And at the very end,
there was an extra letter.
Chen Xun slowly unfolded it. It carried a natural fragrance—Gu Qingyan.
Yet there were no words inside, only a painting.
The sun, the earth, the river.
"Ha, ha." Chen Xun suddenly gave a dry laugh and stared at it for a long while. "I've truly never seen such a crude painting..."
For now, he could not grasp the meaning within it, nor did he understand it. Perhaps Gu Qingyan had simply drawn it on a whim.
Chen Xun did not dwell on it.
He looked through his master's and the others' notes again, calmly offering his own assessment. Each had its merits, but none possessed the free and unrestrained style of his brushwork. They still needed much more practice.
After the time it took an incense stick to burn.
He carefully put away those letters, ensuring not a speck of dust touched them.
Slowly.
The light and shadows gradually twisted, as though a droplet had fallen into them with a splash. Chen Xun's figure vanished from the spot as well.
After he left.
The still world around them seemed to come alive. Wind could be heard, insects began to chirp, as though the passage of time itself had been frozen just moments ago... Even the traces Chen Xun left behind lagged a few beats behind.
The following year.
Demons crossed the border.
Hundreds of thousands of cultivators from every race were driven into a Myriad Races Hunting Ground within Boundless Heaven. The territory stretched over a hundred thousand li in every direction. Demons clamored from all sides, their Baleful Intent soaring into the heavens.
Quite a few old and powerful figures of the Immortal Dao were among them, gazing down at the hunting ground with great interest. Their eyes were