Hua Beifeng's life was always about one thing and one thing only. It was about art. He loved painting, sculpture, music, and more. But if he were honest, his focus was painting and, more recently, sculpture—an interest sparked by a lovely girl named Cu Lianyin. Her family had scorned her because her appearance was unsightly. Her face wasn't quite symmetrical, her nose and lips were a little too big, her face a little too round, and she had an illness that made her skin crack and bleed constantly. Some called her a living corpse. Her condition was shameful for her wealthy family, but her talent was genuine. Her family decided that Cu Lianyin would create beautiful sculptures, while her sister would get the credit.

Their meeting was no accident. One of her sculptures arrived in his kingdom, and he was awed by its majesty and the detail the sculptor had put into the piece. When he learned she was merely several kingdoms away, he decided to visit. The one presented as the sculptor was Cu Lianyin's sister. She was a sculptor too, but at a glance, he knew she wasn't the one who created the sculpture that made him come. For several days, he stayed at their manor and investigated, and in the end, he finally met Cu Lianyin.

He expressed how much he admired her art, and she was genuinely happy that someone praised her work without scorning her appearance. He asked her if she would like him to kill her parents and sister. They were, after all, committing a grave sin by crediting her art to other people, but Cu Lianyin didn't want that. In the end, he spared her family, though he made sure that they would credit her instead of her sister. Cu Lianyin was shy but also chatty, and he realized that she was the right woman for him. Their visions aligned, what they liked and disliked were mostly similar, and he was genuinely happy when he was with her. Sure, she hesitated when seeing his bold paintings made of human remains, but after being upset for several days, he learned that it was a normal reaction, and her explanation of why she didn't quite like it made sense. She wanted her sculptures to make people experience positive emotions, while this particular painting, though they evoked strong emotions, did not.

Her death at the hands of Yu Yongrui was akin to a fever dream. He didn't want to believe it. He accused all the reports of being lies. Then he came and saw her dissected corpse, and he felt the world suddenly crash down. His world was painted red, and Hua Beifeng vowed that he would kill the bastard who had decided to kill the most beautiful flower in the world. Even if he needed to become a violent and barbaric person like the cultivators, he would tread that path as long as he could kill the bastard who had murdered her. His father, of course, didn't want that and ordered his retainers to kidnap him. Luckily, a happenstance occurred, and he landed directly in the Wild Tide Region, where it was said that Yu Yongrui was currently roaming to gather treasures. The fact that he landed in a demonic sect was no problem for him. He would use them to become strong enough to finally kill his sworn enemy. That was why he agreed to come to this island. It was said that Yu Yongrui was nearby, but it seemed that bastard Ye Xuanhan had been lying once again.

Hua Beifeng was currently lying away from the center of the fight. The ground was flooded with blood from the gigantic spirit beasts, which left his back and hair drenched. Unlike the twisted demonic cultivators, he had no desire to fight, maim, or harm women. When the battle with the spirit beasts began, the group split up. Some fought, some went to the city, and he was targeted by a fire snake. The fight was fierce, but by the end, he had successfully devoured the snake. However, this left him vulnerable to an attack from a damnable shrimp, and he was thrown here.

"Where am I?"

Hua Beifeng rose and looked around. To his surprise, he had arrived at the camp of the women Ye Xuanhan was trying to capture. At first, he considered ditching Ye Xuanhan's group to look for Yu Yongrui alone, and he had already taken a single step. However, something at the edge of his vision snatched his attention. Among the bags, boxes, and sacks left untouched at the edge of the grassy field—now a shallow red lake—he saw an easel with a canvas still on it. A painting. Seeing that, Hua Beifeng turned and began to approach it.

As he got closer, he realized there were several rolls of paintings stacked to the side of the piles. He wondered whether one of Ye Xuanhan's targets was a painter. Or perhaps the painter was that Purple Moon Sect disciple, Liu Xing.

He decided to check the rolled paintings later and focus on the one still secured on the easel. Soon, he arrived right in front of it, and upon seeing the painting, he raised his eyebrows and pinched his chin.

The painting was unique. It depicted a woman wearing strange clothes. The colors were black and white, but the clothing wasn't traditional, and it generously showed the skin of her shoulder and thigh. The clothes were foreign; the background of the painting was likewise foreign. It looked like some kind of restaurant with a beautiful interior, complete with plants, tables, and a chandelier. Several people sat at tables in the background, wearing colorful but also strangely styled clothing.

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The woman who wore the strange outfit wasn't normal either. She was human, yet she had a tail swishing behind her and cat ears on her head. Her other features, however, were human. Hua Beifeng knew about spirit beasts, and some of them had developed to resemble humans, but this woman was likely not intended to be a spirit beast. She was smiling, serving a plate of food, and making a heart sign with both of her hands. But all of this weirdness paled in comparison to the art style itself. He had never seen anything like it before. Her eyes were too big, her nose looked almost nonexistent, and her hair was unrealistic. And yet, his brain weirdly found the woman easy to accept. Instead of incompetence, he knew that it was a deliberate style.

"What kind of person would paint something like this?" Hua Beifeng muttered.

This painting was something he felt would create a divide among artists. There would be people who hated it and would tear it apart, but there would also be people who would be intrigued by it. He himself was a little intrigued. To twist human proportions like that and still convey her beauty, it was a strange feeling.

Hua Beifeng took a step forward. Instead of observing the whole painting, he decided to glean how it was made. Instantly, he realized that the person who painted this was precise. His hand must have been steady. Yet, he could see that the artist seemed unused to a brush, because he didn't take advantage of it. Instead, he used the brush like a pen or pencil. Perhaps it was deliberate, perhaps it wasn't. Some people would deem the painting a bit amateurish. Still, the end result was good.

"This painting... is beautiful," he decided, then nodded.

Hua Beifeng decided to move to the next painting. This one was rolled up nearby, and when he opened it, he was greeted by a painting with a style that was a little different from the first. This painting depicted four teens standing side by side. He instantly knew that the artist was trying to make them as realistic as possible while still retaining the style from the earlier painting. They were wearing strange clothes, though he could infer that they were wearing a uniform, with white shirts, gray pants, and a brown logo on their left chests. Three of them had black hair, but one person caught his attention. His hair was almost golden, and his eyes were blue. While he was smiling too, his smile felt sad, as if those blue eyes saw something the others didn't.

This painting was not as striking as the earlier one; however, he knew that the painter had spent more effort on it, and the result evoked something in him. Friendship. Loyalty. Happiness. Sadness. Those feelings emerged the longer he observed the painting.

He moved on to the next painting. This one depicted a cultivator soaring through the sky. It was good, but compared to the other two, it lacked depth. He continued and found that all of these paintings were painted by two people. One artist painted a strange picture of a girl with animal ears, while the other's work was more realistic. He enjoyed their paintings. These were respectable works of art, ones that he actually wanted to add to his collection. However, all good things must come to an end, and his good time was ruined by Ye Xuanhan shouting, "Beifeng!"

Hua Beifeng rolled up the painting, took several steps into the clearing, and looked up. High above, Ye Xuanhan was drenched in blood. A red aura surrounded him, foul and sinister, as if it were made of blood and grudges. His eyes were sharp, and he looked annoyed beyond measure.

"What?" he asked defiantly. In the entire Nether Lotus Sect, the only person he was wary of was him. He was strong, cruel, and cunning, but also a stupid and lustful person.

He descended. "It seems that all of this commotion created an opportunity that enabled all of my women to escape! It's annoying!"

"It's all your fault, so bear with it. You're the one who thought it was a good idea to bring more people on this mission, knowing that they are more likely to follow their lust instead of following commands."

He landed on the ground and then smirked. "Yes, it's my fault. But you're merely a painter. You don't know how boring it is if every mission goes smoothly. Every time I bring people I like to a mission, it ends up as something interesting."

"Then don't complain about it," he shot him a glare. "What do you want? Did you find Yu Yongrui?"

"Of course not, although I think I felt someone earlier. I think he was the disciple of the Purple Moon Sect. He is probably the one who took all of my women."

"Then what are you waiting for? Chase him. I'll wait here."

"Oh come on," he smiled, "can't you understand what I mean? Look at me. I'm drenched in blood. I just fought multiple weirdly strong spirit beasts. I am a little tired and a little bored of doing something mundane like chasing them. Instead, I want you, my friend, to bring them here. What do you think?"

He asked with a smile, yet Hua Beifeng knew it was a command. Usually, he would fight back, but he was in a good mood, so he nodded. "Alright, give me their location. I'll send my snake to them and bring them here."

"Truly?" His eyes widened as if he didn't believe his word. Then, he patted him on the shoulder. "You're my best friend, you know that?"

"Yes, yes, just because I have enough spine to talk back to you."

"And the power to back up your words," he added. "You're not easily squished. I like it!"

At that, his hands blurred through several hand signs, and then the qi around him stirred, as if he had finished activating his technique. Then, he pointed into the distance and began to point out exactly where his targets were.

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