The expansive garden belonging to the Magic Engineering Institute was lush with greenery. Dew clung to the leaves and branches, sparkling with crystalline light.
At that moment, as the Magic Engineering Institute's staff arrived, the garden's automatic irrigation system also began operating.
Lanchi and Vivian were still standing not far from the entrance to the Old Liberal Arts Building.
It was all because Vivian had suddenly raised a question.
Back in the South Wantina Border Territory, Lanchi had never met anyone who could discuss this sort of topic with him.
Although Butler Hans and Maid Francine had praised his paintings highly, they had never discussed professional artistic matters with Lanchi.
Lanchi thought for a moment, then answered with a smile:
"If I had to describe the differences... the Goddess Statue was carved so vividly that she seemed alive. Her gaze was gentle and benevolent, immersed in the shimmering surface of this starry expanse, sometimes vast and boundless, sometimes returning to still waters. She sank deeper and deeper into that tranquil embrace, yet seemed to rise above the surface and soar upward."
"Indeed."
Vivian nodded in agreement when she heard Lanchi's answer.
She agreed with what Lanchi had said.
But insights that differed little from those of the masters began to seem rather ordinary after she had heard them so often.
However, soon after,
she heard Lanchi continue.
"But if we're discussing why the work as a whole is so moving, I think we have to start with the Southern Cross Constellation behind the Goddess Statue."
"Why?"
Vivian furrowed her brows slightly as she asked.
People usually praised the goddess when evaluating this work. As for the background, even though its craftsmanship was excellent, it was not the main subject. Its greater purpose was to set off the goddess.
"The stars Mr. Jela carved actually differ ever so slightly from the official School Badge. Of course, it isn't a mistake—only a difference in the angle of observation..."
Lanchi looked once more at the carving on the domed ceiling. His clear, focused emerald eyes seemed capable of precisely piercing the position of every star. With considerable intoxication, he sighed,
"Let me make a wild guess... Could it be that the sculptor, Mr. Jela, was moved by the stars that night and carved this work on a whim? Perhaps that night's sky was like an answer from the Creator, giving Mr. Jela the inspiration that allowed this work to become naturally imbued with spirit. With those thoughts in mind, he gazed at the starry sky and poured his entire soul into it. In the end, it's hard to say whether he was carving Lapis Lazuli or carving starlight. It was precisely this starry sky behind the goddess that made the entire work seamlessly unified, setting off the Goddess Statue to perfection without taking away even a fraction of her captivating radiance."
"!"
Lanchi's absorbed speech clearly startled Vivian.
His keen eye for detail and his insights into sculpture were both unique and profound.
Vivian remembered that according to the records of Iketerite Academy, Magic Artisan Jela had indeed completed this work at night.
Although there was no way to verify the state of mind of the late master Jela Zelt while creating it, it happened to align perfectly with Lanchi's explanation.
Vivian could not help raising her head to look at the carving again. The more she examined it, the more reasonable Lanchi's words seemed.
"You..."
She then turned her gaze to Lanchi's profile.
She seemed somewhat suspicious that this was truly the first time Lanchi had seen the sculpture.
"I hope you won't laugh at me, Princess Vivian. Perhaps my guess was not well considered. If I have offended Master Jela, I hope you'll forgive me."
Sensing Vivian's gaze, Lanchi turned his head and smiled brightly.
"I heard that your ancestors were all merchants. Are you therefore very skilled at appraising art?"
Vivian came back to herself, nodded lightly, and then asked another question.
Although Lanchi possessed a decent eye for appraisal, Vivian did not know what kinds of things he was good at, nor how skilled he was at creating art himself.
"I only know a little. It's simply a matter of personal interest."
Lanchi answered modestly.
Vivian knew that Lanchi always spoke without showing any edge. But indeed, if Lanchi himself possessed an extraordinarily high level of artistic attainment, it would be impossible for him to have remained completely unknown in the field until now.
"To be honest, the Royal Treasury also contains works by Magic Artisan Jela. Every single one could be called a national treasure."
There was not the slightest hint of boasting in Vivian's voice. She had merely encountered someone her own age with whom she could rarely converse so easily, and could not help introducing them,
"If my brother, Prince Enoer, met you, he might invite you to accompany him on a tour and appreciate them... Forget it. You'd better not get to know him. If you ever meet a third-year student from the Magic Engineering Institute named Enoer, make sure to walk around him."
Vivian hurriedly stopped herself halfway through, then changed tack with an unpleasant expression.
"Prince Enoer isn't as approachable as you, Princess Vivian?"
Lanchi asked curiously.
He hated people who only said half of what they meant, as well as people who spoke in riddles.
But out of politeness, he still chose his words carefully when asking.
"Am I approachable? Hmm... My brother is indeed very approachable, but his problem is that he's too approachable."
After a moment of thought, Vivian nodded and explained.
Her brother, the second prince of Hutton Nation, had an extremely unique personality.
As a member of the royal family, he was rather disdainful of power and status, yet adored elegance and art.
He also loved showing off in front of others.
If Enoer discovered that Lanchi had considerable opinions on art appreciation, he would definitely invite Lanchi to tour the palace with him, admire and comment on his many collections, and show Lanchi the full extent of his talent for showing off.
"I see. Then Prince Enoer must also be a very good person. I'll be careful to avoid him so I don't cause him any trouble."
Lanchi more or less understood.
The prince was simply too enthusiastic. Whenever he met someone he could converse with, he could not control himself.
"Mm, you don't need to worry too much."
Vivian was certain that even if her foolish brother really met Lanchi in the future and hit it off with him at once, he would not pester Lanchi for long.
After all, considering Lanchi's age, it was utterly impossible for him to be a true master of art.
At most, her brother would show off to Lanchi for a while, and nothing more would come of it.
As they chatted,
they saw that the Old Liberal Arts Building had begun its normal operations.
The two of them entered the building to complete the enrollment procedures.
With Vivian accompanying him, everything went extremely smoothly.
He even felt as though he had become a minister himself.
In less than half an hour, Lanchi happily left the Magic Engineering Institute and headed toward the dormitories.
The Student Service Center would later deliver the students' temporarily stored luggage directly to their assigned dormitories.
Lanchi was quite satisfied with the school's services.
"Do you have a team in mind yet? If you don't join a team, you'll probably have a hard time challenging the Shadow World."
Vivian walked with her arms folded, lightly tapping her elbow with her fingertips.
She happened to be heading in the same direction as Lanchi and asked him along the way.
She was also planning to visit the Dormitory Building today. They would be classmates at the Sage Institute in the future.
Students granted registered challenger status by the Southern Continent Shadow World Management Association could challenge the real Shadow World. Of course, they could also form teams.
Thus, there were quite a few powerful and renowned teams at the school.
The school had an explicit rule forbidding first-year students from participating in Shadow World challenges alone.
Therefore, even when students obtained a registered Challenger License as early as their first year, they would usually join a team and challenge the Shadow World alongside upperclassmen.
"What if I find another first-year student and form a team to challenge it? Would that not work?"
Lanchi asked curiously.
He actually wanted to challenge a real Shadow World as soon as possible and did not want to waste any time.
After entering the Shadow World, a cooldown period would prevent him from entering again. As the saying went, the earlier you fought, the earlier you got your cooldown.
Joining a team also involved various periods of coordination, scheduling, and preparation. As a newcomer, it would probably be difficult to get into action quickly.
"That would be nothing but suicide."
Vivian looked at Lanchi and spoke coldly.
She did not want Lanchi to destroy himself through excessive arrogance and ignorance. He was a highly promising talent of the Hutton Kingdom.
"Uh."
Lanchi felt that Vivian's attitude had become somewhat frightening, but he also knew that she was worried about his safety.
His understanding of real Shadow Worlds was limited to some battle records and analytical documents. As a princess, Vivian knew many powerful challengers and was certainly more familiar with the actual situation than he was.
"Speaking of which, compared to the difficulty of the third-round examination, how difficult is a real Tier 3 Shadow World..."
"A Tier 3 Shadow World is far more difficult than the Tier 2 Infinite Phantom Canyon. Even with the harshest possible modifiers, they aren't on the same level."
Vivian answered decisively before Lanchi had finished his question.
She had clearly realized that Lanchi had no idea how dangerous a real Shadow World was.
How could an artificially simulated fragment of a Tier 2 Shadow World possibly compare with the difficulty of a Tier 3 Shadow World?
If Lanchi had truly become complacent after passing the Entrance Examination and obtaining his license through an exemption, he would sooner or later cause serious trouble in a Shadow World.
Vivian took a deep breath. Even if it meant playing the villain, she felt she had to harshly wake Lanchi up.
However, before she could organize her words, Lanchi asked again:
"Suppose—I'm only saying suppose—that we added the three negative modifiers 'Plain Terrain,' 'Examiner Rank Raised from Tier 4 to Tier 5,' and 'Examiner's Starting Distance Halved' to the Infinite Phantom Canyon examination. Could it compare with a Tier 3 Shadow World?"
Vivian froze after hearing that.
What kind of demonic modifiers were those? Could a human being even come up with them?
That would completely change the nature of the examination.
"...What kind of joke are you making? If those three modifiers were added, I believe no new student could possibly pass. That would already be close to a Tier 3 Shadow World in a runaway state."
Vivian murmured hesitantly.
Generally speaking, if a serious error occurred during a Shadow World challenge, preventing the challengers from smoothly reaching the end and defeating the final enemy—or even causing the final enemy to hunt them down first—the Shadow World was said to have entered a "runaway state."
In a Tier 3 Shadow World that had entered a runaway state, Tier 3 challengers might have to face the final enemy's hunt at Tier 5.
After saying this, Vivian looked at Lanchi in confusion once more.
There was no way that Lanchi and Hughberlian had encountered these modifiers, right?
If the two of them had passed under those conditions, just how monstrous was Lanchi?
"Then I roughly understand the difficulty of a Tier 3 Shadow World."
Lanchi nodded while resting his chin on his hand.
As long as he brought along his old teammate Hughberlian, the real Shadow World they entered through team matching would most likely be Tier 2 or Tier 3, since their ranks were Tier 2 and Tier 3 respectively.
That would actually be much easier than joining a team and challenging alongside third- and fourth-tier upperclassmen.
"You... You and Hughberlian couldn't possibly have encountered exactly those three modifiers, could you?"
Vivian turned her head in disbelief and stared at Lanchi.
Although she thought it was impossible,
at that moment, she felt that Lanchi possessed a strange calm and steadiness. Even with her decent ability to judge people as a princess, she could no longer quite see through him.
"Of course not. How could it possibly have been those three?"
Lanchi waved his hand with a smile and shook his head.
What he had encountered were "Plain Terrain," "Angry Ferrat," and "One-Third Distance."
They were somewhat different from what he had just told Vivian.
The chapters these next few days will be longer than usual. I'll be updating five or six thousand words every day. Thank you all for continuing to follow this novel. Xi Zhi is grateful!
Before you continue