Chapter 587: Words Pour Like Rivers, an Old Scholar
"Agreed!" Granny Si and the others said in unison.
Deafy reached out toward the abyss of Wuwang City, his divine power surging forth as a pillar of magma shot into the sky. He grabbed his large brush, using the magma as ink and the earth as paper, sweeping across the ground in a flurry of strokes to paint.
His brush was crafted from the tail hairs of a fire wolf that had cultivated to the Divine Connection realm, with a shaft made from a divine bone unearthed from a relic in the Great Wasteland. When Qin Mu was young, he often played with it, only to have his palms smacked by Deafy.
This fire wolf tail hair could bathe in raging flames without being damaged, while the divine bone allowed him to release his divine power freely, writing articles with unrestrained vigor!
Deafy was always gentle and refined, even somewhat pedantic. Although he carried himself with an air of nobility when he had money, like a lofty prince amusing himself in the mortal world, when he was broke, he was utterly destitute, crouching at a street corner selling paintings without daring to utter a single shout.
But now, as he gripped his brush, the tip suddenly erupted with wild, untamed energy, and his entire being transformed into something fierce and unrestrained. He embodied the unique spirit of a scholar at his most inspired—the madness and abandon of one who wields his pen with unbridled passion!
"Deafy, I'll help you!"
The Butcher saw his brushwork, the flowing strokes and the painting blazing within the flames, and a surge of heroic spirit rose within him. He swung his blade to level the ground, allowing Deafy to paint freely.
Using his primal energy as a pillar, the Butcher stirred the magma in the air, preventing it from freezing into stone. He chanted in a long, resonant voice:
"Brush dances like dragons and snakes, words pour like rivers and the Milky Way, in youth, virtue and skill both perfected! Presented before the imperial court, personally chosen to crown the heroes. Who among the dragon-heads would not take it? Straightforwardly, with glorious achievements towering high."
"But for him, what of it? A sky-filling greatness, a fine reputation! I recall, once, where I paid homage, the Heavenly Diagram of those years, today's Wuwang City. Alas, white-haired in blue robes, again entering the grand hall. Humbly presenting a scroll of poetry, relying on immortal winds, blowing all the way to Penglai and Yingzhou!"
"To this place of return, burning incense and plucking beauty, becoming an old scholar!" Note ①
His poetic fervor erupted, the lyrics carrying a unique boldness, recounting Deafy's entire life journey—from the Heavenly Diagram Prince, whose skills surpassed all heroes and whose writings filled the world with fragrance, to the fall of his nation and the ruin of his family, his poverty and destitution, selling paintings to survive. It stirred in the listeners both a passionate excitement and a poignant sense of aging and white-haired sorrow.
"Ah-bah!"
Mute gave a thumbs-up, and with a thunderous roar from his dantian, like a blazing sun, the iron furnace behind him erupted like a volcano, pouring fiery power into the magma.
The flames raged, and the Butcher used his primal energy as a pestle to stir the magma. The firelight illuminated his face and chest, baking them red.
Deafy laughed heartily, as if drunk, growing even more unrestrained. His steps staggered, and his brush became even more unpredictable—now like a dragon, now like a snake, like a phoenix in flight, like a dragonfly skimming the water, like a fledgling swallow learning to fly, like an old ox plowing the fields.
Behind him, his primordial spirit emerged, holding the brush alongside him, pouring all his heart and soul into the painting, writing a magnificent article and the grandeur of mountains and rivers.
Beside them, Qin Mu, Bishan the Sacrificial Official, Granny Si, and the others were utterly mesmerized.
They had never imagined that Deafy, always so stern and honest, could have such a wild, unrestrained side.
Using magma as ink and the earth as paper, in a short time, he covered dozens of acres of ground with magma and flames. The painting on the ground was shrouded in firelight, gleaming golden and almost blinding.
Who would have thought that an old scholar's heart could harbor such unrestrained passion?
Deafy painted without stopping, depicting heaven and earth—the sky left blank, the earth verdant. He painted wind, clouds, thunder, and lightning; towering mountains and rivers; countless gods and demons in varied poses, none alike; and an endless army, grim and murderous, charging forward. Those steel-like sinews and muscles were ferocious, their blades sharp and gleaming.
He painted a battlefield, countless lithe figures leaping into action. With just one glance, Qin Mu and the others felt as if the gods, demons, and the vast army within the painting were about to leap out!
The explosive power of those muscles, the figures swinging their blades, the lightning and thunder about to burst from the clouds, the impending torrential rain, the howling hurricane, the rampaging tornadoes, the collapsing mountains, the boiling seas—all of it was so real!
Deafy was painting a magnificent world, bringing that world into reality!
The Butcher's poetry ignited his inspiration, stirred his emotions, and unleashed the heroic passion and creative power within him. He was completely immersed in this frenzied creation, pouring out his heart and indulging his wildest fantasies.
After who knows how long, Blindy said nervously, "The demon army is almost here! They're a hundred miles away!"
Deafy ignored him, continuing to paint.
Blindy frowned. "Eighty miles away!"
Qin Mu looked up toward the distance eighty miles away. There, pitch-black demonic energy surged like black mist, rushing toward them at incredible speed. His eyes activated layer after layer of formation patterns, and his heart jolted. He saw countless enormous demonic monsters flooding over the mountains like a tide, charging wildly, brandishing all sorts of bizarre weapons, shouting as they raced toward them.
They were barely clothed, their garments tattered and torn. They didn't resemble the demons of Luofu Heaven but rather refugees fleeing disaster.
Their bodies were enormous, running swiftly, grotesquely shaped, as if assembled from different creatures into monstrous forms. Their muscles and organs were twisted and deformed, far more terrifying than ordinary demons.
Some monsters were covered in heads of various races; their arms were twisted masses of countless limbs; some were entirely skeletal, like creatures born from bones; others had faces covered in eyes of all sizes; and some had countless legs like centipedes.
Their weapons were equally primitive—large bone clubs still bearing flesh and blood. Their eyes gleamed with bloodlust as they destroyed everything in their path.
"These aren't demons—they're monsters from the Netherworld!"
Qin Mu suppressed his shock. These were wandering souls from the Netherworld that had absorbed its demonic energy and nature, giving birth to these twisted creatures!
The Netherworld wasn't entirely the domain of Tubo. He had traveled there before, and though his time was short, he could see that Tubo cared little for power.
What Tubo cared about most was the rules.
The rules of the Netherworld.
As long as the rules weren't broken, he rarely interfered with the lifeforms there.
These Netherworld monsters were the result of Tubo's laissez-faire attitude.
Suddenly, massive beams of demonic light, wreathed in black flames, shot from behind the surging monster army. They swept across the ground like pillars of fire, melting mountaintops, evaporating rivers, and igniting trees!
Qin Mu's gaze followed the source of the light, and he saw, behind the army, towering dark gods like burning volcanoes. Their bodies were massive and imposing, moving slowly, but each step covered a distance that took the Netherworld monsters a long time to cross.
"Dark gods born from the Netherworld's evil thoughts and demonic nature—the ancestors of the demons!"
Qin Mu's mind churned. Suddenly, he saw cultivators from Grand Supreme Heaven and Yan Kang fleeing at the front of the monster army. They had clearly been training and hadn't noticed the Netherworld army's approach until it was too late.
Whoosh—
A black beam of light wreathed in flames swept across, instantly vaporizing over a dozen cultivators, leaving no trace. Others barely dodged the dark god's gaze, only to be overwhelmed by the surging tide of monsters.
These cultivators from Yan Kang and Grand Supreme Heaven vanished without even creating a ripple.
"Forty miles!"
Blindy said nervously, "Deafy, are you done? Thirty miles! Prepare for battle!"
The moment he finished speaking, Deafy suddenly lifted his brush and made a final, heavy dot, bringing the painting to life. Flames roared across the hundred-acre painting.
Deafy used his brush like a spear and gave a heavy flick. Suddenly, the hundred-acre painting stood upright, gradually emitting an indescribable aura.
The painting merged with heaven and earth, vanishing from before them.
Boom, boom.
Thunder rumbled from the sky. Lightning flashes startled everyone. They looked up and saw dark clouds spreading across the sky, swirling with fire, their density unimaginable.
The fiery clouds expanded, covering an ever-wider area. Suddenly, a hurricane arose, and massive tornadoes wreathed in flames descended from the sky—one, two, three...
In an instant, countless fiery tornadoes, like the sky god's tails, touched down, tearing the earth apart, igniting it, and sweeping forward with wild fury!
Splash—
Rain began to fall, but it wasn't water—it was molten rock and fire. Huge chunks of magma, wreathed in flames, fell diagonally from the sky like raindrops, crashing into the charging Netherworld monster army, sending countless demons tumbling!
Countless tornadoes howled into the army, twisting bodies into unrecognizable shapes, hurling them into the air, where they were shredded by the violent winds or struck dead by descending thunder.
Suddenly, from the clouds, countless gods and demons led an army of millions, leaping down from the sky, charging diagonally downward with deafening battle cries.
They collided with the surging monster army in a thunderous impact. Limbs flew through the air, the scene bloody and magnificent.
Qin Mu, Blindy, and the others stared dumbfounded. Without needing to join the battle, without needing to risk their lives, the demon vanguard had been stopped.
Stopped by one man!
Deafy continued painting, his brush sweeping across the canvas. Gods, demons, and soldiers leaped from his brush, charging fearlessly into battle. Wind, rain, thunder, and lightning raged across the sky, yet they never touched the painted army, only striking the demon forces.
These painted gods and soldiers were beings of the painting; the wind, rain, thunder, and lightning had nothing to do with them.
"Could it be that these Netherworld demon armies have charged into Grandpa Deafy's painted world?"
Qin Mu's heart stirred as a possibility occurred to him. But Deafy's painting must have boundaries—so where were they?
He looked around but couldn't see any edge to the painting.
Deafy's mastery of painting was so profound that it demanded Qin Mu's renewed study!
"The Yan Kang National Teacher once said that Grandpa Deafy alone could hold back a million mighty troops—and that was no exaggeration!"
Qin Mu thought to himself. "And that remark was made after the Heavenly Diagram Kingdom was destroyed and its capital turned into eighteen layers of hell."
Note ①: Adapted from a poem by Shi Xiaoyou of the Song Dynasty, "Courtyard Full of Fragrance," with slight modifications by Zhai Zhu.