Hidden Moth-Chapter 522 - 297: The Mountain in the Painting, the Painting in the Mountain (Part 2)
From the next morning, many people left the Sesame Apartment, dragging suitcases and large bags as they walked out of the main gate, as if completing some sort of public ceremony.
The owner of the Meishan Noodle Shop, who had disappeared for several days, had somehow returned and was sitting in front of the shop holding a thermos cup, just watching, while the shop’s business remained good.
Across the road on the opposite side, Li Xiuyuan was setting up an easel for drawing from life, with a palette placed on a small table beside him, and a girl standing by his side.
In the crowd of people leaving with luggage, Zhao Qingfang and Xiaoliang stood out somewhat peculiarly. As Xiaoliang walked by, he politely greeted Li Xiuyuan.
The boy was very curious about Li Xiuyuan, even feeling a sense of admiration and envy, inexplicably drawn to the lines and colors on the canvas, and the girl next to him was also quite attractive.
Li Xiuyuan smiled and nodded, holding his brush, saying, "Xiaoliang, off to class, huh?"
Zhao Qingfang instinctively pulled her son a bit, seemingly wanting Xiaoliang to stay a little bit away.
Li Xiuyuan secretly shook his head, knowing exactly what those two were up to, thinking themselves clever while taking the people of the Ancestral Hall for fools.
That child was indeed a good seedling; it was just unfortunate he ended up with unreliable parents.
Indeed, the people of the Ancestral Hall wouldn’t likely do much about this couple, but it wasn’t as though they did nothing. Some things only take a flick of a finger. That very morning, the suspended ceilings around the living room and two bedrooms of the apartment they rented suddenly fell down.
Fortunately, Old Li was out buying groceries and wasn’t hit.
The Sesame Apartment boasted of fine renovations ready for immediate move-in; was the construction quality that poor? This incident was peculiar; even if there were an issue with the ceiling, it shouldn’t simultaneously fall in several rooms.
The Li Gongcheng couple, being Guests of Fate, could somewhat guess what was going on, but to cover their lack of confidence and show that they had no issues, Zhao Qingfang specially expressed anger and went to make a scene with the apartment management.
The apartment side agreed to compensate for the damages and offered a replacement apartment of the same type, floor, and orientation, but in another building...
Mei Wenhua was back, Li Xiuyuan also appeared at Qi Yuan, and He Kao finally breathed a sigh of relief, opting not to continue staying at the Sesame Apartment.
The past couple of days, he had been residing at the Sesame Apartment mainly out of concern for Mei Guyu, who had lost her divine powers, though that secret was something only he knew at present.
Breaking through the Tier Five Cultivation felt just a step away, and He Kao had been diligently adjusting his condition to the best over the past few days.
The news released this time from the Ancestral Hall made no mention of He Kao or Hidden Moth, as several seniors were protecting him, not wanting to attract too much attention and risk.
Though Tier Four Cultivation was not considered low, obviously it wasn’t enough against such turmoil, as even the Xiao Alliance lost two Tier Six Great Success Cultivators this round.
In truth, at that level of cultivation, barring zealous self-destruction, not much in the world could threaten them, yet never say never.
Finally, it was the weekend again, and He Kao privately informed Manager Huang that he wouldn’t be able to come for overtime work these two days, then made his way to the Floating Colors Grotto Heaven.
The location he selected for seclusion was the Immortal Cauldron Palace, a natural cave mansion in the cliff where the entrance was shielded by the Celestial Palace Curtain; upon reaching the cave hall, he first laid down a chessboard, setting up the Array of Ten Thousand Woods Rejuvenation.
Gu Chun had once specifically set up an Array of Ten Thousand Woods Rejuvenation in the Pugang Town area to protect Jiang Daozhen, which could envelop an area of tens of miles.
The chessboard itself was an Array Formation Magical Artifact, which He Kao took to other places to set up a Ten Thousand Woods Rejuvenation array, with the power and range significantly smaller, aligning the array core with himself and using his own mana to operate it.
The real Array of Ten Thousand Woods Rejuvenation needed a Spirit Plant to gather the Earth Qi Spirit Core as the array core, which was the Jade Phoenix Tree in Pugang Town. While there wasn’t a Jade Phoenix Tree here, there was another Spirit Plant, namely the Celestial Palace Curtain on the cliff.
Many Celestial Palace Curtains grew along this cliff, with one being the most spiritually endowed, its roots at the top of the cliff, the main vine as thick as a bowl’s diameter, with many branch roots cascading down, completely covering the entrance of the Immortal Cauldron Palace.
The Celestial Palace Curtain was both a spirit medicine and a Treasure of Heaven and Earth for artifact refining, and if it were growing elsewhere and seen by other sorcerers, it would surely have been harvested.
He Kao had "fed" this Celestial Palace Curtain more than one Spirit Awakening Pill, assisting its absorption of medicinal power through casting.
More uniquely, he had once traveled in Primordial Spirit and Transferred his consciousness onto this Spirit Plant, feeling as if he had become the Celestial Palace Curtain... though it didn’t turn the Ancient Vine into a spirit, yet it displayed a remarkable spiritual resonance, seemingly sharing a vague telepathy with him.
He had long been taught the array techniques, and with an Array Artifact in hand, using this Celestial Palace Curtain as the array core, he set up the array not seeking overwhelming power, but merely to protect himself.
The Array of Ten Thousand Woods Rejuvenation’s protection was secondary; the primary benefit lies in nourishing form and spirit since Gu Chun initially prepared it for Old Man Jiang, which later benefited He Kao as well.
After the array formation, He Kao sat upright within the cave mansion, unknowingly entering a profound, mysterious state, as if suddenly unveiling a veil, opening up a domain.
His Primordial Spirit seemed both traveled and not traveled; at that moment, it was as though heaven and earth became his body, and he, heaven and earth’s consciousness.
Floating Colors Grotto Heaven had an area of over three hundred square kilometers, not seeming large to He Kao, who had already traversed it entirely, at this moment his form and spirit seemed to merge with the entire grotto-heaven, indistinguishable from it.
Such a peculiar state only occurs at the instant of breaking through Tier Five, a rare opportunity for enlightenment, determining how far one can advance in Tier Five Cultivation.
That’s why cultivators must have deep accumulation before breaking through, and adjust their state to the best to gain as deep experiences as possible, while absolutely avoiding any external interference.
He Kao finally understood why Elder Li wanted him to break through Tier Five in Floating Colors Grotto Heaven, as his cultivation foundation was the Insect Concealment Skill, most fitting with this domain.
Presumably, cultivators from the other Seven Great Magic Sects were in similar circumstances.
No wonder there is a Grotto Heaven summoning mechanism, sensing the direction of the appropriate grotto-heaven post-Tier Four breakthrough; because if they can eventually break through the Fifth Realm, the grotto-heaven is the most fitting blessed land for cultivation.
Magic Sect Grotto Heaven is like a Grand Array of Heaven and Earth, reportedly Tier Five Cultivators can initially master the array core, allowing long-distance spellcasting in this realm.
He Kao had long been curious about how the sect stewards accomplished this, yet now he gained understanding spontaneously.
He was this world, naturally capable of deploying various techniques within this world. Yet this wondrous state fleetingly exists at the breaking moment, difficult to reproduce later, but a simulation might be possible through another way. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂
The central hubs of each grotto-heaven are the walls behind the stone niches of the Ancestral Hall, with the natural patterns depicting the mountain and river landscapes of the area; Floating Colors Grotto Heaven too has such a mural.
Future techniques resonate with the mountain and river scenery on the walls, thereby merging form and spirit with heaven and earth, preliminarily mastering the grotto-heaven, capable of opening and closing portals, additionally enabling long-distance spellcasting.
More importantly, cultivators can simulate the fleeting mystical state during breaking the gate, greatly aiding in cultivation; hence, stewards from various sects take turns guarding the grotto-heaven, both a task and a privilege.
As Hidden Moth, He Kao has even more unique insights.
Floating Colors Grotto Heaven differs from other Seven Great Magic Sect Grotto Heavens, having no portals, or rather no portals in any earthly location, yet able to appear anywhere.
Because it is Tan Xian’s Walking Stick Painting, or in another sense, Floating Colors Grotto Heaven resides within that painting. The so-called Hidden Moth Object equates to the artifact spirit of that painting.
Before, He Kao merely speculated, but now he was utterly sure! Remarkably, He Kao could bring the scroll into the grotto-heaven, while the grotto-heaven itself resides within the painting; what sort of spatial dimension is this?
Someone once remarked that humans, as three-dimensional beings, might never grasp four-dimensional or higher spaces.
This conclusion is evidently too presumptive; honestly, comprehending Floating Colors Grotto Heaven’s description is tantamount to grasping a certain form of super-dimensional space structure.
**
PS: Someone once posed a question to me — how to describe a super-dimensional structure for intuitive understanding? That’s why I wrote this passage, reflecting on the painting on the wall, the book at hand, the phone used daily...
