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

Chapter 456 My Grandmother, the Ancient Scroll Painter

Or, to be even more ruthless, give them one more day of life, since they'll still die in battle anyway.

The advantage is that they are thrifty and frugal, while the disadvantage is that they are somewhat miserable.

But those big guys who end up in the underworld have already died once, so why would they care about such a miserable existence?

The key to all of this lies with the King Fungus.

At this moment, inside the Qiankun Bag Mushroom Farm, the King Mushroom was unaware of what had happened, and spent a lot of time every day focusing on that useless law network.

Although Wu Xian's compensation was generous, it eventually lost its passion over time.

In short: boring, tedious, and utterly unproductive.

Just as he was venting to himself, Wu Xian's consciousness suddenly appeared, "Little Junjun~?"

"What?"

Faced with Wu Xian's sudden affectionate address, Da Wang Jun had a bad feeling.

“We’ve encountered a thorny problem right now and urgently need your help,” Wu Xian said earnestly, describing the current issue with great seriousness. “In short, the fate of the people of Yaoyang City rests on your shoulders.”

Rest assured, the people will not forget your contributions. After everything is over, they will build a temple and erect a monument in your honor, so that your great virtues will be praised for generations to come.

"..." The giant mushroom froze silently. "So you're raising me like a breeding pig?"

"Hey~ How can you talk about yourself like that?" Wu Xian corrected him seriously, "We're already preparing to build a temple and erect a monument for you, what more do you want?"

"What's the use?" the Great King Fungus said irritably. "Stop trying to morally blackmail me with your human life and death. I'm not human, and I don't have any conscience or morality."

"Saving so many people, are you trying to work me to death?"

At this moment, the pent-up frustration in Da Wang Jun's heart finally erupted.

"What's the use?" Wu Xian teased. "Little Junjun may not know yet, but our human faith and incense are valuable things. Otherwise, why do you think the Four True Gods would want to befriend and cooperate with our human world?"

Upon hearing this, Da Wangjun was visibly taken aback, and his out-of-control emotions gradually calmed down.

"Faith? Incense offerings?" the giant fungus asked, puzzled. "What are those?"

In fact, he had never understood why the four great gods of the world still cared about the human world.
They've become gods, why do they still want to cooperate and join forces with the human world? What's the point?
Not only him, but all the otherworldly beings probably can't understand this.

Without wasting words, Wu Xian directly drew a wisp of incense and faith from the void of his sea of ​​consciousness and placed it in front of the Great King Fungus, "Come on, have a taste."

Although Da Wangjun hesitated for a moment, his intuition told him that this strange energy in front of him was a good thing.

While pondering, I reached out a wisp of mycelium and took a small bite.

He then eagerly absorbed and refined it, still wanting more, "It actually has such profound power, come on, have more."

"Delicious, isn't it? Want more, huh?" Wu Xian squinted and grinned mischievously. "Then hurry up and study it diligently. The people of Yaoyang City are waiting for you."

“No problem, no problem,” the Great King Fungus said, changing its previous attitude and becoming very interested. “From what you’re saying, after you build a temple and erect a monument for me, will I be able to draw on the power generated by you humans?”

"Otherwise, do you think everyone has the right to build a temple and erect a monument?" Wu Xian joked.

"How many can there be?"

“That depends on your achievements and your future standing in the hearts of the people of Yaoyang City,” Wu Xian said calmly. “We in Yaoyang City don’t believe in useless things. As long as you are helpful to the people, they will be willing to believe in you and support you.”

This will naturally lead to more people practicing incense and faith.

Upon hearing this, the Great King Fungus suddenly realized.

Only then did he understand why the four true gods wanted to coexist peacefully with the human world.

So it was all for something this good?

"Strange, can't we beings from another world generate this kind of power?" the Great King Fungus wondered.

“Theoretically, it should be possible, but they must be beings from other worlds born in an orderly manner, and the higher their intelligence, the more and better the faith power they generate.” Wu Xian explained, “We humans are born with extremely high intelligence, which you beings from other worlds cannot compare to.”

“I see,” the Great King Jun chuckled. “If you had said so earlier, wouldn’t I have been more motivated and energetic? I’ll take this on.”

"That's excellent." Wu Xian said with satisfaction.

"Oh right, if possible, please collect some relevant laws and powers for me. With references, it will be easier for me to comprehend them." The Great King Fungus said enthusiastically.

Wu Xian was secretly surprised. Had the child become sensible?

Have you started to learn proactively?

Therefore, he decisively handed over the several portions of Longevity Herbs he had to the Great King Mushroom as learning materials.

After it was all over, his consciousness returned to the underworld outpost.

At this moment, the souls of the dead in Yaoyang City are being guided by the "Guidance Team" and are gradually entering the operation process of the underworld.

Many club members were among them.

Now that we've come to the underworld, we still have to go through the proper procedures. Even if we're going to send them back to the living world, we have to start from the Yama King's Palace in Fengdu City.

The underworld outpost is located within the eerie and imposing city of Fengdu.

Wu Xian and his group stood guard at the Yama's Palace with great interest, waiting for the souls of those who died in the battle of Yaoyang City to "go home".

Before long, the souls of the deceased easily completed the preceding procedures, chatting and laughing with the underworld generals and officials escorting them, as if they were on a vacation rather than being reincarnated.

"Really? People can come back to life after they die?"

In the escort team, Zhang Mazi's spirit still lingered with the sadness of death, especially after being personally led there by his son Zhang Zihao, he deeply felt what it meant to be separated from the living forever.

"Since His Majesty says so, it means he has a solution. You can rest assured and follow his arrangements."

Zhang Zihao has recovered from the grief of losing his father and is now filled with the hope that his father will come back to life.

Zhang Mazi sighed softly and nodded obediently.

Nearby, Du Yifan's spirit seemed to be taking things in stride, only letting out a few sobs at the Wangxiangtai (Viewing Home) platform.

It wasn't that he was too ambitious; it was mainly because almost his entire family had died.

And so, Dad, Grandpa, Grandma, brothers, sisters, and everyone else came along.

In fact, he wouldn't have died so quickly if he hadn't been trying to save his entire family, and the worst part was that he couldn't save them in the end.

The whole family was eventually swallowed up by that endless flesh and blood, and died a terrible death.

"Son, do you think this is a reliable plan?" Du Yifan's elders were skeptical. "Won't there be any side effects or consequences?"

"How about we just go with the normal reincarnation process?"

"Yes, yes, with this connection to Youfan, we can all be reborn into a better family in our next life."

"By the way, cousin, does Young Master Ma Tengyun have a girlfriend? When are you planning to have children? I'm thinking of timing it so I might be able to be born into their family."

Du Yifan rolled his eyes. "What are you thinking? If Brother Xian said he can bring us back to life, he definitely can."

Du Yifan had absolute trust in Wu Xian.

"But I always felt that coming back to life was not an easy thing."

As they spoke, the group was gradually escorted to the Ten Kings of Hell.

The act of judging one's own people highlights a simple, brutal, and direct approach, but the specific implementation still relies on the power of the Ten Kings of Hell's scroll.

"How is it, Grandpa? Can it be done?" Wu Xian asked anxiously. "Yes," Wu Mingchang said with a strange expression, "but it will cause some burden. The little guys in the club are fine, we can arrange it directly, but it seems that the other souls will overdraw some kind of power from the underworld, as well as some kind of power from themselves?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Xian and the God of Wealth instantly understood.

"Is there really still some price to pay?" the God of Wealth sighed softly.

Judging from the changes in the laws sensed in the Underworld Divine Diagram, this operation is indeed achievable. In the case of exchanging life for life, it has virtually no impact on the Underworld's experience bar.

However, it will still put a certain burden on the underworld, and also on the souls of the dead.

This burden, in essence, is merit.

To put it bluntly, performing this operation will not only consume a certain amount of merit from the [Underworld Outpost], but will also deduct merit from the deceased soul itself.

Du Yifan and the others were fine; they had already accumulated some merit beforehand, so they could start working on it immediately.

However, the merits of other deceased souls will be deducted to a "negative number".

Although there is a lot of merit left in the underworld, as more people are resurrected, the merit will eventually be deducted to a negative number.

Simply put, I need to work to pay off my debts.

Alternatively, we could take a different approach: let these wandering spirits work in the underworld to accumulate merit before arranging for them to return to the living world.

"In addition, there is another crucial issue that needs to be addressed," the God of Wealth suddenly said.

"what is the problem?"

The God of Wealth said solemnly, "We overlooked an important issue earlier: the return of a soul to life requires a intact physical body. If it is a normal death or injury, it is fine as long as the physical body is healed and repaired."

The worst-case scenario is that he will die a gruesome death, his body torn to pieces.

"hiss--!"

Realizing this problem, Wu Xian couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

That flesh and blood demon is good in every way; it only erodes and assimilates flesh and blood, without involving any power at the soul level.

Therefore, the souls of these brothers who died in battle are well preserved.

The problem is that their physical bodies have been completely "destroyed" and are no longer usable.

“Reconstructing the physical body…” Wu Xian scratched his head, “Can you handle that?”

“I don’t have that ability,” the God of Wealth said without hesitation. “Even if I came in my true form, I wouldn’t have that ability, but here, perhaps it can be achieved through a scroll.”

Wu Xian's eyes widened slightly. "What do you mean? Draw a physical body for them?"

"That's roughly the idea, but it's obviously unrealistic to draw a perfect physical body," the God of Wealth analyzed. "However, it's still feasible to develop a simple physical body first, so we can make do with it for now."

Once my scroll-drawing skills have reached a certain level, I'll then figure out how to draw a perfect physical body.

"Drawing the physical body?"

Wu Xian had a headache and was completely clueless.

While it's theoretically feasible, practice is the key, and he currently has no ideas whatsoever.

Just then, the old man suddenly spoke up, "Would it be alright to use a physical body formed from the power of the scroll?"

"Huh?" Wu Xian and the God of Wealth were both stunned, staring blankly at the old man.

"What do you mean? There really is a scroll that can conjure a physical body?" Wu Xian asked in surprise.

Wu Mingchang did not deny it, but calmly said, "Perhaps your grandmother can try it. Her natal scroll happens to have a similar ability."

"Grandpa, don't joke around. What kind of scroll could have such power?" The God of Wealth said incredulously.

At least in his conception and understanding, it's not very realistic.

Wu Xian's surprise stemmed from something else entirely: "A natal scroll? Grandma has a natal scroll too?"

“Yes,” Wu Mingchang nodded and smiled, “Grandpa’s knowledge of ancient scroll painting techniques basically came from your grandma.”

"Holy crap!" Wu Xian thought to himself in surprise.

So, Grandpa's old flame was a traditional scroll painter?
In the future, can I write an essay titled "My Grandmother, the Ancient Scroll Painter"?

The key point is that Grandma's natal scroll seems to have some kind of ability to "condense into a physical body".

"From what you're saying, Grandma's natal scroll can help condense a physical body?" Wu Xian asked incredulously.

“It should be considered a kind of physical body,” the old man analyzed. “It’s just that the body she condensed has no soul. It has always been used as a flesh and blood puppet and a summoned object. It’s quite powerful.”

Wu Xian and the God of Wealth exchanged surprised and suspicious glances.

It sounds pretty plausible.

"Where is Grandma?" Wu Xian asked, puzzled.

After returning to Yaoyang City, I still haven't seen my grandmother.

“They should be treating the wounded in various parts of Yaoyang City,” the old man said calmly. “Besides, that girl is a member of the association and should know Cui Wenxuan. She should be at the association right now.”

"People from the association?" Wu Xian was taken aback again.

I feel that essay could be renamed, such as "My Association's Senior Grandma".

As he spoke, the old man had already sent someone to the association to find his old flame, since she was at the otherworldly outpost and couldn't be reached by phone.

"By the way, is our grandma's status in the association very high?" Wu Xian asked curiously.

"Fortunately, because of what happened back then, I have been living as a hidden figure."

A hint of sadness and guilt lingered in the old man's eyes.

Clearly, Grandma helped a lot when Grandpa rebelled against the upper class back then.

As someone involved in that "revolution" back then, even though Grandma had a noble status, she could only exist behind the scenes.

Just like Old Master Wang, who clearly holds a high position in the Tiangong Martial Arts Academy, but can only serve as the patriarch of a small local family in Yaoyang City.

But this also shows that our grandmother's status in the association is not simple.

It is precisely because of their noble status that they need to be hidden and protected.

If they were just ordinary low-level henchmen, there would be no need for such trouble.

"So you just brought Grandma back like that, and the association headquarters just agreed?" Wu Xian continued to probe.

“Of course there are some obstacles,” the old man Wu Mingchang chuckled, “but fortunately, there are not many people in the association who are of a higher generation than your grandmother. They can’t stop her even if they want to. Besides, my grandfather’s reputation back then still has some deterrent power.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Xian chuckled to himself.

Back then, my grandmother might have had her parents and elders to stop her, but now, so many years later, she herself has become the eldest elder.

As the saying goes, "If it's going to rain, it's going to rain; if a mother wants to remarry, she wants to remarry. Who can stop her?"

"Speaking of which, I'll have to send some Longevity Pills over later," the old man joked. "The reason we didn't take action this time was mainly because of Xian'er's Longevity Pills."

“No problem.” Wu Xian smiled knowingly.

After all, they are our grandmother's family, so it's worth helping them prolong their lives.

(End of this chapter)