"I heard that you got hit three times by Stone Elder for not paying attention in class?"
Zhang Yin looked at Song Yan with a peculiar expression.
Song Yan sighed, "Stone Elder's lecture was too profound... I couldn't understand it."
Zhang Yin patted him on the shoulder and said, "Forget it, go work on skin making. You're wasting your opportunity here."
Song Yan scratched his head and smiled, "How come even Senior Brother knows about this now?"
Zhang Yin let out a sneer and, coldly raised his voice, said, "It's not just me who knows?
The entire Shadow Puppet Peak is aware that Stone Elder harshly reprimanded a disrespectful junior!
This junior just happened to be someone South Bamboo Peak had forcibly placed in there!
Such a disgrace...
Don't say Senior Brother didn't warn you, go and apologize to the Peak Master."
Song Yan was momentarily stunned, but his thoughts quickly turned, and he immediately understood.
Gu Rufeng and Lv Hong's factions are vying for Stone Elder's legacy, and although neither of them holds him, an outsider, in much regard, they tacitly used the incident of him being beaten by Stone Elder and exaggerated it. As a result... he's completely out of the game, and it will be difficult for him to make a comeback. No matter where he goes, he will be pointed at and even ridiculed.
He could only blame himself for not being associated with Gu Rufeng or Lv Hong, yet being shoved into the "Linglong Valley Exotic Beast Association" at such a sensitive time.
'Truly ruthless.'
Song Yan silently lamented, then went to the mountain's summit, knelt before Cheng Danqing's stone gate, and respectfully said, "Disciple Song Yan, here to admit his mistakes."
Cheng Danqing didn't put on airs, nor did he make Song Yan wait long after he spoke. He directly asked through the stone gate, "Where is your mistake?"
Song Yan replied, "Even though this disciple couldn't understand Stone Elder's profound words, I should have paid attention in class and not looked down... losing proper etiquette."
Cheng Danqing was silent for a moment, then coldly laughed, "You are not at fault.
It's Gu Rufeng and Lv Hong who wronged you.
They are fighting for the legacy, not allowing any variables. Even if you are just an insignificant ant in their eyes, they cannot tolerate you.
Even if you hadn't stumbled, they would have fabricated something else to make you the butt of a joke.
Do you know why?"
Song Yan: ...
Cheng Danqing said, "Because you have no backing, so anyone who wants to bully you, to step on you, can easily do so."
Song Yan: ...
His thoughts raced, numerous ideas flashed through his mind, and then, with a moment of clarity, he said with a tone suppressing his anger, "From now on, this disciple is under Peak Master Cheng!"
"Heh... hahahaha... Indeed, a genius Skin Master with comprehension." Cheng Danqing laughed heartily, then said, "Don't think too much, focus on your skin making. You... won't regret today's choice."
Song Yan thanked, "Thank you, Peak Master!"
After speaking, he took his leave.
Leaving the mountain path, winter was not yet over, and a cold wind blew, causing his back to feel damp.
He couldn't understand what Cheng Danqing meant, was it factional strife? Or something else?
"Won't regret today's choice" is it just rhetoric?
Since Lv Hong is so against outsiders, then... as an Inner Sect Elder, is Lv Hong higher in status than Cheng Danqing? At least not lower, right?
Cheng Danqing's request to forcefully place him in the "Linglong Valley Exotic Beast Association", theoretically, Lv Hong could have vetoed it. Moreover, his veto would be easier than Cheng Danqing inserting someone.
But he still managed to enter the Exotic Beast Association smoothly, does this mean... Cheng Danqing has someone behind him.
This person behind the scenes has a status even above an Inner Sect Elder.
Song Yan suddenly looked up and saw a figure ahead.
It was a disciple's back.
The uniform on the back was embroidered with a double-faced visage, one side crying and one side laughing, mysteriously strange.
And dusk had fallen, with Earth Demon surging in the distance, an eerie red mist climbing up from the steep cliffs, the mountain wind whistling through thousands of caverns, making weird wailing sounds like that of a weeping woman...
Song Yan couldn't help but show a bitter smile, muttering to himself: 'I really want to run away...'
Caw~
Caw~
A peculiar shadow puppet crow had somehow perched along with the shadows of the night on South Bamboo Peak, standing on a branch of an evergreen old tree, gazing down at the young man wandering afar, silent and motionless.
This crow was obviously not an ordinary creature; when it appeared in a certain environment, it would completely blend into that environment.
Like now, blending completely into the shadows.
Not to mention Song Yan, even if Zhang Yin was here, he wouldn't notice a thing.
Yet the crow only had its eyes on Song Yan.
...
...
The next day, golden sunlight spilled through the skylight, illuminating the cave mansion where South Bamboo Peak's skin making was done.
Song Yan once again took out a piece of demon beast skin, put it aside, then picked up paper and brush to start today's draft.
When he focused his attention on the [Magic] section, his gaze naturally fell on ""Skin Painting Technique" (Great Success) (capable of Life Span Calculation)".
He had arrived very early.
So early that at this moment, there was no one else in the cave.
The cave mansion's dome was brilliantly lit, leaving shadows only in certain rugged recesses.
Recalling the unsettling feeling from yesterday, Song Yan decided to try it out, hoping to grasp some powers as soon as possible.
[Please choose to invest life span]
[You have invested ten years of life span to comprehend the "Skin Painting Technique," you have sketched dozens of demon beasts, mastering their divine forms, but how should these divine forms be manifested? You recalled a discussion you heard in Linglong Valley that day and naturally came to a conclusion: the eyes.
Only by dotting the eyes can the divine form of a demon beast be granted, the draft must have spirit, and the shadow puppet must have the eyes dotted.
You begin to attempt the final touch.
After a decade of honing your skills, even a casual stroke of your brush yields a divine figure in your sketches. However, when you try to transfer these figures onto the shadow puppets, you find they just won't appear on the skin.
[The Skin Painting Technique, Perfection]
Song Yan was taken aback.
He clearly had not solved the problem or discovered the method to transfer the divine figure from the sketch to the shadow puppet, so how could it be perfect?
'Continue.'
[You devoted ten years of your lifespan to continue comprehending The Skin Painting Technique, seeking the solution to the problem, day after day, year after year, continuously drawing sketches and carving skins.
In the eighth year, the answer you once thought of abruptly flashed into your mind.
Did the divine figure move?
The divine figure didn't move; it was your heart that moved.
You naively believed all along that the divine figure resided in the sketch. Even if you carved in perfect adherence to the sketch, you still failed because... the divine figure was never in the sketch.
The tree didn't move, the wind didn't move, it was your heart that moved.
You pondered, discarded the sketch, focused on the skin, and directly took up the knife.
You moved the knife like a pen, artfully creating a vividly divine demon beast map in no time.
You raised the knife, contemplating that eye.
What you carved was a Nine-Eyed Zither Boa, covered with eyes all over its body, even visualizing it left you somewhat dizzy.
You brought down the knife but failed...
'Continue.'
[You devoted another ten years of your lifespan to comprehend The Skin Painting Technique. You made some progress, but it never seemed enough...]
[You devoted another ten years of your lifespan to comprehend The Skin Painting Technique. Your progress was considerable, but it never seemed enough...]
[You devoted another ten years of your lifespan to comprehend The Skin Painting Technique. In the tenth year, you exhausted all your energy, entirely forgetting yourself, becoming like the Nine-Eyed Zither Boa itself. You brought down the knife; this time, as if divinely aided, you carved the eye, completing the final touch.
Just as you admired your masterpiece, a cold gust enveloped you, and the pupils of the Nine-Eyed Zither Boa turned with eerie life.
Then... the shadow puppet of the Nine-Eyed Zither Boa leaped up and devoured you.
You died.
[You comprehended the Soul Summoning Technique]
[The Soul Summoning Technique, Entry-level; Cultivation prerequisite: Fourth Layer of Refining Profound Realm]
Song Yan opened his eyes, slightly puzzled.
The Soul Summoning Technique should have been a part of The Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique, which is likely its most crucial component.
Compared to the Little Five Elements Silk Binding Hand, The Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique is the most important.
The role of the Little Five Elements Silk Binding Hand is to make your hands more agile, allowing you to handle the dangerous skins of demon beasts.
But how to make the skin relies on The Skin Painting Soul Summoning Technique.
Yet surprisingly, Song Yan didn't need anyone to pass it down to him; he comprehended it himself.
However, the Soul Summoning Technique has a cultivation threshold, and having grasped a Fourth Layer Refining Profound Realm magic with his Second Layer state led to an immediate backlash.
By giving the shadow puppet its eyes, it came to life and killed him.
That was quite a rarity.
'Realm, still need to find a way to elevate the realm.'
Song Yan sighed softly. In fact, all this time, he had attempted numerous times, only to become further convinced that "breaking through to the Third Layer of Refining Profound Realm requires certain medicinal substances."
'In a while, perhaps go to the marketplace to see if there are any clues.'
As he contemplated, other disciples arrived at the cave mansion.
Song Yan greeted them, then buried himself again in skin making.
He once more took up his sketch, drawing a two-headed wolf. Yet when the pen hovered above the hollow eyes of the wolf, he instinctively paused before hastily bringing it down with his previous level of skill.
The crow perched quietly on the dome of the cave mansion, observing this scene...
...
...
In the following days, the crow witnessed nothing unusual.
This crow, of course, was a special shadow puppet manipulated by Stone Seat Elder using a Secret Technique.
Though merely a crow, it was an intermediate-level demon beast known as the "Bodyless Illusory Crow," acclaimed for being among the best in self-concealment among its kind—a skill that could virtually deceive all cultivators in the Refining Profound Realm.
Therefore, it was naturally impossible for Song Yan to discover the presence of the "Bodyless Illusory Crow Shadow Puppet."
Stone Seat Elder, of servant origin, was obsessed with shadow puppet art throughout his life and felt a mystical connection to matters related to shadow puppets.
For example, one day, he felt that the little disciple from South Bamboo Peak seemed to have realized something but didn't dare to speak because of the circumstances. Therefore, he deliberately knocked three times to see if the other was clever enough to visit during the dead of night.
But in the end, nothing happened.
Yet he still sensed something was amiss, so he purposely used the shadow puppet secret technique to control the "Bodyless Illusory Crow" to spy on him.
But after days of spying, there was still nothing out of the ordinary.
Logically, Stone Seat Elder should have left.
However, he stubbornly felt something was not quite right; the boy's brush stroke and final touch for eyes seemed inconsequential to him, merely beginner's dabbling...
Nonetheless, something indescribable lingered about the way the boy held the brush.
In the past, he wouldn't have had the leisure to follow a junior. But as he aged, approaching his life's end, a bit of childish curiosity arose, finding the act of trailing this young one rather intriguing.
Nonetheless, Stone Seat Elder's patience had finally been depleted.
'Forget it, no more pretending, time to lay our cards on the table and directly ask.'