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[Before the Age of the Decline of the Dharma arrived, no one knew that this world, rich in spiritual energy and supernatural elements, 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 apartment, a pen moved across paper.
The new script for Joey gradually took shape under Bai Yi’s pen. He hummed happily, his eyes sparkling.
“A perfect script, worthy of me indeed~”
[That was meant to be an era when extraordinaries flourished.]
[If Eastern martial arts focused primarily on physical cultivation with mental 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 meditation to harness mental willpower, connecting with the world’s principles and supernatural elements 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 mental rewriting; more incredibly, when spirituality reached unfathomable levels, they could leave spiritual imprints in objects that would last centuries.]
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[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 harmed by carefully planned schemes 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 became 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 extremely exclusive and closed off. Even among Spirit Forgers who cultivated spiritual power, different schools had distinct methods of forging spirituality, resulting in vastly different manifested abilities.]
[Because of this, many schools’ traditions were likely broken over time. Some smaller secret societies, being too strict in recruiting new members, had few people and might have been silently destroyed by enemies’ revenge at any time.]
[Due to strict secrecy and rigorous transmission requirements, 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 glimmer of hope.]
[But Spirit Forgers’ power came from spirituality elevated from mental willpower. Even when the Age of the Decline of the Dharma arrived and the easily manipulated supernatural elements 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 times the difficulty.]
[Powers that could once trigger mental 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, seemed 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 someone who uses magic or supernatural powers to cast spells, manipulate elements, 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 entertainment purposes, such as sleight of hand, card tricks, or disappearing acts.)
[Having become countless times 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 meteor showers with a wave, they wouldn’t fear a clown who could create a tiny flame 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 movements 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 times, when in some 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 became increasingly secretive about their uniqueness.]
[As time passed, the world’s physical laws grew stricter, and geniuses capable of harnessing spirituality to become Spirit Forgers became 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.”]
Meanwhile, on the distant side of this planet, a popular exploration program was being filmed. This episode’s setting was remarkably in an area from the former 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 fame but never achieved recognition was broken by immense pressure. In a state of mental 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 fame and fortune desired by all, the glory of public attention and worldwide acclaim, seemed 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.
“...Some 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 tormented 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 merchant.”
“That very night, the town sheriff died mysteriously, reportedly from a heart attack induced by extreme fright.”
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“The wealthy merchant 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 merchant’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 met good ends. They either died suddenly or went completely mad.”
“The painting thus became 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 theme 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 time 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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