The only thing Matthews regretted was that he had no talent for the Earth Element. After all, the original story described many ways to cultivate the Laws of the Earth and the Laws of Wind. If he had talent for both now, he might have been able to learn a thing or two from them.
Seeing how intently Matthews was looking, Kelly walked over, took his arm, and asked, "What are you looking at?"
Watching from behind, Mia thought, Her brother was such a jerk. He really had fallen in love—otherwise, he wouldn't have ditched the big meal he'd promised to take her to today.
Still looking at the stone sculptures, Matthews asked, "Is there a style of stone carving that uses only a flat blade?"
Kelly earnestly explained, "No. Stone sculptures have lots of different textures. One flat blade isn't nearly enough!"
Hearing Kelly say that, Matthews understood that there was no stone-carving style here like the one in the original story.
On the second floor, they found works by painters. Most of the paintings here had a rather Western style and were fairly abstract.
His grandfather had been a beam painter—a craftsman who painted the beams in scenic areas and temples—so Matthews had learned some of that style's painting techniques as a child, as well as some modern drawing techniques. By his standards, the masters here were still not as skilled as his grandfather, and their work hadn't reached the flourishing, diverse state of the art world in his own world.
This also rekindled Matthews's interest in painting, so he bought some supplies. Most of the paints here were extracted from minerals, though, because they were cheaper than the chemically synthesized paints from his world. They cost Matthews several gold coins!
When they got home that evening, Mia pouted at Matthews. "You care more about your girlfriend than your sister!"
"Hey, that's going too far. Just tell me, did I take you out for a big meal today or not?"
"Whatever. You still care more about your girlfriend!"
Matthews was already a seventh-level warrior, but his soul was only as strong as that of a fifth-level mage. That wasn't good enough for him. A warrior's level reflected his combat strength, but mages found it easier than warriors to comprehend the Laws. This was because a mage's soul was generally stronger than a warrior's.
Matthews also wanted to comprehend the Laws and become a god, so his soul couldn't be weak. He couldn't use the protagonist's stone-carving method to strengthen it, but he could try painting. Like stone carving, painting required intense concentration. It might have a similar effect!
After that, Matthews settled into a regular routine. He got up in the morning to practice martial arts and absorb Lightning Element energy to improve his Battle Qi. In the afternoon, he painted to build his focus, using it as a substitute for meditation. At night, he meditated for a while before going to bed.
"Brother, I've never seen this style of painting before!"
"Yeah, it's a style I'm trying out."
Mia looked at the portrait of Kelly that her brother had painted, then said, "Could you paint a portrait of me, too?"
"Sure!"
Matthews then carefully painted a picture of his sister as an innocent young girl: an adorable girl striking a wink pose with her right hand, rendered in a sketch. The portrait captured the lively charm of a thirteen-year-old girl who was graceful and sociable.
Mia was very pleased and took her portrait away. She also secretly took a few of the traditional Chinese-style landscape paintings.
One morning, just after Matthews had finished training, he heard Kelly's voice outside.
"Matthews, are you home?"
Matthews stepped outside and saw Kelly's carriage waiting at the door.
"Kelly!"
"Mm. I came to take you on an outing."
When Matthews and Kelly arrived at the city gates, they found the people he had rescued last time waiting there. Everyone seemed fine except for the mage named Wood, who looked a little uncomfortable around him.
By the river outside the city, Matthews and Kelly sat together.
"Matthews, you looked so cool flying last time. Could you take me flying sometime?"
Matthews nodded, walked over, and picked Kelly up. Blushing, she wrapped her arms around his neck. He asked, "Are you ready? Here we go."
"Whoosh—"
Lightning flashed around Matthews's feet as he soared into the sky with Kelly in his arms.
"Wow!"
With lightning crackling around them, Matthews carried Kelly into the air. It was her first time flying, and she cried out excitedly in his arms.
Before long, they had flown over the river and reached the rocky cliff of a small peak.
After they landed, Kelly happily hugged Matthews and kissed him on the cheek. Seeing this, Matthews leaned in and kissed her!
An hour later, Nina saw her friend return and asked, "Where did you two just go?"
"We went for a walk around the area!"
Looking at her happy friend, Nina asked, "Are you two together now?"
Kelly nodded happily. Nina asked, "You didn't do that, did you?"
"Of course not. I know where to draw the line!"
"Good!"
That evening, Kelly reluctantly parted from Matthews. In the days that followed, they were like any other couple just beginning a romance, going on dates every few days. One day, Matthews took the finished, retouched portrait of Kelly and went to see her again.
The two of them watched the Divine Beast Sect's ceremony of scattering rice. On the high platform, the pope proclaimed the greatness of the Four Divine Beasts they worshipped, while releasing a captivating mental wave. Matthews's fifth-level mental strength was enough to resist the Saint Realm mass mental influence.
Matthews thought that even though the mental influence at the Saint Realm level was aimed at a crowd, his soul, which was only at the level of a fifth-level mage, had nearly been baptized because he was standing near the front. Looking at the ordinary people around him, he saw that they had no way to resist the baptism. He would have to warn his sister seriously afterward and make sure she never took part in one.
Those who became gods were all steadfast in themselves. Although he had never heard that believing in someone else made it impossible to become a god, this kind of blind faith instilled by a baptism was still a bad thing!
"Matthews, what did you think?"
"It was all right, but you should avoid these baptisms in the future."
Kelly frowned in confusion. "Why? What's wrong with believing in the great Divine Beasts?"
Seeing that Kelly, who had looked entranced moments ago, now seemed uneasy, Matthews explained, "It's not that. I'm just not used to it."
"Oh, I see!"
Afterward, Matthews took her to visit some other places in the Imperial Capital. Kelly said to him, "I've noticed that no one's been taking care of you lately. I'll take you to pick out a few slaves!"
Kelly brought Matthews to a slave market in the Imperial Capital. There, Matthews saw the mark of the slave trader who had sold him to the auction house!
"Boom—"
Matthews grew furious at once. That slave-trading organization had imprisoned him back then. Although someone had later rescued him for some inexplicable reason, they had also caused him to lose the Sovereign Artifact, the Death Scythe.
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