The Twenty-Fifth Painting: "Sun and Moon, Twin Stars"

Sangsang imitated Boya’s method of painting worlds, gathering energy within a bubble vessel balanced by the five elements. The light energy grew denser, a faint mist gradually thickening into a milky, water-like liquid. Sangsang watched without blinking as a vortex formed within the liquid, separating the luminous energy into two heaps, taking the shape of yin and yang fish chasing each other. The yang fish shimmered faintly with gold, the yin fish with blue.

The liquid contracted and solidified into energy cores. The golden, hot energy core was the eye of the yin fish, named Sun; the blue, cool energy core was the eye of the yang fish, named Moon. The two energy cores pursued and influenced each other—so long as neither was completely depleted, they would gradually recover under each other’s influence, thereby extending the lifespan of the creation.

“The idea of using the dual-star cycle for mutual influence is good,” Boya nodded in approval, then asked, “But how can you be sure the one who receives your work won’t be a dark energy practitioner? A successful work must suit the masses.”

Sangsang could imagine the result if a dark energy practitioner used the “Twin Stars of Sun and Moon”—not only would abnormalities remain, but power would be dispersed, and unchecked anomalies could prove fatal. Sangsang realized her fixed thinking needed adjustment. In the galaxy, dark energy was always considered evil, hunted and reviled, but here, no energy was inherently evil—only those who wielded it. Even energies carrying pestilence were openly cultivated; any comprehensive healing work must consider both positive and dark energy practitioners.

Dark energy here was not the cosmic, non-luminous force accelerating universal expansion, commonly called star energy, but rather the opposite of positive energy, including dark elemental energies. All energies beneficial to ordinary life forms were defined as positive; those harmful were defined as dark. Yet, often, harmful dark energy, refined by those with special talents, could feed back into the universe, and was popular in pioneering industries—thus, the community cultivating dark energy was hardly marginal.

All healing skills among the clergy had versions tailored for dark energy practitioners.

“I’ll make some changes.”

Sangsang held the bubble’s outer wall, and the spinning yin-yang fish inside began to dissolve, melting into a chaotic mass of liquid energy. The two energy cores merged into a small, spherical Taiji, isolating light energy with a spatial barrier to one side, then began to condense dark energy.

First, she gathered star energy, which accounted for seventy percent of all cosmic energy, its properties most stable, able to accommodate most energy fields and partition them without conflict—making it the best fusion agent. Star energy filled the bubble, turning it a mysterious, dark color like the night sky. The small spherical energy core resembled a tiny sun, and opposite it, Sangsang condensed a dark energy core, also a small Taiji sphere—half comprised of various dark matter energies for the body, jet black; the other half made of dark elemental energies for the soul, deep blue.

“Teacher Boya, is this acceptable?”

Sangsang handed her revised work to Boya. Boya did not answer directly, but tossed the painting into the air: “Main Brain, analyze.”

Amber light flared across the bubble’s surface.

“Why orange? Dark energy is suppressed by star energy—without contact, it shouldn’t be affected. If not yellow-green, it ought to be white,” Sangsang questioned.

Boya replied, “First, light’s exclusivity is too domineering, posing some risk of inner energy or mental depletion in patients—not entirely harmless. Second, merely suppressing dark energy with star energy is insufficient; wouldn’t you fear harming rather than healing if you don’t check the injuries first?”

Sangsang nodded, thoughtful. After a pause, she said, “Should I add a detection array to the surface?”

Boya nodded, guiding Sangsang to make subtle adjustments so the light and dark energy cores would automatically purge anomalies based on the detection’s results.

The faith medium “Twin Stars of Sun and Moon” was thus confirmed. Sangsang inscribed the law of equivalent exchange on the bubble’s surface—though both were learned laws, acquired rules were clearly easier to grasp than innate ones. Sangsang successfully completed the law’s inscription, but the next hurdle was purifying intent.

Purifying intent began with the law; purifying faith power, as with previously gathered faith, required secondary refining. Though prospective saintesses could seek outside help at this stage, Sangsang refused to let others seize upon her weaknesses, nor would she compromise.

Insight into the law of purification was urgently needed.

Sangsang took a bag of rule candies prepared by Senna, seated herself cross-legged in the meditation chamber, and placed a purification fruit in her mouth, feeling the energy surge within, her mind sharpened by divine clarity as lines of law wandered through her sea of consciousness.

Her awareness drifted infinitely close to the lines of law; she could see they were composed of intricate runes, connected end to end in groups of varying size, forming arrays that interlaced into grand diagrams, cycling endlessly…

Some runes were familiar; when she touched them, her mental power eagerly simulated similar shapes. Some arrays seemed reminiscent of healing arrays she had drawn before.

After a long while, Sangsang opened her eyes and took out a healing painting card she had previously made—“Bamboo Sea,” empowered by her abilities and possessing purification effects. Comparing the arrays in “Bamboo Sea” to those formed by the rule runes, Sangsang discovered that one basic rune array in the law was identical to that in “Bamboo Sea.”

“It really matches?!”

Sangsang checked three times in disbelief, but the result remained unchanged.

“No, Elder Qing’s healing array wasn’t exactly like this—it was similar, but differed in many details, and some strokes were omitted.” Sangsang frowned, drawing a healing array from memory with her mental power, then compared it to the one in “Bamboo Sea,” finally identifying several condensation points of mental power.

It was mental power completing the array!

She hadn’t encountered the law of purification at that time—why did her mental power fill in the law?

Could it be her abilities?

Sangsang suddenly considered a possibility: the basic theory textbooks at the Seminary stated that talent was the law closest to the origin; another theory claimed talent was the innate law uniquely bestowed by the universe, and mastering your talent was tantamount to mastering the law.

In the galaxy, supernatural abilities were equivalent to the talents of advanced civilizations. Sangsang’s psychic abilities were in fact soul talents—she could synchronize and control others’ thoughts and feelings. In advanced terms, thoughts and emotions were the soul’s expression. Sangsang could unwittingly draw others’ souls onto her pre-designed frequency, making them feel their consciousness was hers; she could also adjust her soul’s frequency to match another’s, silently sensing their consciousness and stealing law experience.

Had she possessed the law all along, simply unaware of it?