Chapter 72 The Wordless Mural

Lei Yao glanced at him and said, "Bronze-level supreme arts are extremely rare, representing the foundation of a first-star power. How could they possibly be placed here?"

Qiu Yingying remained calm; this was not her first time ascending to the third floor, so she naturally knew that the bronze-level supreme arts, which symbolized the sect's inheritance, would not be found here.

She gazed at the stone wall and said, "The Wordless Mural... I really do miss it."

This was a wordless mural the previous sect leader had acquired from somewhere during the last Demonic War. Rumored to be from beyond the heavens, it possessed unique properties.

Qiu Yingying had used the Wordless Mural before and thus understood its function. She instructed, "Junior Brother, place your hand on the mural and channel your vital energy into it."

"Alright."

Qingxi pressed his hand onto the mural and slowly channeled his vital energy.

A faint hum sounded. The entire wall trembled slightly, mottled surface shimmering with delicate light, and soon after, a scene akin to a starry sky appeared.

"That's enough, stop channeling. From now on, whatever appears on the mural—remember as much as you can." Qiu Yingying's voice came from behind.

Qingxi nodded and stepped back several meters, earnestly watching the changing images on the Wordless Mural.

At first, it was a constantly evolving star map, strange runes occasionally flickering into existence. Qingxi tried to memorize them, but found that as soon as he did, they slipped from his mind in the blink of an eye.

Very soon, the scene changed dramatically.

It was no longer a star map, but a vast grassland. Many figures stood proudly in the void, beginning a fierce battle. Strange patterns appeared in the air, vanishing in an instant, causing heaven and earth to collapse, and the entire image dissipated with them.

Immediately after, the third image appeared.

It was a magnificent seascape. Yet Qingxi still could not hold onto it, as if some mysterious force was interfering, preventing him from remembering; unless he could grasp the underlying mystery, he would forget it just as quickly.

Only when the third scene ended did the Wordless Mural fall quiet, reverting to a mottled, ancient stone wall.

"How much were you able to remember?" Qiu Yingying looked at Qingxi, her face full of expectation.

Lei Yao, meanwhile, fetched ink, brush, paper, and inkstone from the library, conjured a table from vital energy, and said, "Draw everything you saw and remember, as completely as possible."

"Alright."

Although Qingxi could not recall much himself, he had already accessed the information from the Wordless Mural and knew that his assistant had imprinted all three images into the system space.

He followed the impression, beginning to sketch the first star map.

Though his drawing skills were lacking, he still managed to capture all the essential lines and runes without much deviation.

Qiu Yingying and Lei Yao stared at the vivid scene coming to life on paper, astonished at first, then growing excited.

"Even I could only remember half of the first star map, yet you managed to recall the entire thing—unbelievable!" Qiu Yingying was amazed at Qingxi's memory and comprehension, inwardly admitting her own inferiority.

Lei Yao, his aged body trembling, praised, "Such astonishing memory and comprehension—you may well succeed at that so-called hardest five-star mission."

Qingxi himself was quite surprised. Without the system’s memory function, he would have been able to remember at most one-fifth of the first star map.

But for Qiu Yingying to have remembered more than half—she truly was a prodigy of the Xuan-grade.

At that moment, Qingxi noticed the lines at the top of the paper begin to glow. With a soft pop, the entire drawing suddenly burst into flames, soon leaving nothing but a tableful of ashes.

"Just as before," Lei Yao said with a helpless shake of his head, clearly regretful.

Qingxi asked in surprise, "What happened?"

"The Wordless Mural must have been left by a mighty figure. Each image represents a supreme art, but no matter how we copy or memorize them, or what materials we use, the drawings will always self-immolate in the end," Qiu Yingying replied with clear frustration.

The Lingyuan Sect possessed this stone wall containing supreme arts, yet could not obtain them no matter what they tried; it was a suffocating situation.

In the past, even envoys from two-star sects at the heart of the Yunchuan region had failed to comprehend any supreme arts from it; all they knew was that it contained them.

Over time, the Wordless Mural became a relic, left to gather dust on the third floor of the library.

"To remember the entire first star map, your memory and comprehension are outstanding. You should have no trouble remembering what’s on the stone wall in the Guluo Lands within half a cup of tea’s time." Qiu Yingying’s eyes were bright with hope.

"Are the stone walls inside the Guluo Forbidden Zone the same as this Wordless Mural?" Qingxi couldn't help but wonder. If the two walls were the same, then even memorizing them might not allow one to deduce the supreme arts.

Qiu Yingying replied, "The stone wall in the Guluo Forbidden Zone is simpler than this one. Do you remember the incomplete bronze-level supreme art, 'Sevenfold Sword Wave'? That’s what I managed to comprehend, though time was short and I could never grasp it in full."

Qingxi suddenly felt a surge of admiration for Qiu Yingying.

To comprehend the first five layers of the 'Sevenfold Sword Wave' in about five minutes—her talent was nothing short of monstrous!

After thinking for a moment, he asked, "Then, do I still need to draw the other two images?"

"No need. Your memory and comprehension are more than sufficient."

A smile appeared on Qiu Yingying's face.

As long as she could obtain the complete 'Sevenfold Sword Wave,' her combat power would increase by at least thirty percent. Even if she had yet to advance to the late innate stage, she was confident she could break into the top fifty of the current Rising Stars ranking from her current fifty-seventh position.

"Next, take a look at the techniques," Qiu Yingying said.

"Gladly," Qingxi replied, approaching the bookshelf and reaching out, only to find the ancient texts protected by a faint golden shield.

"That’s the protective shield left by the Sect Leader. As if you could take them out!" Lei Yao laughed as he approached, swiping his elder’s token across the shield, temporarily disabling it.

Qingxi retrieved the 'Qi Condensation Formula: Innate Chapter,' studying and memorizing it as he circled the bookshelf, activating the system’s scanning and memory functions to record the remaining five iron-level supreme arts.

Though he could not use them for now, he stored them away, hoping they might help deduce other supreme arts in the future.

At the same time, he began to pay attention to the information about the Wordless Mural.

[Type: Inheritance Treasure]

[Name: Totem Mural]

[Note: Created by the mighty 'Chongxuzi.' Though made of ordinary stone, it contains a trace of a mighty being’s aura and is indestructible. Within are three scrolls; comprehending each bestows a supreme art.]

"So it's a treasure left by a mighty figure... but he really is something, making you comprehend the mural before you get the arts. He certainly knows how to play," Qingxi muttered to himself.

"Ding! Inherited supreme arts detected. Would you like to consume Five Elements Origin to deduce them?" his assistant’s voice sounded in his mind.

Qingxi asked instinctively, "How much origin?"

"A flat price—one hundred thousand for all three images."

"You must be dreaming!" Qingxi scoffed. He had managed to save just over ten thousand origin, and now his cheeky assistant was demanding a hundred thousand—a true daylight robbery.

"Don’t be so quick to refuse, Host! These are three grandmaster-level supreme arts!"

"Wha—what! Only one hundred thousand for three grandmaster-level supreme arts?"

Qingxi trembled with excitement.