Mythical Scroll Artist: Starting with the God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming

Chapter 118 The True Face of the World
Xue Lingling was stunned for a long time, her expression gradually becoming serious. "Hiss~ What is that old man planning?"

"Don't you want to discuss this with me?" Wu Xian said helplessly.

"..." Xue Lingling carefully examined the materials in her hand. "There's nothing wrong with the materials themselves. It's strange, when did our mayor become so kind? By the way, did he mention anything else to you?"

“No, not at all,” Wu Xian said. “It was just a mention of the recent changes in Yaoyang City.”

"What are your requirements?"

"nor."

"That shouldn't be the case!" Xue Lingling was completely baffled. "There's definitely something wrong with this unsolicited kindness."

Wu Xian expressed his strong agreement, "Then this material...?"

“There’s nothing wrong with the items,” Xue Lingling said enthusiastically. “They’re just a bit old, not like they’re from recent years. They’re definitely usable, so keep them safe and don’t waste them.”

Wu Xian understood; as long as the materials were fine, that was all that mattered.

As for the domain scroll technique, I am still lacking in skill, unless I adopt ancient methods.

Eh~ an ancient technique?
If you can even create traditional scroll paintings yourself, why can't you try combining traditional techniques to create regional scroll paintings?
Just like those first-generation domain scrolls in [Dead Mountain Town]?
Thinking of this, Wu Xian felt inexplicably excited.

"In short, try to stay away from that Chen Shilong guy as much as possible in the future," Xue Lingling reminded him seriously.

Wu Xian nodded slightly. "Speaking of which, what exactly is Mayor Chen Shilong's background? Is he from the Dengfeng Dojo?"

"I don't know, but there's always been some kind of ambiguity between him and Dengfeng Dojo," Xue Lingling pondered. "My older brother, on the other hand, has a pretty high opinion of Chen Shilong."

"Is that so?" Wu Xian asked thoughtfully.

But ultimately it has nothing to do with him.

Next, I consulted my master sister about some knowledge of domain scrolls, and I will study the first domain scrolls of the various major sects later.

It might actually be possible to create a "growth-oriented" domain map similar to [Dead Mountain Town] ahead of time.

"Why are you asking these questions? You don't actually want to create a domain scroll, do you?" Xue Lingling asked with a strange expression.

"It never hurts to prepare in advance."

Xue Lingling smiled knowingly, then suddenly changed the subject, "By the way, my dear disciple, how's your research on the Ghost King Scroll coming along? I've been under a lot of pressure lately!"

“This…” Wu Xian’s expression froze. “This disciple is too busy to even finish his own scrolls, so there is really no time to study Master Sister’s scroll ideas.”

"alright."

Xue Lingling sighed helplessly.

She had originally planned to have Wu Xian work as her "apprentice" for a few years, but who would have thought that her good apprentice would develop so quickly, with her scroll sales even exceeding her own?

It can only be said that having an outstanding apprentice is not necessarily a good thing.

It seems necessary to select some promising talents from the family and train a few "apprentices" for myself.

"Disciple was just about to go to the dimensional control zone to check on the situation. Master, would you like to come along?" Wu Xian asked tentatively as Xue Lingling was about to leave.

Xue Lingling nodded thoughtfully, "I've been exhausted lately, it'll be good to relax. I heard that the three major dimensional control zones in Yaoyang City are in chaos, so I might as well go and take a look."

After saying this, the master and disciple went together.

Soon after, they successfully arrived at the foot of the eerie abyss dimensional gate.

Dimensional Harbor has now completely fallen under the control of Yin Shuai's scroll and Ghost King's scroll, bringing them a lot of "enlightenment energy".

The refinement level of their divine diagrams also steadily improved under the nourishment of the continuous "comprehension energy".

To avoid causing a disturbance, the two deliberately avoided the crowd and darted directly into the instance outpost.

The staff guarding the entrance to the instance only saw two dark shadows flash by and thought they were hallucinating.

"Speaking of which, Dead Mountain Town must have accumulated quite a bit of dungeon energy recently, right?" Wu Xian asked.

"It's not just a lot, it's more like an endless supply." Xue Lingling shook her head and smiled. "If you're interested, you can come in anytime and keep refreshing until you're sick of it." Wu Xian smiled but didn't say anything more.

With the association's special pass in hand, there's no need to waste the club's resources.

Emerging from the Dead Mountain Outpost in the high-level dungeon area.

The sight before them took them by surprise.

"what's the situation?"

Wu Xian once thought he was hallucinating. The scene before him had no trace of the eerie abyss. Looking around, there was no sinister or eerie atmosphere at all, and even the sky had become clear.

"This is... completely purified?" Xue Lingling exclaimed in astonishment. "Is the power of the masses truly great?"

"Can an alternate dimension be purified?" Wu Xian was shocked and puzzled.

Xue Lingling shook her head and smiled, "Strictly speaking, this is not the real Abyss of the Strange, but an area that was once eroded and occupied by the power of the Abyss of the Strange."

"So, this place used to be our human world's territory?" Wu Xian exclaimed in surprise.

Xue Lingling remained noncommittal, saying, "The otherworld you are seeing right now is not a real otherworld, but a world outside of Yaoyang City."

"Aren't there other neighboring cities outside Yaoyang City?" Wu Xian asked, puzzled.

“Yes and no,” Xue Lingling explained with a light laugh, “The map and all the cities of today’s scroll painters are more like they are pieced together in space, rather than being connected on a real geographical level.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Xian felt a chill run down his spine and remained speechless for a long time.

So, the world I've known for the past eighteen years isn't the true face of this world?
At this moment, Wu Xian felt as if his worldview was collapsing.

“My dear disciple has never been to other cities, so naturally she wouldn’t notice these things,” Xue Lingling teased. “In fact, most people today don’t care about these things. For them, as long as they have a place where they can live and work in peace, that’s enough.”

"So where exactly is Yaoyang City located?" Wu Xian was eager to know his exact location.

"One of the oldest cities in the central part of the Eastern Continent."

Wu Xian couldn't help but recall the information he had learned from the Zhou family.

So, all cities today are actually shelters pieced together by special space technology?

"By the way, can we reclaim these purified areas?" Wu Xian asked with great interest.

“Theoretically it’s possible, but it’s quite complicated to implement,” Xue Lingling shook her head. “What we see now is just a superficial purification. How easy is it to truly turn it back into a land suitable for human habitation?”

Wu Xian understood.

Just like this purified control zone in front of us, only the eerie and terrifying aura of the strange abyss has been dispelled on the surface.

However, the terrain and landforms still retain the characteristics of a strange abyss.

Following my master sister deeper and deeper, we soon returned to the scene and atmosphere of the eerie abyss.

The former high-level controlled zone defense line is no longer a defense line, but the front line for the soldiers and civilians of Yaoyang City to conquer the outside world.

Of course, the scrolls currently held by the public are still in the development stage, with the highest being around five stars, so their impact on the defense line of high-level controlled areas is relatively small.

Even so, many figures can still be seen fighting against dimensional monsters outside the high-level defense line.

"Is the high-level defense line the outermost perimeter?" Wu Xian asked curiously.

“That’s right,” Xue Lingling nodded and smiled. “This is also the front line of resisting the invasion of the strange abyss. Although it’s called the front line, it’s actually still a long way from that strange abyss dimensional rift.”

Wu Xian suddenly gained a clearer understanding of the world.

Outside the defensive line, there are mostly level six or seven monsters, and even quite a few level eight monsters.

Moreover, the intensity of the extradimensional fluctuations here is exceptionally high, which can provide significant buffs and enhancements to the monsters.

(End of this chapter)