Hidden Moth

Kang Rulin’s figure was still continually dissolving along the broken arm, as if turning into invisible light smoke... the area of annihilation had gradually spread to his shoulder blade and front chest.

Kang Rulin nodded slightly and said, "Elder Hu truly has remarkable means. I’m impressed!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his entire body seemed to be swallowed in an instant by invisible flames, without leaving behind a single speck of ash.

The spectators were all stunned by this scene. Could it be that Hu Weidong had won, and even cleaved Kang Rulin to nothing with a single arrow?

Yet Hu Weidong himself showed not the slightest hint of joy. His expression remained grim and vigilant, as if the magical combat was still ongoing, and the Fusang Bow reappeared in his hand.

At this moment he suddenly drew the bow and shot an arrow toward the sky at a slant. But this arrow did not leave the dueling grounds; it was shattered midair by an invisible force.

Immediately afterward something fell from the sky—more precisely, a person and a scroll about three feet long.

The person was unconscious when he hit the ground; someone in the air must have supported him with mana, or else he would surely have died in the fall. It was none other than Hailari, who had previously been subdued by He Kao.

The unconscious Hailari landed right where Kang Rulin had stood just now. Above him the scroll unfurled in midair, revealing a lifelike portrait, and the person in the painting was Kang Rulin.

But the Kang Rulin in the painting was dressed differently from just now: his hair was done up in a topknot, he wore thick white-soled cloth shoes, a crane cloak and ancient-style robes, exuding a transcendent air.

Strictly speaking, this style of dress would look more fitting with a dust-whisk in hand, yet the painted man’s right hand still held a hammer.

Once the scroll opened, the figure in the painting suddenly moved, actually stepping out of the scroll and walking up to Hu Weidong, like a living True Man! The scroll behind him then scattered into drifting smoke and vanished.

In the distant teaching building, He Kao was already dumbstruck, muttering to himself, "Such exquisite painted body?"

Mei Guyu beside him finally spoke up to explain, "Paint Body Technique, Zhanghua Scroll."

It was only a short explanation of six words, yet it contained a great deal of information.

He Kao had long heard of the Paint Body Technique—it was a kind of avatar art. One used special methods to paint a portrait, and it required specially made scrolls to bear one’s divine thought and mana.

The portrait itself was an avatar, controllable by divine thought and capable of using divine techniques. But it was single-use; once used, the scroll would vanish.

In theory, the upper limit of a painted body’s power could match that of its creator. But that was only theory. How far it could actually go depended on the scroll’s material, the divine thought and mana refined into it during its creation, and many other factors.

The more exquisite the painted body, the harder it was to complete. Its difficulty was no less than forging a high-grade magical artifact. Masters of this art could even make a painted body display the wondrous effects of certain magical treasures.

However, the Paint Body Technique also had two obvious flaws. First, the painted body’s actual power was often far below its theoretical limit. Second, once activated, the painted body usually existed only for a very short time.

This was not merely a matter of the painter’s cultivation or technique, but also of the scroll material’s limited capacity to bear divine thought and mana.

The painted body Kang Rulin had just used had actually managed to fiercely battle a powerhouse like Hu Weidong for ten minutes. This was not only a miracle—it was beyond imagination!

The most crucial reason he could achieve this was precisely the Zhanghua Scroll that Mei Guyu had mentioned.

The so-called Zhanghua Scroll was a special scroll whose spirituality had been sealed using the Divine Zhanghua Seal; it could be called the finest material for crafting painted bodies. The Divine Zhanghua Seal itself was the Sect’s Sacred Artifact of the Qi Observation Sect and had gone missing a thousand years ago.

A thousand years ago, Zhanghua Scrolls were used by Magic Sect Disciples to paint portraits of their masters for worship and offerings.

Ordinary disciples certainly had no right to use the Divine Zhanghua Seal. Scrolls were usually mass-produced by disciples organized under the Micro Realm Sect, then the Qi Observation Sect’s Sect Leader personally used the Divine Zhanghua Seal to seal spirituality into them.

If a disciple had need, he could submit an application; the Sect would issue him a blank Zhanghua Scroll depending on circumstances.

Since they were forged through the combined efforts of many disciples and produced in batches, the Magic Sect’s historical stores had quite a few finished blank scrolls, and many blank Zhanghua Scrolls also circulated outside.

Because the Divine Zhanghua Seal was lost, the Zhanghua Scrolls that survive today decrease by one with each use. Almost any time one is discovered, the Ancestral Hall will find a way to take it into safekeeping and will not employ it under ordinary circumstances.

After the Huiming Shi Family was destroyed, the Ancestral Hall also counted two blank Zhanghua Scrolls in their secret vault...

The painted body Kang Rulin had used just now was crafted by him twenty years ago using a Zhanghua Scroll; so-called miracles must ultimately have material foundations to support them.

He Kao finally understood what had happened and silently marveled at the price Kang Rulin had paid. Such precious Zhanghua Scroll painted bodies—this single wager of a duel had already consumed two.

Two, hmm? No, that’s not right! He seemed to have fallen into a trap of habitual thinking—who said the second painted body had to be the same as the first?

He Kao pursued the question: "This ancient-attire Kang Rulin painted body—was it also drawn on a Zhanghua Scroll?"

Mei Guyu burst out laughing. "Maybe it was, maybe it wasn’t. Anyway, I can’t tell, and I imagine those people over there can’t tell either."

Existing Zhanghua Scrolls grow fewer with each use, and crafting such painted bodies demands an enormous expenditure of effort. Even with Kang Rulin’s abilities, it’s impossible for him to have made too many of them—who knows if he has any left?

Even if he had more, he couldn’t afford to waste any.

The other spectators present didn’t have a commentator like Mei Guyu; many of them had never even heard of the Paint Body Technique, and were all staring, dumbfounded, not understanding what kind of miracle this was!

Hu Weidong’s expression also changed, but he pointed at Hailari and said, "What’s going on with this man?"

The ancient-robed Kang Rulin countered, "Is he from your Xiao Alliance?"

Under everyone’s gaze, Hu Weidong could only tell the truth: "This man is a Tier Five Cultivator of the Xiao Alliance’s Xingshen lineage, named Hailari... May I ask why he is like this, and why he has been captured by Senior Kang?"

He had originally wanted to introduce Hailari’s identity as the Xiao Alliance’s Intelligence Department Director, but after thinking about it, he still didn’t say it aloud. The situation felt very off; if mishandled, it could disgrace the entire Xiao Alliance.

Kang Rulin explained, "This man took advantage of the moment when you and I were about to engage in Magical Combat to quietly slip into the vicinity of the Stone District to set up an ambush, attempting to secretly kidnap the Stone Gang’s upper echelon... May I ask what his intention was in doing so? Does this not violate the terms of the gambling duel?"

His voice was not loud, yet it clearly reached the ears of every onlooker.

Hu Weidong felt a splitting headache; if this matter wasn’t handled properly, the trouble would be no small thing. Because the two sides had previously agreed that before the result of the gambling duel was decided, neither side was allowed to attack the other without authorization, and Hailari had clearly violated that agreement!

Only deciding victory or defeat, not life or death, was also part of the terms of this duel. Since the Xiao Alliance had taken the lead in breaking the agreement, did it mean that Kang Rulin could now strike him down heavily?

Who on earth had ordered Hailari, or was he courting death on his own? Hu Weidong truly wished he could kill Hailari on the spot! Also, it was fortunate that Hailari’s sneak attack had not succeeded; otherwise, the outcome of this gambling duel would have been hard to predict.

Although the tone and final result of this duel had long been set in advance through arrangements made via the mysterious Hidden Moth as intermediary, now that this blunder had occurred, Hu Weidong still felt far from confident.

He quickly straightened his expression and replied solemnly, "The Supreme Council has long since promised to acknowledge and abide by the terms of the gambling duel. I had no knowledge of this matter; I firmly believe this was by no means an act of the Xiao Alliance, but his personal behavior, attempting to provoke conflict and sabotage the agreement!

Please, Senior Kang, you must believe me. Hand him over to me to take back for a thorough interrogation, to find out what his intentions were and who ordered him. In any case, I will definitely give you and all relevant parties an explanation!"

For Hu Weidong, at this moment he absolutely could not allow Hailari to speak, and he had to strive to take this man away.

Even from a personal standpoint, no matter how much he hated Hailari, he still had to bring him back alive. He needed to demonstrate an attitude of honoring promises and assuming responsibility, while also preserving his fellow Sect member’s life and displaying unity outwardly.

A Tier Five Heart Stealer and Intelligence Department Director was extremely important to the Xiao Alliance; he had to stand from the perspective of the organization as a whole and do his utmost to resolve the issue, rather than act solely on personal likes and dislikes.

The ancient-robed Kang Rulin stared at Hu Weidong for a while, then actually nodded and smiled, saying, "Very well, I’ll hand him over to Elder Hu. Please, Elder Hu, you must give me a satisfactory explanation!"

Hu Weidong cupped his hands and said, "Many thanks for your understanding, Senior Kang!" After he finished speaking, he waved a hand toward the rear, and someone in the distance ran over quickly and hauled away the unconscious Hailari.

Only then did Hu Weidong turn and say, "Senior Kang, then our duel..."

Kang Rulin waved his hand and said, "There’s no need to continue the gambling duel. Just now I was opposing you with my painted body, but that painted body’s cultivation is not much different from my own. If we continue, the result might very well be mutual injury.

This gambling duel was only to decide victory or defeat, not life or death; to stop at the point, and avoid harming others. I think it would be better to treat it as a draw. I wonder what Elder Hu thinks?"

Hearing this, Hu Weidong finally let out a long breath of relief, because the result "arranged" by He Kao beforehand was precisely a draw with no winner or loser, giving both sides a graceful way out.

Hu Weidong had long been mentally prepared, but the others present were not; that the duel would end in a draw left them all greatly surprised!

At this moment, Kang Rulin was still only a painted body. If they were to have another fierce battle as before, the result would probably truly be mutual injury... yet a painted body could be sacrificed, whereas Hu Weidong himself could not!

As for whether using a painted body was fair? Since Hu Weidong himself had said nothing, others had even less standing to complain.

Kang Rulin knew when to stop; he did not press Elder Hu too hard, and he even returned the captured Hailari, which could be considered giving the Xiao Alliance ample face.

Was anyone opposed to this result? At least not on the Xiao Alliance’s side; even if there were, they would not publicly voice it. Would they insist on having their own Great Elder lose?

They only heard Hu Weidong counter, "If we treat it as a draw, then how should this matter be handled?"

Kang Rulin: "The Shi Clan People only seek a place where they can live in peace and stand on their own. As per the previous promise, all business in the Stone District will prioritize cooperation with institutions affiliated with the Xiao Alliance, and they will not take the initiative to attack Xiao Alliance Disciples or infringe upon the Xiao Alliance’s legitimate interests.

The Xiao Alliance must also not interfere in the internal affairs of the Stone District, must not unreasonably infringe upon the Stone Gang’s legitimate interests, and must not attack members of the Stone District without cause... I hope both sides can coexist peacefully and cooperate for mutual benefit.

May I ask if Elder Hu has any other conditions?"

Hu Weidong: "Based on Senior Kang’s proposal just now, I, on behalf of the Xiao Alliance Supreme Council, have two additional conditions."

Kang Rulin: "Please speak!"

**