Chapter 314: Family Heirloom Technique
Qin Mu had never before encountered such a bizarre occurrence as stepping into a painted world. This path of painting was different from Deaf’s. Deaf painted to affect reality—for instance, painting wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, then shaking the painting open, causing wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to suddenly erupt in the real world. For example, painting the Eighteen Hells caused the entire Heavenly Chart Imperial City to suddenly collapse and transform into the Eighteen Hells.
This was affecting reality.
But the painting Qin Mu stepped into worked in reverse, pulling reality into the painting. Qin Mu entered this painted world and became part of the painting. However, upon entering, he discovered that the painting was not flat; on the contrary, it was three-dimensional, with a vast space.
“This is another path of painting!” Qin Mu thought, looking around.
If Deaf’s path was about using his brushstrokes to invade reality, then this painting was an internally expanded world.
If these two could be merged, it seemed possible to elevate the path of painting to an unimaginable height.
Qin Mu pondered. If this step were achieved, one could lift a brush and paint, unleashing wind, rain, thunder, and lightning across a battlefield, overwhelming countless enemy troops. Then, using the internally expanded world, one could draw those enemies into the painting, and with a single sweep of the brush, erase the painting entirely—wiping out a vast army in one stroke!
The scholar’s spirit, wielding power with abandon, was exactly this!
Qin Mu reined in his wandering thoughts. His own skill in the path of painting was far inferior to Deaf’s. Deaf was an unclimbable mountain, inspiring awe. He felt he should share this idea with Deaf, letting this supreme master of painting research the two paths and merge them.
Then he could learn from Deaf, which should allow him to master both paths more quickly.
Deaf was more proficient; by letting him do the research, Qin Mu could save a great deal of time for other tasks, while Deaf’s path of painting could also reach an even higher level.
He looked at the man in white. This man should be a portrait of his father, Qin Hanzhen, but within the painting, he had come to life. When he was the man in the tree, Qin Mu couldn’t discern his bearing or style, but in the painting, he could glimpse his father’s presence.
The only pity was that this wasn’t the real Qin Hanzhen, just a person in the painting.
There was no sound in the painting. The painted Qin Hanzhen couldn’t speak, only make movements, write characters, and paint. He wasn’t the real Qin Hanzhen but a version of himself painted by Qin Hanzhen, given life within the painting, much like Painting Elder.
Qin Mu approached him and saw that he was painting—a series of guidance diagrams.
Qin Mu was startled: “Overlord Body Three Dan Art!”
It was strange enough for a painted person to be painting, but what he was painting was exactly the Overlord Body Three Dan Art that Qin Mu cultivated!
Qin Mu naturally had many insights into the Overlord Body Three Dan Art. It was through the guidance techniques of this art that he had been enlightened, awakened his spirit fetus, and gradually achieved his own accomplishments.
But the Overlord Body Three Dan Art painted by this painted person differed from what he had seen and cultivated.
The painting started from the guidance technique of the first realm. The guidance technique already had differences from what Qin Mu cultivated—it was simpler and more concise.
The guidance technique of the Overlord Body Three Dan Art that Village Chief had taught Qin Mu was already extremely concise, arguably the simplest foundation-building method in the world, the most suitable technique for ordinary people.
Yet the guidance technique painted by this painted person was even simpler, though not crude.
Qin Mu’s current insight and experience were far beyond his childhood. He understood the principle that the simpler the foundation, the harder the cultivation, but the greater the achievement.
It was like painting on blank paper: the less you draw at the foundation stage, the more concise it is, the more exquisite and refined the later work can be.
If you scribbled and smeared all over the blank paper, even with a divine brush, it would be hard to write a beautiful essay or paint a splendid picture on that foundation.
The painted person’s guidance technique was simplified to an incredible degree. Qin Mu tried to circulate his primal energy according to the guidance technique in the painting. At first, it was a bit sluggish, but as the energy flowed, it became increasingly lively and vast, reaching through his limbs and bones, giving a feeling of seizing the wonders of heaven and earth.
“If there were such a guidance diagram, breaking through the spirit fetus wall would probably be even harder.”
Qin Mu sighed. When Village Chief taught him the Overlord Body Three Dan Art, he must have made slight modifications, making it easier to break through the spirit fetus wall. But whether that was better or worse was debatable.
After the modification, breaking through the spirit fetus wall was indeed easier, but the foundation wasn’t as deep as with the painted person’s guidance technique. However, for Qin Mu at that time, the most critical thing was to break through the spirit fetus wall.
The painted person drew a second diagram. Qin Mu had seen the second Overlord Body Three Dan Art in the canyon of the Town Center Palace. What he painted wasn’t much different from the murals in that canyon, only with slight variations in details.
Qin Mu tried to activate it and immediately felt that when the technique circulated, his spirit fetus seemed to connect heaven and earth. His heart stirred.
The Overlord Body Three Dan Art he had learned at the Town Center Palace didn’t give him this feeling.
The spirit fetus was the realm of a martial artist. Only at this step did one truly enter the door of cultivation. The foundation was extremely important, but entering the door was equally crucial.
Based on Qin Mu’s current understanding, the spirit fetus divine repository opened the inner world of the body. As one cultivated and deepened their practice, the spirit fetus divine repository developed a division between heaven and earth: the high part became heaven, the low part became earth. The spirit fetus stood in the center, with the spirit platform beneath its feet, absorbing the five energies—metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
The spirit fetus stood on the earth, commanding the six directions—heaven, earth, east, west, south, and north.
Having cultivated to the Six Harmonies realm, this was his understanding of these divine repositories and realms. As for the later realms—Seven Stars, Heavenly Being, Life and Death, and Divine Bridge—he didn’t understand much, but he had some opinions.
At the Six Harmonies realm, one could basically form a primordial spirit. The primordial spirit was the spirit fetus growing by absorbing soul energy during cultivation, maturing into a primordial spirit at the Six Harmonies realm.
When the primordial spirit could leave the body, that was essentially the Heavenly Being realm.
When Qin Mu cultivated before, he hadn’t felt anything wrong with his Overlord Body Three Dan Art. But now, practicing according to the diagrams painted by the painted person, he realized something was missing.
The spirit fetus was meant to grow into a primordial spirit. If it couldn’t connect heaven and earth within the spirit fetus divine repository, it meant the cultivation was incomplete. What he had lacked before might be this.
He looked at the third diagram. The third diagram painted by the painted person was the Five Elements realm. At the Five Elements realm, the technique diagram Qin Mu had obtained was incomplete. He had relied on the Young Ancestor and his own intelligence to complete the technique path, but it left a flaw on his left shoulder.
Although Qin Mu later used the Great Unification Technique from the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture to patch this flaw, the technique still felt a bit rough during circulation. However, the impact was minor, and Qin Mu was truly outstanding—he swept through all martial masters at the Five Elements realm without meeting a match, and even some slightly weaker Six Harmonies realm ability users couldn’t beat him—so he hadn’t delved into this issue.
The Five Elements realm technique diagram painted by the painted person was complete. Qin Mu studied it carefully and breathed a sigh of relief. This diagram could fill in the missing parts of his technique, leaving no flaws!
The fourth diagram also differed from what he currently cultivated; it was more complex.
Qin Mu was stunned. Starting from the first guidance diagram, he noticed an interesting point. Compared to the Overlord Body Three Dan Art he cultivated, the one painted by the painted person showed a gradually increasing complexity, like first drawing a sapling breaking through the soil with only two buds and leaves, then gradually growing into a lush, branching tree.
The Overlord Body Three Dan Art he had pieced together from various sources had some gaps, like a small tree growing a branch here and a branch there. Although it could still grow into a big tree, it was crooked and unstable.
Moreover, the technique painted by the painted person didn’t include abilities; it only showed the technique diagrams. But using other abilities felt effortless and natural.
Suddenly, his heart jolted violently. In his mind, the sound of scripture transmission from the Woodcutter Stone rang out. The chanting combined with the Overlord Body Three Dan Art painted by the painted person, and Qin Mu opened his mouth in astonishment.
The Great Unification Technique overlapped with the Overlord Body Three Dan Art painted by the painted person!
Not merged, but overlapped!
The Great Unification Technique was the general outline of the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture, like the sacred tree from which the Woodcutter transmitted the scripture to the founding ancestor of the Demon Sect. The Great Unification Technique was the tree’s trunk, and the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture was its countless roots and branches.
Every generation of the Demon Sect’s leader had to comprehend their own Great Unification Technique to coordinate the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture. Each person’s enlightenment was different; no two were the same!
Yet now, combining this with the scripture transmission from the Woodcutter Stone, Qin Mu was horrified to discover that the Demon Sect’s Great Unification Technique was exactly the same as the Overlord Body Three Dan Art!
He felt a sense of temporal dislocation. The Great Unification Technique of the Great Cultivation Demon Scripture was actually the Overlord Body Three Dan Art he cultivated!
“Could it be that the Heavenly Saint Sect originated from Carefree Village? Then that Woodcutter who transmitted the scripture…”
His expression turned strange: “Is his surname also Qin?”
He didn’t dwell on it and continued watching, utterly absorbed. Unconsciously, his technique began circulating according to the diagrams painted by the painted person. The primal energy flowed without any stagnation, becoming more lively and smooth.
When the painted person finished the eighth diagram, he had finally completed the diagrams from foundation-building to the Divine Bridge realm.
Qin Mu focused on memorizing them, but unexpectedly, the painted person didn’t stop. He continued painting—he was painting a tenth diagram!
“Is there a realm beyond the Divine Bridge realm?”
Qin Mu was bewildered. Wasn’t the Divine Bridge divine repository the final realm?
Then what realm did the tenth diagram represent?
The tenth diagram was extremely complex, involving all seven previous divine repositories. When the primal energy circulated, all seven repositories had to be mobilized. It was incredibly intricate, and a single mistake could lead to qi deviation!
Qin Mu concentrated on memorizing, not daring to be careless, but the information contained in the tenth diagram was too vast, still making him dizzy.
The painted person finished the tenth diagram, stopped his brush, and waited for a moment. Once Qin Mu had completely memorized all ten diagrams, he suddenly struck out, attacking Qin Mu.
Qin Mu hurriedly defended, but within a few moves, he was knocked to the ground by the painted person.
The painted person didn’t continue attacking after defeating him. Instead, he waited for Qin Mu to recover, then attacked again.
“He’s sparring with me!” Qin Mu’s eyes lit up.
On the deck of the treasure ship, many great shamans, shaman kings, and soldiers of the Man Di Kingdom were attacking the bridge. Two white bats and the Dragon Qilin guarded the bridge entrance, preventing them from breaking through.
Ban Gongcuo, meanwhile, was examining the books and treasures he had looted from the ship.
“These books all have seals. Breaking the seals will be difficult; I’ll need to use my previous life’s physical body.”
Ban Gongcuo looked through each book but couldn’t open any of them. He felt somewhat disappointed and glanced back at the buildings on the ship: “Two months, and that kid still hasn’t come out…”
Suddenly, a door opened. Qin Mu, his face bruised and swollen, poked his head out. He caught sight of Ban Gongcuo and waved at him. Ban Gongcuo’s heart soared with joy, and he rushed forward.