I became an immortal in the mountains

Chapter 931 Exploring the Mysteries Within the Painting, Proving the Path of Spirituality

Gu Yuanqing hadn't paid any attention to this painting of immortals for a long time.

With his entry into the Dao Palace, the magic array, which had developed flaws due to years of neglect, was now perfected, and the person in the sword painting was almost completely imprisoned.

As he broke through to the Void Immortal realm, his control over the Qingping Dao Palace reached a new level, making it difficult for even his divine sense to probe it.

There is a chance to become an immortal in the painting. Back then, there was no path to immortality, and he had thought about taking advantage of it. But now, even if the path to immortality is open to him, this chance to become an immortal is insignificant to Gu Yuanqing.

Moreover, in the years before, he was in a period of rapid improvement in strength. Beiquan Cave Heaven had become a world, and he was immersed in cultivation every day, or dealing with the affairs of the Ancient Divine Sect, the Ancient Realm and the Demon God Mountain. He had no interest in paying attention to anything else.

Therefore, he even absorbed all his clones back into his main body, unifying his soul and spirit, which was more beneficial to his cultivation. The one who usually presided over Qingping Dao Palace was just a wisp of divine thought.

Just these past few days, while receiving the Spirit Venerable and others in the grotto, I remembered the matter of this painting of immortals and decided to come in and see the immortal destiny depicted in the painting.

Re-entering the world of the painting, we are still outside that great mountain.

He put his hands behind his back and looked up at the void. The aura of the seven magical treasures located in the Big Dipper formation immediately revived, revealing the phantom images of the Qingping Palace Masters of past generations.

It must be said that this magic array is quite mysterious. The earliest of these magical artifacts are over 200,000 years old, yet they have survived to this day thanks to the aura in the painting and the magic array, and their spirituality has not been extinguished.

In particular, the Qingping Dao Palace, having lost its dominant position for tens of thousands of years, was still able to trap the people in the painting within it, making this formation the most powerful.

However, once these magical artifacts sensed that it was Gu Yuanqing who had entered the painting, they all fell silent again.

Gu Yuanqing strode into the mountain and reached the bluestone halfway up the mountain in just a few steps.

The figure in the painting lay across the bluestone, as if frozen in time, the great formation compressing his consciousness within his body.

Gu Yuanqing formed a hand seal, drawing the array and loosening it slightly.

The man in the painting regained his spirit and immediately noticed Gu Yuanqing standing to the side.

He stood up calmly, stretched, and then chuckled, "You've finally come looking for me."

Gu Yuanqing said, "What, do you think I'm too late?"

The person in the painting smiled and said with his hands behind his back, "It doesn't matter if it's a little earlier or a little later, as long as you've thought it through."

Gu Yuanqing chuckled, naturally understanding why the person in the painting would say that.

The person in the painting frowned slightly: "What are you laughing at?"

Gu Yuanqing shook his head and said calmly, "You've misunderstood. I'm not here for your so-called immortal destiny."

The person in the painting has a slightly serious expression.

Gu Yuanqing continued, "I didn't have this idea back then. And I certainly won't now. Back then, Senior Tianjian achieved the status of a Void Immortal by using the power within the painting as a foundation, leaving behind hidden dangers, and ultimately losing his life at your hands. How could I repeat the same mistake? If you want to use me to escape the Immortal Painting, then you've made a mistake!"

The figure in the painting stared at him, remained silent for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "Young man, don't speak too confidently. You've been stuck at the threshold of becoming a Void Immortal for many years, unable to take that step. You must have long understood the incompleteness of this world. If the Heavenly Sword Elder hadn't received his immortal destiny from me back then, do you think he could have become a Void Immortal?"
In this world, the path to immortality has long been severed! No one can help you except me.

"Is that so?" Gu Yuanqing stood with his hands behind his back, his aura slightly radiating outwards.

"You...you have already..." The person in the painting's expression changed. As a celestial spirit in the painting, he could naturally tell that Gu Yuanqing had achieved the status of a virtuous immortal, and judging from his aura, he had even gone very far on the path to becoming a virtuous immortal.

Gu Yuanqing said calmly, "Just a mere illusory immortal, why be so surprised?"

"Impossible, this world is flawed, how could you possibly..." The person in the painting's pupils shrank slightly, somewhat incredulous.

He was trapped inside the painting, his senses of the outside world cut off by the great formation, and he had no idea what was happening.

In his original expectation, Gu Yuanqing must have been stuck at the threshold of the Void Immortal realm for many years before changing his mind and asking him for help.

But now, why would we need to ask him for help?
Gu Yuanqing calmly said, "What's impossible? It is indeed difficult to become a Void Immortal in this world, but it's not like there's no way."

The person in the painting had a gloomy expression: "Then what are you doing here, coming to laugh at me?"

Gu Yuanqing chuckled: "I don't have that much free time. This painting is ultimately left behind by immortals, and there are many mysteries hidden within it. You are the spirit of the painting, born from an inanimate object, and have developed intelligence. This in itself is the perfect proof of the way of creation."

I've recently been contemplating the ways of creation, gaining some insights into fundamental questions like spirituality, consciousness, and existence, but I always feel something is missing. Your process of creating something from nothing, of giving birth to yourself from inanimate objects, can perfectly fill that gap.

The person in the painting was taken aback at first, then flew into a rage.

As a celestial being, he considered himself superior to others. How could Gu Yuanqing possibly treat him like an object for study? He couldn't tolerate it.

His aura suddenly changed, and a strong ink-wash style spread out from his body.

The once lifelike world in the painting began to distort around him.

The mountains and rivers lose their colors, turning into distinct black and white ink marks;

The void is no longer clear, but is stained with layers of ink.

Even the patterns on the bluestone began to flow and change like ink marks.

The entire world within the painting is transforming into a giant ink painting!
He raised his hand and waved it, and the dark ink in the sky transformed into countless sharp swords, shooting towards Gu Yuanqing!

Gu Yuanqing remained calm and raised his hand to press down.

The entire area within the mountain range was completely frozen in time.

The ink-wash sword, which had been shooting towards him, hovered in mid-air. The closest point of the sword tip was no more than three feet away from Gu Yuanqing, but it could not advance any further.

The ink flowing on the sword was also frozen in place, like an insect solidified in amber.

The surging tide of ink also stopped, transforming into a frozen image.

Even the person in the painting is frozen in place.

His eyes were wide open, his anger frozen on his face, and the ink-like aura emanating from his body hung in the air like frozen smoke, motionless.

The entire mountain range within the painting was completely still!
The only one who could still move was Gu Yuanqing.

He stood with his hands behind his back, his gaze sweeping over the frozen world, and nodded slightly.

Although the figure in the painting is a spirit within the painting, it is imprisoned by a great formation. The one who controls this great formation is Gu Yuanqing. The Dao of Space is one of the great Daos he is most proficient in, and now, with the power of a Void Immortal, it is naturally easy for him to activate it.

However, this is still not enough.

Gu Yuanqing raised his hand and gently pointed out with one finger.

The void behind them suddenly burst open, and a phantom world spread out from the crack. Within the phantom world, the sun and moon hung in the sky, mountains rose and fell, rivers meandered, and vegetation flourished.

Boundary Imminent!

The illusory image of the Northern Spring Realm slowly embedded itself into this solidified painted world, following Gu Yuanqing's thoughts.

Like ink wash painting, it blends in naturally.

Between reality and illusion, the outlines of the two worlds begin to overlap.

Mountains upon mountains, rivers upon rivers, the black and white ink of the painting intertwines with the real colors of the northern spring, forming an indescribable and strange scene.

Gu Yuanqing closed his eyes and dispersed his divine sense.

In this realm he completely controls, he is the sole ruler. Every trace of ink, every line, every blur in the painting is vividly present in his mind.

That was his real purpose in coming here.

There is indeed a chance to become immortal here, but what he wants is not the chance to become immortal given by the person in the painting, but the world in the painting and the person in the painting themselves.

When the world in the painting revealed itself, Gu Yuanqing solidified it with the Dao of Space, and then used the Boundary Approach to summon the illusory image of the Northern Spring Realm to be embedded in it. This world then unfolded completely in his mind.

His divine sense could more easily explore the mysteries within.

He could sense the subtle, pervasive spiritual light within the entire painting, and through this, he could glimpse the origin of the intelligence that constituted the people in the painting.

This is a life unlike anything seen before, a miracle of a magical artifact ascending to its ultimate peak and completing its final transformation after spiritual condensation.

Gu Yuanqing's divine sense touched these spiritual lights, feeling their every subtle tremor and sensing their differences from other living beings he had seen before.

They corroborate each other, and then deduce in their minds, even to trace and trace the trajectory from nothing to something.

The best way to obtain these items is to take the Immortal Painting back to Beiquan Cave Heaven. However, this painting is the core of many great formations in Qingping Cave Heaven. If it is taken away, it will cause many changes and may even affect the cultivation of the Qianyuan Sect members within the cave heaven.

……

After an unknown amount of time, a faint realization began to dawn on him.

This realization gradually became clear in my mind.

"I see. However, this is all I can see. There are many more mysteries that are beyond my comprehension."

Gu Yuanqing opened his eyes. The world remained frozen, the sword was still suspended in the air, and the frozen figure in the painting seemed to be in a daze.

Gu Yuanqing smiled and waved his hand gently.

The phantom of the Northern Spring Realm slowly receded, and the Dao of Space quietly withdrew.

The sword fell, turning into ink specks that scattered; the ink tide subsided, returning to the earth.

The person in the painting staggered, panting heavily, his eyes filled with horror and bewilderment.

He felt as if he had experienced something, as if a divine consciousness had touched his core.

"What...what did you do to me?"

"It's nothing, I just took a look." Gu Yuanqing smiled, then turned and left.

The person in the painting stood frozen in place, wanting to chase after him.

Suddenly, the seven magical treasures on the array shone brightly, and the phantoms of the Qingping Palace Masters of all generations reappeared. The seven beams of light intertwined to form a giant net, which firmly covered the person in the painting, and then completely imprisoned him, pressing him back onto the blue stone.

Before his consciousness was completely sealed, Gu Yuanqing suddenly turned around and said, "I will also give you a choice. If you are willing to let me leave a soul imprint on your consciousness and sign the Underworld God Contract, perhaps I can give you a way out in the future."

Then his figure vanished without a trace.

The sparkle in the eyes of the person in the painting vanished.

……

Inside the North Spring Cave, Gu Yuanqing withdrew his clone.

Three months had passed since his clone entered the world of the painting.

He was reading a book at the time, but after withdrawing his clone, his memories merged, and he seemed to be deep in thought.

Li Miaoxuan was tending to the flowers and plants in the courtyard. She glanced back but didn't say anything.

After a long while, when Gu Yuanqing came to her senses, she smiled and said, "You gained a lot of insights from that painting of immortals?"

“We have indeed gained something, especially in terms of the spiritual evidence that emerged in the Northern Spring Realm a few years ago. There are many points worth considering. Let’s verify them together,” Gu Yuanqing said.

He and Li Miaoxuan discussed the Dao for a long time, after which they each went into seclusion.

……

Time flies, and more than twenty years have passed in the blink of an eye.

The Spirit Realm and the Ancient Realm remain largely unchanged. Although the Ancient Realm is often thrown into chaos by the frequent appearance of the Blood Moon, the world quickly returns to normal whenever the Blood Moon disappears.

However, this normalcy is different from what it used to be.

In the battle back then, too many people from the ancient realm attacked the Northern Spring Realm. After being killed by Gu Yuanqing, their spirituality was devoured, causing many of the original residents to disappear and never return. Moreover, many people lost their memories due to the loss of their spirituality, while those who did not participate in the battle of the Qian Yuan Realm still retained their original memories.

After each full moon, everything resets to its original state.

When people wake up from their slumber after these changes in the weather, they think it will be another ordinary day, with familiar streets and alleys and familiar faces in the neighborhood.

But gradually, they realized something was wrong.

The house next door is empty. Yesterday, there were people coming and going, and I could hear familiar greetings. But today, the door is closed and there is no one in sight.

The street corner stalls were much emptier. The old man who had been selling breakfast for years was gone. The stove and the stool were still there, but he was nowhere to be seen.

The regular customers stood there, feeling that something was missing, but they couldn't remember what it was.

Someone sat at their own doorstep, their eyes vacant, and didn't respond when called by name;
Someone staggered down the street, bumped into someone but didn't apologize, just continued walking blankly.

In their memory, the people around them were perfectly fine just yesterday!
Panic began to spread.

People crowded in front of the government office, and various rumors began to circulate among the people.

Some say it's the work of demons; some say it's punishment from evil gods; others say it's because they offended something they shouldn't have and were cursed.

The entire city, the entire world, was thrown into chaos.

If it were just ordinary people, it wouldn't be so bad. But many cultivators at the Divine Platform and Void Heaven levels, due to memory loss or the disappearance of those around them, would start a huge war with just one stimulus, resulting in countless deaths and injuries.

And so, another full moon night arrived, everything reset, and another cycle began!
The cultivators above the celestial changes watched all this in silence, and no one tried to interfere, because they knew that whatever they did would be in vain.

Within the Primordial Realm, the Gui Cang Hall remained silent.

This time, Wei Zhao used even greater power, and the battle lasted longer, leaving behind the aura of divine punishment for an even longer period.

In fact, Gu Yuanqing also had divine punishment energy on him back then, but when this energy entered the Northern Spring Realm, it all turned into resources for his cultivation.

If we're talking about the most turbulent place, it's definitely the Demon Realm; it's practically never quiet.

On this day, changes began to occur in the Dragon Demon Realm.

Countless demonic beasts entered and never left. Then, a human demon at the level of the Undying Chaos Realm arrived, followed by three true demon apostles at the level of demigods standing outside the Dragon Demon Domain.

Finally, the shadow appeared, and he entered the Dragon Demon Realm with the three demigods, arriving together at the original location of North Spring Mountain...

(End of this chapter)