Chapter 424: Chapter 424: Old Master Jin becomes a disciple!
“Yes, master.” The old servant respectfully nodded, then proceeded directly to the desk where Huang Xiaolong had just written.

‘Hmph! The insolence of this youth! The master already showed him face earlier, but he doesn’t know when to advance or retreat, insists on showing his writing to the master…’

Deep resentment toward Huang Xiaolong filled the old servant’s heart.

At this moment, the old servant grabbed Huang Xiaolong’s work rather rudely, took a quick glance, and then, his face full of mockery, couldn’t help saying, “As I thought, it’s just chicken scratch!”

The old servant held Huang Xiaolong’s work high up so that all the guests in the garden could see clearly.

What Huang Xiaolong had written was strange, it was neither a poem nor a song, but the character for “longevity.”

The paper was completely filled with the character “longevity,” almost a hundred times over.

A few breaths later—

“Ahahaha~~~~~~What is this? The same character written so many times? No wonder he could finish so quickly…Hahaha…I’m dying of laughter!”

Laughter erupted.

The entire garden was in an uproar—

“What a load of crap! And he calls himself a master of both painting and calligraphy! Writing the character for longevity, hundreds of times over, psh~~I could do that too! I could write a thousand in ten minutes, what use is that?”

“Look at how others write, using classical poems and verses, their writing bold and elegant, yet look at this guy’s scribbles, they’re like a primary school student learning calligraphy for the first time.”

“No matter how well one character is written, it won’t compare to a full-length article, besides, these ‘longevity’ characters are all twisted and irregular.”

“For him to step forward and let the old master look at his writing, he’s really asking for humiliation.”

…

Countless laughter, mockery and even insult echoed.

The people of the Sun family all lowered their heads, wishing they could crawl into a crack in the ground.

Ying Aoshan also gave Huang Xiaolong a helpless look, her eyes doing all but spelling out—”I can only help you this far.”

At this moment, the ones most triumphant were Chen Xiong and his son, Chen Zihuan. Chen Zihuan shouted angrily at Huang Xiaolong. “Huang Xiaolong! You dare to mock the old master, you’ve gone too far! Get out of here now!”

“Hehe~~~ It’s fine if none of you can understand, I won’t bother explaining.” Huang Xiaolong shook his head rather helplessly, yet the corner of his mouth held a touch of disdain.

But just then!

“Silence! All of you, shut up!”

Old Master Jin suddenly bellowed out.

The voice contained a touch of True Qi, ringing out like a resonating bell, startling everyone!

In an instant, the noise in the garden stopped!

“This…this…this…” Old Master Jin walked in a daze toward the servant holding Huang Xiaolong’s work, his eyes fixated on the “longevity” characters, “Oh, my god… it’s so perfect! Perfect beyond words! This…this is a miracle… how on earth… can there be anyone who can produce such extraordinary work…this is the pinnacle of calligraphy~~~~~”

At this moment, Old Master Jin seemed entranced, swaying as he walked, his face flush as if he were drunk, sniffing the air as if in tasting wine, the expressions on his face varied from elation to adoration to astonishment…

Seeing this, the people in the garden were all startled and puzzled…

What’s going on with Old Master Jin?

“Hehe, you understand, that’s good enough,” Huang Xiaolong chuckled.

Just as everyone was confused, Old Master Jin finally reached the servant, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Hand…hand me that piece of calligraphy! Be careful! This is a national treasure! If you damage even a bit of it, your life won’t be enough to compensate!”

“Master…this…” The servant was stunned, then delicately handed the work to Old Master Jin.

Old Master Jin took it carefully as if it were a precious gem, staring at the irregularly sized characters for “longevity”, until his eyes reddened, as if on the brink of tears!

Has Old Master Jin gone mad?

“Hahaha~~~~ A Hundred Longevity! This is the first and last of its kind, a Hundred Longevity!” Old Master Jin suddenly threw his head back and laughed, tears streaming down his face, overcome with emotion. “In my lifetime, to be able to appreciate such divine work, I could die content! Hahaha!”

He paused for a moment, scanned those with surprised and questioning faces. “You people don’t understand! This is a masterpiece! A Hundred Longevity, no more no less, precisely one hundred ‘longevity’ characters, each in a different style! There is Li Si’s seal script! Wang Xizhi’s unrivalled running script! Zhang Xu’s cursive script! Liu Gongquan’s regular script…”

“One hundred ‘longevity’ characters, each one unique, no repetition! Each character represents the peak mastery of a certain calligraphy style!”

“Look…this first character, ‘longevity,’ is written in Li Si’s seal script, capturing ninety-nine percent of its spirit. It’s almost indistinguishable from Li Si’s original work! Resemblance both in form and spirit! It’s as if this ‘longevity’ character was personally written by Li Si reborn!”

Upon hearing this, everyone in the garden, including the celestial Ying Aoshan, was taken aback, their faces flabbergasted.

Old Master Jin’s words couldn’t be clearer—each of the hundred ‘longevity’ characters written by Huang Xiaolong used the style of a different brilliant calligrapher from history, moreover, each character captured the spirit of that calligrapher’s style to such a degree that it was nearly indistinguishable from the original.

What does it mean for a person’s calligraphy skill to contain the essence of one hundred of the greatest calligraphers in history?

People who have practiced calligraphy would know that to imitate the style of a single master often requires a lifetime of study and practice, copying their work thousands of times, to capture even a semblance of the original.

But now, Huang Xiaolong mastered the styles of a hundred historical calligraphy masters.

The use of the word ‘prodigy’ isn’t enough to describe his skill—it’s otherworldly!

In the field of calligraphy—he’s a god!

After hearing Old Master Jin’s explanation, everyone turned their gaze back to the work trembling in Old Master Jin’s hand. They began to see every stroke in a new light.

Indeed, each ‘longevity’ character had a completely different artistic conception – some were soft, some were rigid, some were free and easy, others wild, some flowed like water, some sat mightily like tigers and dragons…

“Incredible…this piece, the more you look, the more you feel its aura, the more amazing it appears!”

“Hiss!!!!!! Everyone…be quiet…he…he only took three minutes! Good heavens! Three minutes, to write one hundred masters’ style…”

Upon thought, it was utterly terrifying!

The whole scene fell silent!

At this moment, Old Master Jin, holding onto Huang Xiaolong’s piece, came trembling over. “Hundred Longevity… unprecedented, and likely never to be surpassed…each character is worthy enough for me to appreciate for a month, no, three months…”

Old Master Jin came to Huang Xiaolong, “Is this…is this piece really…really meant for me? You…you won’t regret it? This…this is a priceless national treasure…”

“Of course it’s for you,” Huang Xiaolong said, smiling unconcernedly. “Writing this, it’s no big deal. I can write several hundred in a day.”

Old Master Jin took a deep breath, as if making a decision!

Suddenly, he bowed to Huang Xiaolong. “Could…could you take me on as your apprentice?”