The door parted and dazzling sunlight poured in.
Chu Danqing used his hand to shield his eyes. He gradually made out a figure and bowed in a hurry. “Master.”
Chu Shidao also felt pained as he looked at his disciple’s shape. The Jade Blood of Vermillion and Black had granted him unbelievable talent, allowing him to produce works beyond his cultivation level, but it came at an extremely great cost. It truly took painstaking effort, or blood in other words.
“Let’s go.”
“To where?” Chu Danqing was rather lost. Submerged in the world of painting, he had almost forgotten about the battle.
“Cloudwisp island.”
Chu Danqiong suddenly jerked to his senses, and he remembered how Li Qingshan had gotten him drunk a few months ago. He could not help but redden slightly.
It was exactly after that day that he began to seclude himself from the world to paint. He had not left this studio for almost six months now.
His horrible behaviour after falling drunk must have been spread through the academy already. They were enemies after all, so this would be unavoidable. He just regretted that he had been too careless. As he gripped the painting firmly, he poured all of his humiliation and pent-up emotions into there. He had to teach Li Qingshan a vicious lesson.
Ah, how embarrassing! I hope everyone has already forgotten about this after so long. Li Qingshan, I’ll never spare you!
Uneasy, Chu Danqing followed Chu Shidao to Cloudwisp island. They discovered a large part of the bamboo forest had been cut down, transformed into fields or orchards. A few agriculture disciples were currently tending to them.
“What wasteful misuse.” Chu Danqiong snorted coldly. The serene, refined environment was originally very suited for painting. Unfortunately, it had fallen into the hands of a vulgar man like Liu Chuanfeng.
Passing through the bamboo forest on the path, they arrived before the bamboo loft. Liu Zhangqing sat on the porch, drinking tea. He raised his cup and nodded with a smile. Liu Chuanfeng and Sun Fubai were currently seated beside him.
However, none of these people managed to capture Chu Danqing’s attention, as the wretched Li Qingshan had strode over. A sunny, confident smile was plastered across his face as he greeted them with composure, “Master Chu, fellow Chu, you’re finally here.”
Chu Shidao nodded. He said to Liu Zhangqing, “Fellow Liu, here isn’t a place to battle, so why did you call us here?” This was about to become his school of Painting’s island. He did not wish to see it destroyed.
Liu Zhangqing said, “You’ll be fighting in the school of the Military’s Main Martial Arts stadium. The school of Novels has some objections to this gamble, which is why I’ve invited you both here to discuss it.”
Chu Danqing shot a glance at Li Qingshan. “What, you want to run away now?”
“Of course not.” Li Qingshan smiled and glanced back at Liu Chuanfeng. Only after obtaining a nod from this school leader who was technically in charge of the school of Novels did he say, “I just feel that this battle is very unfair!”
Chu Danqing said, “You personally agreed to it back then. What’s unfair about it?”
Li Qingshan said fervently, “Cloudwisp island is the foundation of our school of Novels. If we lose, we’ll obviously be left with absolutely nothing, and even if we win, we’ll just be keeping something that’s ours anyway. Master Chu, do you find that fair?”
“We only agreed to this in the first place because we had no other choice. If the school of Painting cannot produce a wager of equivalent value, then please cancel this battle, school leader Liu.”
“You can’t just cancel it because you want to now. What wager do you want? Mind if you tell me?” Chu Shidao stared at Li Qingshan as his eyes flickered.
It was true. He had never thought about a wager at all. He believed there was no chance for the school of Novels to win. There was absolutely no need for him to wager anything.
Right now, the kid clearly knew he was going to lose, so he put on a bravado to get out of this gamble. If he insisted for this to go forward, Liu Zhangqing obviously would not cancel it for him. However, he was afraid that the kid would refuse to participate and label the school of Painting as ones who were abusing their greater strength.
Since you want a wager, I’ll give you a wager. So what?
Li Qingshan said, “I don’t know either if there’s anything that can rival the value of Cloudwisp island, so why don’t you tell me instead, master Chu?”
“I’m just a poor painter. I don’t have anything of value, just a few measly paintings. This painting was my final work before retirement. If you think it’s appropriate, then I’ll wager that. If you don’t, then just forfeit!” Chu Danqing casually pulled out a painting as he spoke proudly.
Liu Zhangqing blurted out, “Is it the Heavenly Maiden Scatters the Blossoms!?”
Throughout Chu Shidao’s life, he was best at painting beauties. Not only were the beauties he painted absolutely life-like, but their expressions and emotions were no different from actual people, and they lacked the various flaws of actual people too. The beauty within his paintings had already surpassed the beauties the world could offer.
As a result, the saying of “Even three thousand beautiful women are unable to rival a painting from Shidao” appeared. Across all nine prefectures of the Ruyi commandery, he was renowned.
The Heavenly Maiden Scatters the Blossoms was his final work before retirement. It was rumored that before he had painted it, his hair was grizzled, but it all turned grey over a single night after completing it.
When the Marquis of Ruyi saw it, he became utterly attached to it. He was willing to pay a tremendous sum for it, but Chu Shidao said, “This is my disciple’s wife. I can’t just give it away to someone.”
If a bystander had heard that, they would have probably treated it as an excuse, but Chu Shidao had spent his entire life married to a painting. Even Chu Danqing had to call the beauty who emerged from the painting mistress whenever he saw her.
This Heavenly Maiden Scatters the Blossoms was a heavenly maiden of fate he had left for Chu Danqing.
When the Marquis of Ruyi heard that, he could only give up on it. He said he had to respect that.
The painting was unfurled, and all the men present became stunned. The painting was rolled up once more.
They could not even recall the face of the heavenly maiden. All they remembered were her drifting clothes, the falling flowers, and their beautiful fragrance. The small of the flowers still lingered clearly in their nose. The appearance of the heavenly maiden gradually consolidated, but it was the most beautiful appearance in their minds.
Liu Zhangqing’s thoughts returned to several decades ago all of a sudden. Back then, he was still studying, and it was the season for falling flowers. A young girl swung around on a swing, letting out laughter no different from silver chimes; she was the youngest daughter of his teacher.
Afterwards, they went their own ways. He had seen plenty of beauties before, even supporting countless beautiful consorts. Her appearance was not even beautiful, but the impression she left could not be replaced by any beauty, not even herself.
Time slipped by before he knew it, and the feeling from back then had already blurred. Now that he saw this painting, it suddenly cleared up once more; it was like it was yesterday, like it was this very moment. A glance back and a smile from her might not have been enough to lead kingdoms or cities to ruin, but it was enough to steal his heart. Even if it came at a price of thousands or tens of thousands of spiritual stones, it would be worth it.
Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 301-Chapter 400)
Dream Teller's books
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 1-Chapter 100)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 101-Chapter 200)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 201-Chapter 300)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 401-Chapter 500)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 501-Chapter 600)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 601-Chapter 700)
- Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 701-Chapter 833)