Chapter 816 - Painting With the Ocean Book
Chapter 816:
Painting With the Ocean Book
Han Fei was here for two days. He had two dinners with the man and built a house that hadn’t been completed yet. A weird rain was going on, and he was invited to have tea with the guy?
Han Fei was rather puzzled. For some reason, he felt like he was being taught.
In silence, Han Fei walked to the green rock and sat on the stone chair.
Then, he lowered his head, only to find that the teacup was filled with glittering red tea.
He raised the teacup and sipped it. Then he frowned, as it was just a regular cup of tea and not anything sophisticated as he expected.
The man on his opposite side blew at the tea and slowly raised his head. “Reflection is very important for cultivators. No matter how crazy you are during cultivation, you have to look back now and then and digest the knowledge and power from the past.”
Han Fei couldn’t hold himself back anymore and asked, “Senior, why did I come to the fourth level of the Scattered Stars Prison?”
The middle-aged blew at the tea again and had a mouthful of it. “Didn’t you ask to come here?”
Han Fei thought to himself, I didn’t know that I would come to the fourth level, or that the fourth level would be like this, or that such a big boss was on the fourth level!
Han Fei asked again, “Then, are you teaching me, Senior?”
The middle-aged man said with a casual smile, “You may think so.”
“Why?”
Han Fei was quite curious. Did everybody have the privilege of having Eight Tail Golden Harp or Mystic Dragon?
He subconsciously looked at the kitchen and remembered the other ingredients in the Sea Swallowing Seashell that he had seen. If he could have all of them, he thought that he would reach the very peak of the Hanging Fisher level in a month, and he might become a Hidden Fisher any time.
Han Fei didn’t believe that anyone would help him unconditionally, which was completely unreasonable! He had planned to make up for what he did with contributions, and to spend some time here training and studying.
His other plan was to see if he could figure out the usage of the Prison Token, and why the Hexagon Starfish had it and he got it in the end.
At this moment, Han Fei had a guess, but he wasn’t too certain.
The middle-aged man smiled. “Don’t ask until you’re going out.”
Although Han Fei was very curious, he managed to suppress his impatience. Since the guy said that he shouldn’t ask until he was going out, it meant that he had a chance to go out, and an answer by then.
After having the tea, the middle-aged man put the cup down and said, “Set up your house tomorrow. Then, you’ll paint together with me.”
“Huh?”
Han Fei was stunned for a while. So, you were not doing calligraphy, but rather painting?
He nodded and suddenly said, “Senior, why is it raining in this place?”
The middle-aged man raised his head and said unhurriedly, “Stop!”
Han Fei: “???”
To Han Fei’s shock, the rain stopped. He was instantly stunned. What was that about? Are you the Dragon Lord who is responsible for rainfall?
The middle-aged man said casually, “Occasionally, a rain is needed to irrigate the land.”
Han Fei: “???”
“Gudu!”
Han Fei swallowed. Fine, you’re the boss here and you’re in charge.
…
It took Han Fei a day to build his little house as well as the bed and other basic furniture in it.
The next morning, Han Fei heard the sound of brushing in his sleep. He immediately woke up and walked out.
As he expected, Han Fei found that the middle-aged man had started working in front of a stone table.
The middle-aged man sounded as casual as before, “Move a stone table here.”
Hearing that, Han Fei moved a stone table to him. This time, he finally saw what the middle-aged man was drawing.
To Han Fei’s surprise, the man was really painting. He was working on a flood dragon at this moment.
The flood dragon was vivid and looked so intimidating as if a real flood dragon had been sealed to the fish skin by him.
The middle-aged man drew a line every time he put down his brush. Han Fei even saw the glittering dole on the line. Whenever a new line appeared, it seemed to be enlivened as if it were part of the flood dragon.
The middle-aged man finished a stroke and then stopped. He then waved his hand, and a brush, a fish skin, and the painting of a lobster appeared on Han Fei’s table.
The middle-aged man said casually, “Start by copying.”
Han Fei took a deep breath and picked up his brush.
It was very easy for a cultivator to vividly depict anything. They could draw a lifelike lobster with their extraordinary senses and control over their mind and their fingers.
Han Fei was very solemn. A hint of spiritual energy appeared on the tip of the brush as he copied the lobster painting. However, after the very first stroke, he realized that he made a mistake.
It was just one line, but he realized that his line was quite different from the line on the lobster painting, in that it lacked vigor.
Han Fei was stunned for a long time. Then, the middle-aged man said, “Finish it first.”
So, a weird scene took place on the fourth level of the Scattered Stars Prison. Two men were painting in front of stone tables. If Zhang Teng were here, he would’ve been too shocked to say anything.
Han Fei’s lobster was already half painted and he had already reached the body.
All of a sudden, Han Fei exclaimed.
He looked at the middle-aged man and the lobster painting. A power seemed to be rising from the fish skin.
“Huh! An array picture?”
Han Fei finally realized that the lobster was not a painting at all but an array.
He remembered the Ocean Book and the enormous array pictures that he never had time to practice.
On the Ocean Book, every line was equal to an array. Naturally, he didn’t know which line corresponded to which array, but he knew that when those lines were combined, they would be arrays.
Lines and arrays…
Lines and arrays…
Han Fei mumbled, “The lines are arrays too, and multiple lines mean multiple arrays. So, by painting with lines, I’m creating complicated serial arrays.”
“Hiss!”
After thinking it through, Han Fei had a lot of complicated feelings. He felt that he had grasped the awesome essence of arrays…
“Focus.”
The middle-aged man reminded him casually, and Han Fei instantly calmed down. He finished copying the lobster in the old way, which took him about four hours.
After the lobster was completed, Han Fei suddenly saw the illusion of a small lobster, which existed for one brief second and then disappeared.
Han Fei couldn’t hold back anymore and asked, “Senior, what’s going on?”
The middle-aged man didn’t raise his head but said casually, “It means that you’re poor at painting. Draw another one.”
Han Fei was puzzled, but he was actually quite shocked. I almost brought the painting back to life, and I’m still poor at painting?
Han Fei wondered what would happen if the man next to him drew out the flood dragon on the painting, because even he could enliven a lobster. Would the man be able to create a flood dragon?
Han Fei didn’t ask. Since he made a mistake in painting, he might as well try another one.
This time, the Ocean Book popped up in Han Fei’s head. He intended to go with the lines on the Ocean Book and find out what he could get.
When Han Fei moved his brush again with a line from the Ocean Book, the middle-aged man suddenly raised his head and glanced at Han Fei.
Han Fei stood straight. “Was it wrong?”
The middle-aged man smiled. “Go on.”
Han Fei didn’t think further but continued drawing. This time, he completely followed the lines on the Ocean Book, and a lobster appeared on the fish skin in only two hours.
After he finished the last stroke, a violent power appeared out of nowhere.
A strong wind seemed to be rising, a thunder was rumbling, a tsunami was roaring, and auras of swords and spears were sweeping out…
All in all, the lobster was nowhere to be seen, but a terrifying power was sweeping out.
Crack!
BAM!
After only one instant, the stone table in front of Han Fei was shattered. Everything within a thousand-meter radius was crushed except the middle-aged man’s stone table and house. The “villa” that took Han Fei three days to build didn’t survive.
Han Fei was dumbfounded. He stood there with a brush in his hand like an idiot.
He felt like crying at that moment. I didn’t do anything! I was just drawing a lobster! How did this happen?
However, he clearly noticed that the power could’ve spread more than a thousand meters away, if it hadn’t been restricted by an invisible power.
The middle-aged man slowly dropped his brush and looked at Han Fei. “Every line represents an array, but the arrays aren’t random. You drew 1,245 lines, and only 47 of them were effective arrays. Those arrays are of different types and some are contradictory. Only thirteen of them really worked…”
Looking at the lawn that had already been ruined by Han Fei, the middle-aged man said again, “In order to make use of the arrays, you need to know what the arrays are and what power they represent first.”