Chapter 1012: The Heavenly Lord Mu Mooches Off the Elderly
Qin Mu and the Deaf Elder each painted their own works. One set aside his emotions, entrusting them to the painting; the other set aside his mortal heart, using only the mindset of a true god to depict another deity.
Qin Mu painted Lang Wan the Divine King, yet it was not Lang Wan the Divine King, but rather the lover in his heart.
The Deaf Elder, on the other hand, sought to complete the transformation of his own painting path, using the painting to carry his Dao, his divinity.
His aura grew increasingly ethereal, the divine nature within him becoming more and more intense. The brush in his hand seemed no longer a brush, but a divine artifact that created life. Beneath his strokes, a new deity was being born.
After a long while, Qin Mu was the first to put down his brush, completing his painting.
The Deaf Elder was still using delicate brushstrokes to create a life. His brush emitted a soft light of the Dao of Creation, and the flesh, blood, icy skin, and jade bones of the woman in the painting emerged beneath his strokes.
The divinity of the woman in the painting leaped forth.
Her beauty was flawless, her temperament so elegant and otherworldly. Her features were natural, and the clothes on her body were the most beautiful celestial garments.
That skin seemed to have gathered all the spiritual essence of heaven and earth. Her jade-like fingers were slender, her fingerprints as varied as the Dao itself. She seemed like a spirit born from the gathering of all beauty, yet she was created by the Deaf Elder.
When the Deaf Elder painted the final stroke, everyone present felt a faint, elusive aura gradually seeping out from the painting. It was a Dao born of the latter days, slowly sprouting—not from the painting itself, but from beneath the Deaf Elder’s brush.
He had endowed the maiden in the painting with divinity, form, soul, and life.
Qin Mu watched this scene, his heart stirred. He opened the vertical eye on his forehead and looked around. He saw the Deaf Elder’s Dao, like ethereal smoke, spreading in all directions at a speed that seemed both slow and swift, imprinting itself on heaven and earth, imprinting itself on the void.
This was not a change of law, nor a change of Dao, but rather the addition of a new law, a new Dao to this world.
The Deaf Elder appeared incredibly serene. As this stroke fell, the Lang Wan in the painting gained life and soul, and he himself had gained his own Dao.
Finally, he set down his brush, completing his painting.
The moment he put down the brush, two streams of clear tears slid down the corners of his eyes, yet a smile appeared on his face. His heart was filled with tranquility, yet a great joy surged within him.
He felt his own Dao. As one of the two weakest cultivators among the Nine Elders of the Cripples’ Village, he had never paid much attention to techniques and divine abilities, nor did he care about them.
If not for Qin Mu’s urging and the supervision of the Cripples’ Village crowd, the Deaf Elder would never have attempted to abolish his Divine Bridge to open the Heavenly River Divine Repository, nor would he have deliberately worked to improve his cultivation.
Now, he could feel his own primal energy and spirit flowing along a mysterious route—a technique that had naturally formed within him.
So-called techniques and divine abilities are all manifestations of the Dao. In the past, he cultivated others’ techniques, seeking his own Dao, which was why he was not particularly invested in cultivation.
But now, he had found his own Dao, or rather, he had pioneered his own Dao. With the Dao established, techniques and divine abilities all fell into place, operating naturally.
Essays are naturally formed, captured by a masterful hand.
The same is true of the painting path.
It was so profound, so wondrous, so unbelievable.
Granny Si and the Medicine Master came forward to look at the two paintings, each expressing their admiration.
Granny Si’s face was full of smiles. She quietly nudged the Medicine Master and whispered, “Do you understand?”
The Medicine Master smiled broadly and whispered back, “I don’t understand.”
“Me neither.” Granny Si’s smile remained unchanged as she lowered her voice.
Lang Wan the Divine King also stepped forward, carefully examining the two paintings. In the Deaf Elder’s painting, the figure resembled another her—elegant and refined, capturing her inner self, untouched by dust.
The woman in the painting was serene and distant, possessing a beauty like hers. The painted version of her could also move. Another her existed in another world, with her own thoughts, her own mind, and even her own cultivation and divine abilities.
The two versions of her looked at each other across the boundary of the painting.
Lang Wan the Divine King praised endlessly, saying, “Though this painting path is not creation itself, it is akin to creation. I can no longer tell whether it is I in the painting or she in the painting.”
The Deaf Elder said, “Mu’er’s painting is also not bad.”
Lang Wan the Divine King looked at Qin Mu’s painting. Qin Mu had failed to grasp her divinity, so the painted version of her differed somewhat from the real her. Compared to the Deaf Elder’s skill, Qin Mu’s work was far inferior.
Lang Wan the Divine King gazed at the figure in the painting. The Lang Wan in the painting resembled a quiet maiden, standing atop a giant serpent, holding a flower in both hands and bringing it to her lips to sniff, with a hint of shyness and a smile.
“The person in the Holy Infant’s painting looks like me, yet is not me. It is probably the Holy Infant entrusting his own emotions to it.”
Lang Wan the Divine King’s gaze shifted, and she smiled, saying, “Can these two paintings be given to me?”
The Deaf Elder nodded. “Miss, take them as you wish.”
Qin Mu also nodded.
The Deaf Elder pulled him aside, and the old man and the young man began painting again. As he painted, the Deaf Elder taught Qin Mu the insights he had gained from pioneering the painting path.
Lang Wan the Divine King put away the two paintings, rolling them up. She pondered for a moment, then took out one of the scrolls. The scroll caught fire and quickly turned to ashes.
Lang Wan the Divine King stared thoughtfully at the dying flame, then waved her hand, dispersing the ashes.
Granny Si whispered, “Medicine Master, which painting do you think she burned?”
The Medicine Master thought for a moment and said, “I think she burned the one Qin Mu painted. He painted her ugly. If it were me, and the Deaf Elder had painted me ugly, I would burn it too.”
Granny Si spat and said, “I think she burned the one the Deaf Elder painted.”
The Medicine Master was puzzled.
“The Deaf Elder’s painting was too lifelike. As someone with unparalleled beauty, she doesn’t need another version of herself, nor does she need to keep the Deaf Elder’s painting. Keeping the Deaf Elder’s painting would instead give her a sense of reliance. If she encountered setbacks, she might feel that the life of the her in the painted world was better. She is immortal and strong-willed; she doesn’t need another self.”
Granny Si said, “If she wants to admire her own beauty, she can just take out a mirror and look. On the other hand, Qin Mu’s painting allows her to see the emotions she lacks. Though imperfect, taking it out to appreciate can give her a different kind of sentiment.”
The Medicine Master smiled. “Granny, that’s just your guess. Which painting she burned, unless she tells us, we can never know for sure.”
Granny Si was quite confident. “I think the technique Lang Wan the Divine King cultivates is a kind of esoteric method. The higher her cultivation, the fewer her emotions, which makes emotions all the more precious. When one reaches a high level of cultivation, it becomes unavoidable; she cannot help but abandon emotions to preserve divinity. Therefore, she would naturally treasure something precious.”
She couldn’t help but think of her own experiences, a shadow of melancholy crossing her heart. “What is lost is what is truly cherished.”
Qin Mu and the others stayed at the Heavenly Saint Academy. Shu Jun and Lang Wan the Divine King were busy browsing the academy’s collection of books, comprehensively reviewing the achievements of the Yan Kang Reformation, studying various techniques and divine abilities.
Lang Wan the Divine King had already opened her Divine Repositories and Heavenly Palace. To switch to the Heavenly River Divine Repository, she would need to abolish her Divine Bridge Divine Repository. However, her cultivation was now profound, nearly on par with a Heavenly Lord, and abolishing the Divine Bridge would entail great danger, so she hesitated.
Shu Jun had no such worries and directly began opening his Fetal Spirit Divine Repository.
However, he soon discovered that using the Grand Emperor’s divine consciousness to strengthen his physical body to the level of a Lingxiao realm deity had made it impossible for him to open a Divine Repository within his body!
His primal energy and soul were too weak, and his divine consciousness was not particularly strong either, preventing him from opening a Fetal Spirit within this physical body!
The so-called Seven Divine Repositories were all opened within the physical body, but his body had become too strong to open!
“In Yan Kang, mortals are divided into those who can cultivate and those who cannot, determined by the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository.”
The Medicine Master, well-versed in pharmacology, prepared a large medicinal vat, brewing a bucket of foul-smelling medicinal liquid, and told Shu Jun to jump in. He said, “In the past, cultivators in Yan Kang only had four spiritual physiques: Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise. Only these four. Mortals without spiritual physiques could at most become martial artists, unable to open the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository to become cultivators. Later, Mu’er destroyed the Divine Bridge and opened the Heavenly River Divine Repository. He didn’t delve into why mortals couldn’t cultivate, but I thought of it.”
The Medicine Master smiled. “The reason the four spiritual physiques could cultivate was that their Fetal Spirit Divine Repositories were inherited from their ancestors; they were born with them! They only needed to open the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository to start cultivating!”
“Those mortals who couldn’t cultivate lacked cultivators among their ancestors, so they had no Fetal Spirit Divine Repository in their bodies. But that doesn’t mean they truly can’t cultivate! If they master the method to open a Fetal Spirit Divine Repository and create one themselves, they can cultivate and become cultivators!”
The Medicine Master was excited as he said to Shu Jun, who was soaking in the big wooden vat, “I’ve been researching this over the years—determining the exact location of the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository based on each person’s physical structure. Then, using medicinal herbs to nurture primal energy, enabling ordinary people to gather enough energy to open the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository and become cultivators. But your physical body is too strong; we need to soften it with the medicine first.”
Shu Jun watched as he poured a bunch of poisonous substances into the vat, his heart pounding. “These things are poisonous, right?”
“Don’t worry, don’t worry!”
The Medicine Master said with a grin, “I noticed your soul is too weak, weaker than an ordinary person’s, so I’m using some little darlings to help nourish your soul. Mu’er went through the same thing back in the day. It’ll be fine, it’ll be fine…”
As those poisonous creatures entered the vat, Shu Jun immediately felt a sharp pain in his soul, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
The Medicine Master checked the toxicity in the vat and said, “Over the years, I’ve helped many ordinary people become cultivators. You’ll become one too with my help… Your physical body seems too strong; I need to add a few more little darlings…”
After a long while, the Medicine Master took out a silver needle and stabbed it into Shu Jun’s skin, piercing it.
“Now your body has softened. Try opening the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository.”
The Medicine Master breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Shu Jun in the vat. The Creator was foaming at the mouth, already lifeless. He quickly ran out, shouting, “Mu’er, Mu’er! Come quick! That big-headed young man you brought—I accidentally poisoned him to death! His soul has already left his body!”
Qin Mu rushed over and, without hesitation, activated the Soul-Pulling Art, drawing Shu Jun’s soul back and forcing it into his body. “Grandpa Medicine Master, did you use too many poisons again?”
The Medicine Master’s face flushed slightly. “His physical body was too strong, so I added a bit more medicine. Who knew his cultivation was so poor…”
In the medicinal vat, Shu Jun’s eyes rolled back again, and his soul left his body.
Qin Mu hurriedly summoned the soul again, forcing it back into Shu Jun’s body, then quickly used the Heavenly Demon Creation Art to seal the soul inside. “You detoxify him first!”
The two worked for a while, finally removing some of the poison from Shu Jun’s body, and then they relaxed.
Shu Jun slowly regained consciousness. Although he had opened his first Divine Repository, the Fetal Spirit Divine Repository, with the Medicine Master’s help, he now feared the bronze-masked man like a tiger and dared not approach him.
When the Medicine Master invited him for tea, Shu Jun was restless, looking around nervously, cold sweat constantly forming on his forehead. Only with Qin Mu by his side did he dare to drink the tea the Medicine Master had brewed.
Qin Mu finally learned the Deaf Elder’s technique and said earnestly to the Medicine Master, “Grandpa Medicine Master, Grandpa Deaf has already found his own path. I’ve learned his technique and established the Painting Path Heavenly Palace. Now I’m only missing the Medical Heavenly Palace. As the saying goes, if the elder doesn’t work hard, the younger will suffer. If Grandpa Medicine Master doesn’t cultivate diligently, I’ll be bullied out there. You see…”
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