Steward Hu picked up the Tiger Roar Painting and, imitating Li Mo, held it over the candle flame to ignite it.
A moment later, a pile of ash appeared on the table.
Steward Hu dipped her fingers into the ashes and smeared them across her featureless face, causing vivid and lifelike facial features to emerge.
Li Mo wasn't overly surprised, his emotions gradually calming down.
After all, no matter how strange Steward Hu's abilities were, in his past life, he had lived in an information explosion era and had been exposed to horror films.
"Li Mo, the Tiger Roar Painting exhibits numerous flaws. I wonder, can you now create a perfect version of it?"
Steward Hu's tone carried a distinct note of assessment.
Li Mo nodded in agreement.
Without waiting for Steward Hu to move aside, Li Mo pulled over another chair and seated himself at the opposite side of the desk, directly facing her.
Steward Hu's lips curled into a smile, her interest in Li Mo deepening.
She refrained from disturbing him and began touching up her makeup on her own.
Li Mo's gaze became still as an ancient well, his divine skills allowing him to quickly enter a focused state, a testament to the marvelous nature of the Creation Book.
He patiently began grinding his ink.
The inkstick, now no larger than a fingernail, was constantly rubbed against the inkstone, gradually dissolving into clear water.
Li Mo ground the inkstick down to grain-like fragments and still didn't stop, pressing against the inkstick with his fingers to fully utilize its value.
Steward Hu put away her smile and watched Li Mo intently, her expression serious.
Outside the door, the sudden sound of apprentices returning to their rooms echoed, and unknowingly, more than two hours had passed. The night had become deeply laden with darkness.
Li Mo selected a modestly sized small regular script brush and dipped it lightly in ink.
With just one stroke, the sturdy trunk of a pine tree took form. Using the leaf veins technique skillfully, he enriched the details, vividly portraying the conception of a solitary pine in the high mountains.
Steward Hu realized that Li Mo was not attempting to recreate the Tiger Roar Painting he had practiced extensively.
Li Mo then painted a stretch of grass.
Soon after, he outlined the figure of an old man, integrating it perfectly with the pine tree as one harmonious composition.
This puzzled Steward Hu slightly, as for certain reasons, what she had anticipated seeing was the mountain lord under Li Mo's brush, not an elder in the forest.
She was about to interrupt the painting process but was instead captivated by the artistic spirit expressed within the work.
Li Mo's expression grew increasingly manic. Crossing over each of his wrists in turn, he wielded his brush alternately with both hands, refusing to let muscle soreness affect the precision of his strokes.
Steward Hu dismissed the thought of interrupting him, her gaze softening with a hint of admiration.
Before the old man's figure could be fully refined, Li Mo depicted a beast body beside the tree. As expected, it was a mountain lord covered in long stripes.
The mountain lord appeared lazily poised, its tail drooping, and its head deliberately lowered by three degrees.
Li Mo's movements grew increasingly rapid. Though the mountain lord was already vividly lifelike, he showed no signs of stopping, his hands continuing to alternate.
Even he could sense that he seemed to have entered a state of epiphany and trance.
The most critical aspect was that Li Mo possessed the divine skill of memorization. As long as he could remember this state of epiphany, he could attempt to simulate it in the future.
Thus, he chose not to stop, allowing his body to act instinctively.
It wasn't until the ink ran dry that Li Mo snapped out of his trance-like state. Exhaustion overtook him, forcing him to take deep, heavy breaths.
He glanced at the artwork, his expression tinged with helplessness.
Having failed to stop in time, the mountain lord in the painting exhibited a touch of overdoing, adding unnecessary blemishes that rendered it inferior to the Tiger Roar Painting.
Rather than the Tiger Roar Painting, Li Mo's work resembled Zhang Shanma's tiger-themed masterpiece, named Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map.
The Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map depicted an elderly figure seated opposite a tiger, with Zhang Shanma using the mountain lord's ferocity to emphasize the elder's calmness.
It was akin to an immortal observing a tiger.
But Li Mo's Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map differed significantly due to the excessive use of ink, making the mountain lord's aura overshadow the elder, as if poised to crush the elder's skull at any moment.
Li Mo hesitantly said, "Steward Hu, this painting has some…"
"Not bad. You truly have talent."
Steward Hu studied the Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map and repeated, "You really are talented."
With a gentle flick, the Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map dried naturally. The elder in the painting became thin and frail, like a cadaver whose skin clung to its bones.
The mountain lord grew even more fearsome, with dispersed ink spreading over half the paper, as though riding a demonic wind toward the dying elder.
"Li Mo, starting tomorrow, you'll officially be a painter in the Calligraphy and Painting Hall."
"Thank you, Manager."
While it was evident Steward Hu displayed a strong fondness for the artwork, what she did next deeply shocked Li Mo: she burned the Pine Spring Heart Adjustment Map into ashes once again.
"Li Mo, remember to keep painting as you did today—leaving no traces behind."
Steward Hu withdrew three still-warm bone scrolls from her sleeve.
[Teaching Jade Scroll]
While Li Mo appeared unclear about the purpose of the bone scrolls, the Creation Book flooded his mind with memories. Bone scrolls were the Teaching Jade Scrolls from seven thousand years ago, specialized tools for storing information about spells.
"Steward Hu, these are…"
"Inside are three spells. Although they aren't cultivation techniques that ensure survival, the spells can grant you abilities that set you apart from the mundane."
"Magic is the skill of survival; spells are the techniques of protection."
According to the information from the Creation Book, seven thousand years ago in the Heart Beast Sect, cultivation techniques were used to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Mastering spells enabled one to utilize the spiritual energy contained within the dantian.
Steward Hu pushed the bone scrolls toward Li Mo and continued explaining, "I can't provide you with cultivation techniques—you'll have to go to the Medical Hall and choose them yourself."
"Spells are taught by the respective branches. Li Mo, you may select one spell."
Li Mo had heard numerous uncertain rumors asserting the necessity of cultivating both spells and techniques; it seemed they were true after all.
"Press the bone scroll against your brow."
Li Mo nodded slightly, gripping the bone scroll and placing it against his brow.
"Don't take too long absorbing the bone scroll, or it may harm your soul. Just get a general understanding."
Li Mo was about to respond when a flood of spell-related information surged into his mind, effortlessly digested through his memorization skill.
The bone scroll, aside from detailing the methods of spell cultivation, also included auxiliary medicinal recipes.
However, the content was limited to childhood cultivation.
The spell was named [Ahui's Curse].
The Creation Book reacted, revealing that seven thousand years ago in the Heart Beast Sect, Ahui's Curse existed in a far more complex form.
Of course, in comparison, the cultivation process had been greatly simplified. Yet the effects of the Rong Town method for mastering Ahui's Curse left Li Mo horrified.
Li Mo didn't have time to dwell on it as his head began to throb faintly.
He set Ahui's Curse bone scroll aside and examined the remaining two spells.
The three spells shared a strange central theme—they entirely relied on the cultivator's body to nurture… or rather, mimic spirit beasts.
[Ahui's Curse] transforms one of the four limbs, with the bones becoming serpent-like.
[Hui Qingyi] uses tattoos to depict beast heads on the skin's surface.
[Soul Chasing Poison Sting] hollows out the palm to hold poison, turning the pinky finger into a venomous stinger.
Li Moguang skimmed over the content and realized Steward Hu's so-called spells, once mastered, offered no benefits and plenty of harm to the cultivator.
Spells with identical names had vastly different applications—Ahui's Curse in the Heart Beast Sect summoned a Snake Bone Spirit Whip capable of splitting trees even in the Qi Cultivation Stage (childhood). In Rong Town, it was reduced to a crude imitation.
Transforming limb bones into serpent bones—what kind of monstrosity was that?
Only those chasing immortality would dare to engage in such reckless practices; otherwise, the body would undoubtedly collapse.
"Cultivating both spells and techniques?"
"Could the cultivation techniques in the Medical Hall truly have the power to turn decay into divinity?"