Merit-based card draws, quickly become a Heavenly Emperor

Instead of standing still and enduring the attack, Fang Zheng took advantage of the narrow space of the stone chamber to hide.

With his innate talent of "Mirror of Clarity," he had already seen through Qin Ruyi's spellcasting rhythm.

His steps weren't fast, but each dodge landed precisely on the edge of the ghost face, as if the angle had been calculated in advance.

Qin Ruyi sent out three ghost faces in a row, but none of them hit her.

Fang Zheng seized the opportunity, picked up his brush, and drew a circle on the ground, which took shape under Qin Ruyi's feet.

Qin Ruyi reacted extremely quickly, leaping out of the ink circle with a light tap of her toes.

This move largely missed its mark, and the ink circle only managed to gather a wisp of air.

Fang remained unfazed, and with his right hand, he drew the character "lock" in the air.

The dark chains wrapped around Qin Ruyi's waist from the side, forcing her to dodge again.

Her movements were nimble, and she dodged twice, preventing Fang Zheng from trapping her.

But his goal was not to strike her down in one blow, but to disrupt her rhythm.

After dodging several times, Qin Ruyi's breathing became noticeably rapid, and her next ghost face attack was less accurate.

At this moment, under the combined attack of Liu Qingyu and Mo Bing, the gaunt martial artist could no longer hold on.

The Soul-Burning Flame on Liu Qingyu's Ghost Claw invaded his soul, causing him unbearable pain.

His swordplay became increasingly erratic, his steps more and more disordered, and before he knew it, he had retreated to the wall.

Seizing the opportunity, Liu Qingyu floated to the top of the stone wall and pounced down.

The gaunt swordsman hastily raised his knife to parry, but his hand had already gone limp, and the ghostly claw pressed the knife back onto his shoulder.

A black-clad soldier struck him from the side, severing his left arm.

A scream rang out, and the gaunt swordsman fell to his knees, the knife flying from his hand.

Another soldier in black leaped up, his long blade slicing across his throat.

At this point, the gaunt knife-wielding man died on the spot.

"That damned corrupt official!"

Seeing his companion fall to the ground, the burly warrior suddenly changed his fighting style, no longer seeking to protect himself, but instead launching a full-scale attack on Fang Zheng.

Fang Zheng had already sensed the change in the other party's aura. Instead of taking his desperate attack head-on, he swayed and used the brief space in the stone chamber to get to his side.

The burly warrior missed his target, stumbled forward two steps, lost his footing, and exposed his shoulder and back.

"Qingyu, help me!"

Without hesitation, Fang Zheng drew upon Liu Qingyu's vast ghostly power from the void, and a brilliant Soul-Burning Fire Lotus condensed in his right palm.

Then, Fang Zheng's eyes narrowed, and he struck the burly martial artist in the back with a palm.

"what!"

A piercing scream rang out, and the burly warrior's body burst into flames of soul fire, his movements freezing in mid-air.

Under Fang Zheng's urging, the two black-clad soldiers charged forward, slashing off his head.

boom!

The burly warrior's corpse crashed heavily to the ground, a sight that threw Qin Ruyi into a state of utter confusion.

Two eighth-rank martial artists died at Fang Zheng's hands in the blink of an eye.

This child is truly terrifying!

While Qin Ruyi was still in shock and distraction, Fang Zheng picked up his brush and wrote the character "斩" (cut) in the air.

The ink light condensed into a sharp blade, heading straight for Qin Ruyi's face.

Qin Ruyi hurriedly turned her head, and the sharp blade grazed her earlobe, slicing off half of her ear.

She screamed in agony, her face paling, and bit her tongue, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Within the blood mist, Qin Ruyi's figure blurred in an instant, as if she had been swallowed up by something.

Just as Fang Zheng was about to activate the Yin Qi Shield to defend himself, the blurry figure had already turned into a wisp of blood smoke and escaped through the crack in the stone wall.

Fang Zheng took two steps, but the blood smoke had completely disappeared, like a drop of water merging into the stone wall.

"They ran away." Liu Qingyu floated back to Fang Zheng's side, her breathing somewhat unsteady.

Fortunately, thanks to the enhancements from the Ghost Gate Tour card pool, her strength has reached the Great Perfection of the Eighth Rank.

Otherwise, Fang Zheng might have had to use some of his trump cards to save his life in today's ambush.

"Go finish him off."

Fang Zheng pointed, and two black-clad soldiers stepped forward and delivered several more fatal blows to the corpse on the ground.

Just then, the system notified me.

"Alone, he vanquishes evil; the weak overcome the strong; righteousness +2."

"Purge the treacherous officials and restore peace to the people, Ash Merit +30."

Fang Zheng's Yuan energy was also mostly exhausted. He temporarily ignored the system's prompts, leaned against the stone wall to catch his breath, and once he recovered, he immediately walked to the stone table.

I wonder where those evil cultivators from the White Lotus Sect obtained their inheritance tokens, which allowed them to enter Wu Baopu's inheritance secret realm?

There is no time to lose; the most urgent task is to quickly take back the inheritance.

Fang Zheng's gaze first fell on the rolled bamboo slips, and he wanted to reach out and pick them up.

Just then, a very faint golden light suddenly appeared on the surface of the stone table.

His hand was gently pushed away, as if blocked by some force.

"There are restrictions." Fang Zheng was not surprised.

The exquisite art form cannot be taken away by anyone at will.

He looked at the layer of golden light, and with its penetrating light, he could vaguely see a painting within it.

The ink is rich and the brushstrokes are powerful; the painting depicts an ink dragon, spiraling upwards with clearly defined scales.

The dragon's head is at the very top, with its eyes closed, as if it were still asleep.

After observing carefully for a moment, Fang Zheng had a plan in mind.

The painting itself is a kind of taboo.

The ink dragon in the painting is lifelike, but its eyes are closed, indicating that it has not yet been truly awakened, or rather, has not yet been truly "brought to life".

This restriction does not test one's cultivation level or talent, but rather the depth of one's understanding of the Dao of Painting.

Only those who can see that the eyes in this painting are "missing" are qualified to be passed down.

Fang Zheng smiled, adding the finishing touch to the painting – something he was an expert at.

In the past few months, apart from handling cases, Fang Zheng has been diligently practicing his art.

With the accumulation of ink and brushstrokes, his current painting skills are not much inferior to those of the former master painter Li Yuanshan.

He didn't hesitate for long. He twirled the judge's pen between his fingers, then, as if letting his horse run free, he gently placed it on the right eye of the black dragon.

The moment the pen tip touched the golden scroll, the outline of the ink dragon seemed to be awakened by some force and began to flow slowly.

Fang Zheng didn't stop, and immediately made a second stroke, landing on the left eye position.

As the brush touched the paper, the dragon's previously closed eyes opened, and the entire ink dragon seemed to come alive.

It glanced at Fang Zheng, then leaped up from the scroll and crashed into the stone table beneath it, transforming into scattered golden light that merged into the inherited artifacts.

Faintly, Fang Zheng heard a long, aged laugh.

"A hundred years of cultivation has become a dream, and the art of painting awaits future generations."

Haha, I am not alone on this path!

The restrictions have been lifted.

Fang Zheng took a deep breath, and instead of searching for the source of the sound, he raised his hand and picked up the bamboo slip.

The bamboo slips were warm to the touch and inscribed with five large characters.

The Secret of Painting All Things

The bamboo slip states that this technique can be cultivated to the highest level of the third-grade Dharma Body Realm, and is a superior technique of the Spirit Painting Path.

Fang Zheng glanced through it and was shocked.

This technique is in line with the "Canghai Yunfan Jue" he obtained from Li Yuanshan, both of which use Yuan power to transform into spirits and summon painting spirits to fight.

Of course, Li Yuanshan's technique is only a basic introductory version, while the "Myriad Manifestations Painting Spirit Technique" is the truly complete inheritance.