Chapter 2215 - Immense Pressure
Chapter 2215: Immense Pressure
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
The Night of Red Ink was the most magnificent concert of the Red Ink Tavern.
However, this wasn’t an ordinary concert.
Here, An Lin witnessed the essence of the Ancient Tai Chu Realm’s art and culture.
This wasn’t a common or basic concert.
Quite the contrary, in fact.
In An Lin’s eyes, this was more like the swansong of the Ancient Tai Chu Realm.
The cultivation base of everyone present—from the spectators to the performers—was extremely high and profound. In fact, there were a whopping several hundred Return to Void Stage cultivators present. Moreover, the main drawcards like the Cloud Maiden had already reached the Dao Integration Stage.
What did this signify? This signified that they were the elites of the Ancient Tai Chu Realm!
After being forced into a dead-end, they managed to survive in this world through a particular form of existence. In their eyes, there was already no hope. Thus, they placed all of their time and effort into arts and performances.
It was also because of this that An Lin was so astounded by the performances that he had witnessed. Why were their performances so profound and impressive? They only had a talent pool of several million people to pick from, yet the quality of their performances was still so much higher than what An Lin had witnessed in the Tai Chu Continent. One had to realize that the Tai Chu Continent had a population that numbered in the hundreds of billions!
This was the essence of the Ancient Tai Chu Continent’s art and culture! This was the essence of a continent that had once been the center of the universe!
The main drawcards continued to perform one after another.
Their performances came in all forms and styles.
Some trained adorable little Immortal Beasts, some impersonated the unique behaviors of the various large tribes, some emotionally displayed the beauty of their bodies, and some even used their voices to mimic an intent realm…
“Next, please welcome the Red Ink Tavern’s Gu Qiu!”
Deafening cheers and squeals of excitement instantly erupted throughout the Red Ink Tavern.
These were earth-shattering cheers and squeals! Even the higher-ups who had remained calm and composed this entire time couldn’t help but stand up or fervently applaud.
“This enthusiastic?!” An Lin was stunned by the wild scenes before him.
“Even Sister Gu Qiu is performing tonight?” Ying Bao was also wearing an expression of astonishment as she covered her dainty mouth with her hands.
“Is Gu Qiu really talented?” An Lin asked in curiosity.
He had glanced at the list of main drawcards before, so he knew that Gu Qiu was also one of the main drawcards of the Red Ink Tavern. However, this was already the limit of his knowledge. After all, he had only just joined the Red Ink Tavern.
“You’re one hundred million percent going to lose your bet with me,” Ying Bao said with a smile as she looked at An Lin. “How should I say this… Gu Qiu is incredibly lazy, and she only performs once every one or two years. However, her popularity always remains in the top three among all of the main drawcards of the Red Ink Tavern. Do you understand what this means?”
An Lin’s heart shuddered slightly.
An artist who barely performed yet still enjoyed immense popularity…
He naturally understood what this signified.
The spectators continued to cheer in excitement.
Meanwhile, a woman in an elegant Daoist robe appeared at the center of the stage.
Her beauty wasn’t otherworldly, yet upon closer inspection, one would feel that her natural beauty was stunning and mesmerizing. She wore a gentle and tranquil expression as she quietly stood on the stage, illuminated by the numerous beams of spotlights.
“Long time no see, everyone.”
Gu Qiu smiled at the spectators.
The spectators instantly felt as if their hearts had skipped a beat.
Damn it! This is the feeling of attraction!
A pig demon kicked aside the sow that was hugging him and spread his hooves wide apart as he shouted “I love you” at Gu Qiu.
“Father! I want her! I want to take her as my mistress!” a chubby man with a pair of dragon horns shouted as he frantically tugged at the Dragon Emperor’s sleeves. There was an expression of fervent excitement on his face.
However, the Dragon Emperor instantly slapped his hands away upon hearing this. There was anger in his voice as he shouted, “Stop trying to punch above your f*cking weight! What’s her standing? Will she be attracted to you?”
“But I’m attracted to her! Didn’t you say that I don’t need to worry about what others think? Isn’t the most important thing what I think?” the chubby man with a pair of dragon horns said in an upset voice.
“That depends on the other person’s standing! Don’t raise this matter again!” the Dragon Emperor said firmly.
The theatre became especially lively and boisterous.
However, Gu Qiu maintained her gentle smile, and it was as if she were accustomed to this kind of atmosphere already. She retrieved a calligraphy brush that was as long as her forearm from her spatial ring.
She then wielded this calligraphy brush as if she were wielding a spear, with each smooth movement capable of drawing a flawless and refreshing arc into the void.
“I’ve pondered over this word for a long time.
“Now, I’ll offer this word to everyone.”
Gu Qiu used the calligraphy brush to tap at the sky. The darkness in the sky obediently transformed into ink that gathered on the white brush tip. The calligraphy brush then started to dance through the void, leaving strokes of flawless ink in the air.
The night sky was her ink, and heaven and earth was her paper.
Gu Qiu allowed An Lin to witness the true meaning of dragons and snakes flowing from one’s brush.
Gu Qiu continued to move around as she wrote, causing her snow-white Daoist robe to perfectly intertwine with the dark ink in the air. This was like a picture of light and darkness, yet it was also like a picture of harmonious coexistence between a plethora of different lifeforms.
Beautiful! Far too beautiful!
An Lin praised this work from the bottom of his heart.
This was the level of transcendent calligraphy!
Heaven and earth changed color when Gu Qiu finished writing her word.
This was a perfect character that was composed of countless flawless strokes of ink.
An Lin didn’t know what this word was.
The sixty thousand spectators didn’t know what this word was either.
At this moment, however, An Lin could see countless thoughts and intent realms. He could also see the beautiful figure who was the dearest to his heart, as well as an image of her silently standing under the bright moon.
This was a beautiful and intoxicating image, yet it was also an image that was seemingly unreachable.
[The moon dims or shines; people have life and death.]
One word was one story.
One word was also one epoch.
The word in the void gradually vanished.
Everyone slowly exited the intent realm of the word.
By the time they came to their senses, the beautiful figure in their minds had already disappeared to someplace unknown.
Gu Qiu had also vanished from the stage already.
Some people applauded, while others continued to ruminate on their experience.
An Lin finally understood why Gu Qiu was so popular—she represented the pinnacle level of calligraphy. Watching her write was truly a kind of enjoyment.
Moreover, this wasn’t a temporary and superficial enjoyment.
Rather, this was an enjoyment that would leave an endless aftertaste that one could ruminate over.
After seeing Gu Qiu’s performance, An Lin felt that he needed to add even more aspects to his performance.
Holy shit… Such immense pressure!
After the spectators finally came to their senses…
“Next, please welcome Jin Feihong to perform the True Martial Dao!”
Sister Hong’s impassioned and enthusiastic voice started to reverberate around the theatre again.
An Lin’s expression faltered. Jin Feihong was going to perform now?
Jin Feihong strode onto the stage to the sound of loud cheers.
His expression was as if he were ready to risk everything and give it his all. However, there was also a hint of smugness under his expression of anxiousness. In fact, there was even a hint of unconcealable haughtiness in his eyes as he casually cast a glance at An Lin.
Jin Feihong performed the beauty of the Martial Dao.
In all fairness, his performance was quite a good one.
However, it appeared as ordinary as could be when compared to the previous performance by Gu Qiu.
In fact, some of the spectators didn’t even watch his performance. Instead, they continued to ruminate over the word that Gu Qiu had written.
What was Jin Feihong feeling proud about?
In reality, An Lin understood his feelings.
The performers scheduled after Gu Qiu would definitely feel enormous pressure, regardless of who they were.
In fact, even the supremely talented main drawcards didn’t want to be scheduled after Gu Qiu. After all, wouldn’t this make them appear inferior? Even if their talents were indeed inferior. However, it wouldn’t be right to make it so obvious, would it?!
Not a single main drawcard wanted to perform immediately after Gu Qiu.
As for the drawcards, their skills were far inferior to the main drawcards. Thus, even though their performances were decent, they seemed like nothing more than trash when compared to Gu Qiu’s profound performance.
This was analogous to being fed a spoonful of sh*t after being fed a spoonful of fragrant rice. No one would like this feeling.
However, it was in such a situation that Jin Feihong proved his worth. Although he wasn’t a main drawcard, his performance was still impressive enough to act as a smooth transition for the spectators.
He was the stepladder for Gu Qiu.
However, this role of stepladder couldn’t be fulfilled by any random person.
In fact, only the most talented drawcard could assume this role of the stepladder.
Thus, Jin Feihong felt extremely proud and smug.