[Before the Age of the Decline of the Dharma arrived, no one knew that this world, rich in spiritual energy and supernatural elents, would face such a day – when all extraordinary powers would lose their foundation, and the world would completely return to its most authentic ordinary state.]
On the second floor of a quiet apartnt, a pen moved across paper.
The new script for Joey gradually took shape under Bai Yi’s pen. He humd happily, his eyes sparkling.
“A perfect script, worthy of
indeed~”
[That was ant to be an era when extraordinaries flourished.]
[If Eastern martial arts focused primarily on physical cultivation with ntal cultivation as secondary, then Western mainstream extraordinary powers emphasized the spirit and soul.]
[With ordinary bodies, they excavated power from the depths of their minds, leveraging ditation to harness ntal willpower, connecting with the world’s principles and supernatural elents to unearth their own “spirituality” – the product of elevated emotions, will, and spirit.]
[By mastering and consuming spirituality, they could accomplish incredible feats – imbuing objects with spirituality to create extraordinary properties, what later generations called artifacts; using their powerful spirituality to twist the minds of the weak, causing hallucinations, contamination, or even complete ntal rewriting; more incredibly, when spirituality reached unfathomable levels, they could leave spiritual imprints in objects that would last centuries.]
[To ordinary people, this was no different from divinity.]
[People called them “Spirit Forgers.”]
[But they weren’t without flaws – their greatest weakness being their frail bodies. Even the most powerful Spirit Forger had a body and lifespan similar to ordinary people.]
[Due to this physical weakness, even Spirit Forgers with their bizarre powers could be hard by carefully planned sches of ordinary people. Thus, while the Eastern extraordinary world left a path open for ordinary people to enter with sufficient talent and opportunity, the Western extraordinary world remained more closed off.]
[In the Eastern extraordinary world, extraordinaries were geographically separated from ordinary people, often hidden in blessed lands and spiritual mountains. However, they would regularly recruit talented individuals from among ordinary people to strengthen their lineages. Thus, legends of immortals and deities continued to circulate in the mortal world. After Sword Master Pei Hefeng unified the Eastern supernatural world with his martial arts system, extraordinary power beca more accessible to ordinary people.]
[In the Western extraordinary world, extraordinaries often lived among the population but never revealed extraordinary secrets to ordinary people. They were organized into secret societies of varying sizes, bloodline-maintained families, and master-apprentice traditions, being extrely exclusive and closed off. Even among Spirit Forgers who cultivated spiritual power, different schools had distinct thods of forging spirituality, resulting in vastly different manifested abilities.]
[Because of this, many schools’ traditions were likely broken over ti. So smaller secret societies, being too strict in recruiting new mbers, had few people and might have been silently destroyed by enemies’ revenge at any ti.]
[Due to strict secrecy and rigorous transmission requirents, the Western extraordinary world remained a secret unknown to ordinary people. When the Age of the Decline of the Dharma arrived, its destruction was equally silent.]
[The different systems led martial artists and Spirit Forgers down different paths.]
[When spiritual energy was cut off, martial artists completely lost their power source. The Sword Master could only lead his followers to venture beyond the boundaries, seeking a glimr of hope.]
[But Spirit Forgers’ power ca from spirituality elevated from ntal willpower. Even when the Age of the Decline of the Dharma arrived and the easily manipulated supernatural elents rapidly disappeared, with strict physical laws descending like layers of shackles, as long as their will remained unbroken, they could still harness the power within their souls, albeit at hundreds or thousands of tis the difficulty.]
[Powers that could once trigger ntal storms could now barely create ripples after the Age of the Decline of the Dharma. Spirit Forgers, who once possessed powers far above ordinary people, seed to fall overnight from “magicians” to “illusionist.” Many couldn’t accept this cruel reality.]
(TL: 魔法师 (Mófǎshī): This translates to “magician” or “sorcerer” in the fantasy or supernatural sense. A 魔法师 is soone who uses magic or supernatural powers to cast spells, manipulate elents, or perform mystical acts.
魔术师 (Móshùshī): This translates to “illusionist” or “stage magician” in the real-world sense. A 魔术师 performs magic tricks or illusions for entertainnt purposes, such as sleight of hand, card tricks, or disappearing acts.)
[Having beco countless tis weaker, they could no longer perfectly hide among the population as before. After the first Spirit Forger was accidentally exposed, more and more “anomalies” were discovered by people.]
[Whether fortunate or unfortunate, their severely weakened powers weren’t recognized as those of extraordinaries. Just as people would fear a magician who could summon teor showers with a wave, they wouldn’t fear a clown who could create a tiny fla on their fingertip – the latter would only be seen as strange anomalies to be oppressed and persecuted.]
[…Bloody turmoil followed.]
At this point, Bai Yi twirled his pen, muttering. “It fits perfectly with how many Western countries had witch-hunting movents in history. And it’s quite hard to verify…”
“What’s true and what’s false, who really knows?”
He continued writing.
[…Even in today’s civilized society, people harbor strong prejudices against those different from themselves. This was even more true in backward, ignorant tis, when in so remote places, children born with strong spirituality were seen as chosen by demons. One can imagine the fate of these outcasts rejected by their own kind.]
[The surviving anomalies beca increasingly secretive about their uniqueness.]
[As ti passed, the world’s physical laws grew stricter, and geniuses capable of harnessing spirituality to beco Spirit Forgers beca increasingly rare. Countless schools and secret societies withered away. The remaining Spirit Forgers had to unite for self-preservation and continuation, establishing a unified organization – the “Artists’ Association.”]
[ –Because at this ti, almost every Spirit Forger maintained an artist’s identity in the ordinary world.]
[Under the lockdown of physical laws, most schools’ secret thods could no longer produce Spirit Forgers. They discovered that the easiest way to harness spirituality was through creating artworks.]
[Perhaps because artists possessed more abundant emotions, richer imagination, and keener souls than ordinary people. When they whole-heartedly created artwork, their spirit, will, and emotions reached a perfect state of elevation, reducing the difficulty of harnessing spirituality.]
[Traditional Spirit Forger schools beca history, and new schools erged. New Spirit Forgers called themselves artists, and the most powerful artists jointly established the Artists’ Association.]
[Even so, in this era of increasingly strict physical laws, new artists beca increasingly rare. As the older generation of artists reached the end of their lives, the number of new generations fell far short of those passing away, dooming the Artists’ Association to extinction.]
[ –Until only one person remained in the entire association.]
[This was a child originally deed to have absolutely no artistic talent, yet they forcefully carved out their own path. Their spirituality was incredibly strong – in this era of layers of world law restrictions, they could be called the “God of Art.”]
[When the entire Artists’ Association was reduced to this single person, they realized that their body would eventually decay like their predecessors, the departure of extraordinaries was inevitable fate, and their power alone was far from enough to resist the tide of the era.]
[But they weren’t willing to perish like their predecessors.]
[” –I was just born in the wrong era.”]
[Through days and nights of deep contemplation and experintation, having inherited the entire Artists’ Association’s legacy, they pored over countless schools’ Spirit Forging secrets and predecessors’ works.]
[Taking the essence and discarding the dross, they integrated all schools’ secret thods into the simplest Spirit Forging technique. Through the Artists’ Association’s treasured dark scripture “Sabbath,” they gained invaluable inspiration-]
[“Sabbath” was born by chance, created by a mad artist in a completely twisted spiritual state, sealing within it deranged and twisted evil spirits. Each of its owners inevitably suffered spiritual contamination, either descending into madness or being devoured by evil spirits. Thus, this painting remained sealed in the deepest part of the Artists’ Association.]
[But they gained inspiration from this painting.]
[Mortal bodies couldn’t last forever. If they could create a work of equal caliber and hide within it in spiritual form, perhaps they could endure until soday in the future when the world’s essence returned, having a chance to awaken in a new era.]
[“I reject my humanity!”]
[But this was millions of tis harder than leaving behind a spiritual imprint.]
[“Sabbath” served as the best reference.]
[This was originally a dark scripture considered taboo by the Artists’ Association. To create a work of at least equal caliber – such a work capable of confining spiritual bodies would inevitably possess twisted properties.]
[His task was to find a way to maintain sanity, preventing his spirituality from becoming contaminated and twisted like the evil spirits in the painting.]
[“The Last Supper” was thus born.]
[Those with good intentions and those lost in deep imrsion would ascend to heaven. Those with evil intentions and those who struggled against it would descend to hell. The more contaminated one beca, the more peaceful their state of mind. The more one resisted its contamination, the more unstable their mind would beco.]
[He abandoned his frail body and transford into a spirit within the painting.]
[This sleep lasted nearly a hundred years.]
[When the world changed, spiritual energy returned, and laws loosened. The last artist awakened from their long slumber. Those artifacts whose spirituality had been sealed by the Age of the Decline of the Dharma also “awakened” due to the loosening of laws, regaining their supernatural luster.]
[- During the mont when the artist erged from the painting, still unclear-minded, the painting spirit that had long been suppressed in “The Last Supper” imdiately fled with the painting, exhausting its newly recovered spirituality. After changing hands through various collectors, it eventually returned to its original master.]
[anwhile, this awakened artist discovered that many collections belonging to the Artists’ Association had sohow scattered across the world during his years of slumber.]
[Determined to rebuild the Artists’ Association, his first task was to recover the Association’s lost items.]
[- Especially the lost “Sabbath.”]
…
“Have you heard about the curse of ‘Sabbath’?”
anwhile, on the distant side of this planet, a popular exploration program was being fild. This episode’s setting was remarkably in an area from the forr world war zone, a remote region that remained largely unreconstructed after all these years.
Dark clouds hung low, and among vast ruins, an ancient castle stood like a twisted body assembled from severed limbs.
Wooo…
As the cold wind gently blew, the deep narration began its prelude.
“The story goes like this. Over a hundred years ago, a painter who spent his entire life seeking fa but never achieved recognition was broken by imnse pressure. In a state of ntal instability, he completely lost his mind and killed his wife and daughter.”
“Using human skin as canvas and fresh blood as paint, he created a masterpiece far surpassing all his life’s works – a family portrait featuring the three of them.”
“This painting was called ‘Sabbath’.”
“…He privately invited friends to view his painting. Those unaware of the truth praised him endlessly, hailing him as an unparalleled genius. They were convinced that many more would appreciate this painting just as they did-”
The fa and fortune desired by all, the glory of public attention and worldwide acclaim, seed about to descend upon this once frustrated man who had nearly been buried by fate.
However, before this bright future could arrive, this spirited painter mysteriously died on the seventh night after completing his work, in a horrific state.
“…It’s said that when found, all blood had been drained from his body, his skin separated from flesh and bone, reduced to an indistinct mass of flesh and skeleton, sitting before his masterpiece, empty eye sockets staring fixedly at the painting.”
“And people discovered the painting’s secret.”
– It harbored great evil within itself.
The painter’s bizarre death posture sparked various interpretations.
“…So said he couldn’t let go of his painting even in death, couldn’t abandon his dream of becoming a renowned artist; others said he was tornted by guilt and regret for killing his wife and daughter; but most believed his murdered wife and daughter had returned for revenge.”
—The evil spirits in the painting had tortured him cruelly.
“In the painter’s small town, rumors ran rampant. Later, when the town sheriff learned of the painting’s value, he secretly kept it, then soon sold it at a high price to a wealthy rchant.”
“That very night, the town sheriff died mysteriously, reportedly from a heart attack induced by extre fright.”
“The wealthy rchant also died shortly after. His cause of death was drowning in a lake while sleepwalking.”
” –But his children said he had never sleepwalked.”
“After the rchant’s death, his children divided his inheritance, but considering the painting inauspicious, they sold it.”
“For nearly ten years afterward, the painting changed hands, passing through many owners, none of whom t good ends. They either died suddenly or went completely mad.”
“The painting thus beca known as the cursed painting, said to harbor the most evil spirits that would devour its owner’s soul.”
“This is the curse of ‘Sabbath,’ and the mystery the of this episode.”
“We received letters from viewers saying people had seen evil spirits nearby, and brave explorers heard a girl crying at night. In just half a month, over ten explorers stayed in this abandoned castle nearby, all claiming to have seen the legendary cursed painting and attempted to take it. Unfortunately, all who said this later went mad.”
“We still don’t know where ‘Sabbath’ is. Whether it truly exists or is just a fabricated tale.”
“Our challenge this ti is three days and nights in the abandoned castle. To uncover the secret of the cursed painting.”
” –Is the rumor of the curse true or false?”
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