Who left their last words here?

Chapter 97 New Items, Divine Brush Liangzi and the Deeper Realm of Ruins
Is this... the way the art club passes on its traditions?

A faint smell of blood seemed to emanate from the sheepskin scroll. The warm, smooth sheepskin did not appear to be inanimate; rather, it seemed to still be growing on the sheep's body.

The content in traditional Chinese characters is quite obscure, but fortunately it is still barely legible.

Bai Zhou and Ya held their breath simultaneously, their gazes meeting as they slowly looked at the following content:
"Forget your name. From this day forward, you will be Raphael's natural lines, Michelangelo's magnificent life, and Leonardo da Vinci's unfinished smile—until you become the next legend to be portrayed!"

“We firmly believe that by using the names of powerful and extraordinary individuals, one can steal their good fortune, power, and even some of the characteristics of the paths they have taken through ritual performances, ultimately achieving the theft of identity and the resonance of souls, until the forgery becomes a masterpiece!”

"Initiation Ceremony: "
The first step is to choose your mask, and from then on, there will be no distinction between you and me.

The second step is to obtain spiritual blood, which is extracted through a ritual using spiritual materials related to the painter as a medium and then ingested.

The third step involves completing the portrait in a completely dark, secluded room, then burning the self-portrait to bury the "old self" and make room for the arrival of the "new self."

"After the ceremony is successful, the beginner will see the portrait painting come to life briefly. After that, their hands will become incredibly dexterous, their perception of light and color will soar, and they will even occasionally 'hear' guidance from the painter deep in history."

"But as a price—"

"Beginners often fall into the confusion of 'who am I' in the early stages, and inherit the obsession and pain of the target painter, such as intermittent mental pain and auditory hallucinations, but these are all normal phenomena."

"At the same time, you must complete at least one 'deep role-playing' session each week, immersing yourself in painting a picture with the colors of life; otherwise, you will encounter soul rejection, leading to spiritual loss of control!"

At the end of this section, there is a warning highlighted in red:

[—Remember! The key to role-playing rituals is that you are simply playing a role.]

Now, Mr. or Ms. painter, please choose your first 'mask,' and then plunge into this colorful yet dangerous abyss of art!

...The following content details the promotion methods, strengths, and weaknesses of the "Painter" path at different levels.

Unfortunately, the highest level is only 4 [Artist].

The following content abruptly ends, as if it has been cut open with a knife.

However, the parchment scroll clearly states from the beginning that this path can only advance to the highest level of 6, "Master Painter," with the regret that there is no way forward and the hope that future generations will complete the path.

"..."

After reading it, Bai Zhou and Ya looked at each other in bewilderment.

"Acting, stealing...what a wicked method!"

"It seems that this [Anguisola] holds a position such as head instructor within the [Art Club]."

The crow's expression was thoughtful:
"In a sense, this ancient parchment scroll that records the painter's path, if it is indeed the original text written by the creator of the path, can be considered a fragment of a forbidden text in a certain sense."

"The [Angusola] that it carries with it naturally assumes the responsibility of imparting knowledge, nurturing new talent, and expanding the [Art Club]."

Crow weighed the parchment scroll in his hand:

In the end, you actually benefited!

"...I have a question. Is this thing really useful to me, an adventurer?"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhou blinked, feeling as if the parchment scroll was burning hot.
"If the Art Club finds out I got this, they'll fight me to the death!"

"Until death?"

The crow, however, had a different opinion:

"But hasn't the Art Club already been at odds with you for ages?"

"—As for its uses, there are too many to list."

With slender fingertips touching a line of text on the parchment scroll, Crow gestured for Bai Zhou to look over:
"This records the various strengths and weaknesses of the [Painter] path."

"If we encounter assassins from the Art Club again in the future, we'll have a way to deal with them."

"And from a mystical perspective..."

The cawing of crows pauses briefly here.

"Divination, investigation, even curses!"

"As long as you possess this parchment scroll, any extraordinary person who has entered the path through this parchment scroll will be able to cast spells on it with twice the result with half the effort!"

At this point, Crow's expression showed a complex mix of thoughts:

"The 'Painter' approach, although not among the Twelve Destinies, does have a clear advantage over the official methods in terms of tracking down murderers."

"The various factions in Tinghai City generally hold the secretive [Art Society] in awe because this path is too bizarre and sinister, and their apparent identities are too difficult to find."

"Even if the upper limit is capped at level 6, the person who created this path... must have been an outstanding extraordinary being!"

"only--"

Raven frowned slightly, his voice tinged with doubt:

“I didn’t understand it before, but now that I’ve seen the details on the parchment, I find this method strange.”

"The so-called 'painter' path, does it mean playing the role of a painter, or...?"

"—To summon the spirit of the past painter back?"

"Although the parchment scroll contains the warning that it is 'just acting,' I still feel that this ritual called 'acting' is full of something strange!"

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhou felt a chill run down his spine and took the parchment scroll to read and examine it carefully.

But as I watched...

Bai Zhou looked at the parchment scroll a few more times, somewhat uncertainly:
"crow……"

"what?"

Bai Zhou blinked, his fingertips gently tracing the parchment scroll:

"I was just busy focusing on the content."

"But actually, have you ever thought about what's on this parchment scroll...?"

"Perhaps not a single author?"

"What do you mean?"

The crow quickly leaned closer to look, and the smell of burning coffee filled the air.

Having grown accustomed to the surface bitterness, Bai Zhou detected a certain sweetness in the aroma upon smelling it again.

"it is true!"

Crow examined it carefully and indeed found something incongruous about the parchment scroll.

It began as a three-line essay, which seemed to be a prologue, and was written above the title "The Painter's Path".

—But why is the title below the prologue?

Although the handwriting style of these three lines of notes is quite similar to the content recorded later on "The Painter's Path".

However, upon closer inspection, subtle differences can be found, much like the difference between a fake and a genuine article...

The former is free and unrestrained, while the latter has a stiff, craftsman-like quality.

The former is so weathered and worn, having endured countless years of vicissitudes.

The latter, judging from its mention of numerous Renaissance painters, suggests that its history is not too long.

Even the degree of fading of the ink marks shows subtle differences!
"The approach of the painter is to imitate the extraordinary painters in history."

"But the knowledge gained through this method might itself be a kind of...imitation and extension of the parchment scrolls and essays?"

"Those who later obtained the parchment scrolls may have been inspired by the essays, which led them to create the path of painters and record this path on the parchment scrolls."

"—But the person who recorded the route and the original author of the parchment scrolls are probably not the same person at all!"

The crow's guess was quite bold.

But even she couldn't discern anything special from those initial three lines of casual writing.

As for Bai Zhou, he was even more baffled. He only clearly realized that this ancient parchment scroll might contain a huge secret that he could not decipher for the time being.

But this secret was also quite a hot potato, and Bai Zhou could only hope that the Art Club would mistakenly believe that the parchment scroll had been burned in the fire...

Compared to these things, what Bai Zhou was more interested in right now, something tangible, was the paintbrush that had just fallen to the ground.

—The painting is finally revealed!
How bad could something hidden among ancient parchment scrolls be?

Bai Zhou picked up the paintbrush and carefully examined it before his eyes.

The ancient pen body is warm to the touch, yet it possesses a resilience reminiscent of living flesh. It is mottled and faded, bearing several indelible scratches.

At first glance, it looks like a deep purplish-black wood.

Upon closer inspection, however, it is discovered that this "wood" is not wood at all, but rather composed of countless mysterious, deep purple, flocculent crystals.

The brush tip is not made of any animal hair, but of a semi-transparent, indistinct substance, seemingly there yet not there.

It's like a cluster of living "colors," without a fixed color, only presenting a translucent grayish-white.

But when the white boat tried to imbue it with spirit—

"Buzz!"

The swaying pen tip flowed with a faint light, as if it had been dipped in paint and was moist and ready to drip.

Colors shifted and changed with Bai Zhou's thoughts, and rainbows swirled across them, illuminating Bai Zhou's face under the dark moon.

"Although its origin is unknown, I suspect it may be closely related to the 'painter's path' of tradition, and is a truly extraordinary item!"

Ya examined the painted cake in Bai Zhou's hand, his expression showing a hint of surprise:

"Special paintbrushes are treasures sought after by every ritual practitioner."

"If this paintbrush is used to depict the ritual, it might bring about a new effect. It is a treasure that every ritual practitioner dreams of!"

Extraordinary paintbrush!

Upon hearing this, Bai Zhou immediately perked up.

Anguisola, who complained that Bai Zhou was too poor as a ritual performer, ended up giving him such an extraordinary paintbrush of immeasurable value?

This lady is such a kind person...

Bai Zhou tried to pick up his paintbrush and start drawing on the ground beside him.

A spark of inspiration, drawn by the paintbrush, falls into its depths.

Then, the lines seemed to come alive, lifelike, and even seemed to resonate with Bai Zhou's thoughts.

It was like Bai Zhou's "pet," able to conceal its colors and hide at any time, and also to quietly move its position on its own, depending on Bai Zhou's wishes...

When Bai Zhou removed the spirituality contained within it, the lines returned to being inanimate objects.

"It's...so amazing!"

Bai Zhou's heart was pounding.

At this moment, he had already thought of a thousand ways to use this paintbrush.

This reminded Bai Zhou of a short story he had heard from Wancheng.

In that story, there was a man named Ryoko who obtained a forbidden object called the "Magic Brush," which could draw anything with incredible realism and lifelike detail.

So Ryoko used her magic brush to draw large banknotes from the evening city, making them so realistic that they were impossible to distinguish from the real thing.

If it weren't for the Black Robe Enforcement Team's swift and decisive action, bringing this "Master of the Magic Pen" to justice in time...

He's probably about to surpass the Black-Robed Elder and become the richest man in Wancheng.

Such a thing is, of course, unacceptable.

When Bai Zhou told this story to Ya.

Crow looked at Bai Zhou with an expression as if he had seen a ghost:

"You are now a Class A wanted criminal designated by the Special Administration."

"If you counterfeit federal currency again, you'll never be able to clean up your name and get out of debt for the rest of your life!"

Ya had always known that Bai Zhou was innocent, but she really hadn't realized it...

Bai Zhou seems to have the potential to become a "rough gem" of an outlaw!
"No, no... I was just telling a story."

Bai Zhou gave an awkward smile, then continued:
"However, when I infused my brush with spirituality... I had a feeling."

"what?"

"It seems to be incomplete."

Bai Zhou looked uncertainly at the paintbrush in his hand:
"I can vaguely sense a similar paintbrush..."

"There are two more!"

"Three in total...?"

The crow found this unexpected, yet also perfectly logical:
"I think they should all be in the hands of the Art Club."

"Perhaps collecting them all will yield unexpected results."

"...Of course, the premise is that you need to become stronger so that you can withstand the next attack from the Art Club."

Become stronger
Upon hearing this, Bai Zhou quickly glanced at his wristwatch.
23: 48.

With the help of the [Tears of the Moon Goddess], Bai Zhou's spirituality has been almost completely restored.

He has 12 minutes left before he sets off for the depths of the Void Realm!

"Crow, I need to tell you something..."

With that in mind, Bai Zhou and Ya briefly explained.

His reason was that he wanted to conduct a brief investigation at Tinghai Middle School in the Reflection Ruins Realm to prepare for taking advantage of the chaos during the official crackdown the next day.

"You're right, the hunter's victory or defeat is always decided before the shot is fired."

I greatly admire the caution of the crow on the white boat.

—In the blink of an eye, midnight had arrived.

24: 00.

Bai Zhou performed a simple ritual, pretending to be heading to the Reflection Ruins.

But in reality, he secretly activated the [Zhu Luo Ji Pass].

"Boom!!!"

The golden pass vibrated incessantly, unfolding a golden road visible only to the white boat, which then pulled the white boat away.

The scenery before my eyes began to recede, the neon lights on the top of the tall buildings transformed into flowing rainbows, and the starry sky and bright moon in the sky instantly turned into a blood moon hanging high in the sky.

Beneath what seemed like a burning sky, on the ruins of a shattered wasteland.

The inverted giant city and the dilapidated thousand clock towers came into view.

Everything was quiet, with only the weary wind whistling in my ears.

The place where Leia of Light and Ale of Comfort once presented the White Boat as a gift—

The deepest layers of the Ruins of "Zhu Luo Ji".

"haven't seen you for a long time."

The white boat arrives again.

(End of this chapter)