Qin Mu had never encountered the strange phenomenon of stepping into a painting's world before. This Path of Painting was entirely different from The Deaf's. The Deaf painted to project his brushwork onto reality — for instance, he would paint wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, then unfurl the canvas, and suddenly storms and lightning would erupt in the real world.
For example, when he painted the Eighteen Levels of Hell, the entire Heavenly Map Imperial City collapsed and transformed into the Eighteen Levels of Hell.
That was projecting onto reality.
But the painting Qin Mu had entered worked in reverse — it drew reality into the painting. Qin Mu had stepped into this painted world, becoming part of the artwork itself. Yet once inside, he discovered that the painting's interior was not flat. On the contrary, it was three-dimensional, with vast, expansive space.
"Another Path of Painting!" Qin Mu examined his surroundings and thought.
If The Deaf's painting allowed his brushstrokes to intrude upon reality, then this painting was one that expanded the world inward.
If these two could be fused, it seemed they could elevate the Path of Painting to a height beyond imagination.
Qin Mu pondered. If such a feat were achieved, one could pick up a brush and conjure storms of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning to sweep across the battlefield and crush countless armies — yet those storms would simultaneously expand an inner world, drawing the armies into the painting. Then, with a single brushstroke, one could erase everything painted — a single stroke obliterating tens of thousands!
The passion of a scholar, the vigor of a young talent — this was precisely that!
Qin Mu pulled back his wandering thoughts. His attainments in the Path of Painting were far inferior to The Deaf's. The Deaf was a towering mountain that could only be gazed upon from below. He felt he should share this idea with The Deaf and let that supreme existence of the Path of Painting study the two painting traditions and fuse them.
Then he could learn from The Deaf afterward, and would likely master both Paths of Painting more quickly.
The Deaf was more skilled; let him do the research. Learning from him would save a great deal of time for other matters, while The Deaf's Path of Painting could also reach an even higher realm.
He looked toward the man in white. This white-robed figure should be a portrait of his father, Qin Hanzhen — yet in the painting, the figure had come alive. When Qin Mu had seen him as a man inside a tree, he couldn't appreciate his bearing and elegance. But here in the painting, Qin Mu could finally behold his father's presence.
The only pity was that this was not the real Qin Hanzhen — merely a figure in the painting.
There was no sound within the painting. The painted Qin Hanzhen could not speak; he could only make gestures, write words, and paint. He was not the real Qin Hanzhen, but rather the version of Qin Hanzhen that the real Qin Hanzhen had painted, giving this painted figure life — just like Old Painting.
Qin Mu approached him and saw that he was painting a series of guided circulation diagrams.
Qin Mu was slightly startled. "The Three Pillar Body Tempering Art!"
That a figure within a painting was painting was strange enough — but what the figure painted was precisely the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art that Qin Mu himself cultivated!
Qin Mu naturally had abundant insights into the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art. It was through this art's Guiding Art that he had been enlightened, awakening his Spirit Womb, and subsequently achieving his current accomplishments.
But the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art the painted figure was depicting differed somewhat from the version Qin Mu had seen and practiced.
The painting began from the first realm's Guiding Art, and even this basic guidance was already different from what Qin Mu practiced — simpler, more distilled.
The Guiding Art the Village Chief had taught Qin Mu as part of the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art was already as concise as could be, arguably the simplest foundational cultivation method under heaven, the practice most suited for ordinary people.
Yet the painted figure's Guiding Art was even simpler. Simple, but not crude.
Qin Mu's understanding had long surpassed what it was in his youth. He grasped the principle that the simpler the foundation, the harder the cultivation, but the greater the eventual achievement.
It was like painting on a blank canvas. The less you drew at the beginning, the simpler it was, the more exquisite and refined the final work could be.
If one scribbled recklessly on a blank canvas, then even with a divine brush, it would be impossible to produce fine writing or brilliant artwork on that foundation.
The painted figure's Guiding Art had been distilled to an inconceivable level of simplicity. Qin Mu tried circulating his qi according to the painted diagram. At first there was some resistance, but as the qi continued to flow, it grew increasingly lively and mighty, surging through his four limbs and hundred bones, giving him a feeling of borrowing the creations of heaven and earth.
"With a Guiding Art this refined, I'm afraid breaking through the Spirit Womb Wall would be even more difficult."
Qin Mu sighed. When the Village Chief had taught him the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art, he must have made slight modifications to make breaking through the Spirit Womb Wall easier. But which was truly better remained unclear.
After the modification, breaking through the Spirit Womb Wall was indeed simpler, but the foundation was not as deep as the painted figure's Guiding Art. At the time, however, what mattered most to Qin Mu was breaking through the Spirit Womb Wall.
The painted figure then drew the second diagram. This second version of the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art was one Qin Mu had seen in the Suppressing Calamity Palace canyon. The painted version was nearly identical to the murals in that canyon, differing only in minor details.
Qin Mu tried circulating his qi according to it and immediately felt that during the technique's circulation, the Spirit Womb had a sensation of connecting heaven above and earth below. His heart stirred slightly.
The Three Pillar Body Tempering Art he had learned at the Suppressing Calamity Palace did not produce this sensation.
The Spirit Womb was a martial artist's cultivation stage. Reaching this step marked the threshold of true cultivation. The foundation was immensely important, but the breakthrough was equally crucial.
Based on Qin Mu's current understanding, the Spirit Womb Divine Treasure opened up an inner heaven and earth. As one cultivated deeper, the Spirit Womb Divine Treasure developed a division between heaven and earth — the heights became heaven, the depths became earth, the Spirit Womb stood at the center, and beneath its feet was the Spirit Platform, drawing in the Five Elements qi of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth.
The Spirit Womb stood upon the earth and unified the Six Harmonies — heaven and earth, north and south, east and west.
He had reached the Six Harmonies realm, and this was his understanding of these divine treasures and realms. As for the subsequent realms of Seven Stars, Celestial Being, Life and Death, and the Divine Bridge, he did not understand them deeply, though he had his own views.
At the Six Harmonies realm, one could generally refine the Primordial Spirit. The Primordial Spirit was the Spirit Womb absorbing soul qi throughout the cultivation journey and growing. By the Six Harmonies realm, it matured into the Primordial Spirit.
Once the Primordial Spirit could leave the body, one had essentially reached the Celestial Being realm.
When Qin Mu had cultivated before, he never felt anything was wrong with his Three Pillar Body Tempering Art. But now, following the painted figure's diagrams, he realized he had been missing something.
The Spirit Womb needed to grow into the Primordial Spirit. If it could not connect heaven and earth within the Spirit Womb Divine Treasure, it meant his cultivation was insufficient. What he had been lacking might well have been this.
He looked toward the third diagram. The painted figure's third diagram depicted the Five Elements realm. At this realm, the circulation diagram Qin Mu had obtained was incomplete. He had supplemented the circulation path using the Young Ancestor's guidance and his own cleverness, but this left a flaw in his left shoulder.
Although Qin Mu later patched this flaw using the Grand Unification Art from the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra, his qi circulation still felt somewhat unsmooth. The impact was minor, and since Qin Mu was truly exceptional — sweeping through Five Elements realm martial masters without meeting a worthy opponent, even defeating certain Six Harmonies realm cultivators of slightly lower level — he had never investigated the issue further.
But the Five Elements realm circulation diagram the painted figure drew was complete. Qin Mu studied it carefully and exhaled in relief. This diagram could fill in the missing portions of his technique and eliminate the flaw for good!
The fourth diagram also differed from what he currently practiced — it was more complex.
Qin Mu paused, then looked back at the first Guiding Art diagram and noticed something interesting. The Three Pillar Body Tempering Art the painted figure was depicting showed a trend of gradually increasing complexity, as if first drawing a seedling sprouting from the soil with only two leaves, then gradually growing into a lush, branching tree.
By contrast, the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art Qin Mu had pieced together from various sources was missing things here and there — like a small tree sprouting one branch to the east and another to the west. It could still grow into a large tree, but it would lean this way and that.
Moreover, the technique the painted figure depicted contained no divine abilities — only circulation diagrams. Yet activating other techniques with it felt effortless, as if they came naturally at hand.
Suddenly, a shock jolted through his mind. The voice of the Woodcutter transmitting scriptures from the stone echoed in his consciousness. The chanting and the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art the painted figure had drawn overlapped — and Qin Mu's mouth fell open in astonishment.
The Grand Unification Art overlapped exactly with the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art the painted figure had drawn!
Not merged — overlapped!
The Grand Unification Art was the general principle of the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra. Just as the sacred tree the Woodcutter had transmitted to the founding ancestor of the Heavenly Demon Cult was the tree's trunk, the Grand Unification Art was the trunk of the body, and the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra was the ancient tree's countless roots and branches.
Each generation of Heavenly Demon Cult Masters had to comprehend their own Grand Unification Art to unify the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra. Everyone's Grand Unification Art was different — no two were ever the same!
But now, combining the Woodcutter's transmission from the stone, Qin Mu discovered with shock that the Heavenly Demon Cult's Grand Unification Art was identical to the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art!
He felt as if time and space had become disordered. The Grand Unification Art of the Great Nurturing Heavenly Demon Sutra was none other than the Three Pillar Body Tempering Art he had been cultivating all along!
"Could the Heavenly Demon Cult have originated from the Land of Carefree? Then that Woodcutter who transmitted the scriptures..."
His expression grew strange. "Could he also have the surname Qin?"
He did not dwell on this and continued watching, spellbound. His cultivation technique began unconsciously circulating according to the painted figure's diagrams. His qi flowed without the slightest resistance, becoming ever more vibrant and smooth.
By the time the painted figure had drawn the eighth diagram, the complete path from the foundation all the way to the Divine Bridge realm was finished.
Qin Mu committed everything to memory. But the painted figure did not stop — it continued drawing. It was creating a tenth diagram!
"Above the Divine Bridge realm, there are still higher realms?"
Qin Mu was stunned. Wasn't the Divine Bridge Divine Treasure the final realm?
So what realm did the tenth diagram represent?
The tenth diagram was extraordinarily complex, connecting to all seven preceding divine treasuries. When circulating qi, all seven divine treasuries had to be activated simultaneously — the epitome of extreme intricacy. A single misstep would send one into qi deviation!
Qin Mu focused intently, not daring to be careless, but the information contained in this tenth diagram was vast and overwhelming, making his head spin and his vision blur.
The painted figure completed the tenth diagram, set down the brush, and waited. Once Qin Mu had fully memorized all ten diagrams, the figure launched a sudden, fierce attack.
Qin Mu scrambled to defend himself but was knocked to the ground within a few moves.
The painted figure defeated him but did not continue attacking. Instead, it waited for Qin Mu to recover, then struck again.
"He's coaching me!" Qin Mu's eyes lit up.
On the deck of the treasure ship, the great shamans, Shaman Kings, and soldiers of the Mandi Kingdom were assaulting the bridge. Two white bats and Dragon Qilin held the gateway, keeping them from breaking through.
Ban Gongcuo was examining the books and treasures he had scavenged from the treasure ship.
"These books all have seals. Breaking them will be difficult — I'll need to summon my past life's physical body."
Ban Gongcuo went through them one by one but could not open a single one. He couldn't help but feel somewhat disappointed. He turned to look at the buildings on the ship. "Two months, and this kid still hasn't come out..."
Suddenly, a door opened. Qin Mu, his face bruised and swollen, poked his head out. Spotting Ban Gongcuo, he waved him over. Ban Gongcuo was overjoyed and rushed forward.