Chapter 147
Ouyang was making a bold promise.
Li Mo was half-convinced.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that Senior Brother Ouyang wasn’t as reliable as he claimed.
Just to be safe, he decided to take a look with the Tianming Shenyang (Heavenly Fate Divine Eye)...
【Name: Ouyang】
【Age: 27】
【Root Bone: Master of Ink and Color.】
【Realm: Four Apertures of Divine Observation.】
【Heavenly Fate: Blue-gray】
【Evaluation: Born into a life of poverty, his paintings will gain fame after his death, and his unique understanding of ink and color will gradually be appreciated by many.】
【Recent Encounter: To support his fellow students at the Ink and Color Academy, he often makes money on the side.】
Li Mo thought, “....”
So the main reason his paintings aren’t worth much is that he’s still alive, right?
But not every deceased artist’s work becomes famous posthumously.
Senior Brother Ouyang really does have some talent.
“I have quite a few Divine Observation paintings here; feel free to take a look.”
“If you can make the painting ‘come alive,’ it means you can embody the essence within it, and that will be suitable for you.”
Come alive?
Li Mo didn’t quite understand what he meant.
Ouyang stood up, a mysterious look on his face:
“This is my unique path in ink and color; you’ll understand shortly.”
He took down a painting of a tiger descending a mountain from the wall.
“This Divine Observation painting is the first I ever created, containing the essence of a tiger roaring in the mountains.”
“Though it only depicts the form, those who observe it and enter the Divine Observation realm will embody the tiger’s might in their every move, exuding great strength.”
Li Mo raised an eyebrow and focused on the painting.
At that moment, it felt as if his spirit was drawn into the artwork.
Suddenly, he found himself in a vast forest, shrouded in mist.
In a daze, Li Mo realized he was deep within the mountains.
In the distance, he noticed the leaves rustling, as if something was approaching...
A gust of fierce wind rushed toward him.
It was a magnificent tiger, its eyes half-open, radiating a terrifying aura as if it were hunting.
With a paw on the blue stones, it patrolled its territory—this was the king of beasts surveying its domain!
Majestic and fierce!
It scanned everything coldly, seemingly searching for prey!
And then it spotted Li Mo!
It opened its massive jaws!
It roared:
“Meow......”
It crouched down, trembling like a leaf, its fur standing on end in fear.
The mighty tiger instantly transformed into a frail little kitten, as if it had seen some great terror.
Weak, pitiful, and helpless.
“This doesn’t make sense.”
Li Mo was utterly confused.
Come on, show some backbone! How can I observe if you don’t?
Little Li was perplexed, his spirit just about to draw closer.
But the tiger grew even more frightened.
Poof—
It vanished.
Li Mo: “.....”
What just happened?
Was there something wrong with this Divine Observation painting?
At that moment, the illusion shattered completely.
Li Mo opened his eyes to see the painting, now a chaotic mess of ink, as if someone had carelessly doodled over it—clearly ruined.
Looking up, he met Ouyang’s astonished gaze.
Senior Brother Ouyang was clearly questioning his own life choices.
“What’s going on?”
Li Mo asked, puzzled.
“Li Shidi, you really are in the Inner Breath realm, right?”
Ouyang looked pained, lost in thought for a long moment before asking.
Li Mo nodded, “I just entered the Xuan Dan stage not long ago.”
“Well, that’s strange.”
Ouyang furrowed his brow as he put away the tiger painting:
“This tiger descending the mountain painting, even if Master’s spirit entered it, wouldn’t be destroyed...”
He had shown this painting to other disciples before.
Some couldn’t withstand the tiger’s might and were driven out, while others simply couldn’t immerse themselves in the painting.
Both cases indicated that those individuals lacked the qualification to embody the essence of the tiger.
What was going on with the painting being ruined?
Li Mo felt a bit embarrassed and suggested, “How about we try again?”
Ouyang: “Huh?”
That last painting cost over a thousand taels of silver!
His heart was bleeding.
Try again?
But he had just promised there would be no problem.
If he backed out now, would Li Shidi pull out a hammer?
“Ahem, it seems I need to bring out something special.”
Ouyang took a deep breath.
He rummaged through the room for a while and soon returned with a scroll.
Unrolling the painting revealed a vividly lifelike beast, extraordinary in its appearance.
“I was fortunate enough to encounter a rare beast; it bore a trace of the Bai Ze bloodline.”
“I put in a tremendous amount of effort to capture it on paper, and in doing so, I broke through to a new realm...”
“Senior Brother.....”
“Hmm?”
“Sorry, I accidentally sank into my thoughts again...”
Ouyang froze for a moment, then looked down.
The Divine Observation painting containing a trace of the Bai Ze bloodline met the same fate as the tiger painting.
It shattered into murky ink splotches.
The paper, once heavy with profound meaning, now felt light and insubstantial.
Ouyang plopped down on the ground, as if his soul had left his body.
“My painting...”
“Senior Brother, how much is this painting worth?”
Li Mo felt a bit awkward.
“Waaah... this was my labor of love! I spent ten days and nights tracking that beast without sleep.”
“Ten thousand taels?”
Li Mo pulled out a silver note.
“Waaah... I even got kicked by that beast, breaking a few ribs.”
“Twenty thousand?”
Another silver note was placed before him.
“Shidi, this is a work of art! Do you know what art is? If sold to someone who doesn’t understand...”
“Fifty thousand.”
Li Mo’s expression remained unchanged as he pulled out three notes.
“Shidi, you clearly have artistic talent.”
Ouyang’s face changed dramatically, breaking into a smile.
The cost of this painting was only about ten thousand taels; if he found the right buyer, he could sell it for thirty or forty thousand at most.
Fifty thousand was a huge profit.
Li Mo felt a bit speechless, but he wasn’t losing out either.
【Congratulations, host, you have successfully invested 50,000 taels of silver in ‘Ouyang’】
【Investment Feedback: ‘Miaobi Shenghua Moxilu’ (The Record of Ink and Color Mastery)】
【‘Miaobi Shenghua Moxilu’: A unique painting technique that can capture the essence and spirit of objects and imprint them on paper.】
The reward looked promising.
But Li Mo felt a bit down.
Why couldn’t he even observe the form?
What should he do now?
Am I really going to have to paint it myself?
---
Chapter 149: Painting Ice Clumps
“Shidi, please don’t think of anything rash.”
Upon hearing Li Mo say he wanted to learn ink and color to paint himself, Ouyang leaned back slightly, his expression changing dramatically.
“What’s wrong?”
Li Mo didn’t understand why he was so alarmed.
“Encouraging someone to learn painting is like leading them to their doom; it’s a total trap!”
Ouyang’s face was serious as he began listing the drawbacks of learning ink and color:
“First of all, mastering the art of ink and color requires talent; having a good foundation in martial arts is easier than this.”
“Talent isn’t a concern.”
Li Mo thought to himself that he couldn’t possibly be worse than Ouyang in swordsmanship talent.
He could just rely on his insights.
Besides, he didn’t plan to become a master of ink and color.
Just being able to paint the form would be enough.
The rest could be left to the Zao Hua Yin (Creation Seal)!
Ouyang forced a smile, unable to help but advise again:
“Learning to paint is also incredibly expensive.”
“When I first started, my family thought I had gotten involved in something illegal.”
“Laughable, illegal things aren’t as expensive as high-quality brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.”
To this, Li Mo smiled shyly:
“I’ve got a few sets of the Four Treasures of the Study; that should be enough for practice... right?”
He displayed the writing tools he had received as investment feedback.
“You’re going to use these... to practice?”
Ouyang’s mouth fell open.
Li Mo waved his hand dismissively: “They’re just sitting there; might as well put them to use.”
Ouyang: “....”
Do you hear yourself?
Qingmai Yujian... Wuchun Brush... Songwen Ziyan Beast Ink... Qilin Fragrant Inkstone...
Even the greatest scholars of this age couldn’t gather such a luxurious set.
Just that piece of beast ink alone...
His teacher had waited over a decade at an auction to finally get a piece, spending nearly half his fortune to buy it.
His fists clenched; at that moment, he wanted to hit someone, but unfortunately, he couldn’t win in a fight.
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