Chapter 94: Adding the Finishing Touch
When he said this, the villagers were all full of praise. The village chief nodded with a smile and said, "Deafy is extraordinary—this is a truly refined method of competition. 'A spark of insight bestows a soul, seizing heaven and earth's creation'—it is no less than that."
Qin Mu stepped forward, saluted Deafy, and observed the etiquette of a disciple.
Deafy's expression shifted slightly, and he hastily dodged aside, saying, "In our competition, we set aside master-disciple seniority. For now, we are both students, so treat each other as equals. Only after the contest ends will I be your teaching master."
Knowing that Deafy's behavior was somewhat eccentric, Qin Mu immediately used the etiquette of equals, and Deafy returned the courtesy in kind.
Each holding a brush, they stood before the paintings, gazing at their respective works.
To use magical power to transform into divine abilities and bring a painted dragon to life was already a rare and commendable achievement. But with insufficient magical power and cultivation, to rely on artistic conception to dot the dragon's eyes and bestow a soul upon the dragon in the painting—this touched upon the very creation of heaven and earth.
Qin Mu had previously studied calligraphy and painting under Deafy, reading books and writing characters. Although Deafy had taught him much and he had painted many pieces, building a solid foundation in painting skills, this was his first time adding the finishing touch to give life to a painting.
"A spark of insight bestows a soul, granting life to the people and objects in a painting"—Deafy had indeed taught him this, but Qin Mu had never succeeded in his experiments.
This round was far more difficult than the previous ones.
Qin Mu fixed his gaze on the dragon in the painting before him. This dragon was drawn so vividly that when his eyes fell upon it, he felt as though the dragon in the painting was slowly swimming, constantly shifting its posture.
Deafy's painting skills were truly extraordinary—even before the eyes were dotted, the dragon in the painting seemed ready to soar through the air!
Qin Mu raised his brush but hesitated to make a move. The dragon in the painting was right before him, but how was he to dot its eyes?
He realized that no matter where he placed the dot, it would be impossible to bring the dragon to life. No matter where he aimed, it would be wrong.
Granny Si couldn't help herself and lowered her voice, saying, "Mu'er, tear up Deafy's painting, and you'll win!"
Deafy shot her two sidelong glances. "That's a heretical method. I teach Mu'er to read the sages' books; Mu'er has the sages in his heart and would never stoop to such demonic acts as you suggest."
Granny Si was furious.
The village chief laughed and said, "Granny, don't interfere with his duel with Deafy. This test of Deafy's is quite clever."
Granny Si had no choice but to restrain herself.
In Qin Mu's eyes, only the dragon in the painting remained. The village had ceased to exist for him; only the painting floated before his eyes. After a moment, even the painting vanished, leaving only a dragon drawn in ink.
This dragon swam before his eyes, rising and falling, darting left and right, sometimes crouching, sometimes leaping, sometimes coiling, sometimes lying prone. It raised its head, wagged its tail, moved like a dragon, played in water, spewed fire, and spat thunder—truly a myriad of lively and strange movements.
Qin Mu felt as though he had become the dragon in the painting, but from his own perspective, everything before him was pitch black. He was missing his eyes.
He struggled to break through the darkness, but he didn't know how to open them.
He thought of the dragon pillars in Inlaid Dragon City, the dragon bones and dragon souls in the Surging River Dragon Palace, and the stone statues in the village, carved with the strokes of divine beings.
The divine beings carving divine statues—this was also a form of painting. That wondrous brushwork, that profound charm, seemed to bestow souls upon the statues, making them guard the Great Ruins like gods.
After a long time, Qin Mu sensed a thread of light gradually appearing in the darkness, as if the dragon was slowly opening its eyes. When all the darkness before him faded away, a spark of brilliance burst forth in Qin Mu's eyes. He raised his brush and dotted the dragon's eyes!
A spark of insight bestows a soul!
As his brush fell, the dragon in the painting immediately came to life on the paper. It shook its head and wagged its tail, then suddenly flew out of the paper, soaring into the sky and playing among the clouds. The painting was left as nothing but a blank sheet of paper, without a trace of ink!
Qin Mu was stunned. He had succeeded!
He had actually managed to bring a dragon painting to life!
The dragon swam through the air for a moment, then quickly turned into ink, dyeing the cloud it was in black.
Qin Mu hurriedly looked at Deafy, only to see that he had already washed his brush and hung it on the rack, without dotting the eyes of the dragon in his painting.
Qin Mu suddenly understood. "Deafy, did you let me win?"
Deafy shook his head. "I didn't let you. When I was your age, I didn't have such deep skill. My test isn't about winning or losing. As a teacher, I pass on the Way, impart knowledge, and resolve doubts. Right now, I am imparting the Way to you—why should I care about winning or losing?"
Pharmacist praised, "Deafy, this is the heart of a teacher, and I admire it. Mu'er, my test isn't a competition with you either, but rather to have you refine medicine. Go to the medicinal garden outside the village, pick thirty kinds of highly toxic substances, and refine a great tonic. Once the medicine is ready, take it yourself. If it's nourishing, you pass. If you die from poisoning, you'll stay in the village."
Qin Mu was caught between laughter and tears. How could he stay in the village if he died from poisoning?
The purpose of Pharmacist's test was also clear: to refine a great tonic from thirty kinds of highly toxic substances required extremely deep knowledge of pharmacology. The amount of each ingredient, whether to use leaves or roots, pollen or petals, raw frying or baking—all of this was of great importance.
Moreover, Pharmacist hadn't told him the prescription. Instead, he let Qin Mu use his knowledge of pharmacology to calculate how much of each ingredient to use and how to refine it, so that the toxins would counteract each other in a chain and turn into a great tonic.
During the refining process, the heat was also crucial. When to add the medicine, whether in powder or lump form, how high the heat should be, and how long to simmer—all of this required Qin Mu to judge based on his own experience in refining medicine.
A slight difference could lead to a vast error. If any step went wrong, Qin Mu might fail completely, refining a deadly poison and poisoning himself.
Qin Mu stood by the edge of Pharmacist's medicinal garden, gazing at the various herbs inside. He pondered for a long time, calculating the toxicity of each substance in his mind, how to match them, how to assign the roles of sovereign, minister, assistant, and envoy, how to subdue the dragon and tame the tiger, and how to balance yin and yang.
After a long while, he finally entered the garden and carefully picked the herbs.
When he reached the twenty-ninth ingredient, Qin Mu stopped picking. Instead, he carefully caught a five-colored blister beetle from the leaf of a poisonous plant. He pinched off its head and wings, using this poisonous insect as the thirtieth highly toxic ingredient.
Qin Mu returned to the village. He used his primordial energy to bake the roots and stems of some herbs, extracting excess medicinal power. He steamed and boiled some herbs in water, and used his Vermilion Bird primordial energy to roast and dehydrate others.
After working for a long time, he finally began refining the medicine.
Pharmacist stood not far away, watching every step, every technique, and the exquisite use of primordial energy, nodding to himself in approval.
Qin Mu refined the medicine by taking out a large vat, using his primordial energy to suspend it in the air. He threw the thirty ingredients into the vat one by one, but without adding any water. Instead, he used his own immensely powerful primordial energy to soak the ingredients, extracting the medicinal power from them with his attribute-less primordial energy.
Pharmacist was slightly moved. This was Qin Mu's unique technique—even he couldn't imitate it. His own primordial energy had attributes, and the medicine also had attributes; his primordial energy would destroy the medicine's properties. Only Qin Mu, with his attribute-less primordial energy, could use this method to extract the medicinal power.
Qin Mu grew even more cautious. He divided his primordial energy into thirty streams, each soaking one ingredient, while the hand holding the vat erupted with Vermilion Bird primordial energy, turning into blazing flames to cause the medicinal powers in the vat to begin merging.
His other hand surged with Black Tortoise primordial energy, using water vapor to moisten the medicinal powers, slowing the merging process while removing the dregs from the vat.
After a long time, Qin Mu suddenly spun the large vat. A clattering sound came from inside, and when the vat stopped spinning, there were many white pills inside, constantly rotating, crystal clear like balls of mutton-fat white jade.
Qin Mu reached in and pinched out a pill. Granny Si said nervously, "Pharmacist, is it poisonous?"
Pharmacist laughed and said, "Once Mu'er eats it, he'll know if it's poisonous."
Qin Mu opened his mouth and swallowed the pill. "Granny, rest assured, this pill isn't poisonous..."
Boom—
His hair suddenly exploded, growing wildly in all directions. Granny Si and the others were startled. Qin Mu quickly said, "Everyone, don't panic. It's just that one of the toxins wasn't properly balanced, affecting my kidney water. Kidney water stimulates hair growth, making my hair a bit thick, that's all."
Granny Si said angrily, "Is this just 'a bit thick'?"
Qin Mu's hair continued to grow wildly, getting longer and longer. These strands of hair shot up straight like bamboo shoots, and before long, they were two or three zhang long, standing stiff and hard.
Qin Mu felt his head growing heavy and said, "Granny, the greatest benefit of this pill is its healing properties. It can quickly regenerate rotten flesh, heal torn muscles, regrow broken bones, and reconnect severed tendons. The kidney water stimulating hair growth is just a minor side effect..."
His hair was still growing, pressing down on his head, making it heavier and heavier, almost unable to support the explosive mass of hair.
Pharmacist suppressed a smile and said, "You've passed this test. Butcher, give him a haircut. If it grows any longer, his neck will snap."
The Butcher stepped forward and, in a few swift moves, shaved off all his hair, leaving his head smooth and shiny.
Everyone looked at Mute. Mute wiped his hands with a towel, dragged the furnace out of the collapsed blacksmith shop, took two pieces of cold iron, and threw them into the furnace. The fire in the furnace immediately went out, and frost formed on the furnace walls.
Mute walked away, laughing, "Ah, ah ah!"