Compared to the others, Jia Chengxiong felt a jolt of fear the moment he heard the name Chu Feng.
Although he had always wanted to get revenge on Chu Feng, the shadow Chu Feng had cast over him still lingered. The instant he heard those two words, his heart tightened.
But the Barrier Painting Master's banishment did not stop. While he was still gripped with fear, he had already been sent away from this place.
"Chu Feng? That's fake, surely. Even if Chu Feng really came, would he be stupid enough to announce his own name?"
"Exactly. He must be borrowing Chu Feng's name to resist Jia Chengxiong."
After the initial shock subsided, people concluded that this Chu Feng was an imposter.
But Chu Feng had deliberately exploited precisely that assumption.
Either way, here in this place, whether he was the real Chu Feng or not, nobody could do anything to him. As for after he left, Chu Feng would go into hiding once more.
So here, Chu Feng had absolutely no fear of being exposed.
Shortly after, the Barrier Painting Master opened another box, and countless rolled-up sheets of painting paper flew out into the air.
Though brushes were limited, paper was infinite.
With both brushes and paper in hand, everyone began attempting to use the brushes in their possession to paint.
Only Chu Feng did not rush to act. He stood in place, studying the paintings on the cave wall while recalling the methods the Barrier Painting Master had taught them.
"My lords, you have two hours," the Barrier Painting Master suddenly announced.
Hearing this, everyone grew even more anxious.
But only Chu Feng remained composed.
Time ticked by, little by little, drawing closer and closer to the two-hour limit.
Although most people did not even understand how to use a brush to construct a formation, a small handful had grasped the method.
"Hey, I'm just saying — you can't paint anyway, so why hoard such a fine brush? Why not hand it over to me?"
Suddenly, a voice sounded beside Chu Feng's ear. It belonged to a man who also held a brush in his hand and had attempted to condense a formation with it multiple times. Though he had gotten partway, he had never managed to complete it.
Evidently, he blamed his brush for the failure.
If the man had asked politely, Chu Feng might have simply handed it over. But his tone was arrogant, and the one thing Chu Feng despised most was exactly that kind of attitude.
"You can't complete the formation because your control over barrier energy is lacking. What does that have to do with the brush?" Chu Feng said bluntly, offering no courtesy.
"My control over barrier energy is lacking?"
"How laughable. I'm only one step away — just one step from completing this formation. If you don't believe me, everyone here can look and tell me if I'm right or not."
The man spoke in a loud voice, and once he did, he immediately drew the attention of quite a few onlookers.
"He's right — he actually managed to get that far. Isn't he practically on the verge of success?" Looking at the formation before the man, the crowd voiced their agreement.
"See that? Everyone else can see it. Only you can't."
"I just have a bad brush. Since you can't paint anyway, why are you hogging such a good one? Hurry up and hand it over to me." The man spoke again, practically issuing a command.
If fighting were permitted here, the man would probably have simply snatched the brush from Chu Feng by force.
"You look like you're one step away, but in reality you're a hundred thousand miles off. You didn't understand a single thing the painting master just said, so stop embarrassing yourself here," Chu Feng replied.
And when those words left his mouth, even the Barrier Painting Master turned his gaze over.
Though his eyes only landed on Chu Feng.
Still, the man clearly was not willing to accept Chu Feng's criticism. Instead, he let out a cold laugh.
"How amusing. Do you even know who I am? I am Jia Lianfeng of the Dan Dao Immortal Sect," the man declared.
"Jia Lianfeng — could that really be Jia Lianfeng?" At the sound of that name, even more people gathered to watch.
"What kind of nobody is that? Never heard of him," Chu Feng said dismissively.
He already detested the Dan Dao Immortal Sect, yet these people kept smugly announcing their affiliation with it, trying to use their sect's name to intimidate Chu Feng.
All they did, however, was make him despise them even more.
"You really are ignorant. Pretending to be Chu Feng is one thing, but you don't even know Jia Lianfeng? He was once the greatest genius of the Dan Dao Immortal Sect. Now, at only two hundred and seventy years of age, he is already a Grey Dragon Divine Robe!"
"Hurry up and hand over your brush. Stop sitting on the throne without doing anything," the onlookers began directing their ire toward Chu Feng.
"Let me be honest with you. If you had actually understood the painting master's instructions, you wouldn't be obsessing over this brush."
After saying this, Chu Feng turned his gaze to the Barrier Painting Master.
"Master, in my opinion, these people are not worthy of your brush. Allow me to return it."
With that, Chu Feng flicked his wide sleeve and tossed the brush back toward the Barrier Painting Master.
The Barrier Painting Master did not stand on ceremony. He reached out with one hand, caught the brush, and tucked it away.
"Damn it, this guy is truly disgusting. Pretending to be Chu Feng is bad enough, but he has to be this spiteful too? He can't do it himself, so he doesn't want anyone else to succeed either."
"Exactly. How can someone be this repulsive?"
At this point, without Jia Lianfeng even needing to say a word, the crowd began condemning Chu Feng en masse.
But Chu Feng paid them no attention whatsoever. There were far too many fools, and Chu Feng had long since grown accustomed to it.
Besides, it was obvious that these people, upon learning the other man might be Jia Lianfeng, were just looking to curry favor.
"My lords, time is running short. You had better hurry," the Barrier Painting Master reminded them.