# Chapter 1671: Kaleidoscope
Zhang Ruochen stepped back to the side, secretly observing this exquisitely decorated and beautiful sacred carriage, shocked in his heart. "Eight Radiance Ten-Thousand Pattern Sacred Artifact."
As expected of a Heavenly Maiden, this sacred carriage was absolutely a peerless war implement, only one rank weaker than the Golden Step Dragon Carriage.
"Could the one sitting inside be the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden from the *Nine Immortal Beauties Painting*?" Zhang Ruochen pondered.
Such a precious sacred carriage could only be ridden by its owner.
As for beauties, especially legendary celestial maidens renowned throughout the world, who wouldn't want to see one?
A hint of anticipation arose in Zhang Ruochen's heart.
To Zhang Ruochen's disappointment, the person who stepped out of the sacred carriage was a man. Moreover, he was an extremely ugly man, with a head that was abnormally large, twice the size of an ordinary person. His teeth protruded so severely that his lips couldn't cover them.
He probably wasn't human.
If the pursuers of the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden were to witness this scene, they would likely be so jealous they'd beat their chests and stomp their feet in frustration.
A man so ugly could actually ride in the celestial maiden's fragrant carriage? Was there any justice?
The big-headed ugly man's cultivation was very strong. Although Zhang Ruochen was curious about his identity, he didn't use his Heavenly Eye to observe him, afraid of being detected and inviting unnecessary trouble.
After the big-headed ugly man stepped down from the sacred carriage, his lust-filled eyes never left Li Miaohan. He smiled and said, "Miss Miaohan, where exactly is the celestial maiden?"
"My master is inside this artifact-refining pavilion."
As Li Miaohan turned her back to the big-headed ugly man, a flash of disgust passed through her eyes.
If she hadn't failed to invite Gongzi Yan, how could she have settled for second best and invited this notoriously despicable fellow?
His reputation was indeed terrible, and he was extremely ugly. But who could argue with his profound cultivation and his mastery of the Way of Space at such a high level?
To attack that palace, they needed a space cultivator to be present.
When she first went to invite him, his demands were excessively outrageous. He wanted the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden to personally come and receive him, hoping to share a carriage with the celestial maiden.
Given his lowly reputation, if the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden truly shared a carriage with him, one could imagine the enormous negative impact it would cause.
Li Miaohan directly refused him. Only then did he change his mind, claiming that he would only accept the invitation if the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden's White Feather Peacock Sacred Carriage came to pick him up.
In Li Miaohan's view, this was still an unacceptable condition. However, after she reported it to the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden, the celestial maiden actually agreed.
Having no other choice, Li Miaohan had to suppress the nausea in her heart and drive the White Feather Peacock Sacred Carriage to pick him up.
The big-headed ugly man was named Gu Feng. With a rather lecherous smile, he muttered to himself, "Being able to ride the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden's White Feather Peacock Sacred Carriage once is enough to brag to those fellows in my sect for three years. To be honest, the celestial maiden's scent... truly fragrant. The fragrance is different from other women."
Li Miaohan looked at Gu Feng's intoxicated expression and knew exactly what filthy thoughts were running through his mind.
Her disgust grew even stronger. Her five snow-white jade fingers clenched tightly together, feeling that her sacred and inviolable master had been defiled by him.
Gu Feng noticed Zhang Ruochen not far away and revealed a smug expression. "Kid, see that? Old Man Gu rode the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden's fragrant carriage. The one driving the carriage is the famous Li Miaohan, a proud daughter of heaven ranked in the top twenty of the *Sacred Merit Ranking*. Envious?"
Zhang Ruochen didn't want to stir up trouble, so he just smiled faintly in response.
Such a response made Gu Feng very dissatisfied. His brows furrowed, and he continued, "Do you know who Old Man Gu is? I'm known as the Kaleidoscope, Gu Feng. Passing through a myriad of flowers, leaving behind scattered petals, and the man is nowhere to be found. There shouldn't be a man in the world who doesn't envy Old Man Gu. Kid, do you want to be my follower? You don't deserve to taste the fresh flowers, but I can leave the withered ones for you."
Zhang Ruochen maintained his smile and said, "No."
Initially, Li Miaohan hadn't paid any attention to this ordinary-looking man. But now, a strange look appeared in her eyes.
Leaving aside Gu Feng's great reputation, just his unfathomably profound cultivation was enough to put pressure on Li Miaohan when standing before him.
Yet that ordinary-looking man could remain calm under Gu Feng's gaze, always wearing a smile.
That was definitely not something an ordinary person could do.
Just as Gu Feng felt that Zhang Ruochen was being ungrateful and wanted to teach him a lesson, Li Miaohan spoke up. "Senior Gu, we should go inside quickly. Don't keep my master waiting too long."
The space imprint in Gu Feng's palm had already been activated, but he clenched his fingers and withdrew his power, laughing. "Well said. How could I keep the celestial maiden waiting? A man should take the initiative to go in. Gotta be quick, or the celestial maiden might get impatient. Haha."
Hearing this, Li Miaohan's snow-white cheeks flushed red. Her anger grew even stronger, but she forced herself to restrain it.
Only after Li Miaohan and Gu Feng had entered the artifact-refining pavilion did Zhang Ruochen mutter to himself, "Such a lecherous fellow actually cultivates the Way of Space."
Zhang Ruochen stopped thinking about it and walked forward.
Guarding the artifact-refining pavilion were two giant Saint Kings. Zhang Ruochen presented the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden's invitation token and casually walked inside.
The artifact-refining pavilion had ten floors, each nearly a hundred meters high. It was majestic and grand, allowing even giants dozens of meters tall to walk through it unimpeded.
Walking through the corridors, Zhang Ruochen, an ordinary human cultivator, looked like a pigeon egg-sized miniature person.
A burly, bearded man strode over from ahead and said, "Young Master Zhang, the Heavenly Maiden heard that you had arrived and specially sent me to receive you."
This was the third time Zhang Ruochen had seen this bearded man.
The first time was at the Truth Sea, where the bearded man was driving the carriage for the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden.
The second time was on the White Bone Slope. When Zhang Ruochen was conversing with the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden, two experts were standing guard in the distance. One of them was this bearded man.
Now, seeing him up close, Zhang Ruochen realized that this bearded man was no simple character.
With Zhang Ruochen's current eyesight, even if he couldn't see through the cultivation of beings below the Great Saint level, he could make a rough judgment. But this bearded man left Zhang Ruochen completely unable to gauge his true strength.
"It would be strange if a proud daughter of heaven like the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden didn't have a top-tier expert guarding her," Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.
The bearded man led Zhang Ruochen all the way to the top of the artifact-refining pavilion.
The top of the pavilion was like an observation deck and also like a vast plaza. Over a hundred beings had gathered here, and each one emitted an extremely powerful sacred aura.
A golden giant sitting cross-legged on the ground was the most eye-catching. Even with a smile on his face, he exuded an overwhelming sense of dominance.
At this moment, Gu Feng was standing at the very center, while Li Miaohan had retreated behind a woman wearing a veil.
The veiled woman was surrounded by rings of sacred light. Only her silhouette and three eyes beneath the veil could be faintly seen.
Although she had a vertical eye on her bright white forehead, it didn't detract from her peerless beauty. On the contrary, the third vertical eye made her beauty unique, more lively, and more sacred in temperament.
This woman should be the legendary Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden.
Gu Feng stood with his arms crossed, speaking to the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden with a playful smile. "As long as the celestial maiden agrees to the conditions I mentioned earlier, I will risk my life to help you obtain the divine spring."
Near the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden, many male cultivators showed anger.
Among them, a man wearing an embroidered dragon black robe said in a deep voice, "Gu Feng, have you grown tired of living? How dare you make such a rude request to the celestial maiden?"
Gu Feng looked fearless. "Crown Prince of the Imperial Ancestor, this matter has nothing to do with you. Don't stick your nose in."
The Crown Prince of the Imperial Ancestor showed a hint of anger. "In the entire Truth Heaven Domain, there are few who dare to speak to this Crown Prince in such a tone."
Gu Feng sneered. "Aren't you just trying to curry favor with the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden? Too bad, what's the use of pursuing her for so long? Have you ever ridden the celestial maiden's White Feather Peacock Sacred Carriage? Haha, I just did!"
The Crown Prince of the Imperial Ancestor's face alternated between green and purple. Dragon roars echoed from within his body, and he was on the verge of exploding with rage.
Under the bearded man's guidance, Zhang Ruochen walked over to the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden.
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden smiled and pointed to a seat beside her. She transmitted her voice, "Hurry and sit down. You've come at just the right time to watch a good show."
After sitting down, Zhang Ruochen asked, "What good show?"
"That lecher Gu Feng actually wants the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden to agree to marry him before he'll go with us to brave the Wind Dome Peak. Tell me, has this man lost his mind?" the Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden said with a laugh.
Zhang Ruochen said, "Did the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden agree?"
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden shot Zhang Ruochen a glare. "Who is Gu Feng? And who is the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden? If the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden actually agreed to him, it would cause a sensation throughout the entire Heavenly Court Realm. That's simply impossible!"
Zhang Ruochen said, "Braving the Wind Dome Peak is a life-risking endeavor. Even if he proposed such a condition, it doesn't seem excessive."
The Thousand Star Heavenly Maiden gave Zhang Ruochen a deep look, then laughed. "Are you feeling that the conditions you proposed were too simple and now regret it?"
"No. I just hope the Heavenly Maiden will keep her promise and not go back on her word when the time comes," Zhang Ruochen said calmly.
At the center, Gu Feng looked as if he had the Heavenly Beginning Celestial Maiden in the palm of his hand. He said somewhat smugly, "The celestial maiden should think it over carefully! According to what I know, that old Heavenly Lord of the Heavenly Beginning Civilization was severely injured three thousand years ago while fighting against a top-tier expert of the Hell Realm's Shura Clan, and he still hasn't recovered."
"If you can't collect enough divine spring, I'm afraid he won't be able to survive this Eon Calamity and will fall. Given the current crisis facing the Heavenly Beginning Civilization, if the old Heavenly Lord falls... tsk tsk, the consequences would be unimaginable."