Becoming a Sage Starts From Condensing the Essence of Time

A Pot of Yellow Wine, Bathing in Stars and Painting Ink Bamboo

After watching the old man leave, An Le slowly exhaled.

This old man who walked out of the Imperial Ancestral Temple had a special identity. To be able to be a temple attendant of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, not to mention his cultivation, just his status was not something An Le could compare to.

However, An Le still rejected the old man’s idea of exchanging paintings immediately. Just as the old man had said, a gentleman keeps his promises. Since he had promised the Lin Residence first, there was no reason for him not to go without applying for leave.

The old man said that he would help him hide the demon qi that overflowed when he was tempering his body. It was naturally beneficial to An Le. Hence, An Le was rather grateful. Otherwise, it would indeed be very troublesome if he really provoked the Demon Subduing Masters.

There were demons in the world, so there were naturally Demon Subduing Masters. The Demon Subduing Master was a general term, but most of them were cultivators. Under the subdivision, Daoist priests and monks also had a part-time job of subduing demons.

There were many stories of Demon Subduing Masters recorded in the unofficial history of the Great Zhao. Many Demon Subduing Masters did not differentiate between good and evil demons. As long as they were demons, they would capture them without distinguishing between right and wrong. If they had something related to demons, they would even provoke a Demon Subduing Master to attack.

Therefore, if the demon qi in An Le’s body was leaked and attracted some unreasonable Demon Subduing Masters, it would indeed be very troublesome.

Changing out the green clothes that were stained with the blood from the pores on his body, he looked elegant and handsome in a white robe. He even looked more flirtatious because he was tempered by demon qi.

The small courtyard was locked. After leaving, An Le strolled out of Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley.

Passing by the Imperial Ancestral Temple, one could not see the furnishings and appearance of the tightly shut magnificent buildings.

An Le didn’t look at it too much. He retracted his gaze and stepped onto Qingbo Street, heading in the direction of the benefactor’s mansion, Jing Street.

Because of the demon jade, he had practiced the Five Animals for a while more today. He probably did not have time to go to the West Lake and take advantage of Fairy Yun Rou. However, there were many young masters in Lin Residence, so An Le could take advantage of them.

Arriving at Jing Street, An Le stepped on the flat limestone on the ground and recalled the attack he had suffered here yesterday and the oppression from Luo Qingchen. The corners of An Le’s lips curled up as he silently kept this matter to himself.

He passed through the stone tablet and jade shop in front of the Lin Residence. All the officials who passed by had to dismount and walk. He raised the door knocker and knocked on the door. A maidservant opened the door for him.

“Mr. An is here. Please.”

The petite maidservant looked at the increasingly handsome An Le and unknowingly blushed. She carefully led the way to the Martial Arts Hall.

Lin Qingyin and Lin Zhuifeng were already waiting at the Martial Arts Hall. When An Le arrived in a white robe, due to the hint of flirtatiousness on his face, the two girls took a few more glances at him.

When An Le saw the two girls, he could not help but smile. He took two wisps of Age Qi from each of them.

The Eighth Young Master Lin Ye, who had been conquered by An Le yesterday, came over to greet him with a smile. An Le also took away two wisps of Age Qi without hesitation.

These third-generation young masters of the Lin Residence, who were of the same generation as Ninth Sister, generally had seven or eight wisps of Age Qi on them. Lin Zhuifeng was slightly higher and had more than ten wisps. Lin Qingyin was inferior to Lin Zhuifeng and only had seven wisps.

If An Le did it a few more times, Lin Qingyin would be sucked dry.

However, since there were many young masters, An Le could still absorb from them for a period of time.

After extracting Age Qi from two young masters, including Lin Qingyin and Lin Zhuifeng, a total of four people had reached their limit and could no longer be extracted.

As for the eight wisps, they were all gray Age Qi.

The Molten Gold Age Qi that could condense the Age Dao Fruit was indeed not so easy to produce.

The two wisps of Age Qi that he had extracted from the woman in the morning and the Dao Transformation Fruit only had one wisp left. Coupled with the eight wisps that he had obtained, An Le’s wealth instantly became abundant.

An Le also estimated that he could only get about ten wisps of Age Qi a day.

Perhaps he could absorb more when his cultivation level increased to the next realm.

Taking out charcoal strips, sharpening them, and laying out the paper, An Le began his task of painting for the young masters in the Lin Residence today.

…

…

The sun set in the west, and the sky was filled with multicolored light.

The willows by the side of the long street blew gently in the breeze, bringing a different kind of comfort.

An Le bade farewell to Lin Zhuifeng and Lin Qingyin and left the Lin Residence. He did not get to see Madam Hua today.

He strolled along the long street and came to a restaurant. He got a pot of old yellow wine and cut some pig head meat and braised beef.

Carrying wine and vegetables, he bathed in the sunset and walked towards the small courtyard in Imperial Ancestral Temple Alley. It was also his temporary home in Lin’an Prefecture.

When he returned to the small courtyard, the old locust tree branches in the courtyard were lush and rustling under the wind. An Le went to the nearby old well to get water and water the flowers and potted plants. Then, he placed a table in the courtyard and placed the dishes.

Under the moonlight, the Northern Dipper hung low and the Southern Dipper tilted.

Night fell quietly. The clear moon hung in the sky, and the stars filled the sky.

Footsteps sounded outside the alley. The plain-clothed old man held a framed painting in one hand and placed the other behind his back. He stepped into the courtyard unhurriedly, as if he was an old friend.

“Hahaha, I can smell the fragrance of the wine from afar.”

The old man chuckled and sat on a chair in the courtyard. He looked at the warm old yellow wine on the table and the pig head meat on the plate. The smile on his face became even wider.

Yellow wine and side dishes were naturally nothing to him. Even if he could get more immortal wine to drink alone, it had been too long since he had sat with others like this in the Imperial Ancestral Temple. He drank and ate. For a moment, his emotions were complicated.

An Le poured the old man some yellow wine and said with a smile, “This is the yellow wine sold in a restaurant in Yanchun on Imperial Street. My friend and I went there to drink it once and it tastes quite good. I bought a pot for you to try. If you’re interested, you can come often in the future. I’ll prepare a pot of wine to welcome you.”

The old man drank it all in one gulp. He narrowed his small eyes and smacked his lips.

“It’s good wine. It tastes like the work of a craftsman. Good!”

The old man praised and then toasted An Le. After three glasses of wine, the old man raised his long eyebrows, took the painting, and slowly opened it.

“Young friend, you must have some real talent to be able to enter the Lin Residence to be an artist. Come, let’s admire the painting.”

The old man laughed.

The candlelight was faint, illuminating the painting.

His gaze landed on it. It was a painting of bamboo. The bamboo was painted in one color, and it was very elegant.

As An Le painted, his mind was involuntarily mobilized, as if he was visualizing the Sword Waterfall Diagram.

However, it was not a Meditation Visualization. Without Meditation, just looking at the painting was enough to move one’s mind. It was enough to show how strange this painting was!

“Little friend, is this old man’s Bamboo Insect Diagram alright?”

The old man laughed.

An Le admired it carefully and couldn’t help but praise, “Dark bamboo, sparse shadows, flying vividly with color, clear drawings of heavenly bulls and lizards, all of which are engraved in detail, this is the Greater Mastery of brush and bamboo art! Masterpiece!”

When the old man heard An Le’s comments, he knew that An Le knew how to draw. It was different when people who knew how to draw praised him.

Unlike those who didn’t understand and would only praise it for being a good drawing.

How could this old man not know that his drawing was good?!

The old man chuckled. He poured a cup of yellow wine and drank it in one gulp. He felt that the wine had a hint of sweetness.

An Le continued to stare at the painting. His mind seemed to be growing stronger as he looked at the painting.

“Do you feel that your mind is strengthening? We cultivators naturally don’t paint casually. We use our minds to wrap around the painting and make it more meaningful.”

When the old man saw An Le’s appearance, he stroked his beard and smiled. He slowly said, “The Dao of Spirit Refinement cultivates the mind. Remember the four arts of music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Not only can it cultivate one’s emotions, but it can also strengthen one’s mind. There are many painters in the palace. They focus their minds on paintings and can let one look at them to nourish their mind.”

“Many Spirit Refinement cultivators are proficient in calligraphy and painting. In fact, once a famous person takes action, a painting is comparable to a rare Spirit Refinement Dharma treasure.”

The old man drank and ate to spread some knowledge to An Le.

“This Bamboo Insect Painting of mine is only drawn with ordinary painting techniques. It has not been integrated into my mind, but it is still a little magical. If you look at it, you can nourish your mind.”

An Le nodded and was amazed. He looked at the painting and couldn’t bear to part with it.

The old man smiled and looked at An Le. “Young friend, you were actually lucky to be able to enter the Lin Residence to paint. With the Lin Residence’s status, it’s not difficult to hire a painter from the palace. However, because the power behind the painters in the palace is intertwined, the Lin Residence has never participated in political competitions. That’s why we came up with such a method of choosing an artist to let you enter the Lin Residence.”

“However, for your painting to be appreciated by the Matriarch, it must have some merits. This old man is looking forward to your painting.”

When An Le heard this, he got up and entered the house. He took out a few sketches and handed them to the old man.

The old man took it and examined it carefully. His eyes flickered with a strange light. “Using charcoal as ink, this painting is very realistic. It’s a different path and is worthy of praise.”

“If the subject is a person, it’s indeed more suitable to draw a sketch. No wonder you suppressed many painters in Lin’an to enter the Lin Residence.”

The old man admired An Le’s sketches.

He put down the painting and looked at An Le. “But I prefer to paint with wolf hair brush and ink. I wonder if you know anything about it?”

When An Le heard this, he immediately understood. The old man was testing him. Although the old man admired the sketching technique, he did not like it. If An Le only knew how to sketch, today might be the last time the two of them would drink and talk about painting.

However, An Le was not afraid. He smiled and said, “I naturally know a little about painting.”

The old man’s eyes lit up when he heard this.

An Le stood up, picked up the candlelight, and walked into the house. “Senior, since you painted a bamboo, I’ll draw a Water Ink Bamboo.”

Water Ink Bamboo… The old man’s eyes flashed with doubt. He picked up a pot of old yellow wine and followed An Le into the house.

In the room, a table was laid out vertically. An Le carefully ground the ink and closed his eyes to think.

The old man poured himself a cup of yellow wine and glanced at An Le. He was curious about how the young man was going to draw bamboo.

Painting was rather time-consuming. Was An Le holding the brush because he was a prideful youth?

If that was really the case, the old man would be a little disappointed.

An Le did not know what the old man was thinking at this moment. Bamboo paintings naturally flashed across his mind, and in the end, the style of a certain bamboo master surged in his heart.

Opening his eyes, he held the brush and dipped the ink. He pointed the brush at white rice paper. He made a few strokes in several directions.

After the slender bamboo stem appeared on the paper, he turned to a light ink brush. It was the same brush technique, drawing the slender bamboo leaves in an orderly manner as if there was certainty in his actions.

With ink drawing the leaves, the bamboo plant was born. It was like a sword or a knife. The two wolf hair brushes interchanged with each other. In just a moment, there was a black bamboo stone on the paper.

The bamboo leaves had the sharpness of a sword. The owner of the thin bamboo carried many bamboo leaves and stood on a boulder. However, they were long and straight, like the spine of a gentleman!

The Ink Bamboo Stone Painting seemed to emit righteousness!

It lured the mind like the movement of the stars in the sky!

An Le didn’t seem to know that the old man was beside him. He held the brush and wrote on the bamboo.

“Stay tenacious like a bamboo deeply rooted in the rocks…”

At some point, the old man had been staring at the painting intently. His action of pouring the wine had already frozen, and the wine flowed out of the cup.