Chapter 196 - 196 178 Advancement

Words : 1563 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

196: Chapter 178 Advancement 196: Chapter 178 Advancement The inauguration ceremony for the Court Gardener’s position isn’t difficult; it merely requires one to create an art piece that satisfies the “Deity”. However, the hardware requirement for the 2-tier Gardener’s profession, a long list of occupation prerequisites, is decidedly exaggerated. Lu Ping’an asked about it. This requirement includes reaching an extraordinarily high level in the “Gardener” and “Scholar” professions, possessing spatial ability, and a certain level of artistic skill. If one had to start from scratch, it would take someone of normal talent at least ten years. It was like the hardware requirement of a third-tier profession. A typical 2-tier profession only needs the accumulation and foundation of a single profession. What the Court Gardener needs is the accumulation of “three professions”. However, higher requirements mean that this profession’s ability is a composite of “multi-paths”, “multi-professions”, which implies a high demand and a high ceiling for its professional skills and abnormal abilities. “The more solid one’s foundation, the farther one can go. This profession demands so much… I hope it won’t disappoint me.” Lu Ping’an had prepared a lot along the way, and only at this moment did he finally assemble all the components. Finally, it was time to complete the advancement ceremony. He had prepared everything beforehand, and he now only needed to lay it all out. The first thing he hung up was a small painting, a “divine image” that Brother Guan had procured for him, and it was to witness the ceremony. It was a fairly simple ink wash painting; loose and casual brushstrokes, freehand-like splashing-ink style, sketching out majestic mountains. Exquisite water, vast mountains, boundless greenery, and the elusive fairy aura between clouds and fog; the minimalist brushstrokes left a deep impression. However, when Lu Ping’an got the painting, he looked at it for a long time and only asked one question. “Is this the divine image of Pavilion Master? But where’s the fairy?” “In the pavilion.” Oh, inside the pavilion? So you can’t see the fairy clearly? “Oh, where’s the pavilion?” “At the bridge, by the lake.” “…Where’s the bridge? And the lake?” “The bridge is under the overlapped mountains, the lake is at the source of the water.” “Under the mountain? I can only see the top of the mountain… Forget it, don’t mind my question, this is freehand painting? It’s quite philosophical…” When he got this painting, Lu Ping’an really thought Brother Guan was joking. But later he found out, it is a habit of the “Pavilion Master”. You cannot find the deity in its paintings or divine images. Is this a taboo, or a fetish? “Don’t try to think or understand. The more you attempt to find logic in it, the faster you’ll go mad. Just try to comprehend it,” Brother said vaguely. Fortunately, the ceremony itself was quite simple. Lu Ping’an took a deep breath and took out an oil painting. It was the work he was most satisfied with these days. It was a doodle-like landscape, the whole world has only four colors: black, white, red, and gold. Black represents living persons or dead ghosts. White represents blanks left. Red represents tears, blood, and the endless sea. Gold is the only brightness in the composition, representing strands of redemption from above. “Redemption” is the name of this painting, but deep down, Lu Ping’an prefers another less lofty name-“Survival”. The black evil spirits in hell are struggling for the golden thread of redemption, trying to escape the endless hell full of blood. Each golden thread is crawling with various blacks, and some unfortunate ones are constantly being kicked down. They are fighting for the possibility of “redemption”, just like the evil people in Buddhist stories who are saved by spider silk. But at the end of the line, those hard-working “survivors” are crying helplessly, with a large amount of red seeping out from their eyes. The redeemed paradise above, seemingly full of white… but in reality, the “white” has turned into “life”, and the black has become “blanks”, still a purgatory where people eat people. A lot of whites are struggling for those golden chains, trying to escape back to hell. Black and white are fighting each other on the golden redemption, trying to compete for their own path, and go to the hell in each other’s eyes. Redemption, the dual cycle of reincarnation, boundless hell. To be alive is everything, in this world, there are no heaven or redemption originally. What is the difference between hell, heaven, and the human realm? There’s no doubt that maliciousness and irony are overflowing from this painting, Lu Ping’an himself doesn’t even know when he painted it. But since it’s done, and he’s quite satisfied with it, he decides to use it for his assignment. Lu Ping’an placed the painting in front of the portrait, and in accordance with the ritual requirement, lit seven candles arranged in a septenary order. “All the celestial beings, earthly spirits, ghosts, and immortals are all subject to manifestation. There shall be an immortal in the White Sea, whose name shall be hidden, governs the operation of Tai Chi, administers the mystical transformations, confines the mountains and seas, and annotates the rise and fall of dynasties …. ” After paying homage, Lu Ping’an began whispering the prayer of the deity. The faster he recited, the more he found himself in a bizarre trance. He looked up at the portrait on the wall, inexplicably lost in a daze, the world within the painting seemed to get closer, getting clearer and clearer. After crossing the mountains and passing one peak after another, he saw the Secret Realm nestled among the mountains. That is a miniature heaven and earth within the mountains, with a lake, water, and a small pavilion by the lake. His field of view was pulled closer again, from the back to the front, from afar to near. Lu Ping’an saw the front view of the pavilion, on the side close to the lake. There was an old man draped in a cloak, warming some wine while fishing. He suddenly looked up, as if sensing someone watching him, and raised his hand to the void …. In the next moment, Lu Ping’an’s painting fell into his hands. He took only one glance, seemingly satisfied, he nodded, seemingly smiling …. Lu Ping’an tried to observe more carefully and closely, but when he got close enough, he saw nothing. It was void, where his head should have been under the cloak was a black hole, an indescribable matter that absorbs all light. The hand he stretched out, that was clearly….. clearly what? Lu Ping’an found he couldn’t articulate it! But the most bizarre was that where his eyes should have been in the void seemed to be drawing him in …. “Lu Ping’an!” Damao’s scream brought Lu Ping’an back from his stupor. “A dog-like brushstroke, but, interesting, very interesting.” A whisper like rolling thunder chased after him, making Lu Ping’an feel dizzy. [Ding, congratulations to the host …] Before Lu Ping’an could check it out, everything before his eyes started to distort. The sky was the sea, the sea was land, the mountain was wind, the wind was water, the boundaries of elements and rules were all twisted. Severe dizziness knocked him down, the unconscious Lu Ping’an experienced a corrosive influence of powerful pollution, but in the next moment, the pollution reorganized itself into order. Under the orbit of the “Deity”, Lu Ping’an embarked on the transformation towards the 2-tier. In the infinite mire, the young man sat cross-legged, and his pupils flashed with the mysterious reincarnation that was sometimes turbid and sometimes calm. Yet the adjacent room, which seemed quite near, was as if nothing had happened. While this “sleep”, or so-called sharp change, completely baptized his body. He was being dissolved and reconstituted, with the Body of Ten Thousand Spirits becoming his foundation, by the time everything was shed, he had completed his metamorphosis thoroughly. By this point, he was awake, although he still couldn’t move, but he assured himself that he was alive. The struggle lasted a full two hours, during which Lu Ping’an constantly doubted his sanity…he knew that to ensure safety during the process of Advancement, it’s best to stay sane throughout. “Didn’t they say, such high-risk Advancement only occurs after reaching the third-tier?” There is the risk of either death or mutation in advancement, but supposedly, it wouldn’t happen at the 2-tier. But apparently, Lu Ping’an’s “Path” is a bit different. His ritual seemed normal, but Lu Ping’an always felt that something went wrong.. At this point, Lu Ping’an could finally spare some time to check out the series of system notifications. Just the beginning made him smile in satisfaction. [Ding, Congratulations to the host. Successful Advancement to Court Gardener (2-tier Gardener)] [Review of your work (Virtual Persona of Pavilion Master): Your technique is not up to standard, the expression is satisfactory, overall barely satisfactory. I look forward to your future works, but you should visit the mental health department next door regularly, only with a healthy mind and body can one create healthy work… of course, you don’t have to go, I look forward more to the work you’d make if you give up on treatment.]

Chapter 196 - 196 178 Advancement

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