Stone Carving Valley

"No wonder they say cultivation knows no time."

Fang Yun walked out of the valley, feeling a sense of wonder in his heart. He had merely sensed a potential direction for his cultivation, and six years had passed in the blink of an eye. If he were to truly begin cultivating, time would likely pass even faster.

After leaving the valley, Fang Yun flew directly toward Fenlai City.

While traveling across the continent, he needed to first inquire whether anything significant had occurred.

As the "Holy Capital" of the Holy Union, Fenlai City was incredibly bustling. News there was naturally extremely up-to-date.

Soon, two pieces of news caught Fang Yun by surprise.

Dean Potter of Wester Academy and Edita had remained in the Holy Union, and Edita, in particular, had reached the level of a ninth-rank Grand Magus six years ago.

Six years ago, Edita was only twenty-one years old—a ninth-rank Grand Magus?

Even Fang Yun clicked his tongue in surprise; this woman possessed incredible talent. His own strength came from manifestation and had nothing to do with talent, but that didn't mean he was unaware of the difficulty of cultivation.

If it were a twenty-one-year-old ninth-rank warrior, Fang Yun could still imagine it. But a twenty-one-year-old ninth-rank Grand Magus was truly astonishing.

"However, they must still be staying here for the Ring of Feilan."

Fang Yun had been so engrossed in sculpting that he had long since forgotten about that matter.

But to him, it wasn't a big deal.

Besides that, another piece of news also drew Fang Yun's attention.

Dixie had actually applied for graduation as soon as he reached the sixth rank. In the original story, he had waited until Linley became a seventh-rank magus before graduating and leaving.

But now, with Linley still only a fifth-rank magus, Dixie had already applied to graduate and leave.

A fifteen-year-old sixth-rank magus!

He was the well-deserved number one genius of Ernst Institute.

The plot of the original story could no longer be used as a standard for reality.

Fenlai City, Ernst Institute.

"Edita, have you really decided to continue staying here?"

Potter frowned deeply.

He had thought that even if they couldn't obtain the Ring of Feilan, they would at least be able to see the person who possessed it within a few years. As long as they could see them, there was hope.

But now, six years had passed, and there was absolutely no news at all.

His staying here came at a significant cost. After all, the Radiant Church was not easy to deal with.

"It's possible that the person is already dead."

Potter ventured a guess.

A ninth-rank expert was strong, but not invincible. Once they provoked a Saint-level expert, they would face death. Furthermore, if they went to the Magical Beast Mountain Range to train, there was also a possibility of perishing.

"Dean Potter, I will search for another five years. If I haven't found it after five years, I will return to Wester Academy."

Edita's sky-blue eyes were filled with determination.

If there were no leads on the Ring of Feilan, that would be one thing, but since she knew of its existence, she could not simply give up.

Five years—she would search for five more years.

Most importantly, she was confident she could reach the Saint-level within five years.

Over these six years, she hadn't remained stagnant; she had reached the peak of the ninth rank without anyone noticing, and she was only a step away from the Saint-level, capable of breaking through at any moment.

Once she reached the Saint-level, even if she didn't find the Ring of Feilan, Wester Academy would not decline in the future.

Potter sighed and could only nod. "Then take care of yourself. The Ring of Feilan is important, but you are more important."

In his mind, Edita was the next Dean of Wester Academy.

"Don't worry, I will be careful."

Edita nodded as well.

With her current strength, if she utilized her staff, she was confident she could save her own life even when facing a Saint-level expert.

Magical Beast Mountain Range.

At this moment, Linley and Beibei were cautiously roaming the outer perimeter of the mountain range.

Dixie's application for graduation had truly stimulated Linley. With the training from the Pingdao School of sculpting, Linley's spiritual energy had grown rapidly, and over these six years, he had been gradually closing the gap between himself and Dixie.

When Dixie reached the sixth-rank magus level, he had also successfully stepped into the fifth-rank magus level. Going from a fifth-rank to a sixth-rank magus wasn't a particularly difficult hurdle. However, the path from a sixth-rank to a seventh-rank magus was a massive barrier.

Even the most brilliant geniuses would be stuck at this step for a long time.

Thus, Linley had already seen the hope of catching up to Dixie. Who would have thought that Dixie would apply for graduation at this time?

If that were all, it would be fine, but he had learned from Delia that Dixie had been taken as a disciple by the High Priest of the Temple of Life.

Upon hearing this news, even Doehring Cowart dared not say that Linley would definitely surpass Dixie.

After all, the High Priest was a god-level expert, and no matter how confident Doehring Cowart was, he wouldn't dare claim that he could teach better than a god-level expert.

However, this did not discourage Linley; instead, it stimulated him to work even harder.

"Linley, while training in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, remember never to trust anyone."

Doehring Cowart continued to warn Linley, "In the Magical Beast Mountain Range, humans are often far more terrifying than magical beasts."

As a Saint-level Magus from five thousand years ago, Doehring Cowart possessed an incredibly rich wealth of experience.

"Mm, I understand."

Linley nodded, his expression solemn.

At this moment, Linley's height had already caught up to that of an adult, but his face remained youthful; one could tell at a glance that he was not very old. If he were to encounter others, he would very likely be targeted for robbery and murder.

"Beibei, be careful."

Linley's expression suddenly grew more serious; he had caught a faint scent of blood.

"I understand, Boss."

Beibei replied via telepathy.

Its nose was even more sensitive than Linley's, and it could even discern that this was not the scent of a magical beast's blood. In other words, there were definitely humans nearby who had been injured or killed, and it hadn't happened long ago.

The man and the mouse carefully concealed themselves and cautiously moved toward the distance.

Not far away, a man walked by with extreme caution. In another direction, there was a pool of blood, but no corpse was to be found; there was no telling where the body had gone.

The man's eyes were filled with undisguised joy. "Thinking you could split it with me? You were truly asking for death."

It was unclear who the man was talking about.

After speaking, the man carefully scanned his surroundings before quickly heading toward a spot not far away.

"I suspect it was murder for treasure."

Doehring Cowart spoke up.

Linley nodded as well. Although he could guess as much, seeing such a scene for the first time still made him feel uneasy deep down.

"Boss, should we follow him?"

Beibei asked via telepathy.

There was a sense of impatience in its voice; after all, Beibei was a magical beast, and it possessed a natural instinct for bloodlust. Life at the academy had not been suitable for it.

Linley hesitated.

Although he did not mind killing, he did not wish to kill without reason. Even though this guy was likely not a good person, he hadn't provoked him, after all.

Just as Linley was hesitating, a small wind blade suddenly appeared not far from him and sliced toward him.

Linley reacted instantly, but he could only dodge the vital areas. With a sidestep, a large gash was cut into his abdomen, and blood began to flow freely.

"Squeak!"

Beibei reacted in an instant, turning into a black shadow as it charged straight ahead.

The man who had disappeared earlier saw a black shadow rapidly approaching him, and his expression changed drastically. He wanted to prepare a counterattack, but it was already too late.

"Ah—no!"

The sound stopped abruptly as Beibei bit through the man's throat and shattered his skull with a single swipe of its claw.

At this point, Beibei's strength was immense; even Linley was no match for it at all.

"Boss, are you alright!"

Beibei hurried back.

Linley's face was somewhat pale, but he shook his head and offered a strained smile. "I'm fine. I really owe you, Beibei."

Linley felt a lingering fear; if not for Beibei, suffering such an injury would have had a significant impact on his combat effectiveness. Most importantly, he had no idea how he had been discovered.

"Boss, I've already killed that guy."

Seeing the wound on Linley's abdomen, Beibei's tone was filled with anger.

"Mm."

Linley nodded. This experience had truly taught him a lesson.

"Linley, in the Magical Beast Mountain Range, even if you don't want to kill others, others will kill you."

Doehring Cowart's voice rang out.

"I know, Grandpa Doehring."

Linley slowly calmed down. This was the Magical Beast Mountain Range; there was no room for mercy.

"Boss, bear with it. I'll use dark magic to seal your wound."

Beibei sent a telepathic message.

Following that, dark-elemental energy appeared around Beibei, strangely forming some kind of special pattern that finally settled onto the wound. Although it was not a healing spell like light magic, the wound that had been bleeding profusely stopped, which was quite miraculous.

Linley was extremely surprised. "Beibei, you can actually use this kind of magic?"

"Boss, I've always been able to, I just never had a use for it before."

Beibei didn't know how it knew how to do it either, just like its strength—it didn't even know why it kept increasing.

"Linley, magical beasts generally possess certain innate spells passed down through their bloodline. This magic might just be the Shadow Mouse's inherited ability."

Doehring Cowart explained.

Hearing this, Linley couldn't help but feel envious; humans had no such inheritance. If he wanted to cast magic, he had to learn it bit by bit, yet some magical beasts could use it naturally.

"Linley, we cannot stay in this place for too long."

Doehring Cowart reminded him.

Linley pulled himself back to reality and nodded, then said to Beibei, "Beibei, check that guy's body and see if there's anything on him. Once you've checked, we need to leave immediately."

The scent of blood here was too strong; it would surely attract other magical beasts, or even other people.

"Squeak!"

Beibei ran excitedly to the man's corpse.

After rummaging with its little claws for a while, it actually only found a few magic cores and a token made of an unknown material, which might have been the emblem of some organization.

"Just these few things?"

Doehring Cowart frowned slightly.

"Grandpa Doehring, what's wrong?"

Linley put the items away, feeling a bit puzzled.

"Linley, if it were only these items, this guy would have had no reason to kill for treasure."

Doehring Cowart analyzed, "These things are simply too cheap."

The man had just said he "wanted to split it equally" with him; clearly, it couldn't have been just for these meager items.

"Uh."

Linley realized it too.

This guy must have killed someone earlier. If he were killing for treasure, how could it be such a small amount? Although these few magic cores could be exchanged for some gold coins, they were only level three or four cores and wouldn't fetch much money.

"Linley, keep moving forward and take a look."

Doehring Cowart suggested.

"Alright."

Linley didn't hesitate, then led Beibei forward in the direction the man had been heading, though he became much more vigilant.

However, there was no danger along the way, and they didn't even encounter a single low-level magical beast.

Soon, Linley arrived in front of a valley.

The entrance to the valley wasn't particularly hidden, yet there were no traces of magical beast activity in the surrounding area.

"Be careful."

Linley reminded Beibei.

Then, the man and the mouse carefully turned toward the front of the valley.

However, after seeing the scene inside the valley clearly, Linley was left completely stunned.

Even Doehring Cowart wore an expression of utter disbelief.

The two sides of the valley were filled with all sorts of stone sculptures, including some shaped like Saint-level magical beasts; the largest ones were as big as buildings, looking just like real Saint-level beasts.

The larger a stone sculpture, the harder it was to carve. What level of skill would be required to carve a sculpture the size of a building?

Moreover, the most important thing was that any single one of these sculptures could surpass the master-level works he had seen at the Proulx Gallery.

"This..."

Linley didn't know what to say at this moment.

Stone sculptures, they were all stone sculptures! An entire valley filled with master-level stone sculptures!