Having cultivated myself into an immortal, all I want to do is raise female disciples.

Others' words can be taken as lies, but Lin Yuan's innocent and pure heart would never allow this little girl to lie or deceive. Moreover, Qin Shishi and Lin Yuan have a close relationship, so the little girl has no reason to lie to her.

Therefore, what they said was the truth.

The young man wearing the pink bunny mask was the one who caused a huge uproar in the city not long ago, single-handedly killing the leaders of two major sects in Jinglin City, and even crippling five elders from dark-level families.

But now, she's chosen a name like... a pink bunny to participate in this art competition?

……

This is so dramatic!

I wonder what Lei Yuzong, Tianbei Valley, and the Gong family will think when they find out.

Tell them when you see them next time—

Hey! I heard you guys got wrecked by those pink bunny girls!

Hey! I heard your genius got kicked into a cripple by that pink bunny.

Hey! You guys aren't even as good as a single hair on that pink bunny.

Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit blood.

------

On the stage.

A gentle breeze seemed to linger around his waist as the young man wearing a silver fox mask slowly sat down amidst the cheers of the women.

He glanced at the motionless rabbit mask artist beside him, and a mocking smile crept onto his face hidden beneath the handsome mask.

"Your Excellency is quite interesting. Is there any deeper meaning behind choosing this pseudonym?"

"It doesn't mean anything by it." Yunping didn't even turn his head. "I just picked it up for fun, so what?"

"It's nothing, I just find your name quite interesting, and it has a kind of feminine feel to it."

The meaning of this statement is very clear—it refers to Yunping as effeminate.

How could Lao Yun not understand the hidden meaning in his words? He remained calm and composed, neither angry nor laughing.

"There are many memorable nicknames in the world, such as Emperor Wen, Emperor Wu, Sage of Heavenly Plunder, and Sage of Forging."

"Being defeated by them is nothing. In other people's eyes, you've lost to someone with a lot of class. Even if their name is common, no one will say anything."

"But no one can bear the humiliation of being defeated by the pink bunny."

For some reason, Chen Ran was stunned when he heard these words.

He couldn't find any rebuttal? And what he said even seemed to make sense!

No, no, we can't let this guy drag us in.

Chen Ran chuckled, immediately adopting a boastful tone, "So, you're quite confident of winning?"

"No." Yun Ping shook his head, held up two fingers to Chen Ran and waved them in front of him, "In this painting competition, I only want second place."

Chen Ran: "???"

What does this mean?

Only second place?

He had lived a whole life and witnessed countless duels, big and small, in painting, martial arts, and music. In each one, the goal was to become number one and reach the pinnacle.

This was the first time he had ever heard the phrase "as long as it's second..."

Just as Chen Ran was about to ask something, he found that the area around him was already full of people, each wearing a mask prepared for them by the Art Gallery, and of course, they also had different code names.

Among them, Chen Ran could recognize some people at a glance, after all, the mask only concealed the facial features, but it could not hide the figure and temperament.

Furthermore, there are only a handful of famous painters in Jinglin City and Maple Leaf City, and even fewer who can compare to Chen Ran. Therefore, Chen Ran is determined to win this painting competition.

However, there was one person that Chen Ran was somewhat concerned about.

Sitting right behind him was Painter Number Nine.

Unlike the other artists, he was short and dressed in strange and unusual ways. More notably, artist number nine was the only one in the room who had no hair.

He's too easy to recognize.

The young monk Zhuang Hai was sitting in seat number nine, but his gaze was turned and fixed on Yun Ping in seat number one.

—He still thinks about the Divine Sea Golden Feather Scripture.

Chen Ran had never seen this little monk before, but judging from his small stature, he couldn't even touch the top of the scroll, so it must be quite difficult to paint. Moreover, how much skill could such a little guy possibly have?

After thinking it over carefully, Chen Ran removed the little monk from his list of competitors.

Everything was ready, and the entire venue fell silent.

Fairy Hua gazed with satisfaction at the sixteen painters sitting below and addressed the guests present in a loud voice.

"Distinguished artists, you are all in place. Now, the most exciting moment is about to begin."

With a wave of her hand, a huge scroll, enveloped in spiritual energy and suspended in mid-air, suddenly appeared in the void behind her.

It was a giant scroll measuring five meters in length and width. On the scroll emerged a scene of two black dragons intertwined and soaring into the sky. The terrifying dragon heads were particularly ferocious, and the dragon eyes, shining with a uniform black light, were lifelike, as if they contained a raging inferno.

The surrounding misty scenery is exquisite, making one feel as if they are there at a glance.

The moment anyone saw this painting, they knew it was definitely the work of a master.

Unlike other types of paintings, ink paintings cannot depict lifelike figures, nor can they perfectly reproduce details to the same degree as reality.

As the most mainstream style of painting, ink painting emphasizes the unity of form, spirit and meaning. The skill requirements for painters are not limited to the most basic form, but also require them to paint the inner spirit and meaning of a painting. Only by combining all these can a qualified ink painting be presented.

To put it simply, it's about bringing a painting to life!

It's easier said than done. It's safe to say that it's absolutely impossible for a painter below the fourth level to create an ink painting that would meet the standards of a master painter, because ink painting is too important for the painter to control the artistic conception.

Just like the realm of musical skill, a musician who can play a piece that immerses people in its beauty and even conjures up a dreamlike scene is on a completely different level from a musician who can only accurately play each note of the musical formula.

The former absolutely crushes the latter.

Amidst the gasps of amazement, Fairy Hua smiled slightly and addressed the crowd.

"This is a replica of Emperor Wen's 'Dragon Play' painting, created before he attained the status of a true immortal. Although it is not as breathtaking as Emperor Wen's original, it still bears a five or six-tenths resemblance. This extremely precious replica is the reward for the winner of this painting competition!"

A deafening roar erupted from below; almost everyone coveted the replica.

Even if it's a replica, it's still a replica of Emperor Wen's work, and if it's five or six parts similar, it's already considered to be the work of a famous artist. The collection value of this painting is absolutely outrageously high.

Even some people below had already started to appraise the price of this replica. Ye Yuchan was somewhat sensitive to money and had sharp ears, so she immediately overheard their estimated price for the replica.

The lowest... is 30 million gold coins!

This almost made Ye Yuchan extremely happy!

"I'll drag that Mona Lisa that old rogue hangs in his room out one of these days. It's an authentic work by Emperor Wen, selling it for a hundred or two hundred million shouldn't be a big problem..."

"Hehe, hehehehe..."

The little money-grubber was practically drooling.

"Alright, now I will explain the main content of this painting competition."

Seeing that the atmosphere had been heated up, Fairy Hua knew it was time to get down to business.

She straightened her posture slightly, faced the sixteen masked painters below, and then announced.

"Distinguished artists, there are no strict restrictions on the content of this painting competition. You may choose to express your talents freely, or you may choose to copy Emperor Wen's 'Dragon Play,' but—"

"Ink painting must be used, and the theme this time..."

She reached out and pointed to the center of the huge painting behind her.

There, the majesty emanating from the two giant dragons was enough to make one's hair stand on end.

"It must be a dragon!"

------

Pink Bunny: It's time to let you know the fear of being ruled by bunnies.

10. This guy is probably just here to be funny.

Everything in the world has a spirit.

Tracing back to the most distant era known to humankind, before the Martial Emperor was crowned Human Emperor, to that chaotic and ancient time.

Yes, back then, the human race wasn't yet called the human race, and that honest young man who came out of the Desolate Heaven Domain hadn't yet become a Martial Emperor, opened up the Great Path of Martial Arts, or reached the pinnacle of True Immortal. The three great heaven domains were in a time of primordial war.

Dragons have existed since then.

Legend has it that in ancient times, dragons were not just black dragons. They did not have wings that blotted out the sky, nor did they have sharp, angular, or even spiky heads. Their bodies were extremely long and narrow, their four claws were exceptionally slender, and they had pale golden whiskers and a dragon pearl that symbolized their inviolable majesty.

That was a dragon that only existed in legends, because since ancient times, no one had ever seen a dragon other than the black dragon.

Some say that after the Martial Emperor attained the status of a True Immortal, he helped the Black Dragon King exterminate all other dragon species except the Black Dragon, and made the Black Dragon King Jueying the King of the Dragon Clan.

Some say that they were originally species that did not belong to this world, and returned to their original world for some unknown reason.

In short—nobody knows where they went.

All that remains of them are their awe-inspiring forms and the reputation they have earned as myths and legends.

The dragon that Emperor Wen painted during his cultivation period was an ancient dragon.

Dragon Play

All eyes were fixed on the two long, dark dragons above the venue, enveloped in spiritual energy, as if they could fly out of the painting at any moment. Although they were replicas, their spirit was still incredibly vivid. Just one glance was enough to feel the shock of the painting that seemed to penetrate time and space and reach the soul.

Yun looked at the painting calmly, and for some reason, sighed.

If we were to ask who in the world still knows the whereabouts of those ancient dragons, the answer would undoubtedly be Yunping.

Yes, Yunping knew where those ancient dragons that had vanished had gone.

But this is a secret, an agreement made long ago with others, to let all of this drift away with the wind and eventually be buried in the long river of history, becoming nothing more than a myth or legend passed down orally—such an agreement.

He cannot say, nor will he say.

"Attention all artists—"

As Hua Xianzi gazed at the group of painters below, who were intently admiring the artwork, she slightly turned her hand, and with the surge of spiritual energy, a silver incense burner instantly appeared in her fair palm.