Cinnabar-Blue Wonder Pigments Transform the Western Sea, the Jade Maiden Turns Yang and Returns to Yin (Part One)

Spirit Painters were one branch among the hundred lineages of artifact refinement.

The path of artifact refinement encompassed all things: sabers, spears, swords, halberds; wheels, needles, staves, rulers; bells, zithers, drums, flutes; ritual robes, treasure pearls; paintings, scrolls, banners...

The various magical treasures used by cultivators were made through entirely different methods.

Sabers, spears, swords, and halberds were mostly made from spirit metals and chiefly forged with fire.

Qins and ses were stringed instruments, requiring specialized qin-carving arts.

The ritual robes worn by cultivators were woven from spirit silk and auspicious-cloud cloth before being cut and tailored. Their methods differed from ordinary metal-and-stone artifact refinement.

As for boats, flying shuttles, palaces, gates, and towers, their methods of construction were even more intricate and profound.

Apart from artifact-refining Grandmasters, who could grasp one method and understand ten thousand, knowing a hundred artifact-refining techniques, ordinary novice artifact makers would choose a single path to study.

Spirit Painters were the collective term for cultivators who created painting-type magical treasures. In terms of technique, there were schools such as cinnabar-blue painting, carving, metalcasting, flower appliqué, silk embroidery, Divine Refinement, and more.

Heng Hua stared at Ji Mingfeng's folding fan. "You're from the Cinnabar-Blue School? That figures. Only the cinnabar-blue lineage possesses such elegance."

The Cinnabar-Blue lineage of Spirit Painting had originally been founded by a master painter from the mortal world. One day, while painting beside a stream, he captured the scenery before his eyes in a single painting.

When the River Diagram was completed, the Dao intent of heaven and earth blessed it, turning it into a magical treasure.

From then on, he became the first Spirit Painter, using cinnabar-blue pigments to depict heaven and earth. Painting a treasure artifact's diagram allowed one to enter Foundation Establishment; painting a spirit artifact's diagram allowed one to enter the Golden Core Realm; painting an immortal artifact's diagram allowed one to ascend to immortality in a single step.

Because this lineage required superb painting skill, it often selected elegant and free-spirited famous scholars and painters from the mortal world as disciples. Seeing Ji Mingfeng's enduring literary air and refined, gentle bearing, Heng Hua knew that he had been a famed elegant scholar in the human world before entering the Dao.

But when he recalled Ji Mingfeng's request, Heng Hua's head began to ache.

The cultivation pigments used in superior treasure paintings and Spirit Portraits were made by blending the treasures of heaven and earth with the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Where was Heng Hua supposed to find such things? How could he possibly have them on him?

He was not a Color Alchemist who specifically supplied pigments for Spirit Painters.

After pondering for a while, Heng Hua reluctantly said, "You need pigments for painting? Could you be more specific?"

Ji Mingfeng took out an unfinished work.

It was a vast Azure Sea painting. Placed before Heng Hua, it made him feel as though he had personally arrived at the Western Sea, where the roar of the tides and the sea's distinctive scent rushed straight at him.

Splash—

A great whale slowly rose ahead of him, spouting a water pillar that pierced the heavens.

Heng Hua hurriedly shut his eyes and withdrew from the Dao intent of the Spirit Portrait.

When he looked at the painting again, the sky was a blank expanse, still awaiting color.

"The Mysterious Subtle Sect has the 'Nine-Hued Clear-Heaven Pigments.' Beyond its original colors, the sky painted with it can shimmer with many hues, conveying the vastness of the firmament."

Upon hearing this, Heng Hua silently transmitted his voice to Zhou Xiao.

At the mention of the Nine-Hued Clear-Heaven Pigments, Zhou Xiao thought for a long while before silently nodding.

"The Mysterious Subtle Sect really does seem to have that stuff. It was left behind by the Supreme Mystery Sect during the Divine Land Era. But..."

She glanced at Fu Xuanxing, who was whispering furtively with Fu Xiangfeng nearby.

"A few years ago, some unruly juniors didn't know any better and smeared it about recklessly. It has all been used up."

Heng Hua received Zhou Xiao's reply through the wind and immediately informed Ji Mingfeng.

"It's gone?"

"If Senior Zhou says so, it must be true. I imagine all the Mysterious Subtle Sect can offer is the formula."

Ji Mingfeng's face darkened.

Making Spirit Essence Pigments was comparable to artifact refinement and pill concoction, with exceedingly complicated procedures. Superior pigments in particular took years, even decades, to make.

Ji Mingfeng knew full well that even if he obtained the formula, he would not be able to make them.

"But even if you had the formula, you probably couldn't make it, could you? Forgive my shallow knowledge, but I've never seen a specialized Color Alchemist."

Ji Mingfeng sighed wistfully. "Neither have I."

Color Alchemists stood in the same relation to Spirit Painters as Metallurgy Daoists did to metal-and-stone artifact refiners, yet their circumstances were worlds apart.

Metal artifacts were, after all, a major branch of artifact refinement. So long as one studied artifact making, one would inevitably encounter the creation of metal magical artifacts. From great swords to tiny gold needles, no matter what one made, metal would be involved.

But Spirit Painters were already a side path within artifact making. They were rarer than makers of gold-and-jade artifacts, silk-and-bamboo instruments, or cloud-silk ritual robes.

Not to mention Color Alchemists, who existed specifically as support for Spirit Painters.

Among ten artifact refiners, one would likely find one or two skilled in metallurgy. But among ten Metallurgy Daoists, one might not find even a single Color Alchemist.

The cultivation of Color Alchemists was even stranger than that of Spirit Painters. They believed that all things in heaven and earth were transformed from primordial qi, and that every kind of primordial qi possessed its own color. Color Alchemists entered the Dao through color, sealing true essence and spiritual power into pigments. When battle came, they fought with pigments corresponding to the relevant attributes.

For example, azure, red, yellow, white, and black corresponded to the foundation of the Five Elements. Scatter red pigment, and one could summon flames. Black pigment could summon mystic water.

Ji Mingfeng had cultivated for nearly a thousand years, yet he had never encountered a proper Color Alchemist in his life.

Left with no choice, he could only learn Color Refinement techniques himself.

Heng Hua examined the Western Sea Chart and mused, "I have read a couple of books on Color Refinement immortal arts."

"Myriad Colors of the Five Elements Manual and Spirit Colors Immortalization Formula?"

"Yes. You've read them too?"

Ji Mingfeng said gloomily, "Five hundred years ago, I spent much effort printing three thousand copies myself and sent those two sets of books to all the major waters. My purpose was..."

Heng Hua looked at Ji Mingfeng sympathetically. He understood. It had been to cultivate Color Alchemists. But unfortunately, this was an industry your own profession had crushed to death through competition. You could not blame anyone else.

When Heng Hua had first heard of the strange cultivation path of Color Alchemists, who entered the Dao through color, he had specially researched it.

After consulting ancient texts, he eventually reached a conclusion—Color Alchemists had been driven to extinction by Spirit Painters.

Both were types of cultivators who supplied materials.

Metallurgy Daoists helped artifact makers purify spirit ores, taking a share in return. They could also sell composite Gold Essences they developed themselves to artifact makers, exchanging them for cultivation resources such as pearls, jade, and spirit pills.

A single Metallurgy Daoist dealt with dozens or even hundreds of artifact makers.

But Color Alchemists, in contrast, would have been delighted to form connections with hundreds of Spirit Painters. Yet even if all the Spirit Painters of the Divine Land Era were gathered together, there might not have been a hundred of them.

Furthermore, among those Spirit Painters, painters of the Metalcasting Lineage cast Gold Essence into iron plaques and carved images upon their surfaces. Painters of the Brocade Embroidery Lineage embroidered pictures onto cloud brocade and golden silk with threads. The material suppliers these two kinds of painters required were Metallurgy Daoists and cloud-silk weavers.

The only Spirit Painters who truly required Color Alchemists to blend pigments were those of the cinnabar-blue pigment-painting lineage.

Even during the Divine Land Era, Spirit Painters of that kind could be counted one by one. With no market, the profession of Color Alchemist naturally could not survive. At most, a Color Alchemist could sustain ties with three to five people.

Yet Cinnabar-Blue Spirit Painters were all elegant by nature, and in their spare time, they made pigments themselves. Their techniques were inferior to those of proper Color Alchemists, but low-grade materials did not require a Color Alchemist's supply.

Without low-grade materials to practice on, how could Color Alchemists train successors? And the successors they trained might not even be as skilled as Cinnabar-Blue Spirit Painters.

Without Spirit Painters to support them, the trade of Color Alchemists gradually declined. After the final Color Refinement master passed away in meditation, the complete method of achieving immortality through Color Refinement was lost.

Ji Mingfeng had rarely encountered someone who understood the field, and he could not resist pulling Heng Hua aside to air his grievances.

"You have no idea. Since I began cultivating, I've met only eight fellow Spirit Painters. Two of them played with metal carving, one did embroidery, and two belonged to the Divine Refinement School. Of the remaining three, though they were all from our Cinnabar-Blue lineage, none had seen a Color Alchemist either."

"I searched through countless ancient texts and restored two Color Refinement immortal arts. But after spreading them for five hundred years, not one person has cultivated them."

Heng Hua maintained a polite smile. Of course. Entering the Dao as a Color Alchemist was hard, and attaining the Dao was even harder. Following azure, red, yellow, white, and black, one had to make Spirit Essence Pigments of the Five Elements' colors and form them into pills. The labor involved was more troublesome even than that of Metallurgy Daoists.

As he nodded to show that he was listening, he continued studying the Western Sea Chart.

Suddenly, Heng Hua pointed at several faint marks in the sky.

"What you painted was the Western Sea at night? There was originally a Lunar Soul in the sky?"

Ji Mingfeng's expression shifted. "You can tell?"

The draft of the Western Sea Chart had originally been based on the colors of the Western Sea that he saw one night when he visited it. But Ji Mingfeng could not gather the pigments needed to outline a bright moon. Eager to complete the Western Sea Chart, he had slightly altered the draft, changing it into a scene of clear sky and blue heavens.

"I have some knowledge of Spirit Painting Art."

Then Heng Hua silently added, It's just that I belong to the carving and Divine Refinement schools.

But Ji Mingfeng's eyes lit up upon hearing this.

"Of course. Your Dharma Performer lineage excels most at reading and has incredibly broad learning. You must have studied our Spirit Painting techniques. What do you think? Help me come up with something. Calculate how I should cultivate next, and help me deduce my cultivation method."

The cultivation of Spirit Painters lay within their paintings.

By drawing a scene of heaven and earth into a scroll, they could activate the corresponding power. The more treasure paintings and Spirit Portraits they created, the stronger their power became.

If the Western Sea Chart before them could be completed, Ji Mingfeng's cultivation would advance another step. When fighting others, he could manifest a Western Sea domain.

"Help me find substitute materials, and I'll let you leave. All grudges between us will be wiped clean from now on.

"Help me complete the Western Sea Chart and break through my bottleneck. From then on, little brother, you will be my friend. I dare not boast about the Thirteen Waters, but in Flamewater, Yuanming, Central Heaven, and Yellow Dragon, I will ensure your safety.

"If you can help me achieve immortality through painting and enter the Tribulation Immortal Realm, I can imitate Li Nanxing and call you Teacher, worthy younger brother.

"If you can help me soar to the heavens in a single step and ascend beyond the nine skies, then you will be my reborn parents."

Heng Hua rolled his eyes. "Daoist friend, help me form a core through the path of Dharma Performance, and I will honor you as my elder brother.

"Help me use Dharma Performance to become a Tribulation Immortal, and I will honor you as my master.

"Help me perfect my own Dao work and complete my cultivation method, and you will be my reborn parents."

The two looked at each other, then suddenly laughed, feeling a sense of mutual appreciation.

Indeed, the Great Dao was rugged. No matter the profession or lineage, reaching the very summit was no easy feat.

Spirit Painters needed to paint Spirit Portraits and immortal paintings in their cultivation, and their requirements for pigments were exceedingly high. Dharma Performers had it no easier.

Because they read widely, their energies were scattered. Thus, the further Dharma Performers advanced in cultivation, the heavier their Perception Miasma became, and the less energy they possessed.

Fu Xiangfeng and Fu Xuanxing stood in the cool breeze, watching the two men chatting and laughing aboard the small boat.

"Brother Fu, does Sixth Brother Fu get along with him that well? Didn't they say this was the third group sent to stop us? Looks like we can send them off peacefully too?"

"Perhaps." Seeing the two speak so warmly, Fu Xiangfeng was inwardly uneasy. Just what is Little Six talking to him about? Can we leave or not? If we don't go soon, the fourth group will catch up.

"Right, I've thought of a method."

After chatting for a while, Heng Hua suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Why not try composite paintings?"

"Composite? Presenting a single painting as a set of combined scrolls?"

"Exactly." Heng Hua pointed at the Western Sea Chart. "Your painting skills are exquisite, and you have gathered the entire mood of the Western Sea into one image. Thus, you require the finest pigments to contain and record that intent. But if you settle for the next best thing and use three paintings, five paintings, or even more to record the Western Sea's scenery, then use the Talisman Fusion Technique to merge the scrolls in the end, you can complete the Western Sea Chart even with somewhat inferior pigments."

Composite composition?

At Heng Hua's suggestion, Ji Mingfeng's heart began pounding.

When he had been mortal, he had made many composite paintings. Spring, summer, autumn, winter; plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum; a Hundred Beauties Painting, a Hundred Blessings Painting, and so on.

But after entering the Dao through painting, he had preferred to gather ten thousand Daos into a single image.

This resembled the Dharma Performers' philosophy of reading ten thousand Daos and blending them into one.

Gathering everything into one had been the tradition of Cinnabar-Blue Spirit Painters for many years.

"Indeed, the circumstances are different now. My master had high-grade pigments capable of containing Dao intent. In our generation, we naturally must seek change."

Ji Mingfeng's aura shifted.

Heng Hua watched as the Western Sea Chart before him split into seven, becoming seven smaller seascape paintings. Their skies were likewise blank, while patches of empty space also appeared in other parts of the paintings.

With a sweep of Ji Mingfeng's sleeve, a multicolored jade lotus the size of a washbasin appeared. Every petal contained a different kind of Spirit Essence Pigment.

No brush was needed. Under Ji Mingfeng's magical power, the pigments flew automatically into the seascape paintings, spreading streaks of color.

The Western Sea beneath a blazing sun, the tranquil Western Sea beneath the night, the Western Sea where enormous waves reached the sky, the Western Sea where wind and waves lay still...

Each of the seven sea paintings possessed a different mood. Combined together, they formed the complete sight of the Western Sea.

When the seven seascape paintings were finished, the boundless mood of the Azure Sea seeped out from every image.

At that moment, Ji Mingfeng looked toward Heng Hua.

Heng Hua recited the incantation for the Talisman Fusion Technique.

Ji Mingfeng cast the spell according to the incantation, merging the seven paintings into one.

Rumble—

A pillar of air erupted from the water's surface, and the image of the Western Sea slowly unfolded over the waters.

"My Dao is complete."

Ji Mingfeng was wild with joy as he silently comprehended the Dao intent of the Western Sea.

He would still need three days to refine this set of scrolls through sacrifice.

At that moment, he sensed something and saw a group of people flying toward them in the distance.

With another sweep of his sleeve, he directly lifted the Colorful-Luan Spirit Ship onto the crest of a wave.

"Worthy younger brother, hurry and be on your way. Your enemies are coming."

His magical power sent Heng Hua onto the spirit ship, then sent Zhou Xiao, Fu Xuanxing, Fu Xiangfeng, Fu Heyi, Xiaoyu, and Hengshou aboard. With a forceful push, the spirit ship sailed northward.

"Wait, my Golden Hoop—"

Seeing this, Xu Wenyu disregarded Cheng Yuliang and the others, hurrying after them.

Ji Mingfeng pulled him to his side. "Don't be impatient. Catch up with them tomorrow and help me deliver an object that wards off tribulations to the worthy Fu Family brother."

Xu Wenyu saw the figures in the distance.

Besides dense devilish qi, there were several tower ships flying the Wei Family's banners.

Glancing at everyone on the island, Ji Mingfeng smiled. "These people have come with ill intent. I have some karma with you all, after all. I'll help you drive them back, preserve Earthflame Island, and incidentally help worthy younger brother hold off this group."

Another update tonight.