Dong Chen

This place was filled with purple bamboo. Looking out, faint threads of purple radiance rose from the bamboo leaves, swiftly joining into a single expanse and dyeing the thin mist around them into purple dawn clouds. They obscured the scene beyond, leaving Yu Chen able to see only a patch of ground at the heart of the purple bamboo.

And upon that patch of ground, the most eye-catching sight was the pond amid the bamboo grove. Though it was clearly only two or three zhang across, it gave the impression of containing ten thousand qing of emerald waves.

It was precisely this extraordinarily subtle sense of distortion that prevented Yu Chen from determining the pond's true size. It seemed three zhang wide, yet also seemed only two.

At the same time, Five-Colored Lotus flowers appeared to be blooming in the pond, shifting through azure, white, gold, crimson, and purple. Looking closer, there seemed to be golden-scaled fish and white carp gliding through the water, crimson fish and azure dragons leaping about. Yet another glance showed only a pool of clear water. Still, beneath that radiance, its ripples resembled golden fish scales, sparkling brilliantly in profound mystery.

Yu Chen spent a great deal of effort before finally breaking free from it. He looked at the Daoist beside him, bowed slightly, and said, "Thank you for saving me, Senior."

"Even if I had not helped you, you would have broken free of his influence all the same. I merely meddled unnecessarily."

Holding the Purple Jade Ruyi, the Daoist withdrew his gaze from the pond and looked at Yu Chen with considerable delight. "For the Eastern Sea to have a junior like you is truly a cause for joy."

Yu Chen looked at the Purple Jade Ruyi in the Daoist's hand, then turned