"What is he doing?" Zheng Qingye said, looking from Wu Ling to her friends Su Yao and Su Xiang. "I thought he was a gentleman," she continued, thinking of the way he'd stepped in boldly to divert Xiong Dahuo and Liu Mingtao from harassing them in the waiting room earlier. Had he really been bold then? It seemed like he was about to repeat the same move, offering up women from his sect to appease powerful men. "Is he really just treating the women of his sect like goods to be bartered?"
Not far from her, Su Jixin frowned as well. Both he and Zou Suyin had been happy to see the way Wu Ling supported their daughter, encouraging her to use calligraphy and helping her to showcase her talents. Now, however, he was even less certain that he understood the young man. Truly, someone who successfully concealed his gender for years while attending a school for young ladies must hide his real face under multiple layers. What the young man's real intentions were was anyone's guess.
"Sister Zheng shouldn't worry," Su Xiang said without taking her eyes off Wu Ling as he prepared for his duel with Xiong Dahuo. Servants had already brought back the writing desk that Su Yao had used to perform her calligraphy and the two men had taken position ten meters apart in the center of the banquet hall.
"Brother Wu is only facing a single middle-stage Brawler. I've watched him face down eight men at once and come away without a scratch," she reassured the other young women who stared riveted at the scene unfolding before them. "Besides, this prize matters too much to Brother Wu to lose here today," she added quietly, provoking a number of curious looks from the other young women.
"Does Aesthete Wu have a woman he admires in the Sanguine Saber Sect?" Su Yao asked, fearing that her cousin would be left to watch from the sidelines as the target of her affection made moves on another woman.
"No, it's more complicated than that," Su Xiang said without offering further explanation. Wu Ling still hadn't exposed his relationship to his captive half-sister and she wasn't about to be the one to reveal things here.
"Brother Wu," Xiong Dahuo said loudly, drawing the attention of the assembled crowd. While Wu Ling had set up a small canvas and several small talisman-sized slips of parchment on the writing desk, Xiong Dahuo had retrieved a heavy nine-ringed saber. Despite the size of the heavy weapon, the powerful Brawler swung it easily through the air to rest across his shoulders as his crimson eyes regarded Wu Ling.
"For an Aesthete to face a Brawler of equal cultivation is beyond bold and I will not be accused of bullying. I'll allow you to make the first move," he said with a wicked smile. "I'll just stand here to receive your move, but after that, Brother Wu should be ready to defend himself!"
"Is Brother Xiong really going to allow me the time to make a move?" Wu Ling said, surprised at being afforded such an opportunity. "If that's the case, don't blame me for being impolite," he added, picking up his brush and quickly painting over two dozen dark v-shaped birds on the canvas. Satisfied with the number of Blade Winged Birds he'd prepared, Wu Ling then turned to the smaller pieces of parchment and wrote a single character on one of the pieces of parchment.
"Brother Xiong, let me introduce you to one of my recent paintings," Wu Ling said, holding out his forearm. "This is 'Hou'," he added as a burst of flame surrounded his forearm before revealing the presence of the blazing young Golden Crow. "Brother Xiong should prepare to resist his flames."
"He has a Contracted Beast?" Zhang Buyan said from the side, amazed at the sight of a juvenile Golden Crow. How much would it cost to procure such a rare and valuable bird? The price couldn't even be measured in small spirit crystals if it could be purchased at all it would have to trade for comparable treasures! Moreover, the Golden Crow was a very special bird to the junior sister who tugged at his heartstrings. Perhaps, afterward, he could find out how Wu Ling obtained the Golden Crow so he could present on to his junior sister and earn her favor.
"That's not a Contracted Beast," Yu Jinqi said with a shake of his head. "He said it was a painting. Look at all the birds he painted on that canvas. I think he's a special kind of Painter, one who can bring his paintings to life. No wonder he was able to make such an extraordinary painting of Young Lady Su. If painting is the core of his cultivation then even his most common works will be a little extraordinary."
"Painters like that can only produce illusions," Fang Lin said confidently. "Brother Xiong won't be fooled by something that isn't really there. This is just a show Brother Wu is putting on," he insisted. "Remember, he said he knew how to entertain."
"I'm not sure about that son," Fang Muchen said, stroking his beard and staring intently at the Golden Crow called 'Hou.' "The power of flame I sense from that beast is very real. I do not think that it's an illusion." Not only was the power of flame carried by the strange bird very real, but Fang Muchen felt like it wouldn't lose to the aggressive energy that Zhang Buyan had just displayed. For someone with such rare talents to be unknown, either this Wu Ling had emerged only recently, or he hid himself very deeply.
"Now this is something I've never seen before," Fan Chaoyang said, leaning forward and fixing his sharp gaze on Wu Ling and Hou. "I've encountered Sorcerers who command the elements and can form beasts from them that are very dangerous but I've never seen an Artist do the same. Brother Fang, I really am fortunate to have attended your gathering tonight."
"Brother Wu is full of surprises," Xiong Dahuo said, swinging his heavy saber and assuming a defensive posture. "Come, make your move!"