"But his strength in the Devil Realm is only half of what it should be—isn't that different?" Clara Snow asked. "Girl, you still don't understand the highest realm of my Painting Array," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
"What's the highest realm?" Clara asked, puzzled and curious.
"It means being unaffected—in other words, inside the painting, he's still himself, just like in the Immortal Realm. The Devil Realm can't suppress him, because right now he's not in the Devil Realm's space but inside my formation." The Immortal Painter smiled.
Clara was shocked. "So that's how it works. Then he shouldn't have any problem."
"Let's watch. I'm curious if he's special enough to be my disciple," the Immortal Painter chuckled.
As for Evan Yang, once he entered the painting, he immediately felt that the power inside his body was different from outside—as if he'd regained the strength he had in the Immortal Realm.
"Here, I'm actually not suppressed by the Devil Realm. Incredible," Evan Yang muttered to himself.
After thinking that, Evan Yang looked around. He was still in a space, and not far ahead was an exit. Evan thought for a moment and headed toward it. Right now, he was in a desert, but after only a few steps, he felt his body starting to crack from dryness.
"All the moisture is being evaporated. How did the Immortal Painter do this?" Evan Yang wondered. To keep his body normal, Evan cooled himself from the inside, maintaining a steady temperature. Unlike the desert outside, which was dry and scorching, his body stopped cracking and he could slowly cross the desert.
Outside, the Immortal Painter laughed, "Is he a water attribute cultivator?"
"I don't know, I've never asked," Clara replied.
"He must be. Otherwise, his body couldn't stay so intact," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
"Maybe," Clara said. She'd never seen Evan Yang fight, so she had no idea what his attribute was.
As Evan Yang walked on, a string of things suddenly appeared from underground—scorpions. Each scorpion was shrouded in black mist, which Evan recognized as demonic qi. These had to be Devil Realm scorpions.
The scorpions instantly grew as tall as a person. Their tails all rose together, aiming straight at Evan Yang. Just as he was wondering what they were doing, the tails suddenly sprayed liquid—thin and fast—right at him.
Evan Yang couldn't afford to be careless and tried to jump away, but he found he couldn't leap up—as if something below was holding him down. Seeing the liquid about to hit, Evan was shocked, and outside, Clara was even more surprised. "What's going on?" she exclaimed.
"It's my place, I set the rules. There's gravity there—he can't fly," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
"That's not fair! If he can't fly, how can he dodge those liquids?" Clara frowned.
"That's up to him," the Immortal Painter said with a chuckle.
While they were talking, Evan Yang had already come up with a countermeasure. With a wave of his hand, a wall surrounded him. The liquid slammed into the wall, making a sizzling sound, but it didn't affect Evan inside.
"Is he earth attribute?" The Immortal Painter's smile turned doubtful.
"So he's earth attribute after all. Looks like water attribute is out," Clara said.
"No, not necessarily. Let's keep watching," the Immortal Painter said, feeling something was off. If he was earth attribute, how could Evan Yang's body be fine?
After blocking the liquid, Evan Yang took advantage of the scorpions' delayed reaction. Moving at incredible speed, he instantly slashed down all the nearby scorpions.
"Sure enough, my strength is just like in the Immortal Realm." After testing his speed and attack power, Evan Yang put away his dagger and muttered to himself.
Outside, Clara and the Immortal Painter were both stunned—Evan Yang was way too fast and powerful, wiping out all the scorpions on the spot.
"Amazing! So, is he qualified to be your disciple now?" Clara said with a grin.
"That was just luck. There are still four more trials. Only if he passes them all will he count as impressive," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
"So stubborn," Clara said. Evan Yang had already reached another entrance. As soon as he stepped through, the scenery changed—cold, extremely cold. The area was full of ice, and walking on it was slippery. Evan tried to fly, but still couldn't.
"That's better—hot before, now cold. I wonder what's next," Evan Yang thought. He could only move carefully across the ground; a single misstep could send him tumbling.
Clara and the Immortal Painter kept their eyes on the changes inside the painting.
Evan Yang walked step by step, not daring to be careless. But if the path ahead let him pass so easily, it wouldn't be a real trial. Sure enough, after a few steps, the ice overhead began to change—rumbling thunder echoed above, as loud as a storm.
Then, an ice serpent appeared overhead, its whole body made of ice.
"A serpent? Made of ice?" Evan Yang exclaimed, feeling it was unbelievable. The ice blocks were terrifying, and suddenly ice spikes shot toward him. Evan was shocked—retreating wasn't an option, nor was rushing forward, since the ground was too slippery. One wrong move and he'd fall flat.
Facing this situation, Evan Yang could only use an earth wall to protect himself. Crackling sounds echoed as he retreated automatically, showing just how slippery the ground was.
But the serpent was perfectly suited to this environment. Suddenly, it shot forward at incredible speed, and the slick ground made it even faster. In a flash, it slammed into Evan Yang, sending him flying.
Evan Yang crashed into an ice wall nearby. "Damn, that's fast," he muttered.
Clara was startled. "Is the ground really that slippery?"
"Of course it's slippery. And that serpent is perfectly adapted to it. Let's see if this kid can figure something out—if he keeps this up, he's done for," the Immortal Painter said with a laugh.
"He should have a way," Clara said.
"Let's hope so," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
After crashing into the wall, Evan Yang discovered that it too was slippery. But he could lean against it and use its force, which delighted him. With this in mind, Evan began sliding along the wall, moving as fast as the serpent—so the serpent's attacks were now too slow for him.
Evan Yang was like a roller sliding along the wall, gliding smoothly.
Clara was delighted when she saw this. "That actually works!" she exclaimed.
"Not bad, kid. But you can't keep this up forever—the exit's at the top center," the Immortal Painter said with a grin.
"You're so sly," Clara said.
"Hey, how can you talk to a senior like that?" the Immortal Painter replied, smiling.
"I'm not wrong," Clara said with a laugh.
The Immortal Painter ignored her and kept watching Evan Yang inside. After dodging, Evan realized the only way out was to kill the serpent. The serpent wasn't that strong, but the environment weakened Evan a lot. If he wanted to slay it, he'd have to go all out.
Evan Yang timed his movements carefully, calculating distance. When he was closest to the serpent, he stopped, then pushed off the wall, using its force to slide forward. With the ice on the ground, he reached the serpent in a single breath. Evan stabbed its head with his dagger, jumped onto its body, and started attacking from atop it.
The serpent tried to shake Evan Yang off, but couldn't. Evan was confident—his dagger was already embedded in its body. As long as he held on, nothing the serpent did could throw him off. "Time to send you on your way," Evan said, pulling out another dagger and stabbing its neck. With a crack, the serpent's head fell to the ground, its body instantly lifeless. But its head still glared at Evan, even spraying liquid at him. Evan quickly rolled away, dodging the spray and sliding far across the ice.
The serpent's head wasn't fully dead. Humans have souls, so do serpents. Evan Yang was frustrated—the serpent's head stared at him, then flew straight toward him.
Evan Yang quickly used an earth wall to block the head, then used its impact to launch himself to the side wall. With the wall, Evan felt secure. He finished off the serpent's head with his dagger, erasing its soul. "Nice one!" Clara cheered.
The Immortal Painter smiled. "Not bad. You've cleared two arrays already," Clara said, grinning.
"There are still three more, don't get too excited," the Immortal Painter said.
Seeing the Immortal Painter's smug smile, Clara actually started to worry for Evan Yang—each stage was harder than the last, and the final stage was said to have something truly terrifying.
Evan Yang slowly approached the entrance below, then leaped into the third stage. This stage annoyed him—it was a tunnel, sloping upward, and gravity kept pulling him down. He couldn't fly, so he could only jump a short distance at a time.
Seeing the third stage, Clara couldn't help but protest. "Senior, what's this? Climbing a tunnel?"
"You don't get it. This tunnel isn't simple—you'll see soon enough," the Immortal Painter said with a smile.
Before Clara could ask again, Evan Yang suddenly saw a stone falling in front of him. He quickly pressed against the wall, gripping it so hard his hands nearly bled.
"Damn, this third stage is brutal. I'll have to be extra careful," Evan Yang muttered.
"Haha, how about that?" the Immortal Painter said, clearly pleased.
"That's a bit much," Clara said, frowning.
"Not at all. It's not exaggerated in the slightest," the Immortal Painter replied.
Clara broke out in a cold sweat. This was dangerous—not only was there gravity, but stones could drop at any moment.
Evan Yang kept climbing. After a while, more stones fell, forcing him to dodge quickly. After a few rounds, his hands were scraped raw. "This won't do, I need a solution," Evan thought. If he didn't figure out a way, he'd get crushed sooner or later—the stones were fast and huge, and the tunnel was narrow.