Chapter 5438: Jia Lingyi’s Goal

“It was left by a friend,” the World Spiritist Painter said.

“A friend? Is it the painter?” Chu Feng asked.

“It isn’t the painter. What I meant is that a friend entrusted this painting to me, and I decided to put it in this palace as I thought that it was decent. I’m afraid that I don’t know anything about the painter,” the World Spiritist Painter said. “Young friend Chu Feng, are you acquainted with the painter?”

“No, I was just interested in the painting,” Chu Feng replied with a smile.

“This person does have a unique art style, and I am rather fond of it as well. However, the best paintings in here are still none other than Lord Scholar’s creations. Why don’t you try looking for them?” the World Spiritist Painter suggested.

“These three paintings should be Lord Scholar’s creations,” Chu Feng gestured toward three paintings as he spoke.

There were plenty of paintings that were from the Ancient Era and had no signature on them, but Chu Feng thought that these three were most likely to be from the Chaotic Era Scholar.

These paintings had powerful brush strokes that expressed the painter’s personality, and the formations were perfectly imprinted on the canvas too.

“Young friend Chu Feng, you have a discerning eye.” The World Spiritist Painter nodded with an approving smile. “Feel free to look around. I’ll have to head out and settle the commotion first.”The original appearance of this chapter can be found at N0v3l.B1n.

With that, the World Spiritist Painter left the palace to placate the crowd outside.

He revealed to the crowd that someone had attacked the All Lives Are Equal Palace, but he neglected to mention who the suspected culprit was and what that person’s intention was.

Meanwhile, Chu Feng focused on recuperating inside the palace. He had paid a heavy price for controlling the sealing formations and needed to condition his body.

“Chu Feng, why didn’t you tell him the truth earlier?” Eggy asked in confusion, not knowing why he didn’t mention that he knew Qing Xuantian.

“The World Spiritist Painter wasn’t telling the truth, so I didn’t want to say the truth either.”

Chu Feng had been paying close attention to the World Spiritist Painter, and he noticed a subtle change in the other party’s expression when he said that he didn’t know Qing Xuantian.

Had it been under normal circumstances, those who were as powerful as the World Spiritist Painter could easily control their body to an extreme degree, making it impossible to make anything out from their body language. There were only two reasons the World Spiritist Painter had failed to conceal it.

One, Chu Feng’s question had caught him unguarded.

Two, the matter was of grave importance to him.

“That old thing is hiding things from you even though you have done him a huge favor,” Eggy grumbled.

“He must have his own reasons too,” Chu Feng replied.

“Do you plan on questioning him further?”

“I doubt that he’ll reveal anything. I’ll have to find other ways to gather information on Qing Xuantian.”

Chu Feng proceeded to examine the paintings inside the palace while recuperating from his injuries. He was hoping to see if he could gather any clues regarding Qing Xuantian, as well as to check if there were any secrets here that could raise his spirit power.

Outside, after the World Spiritist Painter explained the situation, he proceeded to announce that he would be opening the All Lives Are Equal Palace’s Life Gate. The Life Gate was a place filled with fortuitous encounters, and there was a chance that one could obtain treasures from the Ancient Era there.

It was in view of this fortuitous encounter that many people chose to linger in the area despite having witnessed the terrifying black aura. Even so, there were a fair number of people who chose to refrain from entering the Life Gate out of fear of the black aura’s resurgence.

While they didn’t know what the culprit’s motive was, they didn’t want to be implicated in this matter lest they lose their lives.

Some time later, the crowd inside the mountain valley were teleported outside as their viewing time was limited. Chu Feng was the only one allowed to continue admiring the artworks inside the palace.

Those from the Pill Dao Immortal Sect were shrouded in light as well when they left Painter Mountain, making it impossible for the others to see their faces. However, the light dissipated when they arrived on the warship.

Amongst them weren’t just their top juniors but several famous figures as well. Of them, the most esteemed one was the daughter of the Pill Dao Immortal Sect’s sectmaster, Jia Lingyi.

The first thing Jia Lingyi did upon returning to the warship was to head into its innermost area, which was an important area where no one else dared to enter. She passed through a door and entered a hall.

At the center of a hall was a formation reminiscent of a map. Hundreds of world spiritists were channeling the formation.

“Young miss, we have confirmed that young master Jia Huo is inside Painter Mountain. His pulse is stable. It seems like he is unharmed,” an elder reported to Jia Lingyi.

“Seems? I want a definite answer!” Jia Lingyi roared.

“Calm down, young miss. The formation shows that young master Jia Huo’s vitals are stable. Even if he is injured, it’s unlikely for his injuries to be too severe,” the elder said.

“Are you certain he’s inside Painter Mountain?” Jia Lingyi asked.

“Yes, that’s what the formation shows.”

“Do you have his exact location?”

“There is a formation around Painter Mountain that prevents us from ascertaining his exact location.”

“I’ve underestimated Chu Feng. I didn’t think that he’d be acquainted with the World Spiritist Painter too,” Jia Lingyi sneered. There was no fear on her face, as if she didn't think that the World Spiritist Painter was anything to be feared.

“Young miss, the formation is taking a toll on the others. Are we going to continue channeling it?” The elder glanced at the door in the depths of the hall.

“Oh?”

Jia Lingyi walked over and entered the door, which led her into another hall that resembled a realm of its own. A humongous formation could be seen at the center of the realm, and eighty thousand world spiritists seated fifty meters apart were gathered in a circle around it.

By the side of the humongous formation was a massive red cauldron that spanned more than two times the size of the formation. The massive red cauldron looked a little sinister, but there was no doubt that it was a precious treasure.

Both the cauldron and the formation were releasing a dark aura. It was the same dark aura that had attempted to breach the All Lives Are Equal Palace.

The formation had already stopped channeling, and the world spiritists were lying on the ground with pale faces. Some of them had even fainted. Clearly, they had overexerted themselves while channeling the formation.

However, Jia Lingyi didn’t feel sorry for them in the least. Instead, she criticized them, saying, “Useless things. We would have breached the All Lives Are Equal Palace if only you held on for a little longer.”

The world spiritists felt indignant, but they dared not to say anything.

Shoosh!

Jia Lingyi waved her sleeves, and countless pills flew outward the world spiritists.

“Hurry up and recuperate. You better grit your teeth and hold on to your very last breath. All of you will be killed if we fail again,” Jia Lingyi ordered.

All of the world spiritists quickly picked up the pills and did as they were told. They even thanked Jia Lingyi for it.

Jia Lingyi looked toward Painter Mountain and murmured, “Chu Feng and the World Spiritist Painter have colluded together to deal with me? Little did you know that you are already on our chopping board.”

She looked much more confident than she was angry.