After Angel emerged from the passage, he immediately sensed the terrifying pressure assaulting him once more.
Fortunately, he had been prepared in advance, so he could barely withstand it.
He glanced back and saw that the passage to the world in the painting had begun to dissipate. As the passage disappeared, the painting placed inside the treasure chest, as if it had completed all its missions, also started transforming into glowing particles, finally vanishing into nothingness.
After confirming that both the painting and the passage had vanished, Angel began to focus on the surrounding situation.
The circular stone platform suspended in the void remained the same, with the luminescent algae above still resembling suspended stars.
Nothing had changed, but Angel kept feeling as if the surrounding pressure had intensified?
As Angel pondered, his shoulder unconsciously sank a bit... Was the influence of the pressure on the Material Realm starting to increase?
Why was this happening?
According to what Feng had said earlier, as long as the Initial Ceremony of Taiand was maintained, the pressure on the stone platform should remain in a relatively constant state, right?
Feeling the increasingly potent pressure, a suspicion rose in Angel’s heart: Could it be that there was a problem with the Initial Ceremony?
Angel hesitated and turned his head to look at the Path of Light he came from.
He then noticed that at the end of the Path of Light, the condition maintaining the ceremony—the void luminescent algae—had started to dim in places.
It was as if street lamps were being extinguished.
Moreover, it wasn’t just one or two street lamps; a large number of street lamps had been extinguished starting from the end of the Path of Light, and the extinction showed no signs of stopping, spreading rapidly toward him.
With each lamp extinguished, the pressure on Angel increased dramatically.
"Sure enough, there is a problem with the Initial Ceremony." Angel immediately realized in his heart; from the previous situation, the increase in pressure started when the oil painting disappeared.
It was very likely that the oil painting in the treasure chest was also a part of the Initial Ceremony.
Moreover, the disappearance of the oil painting caused problems in the entire Initial Ceremony, indicating that the oil painting was not merely a non-essential element; it was very likely an important sacrifice in this ceremony.
As the Initial Ceremony began to collapse, the originally stable pressure within a certain range naturally started to increase. In the end, even with Angel’s physical body, he could not survive under the pressure.
Originally, Angel had many choices, but under such circumstances, he was left with only two choices.
Either leave quickly.
Or, touch a wisp of will of the Tidal World, and once granted heavenly authority, naturally no longer be threatened by the pressure.
Angel chose the second option without hesitation; since a better path was already in front of him, he had no need to choose the worse one.
After making his decision, Angel’s gaze shifted to the giant light sphere hidden behind numerous void luminescent algae above the stone platform.
This light sphere was the projection of a wisp of will of the Tidal World summoned by the Initial Ceremony.
Originally, this light sphere was still in a stable state, but due to the rapid collapse of the Initial Ceremony, it became somewhat distorted, looking as if it could disperse at any moment.
Angel understood he couldn’t delay any longer. Without time to think, he extended his spirit tentacles as Feng had previously instructed, directly charging toward the light sphere high above.
Compared to the physical body, spirit tentacles felt the pressure more intensely. The further up they went, the more terrifying the pressure became.
Finally, Angel even saw signs of the spirit tentacles dissipating.
Angel quickly activated the green pattern on his right eye, transmitting the leaping green pattern representing "Domain Field" through the spirit tentacles, directly assisting in the ascent.
Protected by the Domain Field, the pressure began to diminish, allowing the spirit tentacles to ascend once more.
As the spirit tentacles were about to reach the light sphere, the effect of the Domain Field began to weaken, but they were already very close to the endpoint.
Angel thought for a moment and then reinforced the spirit tentacles with a surge of energy. With the input of this energy, the spirit tentacles were directly shot out of the Domain Field, exposed to the terrifying pressure.
The pressure transmitted through the spirit tentacles into Angel’s Spirit Sea, and Angel immediately felt dizzy.
Even so, Angel did not break the connection to the spirit tentacles; instead, using the momentum of the ejection, he charged toward the light sphere in one go.
Just as the spirit tentacles were about to reach their limit, they finally entered the light sphere.
Simultaneously, Angel felt a tumult in his Spirit Sea—a dramatic change in the Spirit Sea caused Angel to feel dizzy, ultimately collapsing to the ground.
In the boundless darkness, Angel had a dream.
He seemed to turn into a drop of rain, falling into the ocean, and under the surge of the mighty water force, transformed into a giant sea whale. The moment the sea whale leaped from the sea surface, its body rapidly shrank, becoming a flying fish formed of azure wind, leaping directly onto the white clouds, flying all the way toward the continent...
Water System life, Wind System life, Thunder life... In this dream journey of "Evolution," he became Elemental Life of different attributes, from various perspectives, appreciating the magnificent sceneries of the Tidal World. Finally, he arrived in an unknown land, where apart from extensive clouds and mist, there was only a long and winding Rainbow River.
The radiantly colorful river water was filled with different elements.
They seemed to follow a certain pattern, sometimes slow, sometimes gentle, sometimes still.
If it were in the outside world, Angel wouldn’t give much thought to the flow of the river. But here, the more Angel looked, the more magical it seemed as if it wasn’t the river water flowing but a magical force imparting special rhythm to the river.
This rhythm represented a mysterious, profound inner content.
Angel observed the rhythm; he didn’t know how much time had passed. Suddenly, at a certain moment, a ripple occurred.
Somewhere midstream in the Rainbow River, a huge vortex appeared, drawing in a large amount of river water. Looking down from above, Angel discovered that through the vortex, he could see the largest landmass in the Tidal World.
At this moment, the land, inhabited by countless elemental bodies, was undergoing a baptism of elements due to the backflow of the Rainbow River.
This was... the Elemental Tide?
Angel stared blankly at the vortex; the more he looked, the more familiar it seemed. The subjectively unconscious Angel in the dream couldn’t help but move closer to take a look.
As he approached, the vortex, impartial, sucked Angel in as well, leaving his vision in darkness once again.