered with one kick, fragile and insignificant.
Eight of Clubs didn't have time to discuss the issue of emotions with Chen Ling. As the woman approached, his expression became increasingly painful and twisted. His body seemed to be truly on fire, scalding hot.
"Something's wrong! The painting has suddenly gone chaotic... According to their previous movement trajectories, they wouldn't pass by here!" Eight of Clubs breathed heavily, barely maintaining his reason, and turned his head to shout at Chen Ling:
"Let's get out of here quickly!"
In fact, before Eight of Clubs even spoke, Chen Ling had already taken action.
He grabbed the curled-up Eight of Clubs and hoisted him onto his shoulder, rushing out the door of the house. A figure in a Great Crimson Theatrical Robe had just fled on Cloud Steps when that giant shadow whistled over and crashed into the house!
The moment he brushed past the woman, a strong sense of fear and despair surged into Chen Ling's heart, and his expression unconsciously became malevolent.
The Eight of Clubs on his shoulder even directly rolled his eyes back and fainted on the spot.
Boom——!!
The seemingly extremely sturdy house was like paper paste in front of the woman. In an instant, it was smashed into blossoms of oil colors and dissipated in the nothingness. The burning woman didn't stop her steps, but whistled and dashed forward like an arrow.
Seeing this, Chen Ling's malevolent facial features gradually returned to normal, and he let out a long sigh of relief...
But the next moment, that burning woman suddenly braked abruptly. The abstract eyes turned one hundred and eighty degrees to lock onto Chen Ling again. After making a huge detour in the nothingness, she charged at him again!
Chen Ling: ???
"What's the situation?!" The sudden abnormality completely baffled Chen Ling. He could only step on Cloud Steps and rapidly flee into the distance.
At the same time, he glanced at the unconscious Eight of Clubs on his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and slapped him twice!
"Wake up! Things don't seem quite right!"