Cultivation begins with the Druid panel

The power of the Awakening Flower and the Sweet Flag worked together within Lu Lin's body. A glimmer of spiritual light slowly emerged in the three-tenths of Lu Lin's newly opened spiritual sea. Lu Lin had his eyes closed, but he could still take in the scenery within three zhang around him, and even the wood grain on the surface of the offering table was clearly visible.

The expansion speed of the Qi Sea has also reached its peak. In just a short while, it has expanded more than twice as much as before, and it looks like it can continue to expand.

The expansion of the Qi Sea, the improvement in physical fitness after breaking through to the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, and finally the power of spiritual consciousness... the statement in the book that the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage is more than three times stronger than the third level of the Qi Refining stage is a conservative estimate.

Lu Lin observed the state of his body. After the pain gradually subsided, he slowly opened his eyes. His five senses were enhanced several times over, and his druid's natural perception ability also increased significantly. He could even subtly perceive the flow of spiritual energy in the air.

Breaking through the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage is like entering a new world.

And this time, the gains weren't limited to just these...

Lu Lin's lips curled up slightly, and with a wave of his hand, a scroll floated out from his sleeve. The scroll slowly unfurled, revealing the senior's natal treasure, a landscape painting.

This landscape painting is named Qingdai, and it is one of the best among magical artifacts. It is not far from being promoted to a spiritual artifact.

Its ability not only allows it to capture spirits into paintings, but it can also be used as a storage magic treasure. Within the painting, the owner of the painting is the master of all things, holding the power of life and death.

"It seems that the senior used this method to capture me in this painting before." Looking at the landscape painting in front of him, Lu Lin had a thought and took out some objects from the painting.

These items are what the elder spoke of as "inheritance" on his deathbed. However, compared to "Qingdai" itself, these small items are insignificant.

However, Lu Lin was only a Qi Refining Stage 4 cultivator and was unwilling to let go of these treasures.

He sat cross-legged on the futon, cleaned the floor in front of him, and placed the objects from the landscape painting on the ground. There weren't many items; there were no need to mention common spells like wind manipulation, cleansing incantations, or calming spells. Lu Lin only glanced at them before putting them away.

After tidying up the items in front of him, only a secret technique book, a cultivation manual, and a large number of pictures remained. The pictures contained restrictions that needed to be broken.

As for the spirit stones, because of the long time that had passed, the spiritual energy inside them had completely dissipated, turning them into a pile of waste. Lu Lin cleaned them out and threw them aside, no longer paying attention to them.

"A world within a painting..." Lu Lin murmured as he unfolded the book of secret techniques. It was a book of imagery-based secret techniques, which mostly used paintbrushes or pictures as a medium to bring the images imagined in the mind or in the pictures to the real world.

Within the world of the painting, one's strength is enhanced by the imagery, and the imagery itself can be used to defend against or even suppress enemies.

In other words, by mastering this secret technique, Lu Lin will be able to summon the landscape within "Azure Green".

"What's the difference between this method and temporarily changing the world?" Lu Lin couldn't help but imagine in his mind that he would summon a mountain during a fight and smash it directly on the opponent's head.

Isn't this a bit too brutal?

However, Lu Lin quickly snapped out of his reverie and instead took the book of secret techniques and opened it.

"The Art of Landscape and the Realm of Nature." That is the name of this cultivation method.

This secret technique emphasizes that when the mental state is reached, one's strength will increase. As expected of a cultivator specializing in literature, even their cultivation method is so refined and literary.

Unfortunately, this cultivation method is not suitable for Lu Lin, and he already possesses the Shennong Codex, so he cannot cultivate it. It seems he can only wait until he encounters a suitable fellow Daoist in the future and pass it on to someone else. This way, the legacy of his predecessors will not be lost.

After putting away his cultivation technique, Lu Lin turned to look at the pile of paintings in front of him. After a moment of silence, he condensed a stream of spiritual energy to break the restrictions on the paintings, and then picked one up.

As the senior himself said, he enjoys appreciating beautiful scenery. Most of these paintings are landscape paintings, which can also be used in conjunction with the "world in the painting" mentioned earlier.

"Wait... this is..." Lu Lin picked up another scroll, opened it, and saw a woman in the painting. The woman was tall and had regular features. She was a real beauty, but the only flaw was that there was a one-inch scar on her right eyebrow. The scar added a sense of sadness and brokenness to the painting.

There is also a line of text below the painting.

"In the sixth year of the Jiaxu reign, while traveling through mountains and rivers, I injured a woman's left eyebrow. I felt deeply ashamed and created this painting to express my apology."

Below the line of text are two more characters written in vermilion.

"Rejected."

The Year of Jiaxu...

Wasn't that from the previous century?

A cycle lasts twelve years, and we are currently in the tenth year of the Yi Hai cycle.

Sixteen years?

The woman in the painting was barely of marriageable age; sixteen years had passed, and she would most likely be around thirty. If nothing unexpected happened, she would probably still be alive. Lu Lin memorized the woman's face, thinking to himself:

"When I see her again in the future, I will give her this painting, which will put an end to her worries."

Lu Lin put the scroll in his hand into his Qiankun bag and continued to look at the rest. They were all landscape paintings. Lu Lin put these paintings into his Qiankun bag one by one and counted them. There were a total of sixteen scrolls of landscape paintings and one scroll of a beauty painting.

After doing all this, Lu Lin took out the "Painting World" again and began to study it.

[You have completed one reading of the secret art of the Dao of Documents, 'World Within a Painting'. Your comprehension level of World Within a Painting has increased by 1.]

[As you continue this behavior, your understanding of the world within the painting will continue to increase...]

The secret technique "Painting of Heaven and Earth" is quite difficult, comparable to the Three-Inch Heavenly Thunder fragment. The refresh rate of the panel in front of him has become much slower, but fortunately, Lu Lin has plenty of time right now.

Three hours later, I finally got the ten comprehension points, and the panel in front of me changed.

You've entered the world of paintings.

[Introduction to the World Within a Painting (1/100)]

Lu Lin exhaled a breath of stale air, breaking free from his meditative state. He wearily rubbed his temples, then looked up at the window. The rain was still falling, and the night was still faintly visible.

"It seems we can't travel today and will have to stay here for the night." Lu Lin estimated the time in his mind. Although the carriage pulled by the two blazing sun horses was fast, traveling at night was still too dangerous.

Although he had already broken through to the fourth level of the Qi Refining stage, he still couldn't guarantee absolute safety in this forest.

Thinking of this, Lu Lin stood up and walked towards the outside of the thatched hut. The sky was covered with dark clouds, and large raindrops fell to the ground, splashing up a lot of muddy water. Lu Lin found the two fiery horses and led them to the thatched hut.

At this moment, the fur on the two fiery steeds was completely soaked, and they walked very slowly, their strength greatly diminished.

It seems that rainy days really have a big impact on Lieyang horses.

Lu Lin sighed and tied the two horses to the fence next to the thatched hut: "I hope it won't rain again tomorrow."