Stranger Danger

The painting showed a Taoist riding a green bull toward somewhere as white clouds sailed past his head, and the orange rays of sunset fell over his back.

The unknown artist didn’t use many lines to draw their painting. However, it was enough to sketch out a painting of freedom and an infinite horizon.

The white clouds were free and unfettered.

The sunset looked hopeful instead of forlorn.

The mountains and waters looked natural and in harmony.

And the lone celestial journey toward who-knows-where looked perfectly at ease.

The clouds, the sunset, the hills, the waters, the Taoist, and the bull. Had the artist chosen to add even an extra element to their painting, had they added even an extra brush stroke, the painting would’ve veered into the realm of excess. The opposite was equally true.

As it was, it was perfect and harmonious. It was like a window into a corner of the world.

“White clouds floating across an orange sky; a celestial riding a bull across a green hill… could it be ‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’?!”

The crowd was still immersing themselves in the painting’s world when suddenly, Xi Duoduo’s musings hit a new crescendo, “Can it be? But it can’t be!”

As if to dispel Xi Duoduo’s doubts, Defeated—the one man who hadn’t said a word since the Treasure Appreciation Auction began—was staring at the painting and declaring, “It does look like the mythical ‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’.”

“What are you two talking about? Is there something special about this Xi Duoduo?” Ancestor Greenwood voiced his doubts.

It was only now Xi Duoduo finally snapped back to his senses, but instead of answering his question, he asked, “Have you heard of Green Bull Li, ancestor?”

"Green Bull Li? Who's that?" Ancestor Greenwood frowned.

“Alright, what about Li Wangxian?” Xi Duoduo asked another question.

“Li Wangxian? You mean Li Wangxian, the ‘Unparalleled Dao’ from over a thousand years ago?” Ancestor Greenwood asked. “The better question is, who hasn’t heard about him?”

“Green Bull Li is Li Wangxian, and this painting—‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’—is his creation,” Xi Duoduo declared.

“What?! Y-You’re saying that Li Wangxian drew this painting?!” The crowd immediately exploded into an uproar. They were louder and more stunned than when Xi Duoduo revealed the Wenliang Pearl earlier.

Who was Li Wangxian?

He was a legend more legendary than even the Dark Overlord, Li Hentian.

Li Wangxian hailed from one of the three major Taoist sects, the True Martial Sect. He was the youngest disciple of the sect master of the Lotus Flower Peak.

Unlike Li Hentian, whose leap to the heavens came as a surprise to everyone, everyone knew that Li Wangxian was going to be amazing from the start. For starters, his talent was unparalleled. He was born with over a hundred bodily points unlocked, and his mind’s eyes open. He read Taoist scriptures at the age of three, grasped their essence at the age of five, and became the greatest person to ever master the arts of Taoism at the age of ten. No one could match his knowledge. Even the one they called the “Ancestral Ground of Taoist Court” and the Dao Sovereign and sect master of East Kunlun San Qing Temple, Profound Clarity Wondrous Tao Superior had praised Li Wangxian saying, “In terms of the arts of Taoism alone, no one in the past or future five hundred years can surpass him, much less I.”

Profound Clarity Wondrous Tao Superior had made this remark after Li Wangxian ascended East Kunlun at the age of ten and debated Taoism with him. It was also why Li Wangxian came to be known as the “Unparalleled Dao” later on. There truly was no one who was better than him in the arts of Taoism in the entire world.

Unfortunately, Li Wangxian’s talent in the arts of Taoism did not extend to his martial arts. In fact, one could go as far as to say that he was the most untalented practitioner the world had ever seen.

For example, Li Wangxian had taken over a decade just to make some small progress in the Body Tempering stage. That’s right, the Body Tempering stage. This was considering that the True Martial Sect did everything in their power to elevate his martial cultivation to a point where it wouldn’t dishonor himself too. Without exaggeration, they had tried purifying his blood vessels and re-establishing his marrows, poured true intent directly into his mind, and fed him all sorts of natural treasures, miracle pills and wonder medicine.

Despite their efforts, Li Wangxian’s martial cultivation continued to progress at a snail’s pace. Anyone else in his position would have grown into an accomplished warrior—if not the best among their peers—a long time ago, but Li Wangxian? Their efforts felt like a drop of water in the hopeless wasteland that was Li Wangxian’s sheer lack of talent, futile and pointless. The True Martial Sect sect master at the time and now Demon Subjugating Monarch was so furious that he jabbed a finger at Li Wangxian again and again while yelling, “We have fed you so many cultivation resources that even a pig would have become a supreme champion by now, and yet you couldn’t even crack the surface of the martial way! Have some shame, you, you~~~!!!”

Li Wangxian himself cared nothing for his lack of talent in the martial way though. He believed that there were benefits to being able to cultivate martial arts, but he also believed that there were benefits to being unable to cultivate martial arts. For starters, he could now focus all of his time and effort on studying the scriptures, could he not?

And so he did. Martial cultivation practically became an afterthought to Li Wangxian after discovering his lack of talent in this regard. There was nothing the True Martial Sect’s sect master could do to change this, so he simply put it out of his mind.

For the next decade or so, every single one of Li Wangxian’s peers had surpassed him in terms of martial cultivation and made a name for themselves. Meanwhile, Li Wangxian continued to study the Taoist scriptures at Lotus Peak like the passage of time meant nothing to him. Naturally, the people gradually forgot about him. It got to the point where people only knew about the Five Thunder True Gentleman of the Heavenly Master Mansion or Hao Yuan Dao Child of San Qing Temple. No one remembered the once unrivaled Li Wangxian.

Later, the Dark Ways rose, and the orthodoxy faltered. The Demon Lord of the Demonic Mountain was able to unite the Nine Demonic Ways and the thirty-six unorthodox ways with his immeasurable power and plunged the jianghu into chaos.

Unable to stand by and do nothing, the Two Temples of Buddha, the Three Temples of Dao, and the Five Profound Sects issued the Demon Lord a challenge letter. They would meet at the Mending Sky Peak and settle everything with a duel.

However, the Demon Lord was powerful beyond measure. He singlehandedly shattered the golden body of two great Buddhas, severely wounded the three sect masters of the Three Temples of Dao, and forced the Five Profound Sects to shut their gates.

For a time, the Dark Ways’ ascent seemed unstoppable, and it looked like the jianghu would never be the same.

Knowing that the opportunity of a lifetime was upon him, the Demon Lord advanced upon the True Martial Sect with the intent to vanquish them once and for all. Worse still, their sect master was still severely injured, and their guardian elder had betrayed them and joined the enemy. For a time, it looked like all hope was lost for the True Martial Sect.

It was at this moment Li Wangxian heard the news and left Lotus Flower Peak. He was going to meet the Demon Lord alone.

Everyone thought that Li Wangxian was committing suicide. They tried to stop him, but Li Wangxian replied smilingly, “Once upon a time, Dao Tzu (Ancestor of Dao) rode a bull through Hangu Pass to stop the Heavenly Demons. Today, Li Wangxian shall leave his mountain to face the demons.”

Everyone thought that Li Wangxian had gone insane. The sect master was the only one who burst out laughing sounding happier than he had ever been.

And so Li Wangxian rode a bull down the mountains while holding a Taoist scripture in one hand. When he left the peak, his Yin God manifested into existence. When he passed through the mountain pass, he transformed into a Grandmaster. And when he finally reached the foot of the mountain, he had become… a Sage.

With one palm, he destroyed the demonic array that had pinned down his sect. With one command, he had pushed back the army of demons gathered outside the mountains intending to destroy it all. Then, he engaged the Demon Lord in a battle that would be remembered for eternity.

Such was the battle that historians later described it this way: “The Nine Heavens were split, and the elements returned to Primal Chaos. The sky was dark like the sun would never rise again.”

No one except the combatants themselves knew who won the battle. What they did know was that the Demon Lord returned to the Demonic Mountain and shut himself in a secluded cultivation; one that was meant to last until his death if he did not find whatever he was searching for. Without an iron fist to keep them in line, the unruly demons and monsters of the Dark Ways naturally fell into shambles. The orthodoxy seized the opportunity to consolidate their forces, push back the warriors of the Dark Ways, and return the jianghu to normal.

After that, Li Wangxian’s legend became immortal in the jianghu. No one would ever forget the young man who broke through stage after stage as he rode his bull down the mountain and practically saved the jianghu singlehandedly.

Countless strived to become Li Wangxian since. Countless were still striving to hold a candle to the legend today.

On a related note, Li Wangxian was also that era’s youngest Sage. He was so far ahead of his peers they were like ants compared to him.

Speaking of Li Wangxian, the young man carried himself just like before despite his achievement. He continued to study the Taoist scriptures and did whatever he liked without a care for appearances.

The sect master of the True Martial Sect made Li Wangxian his successor before he passed away. Three years after he received the sect master seal, Li Wangxian returned the seal to his sect and journeyed west on a bull just like the Dao Tzu had. He would enter Hangu Pass and open a way to the heavens.

A long time ago, Dao Tzu rode a green bull through Hangu Pass and caused the sky within forty thousand kilometers of the area to be covered in purple qi. Heavenly Demons had fallen like meteor showers then.

Many, many years after that, Li Wangxian too rode a green bull through Hangu Pass and caused the clouds to vibrate with the sound of reading, and a heavenly gate to appear on the skies. After he and his bull ascended to the heavens, the man was never seen again.

This was why Li Wangxian was considered a more legendary and colorful figure than even the Dark Overlord, Li Hentian. It was also why he was more popular and well-known, and why everyone was speechless when they learned that the painting was drawn by the legend himself.

“It’s just a possibility,” Xi Duoduo clarified. “Legend has it that Li Wangxian had drawn a painting for the later generations after he exited the Hangu Pass and got ready to ascend the heavens. That painting came to be known as ‘A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill’.”