Chapter 1209: I Have To Obtain Him!
Translator: Lordbluefire
On the stage, everyone fell silent and didn’t speak. They were all quietly gazing at this starry sky!
A sense of majesty, ancientness, and distance gushed forth.
They didn’t understand this and couldn’t tell what this meant. However, all of them were stunned.
Sun Mo understood their feelings. He recalled the first time he gazed upon the endless ocean or the unobstructed sky that was filled with stars…
It was like an infinite extension of space. It would also allow one to forget about time. It looked like the line between the sea and the sky, inseparable.
Humanity was as tiny and inconsequential in the universe as a speck of dust!
Zou Yin’s lips trembled a few times, wanting to find a flaw to criticize, but he couldn’t. This was because his rationale told him that if he didn’t know what he was seeing, he had best not comment rashly or his face would be smacked.
“Why did you want to create such a painting?”
The Qi Emperor was puzzled.
“This is because we shouldn’t cast our sights on the Nine Provinces. We should instead lift our heads and stare at the starry sky!”
Li Ziqi gazed at the sky. “Our journey should be the great ocean of stars!”
Xia Taikang immediately frowned. Why did he feel like this girl was scolding him in a roundabout manner?
“What place is this?”
Grand Tutor Su was curious.
“The universe!”
Li Ziqi spoke honestly.
Ever since Li Ziqi had seen many sci-fi movies and books in the Black-White Game and knew the concept of starry space, Sun Mo no longer kept it a secret and imparted much physics knowledge to the little sunny egg.
Although the knowledge wasn’t deep or profound, it could broaden Li Ziqi’s horizons at the very least.
“…”
(What is the universe?)
Grand Tutor Su didn’t know it, but he didn’t dare to ask. If not, wouldn’t that make him seem to be very ignorant?
“I feel that compared to exploring deep space and searching for the secret of our origins, the wars in the Nine Provinces are truly too insignificant.”
Li Ziqi self-mockingly laughed. “It would feel like the gods are watching ants fighting against each other. Such a life would be too meaningless.
“Our dreams shouldn’t be restricted by gravity!”
Li Ziqi felt that it would be too much of a waste if they put all their resources and energy to see who would reign supreme through wars in the Nine Provinces. They might as well group together and form a human-fate community.
Sadly, the history of humanity was a saga of endless war.
“The three of you, what do you think?”
The Qi Emperor asked.
Zou Yin stared at Zeng Gongnian before turning to Wang Zan.
Wang Zan wanted to praise it, but he didn’t know what to say because he couldn’t understand this at all.
Analyzing it from the painting technique?
This was too shallow!
Wang Zan always felt that this painting of Li Ziqi had risen to the boundaries of philosophy. Right, it was the exact same concept that Sun Mo had mentioned to the ancient sages in the Ancient Sage Building.
Currently, this subject had spread to many schools in the Nine Provinces, and several people were researching this.
“Grand Tutor Su, what do you think?”
The Qi Emperor asked.
“Highness Taikang’s painting has a clear concept within. Ambition wafted through the sheet, causing people to want nothing more than to become this person, ruling supreme with tyranny through the Nine Provinces.”
Grand Tutor Su evaluated. “As for Ziqi, I don’t understand it. The concept within seems to be extremely lofty and I feel very small before it. At the same time, I’m also filled with a dream to head toward ‘that world’ to see.”
Many people nodded, they felt the same way too.
“Everyone, you guys have not evaluated Prince Xiang Zhao’s painting yet!”
The queen reminded them.
Everyone regained their senses.
Li Ziqi’s painting had so much charm that everyone was completely immersed.
Two eunuchs were stunned when they went to take Xiang Zhao’s work.
“What’s the matter?”
The Qi Emperor asked.
“Y…your majesty, there are butterflies!”
The eunuchs exclaimed.
Xiang Zhao painted a field of flowers. Due to it being too realistic, it actually attracted a few butterflies.
“Is this the famed oil paintings from the Western Countries?”
Zeng Gongnian was shocked. “I didn’t expect that his highness Xiang Zhao is also skilled in western painting techniques.”
“That’s right.”
This was Xiang Zhao’s trump card. It was too difficult to paint a famous painting. Hence, he chose to use oil painting techniques to secure his victory.
“Eastern painting techniques pursue the charm within the painting and the indescribable concept. But western paintings don’t emphasize on Wondrous Blossom, rather, they seek to bring out the truth of the painted subject!”
Xiang Zhao introduced. “Painting realism onto a piece of paper, imprinting the world onto the canvas!”
As Xiang Zhao spoke, he snuck a glance at Sun Mo and discovered that Sun Mo was smiling. After that, his heart couldn’t help but thump.
(He couldn’t have seen through my little trick, right?)
“I don’t believe that your western painting technique is so strong. Could there be a problem with the dye you used?”
Wei Wu`an doubted.
“You can check it for yourself!”
Xiang Zhao passed the color palette to Wei Wu`an.
Traditional painting was done on white paper using black ink. If the Wondrous Blossom Realm was invoked, it would then become colored. However, oil painting of the west was different. They used many different colored dyes to create a vibrant-looking painting.
Wei Wu`an didn’t take it. He didn’t understand oil painting and it would be useless even if he checked the dyes. However, he was very cunning and decided to involve Sun Mo.
“Most probably Teacher Sun understands oil paintings, right?”
This was called killing with a borrowed knife!
“It’s pretty well painted, but it’s best not to add flower fragrance in the dyes!”
Sun Mo teased.
Xiang Zhao’s face turned red. His secret was exposed so easily.
“This is a layered painting, right?”
Sun Mo laughed. “Although your painting technique isn’t that proficient yet, your thoughts are very intelligent!”
“Layered painting?”
Many people had dumbfounded looks on their faces. What did this mean?
“You can even see through this?”
Xiang Zhao was stunned.
“Beloved Subject Sun, what are you guys talking about?”
The Qi Emperor was completely clueless.
“It’s best to get Xiang Zhao to explain it himself.”
Sun Mo passed the chance to perform to Xiang Zhao. Even if he couldn’t get the first place, being able to display this painting technique could also bring a boost to his fame.
Xiang Zhao first bowed to Sun Mo to thank him for the opportunity. After that, he walked to the paper and tugged at a corner forcefully.
Ah!
Many people exclaimed in shock.
What was he doing?
But very soon, louder sounds of exclamations rang out. Because as Xiang Zhao tore the drawing paper, another painting was revealed.
This time around, the subject of the painting was a beauty.
After everyone saw it, Xiang Zhao tore the paper away again.
On the third layer, it was a completely different painting once again.
“Haha, the western oil paintings are actually so fun?”
The Qi Emperor was joyful.
“Just a minor trick!”
Xiang Zhao embarrassedly scratched his head. After that, he looked at Sun Mo and felt very curious. “Teacher Sun, you know about western paintings?”
“My teacher’s western painting technique is at the grandmaster level!”
Li Ziqi spoke gloriously. Sun Mo had displayed his technique before when he was giving her tuition.
“Just continue bragging!”
Zou Yin didn’t believe this.
Next, the appraisal continued. However, only a few princes and princesses brought their paintings over. The others knew they were inferior and didn’t want to be embarrassed.
Among them was Li Xuan. He even felt that he had no more face to remain here. Hence, he decided to return to the audience stand first.
Li Xiu didn’t say anything. Her disappointed expression conveyed more than what words could describe.
“Everyone, what do you guys propose for the rankings?”
The Qi Emperor asked, it was time to rank the participants.
Everyone fell silent. They felt that the rush of impact from Li Ziqi’s painting was the greatest, but they couldn’t explain clearly. On the other hand, they instantly understood what Xia Taikang’s painting wanted to portray.
Ultimately, Xia Taikang was number one, Li Ziqi was number two, and Xiang Zhao was number three.
“Teacher, I’ve lost!” Li Ziqi felt a little sad. “I shouldn’t have chosen this to be my subject.”
“There’s no need to blame yourself!”
Sun Mo rubbed Li Ziqi’s head. “Creating something for the sake of victory is simply not what we should do. As great teachers, we have the responsibility to guide others. Others cannot understand what you do, but this cannot be the reason why you refuse to do something.
“Several thousand years later when humans stand in space, when they gaze at your painting once more, they would then know how lofty and majestic your dream is!”
Bzz~
A bright light illuminated the surroundings as Priceless Advice was activated.
“What the hell?”
The surrounding people all glanced over.
“Hehe!”
Li Ziqi smiled, feeling very happy.
This was because it didn’t matter to her whether she won or lost. She only wanted to get her teacher’s recognition and approval.
“Great Teacher Sun, what did you teach your beloved student? Why don’t you share it with everyone?”
Grand Tutor Su was curious.
Priceless Advice actually activated. It must be the impartment of some valuable insight.
“Some of my own insights that are unworthy of a mention!”
Sun Mo rejected.
“Leaving aside the insights, Great Teacher Sun is a famous artist! This is such a large stage that happens only once every four years, the Five Empires War Discussion. Shouldn’t Great Teacher Sun paint something to broaden our horizons?”
Zou Yin suggested.
“That’s true!” The Qi Emperor laughed. “This emperor precisely has this intention!”
Everyone also started agreeing in passing.
Among these people, some truly wanted to see Sun Mo’s painting, but others just wanted to see him being embarrassed. After all, a famous painting wasn’t something that could be produced just because one wanted to.
“Sure!”
Sun Mo didn’t reject it.
“Quick, bring paper and ink!”
After the Qi Emperor shouted, he asked again, “Can we watch from the sidelines?”
When some famous artists painted, they hated being surrounded by an audience.
“Yes!”
Sun Mo didn’t mind it.
“No one is allowed to make any noise to disturb Beloved Subject Sun, or that person will be immediately executed!”
The Qi Emperor threatened.
Sun Mo lifted his brush. After a moment of consideration, he started to paint.
Since his fame was so great, some people would want him to paint sooner or later. Moreover, the current setting had so many crown princes and princesses, including high officials. Sun Mo felt that he shouldn’t waste such a chance.
He had to make them understand that water might keep the boat afloat but can also sink it!
In history, changes in the dynasty always brought suffering to the commoners.
…
In the current Nine Provinces, it was the peak of feudalism, the same as the ancient eras of China in his modern world. Sun Mo hoped that the nobility and royalty could treat the commoners better.
Boom!
When Sun Mo fully focused on painting, his aura erupted forth and spread to the painting paper.
This scene stunned everyone.
“It can’t be, right? Yet another famous painting?”
Zou Yin was speechless. (Isn’t your production rate a little too high?)
Zeng Gongnian’s countenance also grew unsightly. Because even if he painted for his entire life, he probably wouldn’t be able to produce eight famous paintings.
“Impressive! Impressive!”
Wang Zan wanted to go over and observe closely. In the end, he was held back by Xiang Zhao who was beside him.
“Don’t disturb him!”
Xiang Zhao reminded.
“Haha, this emperor’s treasury can finally have a painting done by Saint Artist Sun!”
The Qi Emperor felt very joyful and directly changed his way of address for Sun Mo.
Jiang Yuzhen didn’t look at the painting. Instead, she was looking at Sun Mo who was creating it. She felt that the current him with his focused expression was simply too mesmerizing.
(I must obtain him!)
(Regardless of the price I must pay!)