The headmaster couldn't hide his surprise as he congratulated Alex multiple times for breaking through and learning a Dao at the same time.
Alex gave a small smile, apologizing for causing a commotion.
After the few finished discussing, Alex allowed the elders to view the painting as well, but since neither of them needed to see it, they moved on.
The 4th painting, after the mountain, was a canvas with no paint at all. Alex was at first confused about what was going on, but the Intent of the painting made it somehow clear to him what it was.
Snow.
The canvas was supposed to be full of snow. He could feel the bone-chilling cold coming from the canvas that held nothing. Someone really had managed to place their intent on the pages without putting any paint in there.
Alex thought it was an incredible feat and looked to the headmaster for an answer.
"This is a painting from 9 thousand years ago called White. It depicts a snowstorm that his previous majesty and the majesty had to go through in the Northern Continent when they went to take part in the first InterContinental Competition.
"InterContinental Competition?" Alex looked at the Headmaster. "What's that?"
"It was a competition that only lasted a single time that took place in the Northern Continent. It was created to bridge the gap between the youths of the various continents if I'm not remembering wrong," the headmaster said. "Apparently the one who drew this painting had been part of that group."
"There was something like that in the past, huh? And it took place in the Northern Continent?" Alex asked. 9 thousand years ago would be when the Snow Immortal sect was still the ruler of the Northern Continent. He could see why the knowledge of that time was gone.
"Well, I am only letting you know what I know, so I can't really confirm the truth on this one, but I don't see why it could be a lie," the headmaster said. "Especially given this Intent. It's quite hard to fake an Intent, you know?"
"I see," Alex said. "But then… why was it a one-time thing? They should've continued it," Alex said.
"Well, that's because…" the headmaster hesitated a bit before speaking. "Sigh, it's apparently because the youths taken from the Eastern Continent were so strong that they defeated all the other competitors from the other 3 continents without a single loss. With that sort of result, they saw no reason to carry on the competition."
"Ah!" Alex chuckled a bit. "That actually makes a lot of sense. Thank you for telling me that."
The 5th painting in line was a piece from 8 thousand years ago called The Emperor's Ascent. It was a piece depicting the glorious day when Long Tiankong was crowned the Emperor of the continent after his father gave up the throne to enjoy the last of his life in peace.
The painting detailed the tremendous amount of people that were gathered in the square where the coronation had taken place, and even the silhouette of the Azure Dragon hung in the sky.
Cheers, Glory, Excitement. Alex could feel it all through the painting, reminding him of the day he himself became the King of the Southern Continent.
He could feel the aura of the dragon in the sky, blessing the new emperor's ascent to the throne.
"Not bad!" he said softly. "I kinda got to see his majesty's coronation." He chuckled a bit and moved on to the next painting.
The 6th painting was from 7 thousand years ago and depicted a person's battle against a sea monster. It was an incredible-looking piece of art that most definitely belonged in the hall.
The 7th painting made Alex feel like he was standing in an inferno. It was a painting that was drawn with the Fire Dao Intent woven into the paintings, so anyone who looked at it could feel the Intent of the Dao coming through it.
If Alex didn't have any Fire Dao right now, he might have learned it all right there.
The 8th painting was from 6 thousand years ago and depicted an execution.
"It's called 'When the Kingdom Dies'. It's a painting of the execution of the 5 kings that tried to dethrone his majesty 6 thousand years ago. From right to left, we have King Fang, Queen Fen, Queen Jang, King Lin, and King Xuang. All 5 kings were executed back then, their kingdoms replaced to mere colors, and new kings and queens placed on the throne."
Alex looked at the painting as the haunting sense of dread flowed from it. The crimson color on the canvas and the color of blood made him smell iron. The faceless crowd made him feel suffocated, and he could almost hear the cries of the kings and queens who were executed that day.
The raw emotions on the page weren't something Alex had expected to feel so deeply, but he did. He could almost sense the painter's lament at what had happened.
After viewing it for a little longer, they moved on to the 9th painting.
This painting depicted the Azure dragon and some raw sketches of a bird, snake, and tortoise, all of whom were standing in front of a dead white tiger.
"It's called 'The Oathbreaker'," the headmaster said. "It depicts the time when the White Tiger broke his oath to not interfere in this realm and tried to take over. Fortunately, his majesty, the Azure Dragon, and the other rulers of the continents went and defeated him."
"I see," Alex said, saying nothing more. It was neither the right time nor was he interested in revealing the truth of what happened to the world back then. They were free to believe what they wanted to.
Alex looked at it for a while, enjoying it as nothing more than a piece of painting. He moved on to the next one, and as soon as he looked at it, he nearly vomit himself.
The image depicted of the Dragon Emperor with a giant sword, swinging it around, killing a black panther beast in the process.
"This painting is known as the 'The Moment of Victory'," the headmaster said. "It depicts the war that took place in the Western Continent where all 3 continents joined together to go and destroy evil," the headmaster started explaining.
"It's the moment in the war against the Central continent where our emperor won a decisive battle against one of the White Tiger's subordinates. This was the battle that turned the tide against the beast, allowing us to fully defeat them back then."
Alex looked at the image that gave a feeling of excitement and glory. However, feeling those feelings while watching who was most likely the Black Jaguar's father wasn't that exciting or glorious in his eyes.
He would rather not look at this painting at all.
He nodded while the headmaster explained a bit more about the painting, but he wasn't listening at all. He was waiting for the next painting, so he walked up as long as soon as he could after the headmaster was done talking.
Then, they finally got onto the 11th painting.
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