Everlasting Immortal Firmament

Book 5: Chapter 54: Sages’ Critique

Longevity is drawing an egg?

Gu Hai wanted to stop him. There are five hundred million people watching, and the peak experts of the world are watching too. If this continues…they will all beat me to death! 

However, Gu Hai stopped in the next moment.

An egg?

Does it just make people pregnant? Just like Ensnaring Performance’s singing, there might be something that I don’t know about in it. Gu Hai had long suspected this.

Perhaps the many sages here can help me unravel this secret?

Although Gu Hai had stopped, he could not let the surrounding citizens suffer harm.

Hence, he waved his hand.

Buzz!

Gu Hai used his water deity to summon some mist to cover Longevity’s work. It formed a cylinder, blocking people in all directions from seeing, leaving only a hole in the top open to the sages in the sky.

“What is he doing? Gu Hai is not letting us see?”

“Is he cheating? He is not even letting us see. This is not fair!”

Countless participants immediately protested.

“What are you shouting for? The judges are not even from my Qian Heavenly Dynasty. How is he going to cheat? Gu Hai is just placed in front. It is not like you don’t get a chance?!” Gongyang Sheng shouted.

The surrounding cultural cultivators frowned at Gu Hai.

“Amitābha! Fellow cultural cultivators, calm down. Gu Hai is doing this for your own good. Otherwise, the damage will be too widespread. Just wait,” Venerable Liu Nian said with a faint, bitter smile.

While others did not know what the painting was, Venerable Liu Nian did.

Back in Vacant City, Gu Hai had caused the Bat Ancestor and many other Yuan Nation cultivators to become pregnant. Venerable Liu Nian knew that the egg painting Gu Hai had used to do so had been painted by Longevity.

Now, five hundred million people were watching him, including people from the three holy lands and the three heavenly dynasties. If this painting made everyone pregnant, what a shocking scene that would be!

Fortunately, Gu Hai prevented everyone from seeing it.

Nearby, Seven Kills had initially been fuming. However, when he saw the rough shape of Longevity’s painting, he suddenly shivered.

“He drew it? He drew it?!” Seven Kills exclaimed.

“Seven Kills, are you crazy?” The Azure Emperor’s eyes turned cold.

The cold shout immediately subdued Seven Kills.

Seven Kills quieted down, but his eyes remained incredibly flustered. “Imperial Lord, that Gu Hai is seeking death. He is seeking death. It turned out that it was Longevity who drew that egg. He is finished now. He will die for sure!”

“Shut up!” the Azure Emperor said coldly.

Nearby, Emperor Kong, Xuan En, and Yehua appeared confused.

In the periphery:

Mu Chenfeng gaped. “Why is…why is Hall Master… Is this still a competition?”

Drawing an egg? There are so many people here, and Hall Master has everyone’s attention on him. Is Hall Master planning to become enemies with the entire world?

In the east of the plaza, the Future Buddha pressed his palms together.

“Lord Buddha, why is Gu Hai not letting us see? Is he cheating?” a bodhisattva asked with a frown.

“Calm down. It is not even time for our sages yet,” the Future Buddha said indifferently.

“Yes!”

In the south of the plaza, where the Supreme Ascendant Dao’s Grand Mohist was:

“Grand Mohist, what is that Gu Hai up to?” a white-clad man asked with a frown.

“Humph! Causing trouble? How dare he?!” The beautiful Grand Mohist’s face sank.

In the east, where the Supreme Genesis was:

The Supreme Genesis sat on a white throne with angels surrounding him. All of them frowned.

“Veritable Lord, Second Young Master sent a message. That Gu Hai is the one who repeatedly went against Second Young Master, even killing many angels,” an angel said with a sullen expression.

However, the Supreme Genesis’s expression did not change as he looked at Gu Hai. “Gu Hai? If he is incapable, the Qian Heavenly Emperor would not think highly of him.”

“However, he is openly cheating now!”

“Calm down,” the Supreme Genesis said serenely.

“Yes!” The angels immediately kept quiet.

The Supreme Genesis looked at Gu Hai. Then, he turned his head to survey the surrounding crowd and stared at someone: Bing Ji, who was standing behind Mo Yike.

Bing Ji sensed this gaze and looked over. When she saw the Supreme Genesis, she immediately trembled as though afraid. Then, she gave the Supreme Genesis a slight bow.

The Supreme Genesis smiled faintly before looking back at Gu Hai.

The Qian Heavenly Emperor sat on the tall platform in the north, with Sima Zongheng, Long Shenwu, and others standing next to him.

“Your Holy Eminence, Gu Hai is recklessly doing as he pleases, even hiding his painting. Should we…,” Sima Zongheng said respectfully with his head lowered.

The Qian Heavenly Emperor: “Be quiet.”

“Yes!” everyone said.

——

As Longevity moved his brush, the painting quickly took form.

Although Ensnaring Performance and Purple Subtlety were isolated outside, they both showed extremely complicated expressions.

“Master, will it go wrong?” Ensnaring Performance asked with some worry.

“What will go wrong?” Gu Hai asked indifferently.

“Mister Gu, actually, I also think that Longevity should not draw this. Will it…,” Purple Subtlety said worriedly.

“Even if you don’t appreciate it, there will be someone who does. Since Longevity says he is the best at this, there will naturally be a good side. Don’t panic,” Gu Hai said indifferently.

Purple Subtlety and Ensnaring Performance showed unsightly expressions. However, Longevity, behind the mist, heard Gu Hai.

“Purple Subtlety, Ensnaring Performance, what do you mean by this?! This great me is trying my best, but you are being burdens. Only Mister Gu appreciates my work. Let me tell you this: keep looking down on my paintings, and I will not let you see them anymore!” Longevity felt furious.

“That would be great!” Purple Subtlety and Ensnaring Performance immediately felt like celebrating.

“Humph! I won’t speak to you anymore. I have to continue painting. Since Mister Gu trusts me so much, I must paint my best and bring glory to Mister Gu!” Longevity said in a fit of pique.

Then, Longevity continued painting.

Gu Hai raised his head to look at the ten thousand sages in the sky.

Of the ten thousand sages, eight thousand came from the three holy lands and would not participate in the first round, so they did not bother looking down at all. Two thousand sages participated in the first round of selection, five hundred for each Dao: music, Go, calligraphy, and painting.

That meant there were five hundred sages in the first appraisal.

When Gongyang Sheng invited the painting Dao sages to look, some sages lowered their heads to look at the painting.

Gu Hai looked at the sky in anticipation.

Buzz!

Suddenly, a pillar of azure-green light soared into the sky from the mist cylinder, rushing towards the five hundred sages in the sky.

“It is done! Alright! I’ve finished the painting. Mister Gu, take a look!” Longevity immediately came out and invited Gu Hai inside.

Gu Hai’s face stiffened. “Never mind. I’ll leave it to the sages to give a critique.”

“Oh! That’s fine as well!” Longevity looked excitedly at the sky.

“Inviting the painting Dao sages to give their critique!” Venerable Liu Nian called out to the sky.

Although Venerable Liu Nian did not know what Gu Hai was doing, the Qian Nation was currently devoting its resources to Gu Hai, so he would do what he could to assist Gu Hai.

Longevity’s egg is very strange. Although ordinary people like us cannot understand it, perhaps the sages can figure out the wonders behind it.

Gu Hai looked at the sky with anticipation.

Perhaps the five hundred painting Dao sages were overly prideful; not all looked down to see the painting. Only one hundred of them did so and started evaluating it.

“That is all he painted?”

“How ordinary!”

“This can be called a painting?”

“It’s an eyesore!”

“Ignorant!”

The one hundred sages immediately gave their critiques. However, not a single sage praised Longevity. Their words were filled with disdain and despisal.

They felt that such a painting had defiled their eyes. They showed clear disdain on their faces.

“What?” The one hundred thousand participants felt slightly startled.

“Hahahahaha!” many people started laughing.

“The Qian Nation worked so hard to help this person cheat. It turned out that his painting is just nonsensical!”

“The sages show complete disdain. It looks like the painting is not even worthy of being seen.”

The envious cultural cultivators immediately gave Gu Hai mocking looks. At the same time, they felt very curious about what Gu Hai got Longevity to draw.

Only the nearby Seven Kills trembled as he looked at the sages in shock. Then, he gave Gu Hai a strange look, wanting to say, “You have guts.” However, he did not even dare to breathe loudly at the moment. What came next might be even stranger.

The five hundred million people felt anxious. Most of them were Qian Nation citizens. Naturally, they took the Qian Nation’s side—Gu Hai’s side.

“How could it be like this? Is the painting from my Qian Nation really that bad? To think that all the sages disdain it?”

“Who is that Gu Hai? Is his painting really that bad?”

“Why did His Holy Eminence choose him?”

The anxious voices of the surrounding people rang out.

However, the expressions of Mo Yike, Mu Chenfeng, and Bing Ji changed. This scene seems familiar. Could the next thing be…

Three major figures—the Future Buddha, the Grand Mohist, and the Supreme Genesis—frowned.

“That should not be the case. No matter how unruly Gu Hai is, how can he show the sages an ordinary painting? That does not make sense. Furthermore, this is such an important event,” the Future Buddha said with a smile.

“All the painting Dao sages disdain it? How ugly is that painting? The Qian Nation is going to be embarrassed this time,” the Grand Mohist sneered.

The Supreme Genesis gave the sky an apprehensive look. Then, he glanced at Bing Ji’s shocked expression. Frowning, he said, “This should not be the case. All the sages show disdain for this painting, but why is Bing Ji making such an expression? There is something strange going on.”

The one hundred sages continued criticizing the painting.

Gongyang Sheng appeared anxious as he turned his head to look at the Qian Heavenly Emperor.

The other Qian Nation officials likewise appeared incredibly anxious. Only the Qian Heavenly Emperor remained calm, not saying a word.

Since the Qian Heavenly Emperor did not say anything, no one dared to.

Longevity felt anxious. “Do you understand painting or not?! Some painting Dao sages! To think that you do not understand my painting?!”

Longevity’s shout shocked the surrounding cultural cultivators. This person dares to scold the judges?

“Humph! You overestimate yourself. With what you painted, you actually dare to scold us?” a sage said coldly.

“Humph! This painting practically defiles my eyes, and you want a recommendation for it? You can forget it!”

“Ignorant junior, are you even worthy of discussing painting with us?”

The sages scolded loudly. Clearly, they thoroughly rejected Longevity’s painting.

Longevity appeared anxious as he looked at Gu Hai.

Gu Hai looked at the sages, his face twitching slightly. “Things are going to be bad!”

“Ah? Mister Gu, what is going to be bad?” Longevity asked, feeling confused.

Just as Longevity was feeling confused, and the surrounding cultural cultivators were about to start criticizing Longevity, a sage’s voice rang out high in the sky amid the many sages’ criticism.

Gasp! “My belly! Something seems wrong…”