Chapter 394 A Fine Steed Needs a Good Judge

Sister Dan didn’t know what Gu Fei was planning, but she was always kind and happy to help, so she nodded with a smile. "Alright. I see a few handsome men over there. I’ll go get a closer look."

With that, Sister Dan walked over.

By this time, both paintings had reached the third judge.

This master was surnamed Yun, and he was a renowned painter of his time. He first examined Qin Ying’s painting, nodded, and gave it a score of seven.

But when he saw Gu Fei’s painting, he froze.

He stared at the painting, examining it over and over. The longer he looked, the more excited he became. He raised his head, about to speak, when he suddenly saw Sister Dan standing before him, smiling.

He glanced at Sister Dan, then back down at the painting, and abruptly slapped his thigh. "It’s you!"

"To think such a lifelike painting exists in this world! It’s brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

Hearing Master Yun’s outburst, the master beside him grew curious. He couldn’t help but crane his neck to see the painting. After looking at the artwork, he turned his gaze to Sister Dan, who offered him a charming smile.

Sister Dan was a great beauty to begin with, and that smile nearly dazed the master. ’The woman in the painting has come to life!’

Seeing Master Yun lose his composure and shout with such excitement, the other masters became curious and all walked over to see the painting.

As the others gathered around him, Master Yun grew even more agitated. "Everyone, look at this painting! This marks the founding of a new school of art!"

A new school of art was not so easily founded. The art of painting had developed in the nation for millennia, generally falling into two main techniques: the meticulous, detail-oriented style and the freehand, expressive style.

The meticulous style leaned toward realism, while the expressive style focused on capturing a subject’s spirit. Even with the meticulous style, however, limitations in rendering perspective and shading made it difficult to achieve a truly lifelike result.

It was naturally a far cry from the pure realism of a sketch.

The crowd marveled at the painting, and then, looking at Sister Dan, they marveled even more.

Sister Dan stood there with a gentle smile, poised and allowing everyone to look their fill.

"This technique really is unique."

"You know, the more you look at this painting, the more interesting it becomes."

"It’s so lifelike, truly lifelike! I’ve never seen anything so realistic!"

"Truly a perfect likeness."

The masters gathered around, all murmuring in discussion.

People have a herd mentality. Not a single one of the masters present dared claim to be more skilled in the art of painting than Master Yun.

Since Master Yun held the painting in such high esteem, none of them dared to voice their dissent, even if some felt it was an unrefined novelty unfit for the halls of high art. They kept these thoughts to themselves, verbally echoing Master Yun’s praise instead.

Su Chen stood behind Master Yun, not having expected such a dramatic turn of events. He felt both ashamed that his own skill had been too lacking to appreciate Little Fei’s painting and thrilled by her success. Suppressing his excitement, he said, "Master Yun, you still haven’t given your score."

Master Yun clutched Gu Fei’s painting, refusing to let go. Hearing Su Chen’s words, he nodded. "The score. Yes, I’ll give it now."

Without a moment’s hesitation, he wrote down a ten.

A perfect ten!

The masters gathered around were stunned. No matter how one looked at it, the painting surely wasn’t so perfect as to deserve a ten.

Seeing everyone staring at him, Master Yun explained, "This painting is worth at least a nine. It is both realistic and imbued with spirit, which is already a rare feat."

"The reason I gave it a ten is because this is a new method of painting, a new school of art. To be able to establish an entire school—what a remarkable achievement! Does it not deserve that extra point?"

The others all nodded. "Indeed, it should."

"By the way, who is the artist?" he asked, then looked down at the signature. ’Gu Fei. Never heard of her.’

Su Chen cleared his throat lightly from behind him. "It was painted by a young woman with the surname Gu."