Elder Lin sat in the chair with dignity. He was very calm at the beginning, but later, when he looked at the group of elders standing behind Yan Liqiang and Luqiu Mingyue looking at the surprised expression and glowing eyes on Yan Liqiang's drawing board, Elder Lin suddenly felt a little restless. He felt anxious and couldn't help but want to look, but he felt that he had already promised Yan Liqiang to sit still for a while. As an elder, he should not be so impatient.
For nearly an hour, the entire hall was completely silent, with only the rustling sound of the charcoal core in Yan Liqiang's hand sliding across the paper...
Yan Liqiang was concentrating on painting, while the Sword God Sect leaders standing behind him were watching with great patience and intent on how Yan Liqiang used a piece of charcoal core to create what they saw as a miracle.
Fortunately, Yan Liqiang also knew what Elder Lin’s mentality was at the moment. After completing the last stroke, Yan Liqiang habitually wrote his name abbreviation "LYQ" in the lower left corner of the drawing paper. The three letters were written on the paper in one stroke, looking like two small waves.
"Elder Lin, it's okay, you can come and take a look!" Yan Liqiang put down the charcoal core and said to Elder Lin.
Elder Lin walked over quickly and was stunned when he saw the portrait on Yan Liqiang's drawing board. He stretched out his hand in disbelief and carefully stroked the white paper on the picture, "Ah, this... is this me!"
It was no wonder that Elder Lin was surprised, because the painting drawn by Yan Liqiang was even more real, clear, and beautiful than the one Elder Lin saw in the bronze mirror.
Elder Lin in the picture, with her hands on her knees, sits upright on a chair. There is a soft light on her well-defined face. The hair on her temples, long eyelashes, graceful and upright figure, and the look in her eyes have already shown the most mature and beautiful charm and spirit of a beautiful woman. Her hands are as soft as catkins, her skin is as white as cream, her forehead is as long as a moth, and her eyes are full of longing...
Looking at the self drawn by Yan Liqiang, Elder Lin's eyes were even gradually misty. He was stunned for a long time before he said to Yan Liqiang in a trembling voice, "This... this painting, can you give it to me?"
"certainly!"
As Yan Liqiang said this, he was about to pull out the embroidery needle that he had bent, wanting to take the painting off the board...
"No, be careful not to tear the painting..." Elder Lin quickly stopped Yan Liqiang's action, with a hint of nervousness in his expression, "Just give the wooden board to me, you men are too aggressive, I can do it myself..."
“Well, alright!” Seeing Elder Lin’s expression, Yan Liqiang knew that if he didn’t hand it over, the other party might just snatch it away. Yan Liqiang could only hand the painting in his hand and the wooden board with the drawing paper fixed to it to Elder Lin, and then carefully reminded him, “Elder Lin, paintings made with carbon core are different from ink paintings. In order to avoid fading, smearing, and paper wrinkles that affect the appearance, it’s best not to roll up this painting for collection. Elder Lin can just add a wooden frame to fix it, and then put it on the wall or on the table…”
"Okay, thank you!" Elder Lin took the painting carefully and said thank you to Yan Liqiang. In the Sword God Sect, it was absolutely rare for an elder to say thank you to an outer disciple.
“Ahem…” Seeing Elder Lin return to his seat, Luqiu Mingyue coughed twice and was the first to return to his seat, followed by the other elders.
After this, the elders looked at Yan Liqiang in a slightly different way, especially the other four female elders present. Their eyes looking at Yan Liqiang were particularly "fiery" and they hardly concealed it.
“You have all seen Yan Liqiang’s painting skills in person just now, so you should have no doubts about the origin of the painting that was sent to the sect before!” Lvqiu Mingyue looked around, his face becoming serious again. “In our Sword God Sect, we reward those who have done good deeds and punish those who have done wrong. Yan Liqiang’s performance this time is obvious to all. Not only did he promptly report the news of the great changes in the Imperial Capital when it encountered a heavenly calamity, which bought reaction time for the Sword God Sect’s response and stabilized the situation in Laizhou and its surrounding prefectures in a timely manner, but he also preserved the goods entrusted to them by the sect when the personnel of the Sihai Escort Agency suffered huge losses, preventing those goods from being lost or falling into the hands of the bad guys. In the end, he also protected a group of fellow disciples who went through hardships to return to the Sword God Sect. His contribution is great. His courage, wisdom, heart, and behavior should be a model for the disciples of our Sword God Sect!”
All the elders nodded. Yan Liqiang himself might not know that the painting he sent to the Sword God Sect in advance brought information about the great changes in the capital, which allowed the Sword God Sect to seize the opportunity and take timely response measures at the beginning of the chaos. The current stable situation in Laizhou is inseparable from the information Yan Liqiang sent earlier. If it weren't for such a big event, the Sword God Sect wouldn't have bothered to wait here to meet Yan Liqiang today.
"You have entered the Sword God Sect not long ago, and you are still an outer disciple of the Sword God Sect and have not yet become a disciple. Today I intend to accept you as my disciple. Are you willing?" Luqiu Mingyue said to Yan Liqiang with a smile.
Now it was Yan Liqiang's turn to be shocked. He had thought before that the Sword God Sect would definitely reward him this time, but he didn't expect it to be such a reward. Being the disciple of the sect master and the elders, such a status was at least an elite disciple in the Sword God Sect, which instantly put him above the outer disciples and inner disciples. Among the tens of thousands of disciples in the Sword God Sect, many people dreamed of becoming an elite disciple in the Sword God Sect in their lifetime. He didn't expect that Lu Qiu Mingyue would offer such a big prize as soon as she opened her mouth. Moreover, the status of the sect master's disciple was naturally extraordinary in the Sword God Sect. Even if he was an elite disciple, his status was more valuable than other elite disciples.
But he had already taken Liu Guiyuan as his master. According to the previous plan, he had to advance step by step in the Sword God Sect, and was naturally discovered by Liu Guiyuan and kept by his side. Now Luqiu Mingyue suddenly appeared. What should he do
At this time, Yan Liqiang certainly would not deliberately look at Liu Guiyuan, but in the corner of his eye, he saw Liu Guiyuan blinking at him slowly!
Blinking your eyelids is an up and down movement, which is like nodding!
It doesn’t matter! Agree! This is what Liu Guiyuan meant.
Yan Liqiang was relieved at once, and put away the look of astonishment on his face. He then bowed down to Lvqiu Mingyue in the main hall, kowtowed three times, and performed the ceremony of becoming a disciple. "Yan Liqiang greets the master!"
"Congratulations, Sect Master!" the elders present also said in unison.
"Okay, Li Qiang, get up! Today we are only confirming our relationship. The formal apprenticeship ceremony will be held in the ancestral hall three days later..."
"Yes, I'll follow the Master's arrangements!" Yan Liqiang stood up and said calmly. It was impossible for the Sect Master to accept a disciple in such a sloppy and silent way. There had to be a ceremony and the scene must be bigger than this. At least everyone in the Sword God Sect had to know about it.
"Master, I have something to tell you!" Liu Guiyuan, who had been silent before, suddenly spoke.
"Elder Liu, what do you want to say? Please tell me!"
"I would like to ask the Sect Master for permission to allow Yan Liqiang to come to the Pill Valley to help me compile and improve the Hundred Herb Classic. This Hundred Herb Classic has been circulated in the Hundred Herb Valley for hundreds of years. It is the most precious treasure in the Pill Valley of our Sword God Sect and the result of the hard work of countless predecessors. However, the Hundred Herb Classic has only words but no pictures, and is very obscure. It often takes several years or even longer for the pharmacists in the sect to distinguish the herbs, elixirs, and stones in the book. Many medicinal materials have very different medicinal properties but similar appearances, and it is even difficult to describe and distinguish them with words alone. Therefore, the Pill Valley is in a difficult situation when cultivating medicinal herbs. "When we were cultivating pharmacists, accidents would happen every year when we were refining medicines. Some people died of poisoning, and some destroyed a lot of medicinal materials. It was almost impossible to avoid this, and the efficiency of making medicines was greatly affected. If the "Hundred Herbs Sutra" of the Pill Valley could be added with pictures of various medicinal herbs drawn by Yan Liqiang, they would be vivid and lifelike, and even people who didn't understand them could tell them apart at a glance. The accidents in the Pill Valley would definitely be greatly reduced, and it would be easier for us to train pharmacists, and the efficiency of making medicines in each room would definitely be greatly increased. This would be beneficial to the Sword God Sect's century-long plan. I hope the Sect Master will allow it!"
This reason was so amazing that Yan Liqiang couldn't help but give a thumbs up to Liu Guiyuan after hearing it. Among the various applied professions of painters in his previous life, there was a type of painter who specialized in drawing the shapes of various plants and herbs, because these things were really useful. For example, many plant roots, stems, leaves and the like could not be expressed clearly no matter how many words you used if you didn't draw them.
“Since it concerns the long-term plan of our Sword God Sect, I naturally have no reason to refuse!” Luqiu Mingyue nodded, and then looked at Yan Liqiang, “Liqiang, the elixirs refined by our Sword God Sect’s Medicine Valley are supplied to many places. The situation in the Han Empire is dangerous now, and the elixirs in the Medicine Valley are very important. Your painting skills are really amazing and rare in the world. The Hundred Herbs Sutra is the treasure of the Sword God Sect’s Medicine Valley. You must do your best to do what Elder Liu said. As long as you complete the Hundred Herbs Sutra, it will be a great achievement!”
"Yes, Master, rest assured. I will do my best to help Elder Liu perfect the Hundred Herbal Classics!" Yan Liqiang said respectfully, "Disciple also has something to report to Master!"
"Oh, what do you want to say? Tell me!"
"I was lucky enough to make some contributions to the sect this time. The escorts from the Sihai Escort Agency who came with me, as well as the two outer disciples Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng, also made great efforts. I dare not take all the credit alone!"
We share happiness and hardships. At this time, Yan Liqiang naturally thought of his two good brothers. He knew that at this time, a word from Luqiu Mingyue might allow his two good brothers to fight for ten less years in the Sword God Sect. Naturally, he would fight for it.
"I know what you said. The Sword God Sect will naturally not treat those who have made contributions unfairly. The escorts of the Four Seas Escort Agency have been praised by Elder Lu. The performances of the two outer disciples Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng are also remarkable this time. Let them enter the inner sect to practice..." With Lu Qiu Mingyue's words, Gu Zexuan and Zhao Huipeng became the inner disciples of the Sword God Sect in an instant...
(End of this chapter)