Ninth Dan of Painting Dao!
As his Painting Dao broke through, countless insights flooded Li Hao's mind, overwhelming his joy and immersing him in enlightenment.
In that moment of self-forgetting painting, he had used his Painting Heart to peer into a Sage and portray that indescribable spiritual essence, cleansing his mind and spirit.
The ninth dan meant that Li Hao's paintings had entered the Dao.
He saw through the outward appearance of all things, captured their spirit and essence, and depicted the Dao resonance within their bones. Painting was Dao, and Dao was painting.
"Finished?"
The Sword Master sensed Li Hao stop painting, and the feeling of being scrutinized down to his bones vanished. He turned his eyes toward Li Hao's drawing board.
Li Hao came back to himself, slowly removed the painting, and presented it to the Sword Master with both hands.
The Sword Master accepted it. The ink was still wet, yet the spiritual essence within the painting already leaped off the paper.
Moreover, as he gazed at the figure's back in the painting, he felt a humming sword intent reverberate through his mind. It was his own Sword Dao!
Li Hao had actually captured a measure of his Sword Dao as well!
The Sword Master's calm, smiling expression instantly grew solemn, his eyes fixed on the painting in his hands.
Between those brushstrokes lay a Dao resonance he had never seen before.
The Sword Master looked up at Li Hao and found his expression serene, his entire bearing somehow both ethereal and real.
In those few moments, the youth beside him seemed to have changed.
The Sword Master gave Li Hao a deep look. Once the ink had dried, he rolled up the painting and put it away, saying:
"I'll keep this painting. Thank you. I like