A vortex materialized in the painting. Everything in front of Ling Xiao turned dark as the vortex sucked him in.
When he could see once more, he found himself in a village full of strangers.
Strangely, upon seeing him, the strangers all respectfully greeted him.
Some even addressed him as “Master Landscape.”
“Is this the village in the painting…”
The situation thoroughly confused him before he recalled seeing such a village in the painting. In fact, it was exactly the same.
Free from disputes, this village made people feel very comfortable.
However, Ling Xiao was very anxious about being trapped here.
“Immemorial Myriad Races, Landscape Martial Soul, Dominating All Realms, Endlessly Multiplying! Primeval Cosmos, Innate Calamity, Slumbering Martial Soul, Resuscitated Today! A fated person has come…”
Suddenly, a woman walked over from the horizon, stepping through the void. She looked exceptionally beautiful, like a celestial being from a Heavenly Palace who didn’t belong to this reality.
Her voice echoed in a hollow and profound manner as if it originated from a different space.
“Who are you, celestial?”
Ling Xiao asked nervously.
“You don’t need to know who I am or where I came from. You only need to know that from today onwards, you have awakened the ‘Landscape Martial Soul.’ You are Master Landscape, ruler of heaven and earth!”
That woman continuously walked through the sky, but it seemed that she could never reach him.
“Landscape Martial Soul? Master Landscape? Ruler of heaven and earth?”
Ling Xiao wanted to laugh. Could a Rank One Martial Vein martial artist really have such ability?
But he had heard about Martial Souls before.
In ancient times, martial artists had all cultivated martial souls, but after a major disaster between heaven and earth, the path of martial souls had disappeared.
Could it be that I awakened an extinct Martial Soul?
“Since ancient times, humankind has cultivated martial arts to resist the invasions of the myriad races. The strongest one, the peerless Master Landscape, awakened the Landscape Martial Soul and resisted the myriad races with his own strength.”
“You are the second person to awaken a Landscape Martial Soul. Perhaps, the hope of mankind has been entrusted to you. Whether humankind will become the coffin of all creation or the king of the myriad races? You might be the key…”
After saying this, the woman’s figure grew farther and farther before disappearing to the horizon.
Meanwhile, Ling Xiao felt his body fly up as his vision blurred. When he next opened his eyes, he was in his room.
The worn-out book had disappeared without a trace.
This made Ling Xiao certain that he had not been dreaming before. It had been real.
“Landscape Martial Soul? What is its function?”
Tapping his chin, he ruminated on what he had learned. He still had yet to discover the function of the Landscape Martial Soul.
What Master Landscape? What King of the Myriad Races? These figures were all far beyond him.
Now, he only wanted to breakthrough to Rank Two Martial Vein and then the Rank Three Martial Vein.
Since the book had disappeared, he couldn’t continue cultivating it. His only choice was “Barbarian Bull Strength.”
He had already wasted a lot of time by falling unconscious.
Jumping out of bed, he quickly circulated “Barbarian Bull Strength.” He was immediately stunned!
While practicing “Barbarian Bull Strength,” he imagined a shadow in the Landscape Painting practicing it as well.
However, that person had achieved the acme of perfection.
Amazingly, “Barbarian Bull Strength,” this simplest basic martial art, had no flaws in the hands of that person.
Ling Xiao froze.
After a short while, he returned to his senses and hastily copied that person performing Barbarian Bull Strength.
Everything changed. When practicing before, he had always lacked this smooth feeling.
Now, it was different. Each movement flowed from one position to the next. Every time he circulated Barbarian Bull Strength, vigorous true qi empowered his body.
An opportunity appeared!
Under the impact of his true qi, his second martial vein loosened.
Ling Xiao was confident that he would breakthrough to the Rank Two Martial Vein level by tomorrow at the latest.
This was a miracle!
Because he worried about shocking the world. He canceled his original plans to practice his skills outside. He practiced constantly in his room.
He didn’t stop until his own movements perfectly matched the person in the painting. Only then did he stop in satisfaction.
He only stopped the next morning. He had successfully practiced the entire night without sleeping.
“Child, get up, and eat breakfast.”
His grandfather’s voice passed through the door.
“Coming!”
Ling Xiao left his room and saw the breakfast prepared by his grandfather.
Because of their low status in the Ling Clan, their share of provisions was very small. The porridge was more of a watery soup, and only a few rice grains could be found.
The vegetables inside were some barely edible wild herbs and rotten vegetables, but with Ling Xiao’s grandfather’s talent, they actually tasted pretty good.
“Eh? What’s this?”
While eating, Ling Xiao discovered something unexpected: two scenes had appeared in the Landscape Painting.
One showed Ling Xiao’s grandfather, presenting every issue on his grandfather’s body.
“Grandpa, what happened to your ribs?”
If not for the Landscape Painting, Ling Xiao wouldn’t have noticed his grandfather’s broken ribs.
Furthermore, this was a new injury!
According to the Landscape Painting’s analysis, they had been broken by a palm attack.
“It’s nothing. Ignore it, okay?”
The old man hastily shook his head, wondering how Ling Xiao had noticed it despite his best attempts at concealment.
“Who did this?”
Ling Xiao slammed down his chopsticks, kicking back his chair as he rested his hands on the table, a cold look in his eyes. He could tolerate other people bullying him but not them putting their hands on his grandfather.
Without his grandfather, there would have been no Ling Xiao today.
“This…”
“If you don’t tell me, I will refuse to eat from now on. I will starve to death,” Ling Xiao said seriously. He knew that his grandfather wanted to protect him, but he couldn’t swallow this insult.
“Ling Xiao.”
The old man sighed. “It is nothing serious. When we begged others in the past, there were no lack of beatings. I’m accustomed to it.”
“Are broken ribs nothing serious?”
Ling Xiao threw his chopsticks and ran out, leaving behind the sentence: “Grandpa, I’m going to find Ling Chong!”
For some unknown reason, Ling Xiao was now full of confidence. He felt that he could definitely defeat Ling Chong.
The Landscape Martial Soul was honestly too strong. It could perfect and analyze anything in this world.
Other than the health circumstances of his grandfather, the second scene was of his grandfather cooking. Merely, it had clearly been perfected.
It revealed how to turn rotten vegetable leaves into delicious cuisine!
Nevertheless, Ling Xiao was not in the mood to pay any attention to it now. He was much more curious about whether the Landscape Martial Soul could perfect and analyze his opponent’s martial arts. If it could, he would be the carp that leapt over the dragon’s gate.
In the training grounds, Ling Chong was fooling around with a few female disciples as if he didn’t care about the life or death of other people.
This fellow had broken Ling Xiao’s grandfather’s ribs, but he hadn’t had any intention to send for a doctor.
Upon seeing this scene, Ling Xiao’s eyes burned with strong flames of fury.
