Chapter 465: A Drunken Dream Awakens

"You?"

Everyone was stunned.

Sai, the pavilion master, rolled his eyes.

From Sun Qiang, he knew that the other party was a calligrapher and painter, but... even so, wanting to know the true meaning of Wu Xuanzi's painting from eight hundred years ago was almost impossible!

Moreover, the birds in the painting were neither spirit beasts nor savage beasts; no one could recognize them, so how could one inscribe a title?

Once wrong, not only would it fail to sell at a good price, but it would also completely ruin such a precious work.

"Well..."

Luo Qin was also extremely embarrassed.

He had explained in detail to make the fellow give up his wild thoughts, but who knew that after listening, he wanted to inscribe the title himself...

You must be crazy for money!

If inscribing a title could so easily reveal the true essence, it wouldn't have been that no one had ever succeeded in all these years.

Whoosh!

Ignoring their changing expressions, Zhang Xuan flicked his wrist, took out his brush and ink, and placed the painting on the desk in the room.

Others needed to ponder the author's intentions to identify the painting's name, racking their brains and still finding it hard to match it exactly; he was different.

The Library of Heaven's Path could directly give the name, without the slightest error.

If he wrote it, he would surely reveal the true essence and increase the painting's value.

"You... you're not really going to do it, are you?"

Seeing him fill the ink and about to start writing, Sai, the pavilion master, couldn't help but come closer.

"Think twice, this is... a treasure left by our predecessors..."

This treasure had been passed down in the Appraisal Pavilion for so many years; he couldn't bear to see it destroyed before his eyes.

"Since it can increase in value, why not inscribe it?" Zhang Xuan smiled slightly.

"But what if it fails..." Sai, the pavilion master, was anxious and was about to continue when Sun Qiang came over, full of excitement.

"Pavilion Master Sai, from your expression, you don't believe my young master can reveal the true essence? How about... we make a bet, nothing big, just three thousand spirit stones!"

"..." Sai, the pavilion master, swayed.

What was all this about!

Could either of you, master and servant, be normal?

One insisted on inscribing, the other confidently wanted to bet... Was there something wrong?

His face darkened; he wanted to accept the bet, but thinking of Elder Chen's miserable fate, he felt a bit心虚 and timid.

This guy was the one who could even get the recognition of the Floating Wine Cup Control Platform... maybe he really could reveal the true essence of this painting.

"Betting... forget it!"

His face turned pale, and he quickly stepped back.

"Huh?" Seeing this, Luo Qin widened his eyes.

Pavilion Master Sai clearly didn't believe that this Zhang could inscribe the correct title and wanted to dissuade him, but after a servant said a word, he was scared into retreating...

What was going on?

Since when was the pavilion master so easy to deal with?

Just as he was wondering, he suddenly felt the surrounding spiritual energy surge wildly, converging nearby, and a sound like birds chirping suddenly arose.

Chirp chirp chirp!

The sound reached the heavens, echoing throughout the entire auction house.

"Huh..."

Following the direction of the sound, he looked over and saw that in the moment he hesitated, that Zhang had somehow already written the title on the scroll. The birds in the painting, upon "seeing" it, seemed to confirm their identity, chirping excitedly and flying in the air.

"This is... true essence surging, intelligence breaking the mundane? Damn... what the hell is going on?"

His lips twitching, Luo Qin's body trembled violently.

"Intelligence breaking the mundane... This is a seventh-level work, something only a six-star calligrapher and painter can achieve..." Sai, the pavilion master, also saw stars.

Just as he thought it impossible for the other to succeed, the inscription not only revealed the true essence but also caused it to surge and break through to intelligence... This... this couldn't be real, could it?

The first six realms of calligraphy and painting were: Recording Reality, Lively Movement, Intent Presence, Startling Beauty, Spirit Transformation, and Intelligence!

An ordinary three-star calligrapher and painter only reached the Spirit Transformation level; the Intelligence realm was only achievable by four-star and five-star artists.

After the sixth realm, Intelligence, there was the seventh realm, which Sai, the pavilion master, mentioned as something only a six-star calligrapher and painter could achieve... Intelligence Breaking the Mundane.

At this point, the animals and plants in the painting were as if alive, possessing their own intelligence, and could even recognize a master, flying out of the painting and not disappearing for a day or two...

In other words, a calligrapher and painter who had comprehended this artistic conception could easily paint birds that soared through the sky and galloped through the clouds.

It was said that a powerful six-star calligrapher and painter once painted a crane on a wall, which broke through the wall and flew away with clouds, leaving behind the legend of an immortal riding a bird away.

Originally, this painting was only at the peak of the sixth realm, still far from a breakthrough. Inscribing the true essence would at most keep it from being incongruous or downgrading...

Unexpectedly, this guy's inscription not only broke that limit but also instantly pushed it to the seventh realm...

Holy crap!

Am I crazy, or is this guy crazy?

Are you a monster? How... how did you do it?

His whole body stiff, eyes wild, he secretly rejoiced that he hadn't made a bet with Sun Qiang; otherwise, not only Elder Chen but he himself would have been stripped clean, left with nothing but his underwear...

In fact, it wasn't just the two of them acting crazy; the entire auction house was in an uproar, and even the ongoing auction of the [Cold Yin Sword] had to stop.

The birds in the painting were not confined to the private room; they flew out through the window into the auction hall, each a fiery red bird, like evening haze, shining in all directions, radiant and dazzling.

"What... is this?"

"These birds are illusory creatures; someone has created a seventh-level painting..."

"A seventh-level painting? A six-star calligrapher and painter? This, this..."

"Which senior is it? If this painting is for sale, I'd pay any price..."

"Yes, I would too!"

...

Seeing the sky full of birds and such a magnificent scene in the auction house, everyone went mad, each person excited and burning with passion.

The most accomplished calligrapher and painter in the Ten Nations Alliance was only at the peak of four stars.

Only the legendary Wu Xuanzi, eight hundred years ago, had reached five stars, but unfortunately... he left no works behind.

Suddenly a painting that only a six-star calligrapher and painter could produce appeared—how could it not excite people?

"This... couldn't it be that Master Zhang's doing again?"

Elder Chen, who was hosting the auction, saw the scene go cold and no one paying him any attention. He couldn't help but look toward the room from which the birds had emerged. At a glance, he frowned.

That was the Guild Leader's private room... He couldn't think of anyone else who could cause such a commotion... probably only that unfathomable young man.

...

Outside was in a frenzy; inside, Zhang Xuan put away his brush, smiled, and looked at the dumbfounded Luo Qin beside him. "Does this meet the five thousand?"

"Five thousand? Yes, absolutely worth it..."

Coming to his senses, Luo Qin quickly nodded.

A sixth-level peak painting with an inscription was already worth five thousand spirit stones, but this seventh-level one... even if sold for ten thousand, someone would surely be willing!

With just a few casually written characters, he had multiplied the painting's value twentyfold. This was not just a word worth ten thousand gold; it was a word worth a hundred thousand, a million gold!

Terrifying!

He couldn't help but look at the scroll, wanting to know what name could elevate a sixth-level peak work to the seventh level. At a glance, his body swayed, and he nearly fell.

There, crookedly written, were five characters: [Drunken Dream Awakens]!

These five characters were not in any standard script; they looked as if written in a daze upon waking from drunkenness. Though slanted, they carried a unique flavor. They echoed the strange birds in the painting, complementing each other perfectly, without any discord, and instead achieving a harmonious unity and serene stillness.

"Drunken Dream Awakens? Waking from a great dream... Is this the painting's name?"

Luo Qin tugged at his hair.

Anyone else seeing the strange birds in the painting would surely think about what the bird was called, its origin, and name it accordingly.

But this fellow went ahead and wrote 'Drunken Dream Awakens'... Who would have guessed it... damn it... right!

Could it be... that the legendary Wu Xuanzi painted this while drunk and waking from a great dream?

If so, it was too hard to guess!

And... how did this fellow know? And how did he know so accurately and in such detail?

"That's right. This painting was done by Wu Xuanzi while drunk. When he woke up, he left this name!" Zhang Xuan said.

"But... but... what kind of spirit beast is that bird? Why have I never heard of it?"

Unexpectedly having such a backstory, Guild Leader Sai couldn't help asking.

When he had encountered this painting during his adventure at the Winding Stream, he had searched through countless books but found no answer.

Since it was by Wu Xuanzi, those birds must have a name.

"They... oh, they are Bai Xi birds!" Zhang Xuan said.

"Bai Xi birds? No, Bai Xi birds have long wings, purple beaks, golden claws, red heads, and are slightly plump. These birds have none of those features; they are even slender and long..."

This time, not only Guild Leader Sai saw the problem, but Zhao Feiwu on the side also couldn't help speaking up.

Bai Xi birds were a very common spirit beast, easily recognizable by their main features. But these strange birds shared no similarities—how could they be the same?

If they really were, Guild Leader Sai and the others would have recognized them long ago and identified the work.

"Oh, when Wu Xuanzi painted this, he was drunk and painted the Bai Xi bird wrong, so it turned out like this..."

Zhang Xuan explained.

"Painted wrong?"

Everyone trembled simultaneously.

A five-star calligrapher and painter, painting the most common Bai Xi bird wrong?

"Yes. After he painted it wrong and inscribed the name, he found it absurd. When he sobered up, he felt that if it circulated, it would damage his reputation. But tearing it up seemed a pity, like a chicken rib—tasteless to eat, but a pity to discard. So... he simply removed both the name and the signature, leaving this headless and tailless work!"

Zhang Xuan said.

The flaws recorded in the Library of Heaven's Path included a detailed account; when he first saw it, he too found it absurd.

But that was the truth.

Without such an absurd incident, how could Wu Xuanzi, who had never left any ink traces, have left a masterpiece? And how could the Appraisal Pavilion have obtained such a work?

"This, this... did you identify all this?"

Guild Leader Sai's teeth chattered as if he were looking at some unknown monster.