Once they arrived, Lily Bai and Sean Shaw took out the Fish and asked it about performing a space-jump.
But the Fish said that the pressure here placed a special restriction on it, so it couldn’t cast any arts at all—space-jump was completely out of the question.
Lily nudged the Fish, flashing a mischievous grin. "Seriously? Emperor Ray Quinn made it down there, and you’re telling me you can’t? Don’t play dumb!"
"No way! I told you, didn’t I? I can’t cast spells, I can’t do anything! How am I supposed to space-jump, huh?" the Fish wailed, flopping around for dramatic effect.
“Then how did he get down there?”
"How should I know?" The Fish rolled its eyes so hard it nearly spun out of the painting.
Lily sent Sean a voice transmission: "This Fish is just begging for a smack!"
“It’s lying,” Sean replied via voice transmission. “I can sense it.”
"Time for a little attitude adjustment," Lily said, grabbing the painting and giving the Fish a wicked smile.
The Fish shrank back, totally freaked out by her grin. "Why are you smiling like that? What are you up to? Hey, let me go!"
"Last chance," Lily said sweetly. "Are you really telling me you can’t take us down there?"
“Of course it’s true! Can’t means can’t!”
Lily nodded, then stretched her hand out past the edge of the platform. “Really can’t?”
The Fish flopped belly-up in the painting, doing its best impression of a dead fish, eyes rolling like crazy.
Lily raised her brows and, without warning, let go.
The painting fluttered downward, drifting through the air.
“Ah! Ah! What are you doing?” the Fish screamed. “Hurry and pick me up! I’ll die!”
“Aren’t you supposed to be immortal? How could you die?”
"Alright, alright, you win! You’re ruthless! Fine, I’ll take you down—happy now?" the Fish grumbled, totally defeated.
With a flick of her hand, Lily reeled the painting back up.
The Fish flushed bright red, blowing bubbles furiously, and only managed to calm down after a long while.
Then it exploded, "Lily Bai, you heartless little devil! You’re just as bad as Ray Quinn—both of you are nothing but trouble!"
“Emperor Ray Quinn? Insult me all you want, but why drag him into it? Wait—were you the one who took him down last time?”
“Hmph! Without me, none of you Twin Lotus descendants could ever break through the Black and White Lotus space wall!” the Fish huffed.
“My calculations did point right back to you,” Lily grinned.
“There’s nothing more annoying in this world than Rune Masters!” the Fish grumbled. “Did your calculations tell you I had to burn my Threefold Essence to help him? If I hadn’t burned that Yuan Force, would Sean’s mom have managed to catch me and seal me in this painting?”
“Threefold Essence? What’s that supposed to be?” Lily asked.
“You wouldn’t get it even if I explained!” the Fish snapped. “Anyway, going down there means I’ll have to burn more of my Threefold Essence to shield you, or you won’t survive! And any portion I burn will take at least a million years to recover!”
“You’re immortal anyway!” Lily said. “A little loss won’t kill you! Be good and take us down!”
“I can only take one!” the Fish snapped, not in the mood.
“Didn’t you used to bring two people when you did space-jumps before?”
“My Threefold Essence can only shield one person! If I take two, one of you will die—so you decide!”
Lily frowned. “Then take me down, okay? The Jade Permit says Emperor Ray Quinn got a rune-character down there, and I’m probably the best at handling Magical Sigils. Sean, what do you think?”
Sean asked the Fish, “Is there any danger down there?”
The Fish: “None!”
“Then take Lily down. Make sure you protect her—don’t let her get hurt.”
The Fish rolled its eyes.