At some unknown moment, the painting ignites.The intense heat warps the air before it, making the tree in the painting seem to writhe and twist. Thick black smoke seeps from the canvas, hazy and indistinct, lending the scene a chillingly real, three-dimensional quality. And the flames themselves, radiating an incandescent glow, now dot the branches of the charred tree like fiery leaves…[A painting comparable to a divine miracle. Your Sanity has decreased by 50.]Yang Yi's eyes—both his normal one and his third eye—are wide, locked onto the painting. He can't look away, utterly captivated.It's as if the flames were the final touch, the last piece of the puzzle. Now… the painting is truly alive."Immersive" doesn't even begin to describe it. Yang Yi is inside the painting.Before him stands a colossal, charred tree, forever burning, never extinguishing, never resting. It writhes its branches in the unspeakable heat, as if reveling in the ecstasy of the flames.Yang Yi is completely stunned, unable to move a muscle.[You are looking directly at the phantom of a Great Being. Your Sanity has decreased by 100.][You are looking directly at the phantom of a Great Being. Your Sanity has decreased by 100.][You are looking directly at the phantom of a Great Being. Your Sanity has decreased by 100.]…[Experiencing this miracle up close, you have understood the joy of burning, unlocking a supernatural path…]The scenery shifts.Yang Yi is standing on cracked, scorched earth, his own body engulfed in roaring flames. His skin has long since burned away. Only the sound of boiling blood and popping grease emanates from within him, a macabre celebration of this very moment."Is this… me?"He stares in disbelief at his own scorched, skeletal hands, and at the unquenchable fire that envelops his body.What an exquisite joy this is!He is suddenly seized by the urge to dance, to celebrate this moment, to perform a dance here that can only be danced once.And all around him, countless others are doing the same.They cry out the name of the great, incandescent one, dancing wildly in the scorching heat as they rush toward the tree. Then, right before his eyes, they turn to ash, drifting into the sky to become part of the black smog overhead."Lord of the Ascension of All Things!""Burner of All to Cinders!""The Charred Tree!""………"It has many names, and cares not what its followers call It. It simply stands there, radiating an indescribable heat, incinerating the fervent believers who are drawn to It.A man of fire brushes past Yang Yi, then stops. He seems puzzled as to why the person before him has stopped dancing. He looks at Yang Yi with empty, hollow eye sockets. As his jaw moves, black flames lick out from his mouth, and a devout voice echoes:"All things will eventually return to ash. Ascension is transcendence!""I'll transcend your fucking mother!"Yang Yi snaps back to reality, a raw curse tearing from his lips. At the same time, he raises the flintlock in his hand, aims it at the charred tree, and pulls the trigger.BOOM!This shot was fired in cannon mode.The illusion shatters. The scenery fades.Yang Yi comes to his senses and finds himself surrounded by fire. The entire studio is ablaze. If he hadn't snapped out of it when he did, the consequences would have been unthinkable.A large hole has been blasted in front of him by his flintlock. The painting, Charred, is now nothing but splinters, scattered to the winds. A cold draft blows in through the opening.Yang Yi scrambles to put out the fire, grabbing fresh water from the ship's hold and dousing the flames on his own body. He then grabs a charred wooden bucket, fills it with water, and throws it on the burning studio.Between the frigid wind and his efforts, the fire is quickly brought under control and extinguished within minutes. But not without cost. Yang Yi has burns all over his body, and his sweater has been incinerated. No warm clothes, covered in water—in a thirty-below-zero environment, this is a death sentence.He acts immediately, stripping off his wet clothes and drying himself. Then, while the residual heat still lingers in the cabin, he uses the cloth he has to synthesize a thick cotton coat.Pulling it on, Yang Yi finally breathes a sigh of relief. But he's still cold. The coat alone isn't enough to fend off the extreme chill."This won't work!"He has a flash of insight. He retrieves a cup of Scorched Wine from his stomach, scoops some up with a long spoon, and downs it in one go.As the liquid hits his stomach, an unbearable heat spreads through him. His skin stings as if on fire. It's no illusion; his body is literally radiating heat."This Scorched Wine's effect… is pretty damn good!" he thinks, pleasantly surprised.With this stuff in his system, he could probably run a few laps naked in minus 70-degree weather. No wonder Ma Hou wasn't wearing clothes—the man was too hot! Yang Yi is already starting to sweat, and unzips his coat for relief.Once he's sure he's safe, he checks his stats.His Sanity is at 3. His Pollution has soared to 9%. Thankfully, no new mutations…"Phew…"Yang Yi lets out a long breath. He never would have guessed the most dangerous thing in the cabin was that goddamn painting.Thanks to it, however, he now has a new supernatural path.[Experiencing this miracle up close, you understood the joy of burning. You have unlocked the supernatural path of The Scorched and comprehended the spell… Burn With Me!][The Scorched: You have become resistant to burning and highly flammable. Damage taken from fire and high temperatures is greatly reduced.]He also has two new spells, the second one being unlocked along with the path.[Spells:Fire's Healing: Consumes 3 Mana. Summons flames to scorch a wound, instantly stopping bleeding, promoting healing, and dispelling most curses, pathogens, and toxins.Burn With Me: Can be activated after igniting yourself. Simultaneously ignites all living things within a hundred-meter radius. Until the fire on your own body is extinguished, the flames on your targets will never go out.]"This is fire magic?"Yang Yi's expression turns ugly after reading the descriptions.In his mind, fire magic should be about throwing fireballs, or even bigger fireballs, to light up your enemies. Why do these spells work in reverse… requiring him to light himself on fire first?"This should be called fucking self-immolation magic!"What's more, using these spells requires chanting an incantation—the spell's name, shouted aloud."Fire's Healing!"Yang Yi takes off his coat to give it a try. Instantly, all the burned areas on his body erupt in flames. The stinging pain lasts for a few seconds before the fire dies out. Where the flames had been, a layer of blackened, cauterized flesh now covers the wounds, stopping the bleeding and preventing infection.In terms of effect, it's not bad. But the scars are probably going to be hideous.Yang Yi pulls his coat back on, ready [N O V E L I G H T] to leave the Courage.

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