Chapter 640: Leader of the Divine Path

"The Chief?" The Jack of Plum Blossoms fell into thought.

"What? Is this also a secret that can't be told?" Chen Ling said helplessly. "Then your Floating Life Painting has way too many secrets."

"There aren't really any secrets about the Chief... or rather, his existence itself is a secret. Even we, the Halls, know very little about him..."

"Isn't he your boss?"

"He is the boss, but we've never seen him. Even the Second Hall, who has lived in an abstract painting for hundreds of years, has never seen that person with his own eyes... He seems to stay behind that relief door all the time, not knowing what he's doing."

"You mean the Chief has already lived for hundreds of years?" Chen Ling asked in surprise. "He hasn't died of old age, has he?"

"Impossible." The Jack of Plum Blossoms shook his head firmly. "The Chief is the leader of the Green Divine Path. If he died, the destiny of the leader in the dark would change hands, and all possessors of the Green Divine Path would be able to feel it... But since I can remember, the position of the leader of the Green Divine Path has never changed hands."

"Leader of the Divine Path..."

When Chen Ling was in Aurora City, he had encountered the term "Leader," but at that time, what he understood was the "Leader" of [Judgment], which was that seventh-rank top law enforcer, Gu Yuan. Although Gu Yuan also had the title of "Leader," he was only the "Leader" of the [Judgment] path, while the "Leader of the Divine Path" that the Jack of Plum Blossoms spoke of was different.

If the "Divine Path" is compared to mountain climbing, the "path" is the road taken while climbing. There are many roads to climb, some are main highways, some are deserted trails... and the path leader is the person who has walked the furthest on their respective path. Gu Yuan, as the [Judgment] leader, was undoubtedly powerful because there were many people on the [Judgment] path, and he was the strongest of [Judgment] for being at the forefront of that path.

Some trails have very few people climbing them; perhaps there are only two or three people in the world who have stepped onto that path, and the leader of that path might just be relatively further ahead. As for paths like Tan Xin's, which only one person had stepped onto, from the moment he stepped onto it, no matter how low his rank, he was the leader.

The Leader of the Divine Path, however, is the person who has walked the furthest among all those who have walked this Divine Path, regardless of the specific path... that is, the "Leader" among "Leaders."

A Divine Path has, and can only have, one "Leader of the Divine Path"; what he represents is the pinnacle of this Divine Path in the corresponding era.

"Then just how strong is this Chief?"

"I don't know... but years ago, a saying circulated among the nine major domains. It is said that a leader of the Divination Divine Path once prophesied that after the 'Silver King' of the Fire-Stealing Path, the next ninth-rank demigod would be born from the Green Divine Path." The Jack of Plum Blossoms paused for a moment. "So, we have always speculated... that the Chief has already stepped half a foot into the demigod realm."

A flash of surprise crossed Chen Ling's eyes.

Setting aside his master, who was suspected to be ninth-rank but had never made a move, the only ninth-rank demigod Chen Ling had ever encountered was the Lord of Aurora, one of the Nine Lords... And listening to the Jack of Plum Blossoms, there were actually other ninth-rank demigods from the Divine Paths in the world, such as the "Silver King" worshipped by the Fire-Stealers. The whereabouts of these demigods were extremely secret, and one rarely heard news about them.

And the Green Divine Path was currently in a state without a ninth-rank demigod.

After hearing this from the Jack of Plum Blossoms, Chen Ling became even more interested in this Chief Hall, but before he could ask anything else, the Jack of Plum Blossoms' expression suddenly changed!

The Jack of Plum Blossoms' features twisted, his face filled with deep grief and despair. The eyes that had been shining slightly while talking to Chen Ling just a moment ago were now like dead ashes... His body curled up on the bed, the trembling making the whole bed creak.

"What's wrong with you??" Chen Ling frowned and immediately stood up.

"They... are here..." the Jack of Plum Blossoms said hoarsely.

They?

Chen Ling seemed to think of something, turned around, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtains painted with cartoon butterflies.

He saw that in the void outside the window, a huge figure burning with black flames was running wildly, as if insane. Even though her figure and features were extremely abstract, Chen Ling could still feel her terror!

On the back of her neck, there was also an "arrow" mark like the Jack of Plum Blossoms', only now this "arrow" was spinning rapidly, as if out of control.

"Is it a character from the painting?" A trace of doubt flashed in Chen Ling's eyes.

The emotions of characters in the painting could affect them; Chen Ling had experienced this personally long ago... But he didn't understand, the burning woman was still some distance away from them, so why was the Jack of Plum Blossoms' reaction so intense?

Previously, Chen Ling could only feel the emotions when the characters were right in his face; now, Chen Ling really didn't feel anything at all.

"You... can't feel it?" the Jack of Plum Blossoms asked, enduring the pain.

"She's so far away, and it still has an effect? I don't feel anything." Chen Ling asked back. "You can feel it?"

The Jack of Plum Blossoms was stunned.

As the two were talking, the woman burning with flames was already wailing and running rapidly toward this house. Under her massive size, the Jack of Plum Blossoms' house was like a building block that could be kicked to pieces in one step, fragile and tiny.

The Jack of Plum Blossoms didn't have time to discuss the emotion issue with Chen Ling. As the woman approached, his expression became more painful and twisted, and his body felt as if it were truly on fire, scorching hot.

"Something's wrong! The painting is suddenly in chaos... According to their previous movement trajectories, they wouldn't pass through here!" The Jack of Plum Blossoms breathed heavily, barely maintaining his sanity, and turned to shout at Chen Ling:

"Let's get out of here!"

In fact, before the Jack of Plum Blossoms could speak, Chen Ling had already acted.

He hoisted the curled-up Jack of Plum Blossoms onto his shoulder and dashed out of the house. A red opera robe stepped on the cloud-step and had just escaped when the giant shadow whistled and collided with 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 involuntarily turned ferocious.

The Jack of Plum Blossoms on his shoulder even rolled his eyes and fainted on the spot.

Boom——!!

The seemingly sturdy house was like paper in front of the woman, instantly smashed into bits of oil paint and dissipated into the void. The burning woman did not stop, but whistled forward like an arrow.

Seeing this, Chen Ling's ferocious features gradually returned to normal, and he let out a long sigh of relief...

But the next moment, the burning woman slammed on the brakes, her abstract eyes twisted one hundred and eighty degrees to lock onto Chen Ling again, and after making a wide turn in the void, she rushed toward him again!

Chen Ling: ???

"What's going on?!" The sudden change left Chen Ling confused. He could only step on the cloud-step and flee rapidly into the distance.

At the same time, he looked at the unconscious Jack of Plum Blossoms on his shoulder, gritted his teeth, and slapped him twice!

"Wake up! Something seems wrong!"