Chapter 919: Breakthrough

Ink Painting slept a good sleep. In ordinary days, he never slept, investing almost all his time, day and night, into cultivation and drawing array methods. Especially after midnight, with the Dao Stele, he practiced array methods many, many times every night.

But this time, after experiencing several battles, plus a super-tier divine sense battle that put pressure on his Sea of Knowledge, and the exhaustion of his physical body, Ink Painting truly couldn't endure it. So, he just forgot everything and had a steady sleep.

Waking up from his sleep, the sky was already bright. Bright sunlight shone into the room. Ink Painting slowly opened his eyes, his mind somewhat blank. He gazed blankly at the sunlight outside the window.

"Awake?" A gentle voice sounded.

Ink Painting turned his head and saw the fair and white-faced, dignified yet gentle Elder Murong, who had a faint smile at the corner of his mouth and was looking at him gently.

"Elder Murong is good..." Ink Painting said in a low voice. His voice was still a bit hoarse.

"Don't speak," Elder Murong said, "You should eat the medicine already."

Elder Murong stood up, took out several pills, and handed them to Ink Painting's mouth. Ink Painting couldn't move, so he just opened his mouth and accepted Elder Murong's "feeding" action.

After feeding him the pills, Elder Murong again took Ink Painting's pulse, pondered for a moment, and said softly: "Good, you will recuperate well. Probably in two or three days, you can go back to class."

"Thank you..." Ink Painting only managed to say the word "thank" before a pain in his throat prevented him from speaking further.

Elder Murong chuckled softly, "You rest well," and then left.

Ink Painting lay alone on the bed, gazing at the Eight Trigrams Pill Furnace cloud pattern on the ceiling, blankly lost in thought. After a long time, he suddenly came back to his senses.

"The physical body truly is the carrier of the divine sense."

If the physical body is strong, then the spirit is good and the divine sense is abundant. Conversely, now that his physical body has lost blood energy, it's even difficult to concentrate his divine consciousness, and his spirit is also a bit hazy. But fortunately, Elder Xun saved him, and the beautiful and kind-hearted Elder Murong, who is very powerful in Dan Dao, refined pills for him. His physical injuries are not a big problem.

"But next time I do things, I still need to be more cautious, more thorough."

"Also, if my physical body could be stronger, that would be good..." Ink Painting said silently in his heart.

Then, a wave of fatigue and sleepiness attacked him, and Ink Painting, feeling very sleepy, slowly closed his eyes again.

And as his divine sense weakened and he slowly entered sleep, he did not detect the anomaly within his karma, nor did he know that an evil, pitch-black, terrifying, blackened young "Ink Painting" was also sleeping within his life grid.

Tai Xu Sect, Back Mountain.

Elder Xun climbed the steps, crossed through layers of seals, and headed towards the Sword Tomb. He was still very concerned about the matter of "Sword Intent." Logically, with Ink Painting's sword dao attainment, he fundamentally shouldn't have been able to condense "Sword Intent." But on his body, there indeed appeared a high-level "Sword Intent," which fundamentally cannot be cultivated in the Foundation Building realm and is completely unreasonable.

The first person Elder Xun thought of was his senior brother. The only person on the entire Tai Xu Mountain who could pass on this kind of high-level sword dao and profound sword intent to a Foundation Building disciple is probably the Tai Xu ancestor Du Gu, who was formerly the absolute sword master of Qian State, who suppressed the heavenly talents of his generation, killed countless demons and evils, and made countless demons and evils lose their courage.

But absolutely not! No matter how much he respected this senior brother, he would never allow him to teach Ink Painting that child the sword law. Elder Xun's heart was clear: his senior brother's sword law had one endpoint, and his inherited destiny had only one, which was... "Tai Xu Divine Sense Transformation into Sword True Art"! This sword art is already a forbidden technique of the Tai Xu Sect. Once this sword is learned, one will step into the abyss and can never turn back in this life.

Ink Painting has a broader array dao and should absolutely not, because of one moment of curiosity, walk on this road full of demons, where great terror descends, and dangers are everywhere, a road to death. With a heavy heart, Elder Xun stepped into the Sword Tomb.

Inside the Sword Tomb, broken swords stood in a forest. Ancestor Du Gu, as usual, had his eyes closed and his energy contained, sitting withered in his original place.

"Senior brother..." Elder Xun opened his mouth and said.

But Ancestor Du Gu did not answer, not even the slightest reaction. He sat between the dry tombs like a dead white mountain stone, dry and silent.

"...Senior brother?" Elder Xun's eyebrows furrowed slightly, detecting something was wrong. He gradually slowed down his steps, and a trace of sharpness appeared in his turbid eyes. He vigilantly looked at Ancestor Du Gu.

Ancestor Du Gu's face skin trembled slightly, and then he slowly opened his eyes. His expression was indifferent, but his eyes were strange. The whites of his eyes were black, but the pupils were white, light and dark intertwined, obscure and uncertain.

Elder Xun's expression suddenly changed. "Senior brother, you!"

Inside Ancestor Du Gu's Sea of Knowledge, it seemed as if he had also experienced a battle with a heavenly demon. His face skin gradually became pale, and his five features were melting and distorting. With only his remaining will, he said to Elder Xun word by word: "Leave quickly... 'Seal the Sword Tomb...'"

"And, save..."

He didn't have time to say that name, or perhaps, those existences didn't allow him to utter this name. In the midst of the infinite and endless wild dancing heavenly demons, Ancestor Du Gu's five features completely melted, becoming a "faceless person."

Elder Xun's pupils suddenly trembled fiercely. Then, without thinking, he grabbed the air, tore open a crack, took out a compass, and injected his divine sense and spiritual power. On the compass, lines of array patterns spread out like a spider web in all directions.

The dense array seals inside the Sword Tomb also activated at this time. The Tai Xu Two Yi breaths flowed, and layers of sealed golden doors surrounded the entire Sword Tomb, tightly sealing the entire Sword Tomb. A fifth-grade seal array was impressively constructed above it. This array sealed the Sword Tomb, sealed everything inside the Sword Tomb, and also blocked all breaths, preventing transmission to the outside.

But at this time, Ancestor Du Gu's entire body was filled with sharp sword intent, and the lines of array patterns were shaking and about to collapse. Elder Xun's heart sank. He pinched and broke a jade slip, saying: "Junior brother Murong, there is a change in the forbidden area, come help me."

The jade slip broke through the void, but in an instant, a five-colored crack appeared in the void.

"I just finished my seclusion, don't bother me..." A slender figure with a handsome demeanor, a childlike face, and the hair of a crane walked out of the void crack. Before he finished speaking, he saw the strange appearance of Ancestor Du Gu and the precarious seal array. His pupils immediately widened, and he took a breath of cold air. "Senior brother he..."

"Stop talking nonsense, act quickly."

Ancestor Murong, with his childlike face and crane hair, immediately became solemn. He pinched the formula with his hand and sacrificed a Tai Xu Seal, which transformed into four directions of blue dragons, suppressing the strange heavenly demon energy in the four directions of the Sword Tomb.

Elder Xun then seized this opportunity to completely activate the seal of the Sword Tomb, layer by layer, and then heavily reinforce it. Lines of sealed patterns turned into void chains, completely sealing the Sword Tomb, leaving no gap. He also completely suppressed Ancestor Du Gu inside. This sealed array was left by the high-level predecessors of the Tai Xu Sect. Under its fully open state, it is enough to seal any divine sense, spiritual power, flesh and blood-like existences within the fifth grade.

Until this time, Elder Xun and Elder Murong only slightly relaxed.

"How is senior brother?" Elder Murong asked.

Elder Xun's expression was grave. He shook his head and said, "I can't say clearly either, but senior brother's state is very wrong. Perhaps it is those things that are sealed, trying everything to come out..."

Elder Murong's expression changed upon hearing this. "Then senior brother isn't..."

Elder Xun said seriously: "His heart's thoughts still exist, but we don't know exactly how much he has been polluted. We can only seal him first..."

"That..."

"Senior brother's sword dao is sky-high, and he might have a method himself. We actually can't help much..." Elder Xun sighed helplessly.

Elder Murong raised his head and looked at the sealed array, and then looked at the fuzzy figure of Ancestor Du Gu inside the array. His expression was a bit sad, and he sighed: "That year's heavenly demon great calamity lasted for a long time, and the dead and injured were miserable. Finally, it was senior brother who self-destructed his dao path, used his body as a prison, and guarded the gate, only then did the Tai Xu Sect have peace later."

"Senior brother he... abandoned his absolute top talent, abandoned his limitless future, abandoned his great scenery, and from being the renowned first sword of Qian State, became a living tomb. For so many years, he has silently and without gaps guarded in this forbidden area. Now he is old and decrepit, and it is difficult to distinguish between human and demon. I don't know if he can have a good end..."

Elder Murong felt deeply sorrowful.

Elder Xun also felt a sourness in his heart, but he still said: "This road was chosen by senior brother himself. He is clearer about these matters than we are."

"I know." Elder Murong sighed, then asked softly, "What should we do now?"

Elder Xun pondered for a moment. "You and I will join forces to completely seal this back mountain. We will even lock the void and not allow anyone or any existence to enter or leave. After some time, we will see the situation again."

Elder Murong pondered for a moment. "If the matter is not possible..."

"If the matter is not possible," Elder Xun's eyebrows furrowed into the shape of the character '川' (river), and he sighed: "I will think of another method." He didn't say what method, and Elder Murong didn't ask, only nodding.

"This is the only way..."

After this, the two of them were silent, each with heavy hearts. The bright sunlight shone into the back mountain, but it also seemed to cover a layer of gloom, revealing coldness and heaviness.

Elder Murong looked into the distance, taking in the entire Tai Xu Mountain, and sighed softly: "Clearly the three sects have merged, yet another wave of trouble has arisen. I fear the future of the Tai Xu Sect's dao lineage is uncertain ah..."

Elder Xun thought for a moment, his eyes filled with heavy thoughts, and he slowly shook his head and said: "It is not the future of our Tai Xu Sect that is uncertain, but the future of this heaven and earth, this vast common people, is all uncertain..."

Elder Murong was astonished. "This... is perhaps saying too much..."

Elder Xun's expression was indifferent. After deliberating for a moment, he slowly spoke his worries: "The great calamity of heaven and earth, although terrible, is actually not the most terrible. The most terrible thing is actually the decay of human hearts."

"Past great calamities were naturally dangerous, but there were still cultivators like senior brother, who had great cultivation, great willpower, and a great vision, who abandoned fame and fortune, abandoned honor and disgrace, and abandoned themselves to bear the burden of the common people and resist this great calamity."

"Now?"

"Like today's world of sects, profit is the priority. Most disciples under their doors also do self-serving things with great fanfare. People do not cultivate their hearts, and their hearts do not seek the Dao. They are selfish and self-interested. Once they truly encounter a great calamity, what kind of situation will it be?"

As if thinking of that scene, Elder Xun's expression was extremely stern, and his tone also revealed a chilling intent. "I always have a premonition that under the decay of human hearts, the next great calamity may be the... death calamity... of these Nine Provinces."

This statement was too shocking, even Elder Murong was terrified in his heart. Elder Murong said seriously: "The Nine Provinces are unified, and the Dao Court's power is great. Even if there is some decay, it shouldn't reach this point..." But these words seemed less like they were directed at Elder Xun and more like he was saying them to himself.

Elder Xun was silent for a moment, then raised his head and looked into the distance. "But I hope so..."

Everything in the back mountain was strictly sealed by the array, and outsiders did not know about it. Time flowed quietly.

Three days later, Ink Painting had almost recovered. He could continue attending classes, cultivating, and drawing array methods. Of course, the most important thing was that he had a third-grade divine skeleton and the "heritage" of an evil fetus. He could continue to refine divine marrow, swallow divine sense, and crack the mysterious array. So, after another half a month, at midnight, Ink Painting sat in meditation in the disciple's residence, his divine consciousness sinking into his Sea of Knowledge, solving the mysterious array as always.

But today was a bit different again. Because today, he could finish solving the mysterious array, which also meant that the bottleneck of his Heaven Derivation Art Foundation Building late stage would be broken through tonight. He was about to reach the Foundation Building late stage!

Ink Painting suppressed his excited heart and began to solve the last mysterious array with slightly trembling hands. As he outlined with his fingers, golden divine sense patterns shuttled between the mysterious arrays, condensing into one solved array pattern after another. The mysterious array also began to decompose and collapse little by little... Finally, with the condensation of the last stroke and the fall of the last golden pattern, the "mysterious array" that was the bottleneck of the Heaven Derivation Art finally turned into golden threads and completely dissipated.

In that instant, Ink Painting's Sea of Knowledge suddenly became smooth. His Qi Sea was no longer suppressed by the bottleneck. Spiritual power flowed naturally, forming a full cycle, converging into Ink Painting's Qi Sea. His four limbs, bones, and meridians also felt a trace of "hunger."

Ink Painting immediately opened his eyes, took out the spirit stones he had prepared, crushed them all, absorbed them into his body through breathing, circulated them through his body, refined them one by one, and settled them into his Qi Sea. Ink Painting felt his spiritual power, which hadn't increased for a long time, finally enhance again. His Sea of Knowledge was also expanding little by little, and his divine consciousness realm was also gradually climbing...

He didn't know how long passed. Finally, as his Qi Sea filled, his Sea of Knowledge brightened, his whole body's meridians stabilized, and his spiritual power completed a full cycle. Ink Painting opened his eyes, an unusual light bloomed in his eyes, and his whole body's momentum also rose by a section.

Foundation Building late stage! He finally broke through! The whole breakthrough process was still relatively smooth. But the premise of this smoothness was that he had spent too much thought before this, planned too many layouts, and also experienced bitter battles. He first killed a divine skeleton and then chopped up an evil fetus, only then could he have such a smooth breakthrough now.

"Cultivating the Dao is truly not easy..." Ink Painting felt emotional in his heart. Fortunately, heaven rewards those who try. He is now finally a Foundation Building late-stage cultivator. In front of a crowd of younger junior brothers and sisters, he can finally hold his head high.

Ink Painting introspected himself and examined his current strength: His physical body was a bit stronger—although it didn't have much influence. His spiritual power was thicker—of course, compared to disciples with upper grade and even upper upper grade spirit roots and cultivation methods, the gap was still quite large. The only thing that was not bad was his divine consciousness, which was as always, far ahead.

Nineteen patterns peak within the peak. Because he swallowed a third-grade divine skeleton and the huge divine sense left by the evil fetus, plus the enhancement of his divine consciousness brought about by breaking through to the Foundation Building late stage, Ink Painting's divine consciousness this time took another big step beyond the limit. At this time, his divine consciousness was already infinitely close to twenty patterns. Ink Painting even felt that as long as he had another opportunity, he could break this limit and truly reach the realm of twenty patterns in his divine consciousness.

Foundation Building late stage... Divine consciousness Core Formation. Ink Painting was a bit dazed for a moment. He hadn't thought that the day of divine consciousness Core Formation would actually be so close unconsciously, even making him feel a bit unreal. When he was in the Qi Refining realm and his divine consciousness was Foundation Building, he had to put in quite a lot of effort, drawing array methods every day, only slowly grinding his way up.

But thinking back, this might also be because of the Great Wilderness Evil God that was parasitizing the Qian Xue State border. The Great Wilderness Evil God was truly too rich. He was just following along and "eating and drinking for free," and without paying attention, his divine consciousness was already about to Core Formation. Moreover, it wasn't just that.

Ink Painting's divine consciousness sank into his Sea of Knowledge. He lowered his head and looked at his divine sense incarnation. He had successively refined a third-grade divine skeleton and a second-grade evil fetus, swallowing a large amount of divine marrow. His current divine sense had also turned into a nearly pure gold color. Nearly pure gold, but there was still a trace of impurities. This color was already very terrifying. At least, Ink Painting had not seen such pure "gold color" on any god-like existence so far. Even Mountain Lord Yellow didn't have it. Little Silver Fish was even more out of the question; it was only silver color. As for above gold color, Ink Painting had only heard Mountain Lord Yellow say something about it and had completely no concept of this kind of divine marrow.

"Next step, should I just remove the impurities and refine my divine sense to a pure gold color?"

"Then what?" Ink Painting was completely confused.

Thinking of divine marrow, Ink Painting again recalled the words the third-grade blood-colored divine skeleton said to him not long ago. That divine skeleton said that he knew nothing about "Dao Transformation," and that his Dao was a complete mess... Ink Painting was a bit unhappy, but after careful thought, he also felt that the third-grade divine skeleton should not be lying. His understanding of "divine sense dao transformation" indeed needed to be deepened, the strength of his divine sense also needed to be tempered more, and his entire body's inheritance also needed to be mastered step by step.

That divine skeleton indeed wanted to kill him, but at the same time, it also reminded him. The key is... why did it want to remind him? Why did it want to say these things to him? Wasn't it the divine skeleton of the Great Wilderness Evil God?

Ink Painting recalled his interactions with this blood-colored divine skeleton and suddenly discovered a problem: "Blood..."

Other divine skeletons, although also cruel, bloodthirsty, and swallowed human lives, carrying blood shadows, would not be like this divine skeleton, having such a thick "blood" base color. Even its life divine ability was a "Slaughter Blood Blade" condensed from the blood dao.

"Its Dao is related to blood..."

"This seems, not to be the Dao of the Great Wilderness Evil God?" Ink Painting furrowed his eyebrows.

Things seemed to be getting complicated... But regarding the Dao of evil gods, god-like existences, and the laws of the Great Dao, he still didn't understand much, and he had encountered few situations. Thinking about these now, he still couldn't figure out the reason.

"Let's talk about it later..."

"Anyway, I'm already at the Foundation Building late stage..."

Ink Painting's heart was satisfied. He put aside other thoughts and slept another sound sleep.

***