The Amnesiac Master Artist

Chen Jing and her subordinates eventually left, their minds reeling with shock and even more unanswered questions. The data collected from the clay statue named "Xirang" had completely overturned their understanding of "energy" and "matter." Like a stone thrown into a calm lake, it had stirred wave after wave in certain special government departments and once again drawn greater attention to the "Shelter" project. Surveillance became tighter, and the analysis more thorough. But wary of disturbing what they did not understand, the forces behind Chen Jing chose to keep watching and recording until they had figured out where the limits lay.

Back in the rented apartment, life seemed to have returned to a brief spell of calm. But Lin Fan knew that beneath that calm, undercurrents were surging.

Goddess Nüwa paid no mind to the officials' tests. To her, they were simply the natural attempts of this world's living beings to understand the unknown. She continued to immerse herself in her "creation" each day. Her sketchbook gradually filled with plants, trees, and nature spirits imbued with Dao rhythm, as well as mountains and rivers. A few more small clay animal figurines had appeared on the windowsill, keeping the Xirang company. Each gave off a faint but distinct aura of life, making the humble room seem like a little paradise brimming with spiritual energy.

Lin Fan, meanwhile, trained even harder in the Supreme Clarity Heart-Cleansing Mantra. With the calming Dao rhythm radiating from the Xirang statue to aid him, he found it much easier to quiet his mind than before. Though he still struggled to maintain the state for long and was plagued by stray thoughts, he could now occasionally catch a glimpse of that moment when his "mind became clear." In that state, his thoughts felt sharper, his memory seemed better, and even his control over his body had grown a little more precise.

That day, Lin Fan tried to meditate as usual after getting up in the morning. He sat cross-legged, cleared his mind, and visualized the profound runes of the heart-cleansing mantra. Perhaps his perseverance over the past few days was paying off, or perhaps his state of mind had improved. This time, he entered that brief state of clarity with relative ease.

At the instant his mind grew still and he forgot the distinction between himself and the world, a faint but incredibly pure warmth seemed to arise from nothing. It silently flowed in through the Baihui Acupoint at the crown of his head, then slowly coursed through his limbs and body along some mysterious path!

Wherever the warmth passed, Lin Fan felt utterly at ease, as if rain were nourishing parched earth. Every cell in his body seemed to rejoice! The sensation was indescribable. It wasn't a physical increase in strength, but a joy that came from his very life essence being nourished and his spirit elevated!

The process was extremely brief. After only a few breaths, the warm current vanished without a trace. Lin Fan, too, fell out of that mysterious state, but he clearly remembered what he had just felt!

"Th-this... is this spiritual energy? No, Senior Tong Tian said this world is devoid of spiritual energy..." Lin Fan's eyes flew open, his face filled with delight and confusion. He instinctively looked toward Tong Tian.

Tong Tian had finished meditating at some point and was quietly watching him. A trace of surprise seemed to flicker in his eyes, so fleeting it was almost imperceptible.

"Se-Senior!" Lin Fan stammered, too excited to speak properly. "I think I just felt a warm current... What was it?"

"That was not spiritual energy," Tong Tian interrupted calmly. "It was Innate Qi, also known as Primal Ancestral Qi. It is the breath of the origin of all things, present throughout the void and all creation. It is everywhere, yet hard to find. Only when the mind and spirit are utterly pure and clear, and resonate with a certain Dao rhythm, is there an exceedingly small chance of drawing out a trace to nourish the soul and body. Your state of mind happened to align just now, allowing you to receive this fortuitous opportunity."

Innate Qi! The origin of all things!

Lin Fan was enthralled. He had only received a trace, but the sensation had been wonderful! And Tong Tian had said it wasn't spiritual energy, but something even more fundamental: Qi! That meant he could still cultivate even in this world, which was devoid of spiritual energy!

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior!" Lin Fan suppressed his excitement and bowed respectfully. He understood that without Tong Tian teaching him the Supreme Clarity Heart-Cleansing Mantra, he would never have touched such a profound realm.

"It was a fortunate coincidence, but also the result of your earnest effort and sincere heart," Tong Tian said, his tone still even. It was as close to an acknowledgment of Lin Fan's hard work as he ever gave. "Drawing out Innate Qi is a great opportunity in cultivation, but it cannot be sought by force. In your future practice, make this state of mind your goal, but do not chase it. Otherwise, you will only give rise to inner demons."

"Yes, I'll remember!" Lin Fan replied solemnly. He knew that state was rare and could not be forced, but at least it proved the path was open! That gave him tremendous confidence.

After finishing his cultivation, Lin Fan felt refreshed and began preparing breakfast. He now put more care into cooking, considering not only the flavor but also the colors and nutritional balance. Unconsciously, he seemed to be following a way that balanced the vitality of life, and Goddess Nüwa gave a slight nod of approval.

After breakfast, Lin Fan went out as usual to buy some fresh ingredients. When he returned with a shopping bag and reached the entrance to the Residential Complex, he noticed a small crowd gathered nearby, pointing and whispering at something by the landscaped verge.

Lin Fan wasn't one to seek out a spectacle, but when his gaze passed over the middle of the crowd, he couldn't help stopping.

An old man sat on a little stool. He wore an old-fashioned Mao suit, faded from washing and patched in several places. His hair was gray, and his face gaunt and refined. An old, somewhat threadbare felt cloth was spread out in front of him, with a few objects placed on it. The old man looked bewildered, his eyes cloudy and his bearing marked by a sense of age and hardship utterly at odds with his surroundings. He was mumbling something to the onlookers.

What made Lin Fan stop wasn't the old man's clothes or his condition, but the few things on the felt cloth: a chipped ceramic bowl, a dark wooden tablet covered in cracks, and half of a rusted metal fragment that looked as if it had once been part of some tool.

The objects looked worn-out, as if they had been picked out of a garbage heap. But for some reason, when Lin Fan's gaze fell on them, the trace of soul that Innate Qi had just nourished gave a faint tremor inside him! The cracked wooden tablet in particular gave him an exceedingly faint, yet strangely ancient, sense of something that could "contain."

"...I don't remember... I've forgotten everything..." The old man's cloudy eyes swept over the people gathered around him, and his voice rasped. "I only remember... I have to wait... wait for someone destined... trade these for... travel money..."

Someone nearby scoffed. "Old man, who'd want your pile of junk? Travel money? Keep dreaming!"

"Exactly. Even a dog wouldn't eat out of that bowl!"

"Move along! You're blocking the way!"

The old man seemed not to hear their mockery. He simply repeated in a bewildered voice, "Wait for someone destined... trade them for travel money..."

Lin Fan's heart stirred. Someone destined? Travel money? There was something unusual about the old man. The faint spiritual awareness within Lin Fan, along with the discernment he had developed from spending time with two Saints, told him these "junk" items probably weren't so simple.

After hesitating, he stepped forward and crouched down, asking as gently as he could, "Sir, how much do you want for these things?"

The old man raised his head and looked at Lin Fan with cloudy eyes. His gaze was empty, as if it had no focus. He held out a withered finger and pointed to the cracked wooden tablet, then to the broken ceramic bowl and metal fragment. He mumbled, "This one... a full bowl of food... this one... warm clothes... this one... somewhere... to stay..."

His demands were strange but specific. He wasn't asking for money, only the bare necessities of life.

The onlookers burst into even louder laughter.

"A bowl of food for a rotten piece of wood? In your dreams!"

"Is this old man crazy or what?"

Lin Fan didn't laugh. He carefully sensed the faint fluctuation from the wooden tablet, and that ancient feeling of something that could "contain" grew clearer. He pondered for a moment, then made up his mind.

"Sir, I'll do it," Lin Fan said earnestly, looking at the old man. "I'll take you to get a meal now, then buy you some clothes, and... find you somewhere to stay."

He couldn't bring himself to ignore the old man. Part of it was the stir of spiritual awareness; the rest came from an inexplicable pang of compassion. The old man reminded him of Tong Tian when he had first been left wandering the streets. Their circumstances were different, but there was a similar sense of being estranged from the world.

The old man's cloudy eyes seemed to brighten for a moment, but soon turned vacant again. He only murmured, "Good... good... someone destined..."

Ignoring the onlookers' stares as if he were a fool, Lin Fan helped the old man to his feet and carefully wrapped the "junk" in the old felt cloth. Then, with the shopping bag in one hand and the old man supported by the other, he headed to a small noodle shop beside the Residential Complex.

Lin Fan ordered the old man a steaming bowl of beef noodles, along with a few buns and a small plate of side dishes. The old man's eyes lit up at the sight of the food. He didn't even wait for it to cool, wolfing it down so quickly that his manner of eating was oddly reminiscent of Tong Tian devouring instant noodles back in the day.

Lin Fan watched from the side, his mind full of questions. The old man looked destitute, but there was something in the way he ate—a certain bearing he couldn't quite describe. He didn't seem like someone who had suffered hunger and cold for a long time.

Once the old man had eaten his fill, Lin Fan took him to a nearby clothing shop and bought him a well-fitting, warm padded coat. In his new clothes, the old man still had gray hair and a weathered face, but he looked far less destitute. Instead, a sense of timeworn depth showed through.

The last problem was somewhere for him to stay. Lin Fan's rented room was only ten square meters, and it was already cramped with two Saints living there. He really couldn't fit anyone else.

After thinking it over, he took the old man to an inexpensive hotel near the Residential Complex. He used his own ID to book a single room and paid for three nights in advance.

"Sir, stay here for now." Lin Fan settled the old man into the room and placed the bundle wrapped in the old felt cloth by his bedside. "These are your belongings. Keep them safe."

The old man sat on the bed, touched the clean bedding, and looked at Lin Fan. A barely perceptible flicker seemed to stir in his cloudy eyes. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, all that came out was a nearly inaudible sigh. He repeated, "Someone destined... thank you..."

Looking at the old man, Lin Fan sighed inwardly and urged him, "Get some rest. I'll come see you tomorrow." Then he left the hotel.

Back at the rented apartment, Lin Fan put away the groceries he had bought. After hesitating, he told Tong Tian and Goddess Nüwa about the strange old man he had met and how he had traded a meal, a set of clothes, and three nights' lodging for those few pieces of "junk."

"...I don't know why, but I just felt that the old man and those things were unusual," Lin Fan said, scratching his head.

Goddess Nüwa's eyes lit with interest. "A kind heart can sense a destined opportunity. Bring out what you brought back, and let us take a look."

Lin Fan quickly opened the bundle wrapped in the old felt cloth, revealing the broken ceramic bowl, the cracked wooden tablet, and half of the metal fragment.

As soon as all three objects were exposed to the air, Tong Tian abruptly opened his eyes. He had been meditating with his eyes closed, but now his gaze was like lightning as it locked onto the cracked wooden tablet! Goddess Nüwa, too, turned her gaze to the chipped ceramic bowl, her eyes showing a trace of surprise.

"This wooden tablet..." Tong Tian reached out and drew it lightly through the air into his hand. His fingertips passed over the seemingly haphazard cracks, and his gaze sharpened. "It contains a faint trace of spatial Dao patterns! Though it is badly damaged and nearly obliterated, its very nature... is that of a fragment of a storage artifact?!"

A storage artifact?! Lin Fan's eyes widened. The storage rings and bags that appeared so often in novels really existed? And this one had taken the form of a battered wooden tablet?

Goddess Nüwa also picked up the broken ceramic bowl and examined it closely. "This bowl... is no ordinary object either. Though it has lost all its spiritual essence, its material... retains traces of Dao rhythm associated with 'cleansing dust' and 'calming the mind.' It seems to be the remains of some kind of 'purifying vase' or 'medicinal bowl.' Its method of craftsmanship... is quite ancient."

She then looked at the half of the metal fragment and furrowed her brow slightly. "This object... conceals its murderous aura, yet its baleful energy is heavy. It should be a fragment of some weapon of slaughter, and... it has drunk the blood of countless victims."

Lin Fan was dumbfounded. In the eyes of the two Saints, the broken bowl, rotten wood, and rusted metal fragment all had astonishing origins? A storage artifact, a purifying vase or medicinal bowl, a vicious weapon of slaughter?! Who exactly was that amnesiac old man who seemed so confused? How had he come to possess these things? And why had he traded them for the bare necessities of life?

Tong Tian set down the tablet and looked at Lin Fan with a hint of scrutiny. "When you traded for this, did the old man behave strangely?"

Lin Fan thought it over carefully, then described the old man's condition and words in detail, including his strange demands for "a full bowl of food, warm clothes, and somewhere to stay."

"Wait for someone destined... trade them for travel money..." Goddess Nüwa repeated softly, a glimmer of understanding in her eyes. "It seems the old man has not forgotten everything. At the very least, he remembers his mission—or perhaps his obsession. He knows his possessions are extraordinary, but for some reason he ended up here, with nothing to his name. He could only use this approach to find someone who could recognize their worth and offer him basic aid—a 'person destined'—in the hope that he might... perhaps regain his strength or complete something he left unfinished?"

Tong Tian's gaze turned to the few damaged artifacts again, and he said coldly, "None of these three objects is ordinary. Even broken, their materials and remaining Dao rhythms could not exist in this world. That old man is no ordinary mortal. His origins are likely connected to the Daoist we encountered a few days ago, Junior Sister."

Another survivor from the Primordial Era? Or someone stranded from another world? Lin Fan's scalp prickled. What was happening to this world? Why did it feel as if all sorts of immortals and demons had started pouring into this ordinary modern city? Was his "shelter" really going to become a rescue station for the stranded from the myriad heavens and worlds?

"Then... what should we do?" Lin Fan asked. The old man was still staying at the hotel.

"Wait and see," Tong Tian said calmly. "His condition is strange, and his purpose unclear. For now, keep things as they are. Since he has recognized you as the 'person destined,' he will come looking for you again. Then we may be able to learn his true origins."

Goddess Nüwa nodded as well. "My senior brother is right. Lin Fan, go see him tomorrow as promised, and pay attention to any changes in his words or behavior. Remember, don't make promises lightly, and don't reveal that my senior brother and I are here."

"I understand." Lin Fan replied solemnly. He knew this was another troublesome situation full of unknowns, but it might also be an opportunity. The damaged artifacts might be of no use to him, but perhaps they could give the two Saints clues as they studied the rules of this world and tried to regain their strength.

He carefully put the three damaged artifacts away. His upcoming meeting with the old man filled him with both wariness and anticipation.

However, neither Lin Fan nor Tong Tian and Goddess Nüwa had anticipated that the old man's arrival would have consequences far beyond this.

That very afternoon, the same day Lin Fan had "traded" a meal for three artifacts that seemed to come from the Primordial Era, a middle-aged man in fine clothes and gold-rimmed glasses walked into the VIP room of the city's most prestigious art auction house, Jiade Art Gallery, surrounded by several assistants and bodyguards. He had an air of refined elegance.

He was Zhou Wenyuan, one of the country's top collectors and an esteemed art critic with an exceptionally discerning eye. He had come to preview the lots for a major upcoming auction.

Zhou Wenyuan enthusiastically admired the valuable paintings and antiques by renowned artists, occasionally exchanging a few words with the auction house manager beside him and offering his opinions.

But when he reached a display case in a relatively secluded corner, he suddenly stopped. Inside was an ink painting of several seemingly ordinary orchids. The brushwork wasn't especially refined, and the composition seemed rather simple. Surrounded by brightly colored oil paintings and meticulously detailed works in heavy colors, it looked completely out of place.

Yet Zhou Wenyuan's gaze was instantly fixed on it!

He leaned toward the display case, almost pressing his face to the glass as he studied the painting. Gradually, his breathing grew rapid, and an expression of utter shock and fascination appeared on his face!

"This... how is this possible..." Zhou Wenyuan murmured, his voice trembling slightly. "So simple in form, yet so profound in meaning... these orchids seem alive! The ink... the flow of the water... It all looks casual, yet contains the principles of Heaven and Earth! This... this isn't a 'painting.' It's a trace of the 'Dao'!"

He abruptly turned to the auction house manager and asked urgently, "This painting! Who made it? Is it a new work by some reclusive master?!"

The manager was startled by Zhou Wenyuan's excitement. He hurriedly flipped through his documents and said apologetically, "Mr. Zhou, this painting... has an unusual history. It was consigned by an anonymous seller who left no information about the artist. Our expert team has examined it as well. They think its brushwork is simple and ancient, and its artistic conception profound. It might be the work of some unknown ancient painter, or perhaps... a high-quality forgery? But we can't determine its age or artist."

"Anonymous? Undetermined?" Zhou Wenyuan furrowed his brows. His gaze returned to the Orchid Grass Painting, glowing with fervor. "No! There's no way this was painted by an ancient artist! Ancient painters varied in skill, but this kind of 'vitality' and 'Dao rhythm' contained in the strokes cannot be faked! This is... this is something that goes beyond the level of 'technique'!"

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, then said to the manager, "I'm determined to get this painting! Whoever the artist is, it's priceless! Also, mobilize every resource at once and find out where it came from! I want to know who could have painted a work like this!"

A storm raged within Zhou Wenyuan. He had spent his entire life immersed in art and had seen countless masterpieces, but never had a painting, like this simple work of orchids, touched his soul so directly and made him feel something close to a baptism of the Dao! Its creator was undoubtedly a genius the world had never seen! Perhaps... not even a mortal!

He had a powerful premonition that finding the painting's creator might reveal a secret that would astonish the world!

What he didn't know was that this Orchid Grass Painting, which he considered a work of heaven-defying genius, was simply one of Goddess Nüwa's practice sketches. She had casually drawn it using an ordinary sketchbook Lin Fan had bought and regular ink. A few days earlier, while tidying up the room, Lin Fan had thought that Goddess Nüwa had too many sketches. He had thrown away some that looked "simple," and a few sheets had somehow made their way out, only to be picked up by someone who recognized their worth and sent to the auction house...

An invisible vortex began to form around Goddess Nüwa's seemingly casual "artistic creations." What kind of turmoil would the ancient artifacts brought by the amnesiac old man and the strokes of creation revealed by Goddess Nüwa soon stir up in this modern city?

Lin Fan's "awakening" seemed about to sweep him into an even deeper, wider unknown world.