Zanxing

Chapter 130 - Scenery in the Painting (3)

He turned his head to look at the beautiful woman painting hanging on the wall. The woman still held a flower and smiled gently, looking like a celestial maiden descending to the mortal realm in the dim room. He walked in front of the painting, his fingertips brushing over the paper scroll. The paper was dry and slightly yellowed, suggesting that it had aged for a long time, yet the figure in the painting seemed vivid and lifelike. Zanxing's spiritual consciousness could not have vanished for no reason, unless... it had entered the painting.

He could not enter this painting because it had been sealed with a restriction, and the person who set the restriction was more powerful than him. To break the restriction, either he had to be someone who met the conditions to enter the painting, which he clearly was not, or he would need to forcibly break through with his elemental force.

The words of Mendong echoed in his ears.

"Martial Uncle, you cannot force your powers now. The earlier battle with the demonic merman has already destabilized the elemental force in your spiritual veins. If you use your powers carelessly again, the flaws in your spiritual veins might spiral out of control..."

In fact, he had already sensed this when he was chasing the golden flower tiger. That was why he didn't directly crush that tiger with his elemental force, resulting in his injury.

He came to Li'er Country, claiming to be watching over Yang Zanxing to prevent her from cultivating with Mu Chengxiao, but the truth was that he hoped to find a substitute for the qin worm in the secret realm. Now, he had not found a substitute for the qin worm, and instead, the flaws in his spiritual veins had become increasingly difficult to repair. It was a loss without gain.

He could no longer forcibly use his powers.

But...

The young man turned his head. The woman on the couch slept peacefully, with the Panhua Staff beside her. The empty mahogany box was placed in the corner of the couch, and a young man in a long gown was sitting on the box, playing the sheng, with phoenixes flying.

In the wilderness, there was only this low, thatched cottage, which stood like a flickering spark in the darkness, silently frozen.

...

From the chaos came a cascading flow of flowers.

The flowers seemed to flow endlessly, dyeing this void in layers of red, coating it with a vibrant hue. The water ripples spreading from his side still carried the soft glow of the moonlight, which reflected the sea of flowers. Amidst this crimson glow, a green light tore through the splendor, causing the sea of flowers to dissipate in an instant. The woman's voice rang out clearly, seemingly filled with the determination to break through everything.

"Fire trees and silver flowers—"

The light in the chaos dimmed, and the world turned into a dense black. In the boundless darkness, countless stars—perhaps fireworks that had burned out from afar—appeared. Those brilliant, enchanting lights fell into people's eyes, nearly scorching them. And that staff like a cluster of fireworks about to explode, carried a trail of sparks as it approached.

The woman seemed to sigh softly.

The other green staff turned forward slightly, and thus the aggressive staff wind was swiftly dispersed, countless stars turning to ashes. The waves grew larger, almost swallowing the heavens and the earth, the warm and soft ripples seeming to tear everything apart in an instant. Zanxing's expression changed, and she desperately circulated her elemental force to resist, but still, she was struck in the chest by this "mirage of flowers and moon."

She was thrown backward, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Fairy Qinghua stood in place, her robes not even wrinkled in the slightest, her gaze towards Zanxing tinged with disappointment.

Zanxing clutched her chest, feeling as if her entire body had fallen apart in pain.

Her "Qing'e Nianhua Staff" had already reached the second level, but the "Fire Trees and Silver Flowers" couldn't hold out even for a stick of incense under Fairy Qinghua's "Mirage of Flowers and Moon." She knew this staff technique was formidable but had never understood just how powerful it truly was until she experienced it firsthand in the hands of the original owner. It turned out that the Nianhua Staff was indeed not a flashy and impractical technique.

It was clear that this technique had been wasted in her hands, and it was no mere joke.

"Want to go again?" Fairy Qinghua asked.

Zanxing waved her hand, "Wait, let me rest for a moment." She had been defeated and then fought back repeatedly, like a human-shaped punching bag, having been beaten by Fairy Qinghua she didn't even know how many times. Gu Baiying surely knew that his mother was this fierce? Even if it was just a fragment of her consciousness, her strikes were relentless.

But continuing like this was not a viable option; she had already exerted all her strength, and her cultivation was still worlds apart from Fairy Qinghua. Even if she tried a hundred more times, the outcome would not change. A person's spiritual consciousness could not leave their body for too long. She didn't know if time flowed differently inside the painting compared to outside, but if she didn't defeat Fairy Qinghua soon, she would really be trapped here forever, unable to escape.

For now, only the protagonist's halo could save her life. But unfortunately, she was not the protagonist, and even the Xiaoyuan Pearl had already lost its effectiveness.

"Fairy, this isn't fair." Zanxing panted, negotiating with her opponent, "I'm just at the early stage of the Golden Core, but you've already crossed tribulations. It's clearly bullying to have an infant compete with an adult. You might as well kill me with a single strike and end it swiftly."

"The person chosen by the Biyihua proves that you have the ability to pass the test."

Zanxing blinked her eyes, "Then what ability do I have to pass the test?"

Fairy Qinghua replied coldly, "Heavenly secrets cannot be revealed."

"......"

Zanxing only felt a headache. If she were the protagonist, she would naturally pass any perilous trials in the end. But she wasn't Mu Chengxiao; she couldn't pass, and that was that. If someone died, they were truly dead—how could she harbor any thoughts of luck?

Moreover, she had nothing on her at the moment. The Xiao Yuan Pearl was silent, and the Qiankun Bag was outside the painting. All those obscure talismans and pills were of no use, and even the cat was not by her side. The only thing she had was a phantom transformed from the Nianhua Staff, which didn't even qualify as a mid-level spiritual weapon. In this situation, trying to turn the tide was nothing short of wishful thinking.

"You've seen my technique," Zanxing said helplessly. "The same staff technique in the hands of different cultivators has a vast difference in power. I can't defeat you, let alone defeat you with the 'Qing'e Nianhua Staff.'"

"The level of the heart method doesn't depend on cultivation; what's important is your comprehension of the technique." In the chaos, Fairy Qinghua's skirt fluttered slightly. "You can only bring out ten to twelve percent of the heart method's capability now because you haven't truly comprehended it."

Zanxing sighed. It was easy to say, but this heart method was just a book—looking at it from every angle, it was filled with those characters. What more could she comprehend? It was just a staff technique; learning the moves from the manual was enough. Did she really have to do reading comprehension?

She shook her head, turned over, and stood up. When she looked back, she saw a red flower that had fallen to the ground.

This was the flower that Fairy Qinghua had plucked from the beauty painting, the same flower that had pulled her from the thatched cottage outside into the trials within the painting. This flower had been in her hand before, but during the fight with Fairy Qinghua, it must have accidentally fallen.

She bent down to pick up the flower, and Fairy Qinghua behind her suddenly changed her expression, urgency creeping into her voice for the first time: "Don't touch it!"

Zanxing touched the flower.