Ch. 105 - The World Pearl In Hand

The middle-aged man before him was none other than the Heartless Painter, once a famed figure across the Eastern Continent.

As for whether the Heartless Painter was alive or dead, Xu Zimo wasn’t sure, but he did know that the man before him now was merely a remnant shadow of the Heartless Painter.

Speaking of the Heartless Painter, he could be considered a man of deep affection.

Many people in life find it hard to escape the bonds of emotion.

the Heartless Painter once shared a romance with Fengzu. The details of their relationship weren’t clear to Xu Zimo.

He only knew that Fengzu and Grand Emperor Wu Chen had been childhood sweethearts and eventually married.

Back then, Grand Emperor Wu Chen had not yet taken on the Heaven’s Will. There were those who tried to threaten him using Fengzu’s life.

During one such chase, Fengzu chose to leap off a cliff to her death rather than drag Grand Emperor Wu Chen down with her.

But few knew that she didn’t actually die from the fall. Instead, she was rescued by the Heartless Painter.

Due to her severe injuries, the Heartless Painter took care of Fengzu for a long time.

And during that period, the two developed feelings for each other over time.

However, Fengzu could never let go of Grand Emperor Wu Chen. In the end, she chose him over the Heartless Painter.

In her own words: when the Heartless Painter left, her heart ached, but when Grand Emperor Wu Chen left, she felt as if her entire heart had died.

That’s probably the difference between liking and loving.

Fengzu was never one to entertain ambiguity between two men. She chose to leave the Heartless Painter. It's said that on the eve of their parting, the Heartless Painter painted a portrait for Fengzu.

He promised that if anyone ever brought that painting to him, he would do everything in his power to grant that person one wish.

But Fengzu never intended to ask the Heartless Painter for anything. She accepted the painting only as a keepsake.

Even when she passed it on through her legacy, she never told the disciples of the Immortal Spirit Sect about its origin or purpose.

To her, it was just a beautiful memory from her life.

She didn’t want future generations to dredge up the past and seek favors from the Heartless Painter with the painting.

In later generations, there were rumors that during the battle for Heaven’s Will between the Heartless Painter and Grand Emperor Wu Chen, the Heartless Painter gave up willingly because of Fengzu.

Of course, the truth of those rumors remains unconfirmed.

…

the Heartless Painter took the painting from Xu Zimo and chuckled softly, as if the memories of the past were playing in his mind.

He had spent his life accompanied only by books and paintings, never once considering marriage or children.

But during one chance encounter while sketching scenery, he met Fengzu, and fell in love.

It was his first and only love.

“You want the World Pearl?” the Heartless Painter looked at Xu Zimo and asked.

“Yes, Senior.” Xu Zimo nodded.

The Heartless Painter was silent for a moment. Then, with a wave of his hands in the air, the space before him began to ripple.

He drew a stroke with his divine brush, tearing open a rift in the air. A round pearl flew out from the crack.

The pearl was pure white, and its structure was transparent. At a glance, it seemed to contain the essence of all things.

There were galloping deer, neighing wild horses, blooming flowers, and flowing rivers.

The Heartless Painter put away Fengzu’s painting and handed the World Pearl to Xu Zimo.

He smiled lightly and said, “I hope it shines brilliantly in your hands.”

“It will,” Xu Zimo replied with a smile and nod.

Just as Xu Zimo was about to leave with the World Pearl, the space beside him suddenly rippled.

A young man in white robes stepped out.

“Looks like the second inheritor has arrived as well,” the Heartless Painter said with a smile.

The young man in white took a moment to observe his surroundings. When he saw Xu Zimo, he was stunned, clearly not expecting someone to have arrived before him.

But upon seeing the Heartless Painter, the young man grew visibly excited. He quickly stepped forward and bowed deeply.

“Seventeenth-generation disciple of the Song Clan, Song Qianqiu, pays respects to the ancestor.”

“Enough, get up. I don’t care for formalities,” the Heartless Painter said with a shake of his head and a smile.

Xu Zimo glanced at the young man.

However, something about the young man’s face looked familiar, as if he’d seen it before.

Suddenly, a thought struck him. Xu Zimo stared at the youth’s familiar face.

“Isn’t this guy the later ‘Sage of Painting,’ Hua Qianqiu?”

In his previous life, many said that Hua Qianqiu took on the surname “Hua” after receiving the Heartless Painter’s legacy.

Now it seemed they were probably from the same family after all.

“How’s the Song Clan doing?” the Heartless Painter asked with a hint of emotion.

To the Heartless Painter, the current Song Clan no longer meant much.

After so long, his parents and friends had likely passed away long ago. The present-day Song Clan, beyond blood ties, held few familiar faces.

Still, it was his clan. Naturally, he didn’t wish to see it decline.

“Ancestor, the legacies and techniques you left behind in the clan have helped us a great deal. While no one has surpassed your achievements, the Song Clan has grown rapidly and is now one of the top families in Violet Sun City,” Song Qianqiu replied. “The reason I was able to pass the first three trials so quickly is because I stumbled upon some information about the Palace of Paintings in one of the items you left behind.”

“Though you’re my clansman, you still need to pass the fourth trial to earn the legacy of the divine brush,” the Heartless Painter said. “That brush has been with me for many years, I must find it a worthy successor.”

“I understand,” Song Qianqiu replied earnestly.

“Paint a piece with true artistic intent, pass that, and you’ll clear the fourth trial,” the Heartless Painter nodded.

…

Song Qianqiu stepped up to the long table and pulled a brush from his storage ring.

Clearly, he was well-prepared, or perhaps he truly was someone who loved painting.

He laid out the white paper, and with swift, fluid strokes, began painting. His brush moved like a dragon in flight or a serpent gliding.

Amazingly, he painted with his eyes completely shut.

After a long time, when the painting was complete, Song Qianqiu dipped his hands into the massive waves flanking the stone path, then lightly sliced them with his fingers as if they were blades.

A few drops of seawater splashed onto the paper.

The once ordinary painting suddenly gained depth and nuance.

The ink seemed to soften, blending with the flowing seawater to create a more natural, effortless look, nothing stiff or forced.

The painting depicted the peak of a mountain, where a single pine tree stood alone at the edge of a cliff.

There were no flashy techniques or exaggerated colors, but within its simplicity, the painting captured the cliff’s sheer danger, the pine tree’s resilience, and the indomitable spirit of life.

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