Plate Ninety-Two: A Chance Encounter and a Public Rebuke

When they set out, they took whatever they had created and tossed it at will into the storage space for miscellaneous items, placed any living creatures into the reserve-food space, chose a newly created three-tailed white fox as their mount, restored the living room to its original state, and departed at once.

Sangsang descended the mountain, the Celestial Emperor rode with her, and Kane followed invisibly behind.

On the map, Sangsang circled several places and chose a small town renowned for making brushes as their destination.

Danish Town was not far from Redleaf City, but between them lay several mountain ranges extending from the Ten-Thousand Demons Forest. Demonic beasts often strayed into those mountains; unless escorted by a master, crossing them was perilous. For that reason, the two places were less connected than the even more distant Wish City.

Snowball leaped through the mountains. Sangsang’s fingers combed through the long fur at its neck, feeling the warmth beneath her palm, the pulsing heartbeat, the flow of spiritual energy.

Compared with ordinary spirit beasts, there seemed to be no difference at all. It was truly hard to believe this creature had leaped out of a painting.

A striped demon tiger, stinking violently of blood, sprang across a ravine. Sangsang merely glanced at it once before the Celestial Emperor, understanding her unspoken thought, flew down in an instant. Before the demon tiger could even react, he kicked it in the side of the neck, then grabbed its tail and returned to Snowball’s back.

Snowball’s three tails spun like propellers, and it even covered its nose with a paw in an almost human gesture, signaling that the tiger smelled far too foul. Sangsang good-naturedly cast several cleansing spells on the demon tiger. Snowball turned back and made a few ingratiating chirps, and the Celestial Emperor sneered. “You spoil it. Watch it end up like Furball.”

Snowball bared its teeth and continued on.

As they neared the forest’s outer edge, they gradually encountered people gathering herbs and hunting demon beasts. When they saw Snowball, some hurriedly dodged aside while others bowed in reverence. Snowball lifted its head proudly, its tails swaying, clouds gathering beneath its feet. Yet its pace slowed, and its bearing became even more graceful, as though it were savoring the gazes of those around it.

Sangsang did not urge it on, but silently observed and compared the difference between Snowball and the demon tiger. “Snowball is quite intelligent. The soul formed in the incubation pool may have been human in a former life.”

Perhaps Snowball was too striking, or perhaps the demon tiger was simply too tempting, while Sangsang and the Celestial Emperor looked harmless at first glance. Kane, who could have intimidated anyone, had, of all things, chosen to remain invisible.

Someone reckless came looking for trouble and blocked Sangsang’s path.

More precisely, it was a group of people. Leading them was a young man in fine silks and brocade, riding a dragon horse. A belt hung at his waist like a brush rack, adorned with more than ten brushes of varying lengths and sizes. His expression was arrogant, yet he still made himself sound modest and mild. “Young lady, I am the Thirteenth Young Master of the Brush Family. That fourth-tier demon tiger you picked up is prey we have been tracking. If you return it, we will compensate you. It is no unreasonable request, and I can make the decision myself.”

Brush rack—how fitting a name for a painter. The spiritual energy in his body had not even reached heavenly rank, so there was no need to care.

Sangsang gave him a casual glance, then lowered her head to scan the demon tiger again.

Snowball had been born in the incubation pool, unstained by blood, living by absorbing spiritual energy; it was a noble spirit beast. The demon tiger, born in the wild, was merely an ordinary wild tiger that had eaten a spiritual treasure and learned to plunder spiritual power from other living beings. Its growth potential was limitless. But because it lacked intelligence and knew only slaughter, it was called a lowly demon beast. Its fur and bones could be used to make brushes, its hide could become paper, its blood could be mixed into pigments, and its sinews and flesh were natural high-grade ingredients. It had many uses.

In truth, through her in-depth scan of their genes and cells, Sangsang discovered that their structures differed slightly. In terms of genetic potential, the demon beast’s capacity for growth was even higher than that of the spirit beast. Given the right environment and enough food, the demon tiger could grow without limit.

Snowball, though possessing heavenly-ranked strength, had somewhat unstable genes, and its potential seemed locked in place. Accumulating spiritual energy could raise its strength, but it could not become a star beast capable of traversing the cosmos.

The man of the Brush Family felt slighted and tried both coercion and inducement. “Young lady, do not refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit!”

Sangsang had originally been considering whether the genetic lock on spirit beasts could be undone, but the familiar threat reached her ears and she could not help lifting her head. The translator was remarkably intelligent; it could even render the warnings of the Crimson Cloud region into the style of the galaxy.

The young man thought he had frightened Sangsang and gave a flashy smile. “Since you can ride a spirit beast, you must have some talent as a spiritual painter. I assume you came for the Thousand Brushes Assembly of my Brush Family. Why not follow me instead? The benefits—”

Crack.

The change came too quickly. Before the man could finish speaking, a sharp smack rang out. He was sent flying to the ground without the slightest chance to resist. Half his face swelled grotesquely high, his teeth scattered everywhere, blood ran from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were shut tight; whether he was dead or alive, no one could tell.

“Filthy mouth. Deserved it.”

The Celestial Emperor, who had been sitting behind Sangsang all this time, opened his eyes.

His movements had been so swift that he left not even a blur behind. Only Sangsang sensed the disturbance in space and turned to look.

The Celestial Emperor narrowed his dark golden eyes slightly. His displeased expression looked just like Sangsang’s when she was unhappy. “Hmph. Power is restricted, so he didn’t die. You’re too kind. People like that should be beaten to death one by one.”

“If there’s a roadblock, just step over it. If I hit everyone I see, my hands will ache,” Sangsang said. She was not being kind; she simply had not acted because she did not want to invite trouble by drawing the small fry and then the old monsters behind them, wasting time. Now that the man had already been struck, she would let the soldiers come to meet the generals and water be held back by earth. As for the Brush Family man’s life or death, she did not care in the least. She squeezed her legs, urged Snowball forward, and soared over the crowd. Her speed was several times faster than Snowball’s own, and in the blink of an eye she was gone without a trace.

“Young Master!”

Only then did the attendants of the Brush Family man react, swarming toward him in a panic. All of them were alarmed beyond measure. If their young master were injured, it would be their failure. What frightened them even more was the identity of the person he had offended. None of them had even seen the other man’s movement just now. Their young master was a powerful spiritual painter with formidable protective artifacts, yet he had not been able to withstand a single blow. They could not even begin to fathom how strong that opponent was.

Though Danish Town was not large, it stood close to the Ten-Thousand Demons Forest and was home to several famous brush-making families. In a thousand-li radius, it counted as a renowned town. Herbal gatherers and demon hunters came and went in an endless stream on ordinary days, and with the recent opening of the Thousand Brushes Assembly, many painters had arrived to prepare for the painting contest. The little town was more lively than ever.

As Sangsang’s group entered Danish Town, a crowd of people who made their living as guides immediately surged forward to ask whether they needed service.

A riding beast, a demon tiger, handsome young men and women—at a glance they looked like novice painters and guards out on their first training expedition. Children of that age were easy to coax, and the reward money would not be small.

“Back off!”

The Celestial Emperor pushed out a hand, and an invisible force drove the crowd of guides three feet away. Standing on Snowball’s raised tail, he pointed a finger at the ground, where a tiny bottomless hole appeared, and fresh spring water gushed from within.

“If anyone crowds in again, I’ll gladly make a hole in your head for free.”

The crowd retreated in a rustle, clearing a broad and open path.

He looked young, but it turned out he was a fierce star. No amount of reward was worth losing one’s life for.

Snowball floated an inch off the ground, head held high and chest thrust out, tails raised, as it walked forward with arrogant lightness. Sangsang took her hand off the demon tiger, lifted her eyes, and casually pointed to a woman. “You lead the way. We want to make the finest brush.”

The woman had been standing outside the crowd. She blinked in surprise before pointing to herself. Seeing Sangsang nod, she hurried forward and walked beside Snowball, smiling warmly without seeming obsequious. “The largest brush hall in our Danish Town belongs to the Brush Family, and it’s right over—”

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