Chapter 41: Chapter 41: Art Technique, Ink Rhythm - the Immortal in the Painting
Outside the house, above the vast sky.
Su Zian was initially too ashamed to watch, considering Chang Qing’s skills were quite lacking.
Even if he had found the right connections and asked Ling Si to go easy, there still needed to be some qualification to compete.
No mighty aura, no decent scholar’s four treasures, what was there to compete with?
Even if the other party wanted to hold back, they couldn’t find the opportunity.
Thinking about how embarrassing and low Chang Qing would feel shortly, Su Zian couldn’t help but sigh and ponder:
"What method can I use to comfort Chang Qing?"
But who would have thought that just as this thought arose, the situation inside the house reversed in an instant.
"Dao-entering level?"
"Fish Dragon Dance?"
Su Zian watched the two great Confucian scholars below who were dumbfounded, and his expression became quite fascinating.
Although he did not cultivate the Confucian path, he knew what entering the Dao level meant.
If a cultivator’s life secret technique had a training difficulty of ten, then the Confucian four arts at the Dao-entering level would be a hundred!
Not to mention, Chang Qing’s calligraphy was the legendary Immortal Seal: Fish Dragon Dance, the foremost attack of Confucianism.
"Chang Qing’s gift for the Confucian path... so fierce?"
After being momentarily dazed, Su Zian couldn’t help but burst into loud laughter, filled with delight.
The Su family had swordsmen, Taoist cultivators, and even demon cultivators, but he was the first to cultivate the Confucian path.
Moreover, at the mere age of twenty, he had achieved Dao level in calligraphy, a talent considered monstrous!
"Hahaha, good, very good, I knew my brother wasn’t mediocre!"
Su Zian was laughing heartily, but when he saw Ling Si inside the house below, who was about to cry, his laughter abruptly stopped.
"Hiss... I seem to... have made a mistake."
Su Zian’s stern face showed a rare hint of embarrassment.
His younger brother had achieved Dao in calligraphy, and letting others go was good, yet he had asked the young lady to go easy.
And adding to that what Ling Si had just said to Chang Qing...
"Hiss... this little princess of the Zhou family is probably shattered, right?"
Su Zian took a deep breath, contemplating, "Who should I send to comfort Qing Qiu?"
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he immediately sent a message to Er Niu,
[Coincidentally, you met the apple of your eye, she’s not in a good state, hurry and comfort her]
...
In the schoolhouse, inside the room.
Ling Si, with red eyes, looked at Su Changqing and said with gritted teeth: "Next round, I will definitely do my best to win against you!"
Facing a genius at the Dao-entering level, she had actually held back just now, which filled her with grievances.
Even if she hadn’t held back, she probably couldn’t have won, but... how could a Dao-entering genius need to walk through the back door!
This was too much!
"I am ashamed of my calligraphy, but I don’t believe your other skills are that strong!"
Ling Si returned to her desk in anger, waiting for the next round to begin.
Su Changqing was taken aback, looked at Shu Han beside him, and asked in a puzzled, low voice:
"Senior brother, why does Senior Sister Ling Si look so angry?"
Shu Han’s mouth twitched, "It’s fine, it’s good she hasn’t come up to beat you."
He had just communicated with Qing Feng and knew that Ling Si and the others had met Su Zian halfway and about the back door incident.
When he heard it, he was dazed too, no wonder Ling Si looked like she was about to cry.
But Su Changqing was even more confused, he didn’t do anything, did he?
At this moment, in the front of the schoolhouse.
"Senior brother, should we continue the competition?"
Li Qingchen took a sip of tea and asked.
Actually, ending it now would be best, making Wei Cang look better.
"Why not compete?"
"On the contrary, I’m even more interested now!"
Wei Cang was not discouraged. Instead, he spoke with bright eyes:
"Defeating a mediocre person is nothing; only by defeating you who is equally matched can it be considered a win!"
As he spoke, he looked at Su Changqing in the arena,
"This child’s calligraphy is already at the peak, Ling Si is not a match, but his apprenticeship started too late."
"A mere two years, even if he is a genius, comprehending a Fish Dragon Dance would have exhausted all his mind?"
"I want to see how he will win the next three arts of qin, chess, and painting!"
Beside him, just regaining their composure, the two great Confucians Mo Lan and Yi Xian nodded.
Su Changqing was still too young.
If this were in a few years, they would not dare to make assumptions, but for Su Changqing to win now, unless he reached the ’skill’ level in the other three arts.
But one’s energy is ultimately limited. In these two years, Su Changqing’s calligraphy had reached its peak, probably leaving no time to hone other skills.
Of course, in terms of potential, Su Changqing far surpassed Ling Si, but for the current literary competition... it’s probably hard to win.
Hard to win?
Shu Han snickered silently upon hearing this.
No one knew how terrifying his junior’s talent truly was.
Genius?
That was merely the threshold to seeing Chang Qing.
...
"The second contest is painting, one hour, any painting allowed."
At the front of the schoolhouse, the great Confucian Mo Lan announced the second contest.
Below, Ling Si focused intently, taking out silver Xuan paper and meticulously painting.
This time, she was using one hundred percent of her effort, with a faint artistic conception hovering over the Xuan paper.
She wanted to show with her strength that even if the opponent’s calligraphy reached the Dao level,
But she was not inferior!
On the other side, in front of Su Changqing was still the ordinary plain paper, wolf hair brush.
The painting being made was just as simple, the rolling green hills he had painted the most.
The mountains appeared lifelike, simple and unpretentious.
But if observed closely, it felt as though one was in a deep mountain forest, the majestic green hills imposing immense pressure, inspiring awe.
That belonged to the special technique of the Immortal in the Painting, a world within the painting, resonating with the Dao.
Before long, both Ling Si and Su Changqing completed their paintings and handed them to the two great Confucians.
Unlike the first round that was ignored, Mo Lan and Yi Xian immediately looked at Su Changqing’s painting.
They wanted to see what kind of painting this calligraphy master could create.
"To initially reach the ’skill’ level would already be remarkable."
"How could that be, in two years, practicing calligraphy while also painting, reaching the ’form’ level would already be difficult."
"Let’s have a look, don’t be too harsh..."
The two great Confucians commented while picking up the painting of the rolling green hills made by Su Changqing.
And at first glance, they couldn’t help but appear dazed.
It seemed as though they weren’t looking at a painting but facing majestic, continuous mountain peaks, towering and lofty.
Those grand peaks made them involuntarily feel insignificant.
"Thud!"
The painting slipped from the hands of the two dazed great Confucians, and they exchanged looks, seeing the shock in each other’s eyes.
"Two seniors, who won?"
Qing Feng inquired curiously from the side.
Seeing the silent two, Wei Cang suddenly felt uneasy and spoke aloud, "Seniors, you may speak freely."
Mo Lan took a deep breath and deeply glanced at Su Changqing, trembling as he said:
"No need to look at Ling Si’s painting, Zhi Yu won."
Ling Si immediately frowned, dissatisfied, "Senior, why decide I lost without looking at my painting? What if I won!"
"Heh..."
Yi Xian chuckled bitterly upon hearing this, "Zhi Yu’s painting has already... entered the Dao."
"Art method, Ink Rhythm - the Immortal in the Painting."