Accidentally Reincarnated in Cultivation World-Chapter 287: Mad Artist

"These despicable bastards... how dare they ambush a group leader and an artist at that."

Tuoba Jun grumbled, his antennae twitching furiously as he swept his brush across the air.

His qi flared outward, forming strokes of shimmering ink.

With a single fluid motion, he painted a massive river in mid-air.

The moment the final stroke settled.

WHOOOOSH!!!

A colossal tsunami manifested out of thin air, crashing into the horde of charging beasts and sending dozens tumbling back like ragdolls. Snow erupted skyward, the ground cracking beneath the pressure.

Tuoba Jun exhaled heavily.

He had already ordered his juniors to flee.

Now, alone, he confronted the monstrous wave of creatures stampeding toward him.

These beasts were different from the ones during the snowstorm.

Humanoid in build yet running on all fours like predatory cats.

A long skeletal tail lashed behind each one, lined with razor-sharp bone spines that shimmered with cold intent.

Tuoba Jun didn’t know what triggered their frenzy.

One moment they were scattered, the next, every single one entered "hunting mode" at once.

He clicked his tongue.

"Well... if that’s how you want to play it."

His gaze sharpened.

"Buddha’s Palm!"

He lifted his brush.

Qi burst outward, forming a massive golden palm in the air.

It descended with overwhelming force.

BOOOOOM!!!

Snow exploded. Several beasts were flattened and buried beneath the icy landscape.

But several slipped through, weaving around the attack with terrifying agility.

"Damn."

Without hesitation, Tuoba Jun sketched a dark, swirling circle beneath his feet.

A hole yawned open.

And he dropped straight into it just as the beasts leapt to tear him apart. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

The predators froze.

Their prey had vanished.

Confusion flashed across their hollow predator eyes.

Then—

CRRRK!

A massive tree burst from the hole, tearing through the ground as its branches unfolded.

Roses bloomed along the trunk — beautiful, pink-petaled, and lethally venomous.

The branches whipped outward.

SHLICK! SHLICK! SHLICK!

The roses pierced through beast after beast, injecting venom that made their bodies convulse.

Meanwhile, Tuoba Jun shot out from another point in the ground, flying in the opposite direction.

He landed on the snow, panting, belly wobbling and antennae swaying, yet eyes sharp and alert.

He raised his brush and slashed an X across the sky.

The red symbol expanded and descended onto the pit like a glowing cage, sealing the monsters in a crisscross barrier.

"Ha... ha..." He huffed, sweat streaming down his face.

Even so, Tuoba Jun’s gaze never lost its ferocity.

Using the brush, he gathered the droplets of sweat floating around him, then flicked them forward as if casting sparks onto a canvas.

The sweat turned into ink.

CRACK!

A massive boulder manifested and slammed into the approaching beasts, sending them flying.

"Really... there’s no end to you things," he grumbled, scanning his surroundings.

He was surrounded.

He wanted to return and help the disciples trapped higher up... but he understood the most important rule of battle.

If he died here, he would help no one.

"Forcing my hand, are you?" he muttered darkly.

His attacks wounded the beasts, but not decisively.

Their bodies were too tough.

A slightly unhinged smile crept onto his face.

Then it grew.

And grew.

"HAHAHAHA... very well."

His eyes glowed with wild artistic fervor.

"Let me show you mindless beasts... TRUE ART!"

He dragged his finger across his palm, letting blood drip into the air.

Using it as ink, he sketched a massive star blazing with crimson radiance.

The moment the drawing completed, the star wrapped around him, pulsing with destructive brilliance.

Tuoba Jun himself began to glow.

Until he became the star.

His voice then echoed like a divine proclamation.

"I AM ART ITSELF!!!"

BOOOOOOM!!!

A blinding explosion engulfed the battlefield.

A miniature supernova blossomed outward, swallowing every beast in its radius.

Tuoba Jun stood at its center, the heart of a star born from madness, brushwork...

And absolute conviction.

***

Yu Xuan heard the explosion before he saw it.

A deep, earth-shaking BOOOOM rolled across the mountains, and a wave of scorching heat blasted outward.

Entire slopes of snow evaporated instantly, turning into a swirling fog that blanketed the whole region.

Without hesitation, Yu Xuan accelerated toward the source, Number One trailing behind him.

The closer they flew, the more chaotic the atmosphere became.

And, now thunderstorms brewed unnaturally above the mountain.

Black lightning slowly writhed within the clouds.

Then Yu Xuan spotted him.

Tuoba Jun.

The man was sprinting across the snow as if his life depended on it, because likely it did.

His robes were torn to ribbons, burns scorched half his body, and blood dripped with every step.

Yet his brush moved on its own, swirling across his skin and sealing wounds as fast as they opened.

Yu Xuan couldn’t help but raise a brow.

’What a ingenious application of drawing techniques, using art itself to stitch his body back together.’

He descended in front of the fleeing man.

Tuoba Jun staggered to a stop, antennae singed and drooping pitifully.

"Heh... ha... You’re finally here..." he panted, then squinted at Number One.

"And you brought... a guest."

Yu Xuan lifted a hand.

A soft breath of white-golden flames washed over Tuoba Jun, enveloping him in shimmering warmth.

The healing was instant wounds closing, burns reversing, blood restoring.

But it wasn’t the full force of the True Nirvana Flames.

Tuoba Jun’s mortal body would’ve crumbled to ash if he tried to withstand that.

So Yu Xuan paired it with gentle Wood Qi, weaving vitality into the flames.

Color slowly returned to Tuoba Jun’s face.

Behind them, Number One clicked his tongue nervously.

"The situation looks... very bad. We should retreat," he muttered, watching the distant shadows of approaching beasts.

Because, although Tuoba Jun’s explosion had obliterated a massive wave of monsters. More were rushing in from every direction, drawn like moths to the chaos.

Number One stepped forward, aura rising as he cracked his knuckles.

"I’ll clear our retreat path. Let me—"

"Don’t do that," Yu Xuan interrupted calmly.

Number One blinked. "But—"

"The disciples below are safe now," Yu Xuan said, his eyes shimmering with golden luminescence.

"We don’t need to run. We just need to end whatever started this."

As he spoke, the sky split open.

KRA-KOOOOOM!!!

A pillar of pitch-black lightning descended from the heavens, striking the nearest beast.

Then another.

And another.

And another—

Until the entire mountainside lit up with stormfire.

Hundreds of beasts convulsed violently, their bodies charred, their skeletal tails snapping as they collapsed into smoldering heaps.

It was annihilation.

Number One choked on his own breath.

He couldn’t even manage a full sentence.

He had just watched, with his own eyes Yu Xuan casually call down divine punishment from the heavens, as if he was Heaven’s Illegitimate Child.

***

After the thunderous slaughter, Yu Xuan, Tuoba Jun, and Number One continued their ascent. The higher they climbed, the heavier the air grew, dense with cold.

The slope was steep, the wind howling like a chorus of ghosts.

Halfway up, Yu Xuan spoke casually.

"By the way... how many kills do you have so far?"

Tuoba Jun nearly tripped.

"Brother are you serious? You’re asking this now!?" His antennae twitched violently in protest.

Yu Xuan shrugged, totally unbothered.

"Don’t mind me. The twins were very excited about the ’free food’ event."

He coughed lightly, as if embarrassed by the twins’ casually monstrous appetites.

He was not at all coveting the free food.

Tuoba Jun groaned dramatically but still checked his medallion.

"Counting all the beasts? Around two hundred."

He puffed his chest slightly despite the exhaustion. "Quite impressive, right?"

Yu Xuan nodded, a faint smile forming.

His victory was basically guaranteed.

Only one person could challenge him in kill count now, Lingxi and her group.

They reached the mountain peak shortly after.

The blue snow here was unnaturally thick, swirling like cold smoke.

Mist coiled between the rocks, and the wind was unnervingly quiet.

Then the three felt it.

A presence.

Only one.

But vast enough to blanket the entire summit.

The mist parted, revealing a towering humanoid beast standing upright on two muscular legs, its body cloaked in pristine white fur.

A long bone-studded tail flicked behind it, slicing the air with a predatory hum.

Its eyes glowed a chilling, intelligent blue.

"GRRRRRR..."

The creature growled at them, its breath freezing the air.

Yu Xuan’s eyes shone with interest.

It wasn’t just strong.

it was newly strong.

An Early Tier Four beast.

Barely broken through, still stabilizing its realm.

Behind the creature, several disciples were trapped inside icy cages, unconscious and their faces pale.

Yu Xuan narrowed his eyes.

This one is definitely more intelligent than the rest... and more dangerous.

The beast extended one arm.

The ground trembled.

The blue snow split apart, and from the frozen mist rose multiple figures identical to the beast formed, it’s clones sculpted from blue ice, each radiating killing aura.

Number One cracked his knuckles, grinning.

"Let’s go, boss! Show this beast some lightning!!"

Tuoba Jun stared at him in disbelief.

"...Are you insane?" he muttered under his breath.