Mang Shusheng's Ink Painting Practice

Chapter 274 Heavenly Prison Karma
The Ghost King that Zhao Yifu knew was the one who loved to compose poems and paint, and was actually his senior in terms of seniority.

Even his grandmaster Yuanxiu was squatting there, looking as if he were keeping watch over his beloved disciple.

After chatting with the two, Zhao Yifu learned that the Ghost King of the Dao Sect was often disturbed by some resentment and obsession, which affected his artistic state of mind and caused him great distress. So he simply gave away the Panlong Golden Hoop.

So the ghost king happily put on the golden headband and thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of having a clear mind.

This is an unconventional ghost king.

Afterwards, Zhao Yifu went to the underworld for a visit, greeted several big shots, and most importantly, spoke with the Eastern Peak Emperor about the Ghost King of the Dao Sect, asking Him to take good care of him.

With everything arranged in this way, he was able to return his primordial spirit to his physical body... The Dreamlike Immortal Travel was truly too convenient; it was practically a superb technique for smuggling across countless worlds.

After a good night's sleep, Zhao Yifu went to see Youquan again, full of energy.

He cast the summoning spell again in the underground cave...

A moment later, Youquan's voice rang out: "As I said, I will have Lingji deliver messages to you from now on. You don't need to ask me for confirmation on everything."

Zhao Yifu blinked and said, "But, kid, I'm here to report on the completion of the mission."

Yuquan: "...Is it finished?"

He thought it couldn't be that fast, right?
Zhao Yifu said, "I put the golden dragon headband that Master Li gave me on the head of a ghost king, and it was willing to communicate with me properly."

He reversed cause and effect and told the story.

But Youquan sounds different.

This is as if to say: Look, boss, I've put things on my own and done things for you again!
Youquan immediately felt a headache coming on.

Zhao Yifu's efficiency is indeed impeccable, but the cost is just too high.

Youquan felt a bit of kidney pain, but he couldn't lose his boss's generosity, so he said, "Very good, whatever method we use, as long as we can get news from the underworld."

“From now on, I need you to keep an eye on the situation of the Eastern Peak Emperor. No matter what changes occur to Him, you must report to me in detail.”

"If you can handle this matter well, I will reward you handsomely."

It feels like this old man is going to cheat?

Zhao Yifu was displeased upon hearing this. He said, "Your Excellency, I went to the Underworld last night and inquired about the Eastern Peak Emperor quite a bit. I wonder if this is what Your Excellency needs?"

"Oh?!" Venerable Youquan exclaimed in surprise, then said, "Tell me quickly."

Zhao Yifu said, "The Eastern Peak Emperor of the Underworld changes every few hundred years, and the current Eastern Peak Emperor is the Heavenly Grandson..."

Youquan interrupted, "I know all that. Tell me something useful."

Zhao Yifu said, "Oh, that's what I was just about to say."

"The Heavenly Grandson is the Eastern Peak, which has actually disappeared for more than a hundred years recently."

Youquan immediately perked up: "You said He disappeared for over a hundred years, so now He's reappeared?"

Zhao Yifu said, "That's right, He returned about fifty years ago, but He changed from a male to a female... I wonder if this will be helpful to Your Excellency?"

Upon hearing this, Youquan suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahaha, so that's how it is! It turns out that even a mere Heavenly Grandson can find a solution. I thought it was some difficult problem, but it turns out it's nothing special!"

Zhao Yifu understood that Youquan wanted to judge the degree of threat posed by the ancient grudge by observing the state of the Eastern Peak Emperor.

Clearly, Youquan now believes he can handle it; he can do it...

Zhao Yifu stood calmly to the side, seemingly unaware that the Eastern Peak Emperor had resolved the erosion caused by the ancient grudge.

However, Youquan's idea might not be wrong. After all, he could temporarily resolve the ancient grudge by cooperating with the Great Emperor of Dongyue. So, a powerful being of the Ancestral God level like Youquan would definitely be able to do even better.

After a moment, Youquan said, "Good, good, you have once again perfectly met my expectations... Tell me, what do you want this time?"

Haha, this Youquan isn't even mentioning rewarding Zhao Yifu with Dark Source Power anymore. It seems he's a bit tired of giving Zhao Yifu a Dark Source Power the size of his fist last time.

Zhao Yifu thought about it and suddenly became cunning.

He said, "The kid doesn't lack anything, it would be great if he could expand the source of dark energy a bit more."

This is what happens when Youquan is in pain.

Youquan immediately said, "That won't do. Although you invested a lot in this trip to the Underworld to gather information, the difficulty and importance of it are not enough for me to pay a huge price to bestow this favor upon you."

"How about this, we'll record this achievement for now, and award it to you all at once as you accumulate more merits after completing more tasks?

Zhao Yifu didn't mind. He said, "Of course, no problem. But Venerable One, what other tasks are there? Why don't you just tell me this time, and I'll see if I can get it done quickly."

The pressure was put on Youquan...

Zhao Yifu is too indecisive, putting a lot of pressure on Youquan, who is in charge.

But could He tell him to calm down and not have any tasks for the time being?
That definitely won't work; otherwise, I'll lose all my authority as a leader.

After a moment of silence, Youquan suddenly said, "In the endless mountains of the Southern Heaven Realm, there dwell a hundred kingdoms of demons."

"My requirements for these demon kingdoms are the same as those for the dragons: you only need to open a breakthrough to be considered a success."

Zhao Yifu frowned and asked, "A hundred countries?"

Youquan said, "This is indeed a difficult task, but if you can gain some influence in these hundred kingdoms of demons, I will not be stingy with my rewards."

Zhao Yifu frowned and nodded. He suspected that Youquan was deliberately trying to get him away for a while.

After all, this job is clearly not easy to do.

However, since he had been assigned work, he wouldn't refuse.

He said, "Okay, I'll go try it right away."

He agreed, which made Youquan, who was prepared to haggle, feel a little uncomfortable.

This made Youquan feel a little guilty; he shouldn't ask for more from such a good subordinate.

Zhao Yifu returned to the top, and sure enough, his grandmaster was already waiting there.

This grandmaster was definitely always by his side; he had some kind of fetish.

Zhao Yifu didn't stand on ceremony and directly told him what job he had taken on this time.

The Grandmaster nodded and said, "This job is indeed not simple... I didn't expect that after all these years of activity in the Three Realms, Youquan has finally started to do something serious."

The implication was that the Grandmaster was complaining that Youquan's actions were too slow.
Zhao Yifu said, "Grandmaster, I know nothing about the Southern Heavenly Demon Kingdom and was just about to ask you for guidance..."

Upon hearing this, the Grandmaster smiled mysteriously and said, "Although you are unaware of the Demon Kingdom, you do have connections with them."

Zhao Yifu was surprised. How could he not know whether they had a relationship or not?
He had hardly ever seen demons in his life, except...

He was suddenly startled and asked, "Did the hundred kingdoms of the demon race also rebel against Heaven?"

The Grandmaster smiled and nodded, saying, "Their rebellion against Heaven began even earlier, dating back to before the reign of the Three Sovereigns."

"At that time, the demon race was unwilling to lose its authority over heaven and earth and launched a final counterattack... Unfortunately, the counterattack was ultimately suppressed by the three religions working together, and the newly established Heavenly Court in the ruins was able to gain a foothold."

Grandmaster Xuandu began to inform Zhao Yifu of the information about the demon race:

"It is said that there are a hundred kingdoms in the Southern Mountains, but in reality, there are only eleven kingdoms with real strength and influence." "Among these eleven kingdoms, three are the strongest: the Spirit-Eating Demon Kingdom, which is a gathering of countless plant and tree spirits; the Bull Demon Kingdom, which possesses the bloodline of the ancient Kui Ox; and the Hundred Birds Demon Kingdom, which is a gathering of spirits based on the bloodline of the Phoenix."

"Once you've dealt with these three demon kingdoms, the matter of the Hundred Kingdoms will no longer be a problem."

"The other eight countries with different voices are the White Fox Country, the Dog-Long Country, the Black Cat Country, the Bear Country, the Ten Thousand Snake Country, the Ape Country, the Deer Country, and the Black Boar Country."

"The specific information is stored in this jade tablet. Study it yourself. I won't go with you this time. Be careful in everything you do."

Zhao Yifu's heart tightened upon hearing this. Although his master had always appeared after the fact and hadn't been of much use in the actual work, he was still somewhat flustered when his master explicitly said he wouldn't accompany him anymore.

Xuandu seemed to see through his thoughts and asked, "What's wrong? Are you uneasy?"

Zhao Yifu composed himself and said, "Grandmaster, rest assured, this disciple will definitely complete the mission."

Xuandu said irritably, "This is a task Youquan gave you, not mine."

Zhao Yifu said embarrassedly, "I'm sorry, Grandmaster. I thought our Taiqing lineage also had interests there."

Xuandu said, "Everything we do is related to the human race, so the demon race doesn't care much about it."

Zhao Yifu understood.

Grand Master Xuandu left with his hands behind his back.

Zhao Yifu, meanwhile, was holding the jade tablet and his eyes darted around.

A moment later, he stood up decisively, grabbed a flower fairy from the flowerbed and stuffed it into his sleeve, then called all the cats over.

"Let's go visit our relatives!"

At this moment, Zhao Yifu had no intention of touching the three powerful demon kingdoms; his eyes were only on the Xuanmao Kingdom…

Zhao Yifu brought his "Zhao Cat Kingdom" with him; wasn't this just like going to "visit relatives"?
As he stepped onto the clouds, he flew slowly, but what he was thinking about was how to pet the cat more efficiently.

He fantasized about having so many cats he couldn't pet them all, and he had already begun researching a magical art of petting cats.

"I wonder what the principle behind having three heads and six arms is?"

Zhao Yifu kept pondering.

His forte was water magic, so it was natural for him to want to use his familiarity with soft water to develop a spell.

But water alone seems to lack rigidity, and melting ice with water would be too cold, making the cat uncomfortable...

He then found himself turning his attention to the dark source of power.

The dark source of power exists in the material world but requires a source.

Zhao Yifu's manipulation of flowing water with his divine sense is also a form of matter, and can naturally be used as a basis for this manipulation.

When the dark energy clings to the water, the streams of water turn black.

Originally, water was extremely soft, but when the dark source force increased its rigidity, it became more flexible.

It doesn't crumble at the slightest touch, nor does it feel uncomfortable; it feels like some kind of silicone material...

It even solidified the water flow into a tentacle-like state!
As a result, the scene became bizarre and grotesque.

Hundreds of pitch-black tentacles appeared behind Zhao Yifu, waving continuously in the air.

Then a 'tentacle' reached into the sleeve and rolled up a white cat... Hmm, it's Ugly.

The tentacles wrapped around Ah Chou, rubbing and stirring him gently until Ah Chou turned into a lump of mud, lying motionless in Zhao Yifu's palm.

"Good, good, good!"

"You've mastered the divine skill!"

Zhao Yifu laughed heartily, appearing extremely excited. The scene, however, also seemed utterly wicked and grotesque.

The cats looked both panicked and curious upon hearing the wicked laughter...

Zhao Yifu said, "Don't worry, it's perfect for me to practice on you!"

...On this day, the sky was clear and blue, and the meows echoed continuously from above.

……

Xuanmao Kingdom is considered a mid-level demon kingdom in the Southern Heaven Realm.

Among the cats, calico is the most beautiful, and black is the most expensive.

Originally, they were peaceful and never participated in any battles between demons.

However, their peaceful state was completely shattered that night.

A 'demon' with thousands of tentacles on its back entered the Kingdom of Xuanmao, and the entire country fell amidst a night of cats' 'howling'.

They had no courage to resist and all submitted to the tyranny of the 'Thousand-Handed Demon Lord,' becoming his lackeys...

Oh, next up is the Kingdom of Dogs and Dragons.

In the Kingdom of Dog Dragons, the dogs whimpered and sobbed all night, but ultimately they could not resist the invasion of the Thousand-Handed Demon Lord and were defeated.

The next target is none other than the White Fox Kingdom, which is second only to the three major demon kingdoms among the middle-level demon kingdoms!

However cunning the White Fox Kingdom was, they were helpless against those tentacles. In just one night, another clan was added to the Thousand-Handed Demon Lord's ranks.

Zhao Yifu's invasion came to an end, because the other demon races simply did not meet his aesthetic standards, and he could not bring himself to attack them.

After all, it's enjoyable to rub and cuddle cute little things, while unlovable things are just annoying.

Even so, he has now brought three medium-sized demon kingdoms under his command, making him the fourth strongest among the hundred demon kingdoms... perhaps even stronger than the Bull Demon Kingdom, one of the three major demon kingdoms.

This commotion undoubtedly aroused the fear of the various demon kingdoms, especially since he acted too quickly. By the time the other kingdoms received news of the fall of the Xuanmao Kingdom, the Baihu Kingdom was already enjoying the pleasure brought by Zhao Yifu.

It has to be said that perhaps because he has acquired the title of 'Great Freedom Demon King', Zhao Yifu has become increasingly demonic.

After Zhao Yifu established himself, he had the former ruler of the White Fox Kingdom send a gift to each of the Bull Demon Kingdom, the Spirit Eater Demon Kingdom, and the Hundred Bird Demon Kingdom.

Each of them is a painting.

A painting depicts a beautiful woman's head and her vine-covered body.

The second stroke depicts a powerful yet wounded and destitute Bull Demon.

Only a bird-shaped withered tree remains next to the three-stroke pillar.

Each of the three paintings was sent to a different demon kingdom, and Zhao Yifu then waited for good news in the Kingdom of the Black Cat.

At this moment, he couldn't help but wonder if his inexplicable appearance in that wilderness in the upper realm, and his being 'picked up' by the Aurora Fairy, was also preordained.
In short, everything felt too coincidental.

He thought that spending so much time in the Heavenly Prison was just a training exercise, a passing phase in his life.

But now he understands that the cause and effect here are probably not so simple to explain.

However, he was certain of one thing: it was not Ancestor Xuandu who did it; it could only have been some higher-ups who used him for some scheme.

(End of this chapter)