Unity Transformation Becomes Ink Trace Stage

Unity Transformation Becomes Ink Trace Stage

Without anyone's enlightenment, Zi Bofeng understood its meaning. This Monster Raising Art was a method for enlightening "stubborn stones" and turning them into "monsters," hence its name, "raising monsters."

After sweeping through the twelve lines of the chant, Zi Bofeng had already memorized them firmly. He savored them in his heart, then looked up again—and was greatly startled.

The words were still the same words, the formula was still the same formula, yet their meaning had changed by another layer.

Each character seemed to have come alive, like living people with their own joys, angers, sorrows, and delights. Before, every character had worn a stern face; just now, they seemed to have smiled. And characters were like people—every frown and every smile conveyed a different meaning. Zi Bofeng had always been skilled in calligraphy, and for a moment, he stood there dumbfounded.

The stone wall was still the stone wall, and the chant was still the chant. Its substance had not changed, nor had its form, but its spirit had changed, and so had its meaning. In the haze, it seemed utterly different from before. It was as though the entire world had been overturned—heaven changed, earth changed, truth itself changed.

Principles that had been utterly impossible to explain or make sense of suddenly became truth at this moment.

He studied them carefully, only to be startled again. Looking at the characters was like looking at scenery. Nearby scenery could be seen clearly and in detail, while distant scenery became blurred and indistinct. That was a truth of the world. Yet for some reason, this layer of truth had been laid over the characters on the stone wall.

The stone wall towered into the clouds. Within Zi Bofeng's sea of consciousness, it held up heaven and stood upon earth. When he looked at the writing above, he could not understand it. But when his gaze fell upon the characters at the very bottom, closest to him, he understood them again.

This was the second layer of meaning in the twelve lines of the Monster Raising Art. From bottom to top, they were precisely the twelve levels of monsters.

The first three levels were obvious at a glance. One look, and their meanings revealed themselves.

The first level: Ink Trace Stage. In the unseen realm, a Brush of Wisdom enlightened a stubborn stone. With only the first stroke, even a roadside stone could gain its first spark of spirituality. The pinnacle of this level was allowing that spark of spirituality to remain within the body and never dissipate.

The second level: Enlightening the Stubborn Stone. That first spark of spirituality was merely the beginning, insufficient to open wisdom. Countless opportunities were needed to enlighten it again and again, until the stubborn stone truly opened its mind. The pinnacle of this level was possessing wisdom akin to that of humans.

The third level: Spitting Spiritual Energy. The stubborn stone had already opened its mind and gained a trace of intelligence of its own. It possessed the foundation to transform into a monster and began naturally receiving, drawing in, and exhaling spiritual energy, cycling it through its body in cleansing baptism. The pinnacle of this level was for the monster not only to strengthen itself, but also to increase the concentration of spiritual energy in its surroundings.

The next three levels were vague and indistinct. Only through Zi Bofeng's vast learning and his imagination filling in the gaps did he manage to understand their general meaning.

The fourth level: Opening Wisdom. At this point, the stubborn stone possessed intelligence close to that of a human and had truly become a monster, yet it still could neither speak nor move. The pinnacle of this level was possessing its own innate spell.

The fifth level: Body Moistening Realm. Spiritual energy and intelligence nourished the body, tempering itself, and the monster then gained the ability to transform its form, shifting between its original shape and human form. At the pinnacle of this level, a transformed monster differed little from a human in appearance.

The sixth level: Gestating Spiritual Nature. Having successfully transformed, the monster could learn spells other than its innate spell. It was equivalent to a human cultivator who had just stepped onto the path of cultivation.

Beyond this point, the meanings above became obscure and difficult to understand. Zi Bofeng knew that his "eyesight" had not reached far enough. Yet without looking, he also knew that after these twelve levels, there must be another six realms.

He lowered his head and savored them carefully, filling in the twelve levels of the Monster Raising Art within his mind.

The seventh level: Like Weaving a Web.

The eighth level: Blending the Formless.

The ninth level: Transforming Earth Veins.

The tenth level: Becoming Heavenly Light.

The eleventh level: Yin-Yang Genesis.

The twelfth level: Unity Transformation.

After pondering and comprehending them in his heart, Zi Bofeng felt that this was probably the truth. He raised his head again, wanting to look at the levels above and verify them.

Who would have thought that this glance would leave Zi Bofeng stunned once more?

Because the meaning of the twelve lines of the chant had changed again.

It was still like viewing scenery. Before, he could see what was near but not what was far. This time, however, he could see what was far but not what was near.

Just as the poem said: one cannot know Mount Lu's true face, only because one is within the mountain. Zi Bofeng had suddenly gone from outside the mountain to within it.

The nearby words became obscure and unfathomable, while those high above and far away became clear at a glance.

At the same time, the writing revealed a third layer of meaning.

The twelve levels just now were merely the twelve levels of monsters. At this moment, this was the true Monster Raising Art.

Raising monsters, raising monsters—the key lay in the word "raising." Read in the proper order, these twelve lines were the true Monster Raising Art.

The first formula: Unity Transformation. Unity Transformation becomes Ink Trace Stage. "Unity" first referred to the head, where wisdom resided; second, it referred to the beginning, the start of all things; third, it referred to qi, which was spiritual energy. Transform wisdom and spiritual energy into the beginning of all things, then pour them into a single trace of ink. The countless opportunities a monster needed required only stroke after stroke, every stroke a tremendous opportunity.

The second formula: Yin-Yang Genesis. Yin-Yang Genesis gave rise to Enlightening the Stubborn Stone. Unity Transformation became the two principles of yin and yang, and only then did this world have light and darkness, righteousness and evil, high and low, above and below, yes and no. Continuously instill a sense of right and wrong into the stubborn stone, allowing it to possess the most basic perception and judgment.

The third formula: Becoming Heavenly Light. Heavenly light served as a guide for Spitting Spiritual Energy. The monster raiser transformed his own spiritual energy into all-pervading heavenly light, helping the monster draw in and exhale spiritual energy. By this point, the monster raiser and the monster had formed a deeply rooted resonance with one another and could grow together.

The fourth formula: Transforming Earth Veins. Earth veins transformed into a key that opened wisdom. The monster raiser guided the power of the earth veins to dissolve the lock on the monster's intelligence, allowing the monster to truly possess wisdom and the ability to think independently.

The fifth formula: Blending the Formless. The formless blended and changed, moistening the body. A monster had its form, deeply rooted and difficult to dissolve. Yet through this formula, its form could be transformed away, helping it take form anew. From then on, it became human-bodied, and only then could it truly be called a monster.

The sixth formula: Like Weaving a Web. Weaving a web like spells gestated spiritual nature. In terms of comprehension, monsters were innately weaker than humans. Whether immortal spells or monster arts, all had their laws. Once the monster raiser comprehended their principles, he could weave all their mysteries into them like a web. The monster only needed to follow the vine and find the melon to understand the truths within.

He could still understand the first six formulas. Upon reaching the seventh, everything suddenly became blurry again, and Zi Bofeng lowered his head as before to fill in the gaps.

The seventh formula: Gestating Spiritual Nature.

The eighth formula: Body Moistening Realm.

The ninth formula: Opening Wisdom.

The tenth formula: Spitting Spiritual Energy.

The eleventh formula: Enlightening the Stubborn Stone.

The twelfth formula: Ink Trace Stage.

Having comprehended them after lowering his head, Zi Bofeng looked up again. In that instant, it was as if a clap of thunder had crashed violently into his mind. Everything he had just seen was engraved in his mind, stamped there firmly, while a burst of intense pain suddenly bored into him.

When Old Scholar had struck Zi Bofeng once before, he had knocked a memory into him. Just now, he had struck Zi Bofeng three times and knocked the Monster Raising Art into three different transformations. These many transformations and countless realizations had in fact all occurred during those three strikes.

Old Scholar struck three times, the stone wall changed three times, Zi Bofeng looked up three times, and lowered his head to comprehend three times. Four sets of three made the twelve lines of the Monster Raising Art.

The Porcelain Shard that had entered deep into Zi Bofeng's sea of consciousness was so miraculous that if Old Scholar had struck him four times, perhaps the Monster Raising Art would have become sixteen lines.

These twelve formulas, paired with the twelve realms, produced countless variations and countless methods of circulation. Yet all of it had been written into Zi Bofeng's memory amid three sounds of "kong, kong, kong," written with perfect clarity and carved with utter distinctness. How could Zi Bofeng endure that all at once? Naturally, his head felt as though it would split apart, ***.

Only after a long while did Zi Bofeng finally catch his breath. His brow itched, and he rushed to the academy well, leaning over it.

Within the well water was reflected a young scholar with delicate features and brows slanting toward his temples. At the center of his brow flickered a dim azure light. It was the Porcelain Shard that had fused with the souls of the two Zi Bofengs, the shard that had given Zi Bofeng the twelve lines of the Monster Raising Art. A shard that had written twelve lines, yet changed at every moment.

The faint azure glow from the Azure Porcelain Shard fell into the water, as though lifting a curtain of water, and an illusion unfolded before his eyes.

It was a land shrouded in dense fog, boundless and endless, with no edge in sight. All he could see were stretches of nothingness.

Zi Bofeng was lifted by an invisible force and flew upward. He did not know how long he flew before he discovered that the land of nothingness was slowly taking the shape of a Porcelain Shard.

A Porcelain Shard enveloped by murky gray mist-light, its appearance impossible to discern.

That murky gray mist-light was neither the vibrant azure glow upon the Porcelain Shard nor the natural mist of heaven and earth. Instead, it resembled the deathly aura of decay and rot, blanketing the entire world without a single gap, airtight and impenetrable.

Zi Bofeng felt as though something had pressed down upon his heart, leaving him stiff and unbearably uncomfortable. He desperately wanted to shout with all his might and throw a punch that would blast a huge hole through heaven and earth.

Though nothing had been spoken aloud, he understood it in his heart. The Azure Porcelain Shard had given Zi Bofeng the Monster Raising Art, which could startle gods and ghosts alike, but it had also given him a heavy responsibility that made gods and ghosts flee. This world was about to die. Only by finding a way to save it and dispersing all the deathly mist between heaven and earth could it be preserved.

For this purpose, the Porcelain Shard had forcibly created such a miraculous method as the Monster Raising Art, changing the laws of heaven and earth for its sake.

As though guided by ghosts and driven by gods, Zi Bofeng took out the seal that represented his status as Village Chief and spread open his left palm, pressing it down.

The Village Head Seal slowly sank like a stone falling into a swamp, then vanished completely into Zi Bofeng's palm.

Only a red seal mark remained on his palm, bearing the four neat characters "Village Head of Lower Yan." Yet the four characters were reversed, just like those on a true seal.

Record of Raising Monsters