The Way of the Great Sun

In the Small Courtyard, Li Fan finished feeding corn to the chickens, then took a few light novels and sat beneath the peach tree to read.

It was nearly dusk. Li Fan picked up his painting case and gathered his brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone, preparing to leave.

At this time every day, he went to the mountaintop to paint the sunset.

At first, this had been a strange task assigned by the system. But after practicing again and again, Li Fan had found a different kind of joy in it.

As he captured each day's sunset and sunrise, stroke by stroke, on paper, he felt a sincere, uplifting calm settle in his heart.

With the painting case on his back, he walked out of the Small Courtyard. A group of children ran past the entrance, barefoot.

"Slow down, or you'll fall."

Li Fan smiled and called after them.

"Brother Li, are you going to climb the mountain and paint the sun again?"

The children all knew Li Fan well. One of them, a boy named Wang Xiao Er, spoke up.

Li Fan replied, "That's right."

"Brother Li Fan, you gave Er Ya a sun last time. I want one too!"

The children surrounded him.

The suns Li Fan painted were so lifelike that the children all loved them.

Some parents had also said that when they put one of his paintings by their children's beds, the children slept soundly. This had made his paintings popular throughout the whole village.

Li Fan smiled. "I still have yesterday's painting. You can have it."

He took yesterday's work from his painting case and handed it to Wang Xiao Er.

Wang Xiao Er jumped with joy. As the children crowded around to look, Li Fan went on his way.

"We just left and now we're going back. Will that make Senior Li angry?"

As they neared their destination, Wei Yushan felt uneasy.

How could anyone not walk on eggshells in front of such a terrifying senior expert?

"Senior Li is a person of such stature. He probably won't mind..." Yu Qishui said, though he wasn't sure himself.

Just then, a group of children came running toward them, fighting over a sheet of paper.

"Wang Xiao Er, give it to me!"

"No! I'm not giving it to you..."

The children were still squabbling when Wang Xiao Er, holding the paper, suddenly stumbled and pitched forward.

At the crucial moment, Mu Qianning hurried over and steadied him. She smiled. "Careful."

"Sister, they're trying to take my painting!"

Wang Xiao Er quickly hid behind Mu Qianning.

"Brother Li gave it to all of us. He didn't say it was just for you!"

"Right, hand it over!"

The other children chimed in.

At the words "Brother Li," the faces of Mu Qianning and the other two jolted.

"What painting? What's going on?" Mu Qianning asked in puzzlement.

Wang Xiao Er handed her the painting. "Look, Sister. Brother Li Fan painted the sunset. It's so beautiful."

Mu Qianning took the painting. The moment she glanced at it, shock filled her beautiful eyes.

On the rice paper, a crimson sun was sinking slowly beneath a sea of clouds.

It was as if she were seeing the sunset with her own eyes.

What was more, she could clearly sense boundless Dao Rhyme in the painting. The Great Dao of Heaven and Earth contained within it made her head swim. She hurriedly looked away.

"What's wrong, Qian Ning?" Wei Yushan asked.

"Master, Grandmaster, look..."

Mu Qianning handed the paper to the two men.

Yu Qishui and Wei Yushan leaned in and studied the painting.

Boom!

The scene filled Yu Qishui and Wei Yushan's minds. They could clearly feel that every stroke bore the traces of the natural Great Dao!

This was no ordinary painting. It was nothing less than a sacred diagram for cultivation!

If a powerful cultivator at a bottleneck saw it, they might achieve enlightenment right on the spot!

At the same time, the moment the painting came into view, an invisible wisp of black qi inside their bodies vanished in an instant.

"I... I can't feel the wounds inside me anymore?!"

Wei Yushan was stunned.

Yu Qishui drew a sharp breath. "Senior Li's painting contains the Way of the Great Sun! Before this image, every evil and sinister thing vanishes like smoke!"

Wei Yushan said, "Could it be Senior Li knew all along that we'd be injured by that wicked banner, so he deliberately had those children bring this painting to us?"

"It must be!"

Yu Qishui was utterly solemn. "Nothing escapes a person like Senior Li. It's all within his control!"

At that moment, he became even more certain. "I suddenly understand. With Senior Li's cultivation, Yin Xiaokong is no more than an ant. Why would he let him leave unharmed? Clearly, Senior Li allowed him to go."

"Behind Yin Xiaokong, there must be a Mahayana Stage expert at the very least, or perhaps an even more terrifying force... Senior Li must be playing a game of Chess, and we're only the first pieces..."

His old eyes shone with wisdom!

Wei Yushan nodded too. "Then perhaps Senior Li bestowed so many blessings on us because he wants us to work for him..."

Yin Xiaokong shook his head. "We're not worthy of that yet!"

Wei Yushan's expression turned complicated.

"Come on. Since Senior Li had those children bring us the painting to save us, he clearly doesn't wish to see us. Let's go," Yin Xiaokong said.

Mu Qianning returned the painting to Wang Xiao Er. "You mustn't fight over it anymore, understand? Take turns looking at it. Don't be greedy."

As she earnestly cautioned them, a trace of envy shone in her beautiful eyes.

These innocent children probably thought it was just an ordinary painting.

They had no idea that what they held was a blessing countless cultivators in the world could only dream of!

At that moment.

Above Lie Huo Mountain.

A violent fluctuation erupted, and space split open.

A figure fell out.

"Mountain Lord!"

Several elders in the main hall sensed something and hurried out, catching Yin Xiaokong.

"What happened?"

"Mountain Lord... why are you so weak?!"

They were all shocked.

Yin Xiaokong struggled to speak. "Take me to the secret chamber!"

The elders hurriedly carried him inside.

The chamber was packed with skulls.

A portrait was enshrined in the middle.

It depicted an Evil God!

The Evil God had eight arms and two heads, its colors eerie and strange.

Yin Xiaokong lit the blood-red incense before the statue. In the curling smoke, the portrait seemed to come alive.

"Reporting to the High God, I failed. I encountered a terrifying being!"

"That person is at the entrance to the mountain range you pointed out, living in seclusion in a village. The great banner bestowed by the High God... was destroyed as well."

Yin Xiaokong lowered his head as he spoke.

Long afterward, Yin Xiaokong emerged from the secret chamber.

The elders of Lie Huo Mountain were all waiting.

They sensed that Yin Xiaokong's aura had fully recovered and seemed even stronger than before!

"Pick up the pace. We must unify every force in that region within a month!"

"Kill anyone who refuses to submit!"

A vicious look crossed Yin Xiaokong's face!

Gongsun Qi and the other elders promptly left.

Yin Xiaokong looked in a certain direction and said coldly, "When the High God's envoy arrives, whoever you are, you're going to die!"

After crossing many mountain peaks, Li Fan finally reached the highest one.

The surrounding forests stretched far and wide. Looking out, he saw mountain ranges vast and boundless, like a slumbering dragon sprawled across the earth.

Li Fan had never ventured deep into them. They were likely home to dangerous spirit beasts and the like, and if he ran into one, death would be his only option.

Now, the red sun was slowly sinking in the west.

Li Fan took out a sheet of rice paper and set it on a boulder at the peak. With his brushes, ink, paper, and inkstone ready, he began to paint.