Dawn. Sunlight illuminated the rear garden of Dragonblood Castle. For the first time in a long time, Linley had the desire to go to the rear garden and devote himself to stonesculpting. While sculpting, Linley couldn’t help but think back to one scene after another of himself with Grandpa Doehring.
“A stone’s appearance, quality, grains, and coloration impact not only its appearance, but its entire potential and true form. We use chisels to remove the excess parts and allow its natural beauty to be revealed. This is stonesculpting.”
“The stonesculpting way is really a way of controlling space and appearance. When stonesculpting, one must…”
The scene of Grandpa Doehring teaching him about stone sculpting was still so fresh, so vivid in Linley’s mind.
After understanding the ‘Profound Truths of Velocity’, Linley’s straight chisel moved even more gracefully and agilely, sometimes transforming into countless blurs while at other times, moving so slowly and gently…the human-shaped stone in front of him slowly took form. Linley’s carving attracted the attention of Hillman, Taylor, and many others, who watched from afar.
“Father’s sculpting method is so strange.” Taylor said in surprise.
Hillman sighed in surprise as well. “Right. Your father’s stone sculpting gives me the feeling…as though the sculpture itself already exists. All he is doing is removing the excess stone and dust that is covering it up.”
The straight chisel flashed, and flecks of stone flew about.
Indeed, it was as Hillman had said. Linley was truly just removing a layer of useless stone atop the sculpture, and as the flecks of stone flew off, the sculpture slowly began to reveal its true appearance.
“Shedding the shell. This is the feeling known as ‘shedding the shell’ which stone sculpters talk about.” Jenny sighed in amazement. “Only, I have never realized that someone could be able to sculpt in such a natural manner.” Jenny herself had learned stone sculpting, but what she learned was the normal type of sculpting which required many tools.
“Hrm…”
To Linley, a single straight chisel was enough.
He started sculpting at dawn, and continued until dusk. Only then did Linley finally set aside his chisel, reaching out with a hand to gently stroke the sculpture.
“Grandpa Doehring.” Linley murmured to himself. “In the past, I promised that there would come the day when I would utterly destroy the Radiant Church and pull them up by their roots. Soon, very soon…I will be able to accomplish this.”
The sculpture in front of him was that of ‘Doehring Cowart’. Doehring Cowart’s face had that ever-present hint of a benevolent smile on it.
“Linley.” Suddenly, a voice came from behind him.
Linley turned and saw that the speaker was actually Fain. Next to him, Hillman immediately said, “Linley, Mr. Fain has been waiting here for quite some time now. But when he saw that you were sculpting, he didn’t want to disturb you.”
“It truly looks as agile and real as a spirit.” Fain sighed in amazement as he stared at the statue.
The statue seemed to be alive, and for a moment, it was as though a real person was standing there.
“Linley, who is this person that you sculpted?” Fain asked curiously.
Linley didn’t respond. “Fain, you came because…?”
Fain hurriedly said, “Oh, this time, I’ve come to invite you to make a trip to War God Mountain. Tomorrow, which is to say April 6th, all the various Deities will be convening at War God Mountain, while a few Saints have also been invited to attend.”
“Oh?” Linley was suddenly intrigued; a gathering of Deities, with only a few Saints being invited? Clearly, this meeting was of great importance.
“Might I ask what this is about?” Linley asked.
Fain shook his head. “I’m not sure either, and Master didn’t tell me. But if you go, you’ll definitely find out.”
“Alright. I’ll definitely go tomorrow.” Linley nodded as he spoke.
Yulan calendar, year 10034, April 6th. The O’Brien Empire. Outside the imperial capital. On War God Mountain.
Within the quiet, secluded courtyard of War God O’Brien, four Deities, including the War God, the High Priest, Dylin, and Cesar, along with four Saints, being Fain, Linley, Desri, and Tulily, all casually sat down.
“So only the four of us came.” Desri also felt rather curious. “Linley, do you know what is going on?” Linley and Desri were engaging in a mental conversation.
“I’m not sure either. They are all Deities. We shouldn’t have anything to do with their affairs.” Linley was puzzled as well.
At this time, all four of the Saints were maintaining their silence.
The War God and the High Priest exchange a meaningful glance, and then the War God turned his razor-sharp gaze towards Linley and the other three. In a sonorous voice, he said, “Today, the primary reason the four of you have been summoned is because the High Priest and I have come to an agreement. There are too many nations in the Yulan continent. It is time to reduce the number.”
Linley and the other three were shocked.
“Is the War God preparing to incite a major war?” Linley wondered secretly to himself.
The masked High Priest said in a gentle voice, “The War God and I have come to an agreement. There should only be three Empires that will remain here in the Yulan continent; the O’Brien Empire, the Yulan Empire, and the Baruch Empire. In other words…it is time to start a war that will cover the entire Yulan continent.”
Linley, Fain, Desri, and Tulily, although inwardly shocked, still managed to appear calm on the outside.
“Linley, do you have any thoughts? You can be considered the representative of the Baruch Empire.”
Linley paused for a moment.
“This is good news. I naturally won’t object.”
Linley immediately continued, “If our three major Empires join forces, it won’t be hard to destroy the other nations. Only, I trust that if you, War God, and you, High Priest, join forces, you can accomplish these things easily. Why have you invited us Saints to come? I do not understand this.”
The War God and the High Priest might have simply wanted to give him face and invite him, but why did they invite Desri, Tulily, and Fain as well?
“It is very simple.” The nearby Cesar had a playful, teasing look in his eyes. “The War God and the High Priest don’t want to act. They want you to act.”
The War God couldn’t help but glance sideways at Cesar, but Cesar only snickered.
“We won’t get involved in this battle.” The War God’s firm, forceful voice rang out. “We have to tell you something. Per the orders of Lord Beirut, in three days time, we four Deities will all head towards the Necropolis of the Gods.”
“To the Necropolis of the Gods?” Linley, Desri, and the others all knew that last time, only the Saints had entered the Necropolis of the Gods, while the Deities had not entered it.
What Saints wanted to acquire was Demigod divine sparks, while what the War God wanted was full God divine sparks.
“Three days later? Why didn’t Lord Beirut have you enter the Necropolis of the Gods along with us? Was there a special reason?” Linley asked.
The nearby Dylin snorted. “No special reason. The only reason was because Lord Beirut so ordered it.”
Linley was amazed.
Just because Lord Beirut had ordered it?