Chapter 626: A Celestial Rides A Bull Across A Green Hill

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.

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’.”