Chapter 1051: The Break

"Why are you so sure I'm not your husband? Is it because you saw me die?" Zu An asked with a calm smile, as if the tsunami hundreds of meters away didn't exist.

"You're incorrigible!" Yu Yanluo frowned, and with a casual wave of her hand, the sky-obscuring tsunami surged towards Zu An.

However, she hesitated, then with a flick of her brush, she canceled the continuous waves that were about to follow.

Even so, after the terrifying tsunami swept past, the man's figure was gone, leaving only the magnificent, surging sea.

Yu Yanluo looked at the surface of the sea, startled. "Could he be dead?"

She had just seen him fighting the monster, and his cultivation was extremely high, so she hadn't dared to hold back too much.

In her opinion, since he was a fire-attribute cultivator, he would naturally be suppressed by water.

That's why she created the sea. However, given the combat power he had shown, although the tsunami was terrifying, at most it should have severely wounded him and incapacitated him, not killed him. Why was there no trace of him left now?

She thought for a moment, then picked up her brush and waved it. The sea immediately parted, gradually revealing the seabed.

At that moment, Zu An was standing on the seabed, looking up at the sky with a bewildered expression. He had never imagined she could part the sea so easily.

This was a power only heard of in ancient myths.

At the same time, the ethereal figure of Yu Yanluo in the air also looked surprised. She had considered many outcomes; her greatest fear was accidentally killing him with the tsunami's immense power, or severely wounding him into unconsciousness, making interrogation difficult. But she never expected him to be sitting at the bottom of the sea as if on vacation, completely unharmed!

He was surrounded by a thin, transparent blue sphere. Was that water elemental energy?

But how could this be? Wasn't he a fire-attribute cultivator?

Yu Yanluo felt somewhat dazed, as if her common sense of many years had been greatly challenged.

"Is that a skill or some kind of artifact? You can't be cultivating both water and fire, can you?" Yu Yanluo couldn't help but ask.

Zu An naturally wouldn't tell her he had used the Blue Drake's Water Affinity skill. He gazed at the ethereal figure in the sky, lost in thought, then after a moment, he said, "I should be inside your painting, right?"

Yu Yanluo was even more astonished. "You can figure that out?"

Countless enemies had been trapped in her paintings, unable to leave the world within for their entire lives, dying there without understanding why, thinking they had been teleported to some secret realm or desperate place.

He was the first to realize he was inside a painting while still trapped within it.

Zu An thought to himself that abilities like this were common in his previous life, such as Nuwa's Map of Mountains and Rivers in the *Investiture of the Gods*, and many other works of film, television, and literature.

He hadn't initially considered this possibility until he saw her increasingly bizarre abilities within this world, which made him realize.

Zu An stated directly, "Although I'm trapped in your painting, limited by your own cultivation, it's difficult for you to create anything too extravagant to deal with me."

Yu Yanluo fell silent, then after a long pause, she said, "You're right. While I can still paint some things into existence, with the strength you just displayed, it would indeed be difficult to deal with you. But what of it? Without my permission, you can't leave this world; you'll be trapped in the painting forever. So, tell me your identity and the purpose of your visit, and then I'll consider whether to release you."

Zu An frowned. Begging for mercy was out of the question. He had come to investigate Yu Yanluo, but instead of finding anything, he had been investigated by her. Where would he put his handsome face?

More crucially, although their relationship had been good before, with neither knowing the other's true background, now that he had stumbled upon her secret, he wasn't sure if she would turn hostile.

"Your painting isn't necessarily that powerful. There must be a way out, otherwise, wouldn't you be invincible?" His mind worked quickly, and he soon realized the crucial point.

"You're right, many powerful individuals can forcibly break through my paintings; the world within them cannot withstand their power," Yu Yanluo admitted frankly, then her tone shifted, "but clearly, you haven't reached that level yet."

Zu An: "..."

Did this woman have to be so blunt?

"Call me when you've thought it through." Yu Yanluo looked at his expression, knowing that he wouldn't resign himself to fate anytime soon. She decided to let him suffer a bit before giving up his illusions.

She left her desk and returned to the bedside, yawning uncontrollably.

Anyone woken from a deep sleep in the middle of the night would be a bit grumpy. She thought that even if he begged for mercy later, she would still keep him trapped for a few more days to teach him a good lesson.

Once in bed, she removed her clothes and curled up under the covers again. The warmth from the ground fire radiated up through the bed frame. She hummed comfortably, stretched, and shifted to a new position.

While she was comfortable, Zu An, on the other hand, was not.

Seeing Yu Yanluo's figure vanish into the horizon, the parted sea on both sides seemed to lose its supporting power and converged once more.

Zu An simply tipped his toes and burst out of the sea.

He walked directly on the sea, quickly advancing dozens of miles, attempting to find the boundaries of this world.

How big could a painting be?

However, he soon realized how wrong he was. No matter which direction he traveled, it was an endless ocean, with no horizon in sight.

It was as if the entire world was extending along with his movements.

Next, Zu An summoned the Tai'a Sword and unleashed various powerful attack skills directly into the sky and the sea.

Unfortunately, no matter how fierce his attacks were, the sky and the sea were simply too vast, and his power quickly dissipated.

"It seems my cultivation indeed hasn't reached the limit of this world," Zu An muttered, his brow furrowed.

This was going to be troublesome. Although he still had many supplies in his Glazed Pearl, they weren't infinite. Even if they could last for half a year or a year, he couldn't stay in the painting for that long; there were so many people waiting for him outside.

However, he didn't continue to waste energy aimlessly. Instead, he sat cross-legged on the sea surface and began to ponder all the skills and items he possessed, looking for anything that could transcend spatial confines.

With the Blue Drake's ability, he floated on the surface of the sea without sinking, and his thoughts raced as the waves undulated.

Suddenly, his eyes lit up. He remembered when Wei Dan had come to capture Old Man Mi in Brightmoon City, and during their great battle, Wei Dan had used a strange footwork technique—'Lotus Steps'.

At the time, it was apparently said to be able to break through spatial seals.

Later, Wei Dan died, and Old Man Mi's attempt at possession failed, instead benefiting Zu An. The Lotus Steps technique naturally fell into Zu An's hands.

When he first became interested, his cultivation wasn't high enough to use it.

Later, when his cultivation was sufficient and he had many other skills, he generally didn't need to use this one.

In his current situation, trapped in a painted world, wasn't 'Lotus Steps' exactly what he needed to break free?

He began to recall the details of 'Lotus Steps' in his mind. With his current understanding, he gained a deeper comprehension and insight into it.

After about half an hour, Zu An opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. The previous anxiety on his face had vanished, replaced by a confident smile.

He slowly lifted his foot and began walking step by step towards the sky.

With each step, a blooming lotus imprint appeared beneath his foot. The surrounding sky, which had remained unchanged no matter how he attacked it before, now gradually became chaotic and ethereal.

Zu An knew this was a sign of space beginning to collapse, and he continued to step upwards.

Powerful pulling forces gradually emanated from his surroundings, as if this world was desperately trying to restrain him.

His expression calm, he continued to step upwards. When he took his sixth step, he felt a thin, film-like barrier obstructing him.

This was likely the last layer of defense in Yu Yanluo's world.

With his seventh step, the membrane finally broke!

Zu An felt his body lighten, and the next moment, he reappeared in the previous boudoir.

On the table lay a painting, but it was crumpled and messy, as if something had punched a hole through it.

So it was this painting that had trapped him for so long.

Zu An felt immensely fortunate. If it weren't for 'Lotus Steps', he truly would have been in trouble this time.

His gaze shifted to the bed beside him, and seeing Yu Yanluo sleeping soundly, he couldn't help but feel a surge of irritation.

This woman really could sleep through anything.

He walked to the bedside. Yu Yanluo seemed to sense something and groggily opened her eyes.

However, she only felt a numbness in her shoulder; her acupoints had already been sealed.

Zu An withdrew his finger, then casually sat down on the edge of the bed. "Oh, you even took off your clothes. Are you that trusting?"

Because she had just been about to get up, the quilt had slipped, revealing a large expanse of her fair, snow-like skin, which was dazzlingly white.

Her undergarment was made of black silk, looking smooth and soft; one could tell it would feel very comfortable against the skin without even touching it.

There were no patterns embroidered on it, just some cut-out floral designs along the edges.

Zu An thought to himself: this woman appears so pure and dignified on the surface, yet underneath, she wears something so... demurely provocative?

It had to be said, during the day he usually saw her in conservative clothes, and he hadn't expected her figure beneath them to be so stunning.

Evidently sensing his gaze, a hint of anger flashed in Yu Yanluo's eyes. "How did you get out?"

Rage points from Yu Yanluo +444 +444 +444...

"My... *cough, cough*," Zu An's heart skipped a beat, almost blurting it out. "Your painting, Madam, is not invincible. As I said earlier, if I can get out, I naturally will."

Yu Yanluo was somewhat puzzled. Why did this man call her 'Madam'?

Her surname was Yu.

However, that wasn't the main point. Seeing him sitting so close by the bed, her eyes gradually began to change color, and her hair started to move on its own without any wind.

Zu An noticed the fine goosebumps on her skin due to the cold, so he reached out and pulled the quilt back over her.

Sensing his movement, Yu Yanluo had initially thought he was about to be rude to her, and the killing intent in her eyes intensified.

But when she realized he was simply covering her up, she paused, and the color in her eyes gradually faded. "Who exactly are you?"

Zu An didn't notice this subtle change. "Madam, you've got one thing wrong. Now I'm asking you, not the other way around. When you and Jian Taiding conspired to harm me back then, did you feel even a little bit of guilt?"

Yu Yanluo scoffed, "Stop pretending. I know you're not Jian Yanyou."

Zu An fell silent, giving up his last attempt at probing. "I thought my disguise was flawless. Where exactly did I give myself away?"

His perfect combination of the Faceless Thousand and the Moe Girl Voice Changer had failed on its first outing. He had to know what went wrong so he could avoid it in the future.