A strange silence fell.
The crowd stared at Yun Jin, their gazes filling with horror.
She… she…
What on earth was she doing?
The statue had descended with the Sky City. Everyone tacitly believed it to be a statue of an Immortal, and not just any Immortal—most likely one of the most exalted beings under the heavens. The fact that the statue still radiated such power even after countless years suggested that the Immortal it depicted might very well still be alive.
Even putting that aside, the aura alone that lingered on the statue was enough to make ordinary people tremble with unease if they so much as looked at it for too long.
And Yun Jin?
She had thrown herself onto the statue like a climbing beast, hands and feet working together as she scrambled steadily upward.
For a moment, the crowd's minds buzzed blankly.
Heaven above.
Immortal above.
They wanted to shout out loud that they were only bystanders, that they absolutely were not accomplices. If punishment was to fall, let it fall on Yun Jin alone!
Several people instinctively backed away, even running off in panic. If the Immortal's wrath was stirred, they wanted no part of being caught in the backlash.
But after a while, someone stopped short. "Wait. Sect Master Yun hasn't been punished yet?"
The crowd turned their eyes upward.
Yun Jin climbed with easy agility, and in the blink of an eye she had already scaled the height of several stories.
Yet the statue remained perfectly still.
The world around it was calm, without the slightest ripple.
The crowd was left bewildered.
Could it be…?
The Heavenly Dao favored Yun Jin.
And this statue too… favored her?
Or perhaps, after so many years, the statue's power had waned?
Someone, carried away by reckless curiosity, stretched out a hand and touched the statue. The next instant, he let out a miserable scream, face contorted in unbearable agony. Others who had harbored the same stray thoughts moments earlier also clutched their heads in pain.
The rest of the crowd immediately shivered with dread.
So it was true. The statue remained as vengeful and exacting as ever…
Wait!
Their minds had barely formed the thought of "vengeful and exacting" when the pain struck them too, splitting their skulls with torment. They all instantly forced themselves into blankness, not daring to think a single disrespectful thought.
They glanced back up at Yun Jin, still climbing without incident, and nearly wept.
What kind of twisted situation was this?
Just thinking stray thoughts had left them in agony, yet Yun Jin was literally stepping on the statue with her feet, and nothing was happening to her?
"Maybe it's because…" someone said hesitantly, choosing their words with care, "Sect Master Yun's actions look disrespectful, but in her heart she holds no irreverence. The statue… might not sense anything wrong?"
Could that really be it?
A little later, another fool tried to test it out.
He emptied his mind, imitated Yun Jin's movements, and attempted to step onto the statue. A terrible force blasted him away on the spot, hurling him across the plaza. He hit the ground hard and lay there groaning, unable to rise.
Everyone around him quickly retreated a few paces. Speculating was one thing, but actually trying it was suicidal. And people that reckless—better not stand too close to them, lest misfortune spread.
By now, Yun Jin had climbed so high her figure was lost from sight.
The crowd's curiosity only deepened.
How tall was this statue, truly?
What lay at its peak?
This riddle that had shrouded Sky City since the day it descended—was it finally about to be solved?
Not long after, Lin Xiao too received word of Yun Jin's actions.
His brows shot up in shock. "Climbing the statue? And Yun Jin is unharmed?"
Since the Sky City's descent, it was obvious to all that these four statues held extraordinary significance.
Many had tried to probe their secrets. But the statues had always rejected contact. No one had ever uncovered the truth behind them. And now, Yun Jin of all people was the sole exception?
Lin Xiao's brows knitted tightly.
He forced himself to calm down.
No rush. No rush.
No matter what Yun Jin did, three years from now she would die beyond any doubt.
That was certain.
The one waiting for her was a being as strong as an Immortal.
Yun Jin had no road to survival.
Reminding himself of this, Lin Xiao regained some composure. Still, he could not deny his burning curiosity about the statue's true face. "Keep watching her," he ordered. "Report any development at once."
And he was not the only one.
All across the great powers, including the other three Holy Lands, news spread quickly. Ji Wusi too watched with keen interest. Could the mystery of the four statues finally begin to unravel?
Meanwhile, Yun Jin herself was indeed climbing with ease. But she also found the statue rather amusing. When she had first touched it, a wave of fierce rejection had surged against her. Yet thanks to her solid cultivation, she had not been flung away.
Then she realized something.
The statue seemed to loathe being mocked in thought. If it sensed any irreverence, the punishment was immediate—ranging from splitting headaches to deadly bolts of lightning.
A spark of inspiration struck Yun Jin.
In the span of a heartbeat, she hypnotized herself into a trance. Her expression instantly transformed into one of wild devotion.
"My supreme Lord," she whispered fervently in her heart, "from the moment my eyes beheld You, I was overwhelmed that such majesty could exist in this world. You are a being beyond all comprehension. In Your presence, I am but a speck of dust…"
In her mind, endless torrents of exaggerated praise spilled forth.
And then the miracle happened.
The statue's hostility faded away.
The crushing rejection vanished entirely, and Yun Jin found herself free to climb upward with ease.
Had she not hypnotized herself, she would no doubt be filled with bewildered question marks at the absurdity of it all. But under her self-suggestion, she truly believed herself the statue's most ardent worshipper, showering it with praise in her heart while steadily climbing higher.
The statue was staggeringly tall. And the higher she went, the steeper and more treacherous it became. Even with her speed, Yun Jin needed a full hour before she finally reached the statue's shoulder.
"My supreme Lord," she murmured devoutly, "please allow me to linger here. My heart is already filled with Your image, and I cannot bear to part from it for even a moment."
It was only then that she saw clearly.
The statue was of a breathtakingly beautiful woman.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, capturing every detail of her flawless features. Staring at her face, Yun Jin almost felt as though the woman's eyes were truly alive, shifting ever so slightly.
The statue seemed less like cold stone, and more like a living being.
By now, night had fallen.
The Taiyin star hung high above, spilling silver moonlight over the statue.
Under that glow, the figure appeared even more dazzling, ethereal and coldly radiant.
Yun Jin was so entranced she briefly forgot herself.
And thanks to her hypnotic trance, her lips poured forth endless streams of praise, praising beauty, majesty, supremacy without end.
The statue made no outward reply, but Yun Jin had the odd sense that its mood was growing increasingly pleased. So she redoubled her efforts, showering it with flattery without pause.
Was it her imagination, or had the statue's lips curved slightly upward?
Down in the central plaza, countless heads craned skyward.
They could see nothing at all.
But they knew Yun Jin was still up there.
And she was the first in a thousand years to reach the statue.
Could it be that she was about to obtain some unfathomable fortune?
===
The Author write "彩虹屁" (Cǎihóng pì) a 'Rainbow Fart'. It means extravagant, over-the-top, often fawning praise or flattery—the kind that is so colorful and excessive it's almost ridiculous.
"Rainbow fart" is a metaphor for praise that is so effusive and flowery that it "paints a rainbow" or is as spectacular and colorful as a rainbow coming out of one's... well, rear end.
There's an existing, slightly crass but humorous concept that excessive flattery can be thought of as "farting" or producing "bullshit" (拍马屁 - pāi mǎpì, meaning "to flatter," literally "to pat the horse's butt"). So, the "fart" (屁) part of the term already had a connection to insincere or excessive praise.
The "rainbow" (彩虹) modifier takes that concept and exaggerates it to the extreme. If normal flattery is just a fart, then the incredibly elaborate, poetic, and glowing praise written by devoted fans is a spectacular, multi-colored, beautiful rainbow fart. It's so over-the-top that it transforms something base into something dazzling.