At so unknown mont, the painting caught fire.
Under the intense heat, the air in front of the painting warped, making it seem as if the tree within was constantly twisting.
Thick black smoke seeped from the painting, hazy and indistinct, rendering the scene before him eerily vivid and three-dinsional.
And those flas — blazing with scorching light—adorned the charred tree’s trunk like leaves...
【A painting akin to a divine miracle. Sanity -50.】
Yang Yi’s eyes widened, his three mystical eyes and his mortal ones all locked onto the painting, unable to move, utterly captivated.
Only then, with the touch of fire, was the painting truly complete — its final puzzle piece falling into place.
And then...it ca to life!
To say it was imrsive was no longer accurate, because Yang Yi had actually stepped into the painting!
Before him stood a towering, charred tree, eternally burning — never extinguishing, never ceasing!
Its branches writhed within the indescribable heat, as though reveling in the ecstasy of the flas.
Yang Yi was shaken to his core, his entire body frozen in place.
【Gazing upon the shadow of a great existence. Sanity -100】
【Gazing upon the shadow of a great existence. Sanity -100】【Gazing upon the shadow of a great existence. Sanity -100】
...
【Experiencing a miracle up close, you understand the rapture of burning — Extraordinary Path unlocked...】
The scene shifted.
Yang Yi now stood upon cracked, scorched earth, his entire body engulfed in flas. His skin had already burned to ash.
From within, the sound of boiling blood and bursting fat echoed, as if celebrating that very mont.
"This...is ?"
Disbelief filled his voice as he stared at his charred, skeletal hands, at the unquenchable flas that cloaked his body.
What an overwhelming euphoria!
A sudden urge overca him — he wanted to dance, to celebrate this mont, to perform a dance that had never been danced before.
And beside him, countless others were already doing so.
They cried out in fervent worship, twirling and leaping within the inferno, rushing towards the tree.
Then, right before Yang Yi’s eyes, they turned to ash, scattering into the sky, rging with the dark mist above.
"Master of Ascension!"
"Incinerator of All!"
"Charred Black Tree!"
"..."
It had many nas, though it cared not how its followers addressed it.
It simply stood there, radiating an ineffable presence, releasing scorching heat, consuming the devoted who ca seeking transcendence.
A being of fire brushed past Yang Yi and suddenly stopped.
It seed puzzled — why had this person halted his dance?
Its hollow sockets turned towards Yang Yi, its mouth opening and closing, spewing black flas as it uttered with fervent reverence:
"All shall return to ash. Ascension is transcendence!"
"...Transcend my ass!"
Yang Yi snapped back to reality, cursing on the spot!
At the sa ti, he raised his flintlock gun, aid it at the charred black tree, and pulled the trigger.
Boom!
The shot fired in cannon mode!
The illusion shattered, the scene faded.
Yang Yi jolted awake, finding himself surrounded by flas — the entire studio was ablaze.
If he hadn’t snapped out of it in ti, the consequences would have been unimaginable!
Before him was a massive hole — blasted open by his flintlock shot.
The painting known as Charred Black had long since turned to dust, scattered who knows where, as a frigid wind blew in through the hole.
Yang Yi hurried to put out the fire, grabbing fresh water from the ship’s cabin to douse the flas on his body.
Then, he picked up a charred wooden bucket, filled it with water, and splashed it across the burning studio.
With the combined effort of the cold wind and his frantic firefighting, the flas were quickly brought under control. Within minutes, they were completely extinguished.
But the cost was heavy — Yang Yi had multiple burns on his body, and his sweater had been completely incinerated.
No warm clothing, drenched in water — this was a death sentence in a subzero environnt of -30°C!
He acted imdiately, stripping off his soaked clothes and drying himself off.
Then, while the residual warmth in the cabin still lingered, he gathered fabric from the ship’s interior and stitched together a thick cotton coat.
Slipping into the coat, Yang Yi finally let out a sigh of relief.
But he was still cold. A single cotton coat wasn’t nearly enough to withstand the brutal -30°C chill.
"This won’t do!"
Thinking fast, he reached into his stomach pouch and retrieved a cup of Scorched Liquor. Using a long spoon, he scooped up a portion and downed it in one gulp.
As the liquor slid down his throat, an unbearable heat surged through his body, his skin tingling as if set afla.
It wasn’t an illusion — his body was actually radiating heat!
"The effects of this liquor…not bad at all!" Yang Yi was pleasantly surprised.
With this stuff in his system, he could probably sprint around in -70°C weather completely naked.
No wonder that old bastard Ma Hou never wore clothes — it was too damn hot!
Yang Yi even started sweating, so he unzipped his coat slightly, feeling much more comfortable.
After confirming his safety, he checked his status values.
Sanity: 3
Corruption Level: 9% —rising fast.
Fortunately, no new mutations had appeared…
"Hu~"
Yang Yi exhaled deeply.
He never would have guessed that the most dangerous thing in this ship cabin was that damn painting!
But thanks to it, he had unlocked yet another extraordinary path.
【Experiencing a miracle up close, you understand the rapture of burning —E xtraordinary Path unlocked: Charred One. Spell learned: Burn With !】
【Charred One: You beco heat-resistant yet highly flammable. Fire and extre temperatures inflict significantly reduced damage on you.】
And along with the new path, two spells had been added to his arsenal — the second one obtained automatically upon unlocking the path.
Spells:
"This is…fire magic?"
After reading the descriptions, Yang Yi’s expression darkened.
In his mind, fire magic should’ve been about launching fireballs — or even bigger fireballs — to burn his enemies.
Why the hell did the spells require him to set himself on fire first?!
It wasn’t fire magic — this was goddamn self-immolation magic!
And to make things worse, both spells required verbal incantations. aning, he had to shout the spell na out loud!
"...Fine, let’s test it out."
Yang Yi took off his coat and gave it a try.
"Flas of Healing!"
At once, the burned areas on his body erupted into flas, searing him with a scorching pain before extinguishing after a few seconds.
When the flas died down, the wounds were covered in a layer of blackened char — sealing them off and preventing infection.
Looking at the results, it was…actually pretty effective.
But the burn scars it left behind? Those would probably be hideous.
Shaking his head, Yang Yi put his coat back on and prepared to leave the Courage.
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