Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 270: Hurting Tianhe
Li Wenqing left, but Zhao Yifu estimated that the Eight Demon Leaders' forces would not have any contact with him in the future, and Youquan would probably let Li Wenqing come to contact him specifically.

After everyone left, Zhao Yifu began to think about how to contact his "superior" to report the situation.

This time, Youquan's power has only revealed the tip of the iceberg. The Eight Demon Leaders are definitely not all of them. After all, in Zhao Yifu's opinion, the Lingji Monk is no less powerful than the Eight Demons or even stronger... Or, these so-called Eight Demon Leaders were just specially set up by Youquan to accommodate these "unruly" people?

No matter what, Zhao Yifu should now think about how to pass this information on...

Just as he was thinking about this, he suddenly saw a figure in front of his yard, staring blankly at the cloud formation outside.

Zhao Yifu quickly walked over, clasped his fists, and said, "Master, you're here?"

This master was elusive and would always appear in front of him at the right time, as if he had always been by his side.

Grandmaster Xuandu did not look back, but just stared at the formation outside for a long time without saying a word.

Zhao Yifu came forward and said, "Grandmaster, I'm just a beginner in this formation, and it's really not up to par."

Xuan Du said dimly, "It's good that you know it's unsightly, but you clearly know it's unsightly and still put it out there to show off... that's..."

He was actually stuck because he really didn't know what mood he should use to narrate the story.

He could only sigh and say, "Forget it. Your master will teach you the art of formations in a while. You can come and listen."

Zhao Yifu nodded and thanked him immediately after hearing this: "Thank you, Master."

As for why we had to bring Liang Zhongzhi along?

The main reason is that Liang Zhongzhi is the master after all, and he must know at least some of what his apprentice knows.

Xuan Du did not have high requirements for this disciple, as long as he could reach the level of the conventional three religions and three generations of disciples.

However, he must be strict with this disciple. His expectation for Zhao Yifu is to be the 'strongest fourth-generation disciple'!
This is a very new track, because Zhao Yifu is probably still the first and only fourth-generation disciple of the Three Religions...

Xuan Du was in a bad mood looking at the array of formations. He wanted to ignore it, but the problem was that he still had to discuss things here...

So this person, who was one of the most powerful cultivators in the three religions and the three realms, simply waved his hand and set up a new mountain protection formation for Zhao Yifu's Baiyun Mountain.

He said, "This is the Yin-Yang Micro-Dust Formation. You can experience its power yourself and see for yourself. There is also a talisman here called the 'Innate Qi Talisman'. Using this as the formation can unleash the formation's strongest power."

Zhao Yi Fu immediately took the talisman respectfully, thinking that he was worthy of being the master, and anything that slipped out of his hand was very powerful.

He tried to fiddle with it and was very satisfied with the 'fool-proof operation' that his master had thoughtfully prepared. He then immediately manipulated it to hide the Liangyi Microdust Formation... and the formation he had made himself was revealed again.

Xuan Du looked at him speechlessly and asked, "Why, are you dissatisfied with the Liangyi Microdust Formation?"

Zhao Yifu said, "No, I am extremely satisfied... but I am an undercover agent after all. People in the demonic sect may take this unstructured formation for granted, but if they see the Yin-Yang Microdust Formation here, then my true identity will be exposed."

Zhao Yifu said that to be an undercover agent, one must be good at what one does and must not be negligent in any details.

Master Xuandu was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized, and then he had an expression as if he had eaten something... This was really annoying.

He rubbed his temples and felt that it was really troublesome for him to be associated with this kid.

Why is it that I always have to suppress the urge to beat my child?

However, Master Xuandu was a direct descendant of Taiqing after all, and he quickly came to his senses and stopped looking at the formation.

He said, "Okay, let's get back to the topic."

Zhao Yifu then honestly told what had just happened and added his own judgment.

"Master, I feel that although Youquan's forces are very powerful, they are still far behind the many righteous masters in Heaven and the Three Realms. There is no way they can succeed in their rebellion."

The great master Xuandu said thoughtfully, "It seems that after obtaining the Three Realms, this Youquan also wants to maintain order rather than return everything to chaos..."

Zhao Yifu blinked, and he suddenly felt that his master was thinking about something very dangerous.

Xuan Du said, "Continue to observe and get as much intelligence as possible. I think the so-called 'Eight Demon Leaders' are just a facade. Their hidden strength is the key."

Zhao Yifu nodded, thinking that this was correct and consistent with his own guess.

After a pause, Xuan Du continued, "In order for you to have as much access to the core insider information as possible, I allow you to do things that are in the interests of Youquan."

Zhao Yifu felt his scalp tingling when he heard this. Isn't this too broad?
He asked, "Master, can you tell me to what extent this can be achieved?"

Master Xuandu thought for a moment and said, "You can harm the harmony of nature, but you cannot harm your virtue."

Zhao Yifu's pupils suddenly contracted after hearing this. Oh my god, what does this mean?
The concepts of 'harming the harmony of heaven' and 'harming one's virtue' seem a little hard to grasp.

But if you think about it carefully, it seems that there is a difference.

The "Heaven" in "hurting Heaven and Harmony" must not only refer to "Heaven" but also things that go against justice. In other words, the master feels that it is possible to go against Heaven and go against justice, and the Taiqing Church endorses him in this regard.

However, the phrase "do not harm one's hidden virtue" is quite specific. This is because a cultivator's hidden virtue is "virtue unknown to others," which reflects the cultivator's own moral character.

In other words, even though his master asked him to do things that might "harm the harmony of nature," he could not go against the virtues that he had cultivated in his heart.

This is hard to grasp...

Master Xuandu said, "I know this is difficult. The degree here is the most difficult to grasp."

"If you fail, I'm afraid you'll truly fall into the devil's way and be doomed... But conversely, if you succeed, not only will I, but also my teacher and your ancestor, the Great Sage Taiqing, will reward you."

Zhao Yifu nodded with difficulty after hearing this. He also hoped that he could grasp the degree here.

After a brief pause, Zhao Yifu recalled something and said, "Oh, by the way, Grandmaster, those Eight Demon Leaders are certainly not worth mentioning, but I do care about one of them."

Master Xuandu asked, "Who is it?"

Zhao Yifu said, "It's that Xuanyin Cainu. I've fought with her before and felt that her magical power is extremely profound. At the same time, her cultivation is pure and not at all like the mixed and complicated other demons."

"Even her profound Yin chill can rival the pure Yang devil fire driven by my anger. This doesn't seem like an ordinary inheritance."

After hearing this, Master Xuandu began to calculate the secrets of heaven.

After a while, she said, "Oh, she was originally the Saint Maiden of the Qingli Palace in the East China Sea. Later, she fell into the devil's way. The first thing she did after falling into the devil was to slaughter all the people in the Qingli Palace..."

Master Xuandu suddenly frowned, feeling something was wrong.

Zhao Yifu said, "Master, that's not right. If she really did something so evil that goes against human ethics, then she must have deep karma."

"Master also knows this. I have been stationed in the Heavenly Prison for ten years, and I am extremely sensitive to the sins of cultivators."

"When facing those demons, disciples can even directly use the calamity energy they control to trigger their karma, and then call upon the heavenly punishment to bombard them."

"But when facing that Xuanyin girl, it was obviously not the case."

Wow, no wonder he was so confident and started to do it right away. It turns out he still has this secret trick up his sleeve.

If he truly used his calamity energy to stir up the karma of those demons... then he could truly destroy them all. The only price he would pay would be exposure.

Xuan Du continued counting on his fingers, frowning as he said, "No matter how you calculate, the result is the same... But that's precisely why there's a problem. Someone has used extremely clever means to confuse the heavens!"

He then paused and continued, "However, this method of confusing the heavens seems familiar and interesting... The origins of this Xuanyin Cainu are also not simple. Could it be that one of the senior brothers has also noticed this Youquan?"

Zhao Yifu was shocked when he heard this. 'Confusing the secrets', this was definitely a high-end method.

He pressed the issue, "Master, everyone else has someone to help them confuse the heavens, but what about me? I need someone too, right?"

He was very worried that others might be able to see something from the secrets.

In the end, Xuandu shook his head and said, "No, you don't need it."

Zhao Yifu: “???”

He doesn't understand.

Xuan Du said: "The purpose of confusing the secrets of heaven is to make it difficult for people to see the cause and effect."

"But your cause and effect are very clear. You are a disciple of my Taiqing Sect. After falling into demonism, you killed many sword immortals from the Sword Immortal Alliance. Yi Yangzi was seriously injured by you, and Chun Yangzi fell into demonic obstruction under your control... These are all facts that you did and cannot be disputed."

In short, Zhao Yifu is "obviously bad and can withstand investigation"!
Zhao Yifu felt aggrieved. He said, "I did all these things according to your will..."

Xuan Du said, "Okay, I know what's going on. But this is actually the most effective way to conceal the secrets of heaven."

"Because no one in this world can implicate me in the cause and effect of the Heavenly Secret, no matter how you calculate your cause and effect, it is only the things you did above."

"At most, they will figure out that many of your affairs are related to Chunyangzi and the Eight Immortals. But once Chunyangzi is led into a demonic barrier by you, those who can figure out this secret will think it's a trap set by Youquan."

Xuandu looked at Zhao Yifu and said, "So, you are actually in the safest state."

"On the other hand, that Xuanyin girl..."

Zhao Yifu understood instantly and said no more.

Because his cultivation is not enough, everything he said will leave traces in this world. If it is discovered by some powerful beings, it is possible that he is deceiving others.

Master Xuandu chatted for a few more words, and suddenly felt too lazy to find another day, so he simply ran over and pulled Liang Zhongzhi over.

Right here on Baiyun Mountain, he began to explain the art of formations based on Zhao Yifu's formations.

The teaching effect this time was excellent because the examples available were all negative teaching materials.

He pointed at Zhao Yifu's extremely simple formation circuits and began to complain in circles. He went around the hill for a long time and complained about everything he needed to complain about. He had almost finished explaining the basic formation.

It should be noted that the "foundation" here is for Xuandu. If it is placed in other places, it can be regarded as an excellent formation inheritance.

Zhao Yifu was criticized all the way and felt ashamed. He wondered how he could make such a simple mistake?
Liang Zhongzhi listened very carefully. He would never make the same mistake his apprentice made again...

It would be too shameful if a master couldn't learn better than his apprentice.

Zhao Yifu was the one with the least psychological burden. He felt that he had no talent for formations, so he just regarded it as learning a new knowledge.

However, everything was fine until the end when Master Xuandu circled the mountain and returned to the starting point, then pointed to a certain part of the formation and said:
"Having said so much, I only need to make a slight change here to reverse the pattern of this formation and make it completely different."

As a demonstration, he reached out and dug out a spiritual stone that Zhao Yifu used to support the formation...

The entire formation began to fluctuate, seemingly becoming more turbulent and violent. Zhao Yifu was already preparing his flattering words.

But unexpectedly, the next moment, the clouds in the formation suddenly collapsed... and then half of the entire formation area on the mountain collapsed!
Oh my goodness, Zhao Yifu's 'shit mountain' collapsed...

The scene freezes at this moment.

The great magician Xuandu froze on the spot, holding a black spirit stone in one hand. In front of him was the collapsed formation structure, and behind him were his disciples and grand disciples... His face was filled with embarrassment at the moment.

Put away the pen, stamp it, roll it up and hide it away!
Another private painting by Zhao Yifu has been released.

He found it quite interesting to think about how his master had just fled without saying a word.

After unable to resist writing down this memorable moment, he rolled up his sleeves and prepared to repair the formations on the surrounding hills.

His formation structure almost collapsed, but he was too lazy to start over, so he used the new knowledge he had learned to continue to "build a high-level plan" on the existing framework.

Just like that, he started to create some abstract things that were incomprehensible to people.

The old formation was originally just a simple formation circuit, but now that he has learned new things, he is building more advanced formation circuits on these simple formation circuits.

Then, layer upon layer of nesting dolls were stacked together to create a mountain protection illusion array with a chaotic feeling.

It's not that this formation can create chaos, but anyone who understands formations will have a chaotic mind when seeing the disorganized formation structure here.

The originally clear thoughts will be mixed into a mess.

What’s even more amazing is that he actually managed to successfully build the formation in the end!

No one could figure out how his formation was finally closed, but the power of this illusion formation was indeed greatly upgraded.

And in the end, Zhao Yifu still didn't know how he succeeded...

For such a large formation, it seems so far-fetched to make a formation diagram to guide the direction.

When Zhao Yifu finished packing up the formation and returned to his study to take inventory of his collection... unsurprisingly, the private painting that recorded his master's most embarrassing moment was gone again.

But what puzzled him was why there was no Yang and spiritual energy this time?
Doesn’t the ancestor like it?
Zhao Yifu was worried.

If the master doesn't like it anymore, then wouldn't he lose a good way to become stronger quickly in the future?
Hey~
With a sigh, he felt that even without the master's blessing, he still had to try to practice.

He prepared himself mentally for the fact that he would have to "eat bran" and began to comprehend the world.

However, what he didn't expect was that this realization was extraordinary. He found that his connection with the world was extremely smooth, as if it had been lubricated in advance.

How is this going?

He felt it and found that as he gained insights, some yang and spiritual energy were naturally drawn out from somewhere, lubricating and connecting him with the way of heaven.

This is amazing.

He didn't even know where all this yang and spiritual energy came from.

But then he suddenly realized... he had not lost the favor of the master after all!
Maybe the ancestor also found that forcibly injecting yang and spiritual energy was too simple and crude, and he would feel uncomfortable.

It’s great that we’ve changed to this subtle and silent way of doing things now.

With the help of massive amounts of yang and spiritual energy, Zhao Yifu's understanding can be said to have made great progress.

He was originally at the critical point of becoming a celestial being, and this time's realization helped him form an extremely grand worldview in his heart.

This is already the limit of Taiqing Immortal Technique.

He was not able to exceed the upper limit of Taiqing Immortal Technique, even with Youquan's help.

It’s not that Youquan is inferior to the Taiqing Sage, nor is it that the Taiqing Immortal Law completely surrounds the dark worldview.

It’s because the Taiqing Immortal Technique is too comprehensive, and it inherently means the entire Three Realms.

Once this grand worldview was formed, Zhao Yifu felt that his feelings towards the world had completely changed.

His immortal nature has not changed, and his magic power has not increased for the time being, but he has already felt earth-shaking changes.

Before becoming a celestial being, he saw the world as everything. It was where he lived and what he needed to look up to.

His perspective is always within this world, and what he should do within this world.

But when his worldview was completed, the situation changed. He began to consider himself as an individual who was equal to heaven and earth.

His thinking pattern became: How are the heaven and earth to me, and how am I to the heaven and earth?

And it was this change in perspective that made him understand what a celestial immortal was...that is, an immortal who was equal to heaven!
Zhao Yifu's eyes were blazing, and he thought to himself that no wonder there was a 'Monkey King', it turned out that celestial beings were like this, they had to have 'ambitions as great as heaven'.

Although he didn't know if his understanding was correct, it didn't matter even if it was wrong, because he had already become...

Rich water power naturally accumulated around him. He was best at water magic, and now it was also accumulated because of his will.

This is the most obvious difference.

Before, Shui Yuan and he were close friends and that’s why they gathered together, but now, he favors Shui Yuan and that’s why Shui Yuan and he gathered together…

This situation reminded him of the Lingji monk he had met before. The Lingji monk's state seemed to be similar to his, except that the Lingji monk was friendly with the earth elemental, so he could stand still like a mountain when he stepped on the ground.

What about him?
Zhao Yifu couldn't help but have some fantasies.

However, he also knew that the achievements of Monk Lingji were accumulated over countless years, and if he wanted to reach that level, he would have to accumulate for some time.

After breaking through to the Celestial Immortal realm, his strength did not increase all at once, even his own cultivation did not change. It was just a change in cognition.

But as this perception changes, the benefits will gradually become apparent.

"what?"

Just as he continued to comprehend and consolidate, he suddenly felt someone breaking into the illusion.

The man walked very resolutely in the illusion, as if he firmly believed that the path he was taking was correct, and he walked all the way to a... cliff.

Zhao Yi Fu moved and watched from a distance as the man fell straight down.

But the fall off the cliff wasn't the end of it. More importantly, the man thought he had made the right move and was flying upwards, but in fact he was accelerating and diving downwards...

"Boom!"

He plunged headfirst into the ground, poking a three to five meter deep hole in the ground.

"Tsk tsk tsk, Master Lingji, how come you can't even tell the difference between high and low?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the Lingji monk, whose upper body had already been stuck in the ground, drilled into the ground again, but came out from beside Zhao Yifu a moment later.

"Finally I found you, Master. I am here to pay my respects to you."

The Lingji monk also greeted Zhao Yifu very politely.

Zhao Yifu felt that it was more appropriate to communicate with such a polite person, so he also clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "Master, it's been a long time since we last met. What brings you to see me this time?"

Monk Lingji did not respond, but his face could not help but twitched when facing Zhao Yifu.

After a moment, he took a deep breath and said, "I came to see you this time, firstly, to congratulate you on your freedom from the pursuit of happiness... secondly, to bring you a message for the Venerable."

Zhao Yifu asked in surprise, "Did you figure it out?"

Monk Lingji sighed and said, "The mountains and rivers here have already merged with the energy of the layman. This is the layman's 'heaven' assimilating the 'heaven' here. If this poor monk still cannot recognize it, then all these years of hard training will have been in vain."

Zhao Yifu disagreed. He asked, "Where is Li Wenqing? Why didn't he come to deliver the message to me, but instead asked the master to deliver the message to me... Your Excellency is not afraid that we will fight again."

Monk Lingji was completely speechless... Does this person have to be so direct when speaking?
But he had a good temper, especially after fighting with Zhao Yifu once, he didn't want to fight again... After all, fighting with Zhao Yifu was too tiring and would not produce any results.

He said, "Li Wenqing has his mission, and his identity needs to remain on the side of the righteous path, so he can't often appear here for fear of being discovered."

"Also, your direct demonic possession this time had a significant impact on His Majesty's plan. Fortunately, the last few nodes did not go astray."

The monk Lingji nodded, which made Zhao Yifu feel that Youquan might not have really thought that he could destroy the Sword Immortal Alliance.

Zhao Yifu said, "Well, if your Excellency has anything for me to do, please tell me."

Monk Lingji calmed down and said in a serious tone, "East of this Eastern Heaven Realm is the East Sea, and deep in the East Sea is the Dragon Palace."

"The Venerable Master wants you to go to the Dragon Palace and establish contact with the dragon clan."

Zhao Yifu blinked...Wow, is it so difficult?

He asked in return, “What good is it for me?”

Ling Ji was suddenly depressed. Is it so direct?
However, he still said: "Your Excellency also knows that establishing friendship with the dragon clan is a very difficult thing, so I only ask that you can establish a preliminary connection."

"Also, if you can successfully establish contact with the dragon clan, the Venerable will consider using his great mana to strengthen the Dark Spring for you in the manner you desire. I believe that after using the Dark Spring, you should understand how powerful it is, right?"

Zhao Yifu said, "Okay, I'll try."

Indeed, the most important reason why he rarely uses dark source power now is that his dark spring is too small.

But he didn't want to use his own blood to draw the formation and sacrifice himself to establish a connection with the ghost spring, so he temporarily let the matter go.

So overall he is satisfied with the deal.

Speaking of which, there is a certain cause and effect relationship between him and the dragon clan.

It seems like he has a younger brother who is the reincarnation of the Dragon King?

By the way, what happened to that stupid little brother...

His thoughts suddenly drifted away.

(End of this chapter)