Chapter 1211: Two Famous Paintings in a Single Day
Translator: Lordbluefire
“Change to another piece of drawing paper!”
Sun Mo instructed. “It has to be at least 18 feet long and 1.5 feet wide!”
“Ah?”
The Qi Emperor first started but then grew agitated. Sun Mo wanted to paint something huge. If not, why would he need such a large piece of paper?
“Go quickly!”
The Qi Emperor urged.
“Sun Mo, it’s fine just to paint something normal!”
Li Xiu felt heartache and persuaded him. Such a famous painting ought to belong to the Great Tang. Now, the Qi Empire was going to benefit.
“It’s just a painting!”
Sun Mo didn’t mind it. He was giving a plum in return for a peach.
In society, one naturally had to interact with others. Sun Mo himself didn’t need the friendship of the Qi Emperor, but his students did.
What if there came a day where they committed an offense in the Great Qi or they needed to seek protection? Sun Mo hoped that when such a time came, the Qi Emperor could give him some face and take care of his students.
Very soon, all the brush, paper, and ink were prepared. Sun Mo stood before the desk and closed his eyes as he ‘brewed’ his emotions.
Speaking of which, the most famous traditional painting of China was undoubtedly ‘Along the River During the Qingming Festival’ by Great God Zhang Zeduan. He had simply imprinted all the passionate and glorious scenes of the Great Song onto paper.
Sun Mo had seen that painting before, but he wouldn’t copy it. He used his own thinking and prepared to paint a brand new painting named [Jinling Wind and Moon Painting].
This was a city he had the most feelings for and was the most familiar with.
Sun Mo exhaled a breath of turbid air. He then dipped his brush into the ink and started to paint!
He started painting a swallow with a mouthful of mud, the end of autumn, and the coming of spring, The bird was building its new nest under the roof of a farmer’s house.
The door opened and a child carrying a fish basket ran out. There was a river not far away and there were wives of farmers taking water and washing clothes on both shores!
As one gazed in the direction of the water, more and more humans appeared. The sound of peddlers, the rebuke of constables, and the buzz of a crowded marketplace seemed to emit forth from the paper, clearly resounding in the ears of everyone.
This was because each expression of every character within was different. Each detail was exquisitely drawn.
Sun Mo’s grandmaster-level traditional painting technique included characters, flowers, birds, bugs, fishes, mountains, and rivers. So, he could depend on every little detail to fully transmit the feelings of the characters outward.
Sun Mo gradually entered a magical state.
On the platform, everyone no longer spoke as they were admiring Sun Mo’s painting skill. They had no idea why, but they felt very comfortable when they saw the characters taking vivid form as they appeared under Sun Mo’s brush.
This had something to do with psychology. It was like when some people watched stress-relieving videos. They didn’t know why but they would feel very relaxed after that.
Sun Mo had originally wanted to paint the life of Jinling’s citizens, with the artistic concept of national peace and security in a flourishing county. After all, this was a gift and he naturally wanted things to be more auspicious.
However, when he started painting the brothels and the courtesans coming out to welcome guests, Sun Mo suddenly felt an urge to add more details to the figures and faces of the famed courtesans.
Before he came to Jinling, Yui Hatano had retired. But luckily, there was Eimi Fukada. It was said that she did cosmetic surgery before, but since Sun Mo had no practical experience, he didn’t know if this was true or not.
In any case, even if Eimi had new videos now, he wouldn’t be able to watch them.
Jinling had many temples, a total of 480 of them. But comparatively, the number of brothels was not to be outdone.
Sun Mo drew all the brothels on the shores of Qinhuai River in detail, including the boats floating on the water and the bustling city…
Other than this, there were also some farmers doing small businesses, nodding and acknowledging their customers.
Sun Mo drew the images of all female celebrities he had seen before, and he even included the details exquisitely, to the point of the movements of their fingers, their clothing, and their decorative assortments.
Actually, when these female celebrities were clad in the clothing styles of the Great Tang, they exuded another type of charm.
“Ai, I don’t want to paint their clothes!”
Sun Mo felt regret. All of a sudden, he felt a burst of inspiration. On the second floor of the building, he drew the silhouette of a woman bathing that could be seen through the window.
She seemed to have forgotten to close the windows before this.
An extremely ambiguous intention leaped out from the paper.
At this stage, Sun Mo was already high from painting and started to draw more freely, giving full rein to the inspiration that was akin to a gushing spring in his head.
Since this was the case, he also decided to paint Pan Jinlian from [Water Margin]. Naturally, Wu Song killing Ximen Qing inside an inn had to be added too. However, this was a peaceful era and he couldn’t make the scene too bloody. He had to draw it in a more concealed manner.
Oh right, there were also scholars. So, he couldn’t neglect scenes from the [Romance of the Western Chamber].
Inside a gigantic courtyard, the maids were taking a break, the young miss was sneaking out to meet with someone, and a cheater was jumping over the walls!
Maybe it was because he was too focused, the Wondrous Blossom Realm was invoked.
But at this moment, no one paid attention to it because all their gazes were attracted by the women in the painting.
(A..aren’t they too nice to look at?)
(Wrong, it was incorrect to say that they are nice to look at. There’s an indescribable demeanor that they exuded.)
There were so many women, over tens of them, and yet there wasn’t a single one who had similar features. They were all at least 70% dissimilar.
“Beautiful, I want them!”
The Qi Emperor was preparing to ask Sun Mo what was going on with these girls after he finished painting.
One couldn’t help but say that this person truly did have the aptitude to become a ‘foolish emperor’.
When others were viewing the painting, they would only innocently feel that these characters were very beautiful. At most, they would use the painting as mast*rbation material. But the Qi Emperor actually wanted these women to come to life.
Sun Mo had spent three hours painting. Because the sky had darkened, the Qi Emperor instructed his officials to light up oil lamps so the entire stage would be as bright as day.
Not everyone loved to watch someone paint. For example, Xia Taikang left under the pretext that his body was unwell.
Just when he returned to his hotel and entered his room, he saw a black-robed man standing before the windows with his hands behind his back. This black-robed man was staring in the direction of the Victory Public Square.
“Teacher!”
Xia Taikang quickly bowed while feeling some suspicions in his heart. His teacher’s movements had always been mysterious. Once he appeared, his teacher surely had tasks he needed him to do.
“Help me obtain Li Ziqi’s painting!”
The black-robed teacher instructed.
“Mn?”
Xia Taikang frowned. His teacher had seen too many things and always had no desires. But why did he want Li Ziqi’s painting this time around?
Could it be that she could paint even better than his teacher?
That’s right, Xia Taikang had cheated. When he painted halfway, he wasn’t able to create a famous painting. Hence, through the usage of a certain spiritual control technique, his teacher’s consciousness possessed his body and drew the painting for him.
Hence, the sentence of the black-robed teacher also meant that he was inferior to Li Ziqi.
“Li Ziqi’s painting has surpassed this era. It’s very normal that you guys cannot understand it!”
The black-robed teacher explained.
Xia Taikang’s countenance grew unsightly. He knew that the standard of his teacher could suppress all the great teachers on the scene today. This also meant that in his teacher’s eyes, Li Ziqi was undoubtedly extremely outstanding.
“The endpoint of parents is the beginning of their children. I don’t blame you for losing to Li Ziqi. Her teacher stands at a peak that’s truly far too high!”
The black-robed teacher sighed.
“Are you inferior to Sun Mo too?”
Xia Taikang’s lips twitched.
“If you are speaking of vision, I’m indeed inferior to him!”
The words of this black-robed teacher directly stunned Xia Taikang. He knew how proud this teacher of his was. In his eyes, beings below the Saint Realm were like dogs and pigs, unworthy of a single mention!
“Enough. Remember to get Li Ziqi’s painting no matter the cost!”
After the black-robed great teacher finished instructing, he didn’t make any movements, but he suddenly vanished before the windows. It was like he had never appeared before.
Xia Taikang didn’t dare to defy his teacher’s orders. Hence, he could only hurry and return to the Victory Public Square to look for the Qi Emperor.
Although the Qi Emperor wasn’t very old, due to him working overly hard every night and not knowing restraint, his body couldn’t take it anymore. He persisted for two hours and had to return to his temporary tent on the public square for a break.
When Xia Taikang begged for an audience, he discovered that the vice headmaster of the Black-White Academy, Wan Kangcheng, was here as well.
“Great Teacher Wan, how about we discuss this matter another time?”
The Qi Emperor originally wasn’t interested in Li Ziqi’s painting. But now that Wan Kangcheng wanted it, he changed his mind.
“Your majesty, Li Ziqi’s painting has no significance to you guys. It can only receive splendor if we place it in the Black-White Academy!”
Wan Kangcheng patiently explained.
“What do you mean?”
The Qi Emperor didn’t understand.
“You basically won’t understand if you have not experienced the Black-White Games before!”
Wan Kangcheng bitterly smiled. This was like playing zither to an ox; it was useless no matter how much he played.
“Taikang, do you need help?”
The Qi Emperor changed the topic.
“Your Majesty, I wish to use my own painting to exchange for Her Highness Ziqi’s painting!”
Although he only heard a bit of their conversation, Xia Taikang understood that Wan Kangcheng wanted Li Ziqi’s painting too.
“Why?”
The Qi Emperor felt curious.
“I wish to use her painting to spur myself to work harder!”
Xia Taikang found an excuse. He naturally couldn’t say that it was his teacher who wanted it.
The Qi Emperor almost rejected this request, but then he noticed his butler of internal affairs hurriedly rushing over.
“Your Majesty, the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate has arrived!”
“What?”
The Qi Emperor hurriedly stood up and went to welcome him.
“Your Majesty, it has been a long time since we last met!”
Su Taiqing was clad in an ordinary white robe. However, his entire body exuded a celestial demeanor!
“Sect Lord Su, what sort of wind blew your esteemed self over here?”
The Qi Emperor used honorifics, executing the etiquette of a disciple.
There was no solution as the power of the Saint Gate was simply too vast. Moreover, Su Taiqing himself was at the very least at the secondary saint realm. However, rumors stated that he had long since ascended into sainthood; it was just that he intentionally masked his realm.
However, even if he was just a secondary saint, he wasn’t someone the Qi Emperor wanted to offend.
“I heard that Li Ziqi produced an ocean of stars painting. The concept within is very lofty, so I decided to be shameless and come here to see if I can obtain it!”
Su Taiqing spoke bluntly.
The Five Empires War Discussion was a major event in the Nine Provinces. As the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate, Su Taiqing naturally had to pay attention to it. Hence, he had sent assistants over.
Those who could be highly regarded by Su Taiqing and become his assistants naturally had visions and talents that couldn’t be doubted. After he saw Li Ziqi’s painting, he understood that the meaning of the painting was extraordinary. Hence, he immediately sent a letter to Su Taiqing with an image-recording stone.
After Su Taiqing saw it, he immediately rushed over.
“Ah?”
The Qi Emperor was shocked. He had originally thought that Su Taiqing came here for Sun Mo’s painting. After all, it was a rare masterpiece that had its own great teacher halo effect. He didn’t expect that Su Taiqing would come here for Li Ziqi’s painting.
Xia Taikang’s gaze turned over.
The sect lord’s taste was the same as his teacher’s!
“Sect Lord Su, I was here first.”
Wan Kangcheng was unhappy now.
“Haha, the order of our arrival isn’t as important as who is the one fated with it!”
Su Taiqing laughed. “How about we leave it to the painter to decide?”
“You…”
Wan Kangcheng felt vexed. What did he mean by fate? This was a clear case of bullying. Although the position of a Black-White Academy’s vice headmaster was very high, it was clearly inferior to the Sect Lord of the Saint Gate.
As long as one wasn’t retarded, they would definitely give the painting to Su Taiqing.
The Qi Emperor knew that he wouldn’t be able to keep this painting no matter what. Hence, rather than getting Li Ziqi to decide, he might as well do someone a free favor. “For a famous painting like this that contains so much ‘philosophy’, I think it’s better to let Sect Lord Su handle it.”
Xia Taikang tactfully didn’t speak because he knew he couldn’t win no matter what.
…
“Have you guys heard it? Sect Lord Su came!”
“Ah? The painting battle is already over, so what is he doing here?”
“Could it be that he wants to see how Great Teacher Sun paints?”
Ordinary people didn’t know the situation, but this news spread crazily among the nobility. Some people racked their brains, wanting to appear before Su Taiqing so he would at least remember their faces.
But they weren’t qualified.
Very soon, the reason for his visit spread as well.
“Sect Lord Su came here not because of Sun Mo’s paintings. Instead, it’s for the one Li Ziqi painted!”
“Ah? Is Li Ziqi’s painting that good?”
“A famous painting that Sect Lord Su likes will definitely not be something ordinary!”
Many people didn’t believe this news. After all, that painting from Sun Mo had a great teacher halo effect. In the entire famous painting world, there were only a total of ten, including that one.
However, several people were confident that this news was true because it was circulated from the internal affairs butler of the Qi Emperor. It was very credible.
If this was truly the case, it would mean that Xia Taikang’s win over Li Ziqi was something he didn’t deserve.
The sky was already dark, but Sun Mo was still painting.
In the past, Western Jing would have long since hit the curfew. But today, they made an exception. Many people didn’t return as they wanted to wait for the birth of a new famous painting.
When Su Taiqing appeared, a commotion arose in the surroundings. Many people wanted to crowd forward for a better look.
Su Taiqing smiled gently. He gazed at the surroundings and an instant later, the emotions of everyone calmed down. They couldn’t say anything and could only watch in silence.
“My heavens, he cast a halo without speaking!”
Qin Yaoguang was stunned. “Isn’t this a little too impressive?”
Being able to cast a great teacher halo with just a thought. This magical technique was something that only those who were at least at the secondary saint realm could achieve.
“Fa… Sir Sect Lord is definitely very impressive!”
Lu Zhiruo felt glorious.
“Eh? There’s nothing for you to be proud of even if he is impressive. Why are you so proud?”
Qin Yaoguang didn’t understand.
“Eh!”
“Zhiruo is a great teacher, hence, she definitely reveres Sect Lord Su!”
Helian Beifang helped her to speak.
“Correct!”
Lu Zhiruo nodded.
“But I worship our teacher even more!”
Xianyu Wei heaved a sigh of relief. When she saw the crowd, she thought that the mental state of her teacher would be disrupted. She didn’t expect that Su Taiqing could use a single glance to make them stay quiet.
Su Taiqing stood beside Sun Mo. His brows furrowed when he looked at the Jinling Wind and Moon Painting.
This painting was pretty well painted. However, wasn’t the number of females a little too many?
Oh right, Sun Mo was a virgin. It was very normal for him to think of girls.
Sun Mo had used close to eight hours to paint this. Honestly speaking, he was somewhat tired. Although he was still inspired, his passion had calmed down.
“Let’s end it like this…”
Sun Mo stopped his brush. In any case, this famous painting had invoked the Wondrous Blossom Realm. It was enough to give it away.
“Mn?”
Su Taiqing was shocked as he asked, “Teacher Sun, why did you stop painting?”