The instant he stepped onto the bridge, he felt a gentle springiness beneath his feet, as though he were treading on a thick carpet.
Seven-colored light flowed around his feet across the bridge's surface, seeming alive, as if welcoming his arrival.
He followed the rainbow bridge and slowly walked forward.
There were no railings on either side of the bridge, only billowing seven-colored clouds and mist.
The clouds and mist drifted along the bridge, sometimes gathering, sometimes scattering, like ribbons of seven colors dancing in the wind.
Looking down through the mist, he could see the Heavenly River at the bottom of the gorge. Its waters glimmered blue beneath the sunlight, like a ribbon of blue gemstones.
After walking for roughly the time it took to burn an incense stick, Ye Lin reached the other end of the rainbow bridge.
At the bridgehead stood an enormous stone gate.
The gate was a hundred zhang tall and several dozen zhang wide, carved from a single piece of seven-colored jade.
Four large characters were engraved upon its lintel: "Seven-Colored Heavenly Pool."
A stone sculpture of a seven-colored toad crouched on each side of the gateposts.
The two sculptures were lifelike, their eyes half-closed and their expressions serene. Seven-colored radiance swirled around them, as though they might spring to life the very next moment.
As Ye Lin passed through the stone gate, the sight before him made him pause slightly.
Beyond the gate lay a broad expanse of level ground.
At its center was an enormous pool.
The pool was circular, several hundred zhang in diameter. Its water was crystal clear, displaying seven colors.
They were not seven muddled colors mixed together, but seven clearly distinct regions.
Red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and violet—the waters of the seven colors did not blend,