Chapter 1187: The Statue of Master Kong

"You..." Zhang Jiuxiao staggered, almost spitting blood from the reprimand. He had just instructed someone else to grind the ink, and in the blink of an eye, the task was back on him. The humiliation came too swiftly! His face reddened with frustration. Zhang Jiuxiao was about to explode in anger when he heard the other party's voice continue.

"What? You don't agree? I'm going to resolve the seal, and everyone here must want to see it... Such an important matter should be your bounden duty, right?" Zhang Jiuxiao's face darkened. All the words he wanted to say were stuck in his chest; he couldn't utter a single one. It seemed... these were the exact words he had used against the other person just moments ago.

Just now, he had been full of vigor, lecturing grandly, but now... with a change of roles, his face felt swollen. "You reap what you sow..." Filled with vexation, yet knowing that the other person was justified in using his own words against him after his earlier challenge, Zhang Jiuxiao, though fuming, still stepped forward and began grinding the ink.

"Good!" Seeing that Zhang Jiuxiao said no more, Zhang Xuan nodded in satisfaction. Truth be told, he wasn't one to hold grudges, because he settled scores on the spot. He had noticed the other party's hostility from the moment they met. Given that, there was no need to play nice. Moreover, this fellow's family even wanted to marry Luo Ruoxi... Back then, Feng Xun was beaten to a pulp and almost died just for confessing his feelings. Although he didn't know where this guy's family was or if his current strength was enough to cause trouble, it didn't hurt to collect some interest first.

Seeing that Zhang Jiuxiao had finished grinding the ink, Zhang Xuan was about to dip his brush and attempt to break the painting's artistic conception, allowing his consciousness to enter. Suddenly, an idea struck him, and he looked up at President Meng Chong, who was not far away. "President Meng, do you happen to have any calligraphy and painting books with you? I need both Sixth and Seventh Realm ones, the more the better. To activate the spiritual essence without damaging either the painting or the technique, I need to find the most suitable point... I want to see if there are any similar books I can refer to!"

"Sixth and Seventh Realm books?" President Meng Chong shook his head, surprised that Zhang Xuan wanted to read books at such a crucial moment. "I don't have many on me, but the Calligraphy and Painting Guild isn't far from here. I can go and fetch some!" "I appreciate your trouble, then..." Zhang Xuan clasped his hands in greeting. "No problem!" President Meng Chong replied, turned, and left the room. It wasn't long before he returned, flipping his wrist to reveal a pile of books, tens of thousands of them, stacked densely before them. As the President of the Calligraphy and Painting Guild, no one would question him taking some books.

Zhang Xuan stepped forward and quickly scanned through them. Then, pretending, he picked out a book, casually opened it, and feigned careful reading. In reality, his consciousness had entered the Library of Heaven's Path. "Heaven's Path Calligraphy and Painting, Sixth and Seventh Levels..." He smiled faintly and opened the newly formed Sixth Level book. He had only studied up to the Fifth Level. Although the miraculousness of the Heaven's Path techniques allowed him to create artworks capable of breaking spiritual limitations, he hadn't actually learned the Sixth Level techniques.

Half an hour later, he had completely mastered the Sixth Level. Another half hour later, he had also completely mastered the Seventh Level. Zhang Xuan finally exhaled, his eyes gleaming as he put down the books. At this moment, his understanding of calligraphy and painting had reached the peak of the Seventh Star, even comparable to an initial Eight-Star Calligraphy and Painting Grandmaster.

"Master Zhang... may we begin?" Seeing Zhang Xuan pick up an unassuming book and sit for a full hour, the Bronze Mask was filled with anxiety. "Yes, we can!" Nodding, Zhang Xuan took a deep breath, took two steps towards the painting, and with his Eye of Insight shimmering, looked at it again. If before, he couldn't understand the painting at all and relied solely on the flaws revealed by the Library of Heaven's Path to comprehend it, now he could clearly see what was going on. Many aspects, he understood without instruction, completely by himself.

"I'm about to begin..." Without further ado, Zhang Xuan lightly touched his brush to the inkstone, saturated it with ink, found the right spot, and gently brought the brush tip down. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! In the blink of an eye, a new image appeared before them, quietly suspended in mid-air, not falling.

"What masterful ethereal drawing!" President Meng Chong's pupils contracted as he watched Zhang Xuan draw. Amateurs watch the spectacle, experts discern the method. Both were ethereal drawings, but Zhang Jiuxiao's earlier attempt was merely superficial. This one, however, contained a beautiful artistic conception and had reached an extremely profound level.

"Masterful? How does it compare to yours?" President Mu, from the side, asked. "To be honest... I am far inferior. His ethereal drawing, every stroke and line, possesses its own charm, giving a sense of being both real and illusory, as if it could detach at any moment and become a tangible object... It's already infinitely close to the Eight-Realm of calligraphy and painting. I am far behind..." Meng Chong gave a wry smile. Though he didn't want to admit it, he knew that the other person vastly surpassed him. No wonder Zhang Xuan could immediately discern the problems with the painting; no one in the Qingyuan Empire could likely match such skill in calligraphy and painting.

"This..." Witnessing this scene, Zhang Jiuxiao's mouth twitched even more; he felt like he was going crazy. When he first met Zhang Xuan, he had smugly offered to give pointers, only now realizing that Zhang Xuan was countless times more skilled than him in both treasure appraisal and calligraphy/painting. Showing off in front of an expert... it was utterly humiliating...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Amidst everyone's astonishment, Zhang Xuan's brush continued without pause, and a gate-like pattern appeared before them. "A gate?" "Why draw a gate?" "You don't know, do you? This landscape painting, to us, is like something viewed outside a window. Although it appears very close, there's actually a certain distance... If you want your consciousness to get closer, there's only one way: open a gate and step through. Otherwise, it will never be possible!" Once they understood what he had drawn, everyone was first shocked, then enlightened. Everyone present was among the most prominent figures in Qingyuan City. While they might not grasp how the seal would be truly resolved, they could understand this particular method. The landscape painting had reached a realm where it was both real and illusory. It looked close but was actually extremely far. To awaken its spiritual intelligence, one had to approach it directly, and naturally, that required a gate.

With the gate completed, Zhang Xuan withdrew his brush, raised an eyebrow, and sharply pressed his palm downwards. Splash! The ink suspended in the air immediately fell onto the painting. Rumble! With a booming sound, the distant mountain range instantly appeared before everyone, as if the gate he had drawn had opened a passage, allowing anyone to directly enter the painting.

"Alright, I'm going to start..." Having completed these steps, Zhang Xuan let out a breath of relief and turned to glance at Master Wu. "Master Wu, please help guard me!" Although it was unlikely anyone would ambush him, it was still better to be cautious. "Very well!" Master Wu stepped forward. Zhang Xuan then sat cross-legged on the ground. With a thought, a wisp of his consciousness entered along the newly drawn gate.

Upon entering the gate, a dense, moist air immediately enveloped him. Zhang Xuan's consciousness swiftly advanced, soon reaching halfway up the mountain. The peak, shrouded in white clouds, was pitch black; nothing could be seen. Entering it felt like stepping into night. Zhang Xuan knew this was because its spiritual essence hadn't been ignited, so without stopping, he activated the method of awakening spiritual essence and sharply pointed his finger. Beams of light shone forth, and over twenty flames ignited consecutively, illuminating the surroundings. However, it was still a hair's breadth away from fully activating the spiritual essence.

Even so, the light illuminated all the darkness beneath the clouds, revealing the entire mountain peak completely. It was a dense forest, looking no different from other places. However, on the mountainside, under the sun's rays, a faint shadow slowly emerged, inspiring a desire to worship. "This..." Zhang Xuan's pupils contracted at the sight. He had seen this phantom image before. Master Kong!

At this moment, Master Kong appeared serene and detached, exuding a sense of peace and tranquility, yet also giving the impression of traversing time, as if he could vanish at any moment. "This is... the scene Elder Wubei witnessed!" Zhang Xuan clenched his fist. This painting was created by Elder Wubei, so the phantom image of Master Kong was naturally an illusion. However, this phantom image before him was incredibly vivid and spirited, inspiring a sense of reverence that could not possibly be imagined through mere fancy. In other words... This Elder Wubei must have personally witnessed this scene, and his memory was so profound that he was able to paint it.

"Master Wu said that Elder Wubei was quite ordinary in his youth, but after turning 180, he suddenly achieved enlightenment. Not only did his cultivation advance by leaps and bounds, but his skill in calligraphy and painting also seemed divinely bestowed... Could it be that seeing Master Kong's phantom image suddenly awakened his potential?" Master Wu had once told him about Elder Wubei, whose life experience was nothing short of miraculous. He would never believe it if there hadn't been some major fortuitous encounter. Perhaps... it was precisely because he saw Master Kong's phantom image that he achieved enlightenment, becoming an Eight-Star Calligraphy and Painting Master. Later, after reaching his full power, out of gratitude, he immortalized what he felt in his heart on paper.

"However, the matter of Master Kong is too significant. After completing the painting, knowing that its disclosure would bring countless troubles... perhaps the troubles had already begun, which is why he concealed it with white clouds. But in the end... he still met a tragic fate, disappearing soon after finishing his work." Zhang Xuan speculated. After four Heavenly Acknowledged Master trials, his thinking was clear and logical. Although many things initially seemed to lack clues, after some thought, he could still deduce certain possibilities.

Why did Master Kong's phantom image appear on this mountain range, and where exactly did it appear? These were all questions, and if discovered by those with ulterior motives, it would undoubtedly cause great upheaval. As an Eight-Star Calligraphy and Painting Master and a Nascent Spirit realm expert, Elder Wubei could not have been unaware of this. Unfortunately, he couldn't bear to abandon his own creation, agonizing over it for thirty years... but ultimately, he couldn't escape his fate. "Master Kong's appearance here indicates that, like Qiuwu Palace, there must be ruins left behind... First, I'll see where exactly the phantom image appeared!" Having understood all this, Zhang Xuan quickly looked up towards the place where Master Kong's phantom image had appeared. "There it is..." He quickly found the exact location, his eyes lit up, and he swiftly flew towards it.