Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 326 Entering the painting
It seems this is the part that needs to be done by those involved in the painting process.

Not paying much attention, Song Yan continued to look at other paintings.

That landscape painting, with its profound artistic conception, resonated with him because he was not a hermit.

The flowers, birds, fish, and insects were too delicate and exquisite for him to appreciate.

The wild and unrestrained nature of birds and beasts, if one were to insist on saying so, does somewhat resonate with the spirit of sword cultivators, however…

Is it too crude of me to say that?

Soon, Song Yan discovered a very strange phenomenon.

The other six scrolls all attracted cultivators to enter to varying degrees. However, the one depicting a human figure, while often attracting attention, mostly resulted in people shaking their heads, sighing, and then leaving.

No one went inside.

Why is no one choosing this portrait painting?

Song Yan couldn't help but feel puzzled.

Just then, a dashing female empress stood in front of the portrait, nodded slightly, and gazed intently at the scene before her.

Xiao Song stood in front of the landscape scroll to her left, seemingly examining the landscape painting, but actually using his peripheral vision to observe the female cultivator's reaction to the portrait.

The woman frowned and hesitated for a moment, then finally sighed softly, seemingly deciding not to go inside.

Song Yan didn't understand the art of painting, and Senior Brother Lin Qing had already entered the Scroll of Birds and Beasts, so he had no one to ask.

This female cultivator seemed to be easy to talk to, so he simply stepped forward and asked directly, "This... fairy."

"..."

The female cultivator did not respond, nor did she even turn her face; she simply stared blankly at the painting before her.

"This fairy?"

Song Yan asked another question.

"what?"

The female cultivator seemed to have come alone, or perhaps her companions were observing from the sidelines. In any case, she hadn't expected anyone to speak to her, and only now did she come to her senses.

"Sorry, I was just spacing out." She then looked at Song Yan and said somewhat embarrassedly, "My surname is Zhong."

Song Yan chuckled: "I'm sorry to have disturbed Fellow Daoist Zhong's study of the painting."

"It doesn't matter."

Zhong Ali spread his hands and said frankly, "I haven't figured anything out either. I was just about to go into the Ghost and God Painting Realm. Fellow Daoist, is there something you need?"

Song Yan asked, "There's nothing urgent."

"Just now I saw that all of you chose your painting subjects, each with your own strengths. However, many of you lingered in front of this portrait scroll for a while before leaving."

"To this day, no one has entered the realm of this figure in the painting. I am quite puzzled and would like to ask why."

"I know nothing about painting and calligraphy. I only obtained the black jade by chance, hence this question."

After hearing Song Yan's question, the woman looked him over with some surprise: "Completely ignorant of the Dao of Painting? Fellow Daoist, you must be trying to fool me..."

How could Senior Daoxuan's choice of master for his ink jade be so careless as to select someone who knows nothing about painting?

Before Song Yan could answer, the female cultivator surnamed Zhong began muttering to herself.

"Oh my! Could it be that you, fellow Daoist, are a natural-born prodigy in the art of painting, and Senior Wu couldn't bear to let your talent go to waste, which is why he went to great lengths to bring you here?"

Although Song Yan waved his hand repeatedly, the more this fellow Daoist Zhong thought about it, the more certain he became that this was indeed the case, and his gaze toward him was full of admiration.

She quickly began to answer Song Yan's question: "Well... I don't know what the other fellow Daoists think, but for me, the portrait painting is probably the most difficult of these scrolls to create."

"Fellow Daoist Zhong, what makes you say that?"

"There are two reasons. The first is that the essence of painting lies in the balance between resemblance and non-resemblance. Too much resemblance is vulgar, while too little resemblance is deceitful."

“Themes such as landscapes, ghosts and gods, Buddhas and Taoism, and pavilions all emphasize artistic conception, and there is little concern about whether they are realistic or not.”

"In fact, figure paintings can also focus on the expression of artistic conception, but this is also the second difficulty and the most important point."

Zhong Ali analyzed earnestly with Song Yan: "The person who is bent over the table painting must be Senior Wu Daoxuan himself without a doubt."

"And the blank space left by the person who needed to refine the painting is the friend of Senior Daoxuan."

"Who is Senior Daoxuan?"

"A Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, the number one painter in the Central Region. But if you look at the main and secondary elements of this painting, you can vaguely tell that the 'power' of that senior's friend is more prominent."

"In other words, this senior's strength and status are probably no less than Senior Wu's."

After saying this, Zhong Ali carefully looked around, then took a step closer and whispered to Song Yan, "Among us, the most powerful cultivators are only at the Golden Core stage."

"I don't think anyone has enough confidence to believe that they can capture the temperament and demeanor of a cultivator who is at least at the Nascent Soul stage."

"what……"

Song Yan suddenly realized, "So that's the reason."

After Zhong Daoyou's guidance, Xiao Song suddenly understood.

Therefore, it is quite normal that the portrait scrolls are ignored.

"and……"

Zhong Ali continued, her expression somewhat strange: "If you were bold enough to enter and draw the likeness of that senior according to your own imagination, but it didn't match, you might incur the displeasure of Senior Wu Daoxuan?"

That actually makes sense.

However, considering that a great cultivator like Senior Wu Daoxuan might be dissatisfied, he probably wouldn't take it out on the younger generation present.

What truly surprised Song Yan was that while everyone else was rushing to choose their painting, this fellow Daoist Zhong was actually willing to spend so much time explaining these things to him, a complete stranger.

He hadn't really expected anyone to pay attention to him, but to his surprise, he actually met such a kind person.

"I see. Thank you, Fellow Daoist Zhong, for answering my questions."

Song Yan felt a little embarrassed: "Fellow Daoist Zhong, please go and participate in the painting practice. Don't worry about me. Don't let me delay the time and affect the painting."

Zhong Ali shook her head: "It's alright."

She turned and walked toward the Scroll of Ghosts and Gods on the left, but suddenly stopped, seemed to hesitate for a moment, and turned back to look at Song Yan.

"If you ever rise to fame in the Central Region's art world, please don't forget that we met here once."

Her expression was serious and earnest, showing no hint of joking: "I am Zhong Ali of the Luofu Sect."

Having said that, without asking Song Yan's name in detail, he activated the black jade hanging beside him and entered the scroll of ghosts and gods.

Song Yan stood there, looking embarrassed.

What to do? This fellow Daoist seems to have taken his guess seriously.

Unfortunately, she was going to be disappointed.

Xiao Song is somewhat interested in the arts of chess and calligraphy, but he really has no interest in painting.

Song Yan turned his gaze back to the portrait scroll.

If it weren't for the detailed explanation from Fellow Daoist Zhong, he wouldn't have known that there were so many intricacies involved in painting.

Song Yan also planned to leave.

I plan to find a scenic spot with the best views, travel around, and seek opportunities.

That landscape painting is naturally the best choice.

Just as he was about to leave, his gaze, which had been focused on the figures in the painting, began to wander and spread.

This glance made Song Yan suddenly stop in his tracks.

"..."

He looked up at the sky above the portrait with some confusion.

This painting mainly focuses on figures, so there is not much depiction of other scenery, and the sky is also very small.

But the shape of the clouds in the sky felt somewhat familiar to Song Yan.

The clouds were bluish-gray, swirling upwards.

The clouds in the sky are swirling, and shimmering light appears and disappears.

He felt a slight sense of surprise and carefully observed the area from top to bottom.

But in this painting, behind the courtyard, a corner of a bamboo grove is faintly visible.

Song Yan's heart skipped a beat. How could this scene in the air be so similar to the strange phenomena around the Cloud Abyss Sword Bamboo described in the Thousand Pill Recipes?

He pondered deeply, and some clues began to connect in his mind.

The storyteller in the Fallen Flower Restaurant once told a story about a friend of the senior Wu Daoxuan who performed a sword dance at the Heavenly Palace Temple.

Could it be that the person originally depicted in this portrait scroll was the cultivator skilled in sword control?

If that's the case, it's not surprising that Cloud Abyss Sword Bamboo is planted around the courtyard.

Thinking of this, Song Yan's heart stirred with excitement.

They quickly decided to enter the painting and find out more.

He originally didn't care at all about Hua Lian's performance.

Since no one dares to enter this painting, doesn't that mean the opportunity within the painting belongs exclusively to me?
For the other cultivators who participated in the painting process, the so-called opportunities in these paintings should only be some extras.

But for Song Yan, it was a completely different story.

After all, Daozi's calligraphy was something he could never obtain.

But if this scroll really does contain Cloud Abyss Sword Bamboo or Bamboo Rice, it would be of extraordinary help to my current stage of cultivation.

Song Yan was even fully confident that he could use the effects of the Sword Nourishing Pill to advance to the mid-stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm in one fell swoop.

With this in mind, Song Yan no longer hesitated.

He immediately selected the painting, activated the ink jade, and disappeared before the figure painting.

Dao Zi Mo Ling, who had been expressionless, suddenly turned her head and glanced at the spot where Song Yan had disappeared.

But soon, it returned to its original state.

……

Meanwhile, in Fufeng County.

"Name?"

"...Wu Mengliu."

Inside the prison of the Imperial Palace.

Cui Mi looked up at the other person, his expression very impolite: "Be honest, if you give a false name, you'll be punished even more severely when you're escorted to the capital!"

He was worried that this woman was making unfounded connections with the painting master Wu, and quickly said...

"I know, I know, big brother. You've said it many times already."

Wu Mengliu looked impatient and helpless: "This is my real name. When I travel the world, I never change my name or surname."

"Heh." Cui Mi sneered, "Well, you really are upright and honest."

"It's not good."

"..."

Cui Mi frowned.

The girl in front of me, named Wu Mengliu, was beautiful and charming.

Even Cui Mi, who was usually surrounded by beautiful women in the capital, thought that this woman's appearance was among the best he had ever seen.

Unfortunately, she was a thief.

This woman is a disciple of the hidden evil sect, the Heaven Stealer.

Cui Mi suddenly sneered: "Fellow Daoist Wu, I must congratulate you properly."

The girl's hands seemed to be locked by a special magical artifact, preventing her from using her spiritual power or even moving them.

But she seemed very relaxed, not at all worried about her current situation, and instead chimed in, "Oh? What do you mean?"

It was the girl's nonchalant attitude, devoid of any sense of awe, that infuriated Cui Mi, a young soldier from a prominent family in the Daitian Prefecture.

"Fellow Daoist Wu seems to be the first disciple of the Thief of Heaven to be imprisoned in nearly a thousand years. Your skills are not very good."

Cui Mi narrowed his eyes, his face full of sarcasm.

Having received the earnest teachings of his elders and been influenced by the aristocratic family, Cui Mi held such petty thieves in utter contempt.

"No."

The girl answered his questions casually, seemingly without any sense of shame.

Cui Mi continued, "Everyone says you stole from the Heavenly Gate, and that you could steal the sky and change the sun."

"Oh……"

"I don't think you're up to it either."

"Ho."

"Are you the disciple with the worst cultivation level in your sect...?"

"its me?"

Bang!
Cui Mi slammed his fist on the table, furious: "Are you chatting?!"

"Hehehe... Officer, don't be in such a hurry." The girl chuckled and adjusted herself into a more comfortable sitting position.

"Let's not beat around the bush, just say what you want to do."

Wu Mengliu wasn't intentionally trying to anger the official; she was simply deep in thought about what had happened that day and could only engage in a stream-of-consciousness conversation with him.

Today, she originally intended to target an ordinary-looking cultivator, whose Qiankun bag contained something she had never seen before.

A black and white sword case.

Sword cases are already rare these days, and his design is even more unique, making him look like a rare find.

But for some reason, the moment I made my move, I felt dizzy and disoriented.

Not only did the "Stealing the Sky and Changing the Sun" technique fail, but the disguise on his face and the techniques to change his aura also temporarily lost their effectiveness.

This revealed a flaw, allowing the people of Daitianfu to capture him.

"That's really strange..."

Since I came down from the mountain, whether or not I return the stolen goods is another matter, but there is almost nothing that I cannot get my hands on.

"It seems that it truly is a top-quality treasure!"

Wu Mengliu pondered to herself.

No, there's no reason to let this treasure get away.

Cui Mi exchanged a glance with the young man beside him and gave him a slight nod.

The young man nodded: "Do as he says."

Those around dared not be negligent. Although his official rank was similar to theirs, he was the young master of the Cui family in the capital, and his own strength and ability were quite remarkable. He was sure to rise rapidly in the future in the Daitian Prefecture.

Nine guards formed a circle here, each holding an array bead in their hands.

Wu Mengliu didn't know what they were going to do, but watched with great interest.

Countless streams of spiritual energy surged forth from the nine array beads, instantly enveloping the open space of the prison.

It turned out to be a formation.

"I would like to ask Fellow Daoist Wu to steal something from my body."

Cui Shao looked down at the prisoner and said calmly.

Within the formation, the young man and the guards of the Daitian Prefecture stared intently at Wu Mengliu.

One of the guards had a faint flow of spiritual energy in his eyes, which seemed to be a special kind of pupil technique.

"Oh?"

In an instant, Wu Mengliu knew what the other party was going to do.

"You want me to take action so you can understand the methods of the Stealing Heaven Sect?"

Choi Mi nodded: "You're right, you're very smart. It's a pity that the punishment can't be reduced."

"no problem."

Wu Mengliu's answer was very cooperative, but the cunning in her eyes was undisguised, which made Cui Mi somewhat unhappy.

(End of this chapter)