Chapter 254 – Never Seen It Before
Wang Lin grabbed the gold on the table and casually threw it into a small basket without looking.
As for the carvings in the store, aside from the ones of his parents and loved ones, he didn’t care about them at all. These thing were only tools in his eyes. Tools to help him calm his heart and comprehend the heavens.
He believed that when he can carve a statue of a Soul Forming cultivator or spirit beast, his cultivation will have a breakthrough.
Da Niu left the shop in a trance. As he walked, he kept muttering to himself, but no one knew what he was muttering about.
Wang Lin took a gulp of fruit wine and continued to immerse himself in carving again. As he carved, wood shavings fell to the ground and the block of wood took shape. A powerful aura came from the carving, but the aura couldn’t spread and was trapped inside the carving.
With every stroke of his carving knife, the aura became even stronger. Slowly, the shape of a large dragon appeared on the wood, but Wang Lin’s carving knife began to hesitate.
He pondered for a long time and then let out a sigh. The carving knife disappeared from his hand. With his left hand, he casually tossed the incomplete carving into a large box. Inside the box were more than a dozen incomplete carvings.
If one looked closely at these carvings, they would see that they were various people and spirit beasts. Hunchback Meng, Ancient Emperor, Six Desire Devil Lord, high quality spirit beasts, and even desolate beasts…
Although these carvings were all of different things, the one thing they had in common was that they were all carvings of people and beasts above the Soul Formation level.
In this past year, Wang Lin had tried multiple times to carve a person or spirit beast that was at the Soul Formation level, but they all failed. If he forced himself to complete the carving, then the carving would turn into dust.
He pondered a little with his eyes closed. Suddenly, a red substance about one palm thick appeared around him.
The red substance was the evil aura that had been condensed a lot by Wang Lin this past year. Wang Lin was very satisfied with the result. He actually didn’t forcefully condense the evil aura, it just naturally happened thanks to his actions.
Wang Lin believed that in just one more year, he will be able to compress this evil aura to its limit. Getting rid of this evil aura won’t raise his cultivation level though.
But Wang Lin always believed that if he just lets this evil aura disappear, he will regret it in the future. It was the instinct of a cultivator that knows that they might need something in the future that made Wang Lin decide to condense the evil aura.
Da Niu’s father’s voice came in from outside. “Brother Wang, your sister in law has made a few good dishes today. Come over and eat, then us brothers can drink a few cups.”
Wang Lin’s eyes suddenly opened, revealing an ancient light. The light slowly disappeared and Wang Lin went back to being a normal person. He held the jug, walked two steps, then hesitated for a bit before grabbing some gold from the basket, and walked out.
As for that young man named Xu, he was currently sitting in his carriage. His heart was pounding as he held the package in his hands. His eyes were filled with excitement.
He didn’t think that his visit home to see his parents would allow him to meet a person that could create this kind of wood carving. It can be said that the king’s only hobby was to collect these kinds of things.
Whether it was made of stone or wood, it didn’t matter what kind of material. As long it was a sculpture, the king liked them.
And the prince was a very filial son. If he brings this to the prince, he will be well rewarded. Thinking about it, the young man named Xu took a deep breath.
This team of more than ten carriages moved quickly through the capital, but he still wished they could go faster so he could return to the palace sooner.
After a long time, the carriage stopped. The young man named Xu quickly opened the door and rushed into the palace.
In the eastern courtyard, the young man stopped before a very elegant building and said, “Prince, Xu Tao wishes to meet you for an important matter.”
After a while, a lazy voice came from the building saying, “Xu Tao, didn’t you go home to visit your relatives? How come you’re back so early? If there is anything, we can talk tomorrow.”
Xu Tao was able to vaguely hear some charming and tempting voices from the palace. He hesitated for a bit. Normally, it would really not be a good time to bother the prince, but he was very confident with the item he was holding. He clenched his teeth and said, “Prince, I really do have an important matter. When I was on my way home, I found a wood carving. If the king saw this wood carving, he would definitely be happy.”
Silence came from the building. After a while, a dissatisfied voice came from inside. “Come in then, but if this item isn’t as good as you say, then you’re losing this month’s pay.”
Xu Tao quickly walked into the palace and saw a giant bed covered by a veil. A slightly pale young man sat at the edge of the bed. His eyes were slightly gloomy.
Xu Tao placed his coat on the ground, then carefully opened it up, revealing the dragon carving within.
The moment the young man saw the wood carving, his eyes suddenly became sharp. He stood up and quickly walked up to the wood carving. He reached out and grabbed the carving with his right hand.
Just as Xu Tao was about to warn the youth, he suddenly heard the youth yell. The youth waved his hand and the wood carving disappeared. He said, “Good! Xu Tao, you have done a great service!”
With that, he slapped a broken looking bag that hung on his waist. Suddenly, a wave of purple gas came out of the bag and surrounded the youth. The gas dissipated and the youth was now wearing a purple robe.
The moment the purple gas appeared, a breeze blew through the room, lifting up the veil a bit. Two charming screams came from the bed as the veil revealed two beautiful bodies.
Xu Tao’s eyes involuntarily looked over. He swallowed hard and averted his gaze, not daring to look.
The young wasn’t a mortal, but a cultivator; however, his cultivation level wasn’t high. He was only at the 8th layer of Qi Condensation.
He looked at Xu Tao and noticed Xu Tao’s gaze. He laughed and said, “Mei Ji, come out. Today, you belong to Xu Tao.”
A charming response came from the bed as a beautiful figure walked out of the bed. She leisurely walked over, grabbed the dumbfounded Xu Tao, and left with him through the side door.
The young man’s eyes lit up and he quickly left the palace.
The youth walked straight to the Central Palace. When he was outside of the doors, he heard bursts of song and music along with his father’s laughter coming from inside.
Outside the hall stood rows of guards. When they saw the prince, they all dropped to one knee. The young man quickly walked past them and into the main hall.
Inside the hall were two small tables with a cultivator sitting behind each one. The cultivators were wearing different colored robes, one black and one green.
The cultivator in black’s eyes remained closed. He had no interest in music and dance.
The green robed cultivator was smiling as he watched the singers and dancers perform.
Above the main hall sat a very handsome middle aged man. The middle age man was very majestic and had the look of a ruler.
After the young man entered the hall, the middle aged man laughed and said, “Why are you not having fun in the Pink Palace? Why did you come here to your old man?”
The young man first respectfully greeted the two cultivators, then looked at the middle aged man and said, “Father, please look at this.” With that, he took out the dragon carving and placed it on the ground.
At that moment, the green robed cultivator, who was looking at the performers, suddenly locked his gaze on the carving. The middle aged man’s eyes also lit up. He waved his hand and all of the performers quickly scattered and left.
The green robed cultivator suddenly stood up and walked up to the wood carving. He carefully looked at the carving, took a deep breath, and said, “This is…” He already had a guess in his heart, but he wasn’t sure.
The black robed man, who always had his eyes closed, opened his eyes and slowly said, “This is a wood carving.”
The green robed man before the wood carving was startled. He then wryly smiled and said, “Senior apprentice brother, I know that this is a wood carving. I’m referring to what this is a carving of.”
The black robed cultivator that was addressed as senior apprentice brother pondered for a bit and slowly said, “I have not seen it before.”
The green robed cultivator bitterly smiled. He was used to this senior apprentice brother’s strangeness.
The middle aged man stared at the wood carving and smiled. “Two immortal elders, is there anything special about this carving?”
The green robed cultivator near the wood carving grabbed the wood carving. He suddenly felt an ancient aura come at him. This aura was very powerful and caused him to be shocked. With his mid stage Foundation Establishment cultivation, he felt as if his foundation was about to collapse. Horrified, he quickly let go of the carving.
His senior apprentice brother waved his sleeves and the carving flew into his hand. This cultivator’s face suddenly turned pale as his core became unstable. It took a long time before he was able to control the fluctuations in his core again.
The higher the cultivation level you have, the more affected you would be by Wang Lin’s carving, but if you were a mortal, then the effect would be small.
The black robed man slowly said, “This object is not a normal carving. The creature that is carved is almost exactly the same as the dragon in the ancient record of our sect.”
The green robed cultivator said, with a strange expression, “Senior apprentice brother, didn’t you say earlier that you’ve never seen it before? How come you are saying it is a dragon now?”
The black robed cultivator looked surprisedly at the green robed cultivator. His eyes were filled with astonishment as he said, “Junior apprentice brother, I finally understand why your cultivation hasn’t had a breakthrough yet…”
The green robed cultivator’s face twitched. He didn’t say anything.
The black robed cultivator sighed and said, “I have never seen the beast that is carved, but I never said I didn’t recognize what it was.”
The green robed cultivator’s Dao heart wasn’t stable enough, so he coughed out a mouthful of blood. After a long time, he calmed himself and bitterly laughed. He felt like he really couldn’t deal with this senior apprentice brother of his at all.