Chu Mo's heart was indeed filled with curiosity, and he also felt that this old man was no ordinary person. Therefore, he tried hard to climb onto the body of this great fish. After much effort, he finally managed to climb up from the tail, slowly moving upwards. At last, he saw the colorful scales the old man had spoken of. They were located on the topmost dorsal fin!

That scale was not as large as the other scales, unexpectedly small, just the size of an adult's fingernail, like a colorful gem embedded there, sparkling with dazzling light. Such a distinct scale was difficult to miss.

Chu Mo exclaimed in amazement, "It really exists..."

The expression on the old man's face also showed excitement as he asked loudly, "Boy, how big is that scale?"

"About... the size of a fingernail," Chu Mo replied.

The excitement on the old man's face suddenly stiffened, and after a moment of silence, he shook his head and sighed, "Still not big enough..."

"What do you mean?" Chu Mo stood there, not rushing to pry off the scale, but instead looking at the old man.

"If it were as big as a fist, we could both leave this cursed place," the old man said, lifting his head to glance at the grey sky above, silent for a long time, a look of dejection spreading across his eyes.

Chu Mo stood there stunned, staring blankly at the old man, not even sure if what the old man was saying was true or false.

After a while, the old man's face, dark as ink, finally revealed a bitter smile and said, "This is also fate, Heaven's Will! Once you enter the land of sin... it's not so easy to get out. Anyway... boy, take it off and keep it safe. Whether you can escape from here or not depends entirely on it!"

Chu Mo couldn't help but gasp, looking at the old man and saying, "Why would you give it to me? I haven't done anything."

The old man glanced at Chu Mo, then gave a bitter smile and said, "Do you think I really want to give it to you? Although I am no villain, I can't be so selfless. I give it to you because this fish... it came for you! It is your opportunity, your fate! Just now I asked you how large the colorful fish scale was, if it had been as big as a fist, then... it would have been our shared opportunity! But now... never mind, just take it off. It's easy, you'll see."

"What if I offered this opportunity to you?" Chu Mo asked seriously, looking at the old man.

The old man was slightly startled, then looked at Chu Mo with interest, "Boy, do you know what your words mean in this place?"

"I'm not familiar with this place, but I can feel that it's not a good place. And it's very likely that once you come in, you can't get out," Chu Mo stated honestly.

"And you still want to give it to me?" the old man asked, his eyes flickering with an inexplicable sparkle.

"The fish was caught by you," Chu Mo said. "If you hadn't told me about this, I would never have known."

The old man stood there, looking at Chu Mo for a long time before finally saying, "Ah... that's why I have been waiting here for a thousand years and failed to encounter a colorful golden fish. You come along, and it appears. That's the difference! Boy, thank you for considering this old man, but it's no use. Only you can take that colorful fish scale."

At that moment, Chu Mo bent down and gently touched the scale, which looked just like a colorful gemstone.

Click!

A clear sound rang out, and the colorful scale actually came right off by itself and was held in Chu Mo's hand.

Following that, all the scales from the enormous golden fish began falling off as if it were raining, crazily dropping down.

Rattle!

Almost in an instant, the ground became piled with a heap of golden scales.

Then, an even more astonishing sight unfolded before Chu Mo!

After shedding its scales, the golden fish actually began to slowly disappear!

"What… what is happening?" Chu Mo stood on the back of the great fish, his face showing an expression of utter shock.

"Jump down," the elder shouted, "This isn't a real fish… This is a manifestation of the Daoist Realm!"

Chu Mo immediately jumped off, somewhat clumsily stabilizing his form after several tumbles before turning around, staring dumbfoundedly as the giant golden fish vanished at an incredibly fast rate.

At this moment, the elder came beside Chu Mo and spoke indifferently, "This place is a land of divine punishment and sin. Some also call it the underworld. Well, to be precise, the place we are in is on the outskirts of the underworld. It's a completely enclosed world!"

The elder walked to the pile of golden scales, bent down, picked up one, and flicked it with his finger.

Clang!

A metallic sound rang out.

He continued, "Those who arrive here are people rejected by the Heavenly Dao. They are either those who have failed their tribulations but didn't die, committed heinous deeds but aren't meant to be wiped out instantly, or for some inexplicable reason, violated the laws of the Heavenly Dao… In short, this place is like a land of exile. But Heaven always leaves a way out, even if the person truly is a heinous criminal. Therefore, there exists this back door."

Chu Mo said blankly, "You mean this multicolored golden fish?"

The elder nodded, "Exactly, this multicolored golden fish is a manifestation of the Great Dao, and it bears many types of divine metals on its body. Those who have fortune can fish it up and obtain the divine metals on it. Only a person with great fortune can see the multicolored scales on its body. So, if the person who climbed onto this great fish today were me instead of you… then, it is very likely I would not have seen these multicolored scales!"

"I am really confused right now, please enlighten me, elder," Chu Mo said, glancing at the multicolored scale in his hand, then earnestly saluted the elder.

"Even if you didn't ask, I would have told you. Because of this great fortune you have encountered, I believe that my fortuitous moment… is also not far off! To speak the truth, I still should thank you!" the elder said.

Chu Mo said bashfully, "It is I who should thank you, elder." He then handed the multicolored fish scale to the elder, adding, "Here, elder, please take this scale."

"Hehe, do you still not understand? This scale is a manifestation of the Great Dao; it represents… a Dao!" the elder looked at Chu Mo, "So, this Dao is yours alone! I can't use it!"

Chu Mo looked at the small multicolored scale in his hand, his face full of doubt, not sensing any presence of the Great Dao from the scale.

"This is a dead realm, cutting off all Daos," the elder said, looking at Chu Mo, "Therefore, you can't sense the presence of the Great Dao from it here, but once you leave this place, you will understand."

"Please tell me about this place, elder," Chu Mo said while looking at the elder.

"Alright," the elder said, taking Chu Mo and sitting on a rock by the river, slowly continuing: "Before coming here, I had never heard about the existence of such a place in this world. Back then, I only knew of the Heavenly Realm, Immortal Realm, Spirit Realm… oh, and the Mortal Realm. So, even if someone had mentioned it, I wouldn't have believed that such a place really existed. Just like the Six Paths of Reincarnation, they say that after death, a person can undergo reincarnation, but who has really seen it? Who can prove it?"

Chu Mo nodded and responded, "Indeed, that's true."

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