Chapter 348 – Fighting Fire with Water (2/2)

Wang Pushi shook his head. This kid sure caused a lot of surprises! It had only been a year since he joined the academy. If he had the time to develop, just what level could he reach? The Han family had found a fantastic son-in-law. He would definitely be a capable person in the future.

But at this moment, Han Anjun felt slightly worried aside from his delight, which was soon followed by relief. She had to slowly experience this great life of hers by herself.

Juechenzi saw how the slovenly daoist priest directly poured alcohol into his mouth and smiled. “Master, you’ve become filled with regret again.”

The slovenly daoist priest growled. “Since when did I feel regret? Since when did I feel regret, huh?” He could not help but admit that he did feel a tinge of regret. Even the arts of the school of Novels could be unleashed to such a degree by him. If it were the arts of daoism instead, wouldn’t it be even more powerful? Sigh, if I had known earlier, I would’ve treated this kid a little more politely. There are plenty of disciples I’ve cursed before, but only a fucking kid like you was bold enough to lose your temper at me!

At this moment, the glow on the Hellscape Rhapsody gradually dimmed. No matter how much effort he put in as a painter, all paintings had a moment when they ran out of power.

The water that Li Qingshan had conjured was just regular water, slightly lacklustre compared to the fire, but with the mutual regulation of the five elements, it was extremely easy for water to put out fire, and it would take tremendous amounts of energy for fire to evaporate water.

Li Qingshan suddenly kicked up an even taller, even larger wave. I’ll give up on all the power of belief I’ve accumulated over the past half a year. I’d like to see just how much longer you can last!

Chu Dangqing was at his wits end. He continued to power the Hellscape Rhapsody, and a tiny crack appeared on the painting. He no longer cared. Even if he had to destroy this painting, he would continue.

“Danqing, that’s enough!” Chu Shidao’s voice rang out in Chu Danqing’s head.

“But master…”

“If you keep fighting, it won’t be a victory for either of you.” Chu Shidao was a person who appreciated paintings, so how could he just watch as Chu Danqing destroyed the Hellscape Rhapsody he had spent six months painting? And, Li Qingshan showed no signs of running out of power of belief. Chu Danqing’s chances of triumphing had already approached zero.

Chu Danqing could not disobey his master. He kicked over the table and stowed the Hellscape Rhapsody away reluctantly.

Li Qingshan immediately stopped using the Divine Talisman of Great Creation. It had not been easy for him to gather the power of belief. Every bit counted.

In a single instant, the water and fire subsided together.

Everyone found this incredibly surreal. If it were not for the clear traces left by the scorching fire and surging water in the stadium, they basically would have thought it was all a dream.

Silence descended. Everyone exchanged glances. Just who had won?

The school leaders, however, all saw it clearly. Liu Zhangqing shot a questioning glance towards Chu Shidao.

Chu Shidao raised his hand at him before making his way over to Chu Danqing’s side. He patted his shoulder in consolation and said to Li Qingshan, “You’ve won.”

Li Qingshan clasped his hands. “You’ve gone easy on me.”

However, he saw Chu Danqing’s eyes redden as his lips trembled, as if he was about to burst out crying. Why do I feel like I’ve become a great villain who bullies naive boys? It’s just a match. Do you have to be like this?

Before this, while Li Qingshan was radiating with confidence, he had already prepared himself for defeat. After all, nothing was absolute. Compared to the crushing defeats he had suffered in the past, a match that did not even threaten his life was absolutely nothing. The worst outcome would just be moving to another island and developing there. The school of Novels did not depend on its environment too much. As long as his thoughts remained with him, would development really be an issue?

As someone who had climbed up from the very bottom, there was no way Li Qingshan could understand Chu Danqing, who had never suffered any setbacks during his decade of learning paintings. He had lost his first battle right after emerging from the mountains, so it really was difficult for him to put up with this contrast. Li Qingshan only thought he had won a powerful painting, but never did he imagine it would be Chu Danqing’s wife.

Cheers rang out from the platforms. The school of Novels did not really have a good reputation, but compared to the school of Painting who were outsiders, they were still more attached to it. After all, they had spent all these years cursing it. Now, everyone recognised the power of the school of Novels.

They could actually conjure a character who could use the abilities of painters to defeat painters; this was simply unbelievable. Some of the new disciples even began to regret that they had not enrolled for the school of Novels instead.

With Liu Zhangqing presiding over the matter, Chu Shidao and Liu Chuanfeng arrived at the centre of the stadium. Their primary disciples followed behind them.

Chu Shidao offered the Heavenly Maiden Scatters the Blossoms with both hands. “I’ve long heard that the school of Novels can conjure anything and everything in a miraculous manner. With what I’ve seen today, it really is true. You really do live up to your reputation as one of the ten standard schools designated by the founding emperor.

“Your dear disciple is even more so a talent among men. We’re sincerely convinced with our defeat this time. If I have offended you in any way in the past, please forgive me, school leader Liu. This painting is an amalgamation of all my efforts, so please accept it as an apology from me. Please treat her well too.”