Qin Yudie saw that Judi had ignored her words and continued speaking rudely to Senior Xu. She immediately stood up and said icily, "Judi, please leave!"
She hadn't known before that Judi was so rude. Senior Xu's arrival today had revealed his true nature.
"Yudie, why must you be like this? I haven't done anything wicked." Judi first addressed Qin Yudie coolly, then fixed his gaze on Xu Yan. "Well? Do you dare compete with me?"
He had already thrown caution to the wind. Even if it made Qin Yudie angry, he was going to compete with Xu Yan and see just what tricks this man had that made Qin Yudie treat him so differently.
"What do you want to compete in?" Xu Yan looked at Judi and asked.
He hadn't wanted to bother with Judi, but Judi was being so aggressive, and Xu Yan didn't want him to keep making a scene at Qin Yudie's banquet. He had no choice but to respond.
Seeing that Xu Yan had taken the bait, Judi gave a mocking smile. "We're at Yudie's banquet, so a Dao battle wouldn't be appropriate. How about we compete in painting?"
He was a prodigy in the Painting Dao, with even greater talent for it than for cultivation. Before he was thirty, he had already become a master of the Painting Dao.
Xu Yan smiled. Someone actually wanted to compete with him in painting.
He said, "Then get the painting supplies ready."
Just then, Qin Yudie spoke up. "Judi, you're not worthy of competing with Senior Xu in painting."
Then she turned to Xu Yan. "Senior Xu, you're far too distinguished to need to accept his challenge. He isn't qualified to compete with you in painting."
Judi sneered. "Qin Yudie, he already agreed. Why are you still trying to stop him? Do you think he can't beat me?"
From Qin Yudie's reaction, he could tell that Xu Yan couldn't paint. Qin Yudie was afraid Xu Yan would lose too badly, so she was trying to stop him from competing.
"Don't talk nonsense! No one can match Senior Xu's paintings, and you're nothing but a clown," Qin Yudie retorted.
She knew just how extraordinary Xu Yan's paintings were. She would never allow Judi to insult him.
In her heart, Judi wasn't even worthy of speaking to Senior Xu, let alone competing with him in painting.
"It's fine. Let me see how good his painting is," Xu Yan said with a smile to Qin Yudie.
He had never met anyone besides himself who was skilled at painting, so he was quite interested when Judi challenged him.
Judi had someone bring out two sets of painting supplies, placing one in front of himself and the other in front of Xu Yan.
He looked at Xu Yan. "We'll have a quarter of an hour. Let's see whose painting turns out better. How about it?"
Painting usually took a long time, but he was exceptionally talented in the Painting Dao. A quarter of an hour was enough for him to complete a fine work.
He had set the time limit strictly to make Xu Yan suffer a crushing defeat in front of all the young talents in the courtyard.
He wanted Qin Yudie to see that the person she thought so highly of was nothing in front of him, Judi.
"No problem. Let's begin," Xu Yan said mildly.
Forget a quarter of an hour—even in one minute, he could paint a complete picture.
"Begin!"
The instant Judi finished speaking, his brush was already moving. His strokes flowed like a stream, without the slightest pause. He truly was a master with tremendous talent for painting.
Meanwhile, Xu Yan picked up a piece of fruit and leisurely ate it. He hadn't even started painting.
Everyone in the courtyard was a young prodigy from a major sect or lineage near Tianren Mountain. They all wondered if Xu Yan knew he couldn't beat Judi and had simply given up.
After all, if both of them painted and the gap between their works turned out to be enormous, the one with the inferior painting would look especially bad beside the better one.
Mu'er also thought Xu Yan was being far too careless. "Senior, what if you lose because you don't start painting soon?"
She knew Xu Yan was an impressive senior, but Judi was also a renowned master of the Painting Dao in the Tianren Sect. She still felt Xu Yan was being much too overconfident.
Xu Yan glanced at Judi, who was painting with complete concentration, and said calmly, "Don't worry. I won't lose."
Then he continued eating his fruit.
Only after he had slowly finished the fruit in his hand did he begin to paint.
By then, half the time had passed, and Judi had completed half his painting.
When Xu Yan took up his brush and made his first stroke on the canvas, a Dao charm flowed out and quietly enveloped the entire courtyard.
Every stroke of his brush was perfectly natural and just right. Even someone who knew nothing about painting would find it pleasing to look at.
Mu'er, for example, was completely absorbed. She was practically entranced.
As Qin Yudie watched Xu Yan paint, a beautiful smile unconsciously appeared on her face.
Before she knew it, Xu Yan had become someone very important to her.
A few minutes later, Xu Yan and Judi both put down their brushes. They looked up at each other, their gazes colliding in midair.
Judi wore a smug smile, his eyes full of disdain.
Competing with him in painting was foolish.
Xu Yan smiled at Judi, then looked at the people in the courtyard and asked, "Everyone, whose painting do you think is better?"
Judi's painting depicted a young man learning to paint. Though his fingers were already rubbed raw and covered in wounds, he still hadn't stopped.
He had painted himself as a boy, learning to paint.
After all these years, he could still depict his younger self, and he had captured the scene so vividly that viewers felt they were right there, as if the boy learning to paint stood before them.
"Senior Xu, of course your painting is better. Judi's work can't compare to yours at all," Qin Yudie said.
This was the first time she had watched Xu Yan paint a complete picture from beginning to end. It was like witnessing the creation of the world. She couldn't put the shock she felt into words.
Mu'er even ran over to take a close look at Judi's painting, then hurried back to Xu Yan's side. "That's right, that's right! Senior's painting is better!"
She didn't understand painting, but even she could tell that Xu Yan's work was far superior to Judi's.
"Impossible! You're only saying that because you're biased toward him. Your opinions don't count!" Judi flew into a rage.
He refused to believe that Xu Yan's painting could be better than his. This work could already be called his masterpiece, the culmination of more than a decade of effort on the path of the Painting Dao.
He would never allow anyone to trample on all that effort. He had to be the winner!
Everyone else in the courtyard had been watching Judi paint. Now they headed toward Xu Yan, wanting to see just what his painting looked like.
They were all young prodigies from sects and lineages near Tianren Mountain. Compared with Qin Yudie and Judi, prodigies from top sects, they still fell far short.
But Xu Yan was a complete unknown. They were all curious whether his painting really was as incredible as Qin Yudie and Mu'er had claimed.
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