Duan Rong sat there, paying no attention to Zhu Xiaoqi’s attitude. He rarely had the chance to sit so close to Xiao Baijiao, so how could he bear to look elsewhere?
"I’m truly flattered that the second young lady would ask to paint," Duan Rong said with a slight smile. "I’ll go back to the dorm in a bit to fetch my painting tools and dyes!"
"I actually have those things prepared right here!" Xiao Baijiao said with a smile, suddenly standing up. "Take a look, Brother Duan, and see if they are suitable."
Xiao Baijiao stood up, took brushes and cinnabar from a cabinet by the wall, and laid them out on the table while saying, "I originally used these for sketching embroidery patterns, but I think they should also be suitable for your painting!"
Seeing that everything was ready, Duan Rong smiled and said, "Naturally suitable!"
Xiao Baijiao sat by the window, while Duan Rong placed a paperweight on the corner of the rice paper on the table and started to contemplate the composition of the painting, looking at Xiao Baijiao.
It took Duan Rong nearly half an hour to complete the painting, working very slowly.
It wasn’t that he was infatuated with Xiao Baijiao’s beauty and deliberately took the opportunity to peek!
Rather, he poured all his skill and focus into the painting, striving to reach his utmost state at that mont!
The person he painted might not be the real Xiao Baijiao, yet it was Xiao Baijiao!
That was the Xiao Baijiao from deep in his heart!
It was like a mass of light and shadows transforming...
As Duan Rong finished painting, Zhu Xiaoqi lifted the curtain and entered, having just finished wrapping the buns and placing them on the stear.
She’d been busy chopping the filling and making buns for half an hour.
Free now, she ca to see how Duan Rong’s painting turned out.
Was it truly as amazing as the rumored stories Zhao Mu spoke of?
Xiao Baijiao stood by the window, holding the painting while she and Zhu Xiaoqi looked at it together.
Xiao Baijiao’s eyes were full of laughter...
But Zhu Xiaoqi looked utterly surprised, her small dark eyes wide open, her lychee-red lips forming a round ’O’ shape!
Under the sunlight at this angle, Duan Rong could just make out the fine, faint transparent fuzz on Zhu Xiaoqi’s face...
"Brother Duan, you’ve painted into an otherworldly fairy! As good as this painting is, it loses its true aning!"
"To , Miss Xiao is a goddess descended to the mortal world! This painting hasn’t lost the true aning; it embodies the true aning in my heart!" Duan Rong said earnestly, looking at Xiao Baijiao.
Yet there was a hint of a confession in Duan Rong’s words.
Xiao Baijiao’s expression slightly changed upon hearing it, but seeing Duan Rong’s sincere deanor and noting the lack of any frivolity in his words, with eyes that shone with pure light, she montarily lost herself...
For a mont, Xiao Baijiao didn’t know how to respond to Duan Rong’s words, feeling a little embarrassed, so she lowered her head and continued to look at the painting...
Xiao Baijiao and Zhu Xiaoqi, while looking at the painting, whispered sothing to each other!
Duan Rong had sat still for nearly half an hour painting, and feeling his legs stiffen, he stood up to stretch a little!
The mont Duan Rong stood up, he noticed a redwood carved flower table standing against the right side of the room’s entrance, holding a cast iron knife stand, on which a broken blade lay!
The blade was as wide as a human’s face, with the edge and back almost equal in length. The handle bore no decoration and was polished from long use, with a faint tallic sheen.
Duan Rong was slightly taken aback upon seeing this knife.
Placed there, the knife exuded a certain majesty, akin to a divine statue overlooking all beings!
Duan Rong stepped closer, examining the broken blade carefully...
The blade appeared to have been cut in half by so weapon, the cross-section bright as a mirror!
"What kind of person could break such a knife?" Duan Rong thought, astonished at the sight of the cross-section.
"This knife..."
Standing in front of the broken blade, just as Duan Rong was about to ask Xiao Baijiao about it, she looked up, having kept an eye on him. Seeing his curiosity about the knife, she said, "This was my father’s weapon. He said it drank deeply of human blood, carries an ominous aura, and wards off evil!"
Xiao Baijiao continued, stepping gracefully forward. "Keeping it in my room ensures my safety!"
Duan Rong’s breath slightly paused at this, a testant to Xiao Zongting’s profound care for Xiao Baijiao!
"May I touch this knife?" Duan Rong asked, his voice trembling a bit as he looked at Xiao Baijiao.
Duan Rong’s gaze was as bright as polished lacquer, and Xiao Baijiao felt their hearts were sowhat in sync at that mont.
"Sure, my father never forbade touching it."
Xiao Baijiao smiled prettily.
Duan Rong also smiled faintly and reached out to grip the knife handle.
The handle bore no decorations, cold as if clutching a winter icicle.
"Read the Artifact Spirit," Duan Rong silently thought.
Artifact: Broken Blade Saber (Damaged)
Artifact Spirit Tier: 5
Devouring Requirents: Host’s Spiritual Power Level 5 (Unt)
Devouring Effect: Five Tigers and Sheep Saber Perfection (Incomplete), Cloud Serpent Step Great Success (Incomplete), Soul-breaking Thirteen Techniques Master (Incomplete)
As Duan Rong expected, since the knife was nearly cut in half, all the devouring effects were incomplete!
The incomplete devouring effects were due to the incomplete Artifact Spirit itself!
The damage to this knife might likely be connected to Xiao Zongting’s loss of Martial Arts!
In that very battle, the knife was broken, and he suffered serious injuries. Though he barely survived afterward, he lost all his Martial Arts!
Xiao Zongting’s crippled leg and this broken blade both exemplified the brutality of that battle!
Even though all three martial skills were incomplete, the Artifact Spirit still ranked at Tier 5, hinting at the imnse strength of Xiao Zongting at his peak!
Having worked as an apprentice Escort Master for over a month, Duan Rong gradually ca to learn that Xiao Zongting, at his peak, was also at the True Qi Realm Second Level!
Of the three Martial Arts, Cloud Serpent Step was likely a Lightweight Skill.
The Five Tigers and Sheep Saber was undoubtedly Hinayana Martial Arts.
And the remaining one, Soul-breaking Thirteen Techniques, must be Middle Level Martial Arts!
Martial Arts generally classify into Hinayana, Middle, and Mahayana!
Corresponding to Inner Breath Realm, True Qi Realm, and Primordial Qi Realm respectively!
The term ’Vehicle’ refers to the carriage’s capacity, likening it to the Martial Arts’ strength at different realms!
Inner Breath Realm, True Qi Realm, Primordial Qi Realm, each a greater challenge step by step!
Beyond these three realms is the Qi Vortex Realm, where Martial Arts beco known as Supre Skill, marking the zenith of Martial Arts!
Further beyond the Qi Vortex Realm are the Dark Grotto Heaven Realm, Nascent Soul Realm, and Primordial Spirit Realm, three unfathomable realms!
However, these three realms are beyond the scope of Martial Arts, inaccessible to ordinary people!
Hence, the late stage of Qi Vortex Realm is also called the Human Heaven Barrier; breaking through it allows one to witness countless divine wonders on the path to the three unfathomable realms!
Then, one is no longer a Martial Artist but a Celestial Being!
Duan Rong, lost in thought, was suddenly interrupted by Zhu Xiaoqi’s sharp voice in the room. "Dimwit, paint one for too!"
Seeing how good the painting of Xiao Baijiao turned out, Zhu Xiaoqi, though not fond of art, as a young girl, loved beauty, after all.
Xiao Baijiao, hearing this, glanced at Zhu Xiaoqi with a slight scowl, as if blaming her for interrupting the conversation with Duan Rong.
But Duan Rong turned his head and smiled, "Of course!"
"Your portrait costs ten silver coins, I’m just a maid, I don’t have that kind of money for you!"
Xiao Baijiao smiled slightly, rolling her eyes at Zhu Xiaoqi, knowing she had money saved, probably as her dowry.
Seeing Xiao Baijiao’s amused smile, Zhu Xiaoqi knew she was being teased, so she pouted and gave her a look, signaling her not to expose her in front of Duan Rong.
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