Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  “From a traditional evaluation standpoint?” Yale and Reynolds both looked questioningly at Director Maia.

  Director Maia nodded. “The traditional evaluation method has been universally agreed upon as a fair, impartial evaluating mechanism for countless years. But I feel that… when actually viewing Linley’s sculpture, it appears to be a very perfect whole, without any apparent flaws.”

  “The whole point of having sculptures is for viewing them. The actual viewing determines everything. Let me put it this way. Linley perhaps cannot be termed a Grandmaster sculptor, but the value of this sculpture will most likely be incredibly high, on the same level as the Ten Masterpieces.” Director Maia laughed.

  A sculpture not produced by one of the Ten Grandmasters with a valuation on the same level as the Ten Masterpieces. This was something totally unheard of.

  But Director Maia couldn’t help but admit that this was very likely to occur.

  “Oh.” Yale and Reynolds nodded.

  This was the one flaw of the Straight Chisel School, honestly speaking. When just using a single tool, the straight chisel, in terms of precision when carving out certain curves, couldn’t match some more specialized tools. The technical appearance created by Linley’s usage of the straight chisel was perhaps comparable with a normal expert sculptor.

  When judging it against the standards of a master sculptor, the weaknesses became readily apparent.

  But the Straight Chisel School had its own strengths as well. For example, the continuity of the carving, and the fact that others, when carving, had to constantly switch tools, but the Straight Chisel School only required an earth-style magus to become one with the earth as he carved, which actually increased the speed at which he raised his spiritual energy.

  “Where is Linley?” Director Maia asked.

  Yale shook his head. “Third Bro is a student magus, after all. The vast majority of his time is spent in training. Right now, he is engaged in a practical excursion in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, and we’re not sure exactly when he’ll be back.”

  “Then, Yale, can you act on behalf of Linley in permitting our Proulx Gallery to auction this sculpture off?” Director Maia suggested.

  “Can’t be done.” Yale was very blunt. “Without Third Bro’s express permission, it isn’t convenient for me to make that decision.”

  Director Maia frowned, then continued. “Then what about exhibiting it? There shouldn’t be too much of a problem in allowing our Proulx Gallery to exhibit it, would there? After all, Linley’s previous sculptures were all exhibited in our Proulx Gallery before being auctioned off.”

  But Yale knew very well how much symbolic importance Linley placed on this sculpture.

  This represented an extremely painful period of heartbreak in Linley’s life. It was hard to say if Linley would have agreed to exhibit it if he were here. He didn’t want to make Linley uncomfortable.

  “Can’t be done. I’m only responsible for safeguarding this thing. As far as exhibiting it or selling it, we’ll have to wait for Third Bro to return.” Yale’s voice was resolute.

  Within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

  Exactly two months had passed. During this time, Linley had been immersed in studying the Bloodviolet sword. The Bloodviolet sword was the finest sword Linley had ever seen. Just based on its sharpness alone, most magical beasts of the sixth rank couldn’t handle it. But the sharpness was only a small specialty of the Bloodviolet sword.

  The strengths of the Bloodviolet sword were — Unpredictability, speed, and also a certain baleful aura.

  That’s right. A baleful aura.

  Linley only discovered this baleful aura after killing quite a few magical beasts. The material making up this Bloodviolet sword contained within it a unique energy. With each chop of the blade, a unique baleful aura was released.

  This baleful aura was very similar to a dragon’s terrifying presence. Naturally, it wasn’t nearly as terrifying, but in battle, this baleful aura could be put to very good use.

  Night. In the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts, surrounded by a pack of hundreds of Windwolves. The Windwolf pack leader stared at Linley with its greenish-yellow eyes. Letting out wild howls, one Windwolf after another pounced towards Linley. But moving as agilely as the wind, Linley slipped through the attacks of the pack, the sword in his hand glowing with a blue light.

  After being activated by wind-style mageforce, the Bloodviolet Godsword’s speed increased even more. The Godsword flickered about, not impeded by air resistance in the slightest.

  “Whoosh!”

  Within the darkness, a streak of violet intermixed with blue was flickering about at high speed. It floated about in bizarre patterns, and every time it flickered, a Windwolf was split into two parts. Windwolves, after all, were only magical beasts of the fourth rank. In this pack of Windwolves, some of the stronger ones were beasts of the fifth rank, and only the two leaders were beasts of the sixth rank.

  Right now, Linley remained in human form, in which he possessed the power of the sixth rank.

  Frankly speaking, even a warrior of the seventh rank might not dare to fight directly with a pack of hundreds of Windwolves, much less a warrior of the sixth rank. After all, a hero could still be brought down by numbers, and Windwolves possessed extremely sharp claws. Even Linley’s body, when scratched by a Windwolf, would most likely bleed. Unless, of course, he entered the Dragonform.

  “Howl!” A Windwolf leapt at him with high speed, bloody maw wide open.

  “Swish!”

  The Bloodviolet Godsword flashed. The Windwolf was instantly bisected from head to tail.

  “Perhaps this Bloodviolet Godsword of mine would have some problems piercing the armor of a Velocidragon. But you guys?” The Bloodviolet Godsword in Linley’s hands was beginning to move even faster and even more agilely.

  The reason why a pack of Windwolves was a terrifying thing was because of their speed, as well as their numbers. If over ten Windwolves suddenly snapped at you, even a warrior of the seventh rank would be hard pressed to block them all at once. His only option would be to use his battle-qi to tank the blow.

  But Linley was different.

  “Swish!” The Bloodviolet Godsword flashed again, and yet another Windwolf was cut in two.

  The Bloodviolet Godsword was simply too fast, so fast that all the Windwolves could see was a blur. After Linley had slaughtered over a hundred Windwolves without suffering any injury at all, the pack of Windwolves finally began to be filled with fear.

  They weren’t afraid of death, but they weren’t willing to die senselessly either.

  “Hooooowl!” Those two large Windwolves that had been hiding in the back finally began to howl angrily. All of the remaining Windwolves lowered their heads, then turned and retreated at high speed. Their angry, saddened howls could be heard from far away. Clearly, it was caused by the fact that they had lost so many of their comrades, but had gained nothing at all.

  With a flick of Linley’s wrist and a violet flash, the Bloodviolet Godsword wrapped around Linley’s waist into a belt shape again.

  “Against the likes of them, there’s no need to use Bloodviolet’s real power.” There was a hint of blood on Linley’s robes, but all of it came from the Windwolves.

  During the entire battle, from start to finish, the Bloodviolet Godsword had been straight. Against the likes of a Windwolf pack, just relying on the sharpness of the Godsword was already enough. But once the Bloodviolet Godsword began to fluctuate between being straight and being flexible, its offensive power would multiply.

  “Boss, you are starting to get more and more powerful.” Bebe was lying on Linley’s shoulders.

  Linley laughed. “You aren’t weak either.”

  After taking a deep breath then releasing it, Linley glanced around at his surroundings, then took a look at the three bags on his back. In the past two months, through analyzing and training with this Bloodviolet Godsword, Linley had already filled
up three sacks with magicite cores.

  “After spending two months in training, I’ve already reached a bottleneck in my ability to use Bloodviolet. If I want to get better, for now, I’ll have to rely on improving my own arm strength and wrist strength.”

  During these two months, Linley had trained in the movements of drawing the sword, striking with the sword, cutting with it, stabbing with it, hacking with it, and all sorts of other skills. The purpose of Linley’s training had all been to improve his speed, to as high a level as was possible. What was more, with Linley’s proficiency in wind magic, Linley could discern the secrets of using the sword with relative ease.

  Just now, when faced with over a hundred Windwolves, Linley wasn’t injured at all. This was the result of his accomplishments.

  In the past, Linley wouldn’t have dared to imagine what it would be like at this level.

  “Now that I’m at a bottleneck, there’s not much more point to me being in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Time to go back.”

  Morning. The early rays of the sun shone upon the earth. With Bloodviolet wrapped around his waist, carrying three sacks of magicite cores and wearing a slightly blood-stained blue robe, Linley arrived at the main entrance to the Ernst Institute, Bebe on his shoulders.

  “Finally back.” Seeing the main gate to the Ernst Institute, Linley felt that his heart was at peace.

  The Ernst Institute and the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts were two opposite extremes. Here, no one dared to kill wantonly, and everyone was amiable. But the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts was a world which belonged to magical beasts. The strong were revered, while the weak were cast out. Murder could happen at any time.

  “It’s Linley.” The guardians at the main gate of the Ernst Institute all recognized this famous figure, Linley. Naturally, they would not stop him.

  Linley nodded slightly towards the guards, then walked into the Ernst Institute. On the roads within the Institute, quite a few students on their way to classes began to talk amongst themselves in hushed tones when they saw Linley.

  “Look, it’s Linley. He’s covered in blood. He should’ve just gotten back from the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. I heard that last year, he went to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts and skipped the end of the year assessment. It’s been four months since then. He’s so amazing, to be able to survive there for four full months.”

  “Dixie was assessed as a magus of the sixth rank last year. But Linley didn’t go for an assessment at all.”

  Hearing these hushed murmurs, Linley only smiled as he headed towards his own dormitory. Right at this moment, Yale, George, and Reynolds were preparing to breakfast together.

  “Oh, Third Bro, you’re back.” Reynolds was the first to excitedly call out to him.

  Yale, George, and Reynolds all excitedly rushed over to him. Linley, as always, grinned upon seeing his three bros.

  66

  Applying for Graduation

  Within the Huadeli Hotel.

  Linley, George, Yale, and Reynolds were all casually seated at a long table, which was covered with over ten exquisitely-prepared dishes. Next to the dishes were fruit wine, liquor, and more. Right now, the four bros were drinking wine while casually chatting about recent events.

  “Linley, last year, you should’ve attended the end of the year testing ceremony before going to the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. Last year, during the examination, Dixie showed that he had also reached the sixth rank. But you didn’t attend at all. Some people are saying that you are inferior to Dixie. Damn. Only the four of us know that you reached the sixth rank long ago,” Reynolds grumbled.

  Linley drank a cup of wine, chuckling.

  Magus of the sixth rank?

  Ever since he had entered that rare state of oneness and carved out the sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, over the course of ten days and ten nights, his spiritual energy had increased tenfold, helping Linley to vault almost directly from the sixth rank to the seventh rank.

  In fact, just looking at spiritual energy, Linley would be an above-average magus of the seventh rank.

  “Fourth Bro, you should know by now that Third Bro doesn’t care about this sort of stuff at all. If he cared, then he wouldn’t have skipped the annual competition every year.” Yale chortled. “Right, Third Bro, when this school semester just started, your Uncle Hillman came looking for you.”

  Linley started. Looking at Yale, he immediately asked, “What did Uncle Hillman want?”

  In the past, Linley had always gone home for the New Year. This previous year was the first and only year in which Linley had spent the end of the winter and early spring in the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts.

  “Nothing really. Most likely, he was wondering why you didn’t go back for the New Year and was worried something had happened to you,” Yale said casually, then added, “Right. Something else we have to tell you. That same day your Uncle Hillman came to visit, the managing director of the Proulx Gallery came as well. The purpose of his visit was to see that sculpture of yours, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.”

  Linley coughed in shock. “The managing director? How did he know about ‘Awakening From the Dream’?”

  Somewhat embarrassed, Reynolds said, “It’s all my fault. When Yale instructed people to carry your sculpture out of the mountain, I figured nobody knew how valuable it was, so I just had them leave it in our dormitory. That way, we bros could admire it from time to time. But I didn’t expect that Austoni would come looking for you, and come directly to our dorm. He managed to catch a glimpse of ‘Awakening From the Dream’, and then he informed the managing director of the existence of your sculpture.”

  Linley nodded slightly.

  “Linley, the managing director wants to know if you’d be willing to auction off your sculpture within the Proulx Gallery? If you aren’t willing to auction it off, he still hopes that you would be willing to put it on display in the Proulx Gallery. Will you agree?” Yale looked at Linley.

  Without hesitating in the slightest, Linley shook his head.

  “For now, I don’t wish to publicize the existence of ‘Awakening From the Dream’. And I don’t need money either.”

  To Linley, ‘Awakening From the Dream’ represented a period of love and loss. But of course, after completing this sculpture, Linley had mentally transformed as well.

  Especially during this period of time within the Mountain Range of Magical Beasts. He had experienced the siege of over a hundred giant dragons, then watched two extremely powerful magical beasts battle to the death, and then nearly died himself before successfully drinking dragon’s blood and transforming into a Dragonblood Warrior.

  After having experienced so much, the affairs between him and Alice seemed to be nothing more than a distant memory.

  Linley had also learned to cherish the present.

  “If Father knew that I could now assume Dragonform, how excited would he be?” Linley thought of his father.

  Hogg’s greatest lifelong desire was to see one of his sons become a Dragonblood Warrior. The density of dragonblood in Little Wharton’s veins was sufficiently high, true, but Linley was capable of Dragonform, and even of reaching the eighth rank of power in Dragonform.

  If this news reached Hogg, that his son had become a Dragonblood Warrior, he would be bursting with pride, no doubt.

  Linley could guess as to how much this sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, would be worth. He also knew very well that storing such an enormous sculpture in the town of Wushan would not be safe. This was why he had asked Yale to help him safeguard this sculpture.

  To the enormous Dawson Conglomerate, this was nothing but a trifle.

  After leaving the hotel, Linley and his bros were walking on the Shady Grove Street.

  “Boss Yale, Second Bro, Fourth Bro. There’s something that I must inform you about.” Linley spoke after a period of silence.

  Seeing how serious Linley looked, Yale, George, and Reynolds all focuse
d their attention on him.

  “Within these next few days, I intend to apply for graduation.” With difficulty, Linley forced out these words.

  Graduating meant leaving the Ernst Institute and leaving his three bros behind. Linley had entered the Ernst Institute when he was nine years old. He was now seventeen. He had spent eight years here. Friends made during these innocent years, without any consideration of gain or ulterior motives, would always be true, genuine friends.

  Linley couldn’t bear to part from his bros.

  But in life, one must have some accomplishments. Upon graduating, he would have the chance to begin to gain titles, writs of nobility, a fiefdom, and perhaps an army. By then, he would be able to advance himself in leaps and bounds.

  “Graduate?”

  Yale, George, and Reynolds were all stunned. Yale was the first to recover. “Third Bro, why are you in such a hurry to graduate? What’s the big deal about graduating from the Ernst Institute early anyhow? Isn’t it great, we four bros being together here? And the Ernst Institute is far more peaceful than the outside world.”

  George and Reynolds also hurriedly tried to dissuade Linley.

  Linley shook his head. “Nah. We can’t always be hiding within the walls of the Ernst Institute and not interact with the outside world.”

  “Third Bro, right now, you are only a magus of the sixth rank. Although a magus of the sixth rank is considered an expert in the outside world, there are many people who are stronger than you. How about… you wait until you reach the seventh rank, and then you graduate?” George suggested.

  Based on what George knew, there were two major hurdles for a magus to overcome in his training. The biggest hurdle, of course, was crossing from the ninth rank to the Saint level. But the second biggest hurdle was advancing from the sixth rank to the seventh rank.

  From the ninth rank to the Saint level, even if one had sufficient spiritual energy and had a powerful reserve of mageforce, one could still spend countless years without being able to break through that last hurdle. It was something which required luck and opportunity, a stroke of luck which allowed someone to suddenly comprehend the way.