Chapter 555: Zhang Xuan Makes the First Appearance

"It seems no one is quite clear, so allow me to explain!"

Seeing everyone's confusion, Hall Master Kang smiled. "Spiritual sentience, as I'm sure you all know, is only achievable at the Sixth Stage of painting and calligraphy. Figures in artworks of this level can autonomously absorb spiritual energy and float above the paper."

"The so-called 'retention of spiritual sentience' means... giving lectures to these figures or objects!"

"Lecturing to figures in paintings and calligraphy?"

Upon hearing the explanation, everyone was stunned. Even if figures in paintings and calligraphy possessed spiritual sentience, they were still formed by the convergence of spiritual energy and lacked true wisdom. What was the point of lecturing them? Could they even understand?

"All of you are renowned masters," Hall Master Kang said. "You should know that a renowned master's lecture contains 'Heavenly Impartation from a Master's Words.' The more theories that gain recognition from heaven and earth, the richer the spiritual energy will be during the lecture!"

Everyone nodded. A renowned master's Heavenly Impartation had the effect of gathering spiritual energy. It was said that Master Kong, the Celestial Master of old, could make spiritual energy stir with a single word. Every time he lectured, his words would manifest into reality, and he could spontaneously create a spiritual mountain.

Not to mention Master Kong, even Master Hong Qian, who lectured here recently and was only an early five-star renowned master from the Hongfeng Empire's Renowned Masters' Hall, could gather spiritual energy with his words and make lotus flowers bloom from his mouth, allowing his audience to be bathed in spiritual energy and experience an unconscious increase in their cultivation. This was an ability of renowned masters, though its effect was much weaker if the master's rank wasn't high enough.

The Hongfeng Empire was a vassal state of the Illusion Feather Empire. Empires, like kingdoms, were divided into titled, first-class, second-class, and unranked levels. Illusion Feather was a second-class empire, while Hongfeng, like the Tianxuan Kingdom, belonged to the unranked empires, similar to the Mingxia Empire, Huanhai Empire, and the Alliance of Ten Thousand Kingdoms. However, renowned masters of that caliber could not remain indefinitely in unranked empires. Once they appeared, they would be summoned by the headquarters for advanced training at higher-level Renowned Masters' Halls. The reason Hong Qian was dispatched here was precisely because he was also destined for the Illusion Feather Empire. Geniuses who passed the Renowned Masters' Grand Competition would not only receive generous rewards but, more importantly, gain entry into the Illusion Feather Higher Academy for study.

"While the spiritual sentience in paintings and calligraphy cannot sustain life like living beings, it can autonomously absorb spiritual energy and persist for a long time," Hall Master Kang continued. "They are most sensitive to the spiritual energy between heaven and earth. If a lecture is logical and well-reasoned, it will gather spiritual energy, allowing them to exist for longer. Conversely, they will easily dissipate! By using this, we can assess the strength of a renowned master's lecturing ability, with no possibility of cheating!"

"So that's how it is!"

"Using this kind of spiritual sentience for judgment is the fairest..."

Only then did everyone understand, realizing the truth. Spiritual sentience only recognized spiritual energy, not people, making it fairer. People were swayed by emotions. If they liked a certain teacher's lesson, they wouldn't change their minds, even if others said it was terrible. Conversely, they might find a good lecture bad if they didn't like the teacher. Such ingrained biases were impossible to change. After all, aside from Master Kong, the Celestial Master, no matter how powerful a renowned master was, they couldn't convince or awe everyone. If students were randomly chosen for lectures, Young Master Ruohuan and Fu Xiaochen, being famous geniuses with many supporters in Myriad Kingdoms City, would undoubtedly gain trust more easily, which would appear unfair. However, this spiritual sentience had no independent thought. It wouldn't yield to fame or be influenced by factors like gender. It solely responded to the spiritual energy fluctuations caused by the lecture, making it the most impartial method.

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan also understood and nodded. Spiritual sentience appeared only at the Sixth Stage of painting and calligraphy. It reacted solely to spiritual energy, rendering everything else useless, including the Heavenly Impartation from a Master's Words. Even for an official painter or calligrapher, unless they were the owner of the artwork, anything they said would have little effect.

"Since everyone understands the rules, let the competition begin. Elder Yun, I'll trouble you with this round!" Hall Master Kang said with a faint smile, seeing that everyone below understood and had no further objections.

"Don't worry!"

An old man stepped out from the crowd.

"I knew it would be Elder Yun!"

"Elder Yun is the only four-star pinnacle painter and calligrapher in the Renowned Masters' Hall. It's only natural for him to oversee the assessment of spiritual sentience retention; he has the most authority! More importantly... his painting, 'Flock of Birds Soaring,' is a work left by a five-star grand master, making it perfectly suited for this assessment!"

"This painting is Elder Yun's treasure; he never brings it out. I've heard about it for a long time but never seen it. This time, we'll get a real treat!"

"Indeed, a Sixth Stage artwork left by a five-star grand master is truly rare. You won't find a second one in the entire Myriad Kingdoms Alliance!"

"Not necessarily. I've heard that the Treasure Appraising Pavilion has a painting that can rival it. Unfortunately, getting to see something from that place is even harder..."

Seeing the old man, the murmurs from below grew quieter. Elder Yun's auxiliary profession, like Young Master Ruohuan's, was also painting and calligraphy. Moreover, his level was much higher than the latter's, having reached the four-star pinnacle. A painter/calligrapher of this caliber, even without the additional title of a renowned master, would be considered top-tier in Myriad Kingdoms City.

"Entrusted by the Hall Master, I will be overseeing this round of assessment!" Ignoring the crowd's chatter, Elder Yun approached the group, looked at Zhang Xuan and the others, and with a flick of his wrist, a scroll appeared in his palm. "This painting, 'Flock of Birds Soaring,' was bestowed upon me by my painting and calligraphy teacher."

Whoosh!

As he spoke, the scroll unrolled, and a flock of birds flew out from it, soaring and chirping as if across the nine heavens. These birds resembled real ones, not mere illusions with a simple form. They detached from the painting, flying out a full three feet, and only after two minutes did they descend and return to the scroll.

"Figures or objects in artworks of the Spiritual Sentience Stage can autonomously absorb the surrounding spiritual energy and float above the painting. However, there's a time limit; two minutes is already the maximum duration! Through your lectures, whoever can make them remain airborne for the longest will be the champion!" Elder Yun stated the requirements, glancing around the group.

"Alright, let the competition begin! Who will go first?"

"This..."

Everyone exchanged glances. Although they all had some understanding of painting and calligraphy, none had ever experienced lecturing to make spiritual sentience remain airborne, and thus had no prior experience to draw upon.

"Master Zhang, how about... you go first? Having been first in two consecutive rounds, your lectures must be extraordinary. Why not let us observe and learn?" Stepping forward, Young Master Ruohuan suddenly stopped, turned around, and smiled faintly. Previously, his greatest rival had been Fu Xiaochen, but now it had become the person before him.

"Me? Alright!" Zhang Xuan nodded.

"He always comes out last, borrowing others' experience. He won't try to decline this time too, will he...? What did you say...? 'Alright'? You're going?" Young Master Ruohuan had expected this fellow to refuse outright, just like in the first round. He had already prepared his words, but halfway through, he heard Zhang Xuan's reply clearly and abruptly stopped, feeling as if he had punched thin air, so frustrated he wanted to vomit blood. The retention of spiritual sentience was a strange assessment method that many renowned masters had never heard of. Shouldn't Zhang Xuan have considered it more carefully, perhaps waiting to see how others performed, just like in the first round? Why did he agree immediately? He was completely unpredictable!

"Elder Yun, I'll go!" Too lazy to pay attention to Young Master Ruohuan's expression, Zhang Xuan stepped forward. Initially, he hadn't understood the competition and wanted to see how others handled it. But being the last one for two consecutive rounds was a bit embarrassing. Since the rules were clear this time, there wasn't much difference between going first or last.

"You?"

Seeing Zhang Xuan, Elder Yun's mouth twitched. He had witnessed the previous assessments: this dark horse, who seemed to come out of nowhere, had defeated Elder Wu in the first round, and almost caused Elder Bai to collapse in the second... If there was anyone he feared most in this round, it was definitely this guy. He truly wondered what new trick he would pull.

However, since he wanted to go first, Elder Yun couldn't refuse. He simply nodded and said, "I will activate the painting shortly, making the birds fly. You may lecture directly; the content is up to you, as long as it can draw in spiritual energy. Afterward, we'll rank everyone based on how long they can make the birds stay airborne. Your ranking will depend on whether your lecture content can gather spiritual energy!"

"Understood!"

Zhang Xuan nodded. The rules were simple and easy to understand.

"Alright, let's begin!" Seeing that he understood, Elder Yun wasted no more words and gently brushed his palm across the painting. The birds from earlier flew out once more. Truly a painting of the Spiritual Sentience Stage; the birds absorbed spiritual energy and soared, dazzling and brilliant, providing an exceptional aesthetic beauty.

"Since this is painting and calligraphy, I'll lecture on painting and calligraphy then!" After a moment of hesitation, Zhang Xuan made his decision. As long as the lecture could draw spiritual energy, and since this was painting and calligraphy, lecturing on how to paint was straightforward; there was nothing to overthink.

"Painting isn't just about depicting reality; more importantly, it's about infusing emotion to give the work a soul..." With a thought, the Library of Heaven's Path's compiled information on painting and calligraphy appeared before him. Based on his understanding, he began to explain slowly. While in the Tianxuan Kingdom, he had organized the painting and calligraphy collected by Master Lu Chen's family. Later, after visiting places like the Tianwu Kingdom and Honghai City, he had gathered many books on painting techniques. After compiling these books, his understanding of painting and calligraphy was likely far superior even to Elder Yun, a four-star pinnacle master. Otherwise, how could he casually write a name and make the "Drunkard's Dream" in the Treasure Appraising Pavilion directly reach the Seventh Stage? Even if one knew the flaws, it would be impossible without a certain foundation in painting and calligraphy. His voice was not fast, and his explanation was simple, yet it directly pointed to the grand principles of painting and calligraphy, moving from shallow to deep, invigorating the listeners' spirits. However, since he was discussing the most basic concepts, it didn't sound profound.

"I never expected Master Zhang's understanding of painting and calligraphy to reach such a level!" After listening for a while, Hall Master Kang's face was filled with surprise. He had originally thought Master Zhang would use Heavenly Impartation to teach cultivation techniques. He never expected him to lecture on painting and calligraphy with such profound and enlightening insight. It seemed he not only had a deep understanding of cultivation and techniques but was also equally skilled in painting and calligraphy. Truly a formidable renowned master, capable of even captivating him!

"The spiritual sentience in paintings and calligraphy has extremely high demands for spiritual energy," Master Su interjected, "Even a five-star renowned master's ability to gather spiritual energy with words and make lotus flowers bloom won't sustain it for too long."

As he was pondering, Master Su looked over at him. "Hall Master Kang, in your opinion, how long can Master Zhang sustain it?"