Heavenly Star

On the painting, the buds of the twin lotus flower slowly began to unfold their petals - blooming like a rare miracle and gradually revealing the small yellow buds within. The “reflection” beneath also bloomed, both sides altering in coordination. The people could not help but think that it was a real reflection. The lotus flower was the only magical element of the piece - the formerly coarse water surface and its light green dots spread out through the watermarks becoming evenly distributed and transforming into a perfect light green water surface. The watermarks faintly reflected the sunlight and from a distance the water surface looked clear and crystalline, as though one were facing a clear pond in real life.

What caused people the most awe was truly the reflection of the lotus. Since the water surface was the last to be painted and through the reflection of sunlight, it became intensely similar to the a real reflection. Inverted images in the water was one of the most difficult scopes in painting because the creative concept was really difficult to grasp, but in this case, the painting was really made to perfection.

When the twin lotus buds bloomed to its full, they burst open into two cupped pinkish white lotus flowers frozen in time. Had it been early or late by just a bit, it would not have achieved such perfection. Everybody was still caught up by such a mesmerizing image and have yet to come back from their trance.

Could this really be just a painting? No… They prefered to believe that this was a real twin lotus flower, and that the under it was the actual reflective lighting of light green pond water. Before all this, who could have witnessed the entirety of a lotus flower transforming in its bloom? No one…. But today they have clearly witnessed this incredible wonder within this painting.

This cannot really be called a painting.

Looking at their reactions, Ye Wuchen smiled his soft smile. The principle behind the blooming flower and water surface display was actually all very simple. Using water to cause the ink to spread before adding alcohol could turn a painting volatile in order to accomplish this process. Although the principle was obvious, the actual execution of this at this quality was close to impossible. Whether on the amount of inked used, the places that needed to be touched by the ink, the well-proportioned distribution of liquid wine, and the timing… a tiny mistake at any one of these points would cause severe damage to the end image.

Ye Wuchen stepped in front of the painting board, blocking his magical Twin Lotus Flowers on One Stalk, snapping the people back into reality after their witnessing the spectacular miracle.

“Wonderful! Wonderful!” This time, Long Yin’s voice, within just two words, expressed his clear and decided amazement.

“After all these years of my existence, only now do I truIy know what a real painting is…”

“This… This indeed is a magical work! If I did not witness it first hand, I wouldn’t really have believed that this kind of wonderful art really exists.”

“Hubby! We came to Tian Long City at just the right time. In this world, such spectacles are quite rare. I fear no one would ever believe us when we tell of it though.”

“Unexpected, really unexpected. I already had one foot in the grave. I’m really lucky to be able to even witness this before I close my eyes for my final breath. God really treats me right… Even though I could die at any time, I really have no more regrets!”

……

……

Lin Xiao swore that he had never heard this much praise and such copious amounts of exaggerated surprise in his entire lifetime. Even the sum of the praises he received in his life thus far could not compare to the praises Ye Wuchen received at this very moment. No matter how good his painting was, it was still man-made. But this Twin Lotus Flowers on One Stalk, he must admit, it was truly a piece of art made by a God. No mortal could manage to create such a tremendous work of art.

The difference, in spite of everything, was huge. No one could possibly surpass it. Lin Xiao took a deep breath; he could hardly calm down his thoughts. Being accustomed to popularity and praise - his position had been at its very peak. For the first time, he now had the perspective of a person looking up, but the person he looked up towards was positioned as high as the highest peaks, which were enshrouded in heavenly clouds, while he, stood at the foot of the mountain, not even able to see its shadow even with his head lifted upwards.

This time, a very old voice sounded. “Everybody please listen to what I’m going to say.”

The owner of this voice had great influence. Just a few spoken words could cause the noisy atmosphere to gradually calm down. It was from an old man who was quietly seated at the back row. His age appeared to be beyond sixty, and he wore a green suit stretching from head to toe. He had kind brows and pleasant eyes with a body that seemed immortal. Every person who gazed at him had a very distinct look of respect, even Long Yin’s expression reflected his deep and proper respect.

Ye Wuchen immediately guessed the identity of this old man.

“Hoho, young man. This old man takes responsibility for lacking scholarly knowledge. I never reached this path in my own painting techniques, but today I have really witness a work of art that could have only been made by a god. This kind of art ought to be possessed only by the heavens, and does not belong to this mortal world…”

People who knew this old man would know that for someone to have received such praise from him truly rare, and that Ye Wuchen might have been the first. And yet… he was truly fully deserving of such praise.

But the way he addressed Ye Wuchen was...

“...Please excuse this old man’s presumptuous manner, but I would like to boldly ask. Which God was your teacher?” The Old Man slowly asked, his mouth slowly turning into a gentle smile.

This question attracted the curiosity of all the people, including the Ye family. All their gazes fixed onto Ye Wuchen.

Ye Wuchen let out a mysterious smile. “Old gentleman, you are correct. My teacher is indeed a God. My teacher has no intention of hiding his identity, so there’s no harm in telling you.”

The people lifted their brows. They originally thought that this kind of skilled disciple could only have learned from a God-like teacher, yet such abled masters always hid their identity, even refusing to let people know of their existence, so they did not have high hopes. However, unexpectedly, Ye Wuchen had no intention of hiding this, even going so far as revealing this to the entire audience.

“My teacher is…the owner of this ring.” Ye Wuchen took out the God of Sword’s ring then put it on the finger of his left hand lifting it high for everybody to clearly see. While the corners of his mouth secretly pulled into a smile while thinking: Grandpa Chu, let me use your fame once more. This ring you gave me has really made everything easy for me in my road to Tian Long Nation.

He was greatly indebted to Chu Jingtian. The old man had unconsciously made Wuchen owe him on purpose.

That cunning old fox.

The people barely managed to react when the two servant beside Long Yin yelled. “The God of Sword’s Ring!!”

These words spread across this entire public square like a thunderclap, triggering a flare of loud reactions.

“The God of Sword’s Ring! It’s the ring he wore back in the days!”

“That’s right. That’s really the Ring of the God of Sword… the heavens have taken pity on me for allowing me to witness the God of Sword’s Ring.”

“The young master of Ye… he really is the descendant of the God of Sword! No wonder he has such amazing martial skills and talent at such a young age. As it turns out, this was the reason!”

“God of Sword is from the God Generation, to have such disciples is not impossible.”

“God of Sword’s Ring… he’s indeed his disciple! He was rumored to have disappeared for more than a year. As it turns out, he was being sheltered by the legendary God of Sword; the Ye family is truly blessed by the heavens.”

Translated by: Fatty_Uncle

Edited by: patrick_the_father_of_dragons