Chapter 111: Soul Techniques, Originating from the Western Regions

Although Duan Rong did not want to admit it, seeing that the ink was not yet dry, he knew he could not deny it even if he wanted to, so he nodded and gave a grunt of acknowledgment.

That grunt was no small matter; Ximen Kankan's expression changed instantly!

He placed the painting on the desk, supported Duan Rong, and pushed him to sit in the grand armchair!

Then, Ximen Kankan actually knelt down right in front of Duan Rong and began to kowtow!

Moreover, he kowtowed quite forcefully, making the floor tiles thud with every strike!

Duan Rong was taken aback and immediately stood up to support Ximen Kankan, saying, "Young Master Ximen, there is no need for this! Just give me that medicinal liquid."

"Master Duan Rong! Do not stop me! If I do not do this, it is not enough to express my surging emotions!"

At this moment, Duan Rong was holding onto Ximen Kankan, and as their eyes met, Duan Rong actually saw a trace of fanaticism in Ximen Kankan's eyes!

It was the kind of pure faith that could only be seen in the eyes of a religious devotee!

Duan Rong finally understood that Ximen Kankan possessed a faith in pornography, a form of erotic worship!

Ximen Kankan shook off Duan Rong's hand, continued to kowtow, and prostrated himself, saying, "Master! Thank you for leading me to experience the miracles of the human world!"

Ximen Kankan kowtowed several more times before standing up, a glimmer of tears even flashing at the corners of his eyes!

Duan Rong was greatly astonished!

Only then did Ximen Kankan walk to a cabinet in the corner, take out a key from his waist, open the cabinet door, and bring out a gourd; that gourd was only the size of a palm!

Ximen Kankan handed the gourd to Duan Rong and said, "This is that medicinal liquid!"

Duan Rong tucked the medicinal liquid into his sleeve!

Ximen Kankan suddenly took a stack of silver banknotes from his bosom and said, "This is my monthly allowance, plus another twelve thousand taels! Consider it the money for purchasing this painting; I hope Master will bestow this painting upon me!"

As Ximen Kankan spoke, he glanced again at the painting placed on the desk!

"Young Master Ximen is so deeply attached to this item! The money is unnecessary; having this medicinal liquid as an exchange is enough!"

"That will not do!" Ximen Kankan said decisively. "We had an agreement beforehand! As long as you could produce a Spring Palace Painting better than mine, I would yield the medicinal liquid to you!"

"But now, I want to keep this painting, so this is a second transaction! Master, do not decline; this bit of silver compared to this painting is like a firefly to a bright moon—it is not worth mentioning!"

Seeing that Ximen Kankan's attitude was firm, Duan Rong had no choice but to accept the silver banknotes. He took a banknote with a denomination of one thousand taels from the stack, handed it back to Ximen Kankan, and said, "You cannot give me all of your monthly allowance; you must keep some for your expenses!"

Ximen Kankan waved his hand and said, "No need! I still have a few hundred taels of spare money on me! Later, I will find time to gamble a few rounds with Jiang Qingyu, and I will have my expenses for this month!"

"Master, I will not keep you! I want to go into seclusion to properly study that painting!"

"Oh, alright! Then I will not disturb you! Study it slowly!" Duan Rong's expression was somewhat awkward; he tucked the silver banknotes away and left quickly.

After Duan Rong left, Ximen Kankan closed the courtyard gate and stayed alone in Xueyan Residence, holding the painting and watching it without blinking!

Under the candlelight, Ximen Kankan's chubby face was actually full of tears!

"A masterpiece! A masterpiece for the ages! The light of humanity! Wonderful! Wonderful..."

When Duan Rong walked out of Ximen Mansion again, the lanterns on West Street had just been lit; the night was like water, and the lamps were like stars.

Duan Rong walked hurriedly along West Street for a distance, then turned into an alley. Duan Rong walked through the dim alley, his eyes as sharp as knives!

Duan Rong arrived in front of his original courtyard, opened the door, slipped inside, and quickly bolted the door behind him before walking briskly into the Inner Room!

As soon as Duan Rong entered the Inner Room, his figure suddenly moved like a gecko, crawling along the wall up to the roof beam!

With a flicker of his figure, leaving behind an afterimage, Duan Rong stood in a corner of the roof beam. He squatted down, pried open the wooden skin there, and took the human skin scroll out from the hidden compartment!

Holding the human skin scroll, Duan Rong's figure suddenly swooped down like a large bird!

He took out a Fire Folder and lit the oil lamp in the Inner Room!

Under the dim light of the oil lamp, Duan Rong took a pair of scissors and cut off the part related to the first layer of the technique from the human skin scroll!

Then, he took the Sachet that Xiao Baijiao had given him from his lapel, stuffed the part of the first layer of the technique into the Sachet, and pressed it under the fragrant herbs!

Afterward, Duan Rong moved again and put the remaining human skin scroll back into the hidden compartment!

After finishing all this, Duan Rong left the courtyard and walked hurriedly toward the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

Duan Rong had not managed to eat lunch or dinner, so when he passed by the street, he bought two sesame cakes to pad his stomach!

When Duan Rong returned to the Yuanshun Escort Agency, he crossed the Martial Arts Arena and walked straight back to his dormitory!

Upon returning to the dormitory, Duan Rong locked the doors and windows tightly, lit the oil lamp, and only then sat on a folding stool, took the Sachet from his lapel, and retrieved the human skin scroll!

Holding the human skin scroll with both hands, Duan Rong began to study the first layer of the technique word by word with focused eyes!

"To practice the Womb Treasury Sutra, one must enter the Spirit Sea of Clarity!"

"And to enter the Spirit Sea of Clarity, one needs to combine incantations, hand seals, and a special method of breathing and exhaling!"

Duan Rong's expression was focused, his eyes flickering; it took him nearly an hour to silently memorize the incantations, hand seals, and the breathing and exhaling method in the technique!

Duan Rong raised his head; now, to practice the Womb Treasury Sutra, there was one final step: to begin constructing the Mandala!

"This Mandala is constructed from the divine statues of the Four Great Wisdom Kings!"

"The Four Great Wisdom Kings are: Immovable Wisdom King, Step-Throwing Vajra Wisdom King, Vajra Yaksha Wisdom King, and Horse-Head Vajra Wisdom King."

"The Four Great Wisdom Kings all manifest in wrathful forms, with ugly appearances!"

Duan Rong moved his folding stool to the easel. The human skin scroll contained the images of the four Wisdom Kings. To construct a Mandala, sculptures are the best, embroidered images are second, and paintings are the lowest!

According to the technique, different mediums affect the cultivation speed of the Womb Treasury Sutra!

Among sculptures, the large sculptures that stand tall like mountains are the first-class form, and the cultivation speed is also the fastest!

Duan Rong certainly did not have those conditions; the only thing he could do now was to use paintings as a medium to construct a crude Mandala!

Holding a paintbrush, Duan Rong began to draw the divine statues of the Four Great Wisdom Kings on the easel!

Mandala is the phonetic translation of the Sanskrit word "Mandala".

From the origin of this name, one can see that this Soul Technique of the Taiyi Sect actually originated from the Buddhist sect—the Faxiang Sect!

Among the Nine Provinces Eight Sects, the Qingyang Sect dominates the territory of two provinces and is the number one sect in the world!

And among the other seven sects, the only one that can faintly contend with the Qingyang Sect is the Faxiang Sect, which sits in the Yong Province and guards the gateway to the Western Regions!

Yong Province is wealthy, but the Western Regions is a desert, known as Mohe Yanqi.

Countless ascetics of the Faxiang Sect practice in the quicksand year-round, never concerning themselves with worldly affairs!

It is precisely because the practitioners of the Faxiang Sect do not concern themselves with worldly affairs that, for thousands of years, they have never clashed with the Qingyang Sect, allowing the two great powers to coexist in peace!

However, regarding the Soul Technique, there has always been a saying: the art of the Divine Soul originates from the Western Regions!

Duan Rong finished painting the portraits of the Four Great Wisdom Kings one by one and placed them on the bed to dry!

Afterward, he took out the medicinal liquid obtained from Ximen Kankan; Duan Rong poured the liquid into a porcelain trough, and the liquid, having been mixed with some unknown substance, unexpectedly emitted a faint, lingering fragrance!

Duan Rong used a paintbrush to dip into the black medicinal liquid and began to smear it onto the portrait of the Immovable Wisdom King!

He would not, like Ximen Kankan, turn the portrait directly into an ugly scribble, but rather spent some thought to transform the deity painting into a Mountain and Water Painting.

The body of the Immovable Wisdom King became the main peak, the two shoulders became the side peaks, the legs crossed in meditation became a lake, and then he embellished the empty spaces with forests and streams!

A rather magnificent Mountain and Water Painting thus concealed the deity portrait!

This was exactly what Duan Rong had conceived: the hidden Mandala!

(End of this chapter)