772 Painters Fear for the Integrity of Their Art!

As long as Xu Xiaoshou combined his understanding of the Dao with his Sovereign (Stage) 'Painting Mastery', he could breathe life into his paintings and grant them the ability to do combat.

More than that, Xu Xiaoshou's paintings returned to the basics, the very essence of what it is to paint.

Between the Innate (Stage) and Grandmaster (Stage), 'Painting Mastery' grounded Xu Xiaoshou's solid foundation in the art.

Brushstrokes, perspective, split mirror, colour painting, and so on.

The only reason Xu Xiaoshou's chicken looked so ugly was that he had been sloppy, painting an outline in black and white without capturing the details.

If he were to focus on the details, he would have given the chicken a glossy coat of feathers, a majestic crest and perfectly manicured talons.

"But there's no need..."

Xu Xiaoshou knew this.

The more fleshed out the chicken was, the stronger it would be, or at least that was what one would think.

On the contrary, the chicken's fighting strength depended solely on 'Painting Mastery' and his cultivation level.

It was a crucial discovery.

"What if I don't want this chicken to fight but have it as a paper tiger to fool my enemies?"

Xu Xiaoshou's mind whirled into action, processing various scenarios and minute possibilities, going so far as to simulate situations no one else would dare consider.

Some might have thought he was overthinking the situation, but he was not. One could never have too many trump cards. Looking at the chicken, he paused.

The black-and-white chicken that had pecked through the void was happily clucking away.

Having completed its master's order, it wandered around Yuan Mansion, causing Xu Xiaoji to click his tongue in wonder.

Suddenly, the void roiled, and the Dao rippled. The commotion created by the Great Demon King Xu attracted his attention.

Xu Xiaoji looked over, his gaze settling on the ghost beast, the black and white chicken that had appeared out of thin air. The funny face he wore melted into astonishment, eventually becoming shocked.

The shock was so great that he could not conceal it.

"This, this is..." Xu Xiaoji stuttered.

He stared wide-eyed at the human elders' bodies slowly solidifying beside Young Master Xu. They looked strangely familiar, but he could not put his finger on who they were.

That changed when their bodies solidified. It was as if a divine brush was giving souls to the frames of these elders. Draped over the shoulders of a particular elder was a large red coat.

Xu Xiaoji was stunned, fear nearly incapacitating him completely.

"A Red Coat... the Night Guardian?"

Xu Xiaoji's lips formed an 'O' shape. How could he not know the Night Guardian?

The Night Guardian had been the person standing in the sky above the trade fair.

The only difference was his lack of chanting. Nevertheless, the Night Guardian was someone he would not forget. How could he when that venerable Elder's attention had been trained on him for the longest time?

Why hadn't he been informed if the Night Guardian had been locked up in Yuan Mansion?

Wasn't the Night Guardian at the Cutting Path (Stage)?

How did Demon King Xu, someone who had not made a breakthrough, catch the Night Guardian who was already at the Cutting Path (Stage)?

Yet, Xu Xiaoji felt something was wrong. He was familiar with the Night Guardian.

Why was it that the Night Guardian summoned by Young Master Xu did not seem to possess a strong aura?

"What do you think?" Xu Xiaoshou finished painting the Night Guardian's figure with his mind and wanted Xu XiaoJi's opinion.

"He... isn't a real person, is he?" Xu Xiaoji squeaked fearfully.

"Of course he isn't," Xu Xiaoshou affirmed. "It's something I visualized. How does it compare with the real person?"

Xu Xiaoji's lips twitched.

What did Xu Xiaoshou mean when he said he visualized it?

Could the Great Demon King Xu have the ability to create Cutting Path (Stage) experts out of thin air?

Only a god could create such a miracle!

The painted version of the Night Guardian landed on the ground, unmoving. Emboldened, Xu Xiaoji went up to the replica and probed it with his senses.

"I can feel the vitality in the flesh and the spiritual signature of the Night Guardian."

He hesitated and said, "But it doesn't have the aura of an expert at the Cutting Path (Stage). It's almost like a dummy..."

"He is a dummy," Xu Xiaoshou laughed in response.

He gave his imaginary Night Guardian a once over, and his expression dipped. There was none of the arrogance or the lofty bearing of a Red Coat in his creation.

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than a change seemed to occur.

"Boom!"

The loud crash of thunder rang in the air.

An overbearing aura exploded in Yuan Mansion, overturning the Thirty Thousand Alchemy Cauldron.

Xu Xiaoshou was stunned, speechless.

Was this the finishing touch?

After he recovered from the shock, Xu Xiaoshou realized that he had almost emptied his spiritual source and mental strength by giving this phoney Night Guardian the strength of someone at the Cutting Path (Stage).

Fortunately, his cultivation level had broken through to Master (Stage), and all of his attributes had reached the Sovereign (Stage).

Still, Xu Xiaoshou swayed on his feet, his vision going black. However, thanks to his speedy ability to recover, he avoided fainting due to weakness.

"How is it?" He asked Xu Xiaoji again, his pale face full of anticipation.

Xu Xiaoji was so overwhelmed by the familiar aura that he dared not raise his head.

It was too terrifying.

The Great Demon King Xu had not even moved!

There could be no mistake; the Night Guardian he had snuck a glance at just now carried a hint of spirituality in his eyes.

The aura of someone at the Cutting Path (Stage) erupted in the next second, and it felt as if the creation had gained a life of its own...

Xu Xiaoji exclaimed, "It's so lifelike, it's almost real... Wait. There's another flaw. Is he unable to move or talk?"

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought when he heard Xu Xiaoji's assessment.

He painted this replica of the Night Guardian, and he was the painting's master.

They shared an incomparably close connection, more so than the real individual and himself.

Unbidden, a thought came to mind that caused the dummy Night Guardian to tremble. It tilted its head to one side, glaring at Xu Xiaoji as it barked in a stern voice, "A grain of rice shines as bright as a pearl!"

Xu Xiaoji nearly jumped out of his skin. So frightened was he that he crumpled to the ground in a heap of messy limbs.

The phoney Night Guardian's aura flared again. There was no doubt it possessed the unique strength of someone at the Cutting Path (Stage).

The replica's shout nearly shattered his soul, and that made it all the more terrifying since he knew the Night Guardian in Yuan Mansion was a fake.

"Lord Shou, this, this, this..."

"What's wrong? Have you noticed any other flaws?" Xu Xiaoshou bounced on his feet excitedly.

With his passive skill, 'Swallow the Mountains and Rivers', Xu Xiaoshou had plenty of energy he could spare, not to mention the impressive capabilities of 'Transformation'. He had firsthand experience of the Night Guardian's Cutting Path (Stage) aura, so mimicking it was no trouble at all.

Even though he did not possess the strength of someone at the Cutting Path (Stage) just yet, imitating it through his Sovereign (Stage) 'Painting Mastery' was not a problem.

A mortal painting could outline a golden spear, an iron horse, and the soul of a general in all its humble splendour, so how could he not when he possessed skills far greater than an ordinary person? A mere Cutting Path (Stage)'s aura was nothing to him!

Xu Xiaoji scrambled to his feet and circled the imitation of the Night Guardian. Clicking his tongue in surprise, he said, "Is this really the Night Guardian?" He took a moment to assess the figure in its entirety. "It may possess the same aura as the real thing, but its movements are too stiff. It feels closer to a puppet than anything else... Still, Lord Shou is amazing! This 'visualization' method of yours is truly impressive. How did you do it?"

Xu Xiaoshou brushed aside Xu Xiaoji's flattering words.

He wanted to create something he could use in combat, not praise for a work of art. It was not as if his enemies would submit out of respect for the sheer beauty of his creations!

"The movements are stiff, like that of a puppet..." Xu Xiaoshou muttered repeatedly. It made him think of his other skill: 'Weaving Expertise'.

Without 'Weaving Expertise', he would not have been able to multitask as much as he presently could. Albeit, he did not have much use for it at the moment. He did not need to use it regularly, and controlling a plain chicken could hardly demand more than a tiny portion of his attention.

Now, controlling this fake Night Guardian, on the other hand, was a very different matter indeed.

Humans and puppets were not the same.

As his thoughts arrived at this juncture, Xu Xiaoshou split his spiritual sense into two. Half of it merged with the replica, while the other remained a part of him.

"Hey!"

The leader of the Red Coats waved his sleeves, and his gaze turned cautious, the muscles over his cheekbones pulling taut.

Flying up into the sky, the Night Guardian raised his hands overhead, shouting angrily, "Great Dark Sky!"

His aura surged, and waves of spiritual energy washed over the area like a tsunami.

Xu Xiaoji was caught flatfooted by this sudden development. The Night Guardian had transformed from a lifelike puppet into a being of immeasurable might! It was a scary demonstration of power. Flabbergasted, he gawked dazedly at the Great Demon King Xu.

It was then that he realized what had sparked the change. Xu Xiashou controlled the Night Guardian's imitation while looking at him with a smile. He appeared unphased by his act of multitasking.

"Is it better?" He asked.

"Keke..."

The sound produced was not caused by the chicken, but rather it was the chattering of Xu Xiaoji's teeth.

It was over.

Xu Xiaoji could already imagine the reign of terror the Great Demon King would bring once he returned to the outside world.

It was the best ability to frame someone!

As the saying goes: Strange powers exist that may confound even gods.

The Great Demon King Xu's new ability did not just confer the power of a god; it would bring unmitigated disaster to all corners of the world!

Masking his fear behind a veneer of nitpicking, Xu Xiaoji said, "Your creation has the aura and the spiritual signature right, but it doesn't possess the combat techniques of the original."

Xu Xiaoji's words were directed at the fake Night Guardian's technique, 'Great Dark Sky'. It was, in all likelihood, a spiritual combat technique.

Apart from the gale it produced, all other manifestations of the technique were illusory and carried no physical power behind them.

Who knew that Xu Xiaoshou had already expected this. The corners of his lips arched into a devious smile. "There's no rush; this is just a test run."

Three breaths later...

Xu Xiaoji watched as the Night Guardian descended, abruptly shrouding the entirety of Yuan Mansion in heavy darkness. There were no faults he could see.

"Feared, Passive Points + 1."

...

Anyone could splash ink on a scroll and say they had created an 'ink painting'.

It did not even require a technique!

Emotions ran wild in Xu Xiaoshou. The only thing that disappointed him was his inability to replicate the Night Guardian's ability to shield the six senses with his technique.

His Night Curtain was just that; a curtain. There was nothing special about it.

At this moment, a thought struck him. What if he stored his creation in the Void Painting Scroll? Could he store spiritual techniques or physical objects and use them when needed?

Xu Xiaoshou fell into deep thought.

There was a possibility, but it would not be easy to execute. Such an action would require certain accomplishments in the Dao of array formation, a discipline not under the purview of his passive skill, 'Painting Mastery'.

He could visualize a dummy and the effects of a fake spiritual technique, but he could not pull a spiritual technique out of thin air. Even how a spiritual technique would react in storage was up for debate.

That was something touching on the aspects of the divine!

Then again, it wouldn't hurt to try, would it? He could paint a few special effects of reputed spiritual techniques and store them in the scroll. That was a start, wasn't it?

His thoughts turned to Xu Xiaoji.

Not long after, a huge Golden Buddha appeared behind him.

The enormous Buddha was more than 300 feet tall and touched the sky. It had angry eyes, a bushy beard, thick eyebrows, and a mountainous sword in its hands.

As the sword hurtled downwards, even time seemed to slow to a crawl.

Xu Xiaoji stood rooted to the spot, paralyzed by an overwhelming sense of fear. It was not until the sword passed through his body but did no harm that he realized it was a conjuration.

It was also a result of the Great Demon King Xu's 'visualization'.

"Visualization..."

"What kind of spiritual technique is it?"

"What did the Great Demon King Xu figure out?"

"Why does his breakthrough to the Master (Stage) feel so different from everyone else's?"

Xu Xiaoji screamed incoherently in the depths of his heart.

It felt like he was going crazy.

This Great Demon King Xu was already a nightmare.

With truth and falsehood mixed seamlessly, how would anyone be his match in the future? Would they be taken out by some means if they believed this great Buddha's chop was real?

Death was a very real possibility if they could not distinguish illusion from reality.

"Crazy, crazy, this world is crazy!"

Xu Xiaoji hugged himself, warding off the deathly chill that ran down his spine.

He was rocking back and forth on the ground, planning his future, preferably somewhere far, far away from this demon overlord.

When he caught sight of the Great Demon King still lost in thought, he nearly screamed! Was he planning to seal all escape routes by improving his technique further? Vicious! Utterly vicious!

Although 'visualization' consumed a lot of energy, it was but a drop in the ocean for Xu Xiaoshou, who could return to peak performance at the drop of a hat.

Xu Xiaoji believed this was part of Xu Xiaoshou's deception to mislead and cloud his enemies' judgment.

The Great Demon King Xu would rest for a short while after materializing another lifelike person. The Night Guardian was far from his only goal.

Soon, fakes of Elder Sang, the Storyteller, Bazhun'an, Gou Wuyue, and even Ai Cangsheng came into existence.

These individuals were all the result of 'visualization'!

Xu Xiaoji had not seen most of them before. One or two of them seemed familiar, though it must have been sometime before he entered Yuan Mansion and fell into the clutches of the Devil incarnate.

Each person's idiosyncrasies: their movements, speech patterns and weapons were reproduced faithfully. Battle he would never have dreamed of occurred in front of him.

Xu Xiaoji's worldview shattered into pieces, and the shard dusted the fragmented world's grounds.

Bazhun'an's imitation held his sword and charged forward, shouting crazily, "The sky rests above, and I, Bazhun'an, stand atop it. Who dares challenge me for the Qingju (Sword)? Who dares to fight me to the death?"

Gou Wuyue's imitation pulled out the famed sword, the Voice of Nulan. "I will fight you. Sword, come!"

The imitation of Elder Sang sneered, "You can't even take a punch from my handsome disciple, and you dare to fight him? Taste the power of my palm... Hah!"

Ai Cangsheng: "Damn it, my Evil Sin Bow, my Eyes of the Great Path... God, I'm willing to give up everything in exchange for the power to heal my lower body."

Rao Yaoyao: "Heh, half-paralyzed man, wait for your death on the Sacred Mountain!"

Storyteller: "Brother~ Brother!"

Bazhun'an: "Damn, sissy! Get lost!"

After which, Storyteller was bifurcated neatly in two.

...

Xu Xiaoji was stunned.

He stared blankly at this world-shaking battle.

If this scene had occurred in the outside world, the clashing forces would have been enough to fill the sea and create new lands.

Xu Xiaoji turned his head away, not daring to watch the fight between behemoths. The words that were spoken by those venerated personages added to his shock.

"S-so, this is the Great Demon King Xu's inner world?"

"It's over; the Shengshen continent is finished!"

"Seniors, your reputations will be tarnished for the rest of your lives!"

...

On the other side...

Xu Xiaoshou was not just fooling around.

While this world-shaking battle took place, he was busy painting three-dimensional portraits of anyone he had seen in the past.

He discovered that they could last indefinitely as long as he supplied these 'visualized' replicas with spiritual energy.

The techniques they used could also be 'materialized' at the cost of their spiritual source and mental strength.

However, the energy each required was very small. Yet, the phenomena they could produce was magnified exponentially.

It all depended on the artist's imagination.

For Xu Xiaoshou, who had 'Weaving Expertise' and an unlimited spiritual source, the spiritual energy needed to create a replica was negligible.

As long as he added a few attributes and gave his creations spirit-gathering arrays while he 'visualized' them, he would not even need to expend too much of his spiritual source to flesh out the details of the characters he painted.

It would increase his 'visualized' creations' chances of survival several times.

Since this world had no concept of 'copyright' (or at least Xiaoshou thought so), he could paint more people who would make waves in the world as he gained proficiency in 'visualizing'.

'Perception' gave Xu Xiaoshou an impeccable memory.

He could even perfectly copy every person's subtle expressions and actions.

He had often observed the people and objects around him as a dutiful wallflower, staying in the background and doing nothing else; acting was his only recourse to drive away his loneliness.

Now that the stage was his, how could he let go of this opportunity to perform with his co-stars? Everything had to be perfect!

In the end, he 'visualized' so many things to the point of exhaustion. Sprawled on the ground with his breaths billowing like a forge, Xu Xiaoshou smiled, a manic glint in his eyes.

"He is insane!"

"On the day that he brings me, Xu Xiaoji, out of seclusion, this world will tremble!"