Chapter 224: Come Critique My Artwork

The light of dawn rose in the sky, painting the contours of the clouds gold.

Vice-Principal Yu Hua announced the final results of the conference to the tens-of-thousands of spectators on the Blue Sky Plaza.

The Heavenly Court team were the champions with a staggering 83.7 points. The Buddhist Kingdom came second, the Garden of Eden came in third and the Hall of Creation took the bottom position.

After some recovery, An Lin, Wang Xuanzhan, and Liu Qianhuan stood on the stage to receive their final prize.

An Lin held the trophy that was soon going to be an exhibit in the school museum and looked at the tens-of-thousands of spectators cheering him on, feeling greatly moved by the occasion. Prior to the conference, he had never thought he would be standing in this position.

However, he turned out to be one of the top performers in the whole conference so he felt no shame in lifting the trophy!

Aside from the students on the Blue Sky Plaza, even the representatives from the other three powers were genuinely applauding.

The conference really was a spectacular event that afforded the younger generation an opportunity to demonstrate what they were capable of. Contestants like Mobile Nuclear Bomb An Lin, Young Internet Addiction Maiden Liu Qianhuan, and Ideal Fourth Man Hong Dou all engraved themselves deeply into the spectators’ minds, and their brilliant feats would spread far and wide to all corners of the continent.

The award ceremony immediately began after the announcement of the results.

The Heavenly Court were the champions, and they received awards befitting of champions. However, the person presenting the awards came as an unpleasant surprise to An Lin.

A woman in simple Daoist robes made her way gracefully onto the stage to appear before An Lin.

She was as graceful and majestic as a Celestial Maiden that had stepped straight out of a painting. Her wispy brows were slightly raised and a meaningful smile played at the corner of her lips.

“Student An Lin, your exemplary performance was quite the spectacle to witness.” The woman smiled gracefully.

“Hehehe, thank you for your praise, Master Tianyu,” An Lin came to his senses and replied with a nervous smile.

Celestial Maiden Tian Yu awarded him the twenty vital stones as well as two vouchers which he could exchange for one spirit tool and one immortal pill. “Meet me at the White Crane Pavilion after the awards ceremony.”

An Lin’s face twitched slightly. “Can I refuse?”

“No!” Tian Yu’s reply was very quick and resolute.

An Lin sighed heavily with a resigned expression.

Celestial Maiden Tian Yu turned away with a triumphant expression and continued to present awards to the rest of the contestants.

The awards ceremony soon concluded, and the Dao Exchange Conference of the Four Powers also came to a close.

After such a long conference, all the representatives and spectators were thoroughly exhausted and left the plaza.

An Lin was very happy with the award he received and also left the Blue Sky Plaza.

After receiving the twenty vital stones, his net worth had once again exceeded a million spirit stones.

Aside from that, he could also trade in his vouchers for an intermediate rank spirit tool from the treasure vault as well as a sixth-grade immortal pill from Dou Shuai Palace, the thought of this was getting him a little excited.

However, he had to go to the White Crane Pavilion next and things would probably be a bit dicey there.

He was actually still feeling quite uneasy and did not know why Lin Junjun had invited him for a meeting.

Hmm, if the reason for her invitation was that she had prepared more treasures to exchange for information on the Purple Star Research Institute, then that would be welcomed…

He followed a winding path forward and soon discovered the small pavilion constructed from white stones.

There was a small creek by the side of the pavilion, and a gentle breeze blew by, causing the surface of the water to ripple.

A woman in a simple robe sat quietly in the White Crane Pavilion, an expression of focus and determination was etched on her face.

She held her paintbrush with her slim fingers, but she did not use it. Instead, she was staring intently at the artwork in front of her.

An Lin was relieved to see the peaceful and graceful side of Lin Junjun and began to make his way toward her.

“Master Tianyu, I’m here,” he entered the pavilion and announced in a quiet voice, in fear that he would startle her.

The woman raised her head and chuckled lightly. “I don’t remember you being this polite when I first met you.”

An Lin smiled a little awkwardly and did no reply.

“Do you know why I’ve invited you to come here?” Lin Junjun continued.

“No.” An Lin shook his head with an obedient expression.

The huge gap between their cultivation bases and social status forced him into submission. He would only answer what was asked, no more and no less.

Lin Junjun sighed lightly, and the surroundings of the White Crane Pavilion suddenly rippled with vital energy before everything around them began to blur.

Lin Junjun smiled lightly at An Lin’s distressed expression and explained, “This is a concealment spell formation. The reason why I’ve invited you here is so that you can critique some of my artwork…”

An Lin winced. “Don’t try to trick me, art critique… why would that require the use of a concealment spell formation? Are we looking at pornographic art?”

“Hehehe…” Lin Junjun’s face fell as a sinister light began to shine in her eyes.

An Lin immediately stopped talking upon realizing he had spoken out of line.

“Come here and tell me what you think of this piece of artwork?” Lin Junjun was able to suppress her emotions quickly and pointed to the artwork in front of her.

An Lin did as he was instructed and cast his gaze on the artwork.

The artwork was a ball of fire, and the flames were extremely vibrant and life-like, appearing almost as if it was going to manifest itself into actual flames.

“Wow, such artwork can only belong in Heaven, it is exquisite to the extreme!” An Lin immediately offered up words of praise.

He wasn’t an art critique expert, but it was a simple task to just compliment whatever artwork was presented to him.

“You’re far too kind, Mr. An.” A mysterious smile appeared on Lin Junjun’s face. “However, my Dao of art has progressed to a stage that I am barely able to manifest my artwork into reality. I’ll give you a demonstration for you to critique.”

She moved the tip of her paintbrush toward the artwork as she spoke. There seemed to be a faint light glowing on the tip of the paintbrush.

A grim feeling welled up in An Lin’s heart. “Don’t… don’t do anything rash…”

He did not get a chance to finish his sentence before the tip of Lin Junjun’s paintbrush made contact with the artwork, and the whole canvas began to glow with a brilliant light.

Boom!

Scorching flames shot forth and engulfed An Lin’s body.

Moments later, a charred and scorched An Lin was left standing on the spot with a dumbfounded expression.

He opened his mouth and a puff of white smoke drifted out.

“Mr. An, what do you think of my artwork?” Lin Junjun was still calm and graceful, there wasn’t even any change in her tone of voice.

“Celestial Maiden Tian Yu, your artwork is of the finest quality. It is imbued with profound meaning, the flames are brimming with passion, reflecting a strong yearning in the path of seeking Dao…”

An Lin racked his brains for all the words of praise he could find and began to rattle them off non-stop like a machine gun.

Lin Junjun smiled again at An Lin’s panicked state. “Alright, next. I have an artistic depiction of a world of snow and ice that I would also like Mr. An to critique.”

“No, wait! Let me finish my critique on the previous artwork, I can still go on for ten thousand years!” An Lin yelled as Lin Junjun changed to another artwork and began to point the tip of her paintbrush at it.

The interior of the White Crane Pavilion was instantly frozen solid.

“AH…!”

An Lin roared in anguish at the extreme cold, but unfortunately, his voice only reverberated within the White Crane Pavilion.

He finally understood why Lin Junjun cast the concealment spell formation. This was all a f*cking premeditated ploy to trap and abuse him!

“Mr. An, I also have an artwork of flying sabers and swords for you to critique…”

“AH…!”

“Mr. An, I also have an artwork of a poisonous cesspool for you to critique…”

“AH…!”

“Mr. An…”

…

That day, An Lin was forced to relive the horrors of being abused and tortured by Lin Junjun, as well as the shame and humiliation of being ground into the dirt.