The Sovereign Dragon Ring

Episode 48's

The six-year-old flowing water continued to spin as Linley sat cross-legged next to him. In his hand, he held a straight chisel and a stone the size of his palm.

“Start with the basics. I'll start with this little stone when I start my training … "

Linley sat there alone in the mountains behind the Ernst Institute. Under the supervision of Doehring Cowart, he began to study the art of stone making. As he began to understand more and more about this art, Linley also began to understand why at a later stage, the Straight Chisel School could help in increasing one's spiritual essence.

When others were carving, they needed to use a large pile of tools.

They have to spend a lot of time and mental energy just considering what tools are used where. Sure, it's gonna be exhausting. Each work of art represents their blood and earnest efforts.

But the School of Straight Sculpture was different.

The only tools used are straight chisels, so there is no need to consider what tools should be used for what. Naturally, the difficulty level was very high due to the use of only one tool. For example, using a straight chisel to carve the parts normally reserved for jade bowl knives requires a very perfect understanding and understanding of the basic shape of the stone.

Besides, it takes great power.

If a person tries to use a straight chisel on some larger pieces that usually require a saw to cut, he will need sufficient strength.

One could use the unique connection of earth-style magus to the earth to understand the essence of the stone. But the strength of the wrist should be trained. As a magus of the second rank, Linley's wrist strength wasn't bad, but it was only enough to carve out a few smaller pieces. If he wanted to carve something big, the strength of his wrist would not be enough.

Yet…

Right now, Linley was only working on the basics.

………….

When the school year ended, Linley returned to the city of Wushan.

After the New Year, little Wharton and his older brother, Linley, only had a few days to spend in their respective companies. And then, under the auspices of Housekeeper Hiri, Wharton headed for the O'Brien Empire. Linley had no choice but to sadly watch Wharton leave. Crying incessantly, six-year-old Wharton separated from ten-year-old Linley and left.

Time pass.

Linley continued to be a solitary figure at the Ernst Institute. Most of his time each day was spent in difficult training in the back mountains.

Entering the period of young adult growth, Linley's eating increased rapidly, and he started to grow taller as well. Naturally, his physical strength and muscles also increased rapidly. In the art of stoneculpting, with Doehring Cowart's guidance and his own hard work, Linley continued to make progress.

…………. .

Spring is passing, autumn is coming. Flowers bloom, flowers wither. In the blink of an eye, three years passed.

In a waterfall in the mountains behind the Ernst Institute.

"Repears, roars. "Like a hard sheet of water, the waterfall cascaded down, crashing into a deep puddle.

Linley was right next to the waterfall, holding a thirty-centimeter-long straight chisel in his hand as he constantly swept over a human-sized rock. The straight chisel in his hand danced in an almost illusory manner. Every place the chisel straight past saw pieces of rock come loose and fall off. Embryo sculptures began to form from the stone.

He continued from morning until evening, and the shape of the statue began to grow increasingly clearer.

Linley's gaze was completely glued to the stone. At this moment, his entire body was focused on the stone and permeated it, as his heart had become one with the inside of the stone. This overwhelming feeling caused Linley to not even notice the passage of time. The sensation of being completely fused with this realm actually caused Linley's spiritual energy to begin to regenerate, and even grow organically.

But Linley himself did not see this, as he continued to hold the chisel straight and endlessly worked on the statue.

The pieces of excess rock continued to fall, causing every detail of the statue to grow clearer. At sunset, the straight chisel in Linley's hand finally came to a halt.

"Gee!"

Linley let out a soft breath and brushed off some small pieces of excess stone that were still left. The whole statue has been formed. A half-meter-long live-looking rat stood in front of Linley. At first glance, one might think of it as a real mouse. This caused the little Shadowmouse, Bebe, to start squeaking wildly.

From start to finish, this is done all at once!

“Amazing feeling. "It was only now that Linley realized that his spiritual essence had increased dramatically.

The white-robed Doehring Cowart smiled cheerfully from the side. "Linley, starting today, you can only be considered to have mastered the basics. Have you felt that special feeling? But your work can only be considered a superficial pseudo-art work. It was only worthy of being placed in the standard hall at the Proulx Institute. If you show it there, I'll be humiliated. Destroy that. ”

“Yes, Grandpa Doehring. ”

The straight chisel in Linley's hand flashed countless times, and the statue suddenly became over ten pieces. This year, Linley had finally mastered the basics of stoneculpting!

And this year, Linley was thirteen years old!

Day by day, year by year.

After mastering the stoneculpting basics, Linley's spiritual essence began to improve at a much faster pace. In particular, when Linley was nine and a half, he had become a magus of the second rank, and when he was eleven years old, he had become a magus of the third rank. And when he was thirteen, he had become a magus of the fourth rank!

Magi find it increasingly difficult to climb the ranks as they grow stronger. Logically speaking, from fourth rank to fifth rank, it should have taken Linley at least three years.

In 9996 of the Yulan calendar, when Linley was fourteen and a half years old, he reached the magus rank of the fifth rank. From the fourth rank to the fifth rank, he had only spent one and a half years. It was even faster than when he rose from third rank to fourth rank.

This was the benefit of entering the Straight Sculpture School!

… .

The year 9997 of the Yulan calendar was the seventh year Linley spent at the Ernst Institute. This year, Linley was fifteen years old.

Dressed in a sky blue robe, Linley was walking down the street inside the Ernst Institute. On Linley's shoulder, the little Shadowmouse 'Bebe' continued to stand. Although six or seven years had passed, Bebe's body had not changed in the slightest.

Now, Linley is 1. It was 8 meters high and gave off a very stable and stable air. The elemental essence of the earth and wind continuously nourished his body. Combined with Linley's nonstop training, and the advantages provided by his Dragonblood Warrior legacy, Linley was already a warrior of the fourth rank.

He could easily lift large stones that weighed hundreds of kilograms, and crush the stones with his punch.

His studies of the Straight Sculpting School about stoneculpting had also caused Linley's spiritual essence to continue to increase ever since he was thirteen.

In early 9997 of the Yulan calendar, Linley entered the fifth grade class at the Ernst Institute, the same class as Ernst Institute's number one genius, Dixie. It took Dixie three years to rise from fourth to fifth rank, but until now, she had still not been able to rise from fifth to sixth rank.

Fifteen years . A magus of the fifth rank!

Linley and Dixie both could definitely be considered nature freaks. But at the heart of the majority, Linley was even more bizarre, because since the day he took the ability assessment to rank fourth, he had spent only a year and a half before reaching the fifth rank.

Linley's astonishing rate of refinement had shocked everyone.

Now, Linley ranked along with Dixie as the publicly recognized 'Ultimate Genius' of the Ernst Institute.

"Look, this is Linley. Two years ago, he became a magus of the fourth rank, and last year, he became a magus of the fifth rank in just one year! Too amazing I predict that Linley will become a magus of the sixth rank before Dixie does. ”

"Linley spent every day training in the back mountains. I heard that recently, Dixie also started training hard in the back mountains. Most likely, he was influenced by Linley. ”

"Very likely. Given Linley's astounding rate of improvement, it was highly likely that he would replace Dixie and become the number one genius at the Ernst Institute. ”

……

On the road, there were many people who, after seeing Linley, started discussing it amongst themselves. As a recognized genius of the Ernst Institute, wherever he went, people would discuss it. But even though Linley's strength continued to increase, he still refused to participate in the annual tournament.

"Genius?" Linley mocked himself.

Linley never considered himself a genius. His strength comes from intensive training every day. For six years, he remained steadfast like the first day. And that, combined with the guidance from Grandpa Doehring, was what gave him his current achievements.

“But now, my strength is actually less than Bebe's. "Linley glanced at Bebe on her shoulder. "Bebe, what rank have you achieved?"

"Squeaking squeaking. "Bebe grinned at Linley, then said to him mentally," I don't know either, because I've never competed against any other magical beast. But you're definitely not a good match for me, hehe. ”Bebe very satisfied.

Completely ignoring the adoring gazes aimed at him by the bystanders, Linley calmly left the Ernst Institute at the back gate and entered the mountains, once again beginning his solitary training. Six years that passed like a day was the reason for his success.

Linley quickly and casually floated through the forest, while the little Shadowmouse 'Bebe' continued chatting with him nonstop through their mental links. "Boss, when are we going to go to the Magic Beast Mountain Range to test our strength? You are already a magus of the fifth rank. You can start testing yourself. And I, Bebe, will finally be able to demonstrate my extraordinary abilities. ”

"Not in a hurry. "Linley's answer was very short.

“You broke my heart, man. I'm a magical beast, but I haven't gone to the Magical Beast Mountain Range once. What a tragedy! ”After six years, Bebe's ability to express himself has improved dramatically.

"Silent . If you keep making a fuss, then today I'm not going to help you cook meat. "As soon as Linley said these words, Bebe immediately shut his mouth and did not make a sound.

After entering the mountains, Doehring Cowart appeared by his side. Watching Linley, Doehring Cowart felt extremely grateful in his heart.

"Linley's. “Doehring Cowart suddenly said.

Linley turned his head and smiled at Doehring Cowart as he engaged in a mental conversation. "Grandfather Doehring, is there something?"

Doehring Cowart smiled. “Based on some of your last artworks, I can formally tell you that your ability in punching stones has reached a threshold. ”

Linley's eyes involuntarily shone.

Grandpa Doehring had a quirky temperament. Any artwork that does not reach the specified standard must be destroyed immediately. Per his words, “If these works of art appear in the world, they will lose face for my Straight Sculpture School, and lose face for me, the venerable Saint level Grand Magus. ”

Thus, Linley had been forced to destroy every sculpture he made, even though they could be sold for some money.

"Meet with the threshold? Grandpa Doehring, you mean? … "Linley stared at Doehring Cowart in amazement.

Doehring Cowart nodded happily. "really. From today, after you finish the stone statue, you do not need to destroy it. They deserve to stay in this world. Of course, if you want, you can send your statue to the Proulx Gallery to sell it and thus start building a reputation for our Straight Sculpture School. At the same time, you can make a little gold for yourself.