Chapter 124: The Resurrection Painting

"Business comes first." The Celestial Emperor kicked out three times in an instant, each strike landing squarely on a backside. As the three little ones tumbled into a heap, he dropped a curt, "I’m off to find Junshi," and vanished, leaving them scrambling to their feet, stamping their feet in indignation.

"While there’s still time, I should paint a few more devotion icons," Sangsang said. She entrusted Little Dragon Lord, Green Bud, and White Thorn with the care of Little Treasure, exchanged a few words with Tom and the others, and retreated into her studio with Little Jin.

The studio was protected by a space-time barrier where one day outside equaled two days within. This was the first space Sangsang had renovated after reaching the fourth realm of Space-Time. It was vast, rich in energy, and the floor was paved with thick, crystalline blocks of solidified energy. It was fully equipped with every painting tool imaginable.

There were supplies from the Galactic Civilization, the Tier 3 Himia Empire, and, naturally, the staples popular in the Temples. Of course, most of them were tools the Celestial Emperor had stolen, bought, or swiped while traveling through various civilizations. They remained sealed in spatial containers in complete sets. Sangsang would occasionally browse through them when she had a moment, but she rarely had the time; most remained untouched.

Sangsang still preferred the painting style of the Galactic Civilization, combining traditional brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones with refinements unique to the Temple style. Her works possessed a depth and charm that surpassed standard world-paintings.

She painted the healing *Great Snow Mountain*, the purifying *Sun-Moon Pool*, the meditative *Bamboo Forest at Night*, and the dual-space-time *Wind and Rain Through the Pine-Clad Peaks*.

As each piece was finished, she completed the subsequent rituals to transform them into devotion icons, framing them and setting them aside.

Whether it was the scenery or the properties, these were subjects Sangsang had mastered long ago, and she finished them in just a few hours. As her comprehension of various laws deepened, these works had transcended the Star-grade to reach the Void-grade. Even for those at the Profound-grade, the icons would be effective—provided their core star-nuclei were not damaged—though the effects would be more subtle.

These were massive scrolls containing their own internal dimensions, capable of housing tens of thousands of people. They would not be sent to the Danxia devotion district, but instead used to stock the gallery in Red Boundary City. The gallery had already opened to the devout and would soon be open to the public; there was a desperate need for new works.

The pieces sent to the Danxia district, aside from those sub-star-grade works that had been filtered out of the main collection, required specific "Resurrection" and "Gestation" icons.

*The grass upon the plains, withering and flourishing with the passing of the year. Wildfires cannot consume it all; the spring breeze brings it back to life.*

The boundless wilderness, shrouded in the laws of space-time, transitioned through the four seasons—spring growth, summer maturation, autumn harvest, and winter storage.

In winter, goose-feather snowflakes drifted from the sky, covering the grasslands in white. These snowflakes were the manifestation of converted creative essence. One would place the blood, remains, or bones of the deceased—anything containing their genetic material—into the snow and roll it until a giant snowball formed, then wait in silence.

In spring, the snow ceased. Spring thunder rumbled, and rains fell, melting the white snow into the earth. The genes nurtured throughout the winter were exposed, dissolving in the causal spring thunder. They sprouted alongside the life-giving green grass, transforming into fetuses within the creative spring rain. When the sunlight, which served to anchor the soul, shone upon them, the distant soul would return.

In summer, the vegetation grew lush. The energy in the sunlight shone upon the children, accelerating their growth, while the tether of the soul allowed memories to return with age.

In autumn, the fruits ripened, and the grass turned golden. The genes planted months ago grew to the age the person had been before they died. A boundless fire ignited across the wilderness, and the ripened fruits returned to their own world.

This was Sangsang’s "Resurrection Icon," intended only for beings below the Star-grade. Star-sky-grade beings were advised to use it with caution; if forced, they would be responsible for any regression in their cultivation and must return the consumed energy.

Crucially, those who relied on this icon for resurrection bore the burden of their own karma. It was most effective within seven days; beyond forty-nine days, only the physical body could be resurrected. Once a patient left the icon, the artist took no responsibility for further complications. One should not view resurrection as a fountain of youth or a chance to start life anew, nor as a purifier to wash away the karmic retribution of evil deeds. The icon was not a washing machine.

Sangsang believed that life was precious precisely because it could not be reversed. Resurrection made life cheap, leading some to treat existence like a virtual game. She could not change others' habits, but she could dictate the rules of her own art.

Finally, there were the works with "Gestation" properties. While creation differed from gestation, creating such icons for lower-level civilizations was not a problem.

Creation was bringing something out of nothing; the creator was a god, and the life created could never surpass the creator. It was not perfect for reproduction. However, by utilizing the life-force inherent in the act of creation to stimulate the vitality of reproductive factors, thereby increasing natural conception rates, the results were excellent.

Perhaps it was the influence of Boya, or the arrival of the Celestial Emperor and his companions, but Sangsang felt remarkably relaxed. She was no longer as cautious or constrained as before, and with a touch of mischief, she chose the attribute flower of the Saintess of a Hundred Flowers for the gestation icon: the *Hehuan* (Silk Tree).

It was not the silk tree of the Galactic Civilization, but a herbaceous flower similar in appearance to a lily. *Hehuan* were common in high-level civilizations. Like fungal spores, their pollen traveled on the wind to fertilize mid-air before falling to germinate. They could even grow in water, possessing powerful reproductive properties.

The leaves resembled those of a narcissus, and the flowers looked more like lotus blossoms, coming in white, red, pink, purple, and gold, with white being the most common.

There were no "small lotus leaves with sharp tips," but rather "lotus" leaves that stretched to the horizon in endless green.

Within the space-time of the painting, a gentle breeze swept across the lake, and the *Hehuan* flowers danced, their drifting pollen forming golden clouds. Each tiny grain of pollen was a creative array containing boundless vitality, nourishing the internal organs, especially those related to gestation.

At this moment, Sangsang felt a particular gratitude toward the Venerable Yuanmo. Regardless of his character or personality, the over three thousand laws he possessed had been of great help. Many of them were bizarre, chaotic, and seemingly useless, yet they could provide surprising results at critical moments.

For instance, the Law of Health Maintenance under the field of Life and Gestation was not about longevity or preserving vitality in a general sense, but specifically about regulating fertility, conditioning the body to the optimal state for pregnancy.

Lower-level civilizations emphasized eugenics, and high-level civilizations even more so. Once her innate ability selected this law—which Sangsang had long forgotten in a corner—she believed that even though it was only at the second realm and could only barely modify the reproductive organs rather than the whole body, its utility would make it a staple in the future.

Because cultivators of high rank no longer experienced menstruation or sperm production, and the exclusivity of the female uterus increased, pregnancy was difficult. To conceive, one first needed to prepare a safe "warm bed" for the child; health maintenance was essential.

Beyond the Law of Health Maintenance, her innate ability also incorporated the healing properties of the Restoration path, in case of blocked vas deferens or fallopian tubes. She added the Law of Balance to prevent the rejection of the fetus due to incompatible attributes between parents, along with various niche laws to promote fetal brain development, boost immunity, enhance aptitude, and allow the fetus to be tempered by gentle energy from the very beginning.