A torrent of inky blackness surged within her body, finally converging entirely into her Dantian.
Zzt—
A soft sound rang out.
It was like a wolf-hair brush, heavily dipped in thick ink, touching down on rice paper.
Upon the originally brilliant golden Martial Dao Golden Core, a pitch-black ink pattern actually appeared.
Boom—!!!
As this ink pattern materialized, the Golden Core spun once more.
The vast, ocean-like Heaven and Earth Origin Qi from the outside world surged frantically into Jiang Yuechu's body through the pores all over her.
The True Qi, which had originally occupied only a corner of her Dantian, expanded at an alarming rate.
One time.
Two times.
Five times... The Golden Core settled, and the ink mark was born.
Jiang Yuechu felt a violent shock in her mind. A line of ancient, unadorned text slowly appeared in her heart, accompanying the turning of the hundred demons compendium.
Ink dyes the Golden Core to open the Chaos; the brush dances like Dragons and Snakes, startling ghosts and gods.
Ten Thousand Spirits bow to return to a single aperture; from this moment, the mortal body transforms into a Saintly form.
"Hoo..."
Jiang Yuechu slowly opened her eyes.
"So this is the Dianmo Realm?"
She lowered her gaze to look at her hands. Under the skin, faint light flowed, white and delicate, like mutton-fat white jade.
When she lightly clenched her fist, her physical strength hadn't increased much.
However, the biggest change was the True Qi surging within her body.
Previously in the Core Formation Realm, the Golden Core was fragile and couldn't hold much, requiring careful use during every fight.
Now, the True Qi stored was enough to last for half an hour if she used it sparingly.
No wonder the world says that if you don't reach the Ink Dot Realm, you don't know the true taste of cultivation.
Taking this step truly marks a world of difference.
With a thought, the familiar panel reappeared in her vision.
[Name: Jiang Yuechu]
[Realm: Ink Dot Realm (Initial Stage)]
[Dao Cultivation: Four thousand and thirty-seven years]
[Cultivation Technique: Ten Thousand Ravines Returning to Origin Scripture (Supreme), Golden Lion Overlord Saber (Supreme)...]
Her gaze shifted downward.
After the original Talent and Divine Ability columns, a brand new line of text appeared.
[Demonization Ability has been upgraded: Ten Thousand Demons Spiritual Seal]
[Description: Since the Ink Dot Realm was achieved using this compendium, all ten thousand Demons within the compendium can serve as Seals.]
[Special Function Unlocked: Heavenly Demon Performance Martial Arts]
[Description: A world forms within the painting itself. Dao Cultivation can be consumed to place recorded Demon Souls inside, allowing them to practice and deduce specified Cultivation Techniques day and night.]
[Note: Demon Souls placed must be compatible with the Cultivation Technique, and currently only Demon Souls at the Heavenly Perfection progress level are permitted.]
Jiang Yuechu slightly raised an eyebrow.
Ten Thousand Demons Spiritual Seal?
When ordinary Martial Artists enter the temple to seek a Spiritual Seal, whatever they obtain is what they get.
If they seek a Spiritual Seal focused on defense, they are destined to spend their life taking hits.
But for herself... *Hiss*... Thinking this, she gasped.
Looking again at Heavenly Demon Performance Martial Arts.
As her thoughts turned to it, the scroll surged within her Sea of Consciousness.
An ancient, simple Martial Platform appeared out of thin air.
Below the platform was a vast sea of clouds; the platform itself was empty, save for a solitary stone pillar.
"This is..."
Jiang Yuechu looked thoughtful.
If she understood correctly, this was a way to let the recorded Demons come out and help her deduce martial arts?
Although she currently possessed several Martial Arts, aside from the three Core Formation Cultivation Techniques she exchanged for in The Department, the rest were merely Bone Resonance Martial Arts.
She even had Martial Arts like Green Cliff Returning Shadow, which belonged to the String Hearing Stage... It was truly lacking.
She was just worrying that now that she had entered the Ink Dot Realm, she would have to search everywhere for Ink Dot Realm Cultivation Techniques and Martial Arts.
Even with the Demon Suppression Division's endorsement, it would still take time, and the resulting Cultivation Technique might not even suit her preferences.
But now... Jiang Yuechu licked her lips, her gaze falling on the selection box next to the Performance Martial Arts Platform.
A row of avatars was listed there, belonging to the Great Demons recorded in the hundred demons compendium.
Of course, the White Flood Dragon and the White Ape were both grayed out.
Jiang Yuechu pondered briefly, then locked her gaze onto the Tiger Demon.
"You're the one."
With a thought, Jiang Yuechu dragged the avatar of the Tiger Mountain God onto the Performance Martial Arts Platform.
Immediately afterward, she dragged both saber techniques into the Cultivation Technique column.
A flash of light appeared on the Performance Martial Arts Platform.
A striped fierce tiger, wearing a scholar's robe and holding a long saber, appeared on the platform with a bewildered expression.
It looked left and right, seemingly still confused about the situation.
[Do you wish to invest Dao Cultivation to start the deduction? (Ten years of Dao Cultivation/hour)]
"Ten years?"
The corner of Jiang Yuechu's mouth twitched slightly.
Although her current Dao Cultivation was quite abundant, it couldn't withstand such expenditure.
One hour costs ten years; twelve hours a day means burning through over a hundred years of Dao Cultivation.
Never mind... Dao Cultivation is meant to be spent anyway.
Jiang Yuechu waved her hand decisively, without any hesitation.
As the numbers fluctuated, the previously bewildered Tiger Mountain God on the Performance Martial Arts Platform seemed to have been suddenly lashed with a whip.
Its tiger fur stood on end, its eyes turned crimson, and the long saber in its hand was violently raised.
Roar—!!!
A tiger roar.
Saber light poured down like a waterfall.
Unlike the domineering and fierce manner in which Jiang Yuechu performed it, when this Tiger Demon used it, it lacked a bit of human touch but gained an innate wildness and ferocity.
Moreover, whether it was an illusion or not, Jiang Yuechu actually saw the Tiger Demon muttering to itself while swinging the saber, as if comprehending some profound scripture.
A line of small text appeared on the panel.
[Tiger Mountain God is currently deducing...]
She waited for a while but saw no further movement.
Jiang Yuechu took a deep breath, suppressed her thoughts, and figured out the mechanism of Heavenly Demon Performance Martial Arts.
As long as she had enough Dao Cultivation, she could even have several Great Demons working simultaneously.
The Tiger Demon practices the saber, the Wolf Demon practices movement techniques, the Bear Lord practices horizontal training... Is this the joy of a capitalist?
"Let's try something else."
Her gaze shifted, landing on the Green-Faced Gentleman.
Although this Wolf Demon was useless, she didn't seem to have recorded any other Demon suitable for movement techniques.
Without any hesitation, Jiang Yuechu invested another hundred years of Dao Cultivation.
Light flashed again on the Performance Martial Arts Platform.
A fanged Wolf Demon with a green face appeared beside the Tiger Demon.
As soon as it appeared, it turned into a wisp of green smoke, frantically darting across the Performance Martial Arts Platform, leaving trails of afterimages.
[Green-Faced Gentleman is currently deducing...]
Watching the two Demons working hard with grunts and puffs, Jiang Yuechu felt greatly reassured.
With this Heavenly Demon Performance Martial Arts, as long as she continuously killed Demons and accumulated enough Dao Cultivation, she wouldn't even need to search for future Cultivation Techniques?!
She casually tossed the Bear Demon and the Primordial Unity Qi Art in as well.
Just as she was about to select a Cultivation Technique for the Pig Demon, she paused slightly upon seeing the illuminated compatibility list.
The Blood Food Technique was lit up, which was reasonable.
This method was originally obtained by slaying this Pig Demon, but right next to the Blood Food Technique, another Cultivation Technique was conspicuously glowing with golden light.
Ten Thousand Ravines Returning to Origin Scripture.
Jiang Yuechu slightly furrowed her brow.
The Ten Thousand Ravines Returning to Origin Scripture is a genuine, orthodox Human Race Core Merging Art. For a Cultivation Technique like this, even she relied on the System to allocate points—could a pig possibly understand it?
"Tch."
Jiang Yuechu shook her head, suppressed the indignation in her heart, and still tossed the Pig Demon in.
At this point, all four Demons at the Heavenly Perfection progress level were in place.
Watching the four Great Demons working tirelessly, Jiang Yuechu's mood brightened considerably.
"Hoo..."
She withdrew her thoughts, slowly opened her eyes, and glanced around.
Huh?
Where is that old man?
"He left?"
Jiang Yuechu slightly furrowed her brow.
She had originally planned to at least say goodbye before leaving... but then she thought.
The Imperial City is full of hidden masters.
Anyone guarding this Martial Temple certainly isn't an ordinary person; they wouldn't have time to constantly pay attention to a junior like herself, who just entered the Ink Dot Realm.
"Never mind."
Jiang Yuechu shook her head, no longer dwelling on it.
Since she had obtained the Spiritual Seal and this trip was a Perfection, it was time to leave.
Thinking of this.
She smoothed out her slightly ruffled collar and strode toward the two tightly shut black rock doors.
She pressed both hands against the door panels.
Rumble—!!!
The long-absent sunlight streamed through the door crack, slightly blinding.
Jiang Yuechu instinctively squinted, raised a hand to shield her forehead, and stepped over the threshold.
"Lord Cui, I apologize for the wait..."