Divine Ability: Vitality Manifestation Scroll

The Huai Spirit Scroll seemed to come alive.

Using a willow branch flowing with spiritual power from the Spirit Vein Willow, it continuously drew Spiritual Energy from the branch.

As for the other willow branches, they had all withered away into dust. Only this one branch remained.

By rights, having its Spiritual Energy drawn out like this should have been agonizing for the Spirit Vein Willow, yet all Li Ye could sense from it was delight, as though it were even a little impatient.

At the same time, drops of ink began to fall from the pages of the Huai Spirit Scroll.

"Drip."

"Drip."

When the ink splashed onto the ground, the ripples it sent flying formed clusters of flowers, grasses, and trees painted in ink wash. In mere moments, they filled Li Ye's courtyard.

Ink soaked through in an instant, and flowers bloomed across the entire courtyard.

More astonishing still, these ink-painted flowers, grasses, and trees swayed with the wind like living things.

They even gave off the fragrance of ink and the scent of flowers and grass, as though some mighty cultivator had flourished his brush and splashed ink across the world to paint rivers and mountains.

The beavers curiously studied the scenery that had suddenly appeared, but none of them dared move. They stayed obediently atop their nests, clearly aware that something was wrong.

The utterly terrifying spiritual pressure left even Li Ye's mind in a daze.

Golden Core!

This had to be a powerful Spirit Demon at the Golden Core level!

Time slowly passed. After roughly the time it took to drink half a cup of tea, the surface of the Huai Spirit Scroll suddenly revealed a completely black cat, without a single stray hair on its body.

It opened its pitch-black eyes and looked at Li Ye.

"Meow~"

The soft cry of the cat seemed to seep straight into his heart, instantly sending ripples across his Divine Sense. Within the tiny lake of his Divine Sense, an ink-washed locust tree bloomed into being.

It stood within Li Ye's Divine Sense, entirely under his control.

Even if Li Ye wished for it to disperse, it could vanish in an instant, as smoothly and naturally as breathing.

"What is this?"

By all rights, locust trees were considered ominous in many legends.

Things like ghost trees, for instance.

Locust trees were said to easily breed all manner of ghostly happenings. Even the Huai Spirit Scroll itself recorded some strange events.

Yet this locust tree gave Li Ye an extraordinarily tranquil feeling.

Its outstretched branches and leaves looked as though they had been painted in ink wash, a wondrous thing preserved forever within a painting.

And when Li Ye delved deeper into the ink-painted locust tree rooted within his Divine Sense, a realization flashed through his heart.

"Ink Realm Stains All, Life-Breath Transforms Spirit."

"The Life-Breath Spirit Transformation Scroll!"

His eyes widened at once.

Never mind that this locust tree had rooted itself within his Divine Sense and could stabilize it—this information alone was terrifying enough.

This was a divine ability. It used the lingering aura of life-breath spirituality to paint a scroll, preserving a trace of spirituality so that it could endure.

When needed, it could be summoned to assist its user—a special divine ability.

The tree before him, the cat, even the Huai Spirit Scroll itself, had all been left behind by this divine ability.

This divine ability was exceedingly complex, yet as understanding flashed through his heart, he effortlessly grasped every detail of it. He had even memorized it by heart as though he had practiced it hundreds upon thousands of times.

To be fair, it was an immensely powerful divine ability.

But... he had never learned how to paint.

Knowing the method of a divine ability, only to be unable to use it because he could not paint?

That would be far too miserable.

Yet just as this thought arose, the black cat lying atop the Huai Spirit Scroll in the distance let out another "meow" at him.

The ink-painted flowers and grasses around him formed into a brush and fell into his hand.

If Li Ye had understood correctly, it meant: Just paint.

Just paint?

Could he really draw anything he wanted?

Holding the brush, Li Ye truly hesitated.

What should he paint?

Up to this day, Li Ye had not seen many spirit beasts or spirit plants die. If he had to name one that had left a deep impression on him, it would only be...

Recalling the Glass Snow Lotus, he lightly swept the brush in his hand.

Ink gathered in midair and, miraculously, painted a lifelike lotus flower. It seemed to be drawing in some of the scattered spiritual power.

That was the lingering spirituality left behind after the Glass Snow Lotus withered and died in this courtyard. Now, it had been gathered by this force and remained within the ink-wash Glass Snow Lotus.

A moment later, the Glass Snow Lotus, somewhat rough in appearance yet brimming with spirit, fully took shape.

It rested quietly before Li Ye. He could sense the chill flowing from within it, as well as the fragrance unique to the Glass Snow Lotus, as though it truly existed.

The Black Cat let out several satisfied "meows."

This was a little trick its master had once left behind for painting scrolls.

So long as one truly understood—understood that trace of spirit—one only needed to sweep brush and spill ink, and the painting would draw itself.

But if one understood nothing at all, then it was absolutely impossible to use this divine ability to preserve that trace of lingering spirituality.

Rather than a "painting" technique, it was more like using Divine Sense and thought to paint. Where there was spirit, there was form; where there was no spirit, there was no form. No matter how skilled the painter, it could not compare to possessing "spirit."

"What a miraculous divine ability."

"It can actually paint using lingering vitality."

"But... don't you still have something else?"

Li Ye carefully set down the Glass Snow Lotus in his hand and looked toward the Black Cat. It gazed quietly back at him, letting out a few soft "meows."

—There are indeed still some things preserved within my book. They were sealed inside by the mighty cultivator who left behind this divine ability. If Li Ye wishes to obtain their power, he will still need to work hard.

After saying that, it gave a light leap and slipped into the Huai Spirit Scroll.

The ink-wash flowers and plants filling the courtyard also turned into countless streams of ink as the scroll opened, flowing back into it.

Then the Huai Spirit Scroll flew into his hand and landed softly.

It was as though nothing had happened.

Li Ye lowered his head to look. The once blurry cover now bore an image.

It was a massive ink-wash locust tree, with a black cat resting among its branches.

The painting could even be called somewhat rough, yet its spirit was flawless.

"Your master, that senior, must have loved you dearly."

Li Ye gently stroked the scroll. The cat within seemed to raise its head and glance at him, its paw clutching a glittering golden character before tossing it out at him—

"Whoosh!"

The Seal Character landed directly in his hand.

Accompanied by the Black Cat's somewhat teasing "meow," the Seal Character rapidly dimmed. It had actually lost all Spiritual Energy, clearly having suffered severe damage.

"..."

It couldn't have been ruined, could it?!

My fifty thousand Spirit Stones!

That meant this cat was either not at the Golden Core stage, or it was exceptionally special—so special that it could even strip away an already-imprinted mark—

Or perhaps the book itself was a collective of countless spirits, and thus could not be restrained by it in the first place.

Li Ye's mouth twitched.

Had I known this Huai Spirit Scroll was an inheritance left behind by a mighty cultivator, I wouldn't have bought it.

Faced with the possible loss of fifty thousand Spirit Stones, even Li Ye felt a little heartache.

But upon thinking it over, it was not so bad. At the very least, he had successfully unsealed the Huai Spirit Scroll. Rather than restricting it with a seal, being able to communicate with it was actually a good thing.

As for the lost Spirit Stones, they did not really matter.

If there was spending, there was earning. He only needed to work harder and farm them back.

Today, he had obtained such a powerful divine ability. This divine ability alone was worth far more than fifty thousand Spirit Stones.

After convincing himself of that, he even subtly felt that he had come out ahead.

But why was it that, whenever he looked at the Seal Character in his hand, he still could not help wanting to sigh?

Should I go ask whether it comes with a warranty...?