Brush of All Living Beings

Biodata

Appearance

• Brush form: A broken brush with dragon-whisker bristles; it can float independently and perch on Su Mo’s shoulder 574 659.
• Hairpin form: Transforms into a golden hairpin worn in Su Mo’s bound, frost-white hair 577.
• Active radiance: Produces golden strokes when drawing weapons and formations, and bronze strokes while creating the Reincarnation Mirror 583 624 817.
• After its sacrifice: Loses its radiance and lies motionless; Su Mo places it back in his hair 817 818.

Abilities & Skills

Creation

The brush turns envisioned drawings into reality by combining its power of creation with its wielder’s power of law 764.

• Initially boasts that it creates “something from nothing,” then admits that creation consumes its accumulated spiritual energy 764.
• That energy constitutes its own Spirit Consciousness: sufficiently demanding creations can exhaust its existence as a conscious being 764 817.
• Su Mo refuses to use this ability after learning its cost 764.
• Its stored energy remains available in the Reincarnation Gap, where there is no ambient spiritual power or law for Su Mo and Xuanji to use 816.

Mind-Reading and Spiritual Perception

The brush can hear private thoughts and perceive spiritual abnormalities, although its access is neither universal nor infallible 574 624 625.

• Reads Su Mo’s desire for a suitable slaughter weapon without needing a full explanation 582 583.
• Publicly exposes pursuers’ private thoughts, embarrassing them and provoking their anger. Those listening cannot determine how much of its commentary is truthful or exaggerated 574.
• The Book of Life and Death can conceal Su Mo’s thoughts from it; sufficiently high cultivation can also prevent probing 624.
• Detects that the Demon Sage’s Divine Soul does not match her Saint Realm cultivation, but initially misinterprets the discrepancy as evidence that she is a Saint Beast 624 625.

Formations and Talismans

The brush draws formation patterns and golden talismans for defense and Divine Soul restraint 605 624.

• Attempts to wake the restrained Demon Sage with golden runes fail; her condition is later traced to the loss of half her Divine Soul 624 625.

Flight, Transformation, and Physical Combat

• Flies independently and transforms into a hairpin, allowing it to remain with Su Mo without drawing attention 574 577.
• Serves as a thrown weapon when infused with Su Mo’s cultivation power; it evades a Spirit Sword, breaks an opponent’s nose, and repeatedly returns to Su Mo 574.
• Initially objects to being thrown, then enthusiastically requests further throws 574.
• Claims an “indestructible body,” but denies that it can transform into a slaughter weapon 583 764.
• Can forcibly acknowledge a master through the power of law and draw heavily on that master’s spiritual power, as it does to Su Mo after leaving the Ruined Temple 574.

Ancient Knowledge and Artifact-Spirit Traits

• Knows about the three heavens, the closed Immortal Gate, cultivation classifications, and the Immortal Domain 587 646 687 714 716.
• Retains knowledge of Old Codger’s possessions and forging methods, though its recollection of locations and trial details can be mistaken or incomplete 584 718 720 721.
• Can remain inside the Heart Tree between trial cycles because the tree does not identify it as a person seeking the inheritance 729.
• Is not omniscient: it cannot remedy Su Mo’s Divine Soul injury and does not recognize the Flower of the Other Shore 743 794.

Notable Creations

History

Old Codger and the Ruined Temple

Old Codger named it the Brush of All Living Beings in the hope that it would learn to understand others. Despite the name, the brush considered itself superior to every living being under heaven 645.

Their separation began when Old Codger chose to face a danger involving thousands upon thousands of lives. The brush opposed his decision. Old Codger severed their life bond, sealed it in a ruined temple, and entered the dangerous “game” alone. The brush later states that Old Codger died 645 816.

Becoming Su Mo’s Companion

After leaving the Ruined Temple, the brush accompanied Su Mo and Wu Pangzi during a pursuit by members of major powers. Its mind-reading taunts enraged their pursuers, while Su Mo discovered that it could be used as a returning projectile 574.

Running short of spiritual power, it forcibly acknowledged Su Mo as master and began draining his reserves. It subsequently revealed its former name, only to become dejected when neither Su Mo, Wu Pangzi, nor Wu Qian recognized it 574 576.

After insulting the Book of Life and Death and receiving a warning inside Su Mo’s Spirit Sea, it refused to return there. It adopted its golden hairpin form instead 577.

Floating Life Pass and Mount Sumeru

In the Star Sea, the brush identified the collapsing Desolate Realm and helped Su Mo forge the Star Sword. It admitted afterward that it had merely been testing a method left by Old Codger 583 584.

During the defense of Desolate Demon Pass, it supplied the All Living Beings Grand Formation and explained the defensive compromises required to sustain it. It later helped restrain and investigate the Demon Sage, correcting its initial Saint Beast theory after Buddhist light revealed her incomplete Divine Soul 605 624 625.

At Mount Sumeru’s Slow Purification Platform, countless mirrors exposed its former arrogance. The brush finally told Su Mo about Old Codger and their separation. Once it acknowledged the figures as its former selves, the images vanished and they could continue 645.

The Immortal Path and Heart Tree

When the Three Purities Immortal Venerable began erasing Su Mo from mortal memories, the brush felt its consciousness fading and protested that it did not want to forget him 696.

It later accompanied Su Mo along the Immortal Path, choosing to help gather bones rather than rest in his Spirit Sea. Su Mo understood that it was staying outside to spare him loneliness 707.

In the Immortal Domain, its search for Old Codger’s belongings first led to the accidental theft of Xuanji’s hidden milk. It eventually directed Su Mo to a Sacred Artifact ring beneath the Rouyun Heart Tree 718 720.

To investigate the Heart Tree’s reincarnation, the brush remained behind as an observer while Su Mo repeated the trials. From its perspective, it waited thousands of years, witnessed repeated failed escape attempts, and completed the task despite its exhaustion 729 730.

Final Sacrifice

By their stay at the Immortal Furnace Ancestral Grounds, the brush had followed Su Mo for more than ten years. Its affection for him had become comparable to its attachment to Old Codger, whom it had served for thousands upon thousands of years 763.

When Su Mo tried to leave it behind before another dangerous undertaking, it insisted that it did not want to be abandoned again. Despite understanding his intention to protect it, the brush ultimately followed him into the darkness of Reincarnation 804 815.

Inside the Reincarnation Gap, it rejected Su Mo’s suggestion that it find another master. With no visible escape and no ambient power available, it resolved to draw a mirror that could see through reincarnation 816.

Every stroke consumed its Spirit Consciousness. As its memories blurred, it still remembered its time with Su Mo. It completed the Reincarnation Mirror by pouring its remaining consciousness into the final stroke, then fell spiritless into Su Mo’s arms 817.

Su Mo returned the inert brush to his hair. The mirror’s affectionate behavior felt familiar to him, and he continued grieving the brush’s loss afterward 818 826.

Personality

The brush is boastful, foul-mouthed, and mischievous. It calls itself “Pen Lord,” embellishes embarrassing thoughts for maximum effect, and treats its supposed Emperor Artifact rank as a matter of personal dignity. Its bravado quickly gives way to flattery around beings it fears, particularly the Divine Maiden and the Book of Life and Death 574 591 753 763.

Its arrogance conceals a profound fear of abandonment. It regards a masterless Spirit Artifact as a homeless dog and values belonging over the freedom Su Mo repeatedly offers it 804 816.

Its loyalty is clearest when its actions contradict its boasts: it waits thousands of years for Su Mo, keeps him company through exhausting journeys, and finally spends the consciousness it once insisted he would never be allowed to use 707 730 764 817 826.

Relationships

• Su Mo — Second master and close friend. Their relationship begins with forced acknowledgment and constant bickering, but both eventually treat the other as a confidant rather than merely wielder and artifact 574 763.
• Old Codger — First master and the source of its name. Their separation leaves the brush with lasting pain and a fear of being left behind again 645 804.
• Book of Life and Death — An intimidating fellow artifact that conceals Su Mo’s thoughts and disciplines the brush after its insults 577 624 753.
• Divine Maiden — Inspires unusually abject deference. The brush suspects she has reached the Star-Picking Realm 591 646.
• Xiaoyueyue — One of the two people, alongside Su Mo, whom it worries about at the end. Its final requested message teases her lack of talent for cursing 817.
• Little Xuanji — Traveling companion and fellow captive in the Reincarnation Gap. Xuanji tries to stop its sacrifice and later discusses its loss with Su Mo 737 816 826.
• Big Strong — The Void Beast it helps keep out of Su Mo’s final danger, continuing Su Mo’s deception so Big Strong will remain guarding the Peach Gate 815.

Notable Quotes

“Though I was called the Brush of All Living Beings, deep down, I looked down on every living being under heaven.” 645

“In this world, who besides you, Su Eternal Life, deserves to have your Pen Lord acknowledge them as master?” 816

“Master... Your little brush will draw you a way out...” 816