Chapter 21: The Painter of the Path

Yun Mu did not know that her appearance had sparked a discussion among the people in the first-floor lobby; she simply held the form handed to her by the female attendant and arrived in front of the painting room on the second floor.

The painting room was very easy to recognize; after all, as long as she wasn't blind, she could see the wooden sign hanging next to the room's door.

Out of politeness, she first knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock, knock."

"Please come in."

A gentle male voice came from inside the room. Yun Mu pushed open the door and at a glance saw a blond youth sitting on a leather chair, wearing a pale gold monocle.

"May I ask if you are Mr. Sixin?" she asked, looking at the blond youth.

"I am." Sixin smiled. He saw the form in Yun Mu's hand and said, "You are here to apply for the painter qualification, right?"

"Mm."

Yun Mu nodded, then handed the form to him.

"Miss Yun, is it?" After carefully reading the form, Sixin looked at her and said, "The tools are over there; you can begin now."

Yun Mu looked in the direction Sixin was pointing and saw a Painting Board placed there, with various painting tools and colorful paints beside it.

"What should I paint?"

Yun Mu sat on the stool in front of the Painting Board and thought as she looked at the blank surface.

If this were before she transmigrated, she would have painted a very exquisite two-dimensional young girl without hesitation, but this was not Earth after all, and aesthetic styles might be different.

It wasn't that she couldn't paint a two-dimensional young girl, just not right now.

After all, for her current self, the most important thing should be how to pass the assessment of the blond youth in front of her and become an official painter of the Painter Association.

How about painting the examiner in front of her? Would that be a bit too much like bootlicking?

After thinking it over carefully, Yun Mu rejected this idea.

"What can I paint to showcase my technique... hmm?"

Suddenly, a large number of scenes from last night's dream surfaced in Yun Mu's mind.

Countless Scarlet 【colors】 carrying an excessive amount of information trash were crazily impacting her consciousness!

Rotten soil was breeding, and terrifying pollution dyed the earth and sky red.

An ancient existence &*￥#%@

"Meow!"

Suddenly, a familiar cat's cry came from the depths of her memory. Yun Mu snapped back to reality, looking at the painting in front of her with a pale face.

She saw that the originally fair Painting Paper was now covered with a large number of Scarlet lines. Under that seemingly distorted blood-red sky, pairs of withered palms were drilling out from the grayish-white rotten soil, tightly entwining the young girl who was sleeping with her eyes closed in the center of the painting.

Yun Mu looked at the young girl in the painting, entwined by pairs of withered palms, and felt a chill in her hands and feet.

Because the young girl sleeping in the painting was none other than herself!

【You recall the memories sealed in your sleep.】

【Path【Scarlet】 points +1.】

【Scarlet lv1——Scarlet lv2】

【Your maximum HP +2, Attack +2, Spell Strength +2, Defense +1, Tenacity +1, Dodge +4, Speed +1, Precision Correction +5, Critical Hit +1%】

【You have gained the trait【Fallen】】

【Damage dealt to all of the same kind +15%】

【When you learn any skills related to words like Evil, Fallen, etc., learning efficiency is significantly increased.】

【You have gained the favor of Evil, but at the same time, you will be more easily viewed with hostility by Justice.】

【When you perform actions that align with being Fallen, you gain experience points based on the degree of the fall.】

【You have gained the active skill【Evil Mark】】

【Evil Mark lv1】

【Ranged/Single Target Damage/Spell Strength】

【Range 8】

【Base Precision 110/Damage Correction -100%/【Mark】 Target】

【Mark: Damage taken +10%, Critical hit rate taken +5%】

The game's prompts refreshed in Yun Mu's mind like a waterfall. At the same time, a familiar power burst forth from within her body, continuously strengthening her physique.

Besides this, a mysterious spell appeared in Yun Mu's mind.

That's right, this spell was exactly the skill【Evil Mark】mentioned in the game prompt.

Unlike in the game, using this skill in reality could continuously reduce a person's output of positive emotions while crazily magnifying the negative emotions and Desires in their heart.

This included Fear, anger, sadness, jealousy, greed, lust, and so on.

"So a level increase in the Path can bring such huge gains. No wonder Lita said the Path is a stepping stone to entering the Supernatural realm."

Not only that, she could also feel that a Profane, Evil, and mysterious special power had taken root in her body, but her level was currently too low, so that power could not yet truly awaken.

"Miss Yun?" Sixin's voice pulled Yun Mu back to reality.

He had arrived behind her at some point and was now looking at the painting on the Painting Paper with a solemn expression.

"Guard your heart and mind; do not drown in the Abyss of Darkness," he suddenly said, a nonsensical remark.

But Yun Mu seemed to understand what he meant.

"You can tell?" she asked him cryptically.

"Of course." Sixin nodded. He moved the chair from in front of another Painting Board to her side, then sat down and tapped the Painting Board in front of her with his finger.

"This is a very typical symptom of being influenced by a higher-order life form," he said.

"Artists are usually more prone to expressing this state of being influenced through their works."

"Many artists who do not understand the Supernatural world often mistake this for their own inspiration, or perhaps a Gift from some deity, until they fall into a state of absolute, fanatical worship from which they cannot extricate themselves."

"Apologies." Yun Mu suddenly interrupted the other party and said, "May I ask who you are?"

"Oh, apologies, I forgot to formally introduce myself." Sixin apologized with a smile on his face, then took a hat from somewhere, placed it on his head, stood up from his chair, and performed a very formal greeting.

"My name is Sixin Bodu, a Fourth Order Master Transcendent, with the profession 【Qi Painter】 and the domain 【Oil Painting】."

"Fourth Order, Master-level, Qi Painter, profession?" Yun Mu listened to Sixin's self-introduction, only half-understanding.

The other party seemed to have anticipated her reaction long ago; after a light chuckle, he began to explain:

"Fourth Order Master refers to the strength rank of a Transcendent, which from low to high are: First-tier Apprentice, Second-tier Elite, Third-rank Expert, Fourth Rank Master, Fifth Rank Champion, Sixth Rank Legend, Seventh Rank Epic, and Eighth Rank Myth."

"A profession is a specific set of Transcendent growth methods that people have summarized and researched; for example, my profession follows a growth process starting from a First-tier Apprentice, to a Painter, to a Painter, and then to a Qi Painter."

"And a domain is a type of special rule; the domain mastered by each person will be different."

"For example, even if we are both Qi Painters, the domain I have mastered is Oil Painting, while others might master Sketch, Children's Painting, Drawing, or other domains."

"And the problem you are currently encountering is caused by that high-dimensional existence you indirectly came into contact with, which is to say, a deity."

PS: After thousands of years of historical accumulation, humanity has summarized a great many Transcendent professions suitable for the vast majority of ordinary humans.

But do not think that this means Transcendent individuals can be manufactured on a large scale, because the birth of a Transcendent is extremely demanding.

To give an example, the 【Soldier】 profession, which is very common on the battlefield, requires one to survive at least three wars with a scale of over a hundred people and kill at least 10 enemies, as well as meet the physical fitness standards, before one can take the profession.

Afterwards, among the various promotion routes, even the most common 【Iron Guard】 requires one to raise a domain to the lv2 level. (This is the terminology in the setting; naturally, the official organizations in the novel would not have statistics like 'lv2'.)

(End of chapter)