Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Heaven Painting, this is truly a Heaven Painting!”
In a luxurious mansion—north of the Purple Dragon City, there was a group of people. Each was holding onto a “Volcano Eruption in the Sea” painting while their eyes were lit up. This wasn’t something that they had never witnessed before. The people present were all the upper echelons of the Qu Clan which was the dictator of the Purple Dragon Archipelago. They had participated in various auctions and had witnessed many artworks and were fortunate enough to have witnessed Heaven Paintings.
The world might not have plenty of Art Emperors or Music Emperors, but there were some. Yet, this was the first time they had seen so many Heaven Paintings at one time.
“Li Xiang!”
A tough and stocky-built middle-aged man yelled out, “Did you investigate about the information of the person that sold the paintings? Is there any chance of recruiting the painter into our clan? If you manage to recruit them, you will be making a huge contribution.”
The Purple Dragon Merchant Association’s Chief Supervisor, Li Xiang let out a bitter smile and said, “Clan Head, the seller is just a servant and is a crafty fellow. This one doesn’t dare to recklessly send someone to investigate him in fear of infuriating him. This one had given him our merchant association’s token, but… the token had been discarded in a toilet. He did mention that he will come again next month. However, I do not know if it is true or not.”
“That is a pity!”
The tough and stocky-built middle-aged man was the current clan head of the Qu Clan, Qu Xiong. He let out a slight sigh and said, “This person has obviously grasped the divine skill of condensing the dao presence onto the painting. However, he had just started learning how to paint—hence his crude painting skills. If his painting skills are to improve in the future, he will definitely become a new Art Emperor. Everyone here should know the value of an Art Emperor…”
“That’s right!”
“If this person can be recruited into our clan, it will be a huge leap in progress for our Qu Clan’s future development. As long as that person can paint a few high-standard Heaven Paintings, our clan will have another additional hidden trump.”
“This person probably doesn’t want to join our Qu Clan; otherwise, they would have directly negotiated with us.”
“The signed name of the Heaven Painting is called Yi Piaopiao? Could this person be a woman?”
The rest of the elders let out a sigh with sorrow. Li Xiang paused for a moment before seeking advice. “Clan Head, how are we going to deal with these 600 Heaven Paintings? Why not host a one-time auction in the merchant association and invite all the esteemed guests of the merchant association to come auction for them?”
“No!”
Qu Xiong shook his hand and said, “We are not selling them, not even a single piece. Send them all to the Gods Bestow City. The Gods Bestow Festival is happening three months later, and all the major and minor clans of the tribe will be gathered at the Gods Bestow City. If we are to auction off these Heaven Paintings and all the rare treasures that we obtained previously at the Gods Bestow City, a single painting would probably be able to sell for ten million celestial stones.”
“Clan Head is wise!”
How could Li Xiang not know that the Gods Bestow Festival was happening in three months? She was intentionally asking like this so she could have the opportunity to bootlick.
Qu Xiong smiled and nodded. “Ask the secret team to investigate this and see if we can find that genius. When we find that genius, we will then think of a method of recruitment.”
One of the elders nodded and went off to make arrangements. The Qu Clan’s secret team wasn’t an agency like the one Feng Luan and Qian Wanguan had set up previously. Once this secret team was mobilized, there would be no secrets hidden in the entire Purple Dragon City. If the dictator of the Purple Dragon Archipelago couldn’t take control of the Purple Dragon City, then there was no need for their existence.
…
The sea region outside of the Gods Bestow Island was called the Gods Bestow Sea, and it was a ring-shaped sea region. The seawater here was clear, the scenery was graceful, and there were innumerable islands in between the nine archipelagoes and the Gods Bestow Island. The 13 Clans didn’t occupy these islands and seemed to have intentionally left them for the mountain bandit legions to fight over.
The Gods Bestow Sea was close to the Gods Bestow Island and the heaven and earth essence forces here were abnormally concentrated, which made the islands here abnormally precious. Nearly all the islands had been occupied by powerful mountain bandit legions, and the legions here were much stronger than the Black Wind Legion. A random mountain bandit legion here would possess at least dozens to a hundred middle-stage Heaven Monarchs. The top ten mountain bandit legions even possessed peak-stage Heaven Monarchs.
Occupying an island was just like occupying a paradise. Those who want to join the legions and resided in the islands would have to similarly provide celestial stones or treasures. If they didn’t have either, they would be reduced to slaves that would assist the legions to excavate various treasures of heaven and earth in the deeper part of the sea, or they would be sent to those treacherous lands to dig for celestial stones.
Hence, if one could occupy an island in the Gods Bestow Sea, it was already a symbol of strength and also having a divine vein that would never be exhausted.
In fact!
Half of the islands in the Gods Bestow Sea were actually occupied by the various clans from the Gods Bestow City. These clans were great people when living in the cities but would immediately turn into mountain bandits as soon as they left the city. They would plunder everywhere they went, and as long as there were profits, they would even slaughter their own allies. This was Sin Island, the land of crimes.
Right now, there was a giant Heaven Fate Ship advancing in the southern side of the Gods Bestow Sea. This Heaven Fate Ship didn’t fly overly high and seemed to be flying right above the surface of the sea. There was the Nine Dragons God Extinguishing Array high up in the skies of the Gods Bestow Tribe. No one dared to fly too high, for if they were to accidentally make contact with the restrictions of the array, even a peak-stage Heaven Monarch would be turned into ashes.
The Heaven Fate Ship was golden in color, more than 600 meters in length, and more than 150 meters in height and width. It felt as though the entire body was molded with gold and was just like a giant castle that traveled silently above the sea. It was also like a massive beast that would cause fear with a single glance.
It was midday right now, and the sunlight during winter was very warm. Although even the weakest martial artists on the Heaven Fate Ship were at the Vajra Realm and that they weren’t affected by the hot or cold weather, many guests still walked out of the holds of the ship. They were standing on the decks basked in sunlight and appreciating the beautiful scenery of the sea.
The Gods Bestow Sea was huge, and it would take at least one month to travel from the Purple Dragon City to Gods Bestow Island. After entering the Gods Bestow Island, they would still have to fly over two weeks before reaching Gods Bestow City. This time span wasn’t considered long or short. Many people were too lazy to cultivate and were bored to death in the holds of the ship, and it was natural for them to come out and take a walk.
Feng Luan and Qing Yu actually wanted to go out for a walk. Jiang Yi, Qian Wanguan, and Jiang Xiaonu were all in seclusion; and they were feeling rather bored. Every day, they would have nothing to do but to embroider or paint to relieve their boredom.
However, the duo was very clear that if they were to go outside, they might be exposed even if they had the appearance alteration elixir. Hence, the duo had no choice but to silently extend their divine senses and view at the borderless sea region.
“Big Sister, it is about to rain!”
There was a dark cloud that drifted over from the west. When Qing Yu detected it, she called out while Feng Luan nodded lightly and laughed. “This Gods Bestow Sea truly changes its weather as it wishes. The sun was just shining brilliantly earlier, but now, there is a thunderstorm. Later on, there might just be a hailstorm.”
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As the thunder rolled and the lightning flashed in the west, a violent storm swept over. The originally peaceful sea instantly tumbled with giant waves, causing everyone on the deck to curse. The Heaven Fate Ship had a barrier, and everyone didn’t have to be afraid of getting drenched. However, without the warmth from the sunlight, the dusky skies made everyone somewhat uncomfortable.
Slap! Slap! Slap!
The violent storm came over quickly and caused the barrier to echo with slapping sounds. From a distance, there were thunder snakes that descended and shot into the sea, forming rather breathtaking scenery.
“Look quickly!”
One of the individuals exclaimed while everyone looked over in the direction he was pointing at, and all were extremely shocked.
There was a martial artist that was approaching by stepping on the sea, and he was wearing elegant snow-white battle armor. He had a waist-long green hair that was fluttering violently in the winds as he flew across the sea. He would rush towards the place where there was a thunderbolt striking down and was actually chasing after the thunderbolts? When the thunderbolts were about to strike on his body, he actually drew his battle saber and cleaved at the thunderbolts ferociously.
Something happened that shocked everyone. As the battle saber cleaved, the spatial zone shook while the surrounding seawater was blasted up into the thousand-layer waves. The blade of the saber would scatter the thunderbolt, turning them into tiny electric arcs which shot in all directions.
“This…”
Qing Yu and Feng Luan’s divine senses had also spotted it as their charming faces were filled with shock. Someone actually cleaved the thunderbolts? What kind of dao pattern was this? Furthermore, this individual didn’t look old and was a youth that was over 20 years old? He had such strength as such a young age and actually dared to travel across the Gods Bestow Sea by himself? Could he be a young master from the 13 Clans?
…
