"Then... perhaps the true painting is hidden inside?"

"No."

The elder became even more confused.

"Then what exactly are we looking at?"

Lin Feng smiled faintly.

"A line."

The elder almost coughed blood. Of course it was a line! Even a blind man could see that!

What he wanted to know was why a single line had supposedly demonstrated enough skill to qualify someone as a judge of the Myriad Dao Brush Assembly.

For the first time in many years, Daoist Profound Jade felt a headache forming. Had she truly wasted her time? The surrounding elders were already beginning to look disappointed.

Some even suspected that Daoist Falling Snow had been deceived. After all, what kind of demonstration was this? A single line? Even the most untalented child in the clan could produce something similar.

One elder finally shook his head.

"Daoist Falling Snow, are you certain this senior truly understands the Dao of Painting?" His words were already quite polite. Another elder was far less restrained.

"With all due respect, this old man sees nothing special. If this is enough to become a judge of the Myriad Dao Brush Assembly, then perhaps every disciple in our clan can qualify."

Several elders nodded secretly. That was exactly what they were thinking. Daoist Profound Jade frowned slightly. Although she had promised to give Lin Feng a chance, she could not help feeling disappointed.

"Feng Lin, perhaps..."

Before she could finish speaking, Lin Feng suddenly smiled.

"Have you all finished looking?"

The crowd exchanged glances. What else was there to see?

"It is merely a line," one elder replied.

Lin Feng shook his head.

"No."

"It is a Dao."

The crowd became speechless. A Dao? Where? They saw nothing. Lin Feng did not explain further. Instead, he casually flicked his finger. A gentle breeze appeared.

The paper floating before him fluttered lightly. The single black stroke trembled. Then something impossible happened.

Hum!

A faint humming sound echoed between heaven and earth. At first it was soft. Then louder. Then louder still. The expressions of the elders changed. They suddenly felt their hearts shake.

The simple black line on the paper seemed to come alive. An indescribable aura emerged from it. The sky darkened. The wind ceased. The surrounding spiritual energy froze in place.

Everyone’s pupils contracted. The single line before them began expanding endlessly within their minds. It grew larger. And larger. And larger. Soon it no longer resembled a brush stroke.

Instead, it became a towering pillar connecting heaven and earth. The vast skies split apart. The earth separated. The endless void trembled.

Countless stars appeared around the line like grains of sand surrounding a divine mountain. The elders gasped.

They could no longer tell whether they were looking at a painting or witnessing the creation of a universe. One elder stumbled backward. His face turned pale.

"No... impossible..." He was a peak Core Formation Realm expert. Yet before that simple stroke, he felt smaller than an ant. The line continued expanding. Suddenly it transformed again.

The pillar became a sword. A sword capable of cutting apart eternity. A sword capable of severing karma. A sword capable of dividing yin and yang. The elder who cultivated the Sword Dao trembled violently.

His sword intent shattered instantly.

"Puah!" He coughed out a mouthful of blood. Yet his face was not filled with fear. Instead, it was filled with ecstasy.

"I understand!"

"I understand!" He laughed like a madman.

"My Sword Dao was wrong all along!"

Boom!

A powerful aura erupted from his body. The bottleneck that had trapped him for over three thousand years shattered instantly. He broke through on the spot. The crowd stared in disbelief.

One stroke. One glance. And a peak Core Formation Realm expert had achieved enlightenment. But that was only the beginning. Another elder suddenly sat cross-legged. Tears flowed down his face.

"The Dao... the Dao is so simple..."

Boom!

His cultivation also advanced. Then another elder. And another. And another. Many people came this time to watch in horror as their seniors entered states of enlightenment one after another.

The commotion was simply too eye catching!

The heavens themselves responded. Golden clouds gathered overhead. Immortal light descended from the sky. The spiritual energy within a radius of ten thousand miles surged violently toward the paper.

The entire clan shook. Far away, countless experts looked toward the horizon.

"What happened?"

"Someone is comprehending the Great Dao!"

"No... this is far beyond that!"

Directly before Lin Feng, Daoist Profound Jade stood frozen. Her beautiful face was filled with disbelief. As the creator of the Myriad Dao Brush Assembly, she had studied paintings for thousands of years.

She had seen masterpieces from immortal painters. She had witnessed divine artworks capable of suppressing mountains and rivers. Yet none of them compared to this. Not even one percent.

The single line before her seemed to contain all Daos.

Sword Dao.

Saber Dao.

Space Dao.

Time Dao.

Life.

Death.

Creation.

Destruction.

Everything was hidden within that one simple stroke. Her body trembled. A profound realization suddenly emerged within her heart.

The reason the line appeared ordinary was not because it lacked profundity. It was because it had surpassed the limits of what she could understand. It was like an ant looking at the heavens.

The heavens appeared empty. Yet that emptiness contained countless stars. A cold chill ran down her spine. She finally understood. This man had not drawn a line.

He had merely revealed a tiny fragment of a Dao so vast that her mind could barely endure witnessing it. At that moment, Lin Feng casually reached forward. The paper immediately ignited into ashes.

The terrifying pressure vanished. The visions disappeared. The sky returned to normal. The crowd felt as though they had awakened from a dream. Yet nobody dared speak. Nobody dared breathe loudly.

The earlier doubts and suspicions had completely disappeared. The elders looked at Lin Feng as though they were looking at a living Dao Ancestor.

As for Daoist Profound Jade, she suddenly stood up and respectfully cupped her hands. The pride and dignity of a clan master vanished completely. Her voice carried genuine reverence.

"Senior Feng Lin."

"This junior was blind."

"Please forgive my earlier ignorance."