Chapter 4: A Stone Sculpture Grandmaster?
Shortly after the start of the new term at Ernst Institute of Magic, Hillman came to the institute to find Linley.
At the entrance of Ernst Institute, Hillman paced back and forth with a furrowed brow, clearly burdened with worries. The management at Ernst Institute was very strict, and as an outsider with no power or influence, he had no right to enter the institute directly.
After a while, Yale and Reynolds, both wearing sky-blue robes, walked over.
“You’re Linley’s Uncle Hillman, right? I’ve seen you before,” Yale said warmly.
Hillman had also met Linley’s three brothers before. Seeing Yale and Reynolds, he immediately walked over and asked, “Hello, I know you’re classmates with Linley. I wanted to ask, why didn’t Linley come home for the New Year this time? In previous years, he always did.”
“This…” Yale and Reynolds exchanged a glance.
Linley’s heartbreak wasn’t exactly good news, and it wasn’t appropriate to tell his elder.
Reynolds, quick-witted, grinned and said, “Uncle Hillman, Linley has been focused on intense training. He had already reached the rank of a sixth-grade magician before the assessment at the end of last year. After that, he went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training again. Hey, he’s too eager to cultivate—he didn’t even attend the year-end assessment. That Dixie guy actually reached sixth-grade magician in this test, and people are saying he’s surpassed Linley.”
“Third Bro doesn’t care about those empty honors. By the way, Uncle Hillman, Linley went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range in mid-December last year. He should be back soon. Is there something important? If so, tell me, and I’ll make sure to pass it on to him as soon as possible,” Yale said politely.
Hillman pondered for a moment, forced a faint smile, and shook his head. “No, nothing important. It’s just that Linley has come home for the New Year in past years. Since he didn’t this time, the family was worried something might have happened, so I came to check. Now that I know he’s gone to the Magical Beast Mountain Range for training, that’s enough.”
“Uncle Hillman, rest assured. When Third Bro comes back, I’ll definitely tell him to go home early so you can all stop worrying,” Yale immediately said.
Hillman shook his head. “No need. Don’t rush Linley back. Let him focus on his training. He can come back when he has time. There’s nothing major happening back in the countryside anyway. Thank you both. I’ll be going now.”
Yale and Reynolds watched Hillman leave, then turned and walked away with smiles.
Suddenly—
“Young Master Yale! Young Master Yale!” A warm voice rang out from afar.
Yale and Reynolds turned to look outside the institute. In the distance, a carriage was parked, with four armored knights standing beside it. Yale frowned in confusion. “Who’s calling me? Oh, it’s Ostony.” He recognized the face at the carriage window.
Ostony was the first to jump out of the carriage. He gave Yale a humble smile, then respectfully stood to the side. At that moment, the carriage curtain was lifted, and a bald old man slowly descended, leaning on a cane.
Yale and Reynolds exchanged puzzled glances.
“Who’s this old geezer? He’s got quite the air about him,” Reynolds muttered quietly.
Yale shook his head and whispered back, “I don’t know him either, but judging by Ostony’s demeanor, he must be some big shot. Ostony is a high-level manager at the Prux Club. He holds a pretty high position.”
Accompanied by Ostony, the bald old man walked over with a smile.
“Little Yale, hello,” the bald old man greeted Yale warmly. “I met with your father not long ago, and he praised you to me. Haha, Dawson having a magician son like you is indeed something to be proud of.”
Yale looked at the bald old man with confusion.
He claimed to know his father? Trying to get close?
Ostony immediately interjected, “Young Master Yale, this is the Chief Curator of the Prux Club. You may address him as Curator Mayer.”
“No need. Just call me Uncle Mayer. I’ve known your father for decades,” the bald old man said kindly with a smile.
Yale was inwardly shocked.
The Prux Club was a sanctuary of art. It had branches in several major cities across the Yulan Continent. Just looking at the Prux Club in Fenlai City, the value of all the stone sculptures in that club alone was an astonishing figure.
And that was just the beginning.
What truly mattered was the status. As the Chief Curator of an artistic sanctuary, Curator Mayer had connections with the highest echelons of the Yulan Continent, including many Saint-level experts. How could such a figure be underestimated?
Moreover, the Prux Club’s own armed forces were formidable—how else could they protect so many precious stone sculptures?
“Uncle Mayer,” Yale said humbly.
The bald Curator Mayer turned to look at Reynolds. “And this is?”
“This is my good brother, Reynolds,” Yale immediately introduced. Reynolds also bowed politely and said, “It’s an honor to meet you, Curator Mayer.”
Curator Mayer nodded slightly. From Reynolds’s every move, he could tell that Reynolds had received excellent upbringing since childhood.
“Uncle Mayer, may I ask why you’ve come?” Yale inquired.
Though he asked, Yale had a guess: “It’s probably about Third Bro’s stone sculpture, ‘Awakening.’” Before the break at Ernst Institute, Ostony had come to check because Linley hadn’t sent any stone sculptures for a while.
When Ostony arrived at Linley’s dormitory, he happened to see the stone sculpture placed there.
That one look stunned Ostony.
As a high-level manager at the Prux Club, Ostony had a sharp eye. He immediately recognized that Linley’s work was among the pinnacle of stone sculpture art, certainly worthy of being listed among the “Top Ten Stone Sculptures” in the field.
Most importantly, Linley’s sculpture was massive in size, equivalent to five ordinary works.
Like oil paintings, the price of a stone sculpture was related to its size. Such a large work required far more effort and heart. The five lifelike human figures seemed to possess a unique soul.
Looking at the sculpture felt like seeing five real, beautiful women.
Across the entire Yulan Continent, master stone sculptors were extremely rare. Linley’s work had surpassed ordinary masters and could stand alongside the greatest stone sculpture grandmasters in history—such as Prux, Hopkinson, and Hoover.
The recognized “Stone Sculpture Masters” of today produced excellent works with unique charm that stirred the soul.
But their works still fell slightly short when compared to those of “Grandmasters” like Prux and Hopkinson. That small gap, however, determined the difference in status.
The history of stone sculpture spanned hundreds of thousands of years. Most works from that distant past had been lost to the river of time, with only a few made from special materials surviving to the present. Thus, among the “Top Ten Stone Sculpture Grandmasters,” nine were from within the last hundred thousand years.
Since the Yulan Empire unified the continent, from Yulan Year 001 to the present, only two had matched the predecessors—Prux and Hopkinson.
As for Hoover, he was a master from a hundred thousand years ago. His work, “Blood-Eyed Mane Lion,” made from a special material, had survived through the ages, securing his eternal fame.
In the past ten thousand years, only two stone sculpture grandmasters had emerged. Of course, Prux was the greatest of all time, with three of his works listed among the “Top Ten Stone Sculptures.” Not every “Top Ten Stone Sculpture Grandmaster” had a work in the “Top Ten Stone Sculptures.”
That ranking was determined by later generations, based on the artistic level of their works being comparable to the top ten.
A new stone sculpture grandmaster had emerged—and he was only a seventeen-year-old youth!
This was an astonishing revelation, prompting the Chief Curator of the Prux Club to rush over from the Dark Alliance’s branch.
“No rush. Let’s find a private room in a hotel and talk quietly and thoroughly,” Curator Mayer said, not seeming too hurried.
A stone sculpture grandmaster?
Ridiculous!
Ostony’s eye was good, but the art of stone sculpture, with its long history, required a very sharp eye to fully judge. For example, the representative works of a master and a grandmaster both reached the level of possessing unique charm and soul.
Determining whether a work could elevate someone to the status of a grandmaster was an extremely profound skill.
******
In a private room at a hotel.
A cup of clear tea was placed before each of the four. Curator Mayer smiled and said, “This Ostony kid saw Linley’s work and claimed it rivals the ‘Top Ten Stone Sculptures.’ Haha, does that mean we have a seventeen-year-old stone sculpture grandmaster?”
A grandmaster represented a status, signifying that one had reached the pinnacle in that art.
Normally, people would address them as masters. For example, Master Prux.
“A stone sculpture grandmaster?” Yale was surprised. “I don’t know if Linley’s stone sculpture is that impressive—my eye isn’t good enough. But I can say for sure that Linley’s work is at least as good as the pieces in your exhibition hall’s ‘Master Gallery.’”
“Oh?” Curator Mayer smiled. “Well, enough talk. Let’s see it. Where is this stone sculpture? Can I take a look?”
“Of course,” Yale said with a smile.
“Little Yale, even if this stone sculpture doesn’t reach the level of the ‘Top Ten Stone Sculptures,’ it’s probably not far off. What security measures have you taken? Don’t let it get stolen,” Curator Mayer reminded.
Yale said confidently, “Uncle Mayer, rest assured. The sculpture is now stored in a secret room at the Walde Hotel, guarded by experts from the Dawson Chamber of Commerce. Besides, very few people even know it exists.”
“You moved it to the hotel?” Ostony asked in surprise. The last time he saw it, it was still in the dormitory.
Yale shrugged. “I trust my brothers, but I don’t trust you.”
Ostony couldn’t help but let out a few bitter laughs.
“Uncle Mayer, let’s go. I’ll take you there,” Yale said enthusiastically.
The Walde Hotel was actually a property under the Dawson Chamber of Commerce, which was why the hotel’s senior staff knew Yale’s identity.
In a private room at the Walde Hotel, the space was spacious and included a bed. Three experts had been guarding it for days.
“Young Master Yale,” the three seventh-rank warriors stood up and said respectfully.
Yale nodded with a smile. “Uncle Mayer, go ahead and take a look.” He then pulled off the thick cloth covering the stone sculpture, revealing the large piece. The five female figures were incredibly lifelike—one in a lovestruck pose, one pure and innocent, one shy, one passionate and moving, and one cold and indifferent.
They all seemed like real people.
Staring at the five human-shaped stone sculptures, Curator Mayer’s mouth hung open in shock for a long time.
After a long while…
“Brilliant, brilliant,” Curator Mayer finally snapped out of it. “This work is at least at the master level. To carve five lifelike human figures in one piece—how much effort must that have taken? Just the carving time alone would probably take a year or half a year.”
Curator Mayer knew very well that carving was extremely draining.
Especially when creating a stone sculpture—some masters had even coughed up blood and fainted while working. In history, some had died midway through their work. This piece was truly a labor of blood and sweat.
“A seventeen-year-old youth reaching this level is truly…” Curator Mayer didn’t know what to say. He excitedly walked up to the sculpture and examined it closely. “Whether this sculpture can compare to the Top Ten Stone Sculptures will require careful observation from every angle.”
With that, Curator Mayer leaned in as if pressing against the sculpture, meticulously studying every carved line.