The Past of the Divine Pen Sect

An old, somewhat worn-out painting hung on the wall.

What was depicted in the painting was precisely the canyon world where Xu Ke and Li Fan had been, capturing the Rift Whale.

On the walls of this room, there were no less than thirty scrolls of paintings.

What surprised Li Fan was that some of the scrolls seemed to be shrouded in a layer of mysterious energy, blocking outsiders from probing them.

Even he, the Heavenly Fate Blackbird, could not see the contents of the paintings clearly.

The Azure Luan Bird flew out of the painting, gently placing Xu Ke on the ground. Then it transformed into a wisp of green light and disappeared into his arms.

"Xu Ke is back!" A young Cultivator who had been dozing in the room suddenly lit up with joy and rushed out, shouting loudly.

In no time, the originally cramped room was instantly flooded with a crowd of Cultivators.

"Good that you're back. He should have successfully found that Rift Whale, right?"

"The hard days are finally over!"

"Yeah, now that Xu Ke is back, that guy Lu Ya should leave too, right?"

"Relying on having a strange beast, he goes around bullying people! How infuriating!"

"Senior Brother Liu, last time you sparred with Lu Ya, even without him summoning that 'Tianwu,' weren't you still beaten so badly that you begged for mercy on the spot?"

"I made a mistake that time! If it happens again…"

"Shh! Lu Ya is here!"

"Uh…"

The previously noisy crowd instantly fell silent.

They even voluntarily made a path, allowing Lu Ya to walk in smoothly.

Lu Ya, with yellow hair and a blank expression, ignored the Cultivators around him with varied looks and walked straight up to the sleeping Xu Ke.

His gaze lingered on Li Fan for a moment, then gently fell on Xu Ke's face.

With a light wave, he lifted Xu Ke, along with Li Fan.

Striding out of the room, a Yao Beast with a tiger's body and a human face suddenly appeared.

"Tianwu, huh…" The aura emanating from it made Li Fan slightly uncomfortable, and he instinctively shrank back a bit into Xu Ke's hair.

The tiger-bodied, human-faced beast let out a roar. Lu Ya leaped up and stood on its back.

The Yao Beast Tianwu looked around the surroundings as if showing off, then flew into the sky.

"For the three years of hospitality from the Divine Brush Sect, Lu Ya is deeply grateful!"

"I will surely repay you handsomely in the future. Today, I take my leave. No need to see me off!"

Lu Ya cupped his hands and announced loudly to those below.

Without waiting for the Divine Brush Sect's response, he commanded Tianwu and quickly disappeared into the sky.

"What's so great about him! Just relying on the power of the Beast Taming Sect!"

"Heh, Lu Ya's own Realm is already Nascent Soul Late Stage. Add that Tianwu beast, and I think even the Senior Brother might not be his match."

"Yeah, but it's our own fault for not being good enough. We can't have the elders step in, can we?"

"Forget it, even the Sect Leader is no better than the Senior Brother."

…

Before leaving, Li Fan faintly heard some murmurs from below.

Lu Ya, however, paid no attention, carrying Xu Ke and the others as they flew away.

The scenery below kept changing, traversing plains and mountains along the way.

After more than twenty days, the surrounding scenery finally became somewhat familiar.

They had already returned to the territory of the Beast Taming Sect.

"Without the White Mist Barrier, traveling around in ancient times was much more convenient."

Li Fan thought this, but he vaguely felt that this trip to the Realm of Fallen Immortals was nearing its end.

Xu Ke, who had been sleeping the whole way, was finally awakened by Lu Ya.

"Huh? Senior Brother Lu Ya?"

Xu Ke rubbed his eyes drowsily, saw Lu Ya standing upright ahead, his clothes fluttering in the wind, and said in confusion.

"Where is this?" Still thinking he was dreaming, Xu Ke looked around again.

Li Fan gave him a sharp claw, and Xu Ke immediately woke up.

"Wow! The Beast Taming Sect! I'm back!" Recognizing the surroundings, Xu Ke jumped out excitedly.

A smile appeared on Lu Ya's face.

He patted Xu Ke's head and asked about his three-year experience searching for the Rift Whale.

Xu Ke naturally vented his grievances.

After comforting and praising him, Lu Ya's expression turned serious, and he began to discuss important matters.

"Next, there is an even more important task for you."

Hearing that he had to go out again so soon after returning, Xu Ke's face fell.

But seeing Lu Ya's grave expression, Xu Ke still nodded in agreement.

"Senior Brother Lu Ya, what is it?"

"I want you to go to the South Abyss and deliver something for me." Lu Ya said in a deep voice.

"South Abyss? Sounds familiar…" Xu Ke scratched his head, thought for a moment, and then suddenly understood.

"Oh! That place with many Yao Beasts, right…"

Li Fan was about to listen carefully, but suddenly found the surrounding scenery and sounds becoming blurry.

"This…"

No matter how helpless he felt, he could not change the rules of the Realm of Fallen Immortals.

The next moment, after a dizzying spin, Li Fan returned to the Tianxuan Mirror.

"Divine Brush Sect, South Abyss…"

Li Fan recalled the experiences of this trip to the Realm of Fallen Immortals. After pondering for a moment, he began searching within the Tianxuan Mirror.

The Divine Brush Sect was a medium-sized Cultivation School in ancient times.

They entered the Dao through the brush, and it was said that both calligraphy and painting could connect to the divine.

Disciples within the sect were all highly skilled in calligraphy and painting, and there were even legends of using paintings to create living things.

Unfortunately, after several Great Tribulations, almost no works survived.

Even when Li Fan was at the Museum of Divine Treasures, he had not seen any that could be passed down through the ages.

In the current Cultivation World, there are not many records about the Cultivators of the Divine Brush Sect. Most are mediocre and nameless individuals.

Only one former Sect Leader of the Divine Brush Sect, Chu Youhong, left a slight trace in history.

This man, at the Nascent Soul Realm, took over the dying orders of the previous Sect Leader and took charge of the Divine Brush Sect.

Because of his low Realm and weak strength, he was often looked down upon by the Cultivators within the Divine Brush Sect.

However, out of respect for his title as Sect Leader, they did not make things too ugly on the surface.

Chu Youhong did not mind. He treated the Cultivators in the sect amiably, showing no sign of a Sect Leader's authority.

Despite this, Chu Youhong did not neglect his duties as Sect Leader.

He personally attended to all matters within the sect, big or small, no matter how trivial.

Externally, he also maintained good relations with many neighboring Schools.

Through his diligent efforts, the Divine Brush Sect recovered from the predicament of the sudden death of the previous Sect Leader and the lack of outstanding Disciples.

With this achievement, the Disciples of the Divine Brush Sect gradually recognized Chu Youhong's status as Sect Leader.

And when the Mortal Disciple Chu Youhong had taken in made rapid progress in cultivation and surpassed him,

the teacher gained honor through the Disciple, and his position as Sect Leader was finally completely secure.

Just as everything was steadily improving and the future of the Divine Brush Sect seemed promising,

suddenly one day, an incident erupted.

That exceptionally talented Disciple, the Senior Brother of the Divine Brush Sect, turned out to be a spy sent by another School, the 'Dot Painting School.' His target was the Divine Brush Sect's supreme treasure, the 'Heaven Painting Brush.'

One night, with his collaboration from within, the Dot Painting School launched a surprise attack on the Divine Brush Sect.

The Divine Brush Sect suffered countless casualties and was nearly wiped out.