——On the curtain of darkness, there were specks of white light.
When Angel first saw this painting, he didn’t pay much attention and only thought it was a midnight starry sky. In all the oil paintings, there were not a few featuring starry nights, so a starry sky painting wasn’t uncommon.
However, when he walked up to the painting and focused on appreciating it, Angel immediately noticed something unusual.
In other paintings of the starry sky, although the background is dim, one can still see some deeper colors rendered by the starlight, such as dark gray, deep blue, and misty yellow.
But this painting is different. Its background is pure black, a black that can swallow all bright and dark colors.
This black doesn’t resemble the night sky; it looks more like the deep, unseen void.
However, the pure darkness isn’t the main reason Angel ruled it out as a "starry sky." The reason Angel distinguished it from other starry sky paintings is because the "stars" on it are very peculiar.
To ordinary people who don’t have knowledge of astrology, the stars in the sky seem random. In the eyes of astrologers and Prophet Wizards, the starry sky is chaotic yet orderly.
But the "starry sky" on this painting isn’t chaotic, nor is it chaotic yet orderly; it is simply orderly.
On the dark curtain, a strip of light like the Milky Way extends from a distant depth to the very center of the painting. Although the "light points" appear to be smaller at a distance and larger up close, this is merely the artistic vision presented by the painting.
In fact, if you imagine the scene in the painting, it’s like a glowing road in the void, stretching from an unknown faraway place straight to your feet.
This painting is definitely not of stars, but a glowing road in the void.
The so-called glowing stars are merely the orderly "lights" on both sides of this road, or perhaps "street lamps?"
Upon understanding the truth of the painting, Angel was momentarily stunned.
This painting, simply from the presentation of its content, did not reveal any information. However, combined with some information he knew from the past, it gave Angel a huge shock.
"You walk in darkness, and beneath your feet is a glowing path." This is a prophecy Hua Que saw concerning Angel a long time ago.
Angel wasn’t sure if the "glowing path" on this oil painting was the same one from the prophecy, but the key clues were almost entirely the same.
He recalled that Dororo had also solemnly expressed not long ago that he saw a glowing path in the prophecy.
Therefore, Angel believed that the path of light in the painting was most likely the path from the prophecy.
Where is this road, where does it lead, and what is at its end? Angel didn’t know, but since the two major prophecy seeds of the Baiyuan clan both saw the same road, it must not be ignored.
Perhaps, this road is the ultimate goal of Angel’s journey to the Tidal World this time.
And this painting could be a crucial clue left by Feng.
After all, in Angel’s eyes, Feng is a "charlatan" who lays out plans all over the world. As a charlatan, he might have the power to transcend the flow of time and affect the prophecies of Hua Que and Dororo.
Through Hua Que and Dororo, he left clues for him to find the so-called "treasure."
The more Angel thought about it, the more he felt it was exactly like this. There may be coincidences in the world, but seeing this glowing road three times in different places absolutely isn’t a coincidence.
It must be Feng’s intentional doing.
"No wonder he’s called the Magic Painter Wizard, to hide the clues so deeply." Angel sighed inwardly. Perhaps only a master of prophecy like Feng has the qualification to hide clues in the gaps of time and the corners of fate, almost impossible for anyone other than those favored by fate to unravel the true face.
And fortunately, Angel knew the Baiyuan clan, otherwise, he would never have found such hidden clues.
While Angel was feeling emotional, in the distant time and space.
Feng, the painter, who was mentally envisioned as a master of prophecy, suddenly sneezed several times for no reason. Rubbing his inexplicably itchy nose, Feng murmured in confusion, "Why did I suddenly sneeze? It’s cold above my head. I always feel like someone is flattering me..."
At this moment, Angel, convinced that his insights were absolutely correct, had no idea about the scene happening in distant time and space. He continued to carefully analyze the various details of the path of light, striving to find deeper hidden clues.
However, the painting was so obvious that even with his full effort and the use of the green pattern in his right eye, Angel couldn’t find any additional information on the painting.
He could only sigh quietly in the end, intending to ask Dororo when he got the chance. Perhaps Dororo could see something peculiar.
Subsequently, Angel looked at the remaining paintings in the palace and didn’t find any other useful information. However, he saw some architectural scenes in the remaining oil paintings, including cityscapes of the Central Empire on the Revelation Continent.
At that time, the architectural style of the Central Empire was already faintly matching that of the current Silver Heron royal family.
It seems that when Gentle Breeze Uranus was building the palace, it was modeled after the architecture presented in these oil paintings.
Although these clues weren’t useful to Angel, they could evidence the past historical development of Wind Island, a surprising detail discovered during the journey.
Having finished viewing the oil paintings, Angel also inspected the palace and the surrounding hundreds of meters but didn’t find any other traces left by Feng, so he had to give up.
"Are you leaving here, sir?" Cubic, who had been secretly observing Angel, was the first to sense Angel’s intention to leave.
Angel looked at Cubic and nodded: "Yes, I’m planning to take a look at White Sea Bay."
Cubic flew swiftly into the air: "Then, let me lead the way."
Angel didn’t refuse Cubic’s kindness, having Cubic lead the way is undoubtedly better than having the whimpering Arnott give directions with vague words.
Speaking of Arnott, Angel suddenly noticed that Arnott hadn’t cried in a long time. As a peculiar Wind Spirit who would cry both when happy and sad, Arnott hadn’t made a peep while he was observing the oil paintings. This gave him a quite pleasant viewing experience, but it also made Angel curious if Arnott had changed its nature.
Angel turned back to see that Arnott hadn’t noticed the conversation here at all; all its attention was absorbed by the surrounding oil paintings.
If not for the cage of yellow sand holding it back, Arnott would probably have pressed its eyes against the oil paintings.
"It’s time to go, why are you still looking?" Dangross’s shout woke Arnott from its enchantment.
Arnott was momentarily dazed before snapping out of the beautiful scenery in the paintings. It looked at Dangross with some embarrassment: "This is my first time at the Forbidden Peak; I didn’t expect there to be so many beautiful paintings here."
"What’s so good about these paintings? They don’t move at all, and they’re not lively," said Dangross, who had no artistic sense, truthfully.
"They’re very lively. When I look closely, I even feel like the trees in the pictures seem to be swaying, and I can smell the fragrance in the air." Arnott was still entranced by the imaginings in the paintings.
"You’re bewitched, aren’t you?" Dangross deliberately walked to a painting, looking left and right: "Why don’t I feel anything?"