Chapter 22 – Building the Grand View Garden: Human Visualization Complete

Under the influence of the Burying Heaven Power, the ordinary horse Mu Lin visualized transformed into a skeletal warhorse shrouded in ghostly blue flames.

The transformation of the flying crane was even more terrifying. Its animal form gradually shifted toward a human shape, but the change was only half-complete—half-human, half-crane, covered in feathers, with a ferocious crane face. This gave it an uncanny valley effect, thoroughly frightening Mu Lin.

“…I’ll pass.”

Realizing the situation was beyond his control, Mu Lin quickly severed his connection to Sky Burial City.

But in that brief moment, his proficiency had already increased by over thirty points.

At the same time, Mu Lin could sense that if he continued to channel the power of Sky Burial City, his mental imagery would continuously evolve toward fear and anomalies. Eventually, all the ordinary things he visualized would turn into terrifying anomaly evils.

However, everything comes at a price; there are no free benefits in this world.

This time was no exception for Mu Lin. After his proficiency increased, he noticed that the sword he visualized now bore traces of bloodstains… bloodstains that could not be erased no matter what.

Even if the longsword was shattered and reforged, the bloodstains remained.

Although these bloodstains enhanced the sword’s power, until he found a way to counteract them, Mu Lin had no intention of channeling the Burying Heaven Power again.

“I’ll search through the Paper Crafting Scripture later to see how the predecessors dealt with such anomalies…”

All three cultivation methods were progressing steadily, while his ordinary skills advanced even more rapidly.

Over the past few days, even though Mu Lin spent most of his time cultivating, his calligraphy and painting had still reached the Master level.

Just like with paper folding, upon reaching the Master level, Mu Lin gained several traits.

[Calligraphy, 4th Realm Master (33/8100), Traits: Master’s Work, Emotion Penetrates Paper]

[Painting, 4th Realm Master (49/7200), Traits: Master’s Work, Vivid and Lifelike]

The so-called “Emotion Penetrates Paper” meant that when Mu Lin wrote, he could infuse his emotions into the characters he penned.

Ordinary people viewing his calligraphy could sense Mu Lin’s emotions—whether bold and unrestrained, joyful, or filled with grief and indignation.

The “Vivid and Lifelike” trait was similar to that of paper figures. The things Mu Lin painted would be as lively and lifelike as the paper figures he folded, resembling living beings.

With all three skills reaching the Master level, Mu Lin began constructing the palace and its gardens.

Originally, he had planned to create a Suzhou-style garden. However, with his abilities enhanced and a stronger desire to earn money, he gritted his teeth and brought to life the Grand View Garden from his imagination.

Relying on the memories in his mind, Mu Lin not only folded the Grand View Garden and inscribed characters in various places within it but also folded the maidservants to inhabit the garden.

He only folded maidservants and not the Twelve Beauties of Jinling because Mu Lin had developed some of the temperament of an artist.

He always felt that his abilities had not yet reached perfection and that he could not fully capture the essence of those legendary figures.

Due to these imperfections, Mu Lin simply chose not to fold them.

However, while he did not fold the Twelve Beauties of Jinling, he did fold his employer, Yan Yunyu, and placed her within the Grand View Garden.

Bamboo Lodge, Sweet Rice Village, Autumn Freshness Studio… each exquisite and elegant building and scenery collectively formed the breathtakingly beautiful Grand View Garden.

These scenes, combined with Mu Lin’s Master Grade Paper Folding skill, Master Grade Painting ability, Master Grade Calligraphy ability… the fusion of numerous skills made this Grand View Garden completely a place of fantasy.

Even Mu Lin himself became somewhat immersed in it.

However, though captivated by the Grand View Garden, Mu Lin had no reluctance to give it away.

Mainly because, in his view, the Grand View Garden paired with the Twelve Beauties within it would truly be magnificent and flawless. What he had now was merely an imperfect piece, and naturally, he was willing to part with such a thing.

“To fold you into existence, I spent several days, even delaying my cultivation for a while… I hope that person won’t disappoint me.”

Though he said this, Mu Lin was not afraid of disappointment.

This was mainly because, over the past few days, he had learned from Zong Xiu about some of Yan Yunyu’s behavioral tendencies.

This was something he had to do.

Some people take others’ efforts for granted—the harder others work, the more tasks their so-called superiors pile on, believing they were slacking off before.

If he encountered such an employer, Mu Lin would never bother exerting himself, only casually putting something together to get by.

Yan Yunyu’s personality, however, was the opposite. She might be arrogant, with a bit of a princess temper, but she was genuinely wealthy and willing to spend money.

As long as she was pleased, she didn’t mind spending Spirit Stones, which was also why so many people surrounded her.

  Thinking about these things, Mu Lin did not take advantage of his free time to immediately deliver the exquisitely carved and vividly lifelike paper Grand View Garden to that Eldest Young Mistress.

“Giving gifts privately, even if she’s pleased, won’t earn me any precious rewards… just like those wealthy second-generation heirs in my previous life. Even when they spend money, they do so on streamers with large audiences, enjoying the thrill of splurging and being flattered.”

“So, I need to deliver it at a lively time. This will satisfy her need for face, and I will receive tangible Spirit Stone rewards.”

…

Having made up his mind, Mu Lin set the paper Grand View Garden aside and continued cultivating the Taiyin Life-Nurturing Scripture while visualizing the Mindscape – Sky Burial City.

What made Mu Lin raise an eyebrow was that visualizing humans went quite smoothly—at least, more smoothly than horses or Paper Cranes.

At first, Mu Lin was quite surprised; he hadn’t expected this situation at all. But soon, he understood the reason.

“I am human myself, and the beings I see most often are also humans. Moreover, my biological knowledge from my previous life gave me an understanding of human anatomy.”

“Being overly familiar and understanding, I can quickly visualize humans… that seems quite reasonable.”

The most difficult subject, humans, turned out to be the fastest to visualize and Stabilize—this was something Mu Lin hadn’t anticipated, but it was beneficial for him. Thus, he stopped overthinking and continued visualizing.

To cultivate the Mindscape – Sky Burial City and to make his Paper Figures more versatile.

In the following time, Mu Lin successively visualized his own image (to allow Paper Figures to disguise as him and mislead others) and the images of some ordinary people.

Then, he also visualized some maidservants from his memory—to clean for him and handle trivial tasks.

Finally, it was time to visualize warriors.

But this step posed a difficulty for Mu Lin. A warrior isn’t powerful just because he says they are.

To imbue the envisioned consciousness and martial arts into the Paper Figure, allowing this warrior to manifest in the external world, Mu Lin needed his visualization of the warrior to be realistic and detailed.

Yet this was undoubtedly difficult.

After flipping through the records in the Paper Crafting Scripture, Mu Lin discovered that Paper Artisans used four methods to visualize powerful warriors.

The first was to actively learn martial arts and body-refining Cultivation Methods. Since one understood them personally, it was naturally easy to visualize them.

The second was to form a contract with a warrior and live alongside them for an extended period, quietly observing. Over time, it was possible to visualize a lower-tier version of the warrior.

The third was to seek out a powerful warrior’s soul spirit and directly seal it into the Paper Figure. This way, without needing to visualize, Mu Lin could obtain a powerful warrior guard.

Compared to the first two methods—one requiring diligent personal training, the other demanding day-and-night observation—the third method was far more convenient and efficient, representing a super shortcut.

But this was also why Paper Artisans often had a notorious reputation—manipulating souls was seen as evil by many.

Shaking his head, Mu Lin turned to the fourth and final method.

However, after just a glance, he dismissed it outright.

It was no wonder he reacted this way, as the method was far too dangerous.

It involved Mu Lin channeling the power of Sky Burial City.

The anomalous Burying Heaven Power would cause his mental imagery to mutate. As long as he channeled enough of this power, even if Mu Lin visualized an ordinary human, it could transform into a terrifying demonic monster, Malevolent Ghost, or Evil Spirit, with its strength skyrocketing.

In a way, this too was a super shortcut—provided Mu Lin wasn’t afraid of his soul spirit being corrupted.

“Better not. Until I master a secret technique to guard my soul, I should avoid contact with Burying Heaven Power.”

“Sealing Malevolent Ghosts is also out of the question—there are no Malevolent Ghost soul spirits here for me to seal.”

“Learning martial arts… I have no Cultivation Method, no time, and no resources to pursue dual cultivation…”

After pondering for a while, Mu Lin realized that the most reliable method for visualizing a powerful warrior was actually the second one… finding a powerful warrior to observe.

But this also required time, and time was precisely what Mu Lin lacked most. Moreover, without power or influence, it would be difficult for him to find a powerful warrior willing to reveal all their secrets.

“Am I forced to visualize my own Main Body and make do… Wait, there’s another shortcut…”

“I hope tomorrow’s operation succeeds. If everything goes smoothly, perhaps by tomorrow, I’ll know how to construct and visualize a powerful warrior.”

…

(End of Chapter)