Chapter 34

"Old Saint, can you also enlighten immortal spirits?" Xiao Yu was both surprised and delighted.

General Guan General Guan Huchen, a mere "Western barbarian," could actually summon such a big shot from the Underworld?!

Could it be that besides the "Tiger Soul Seven Kills," General Guan Huchen also possessed even stronger Daoist arts or strange arts... Uh, no, that's not right; if General Guan Huchen knew the Soul-Absorbing Curse, he wouldn't need to ask a ghost messenger to "call" her soul.

And he wouldn't be so panicked and anxious just because she accidentally killed a mere little ghost, to the point of dragging her along to kneel and kowtow in apology.

General Guan Huchen lacked sufficient ability, yet he could find a Painting Immortal who could bestow a soul upon a painting—was it through connections, or just sheer dumb luck?

Saint Zhang laughed lightly and said, "At thirty-five, I traveled to Mount Qixia to visit it by reputation.

I stayed the night at the Bibo Qinglong Temple at the foot of the mountain and was treated to a grand banquet by the temple master.

In the midst of the wine and revelry, I suddenly heard someone outside the wall mocking the Bibo Qinglong Temple for not living up to its name, saying it had the name 'Bibo Qinglong' but had never shown a single trace of a true dragon's deeds.

At the time, I was quite drunk, and upon hearing this, I immediately left my seat and shouted, 'Zhang Yao is here; who dares say the Bibo Qinglong Temple has no true dragon?'

Carried by the wine, I wielded my brush and splashed ink, painting a flying green dragon on the courtyard wall right there on the spot.

I shouldn't have, I really shouldn't have; that grandson shouldn't have continued to provoke me, mocking my dragon for not even having eyes, saying it was too fake, far too fake.

I was also muddled with drink, and throwing the heavenly law of 'painting a dragon without dotting the eyes' to the back of my mind, I immediately picked up my brush and dotted the dragon's eyes."

Xiao Yu widened her eyes, "The dragon on the wall gained a soul and flew away?"

In her past life, she had heard this allusion; it was 'dotting the eyes of a painted dragon.'

"Miss Yu is indeed sharp! That's right, once the eyes were dotted, it immediately drew down heavenly punishment; thunder shattered that wall and also severed my already slim and rugged path to immortality, sigh!"

Although Saint Zhang was sighing and lamenting, there was an indelible pride between his brows.

"Why is there a heavenly law against dotting the eyes of a painted dragon? You possess the painting skill to enlighten spirits; the Heavenly Emperor should have rewarded you!" Xiao Yu asked curiously.

"An immortal named Li Li Changgeng once entered my dreams to warn me that one must not dot the eyes of a painted dragon.

He is a god of the Upper Realm, and his warning is the heavenly law. Other painting immortals may not necessarily have this treatment."

After a pause, Saint Zhang sighed again: "I am a mortal, and the dragon is a spirit. Creating a spirit as a mortal not only disrupts the order of heaven and earth but also interferes with the authority of the great gods."

He suddenly raised his hand and slapped his forehead hard, making a "pop-pop" sound, his face full of annoyance, and said: "I haven't drunk any wine tonight, why am I muddled again?

How can these secret histories be spoken of recklessly!

Sigh, Miss Yu, you are a smart person; forget today's conversation as soon as possible.

Well, let's start with the main topic; I will enlighten a spirit within a painting for you."

After saying this, the old man picked up the Wenxi brush on the table.

Before he picked up the brush, in Xiao Yu's eyes, he was just an old man with the demeanor of an immortal.

The moment he picked up the brush, it seemed as if an invisible scroll was unfurled, and the entire world fell into the scroll.

And he was the sole master and creator of the world within the painting.

Xiao Yu felt as if she had fallen into a bubble where time flowed ten thousand times slower.

Her thoughts and body were frozen in the time bubble; her thoughts turned extremely slowly, her body could not move, and she could vaguely hear the subtle rustling sound of the brush tip moving rapidly across the paper.

At some point, her soul "whooshed" away from her body, rising infinitely, and dived into a colorful, dreamlike ocean, surrounded by extremely brilliant colors.

Those colors seemed like living things with life and souls, moving, whispering, and talking to her.

"Done!"

Xiao Yu was still listening to the whispers of the "color spirits" when Saint Zhang's voice suddenly came to her ears, and then her soul, like an elevator with a snapped cable, plummeted rapidly, falling into a dim...

"Uh!" She blinked a few times and found herself still in the dim, quiet room.

At this time, Saint Zhang had already put down his brush and was standing by the table, his face full of appreciation, scanning the newly created "Beauty Portrait" back and forth.

"Come over and take a look, see if you are satisfied."

He did not shift his gaze, still staring at the Beauty Portrait, only raising his right hand to beckon Xiao Yu.

Xiao Yu's head felt a bit muddled, as if she were very tired but had no sleepiness at all, feeling very uncomfortable.

Hearing the Zhang Huasheng's summons, she rubbed her forehead while looking up.

The moment she saw the person in the painting, Xiao Yu had a feeling that her own "limbs" had fallen into the scroll, and she really wanted to take them back and reconnect them to her body.

It was a very classical painting style, yet more detailed than a sketch; the character possessed both spirit and form, vivid and lifelike, as if a real person were living in the world of the painting.

"Heavens, it's too beautiful! Clouds recall her robes, flowers recall her face; the spring breeze brushes the railing, the dew is rich and thick. If not for seeing her on the peak of Qunyu Mountain, I would meet her under the moon at the Jade Terrace... Today, I truly believe it."

Xiao Yu's face and eyes were full of exclamation and appreciation, and she subconsciously blurted out the poem that was thumping and bumping in her chest.

"Clouds recall her robes... flowers recall her face... the spring breeze brushes the railing, the dew is rich and thick..." Saint Zhang's faint smile stiffened.

He seemed to have become foolish, his expression intoxicated, chewing on the words repeatedly in his mouth.

"Beautiful, too beautiful; I have painted beauties for a lifetime, and upon careful reflection, I have actually been outshone by a mere few lines of poetry..."

Xiao Yu woke up, looking at the crystal tears in the old man's eyes, her thoughts racing, and she praised repeatedly: "Good poem, what a good poem; worthy of being an Old Saint! Even if Xiao Yu is illiterate and doesn't understand poetry, I can still hear its beauty."

"My poem?" Saint Zhang quickly dispelled the intoxication and confusion on his face, staring at Xiao Yu with clear eyes, and sneered: "You are now unable to act on your own, in an awkward situation, and want to hide your light; I understand.

I also understand that once this poem spreads, it will surely make paper expensive in Xianyang, and the person who wrote the poem is destined to be famous for all eternity.

But you don't understand; even if writing this poem could earn a reward of an ascension spot from the Heavenly Emperor, I would not betray my conscience to claim this bad debt."

Xiao Yu lowered her head in embarrassment and shame.

"Old Saint, Xiao Yu is guilty; Xiao Yu stole someone else's poem and stole someone else's name.

Xiao Yu also admires the way of the sincere gentleman, but no one believes Xiao Yu when I tell the truth!"

She really didn't want to steal poems to show off; at least the timing wasn't right now, it wasn't suitable to steal poems to show off.

Just now, it was purely a matter of emotion, a feeling that came to her, no different in essence from an ordinary person blurting out a curse word when exclaiming.

It was just that the person in the painting was a sword-dancing beauty with a clear and elegant demeanor and jade-like beauty.

Green sleeves covered white wrists, a Xiang skirt bound a willow waist, red lips slightly parted to reveal a few pieces of broken jade, peach cheeks condensed fat and slightly translucent, apricot eyes soft and charming with flickering spirit, plain hair flying with cold sword light, her appearance was beautiful and her energy was strong. She had the quietness of nobility and elegance, and lacked no heroic spirit like a startled swan or a swimming dragon...

Even a rough person, facing this painting, would definitely not be able to shout a curse word.

Xiao Yu was a barbarian on the surface, but her core was ultimately a civilized person who graduated from a higher institution, and she had accumulated a few drops of ink in her belly that hadn't dried yet.

And the beauty in the painting happened to poke that drop of ink in her belly, and the ink sprayed out, becoming that poem.

"Sigh, I can understand; it's hard for you." Saint Zhang sighed.

Xiao Yu suddenly raised her head, looking at the pity on the old man's face and the recognition of "you and I are of the same country," and she was stunned.

"You really understand?"

Saint Zhang became angry again, his old face stiffened, and he snorted coldly: "You look down on me, thinking that you are the only talented person in the world who was born with knowledge and innate wisdom?

I wasn't bragging earlier.

Three days after entering the sect, from nothing to something, the student surpassed the master, causing the teacher's Dao heart to waver, breaking his brush and no longer speaking of painting.

Your poem is wonderful, but it was more inspired by sudden, exuberant emotions; the technique... hmm, there must be technique, but poetry is a minor path, far less complex and profound than the path of painting."

—Is this the comprehension ability of a peerless genius? Amazing, awesome, we mortals are truly hard to reach!

Xiao Yu's small face twisted into a ball.

Saint Zhang ignored her, picked up his brush again, and wrote four lines of poetry in cursive on the blank space of the scroll, along with the author's name and the time of the poem and painting.

Strangely, the author's name of the painting could be seen; but the author's name of the poem, after being written, quickly hid the handwriting.

"Little friend, let's meet again if fate allows!" Throwing down the brush and bowing to Xiao Yu, his figure gradually faded and disappeared.

Xiao Yu came back to her senses and shouted: "Old Saint, don't go, the person on this is not me!"

"Yu'er, has Saint Zhang left?"

General Guan Huchen's voice came from outside, followed by the sound of the door opening.

"Zhang Huasheng, indeed worthy of being the Zhang Huasheng of the Upper State! Good, too good; although it is a sword-dancing portrait, not the portrait of leaning on the railing and looking into the distance with worries that I imagined, the sword is just an embellishment, emphasizing more of the character's magnificence and elegance, perfectly painting out the essence of my Yu'er."

Completely different from Xiao Yu's reaction.

General Guan Huchen carefully held the "Beauty Portrait," his face full of joy and pride.

"Godfather, this painting is not me, it doesn't look like me at all." Xiao Yu said.

"It is you, it is you, it is you after you grow up and become a noble lady." General Guan Huchen said with a firm tone.

"As beautiful as a flower, as warm as jade... hmm, gathering the beauty of heaven and earth, possessing the strange posture of an immortal saint, good, what a peerless beauty!"

Great God Song's ghost head poked out from behind General Guan Huchen, shaking his head and commenting, and also asked suspiciously: "The painting is a good painting, but is she really her? Just comparing the appearance, it doesn't seem to look like her!"

Xiao Yu nodded repeatedly, echoing: "I just said, this is not me at all, it's painted too beautifully, seriously distorted."

Great God Song looked up at her and sighed: "But she is really you, the future you. This is a Shadow Spirit Portrait painted by the Zhang Huasheng, it can't be fake.

I can only say that you are too sloppy now, you need to be well-bred for a few years.

You must know, for such a beauty who can topple cities and countries, if successful, she will be in a golden house in heaven; if poor, she will be a desolate grave on the side of the road.

Be cautious, be cautious, strive, strive!"

This old ghost even gave two lines of advice in a literary tone.

"It really is a bit different, not just the difference in age..." Xiao Yu's expression was tangled.

Even without considering the connection of the soul, just looking at the appearance of the beauty in the painting, one could indeed find a familiar feeling between the brows.

But Xiao Yu's own feeling was that there was a strong sense of fragmentation between the her in the painting and the her at this moment.

Deep in her heart, she even strongly resisted letting the beauty in the painting become her true future.

For example, when she first saw the "Beauty Sword-Dancing Portrait," she blurted out "Clouds recall her robes, flowers recall her face," rather than "A dance of the sword moves in all directions," just because the sword in the picture was purely an embellishment.

The "beauty" was really "dancing" with the sword, not a sword immortal character.

Xiao Yu's belief was completely opposite to the "beauty."

She would only firmly pursue power and believed that power was the foundation of all beauty and freedom.

She would never treat the "sword" as an embellishment.

On the contrary, the peerless beauty's appearance and temperament were just small pleasures and small embellishments in her life.

If Saint Zhang had simply turned on the beauty filter and painted her beautifully, she might have shown a shy and humble look on the surface, but in her heart, she would have been applauding and laughing: Awesome, I can be this beautiful in the future, it's not a loss to be born into this barbarian body!

"Will there be any problems with the Immortal Spirit Transmission Method?"

Any literary work inevitably mixes the author's personal thoughts and will.

The personal style of a painting is even more intense.

"Xiao Yu suspects that this picture contains Saint Zhang's encouragement and expectations for Xiao Yu." Xiao Yu guessed.

She remembered the special effect of the "True Immortal Spirit Transmission Method" in the Middle Ages: calming the soul and nourishing the spirit.

The spirit enlightened by the immortal is influencing the original owner.

In the days and nights of being together, the original owner will absorb the spirit in the painting and strengthen her own spirit and soul.

The immortal definitely has no malice, the fear is that the immortal has good intentions.

Like many parents, they act arbitrarily under the banner of "for the good of the children."

The intention is good, the effect... at this moment Xiao Yu is resisting in her heart, but the true young ladies of this world would definitely think that this effect of the Shadow Spirit Portrait is more miraculous than strengthening the soul, not only not resisting, but also extremely happy.

"More than just Saint Zhang, I also have great expectations that Yu'er can have such a clear, handsome, and graceful day." General Guan Huchen said with burning eyes.

Now he looked at Xiao Yu, as if he saw the Human Emperor holding a "great future" in his left hand and raising his right hand to beckon him.