Mythical Scroll Artist: Starting with the God of Wealth, Zhao Gongming

Chapter 114 It’s chaos

After browsing through the information, Wu Xian felt heavy-hearted.

Contrary to his expectations, the Zhou family's document was not an important source of information about Chinese civilization; in fact, it could be considered insignificant.

But those worn-out drafts gave him a strange sense of historical weight.

It was as if those paintings transported me back to that dark and desperate era.

Judging from the brushstrokes, these drawings and written records did not come from the same person, but from countless ordinary people struggling on the edge of life and death. It was they who recorded what they saw and heard in that era.

There were no conditions, no drawing skills, and even the handwriting wasn't very beautiful.

Most of them consist of terrifying extradimensional monsters and apocalyptic scenes, as well as concise records of various struggles for survival.

But it was these drawings and texts that allowed him to experience the "artistic sense" that he had been searching for in vain in his previous life.

After carefully reviewing all the materials, Wu Xian felt more fulfilled than ever before, especially the last crayon drawing from a child a thousand years ago, depicting a family of three lighting candles on ruins.

In the background, one can vaguely see many people building new homes, but the sky, which should have been azure, is now dotted with strangely colored, distorted lines.

It's as if it's drawn a period called "hope" to mark the end of this entire period of history.

"This painting is...?" Wu Xian looked at Zhou Hong curiously.

“It should be the original Yaoyang City.” Zhou Hong nodded, confirming Wu Xian’s guess, “The first city established during the Dark Ages.”

"The first city?" Wu Xian was stunned.

“That’s right,” Zhou Hong said with a hint of emotion. “It’s not just our Yaoyang City; several surrounding cities were among the first cities in the new era. They were once prosperous, but they are no longer as thriving as they once were.”

Wu Xian smiled knowingly and turned his gaze to Zhou Qi beside him, "Brother Zhou, your inspiration comes from these terrifying dimensional monsters?"

"Mm." Zhou Qi nodded.

“I don’t quite understand this painting,” Wu Xian said, pointing to one of the drawings that was relatively well-done. “A giant, snake-like worm is coiled above a group of people, seemingly fighting against other dimensional monsters?”

Zhou Qi pondered and analyzed, "Perhaps the extradimensional monsters that invaded from that era were not all evil. At least judging from this painting, they were clearly protecting humanity."

Upon hearing this, Wu Xian seemed to be deep in thought.

Are dimensional monsters not necessarily all evil?
"Thank you for sharing," Wu Xian said after a long pause, carefully putting all the materials back into the box. "These materials have touched me deeply."

Zhou Hong was surprised and stunned, originally thinking that Wu Xian would be extremely disappointed.

At least the scroll painters who had seen this material before all had increasingly stiff expressions.

……

Time flies, and another half month has passed.

Inside a small villa in the North Street area.

Wu Xian logged into the club's official website and was secretly astonished by the ever-increasing number of orders.

Not only him, but his master's sister's orders are also increasing.

Even Zhou Qi's "Netherworld Monster" series of illustrations has started to receive orders one after another.

In just half a month, the reputation of the Ghost King Club's scroll began to spread rapidly.

Having tasted the bitterness of poverty, the people of Yaoyang City have gone completely mad.

Only the spirit masters who possessed other clubs' silver scrolls were still scoffing at it online.

However, the rapid rise in popularity of the Bronze League and the soaring popularity of the Ghost King Club players all herald the arrival of a new era.

In particular, the matches between players from the Ghost King Club had significantly higher viewership than the popular matches in the Silver Rank League.

Looking at the ever-increasing number of orders, Wu Xian felt a chill run down his spine, experiencing both pain and pleasure.

It's impossible to finish, there's simply no way to finish it.

At his current rate of delivering ten copies of the scroll painting every day, he's already booked until next year.

Many consumers couldn't wait and ordered a copy of the rubbing to make do.

So much so that Wu Xian is even struggling to keep up with the printing of rubbings. He doesn't even dare to go out now.

"Wait, how come even appointments for upgrading to silver axis are starting to appear?"

Unlike copper switch orders, silver switch upgrade reservations require advance payment, and include labor costs plus the customer's own materials.

Even so, we already have more than a dozen orders.

Although I thought my picture scroll would definitely be a hit, I never expected it to be this popular.

For the first few days, my mentor was incredibly happy, counting money until her hands cramped.

They've been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of orders.

Every day, the first thing I do when I open my eyes is to create a scroll.

As sales of the Ghost King Club scroll exploded, the entire Yaoyang City was undergoing tremendous changes.

It could even be described as complete chaos.

The most direct change is that the three dimensional control zones can no longer accommodate the vast number of spirit masters in Yaoyang City. Some spirit master teams have already crossed the military defense line and gone wild outside.

Meanwhile, the military defenses have also begun to expand outwards, creating a situation of military-civilian collaboration and territorial expansion.

Secondly, the second-hand market experienced a complete collapse.

At first, secondhand dealers almost blew up the Ghost King Club, but after a few days, they found a new way out.

He sold the secondhand hand-painted scrolls from Shoulitun to other neighboring cities, and then became a loyal fan of the Ghost King Club, starting a scalping business.

Then there were the major clubs that once "dominated" Yaoyang City.

Major sponsors in the city switched sides to the Ghost King Club, causing the sales of the scroll to plummet. In the words of netizens, it was "trash scroll, not even a dog would use it."

To be honest, Wu Xian didn't expect it to happen so quickly.

I was just discussing this with my mentor, "Mentor, are the other clubs really that easy to beat?"

"To be honest, this situation is somewhat unexpected," Master Sister shook her head and smiled. "Perhaps Yaoyang City has been suffering from the garbage scroll for too long?"

"But I still can't understand why other clubs, which are backed by the Peak Dojo, don't send down some high-quality scrolls?"

Xue Lingling got straight to the point: "We can't keep up with the workload."

Wu Xian was speechless.

"These two sets of scrolls, one for you and one for me, are perhaps truly a case of 'dimensional reduction' (i.e., a form of devastating blow)." Xue Lingling sighed with deep emotion.

Before returning from the dojo, she had anticipated various scenarios, but the current astonishing trend still far exceeded her expectations.

Xue Lingling wasn't stupid; it was clear that she couldn't have created such a scene with just her set of Ghost King scrolls.

The key lies with his adopted apprentice.

Based on data from the club's official website, the popularity of the Yin Shuai scroll far exceeds that of the Gui Wang scroll.

"The other clubs can't just sit here and wait to die, can they?"

“Of course,” Xue Lingling replied without hesitation, “it’s just that the situation is changing too fast and they don’t have time to react. But judging by the time, the Peak Dojo should be making its move soon, probably within the next few days.”

"Tsk tsk, is it going to roll up?" Wu Xian asked with great interest.

Xue Lingling nodded and smiled, "This is what club competition should be like. The competition among clubs in first-tier cities is really fierce. Trash Scrolls don't even have the qualifications to be cannon fodder, let alone sell well."

The public is extremely discerning; even a slightly embarrassing loss in a match can cause a noticeable fluctuation in sales.

Wu Xian listened with amazement and understanding.

Only now did he understand what Zhou Qi meant by "lifeless".

"If that's the case, why is Yaoyang City in such a lifeless state?" Wu Xian asked, puzzled. "Isn't anyone going to come and stir things up?"

“I don’t know,” Xue Lingling shook her head. “Maybe it’s because the population is too small? Or the economy is bad and the people are too poor? Anyway, the Necromancer’s Guild doesn’t pay much attention to this place.”

(End of this chapter)