Chapter 330

"In the winter of the second year of Jingping, the Emperor's birthday, a great banquet was held for the officials and guests from all directions. Envoys from ten thousand nations came to offer congratulations, each presenting treasures as birthday gifts.

"At the start of the banquet, singers and dancers performed the Shining Peace Dance. When they danced to the side of the Great Zu envoy, the envoy coughed violently, and the cups and plates in the dancer's hands fell to the ground. The Crown Prince ordered the dancers to retreat and summoned strange people and talented individuals from the Gathering Immortal Mansion to perform immortal techniques in the court, to show that the country was filled with immortal aura and that high-level scholars were emerging in generations."

In the corner of the great hall, a young official picked up his brush to write.

After finishing, he raised his head again and looked seriously into the hall.

He saw a person wearing crane-feather Daoist robes walk in; it was a tall and thin middle-aged man, and the whole person really looked like a crane, holding a brush in his hand.

"Your Majesty, Empress, Your Highness, and all civil and military officials, foreign envoys, and also True Man Lin, Master Fan, I, Wu Wenxia, practice Daoism in Yunzhou and have learned a set of techniques."

The crane-feather Daoist entered and first bowed to everyone in the hall.

He actually specifically mentioned True Man Lin and Master Fan.

"Wu Wenxia..."

The young official murmured in thought, and couldn't help but follow his gaze to look at True Man Lin and Master Fan over there.

Most of the people in the hall were the same.

Then he heard this Wu Wenxia continue to say:

"Today is His Majesty's birthday, and I should wish His Majesty happiness like the Eastern Sea and longevity like the Nanshan. But the Eastern Sea is two thousand six hundred miles away, and the Nanshan is closer, but how can we see it in the hall today? It just so happens that I have learned a skill in painting. Originally, with the True Man and Master who subdue demons and eliminate monsters here today, I shouldn't bring it out to make a fool of myself, but since I have been invited by His Highness the Crown Prince, I will use the walls of this hall as a canvas to paint a picture of longevity like the Eastern Sea and Nanshan for His Majesty."

The civil and military officials in the court heard this and knew it would not be simple; only some envoys from small countries, with limited knowledge and not much understanding of Central Plains culture, really thought he was going to paint.

Regardless, everyone's eyes showed anticipation, and they stared intently.

The young civil official was still recording seriously.

He saw Wu Wenxia walk to the wall, wait for someone to bring ink, dip his brush, and walk freely on the wall with a brush as big as a broom in his hand, fast and smooth. With just a few simple strokes, he painted a stone mountain towering into the clouds on the wall, and he dipped his hand in ink, pressed and lifted it on the wall, and pointed out a flying bird in the mountain, and this stone mountain thus gained a bit of spirituality.

Everything happened in just a few breaths, and the painting was very spirited.

Wu Wenxia did not stop, but walked to another wall, used the same method, walked back and forth a few times, and painted a vast sea with surging waves on the wall.

And he dipped his hand in ink, wiped it a few times on the waves, and the sea had waves; he pressed and lifted it a few more times, and there were flying birds and jumping fish on the sea.

Also in just a few breaths.

In such a short time, painting two such pictures, some envoys from small countries were already amazed when they saw this, but just as they were about to cheer, they saw that most people didn't move, so they sat back down.

Wu Wenxia put away his brush and turned to smile at everyone.

A disciple handed him a small cup of pigment.

It was yellow pigment.

Wu Wenxia picked it up and drank it into his mouth in one gulp.

Another disciple brought a cup of cyan pigment, and Wu Wenxia picked it up and drank it into his mouth as well.

After doing this several times, he had already drunk several cups of different drinks, tilted his head as if gargling, mixed them in his mouth, and suddenly sprayed them at the Nanshan on the wall in front.

"Pfft!"

The pigment sprayed out evenly.

At first, nothing could be seen, but as the pigment slowly slid down and naturally coated the wall, that tall stone mountain was actually colored: earth-yellow stones, green mountain forests, occasionally a few spots of red, which were probably the red leaves on the mountain in autumn and winter; every color was just right.

Everyone in the hall was startled.

Even the young civil official responsible for writing and recording opened his eyes wide, his brush paused, and after reacting, he hurriedly lowered his head to write and record.

And Wu Wenxia followed the same method, swallowed the pigment, and spat it at the other wall; that sea, which was originally outlined with a few sparse ink strokes, also had colors, lifelike.

The blue sea, the blue sky, clearly the pigment sprayed from the same mouth was not the same blue; what was wonderful was that the water vapor at the junction of the sea and sky was misty, a gradient of gray-white, while the waves were left pure white because they didn't touch any pigment.

"Wow..."

Many civil and military officials and envoys rose and cheered repeatedly.

"Good skill!"

"Good technique!"

Even Lin Jue was somewhat amazed.

Even the extremely small fox on the table stopped eating, ran to Lin Jue's shoulder, stretched its neck, and stared at that side without blinking.

But a glance with his peripheral vision showed that the Crown Prince was smiling, and that Wu Wenxia had no intention of thanking them.

"Haha! You all flatter me!" Wu Wenxia smiled at them, "If it were just this, although I could win some amazement and joy from the hearts of the civil and military officials and foreign envoys, how could it be worthy of His Majesty's birthday today and His Highness's grand invitation?"

Everyone was stunned when they heard this.

Then they saw Wu Wenxia turn around, back to the two paintings, open his arms, with a mysterious expression on his face, and mutter a spell in his mouth.

A cool breeze entered the hall, blowing his clothes and hair, and every crane feather was fluttering in the wind, making him look like an immortal for a moment.

The hall gradually quieted down until it was silent.

But suddenly, a crane's cry came from somewhere.

It was faint, as if it were very far away.

But immediately there was a second sound.

"Cry..."

This sound was much closer and much clearer.

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw that the flying bird that Wu Wenxia had carved with his fingernails on the lifelike "Nanshan" had actually moved and was slowly flying toward them.

And looking closely, they felt that although the whole mountain was large, it seemed to be moving slightly—

It was the wind blowing through the mountain forest.

For a moment, this didn't look like a painting, but like a real mountain, and this wasn't a wall, but a window looking out at a distant mountain.

Everyone opened their eyes wide in amazement and held their breath.

Just as they were all focusing their attention on the "Nanshan," they suddenly heard some sound of waves.

Everyone turned their eyes and saw that on the other wall, the sea was already surging with waves, crashing and piling up one after another.

"Ah~"

The sound of seagulls came. Silver flashed out of the water.

The Western Region envoys near that wall were already stunned, looking up, and even though their necks were sore, they couldn't bear to look down, just staring blankly at this scene.

Suddenly, with a slap!

The waves crashed down! A splash of water suddenly shot out from the wall!

The envoy was caught off guard and was suddenly drenched in water, his clothes soaked through.

And the splash hit the ground, splashing everywhere, and I don't know how many envoys were splashed on their bodies and faces; the cool and moist feeling kept telling them that this water was real.

Even licking their lips, it was salty, astringent, and bitter.

"Ah!!"

A group of envoys was shocked and rose one after another to leave their seats.

And the waves were still crashing one after another, water kept pouring out from the wall, and before long, a thin layer had accumulated on the ground in the great hall.

Even those who were far away got their shoes wet.

Lin Jue lowered his head, and the fox on his shoulder also lowered its head.

Lin Jue bent down and reached out, putting his hand into the water; the icy coldness could not be faked.

!.

It was just that a slight palpitation in his heart was telling him that this was a technique.

"Painting canvas becomes a river..."

Lin Jue muttered to himself, remembering this term.

He raised his hand, his fingers still moist, and placed them beside his shoulder.

The fox leaned in to sniff, then looked away.

At the same time, the young civil official responsible for writing and recording also stared blankly at the wall where waves were surging and seawater was pouring out, shocked beyond measure. When he recovered slightly, he, like Lin Jue, first touched the paper that had been splashed by the water and was a little wet, and then bent down to touch the seawater under his feet.

But before he could straighten up, he heard another loud crane cry.

"Cry!!"

This sound seemed to be right in his ear.

Then came the sound of flapping wings, clear and deafening.

"Pfft..."

A huge crane flew out from the "Nanshan" and flew over the heads of the civil and military officials.

"... The envoys were timid, fearing the seawater would break the dam, and all rose from their seats, disregarding etiquette. Soon after, they heard the crane's cry, which was deafening; the crane flew out from the Nanshan painting, soaring over the hall, its wings flapping, and the whole hall felt it. The civil and military officials bowed their heads and bent their waists; only Master Fan and True Man Lin were not afraid."

The young civil official wrote quickly with a look of shock on his face.

"Alright, alright! His Majesty and all the ministers and envoys have already seen the immortal's technique, please stop here! Otherwise, the great hall will be flooded!"

The Emperor above waved his hand repeatedly to call a stop.

Wu Wenxia looked around, very satisfied with everyone's performance, and with a smile, first bowed to the Emperor, and then bowed to everyone in the great hall.

"A small technique, not worth mentioning, I only wish His Majesty happiness like the Eastern Sea and longevity like the Nanshan."

Wu Wenxia said this and waved his hand again.

The waves in the sea gradually stopped, the crane also flew out of the great hall, not knowing where it went, and most of the seawater in the great hall receded, leaving only a thin layer.

The great hall gradually returned to quiet, and those envoys also sat back in their original seats, still shaken.

"The immortal is too modest! This is an immortal technique!"

"As long as His Majesty is happy."

"Someone! Reward him heavily!" the old Emperor shouted, "Also give the immortal a seat and bring wine and food!"

The great hall returned to liveliness, everyone discussed and marveled, and the eyes they looked at Wu Wenxia with were like looking at an immortal.

Lin Jue lowered his head and checked carefully.

The seawater had receded a bit, but not completely; it seems that the seawater that filled the hall before was both real and fake.

Among them, there must be some clever designs that strange people and talented individuals racked their brains to create, which others don't know about; it's really not very interesting to delve into it, and the amazement in his heart is its meaning.

Lin Jue just thought at this time—

If Seventh Third Shixiong were here, he would definitely be very happy.

Wu Wenxia sat down at the table newly moved by the attendants, not far from Lin Jue and the others; he turned sideways and bowed to Master Fan and Lin Jue to show respect, and Lin Jue and the other returned the salute.

Then another short and fat Daoist priest walked in, named Ming Ming Hengzi.

"Wu Wenxia is an immortal, I am not as good as him, but I also have some techniques and am willing to make a fool of myself here to amuse you." The short and fat Daoist paused, looked around, shook his head and said, "It's a pity that today is noon, and it's not convenient for me to perform my techniques; it would be better if it were night."

"Oh?"

The Emperor was a little puzzled.

Everyone was also hanging on by their hearts.

Only the Crown Prince smiled without saying a word.

Ming Ming Hengzi then requested to close the doors of the great hall.

The Emperor had someone do as he asked.

Ming Ming Hengzi waved his sleeve, and the daylight outside dimmed, as if it were night, and the top of the great hall also dimmed.

Ming Ming Hengzi said: Since it is night now, there should be a bright moon. So a bright moon rose above their heads, as big as a jade plate, the moonlight was bright, and the floor seemed to be covered in frost when it shone down.

Ming Ming Hengzi pretended to be surprised and said: I forgot, today is the beginning of the month, there should be no moon, there should be stars all over the sky. So the top of the hall was filled with stars, brilliant and magnificent.

Ming Ming Hengzi flattered, saying that now our country's sun is sitting in the great hall, so after the night passes, the sun should rise. So it really seemed like a red sun was printed on the window outside, slowly rising, and the daylight outside the window gradually brightened.

The Emperor was overjoyed and rewarded Ming Ming Hengzi heavily; the civil and military officials and foreign envoys were also shocked, all saying that this was a technique only immortals had.

The young civil official wrote furiously.

Everything in the hall today will surely be passed down to future generations, and there can be no carelessness.

After writing, he looked around and saw True Man Lin whispering with Master Fan and Pan Gong, while the foreign envoys opposite all had shocked expressions, only the Great Zu envoys sat still, showing disdain.

(End of chapter)