Chapter 72: Facing the Morning Sun (2/2)
With a stroke of his brush, Meng Chuan drew the World Entrance in the middle of the painting. A dense horde of demons poured out from the World Entrance and spread in all directions.
He slowly painted, starting with a rough outline.
He focused on one of the demons on the periphery of the spreading horde. It was a mantis demon. He drew it extremely carefully because it was the demon that had left the deepest impression on him when he was six.
…
While painting, the translucent tiny person in his glabella s.p.a.ce began to emit a spiritual light. After all these years—ever since painting “People Resonance”—this was the second time it underwent transformations.
…
He immersed himself in his painting, mainly focusing on the mantis demon and its pursuit of his family of three.
The father ran while carrying the child. The mother charged at the mantis demon with a sword.
Just this scene alone took him more than two hours to finish, and this was only one corner of the giant canvas.
When he stopped painting, Meng Chuan realized the changes in his glabella s.p.a.ce.
The tiny person in my glabella s.p.a.ce is glowing? He was surprised, but the spiritual glow gradually weakened.
The appearance of this glabella s.p.a.ce really has something to do with my painting. Meng Chuan was very surprised. When he was 16 years old, he had painted “People Resonance.” It was also his best painting after all these years. That night, he had discovered the glabella s.p.a.ce followed by the Power of the Soul. But at that time, he wasn’t completely certain that it was related to painting.
It could have been a coincidence.
The intense emotions he had while painting this time were no less than when he was painting “People Resonance.” The glowing of the tiny person in his glabella s.p.a.ce convinced him—
it had something to do with painting!
I’ve never heard of anyone producing the mysterious Power of the Soul via painting? After pondering for a long time, Meng Chuan still couldn’t figure it out. Forget it. Once I enter Archean Mountain, I’ll definitely find out why.
At the very least, the Power of the Soul was of great help to him.
…
From this day onwards, Meng Chuan’s intense emotions fully fused into the painting. This painting also took up a lot of time. He would paint for as little as two hours up to six hours a day.
After spending more than six months on the canvas, he finally finished.
It was a set of paintings—a total of three separate pieces.
The first one was 16 feet long. In the middle of the painting was a dense horde of demons appearing at the World Entrance. They spread out in every direction. Demons committed carnage everywhere. There were parents who wanted to protect their children, but they were stabbed by a demon’s sharp tail.
There was a scene depicting corpses everywhere. A child stood there crying while an elder faced the demons in battle. There was also a father running with his child on his back while the mother fought off the demons using a sword…
Meng Chuan drew a total of thirty-eight scenes. Every scene clearly depicted the appearances of demons and humans. They were all scenes he had personally experienced or seen with his own eyes. Every time he drew, the flames in his heart burned even brighter.
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In the periphery—some distance away from the demons—Dao Academy disciples, merchants, and ordinary pedestrians were all panicking.
…
At the outer perimeter, stood three G.o.dfiends at Jadesun Palace, ready for battle.
There were other places.
In a Dao Academy, the weaker disciples entered the tunnels, while the stronger disciples watched the approaching demons with either determined or nervous looks. Under the guidance of their dean and lecturers, the veterans prepared them for battle.
Without exception, the weak—regardless of their status—lined up to enter the tunnels.
The powerful—regardless of gender or age—stood alongside each other as they braced for battle.
…
The sun in the painting had just risen, indicating that the demon invasion was at dawn.
This was only the first painting.
The second painting was about 18 feet long. It was much more cruel and b.l.o.o.d.y.
The center of the painting depicted corpses, a result of the demons’ targeting. They consisted of men, women, and children. Some were youths dressed in Dao Academy robes.
Battles erupted everywhere.
A human warrior held a s.h.i.+eld to resist the demons while another human warrior shot arrows from afar. A human’s abdomen had been stabbed but he continued hugging the demon tightly as another companion slashed open the demon’s head with a saber.
Some humans successfully killed demons thanks to the traps they set up. However, more demons charged over from the sides. There was a father and son duo who worked together to deal with demons. There were veteran soldiers dealing with the demons.
…
Meng Chuan had personally witnessed all these tragic scenes. They were very common scenes during the demon invasion in Eastcalm Prefecture. He drew them based on his memory. He drew the determination in the eyes of those who chose to perish with the demons, while their companions continued the battle in pain…
Why are they working so hard? Meng Chuan had once been puzzled. But during his painting process, he realized why when he drew out each living person.
They did it for hope.
They did it for the sake of their loved ones and hope—the hope to still see the sun rise again.
They needed to work hard to ensure that their family survived.
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He drew the scene of the Blazing Sun Dao Academy trying its best as the demons charged into Blazing Sun Castle. The veterans, soldiers, and youths desperately defended, using their lives as a wall between the demons and the weaker juniors who were hiding in the tunnels.
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A G.o.dfiend family clan was also fighting desperately. Elders charged ahead to fend off the demons. The young ones and youths also fought. A bald elder led the charge only to have his chest impaled by a tentacle. Yet, he managed to kill the demon with one saber strike.
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The G.o.dfiends at Jadesun Palace were also fighting desperately. A G.o.dfiend had already collapsed and a female G.o.dfiend struggled to hold on. Only the last male G.o.dfiend fought the four demon monarchs.
They only had one G.o.dfiend—who could still fight—left, but it was a desperate battle.
It was also for hope.
…
The sun of another painting rose a little higher.
The entire painting depicted fighting everywhere. This took Meng Chuan three months.
…
The third painting was 16 feet long. The situation on the battlefield reversed. People from all directions began attacking the demons as the demons fled in panic.
All the demons were fleeing. They were terrified. They looked to be in sorry states as they were slain one by one. They frantically charged towards the World Entrance in the middle. It was where they came from, and now, it was their salvation.
Meanwhile, in the periphery, a sword beam descended from the sky to slay a demon monarch in Jadesun Palace while the other demon monarchs fled pathetically.
In the Dao Academy, everyone was treating their heavily injured companions. There were adults and youths who were seriously injured.
People had also died in combat, people of both genders and all ages. Some were very beautiful, or very old and haggard. People wept sadly for the dead heroes.
Everywhere—ordinary residences, restaurants, tea houses, G.o.dfiend family clans, and so on—began to treat the injured and move the human corpses.
As for the numerous demon corpses scattered everywhere, people couldn’t be bothered to look at them. They were mostly taking care of the injured and grieving for the dead.
Although the battle was won, there was no joy in the entire painting. Instead, one could feel battle intent coming from it. It was a strong battle intent! Heroes had died, but the living would continue to advance and fight, never stopping.
The sun rose even higher in the east.
The colors of this painting were the brightest among the three.
…
After Meng Chuan finished painting, he fell silent for a long time. Finally, he wrote four words on the last painting: “Facing the Morning Sun.” He didn’t have a name for the first and second painting.