Chapter 39: World Within a Painting

"In the torrential rain, two Meteor Fragments were pulling at each other, emitting a twisted and eerie dark blue light that pierced through the curtain of rain to shine upon the deck and the sea surface."

"A dull Roar sounded from the depths of the seabed, and a figure that blotted out the sky flew out from the deep sea, kicking up a giant wave nearly a hundred meters high that struck the fleet I was in."

"That was a dragon, the king living beneath the Shattered Star Sea, a Legendary creature—the Sea Dragon King!"

"It rushed from the seabed toward the surface, then leaped out from beneath the sea, swallowing the two Meteor Fragments into its belly in one gulp."

"Following that, its massive body fell from the air, once again kicking up countless waves."

"Our fleet never engaged in any battle with it from start to finish; merely by being affected by it, we were nearly wiped out."

"Fortunately, after swallowing those two Meteor Fragments, the Sea Dragon King disappeared beneath the sea level; other than the loss of our ships, no one died."

Edward recounted the scene of his encounter with the Legendary creature, the Sea Dragon King, on the sea in a steady tone.

"Old man, what happened after? What happened after?" Lita immediately pressed him after Edward stopped.

"After, huh?" Edward smiled mysteriously.

He set down the coffee cup he had wiped clean: "As for what happened after, let's wait until next time to talk about it."

"Old man!" Lita slammed the table.

"Calling me old man won't work," Edward glanced at her and said.

"Damn it, then when do you expect 'next time' to be?" Lita looked at him and asked.

"Why, next time, of course," Edward answered as if it were a matter of course.

He leaned back in the chair behind the cafe counter and waved his hand: "Alright, I'm going to rest. You two go do whatever you want."

It hardened; the fist hardened.

Lita took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the urge to give her old man a good beating.

"I'm going to train!" She walked toward the second floor of the cafe without looking back.

Seeing this, Yun Mu knew she probably wouldn't hear the rest today, so she followed Lita toward the second floor of the cafe and returned to her room to change her clothes back.

"Master, to the Painter Association."

After leaving the cafe, Yun Mu reached out to hail a Steam Taxi, and as she climbed into the back seat, she spoke.

"You got it."

The taxi driver nodded, stepped on the gas, and drove toward the Painter Association.

Once they arrived, Yun Mu handed the other person a Silver Frost Coin and stepped out of the Steam Taxi.

She pushed open the Gate of the Painter Association, walked into the building, and headed straight for the painting room on the second floor of the association.

"Good morning, Miss Yun."

Sixin, with his golden hair, was sitting in the painting room with his back to Yun Mu, holding a Paintbrush and slowly sketching something on the canvas in front of him.

"Good morning, Mr. Sixin."

Yun Mu first offered a greeting, then looked at the scene he was sketching on the canvas.

It was a gloomy wooden shack; the room was filled with Damp, cold wooden floorboards, with only a thin, dilapidated wooden bed squeezed into a cramped corner. Opposite the bed, a desk covered in mottled marks sat quietly beside a wall covered in green plants.

There was only one wooden window in the shack that had been blown open by the cold Wind, and outside the window was a cold gray sky and endless fine Rain.

In a daze, she felt a chill well up in her heart.

The air had become very Damp before she knew it, her ears were filled with the noisy sound of rain, and gusts of cold Wind blew against her face through the open wooden window.

Creak.

Suddenly, the dilapidated wooden window was closed by a palm, and the only remaining light in the room vanished instantly.

Click!

Before she knew it, a Gas Lamp appeared in the corner of the room, flickering with a Soft, yellow light.

It not only dispelled the Darkness but even the cold faded away along with it.

"Hiss."

Yun Mu finally came back to her senses; she shuddered violently, then looked toward the shack at Sixin, who had just closed the wooden window.

"What is going on?"

She looked at the surrounding environment in great shock; clearly, a second ago, she was still in the painting room on the second floor of the Painter Association, yet she had somehow arrived here.

"This is my Painted World."

Sixin watched her expression with great satisfaction and said with a smile.

This was the reaction he wanted; if he didn't show off a little, how would she know about the bright future of the painter profession?

The corners of his mouth lifted slightly, and he explained to Yun Mu: "This is the ability of a Third-tier Expert 【Painter】; it can create a false world and pull people into it."

"Is this really a world inside a painting?"

Yun Mu recalled the sensations she had just felt—whether it was the Damp, cramped air or the cold Wind mixed with the smell of the sea, everything was so real.

"Those were just feelings you imagined yourself."

Sixin explained to her: "A Third-rank Expert 【Painter】 doesn't have such powerful strength yet, but through the guidance of the painting, one can trick your brain into imagining the corresponding sensations."

"It's all just an illusion."

As Sixin spoke, he pulled open the wooden window of the shack, yet this time, Yun Mu did not feel any of the sensations she should have.

"Look."

He extended his palm out the window; the fine raindrops met no resistance after coming into contact with his palm and landed on the Damp ground.

"These are all fake," Sixin said.

"But if it's like this..."

Sixin waved his hand, and the cold Wind outside the wooden shack suddenly turned into a gale that swept in.

The light on the old Gas Lamp was instantly extinguished, and a large amount of rain was blown into the shack along with the gale.

Crack!

The dilapidated wooden window could no longer hold on, detaching directly from the wall and smashing straight toward Yun Mu's face.

Yun Mu raised her arm to Block almost subconsciously, and subsequently, a wave of pain radiated from her arm.

Yet, the very instant the sensation of pain surged into her heart, the surrounding scene vanished, and both she and Sixin returned to the painting room on the second floor of the Painter Association.

"This is your ID card, keep it safe."

Sixin took out a metal card inscribed with Yun Mu's personal information and handed it to her.

"Oh, oh, okay."

After hearing Sixin's words, Yun Mu snapped back to reality and took the ID card from the other's hand.

She then touched the spot that had been struck by the wooden window in the Painted World, finding no injuries whatsoever.

"Only a Master can allow items from the Painted World to cause harm to a real person; a Third-tier Expert 【Painter】 can only use this method to force an opponent to reveal an opening through lethal pain."

"Of course, you can arrange some real items in the Painted World, you know what I mean." Sixin said, revealing a sinister expression beneath his blonde bangs.

"Can items also be stored in the Painted World?" Hearing Sixin's words, Yun Mu asked, having suddenly thought of something.

"Of course." The other nodded affirmatively.

"I know what you're thinking, and the answer is yes." Sixin looked at her and spoke slowly: "As long as you become a Third-tier Expert 【Painter】, you can obtain a portable warehouse that you can carry with you; you can store as much as you want!"

PS: Sixin is actually just feeding Yun Mu empty promises.

The number of paintings a Painter of a different rank can bind to themselves is limited; it is fundamentally impossible to use all paintings for storing items.

However, specifically creating a painting to serve as a warehouse for storing some personal items is indeed something most Transcendental Painters would do.

——