Cultivating with Bragging System

Chapter 722 362: Starry Sky_1

Hearing the words of the girl in purple, the young man in blue and the others present suddenly looked embarrassed.

"That... I'm afraid that will be difficult. His paintings are exceedingly rare, and they are all in the hands of the major families in White Jade City."

The girl in purple furrowed her brows slightly but soon relaxed. "Did you just say that Cao Xiu is going to discuss painting with him?"

"Yes!"

"Let's go and have a look!"

「...」

Zhuang Residence.

"Sign it."

Zhuang Feiwu picked up a scroll and placed it before Gao Ruotong, speaking matter-of-factly.

Gao Ruotong, sitting in her chair, swept her beautiful eyes over the document. She immediately saw the three large characters for "divorce paper," and her eyebrows arched in suspicion. "Are you serious?"

Zhuang Feiwu said calmly, "Over all these years, we have had neither the affection nor the reality of a married couple. An agreement made by our elders has tormented you, and it certainly hasn't brought me any joy. You lost your freedom, and I lost the one I love. This mistaken relationship should not continue."

Disbelief still lingered in Gao Ruotong's eyes.

Zhuang Feiwu was famously filial. Even though he disliked the marriage, he had obediently complied with his family's command. Unlike her, who had at least attempted to rebel by running away.

After so many years, she had long since realized that Zhuang Feiwu simply lacked the courage to defy his family. Even when she went out of her way to tarnish her own name, allowing rumors of her and other men to spread and earning the Zhuang Family's extreme dissatisfaction, she was still unable to escape her cage. How could the alliance between two great families be halted over such trifles?

Gao Ruotong knew her schemes were seen as child's play by those at the top. It didn't matter that she was only fabricating rumors. Even if she had done something truly outrageous, what of it? At most, the Gao Family would simply have one less legitimate daughter married off the next day.

She had long since abandoned all hope.

That was why, on the day she met that dashing Young Master Wang, whose eyes seemed to see right through her and lay bare all the secrets of her heart, she had made such a nearly insane decision.

To be honest, as she sat there that day, watching Wang Xiu's final brushstroke fall, her entire body was already soaked in sweat. She found her own actions absurd, yet at the same time, she felt a wave of unburdening relief. The courage of her youth welled up inside her once more; she had to escape this place.

She was already making preparations.

Even if those preparations took ten years, or a hundred!

To hell with the family!

To hell with the arranged marriage!

「...」

However, the change came so swiftly.

Ever since his visit to the Yuxuan Pavilion, Zhuang Feiwu seemed like a different person. He no longer put on a show for her. Instead, he spent his days staring blankly at a painted scroll.

And today, he had taken the initiative to present her with a divorce paper, asking her to sign it.

Does he even know what he's doing?

"Of course I know what I'm doing." Zhuang Feiwu looked into Gao Ruotong's eyes, his calm expression holding a surging courage. "This is my decision."

Gao Ruotong said in surprise, "Aren't you afraid your grandfather will hold you responsible?"

Zhuang Feiwu articulated every word, "My grandfather... he's just a painter. He doesn't even fully understand the Dao of Painting, so how could he possibly understand what's between us?"

The air suddenly fell silent.

Gao Ruotong's small mouth was slightly agape. Her full chest rose and fell subtly, her heart a tumultuous sea of waves. No one in the entire Zhuang Family had ever dared to speak a single ill word of Zhuang Mocheng. Not Zhuang Feiwu's father. And this grandson had certainly never dared.

The air around them turned frigid.

Gao Ruotong suddenly felt a chill and subconsciously hugged her arms, noticing the fine hairs on her smooth, fair skin standing on end.

At some unknown point, a figure had appeared in the doorway. He stood there coldly, like a block of ice, so forbidding that even the sunlight could not seem to draw near.

"What did you say?" Zhuang Mocheng looked at Zhuang Feiwu, his voice like ice. "Say what you just said, one more time."

"Father, Feiwu didn't mean that..." Zhuang Sixian, standing to the side, tried anxiously to smooth things over.

But Zhuang Feiwu did not shy away, facing Zhuang Mocheng directly. "I meant exactly that!"

Astonished by his grandson's unprecedented bravery, Zhuang Mocheng's expression grew even more unpleasant. "You say I don't understand anything? Not painting, not people?"

Zhuang Feiwu nodded. "Yes! Just as you have never seen that I, your grandson, am also a prodigy in the Dao of Painting, with the talent to surpass my master!"

Everyone was stunned into silence. Incredulous looks converged on Zhuang Feiwu.

On what grounds do you dare say such a thing? The man before you is a titan in the world of painting in the Wasteland Boundary! How dare you call yourself a painting prodigy in his presence, claiming you will surpass the master? Besides, your talent doesn't even rank high among the Zhuang family's younger generation. If you weren't of the direct bloodline, Elder Zhuang's own grandson, the great fortune of marrying a legitimate daughter of the Gao Family would never have been yours.

Zhuang Mocheng no longer looked at him, asking indifferently, "Where has the young master been recently, and who has he seen?"

He was not, of course, asking Zhuang Feiwu.

A voice responded from an unseen direction, "Yuxuan Pavilion. He met that Wang Yitian."

"What a Wang Yitian!" Zhuang Mocheng snorted coldly. "He even dares to plot against my Zhuang Family!"

A flicker of urgency appeared in Zhuang Feiwu's eyes. "This matter has nothing to do with Brother Wang! It's something I figured out on my own. It was all my idea!"

Seeing his grandson's attitude only further convinced Zhuang Mocheng that the worthless boy had been utterly bewitched by Wang Yitian.

With a flick of his sleeve, he commanded angrily, "Prepare the carriage! We're going to the Yuxuan Pavilion! I want to see for myself what tricks he has up his sleeve."

「...」

Inside Yuxuan Pavilion.

Behind an elegant screen, the area was utterly silent. It had long been set up with a top-tier soundproofing array, preventing even the slightest noise from the outside world from penetrating.

"Had I known you were coming, Elder Cao, I specially prepared a painting for your appraisal," Wang Xiu said with a smile, pushing a cup of spirit tea toward him.

"Oh? Is that so? Then I must have a good look!" Cao Xiu replied with a hearty laugh.

As soon as he finished speaking, Wang Xiu raised a hand and waved it lightly.

An incredibly peculiar scroll appeared before Cao Xiu's eyes.

The painting contained no discernible landscapes or figures. There were only lines twisting and winding together, making the entire piece look like a giant vortex containing countless smaller, intertwined vortices. It was impossible to make out anything specific.

An ordinary person would have dismissed it as a child's scribble.

But Cao Xiu's gaze was instantly captured, fixed intently on the painting.

His mind seemed to be pulled in by every line on the scroll. The blood throughout his body began to circulate in response, and his eyes grew cloudy, as if he were entering a dream.

He stood there, motionless. His presence vanished entirely, as though he had become a lifeless corpse.

Nie Linglan, who had come in to refill the tea, saw this and could not help but cry out in alarm, "Elder Cao, what's wrong?"

Wang Xiu was perfectly composed, calmly sipping his tea. "It's nothing. He is appreciating the painting."

Nie Linglan's gaze fell upon the scroll, her brows furrowed tightly. "Young Master, what is this a painting of? I can't understand it at all."

Wang Xiu smiled faintly, took a sip of tea, and said, "This painting is called 'Starry Sky'."