Stone Sculptures, Love

"Look, Third Bro moved." Reynolds exclaimed in delight.

George and Yale immediately looked toward Lin Feng. They saw him suddenly rise to his feet and gaze at the enormous boulder before him. It stood over two meters tall and was three or four meters long.

As Lin Feng studied the lines and patterns in the boulder, he saw that its natural markings were extremely chaotic. Yet as he stared for a long time, some of the patterns seemed to emerge from the rest and gather naturally in his mind.

Faintly, these patterns resembled five human figures.

In a daze, the five figures transformed into five images of Delia, and all kinds of scenes began to surface in Lin Feng's mind. The boulder in his mind seemed to peel away naturally, until at last it became five stone statues of women.

Doehring Cowart was there, too, though Reynolds and the others couldn't see him. Watching Lin Feng, Doehring Cowart was secretly startled. Lin Feng seems to have entered a new realm. As a master sculptor, Doehring Cowart could guess what state Lin Feng was in.

Lin Feng took the Flat Blade from his pack and held it in his right hand. He gazed at the boulder, then his whole body began to move. The Flat Blade became a blur, and stone chips immediately flew from the boulder.

His mind merged with the earth, with the wind, with the light.

Lin Feng's mind could clearly sense the patterns inside the boulder. The Flat Blade swept across it like a graceful breeze. Every stroke seemed precisely measured, never too much or too little, each one executed to perfection.

The Flat Blade sometimes flashed rapidly, sometimes touched the stone slowly and carefully, sometimes left an elegant line, and sometimes struck off a heavy chunk.

"I still remember the first time we met, and the curious, searching way you looked at me."

Lin Feng's mind was filled with that first encounter with Delia. He poured all the emotion in his heart into the Flat Blade, and snowflakes began to swirl around him. His mind merged with the seven elements as never before, drawing them into his body in an endless stream.

Lin Feng had no other thoughts. He was simply giving himself over to that feeling.

Gradually, a fifth of the boulder on the far left took the shape of a woman. The rough form of a statue emerged. Lin Feng neither ate nor drank, and he continued carving without a break. Sometimes he struck dozens of times in a single instant; sometimes he spent several minutes carefully carving a single graceful line.

Completely absorbed in his feelings for Delia and pouring them into the Flat Blade, Lin Feng didn't realize that this was the most immersed he had ever been in sculpting since he began learning the craft.

But this time was different. Lin Feng was entirely lost in the outpouring of his feelings and the passion of carving. He didn't realize he needed to stop, or that he needed to eat and drink. In this state of absolute immersion, he merged with nature more completely than ever before.

As he merged completely with nature, Lin Feng's spiritual power grew at a terrifying rate, faster than ever before.

At that moment, Lin Feng's spiritual power was growing a thousand times faster than an ordinary person's.

"To be completely attuned to nature and reach a state of 'selflessness'—how astonishing." Doehring Cowart's eyes gleamed.

Day after day passed as Lin Feng remained completely absorbed. The elements continued pouring into his body, replenishing the energy he expended.

Before long, Lin Feng had been sculpting for ten whole days and nights.

Bang!

Snowflakes burst in every direction around Lin Feng. Holding the Flat Blade, he calmly looked at the enormous stone sculpture before him. It was the sculpture he had poured the most effort into, the largest he had ever carved, and his most successful work.

The sculpture consisted of five female figures, all modeled after Delia. One showed her in danger, looking so vulnerable that she stirred people's sympathy. Another showed her cute, whispering in class. There was the shy look she had when she first fell in love, the captivating look she had when they were passionately in love, and the reluctant expression she wore when they parted.

"Seven years, Delia. I never realized how much I loved you, but now I see that my love for you is too intense for words. Your image was etched into my heart long ago." Looking at the sculpture, Lin Feng felt lighter than ever. It was as though all the longing he had felt over the past six months had been poured into it.

Reynolds, George, and Yale stared at the sculpture, stunned. In their eyes, the five figures seemed to have souls. The leftmost one had such a gentle, delicate quality that it made them ache to protect her.

The second figure was so lively and endearing that it stirred their hearts.

The third looked like a girl blushing shyly in front of them.

Each of the five figures in the sculpture had a character all its own.

"Lin Feng." Doehring Cowart walked over, his moon-white robe still spotless.

Lin Feng looked at Doehring Cowart.

A note of satisfaction appeared on Doehring Cowart's face. "Your sculpting has reached the level of a master. This piece could certainly be considered a representative work of our Flat Blade School. I imagine you've gained a deeper understanding of sculpting from this experience."

Lin Feng nodded slightly.

Only after completing a work like this did Lin Feng truly understand why some master sculptors had left only one or two works that would be remembered for generations. It wasn't that those masters lacked ability. Rather, works that could truly be called masterpieces were impossible to summon at will.

For example, Lin Feng had managed to create this sculpture, but asking him to make another like it would be an unreasonable demand.

Creating a sculpture worthy of being called a masterpiece required exquisite skill, extraordinary inspiration, and a passionate outpouring of emotion. Only by giving oneself over completely and holding nothing back could one create a work that moved people to the core.

If Lin Feng's love for Delia hadn't built over seven years until it was too intense for words, and if Delia hadn't suddenly been away from him for half a year, leaving him to suffer from longing, his feelings wouldn't have erupted, and he wouldn't have created such a world-shaking work.

Lin Feng had finished this sculpture, but he had no idea when he might create another work to rival it.

Still, after devoting himself to sculpting for ten days and nights, Lin Feng's mind had clearly recorded that wonderful state. His skill had improved, too. If he carved another piece now, it might not be as good as this one, but it would still be far better than a sculpture worth five or six thousand gold coins.

"Lin Feng, can you feel how your spiritual power has changed?" Doehring Cowart asked with a proud smile.

Lin Feng froze.

Spiritual power?

His spiritual power now surged with far greater force than before, and was much stronger. If his spiritual power had been a sapling ten days ago, it was now a towering, flourishing tree.

"How did it increase so much?" Lin Feng was stunned.

Doehring Cowart smiled smugly, his white beard twitching. "Tenfold! Your spiritual power has increased at a terrifying rate in just ten days. It's now ten times what it was before! In only ten days, you've caught up with decades of other people's cultivation. Your spiritual power has leaped from the peak of a Level Eight Mage to the peak of a Level Nine Mage."

Lin Feng could hardly believe it.

It had increased far too much—tenfold!

"The results are impressive, aren't they? Hmph. The sculpting technique of the Flat Blade School, founded by me, Doehring Cowart, is beyond question. But I really do envy you." Doehring Cowart's eyes narrowed with a smile. "Lin Feng, you should know that it's incredibly rare to pour all your feelings into your work and bring your soul into complete harmony with nature."

Lin Feng nodded in agreement.

If it were easy to enter that state, masterpieces wouldn't be so rare.

In the original story, Lin Feng learned that Alice had deceived him and suffered a devastating emotional blow. That was what led to his sudden enlightenment and his creation of the astonishing work Dream Awakening. But I created this enormous sculpture because my love for Delia had grown so intense.

And these two sculptures are remarkably alike. Each depicts five figures, and each was created for a woman. But Dream Awakening was born of hatred, while this sculpture was born of love.

"I lived for nearly thirteen hundred years, and I entered that state only three times. I completed the three works I'm proudest of during those moments." A trace of pride showed on Doehring Cowart's face. Then he added, "But I spent two days, four days, and three days on those works, respectively. Nine days in total—not as long as your one session."

Lin Feng had just heard Doehring Cowart say that he had spent ten whole days and nights sculpting.

"This state is the fastest way for the Flat Blade School's sculpting technique to increase spiritual power. In that state, your growth can be more than a thousand times faster than an ordinary person's! It's the state we all dream of reaching. The longer you remain in it, the better, so the larger the sculpture you carve, the greater the benefit."

Lin Feng understood.

Dream Awakening and the sculpture he had carved were both enormous works, each depicting five figures. Such large sculptures were extremely rare. In the original story, Lin Feng's spiritual power had surged as a result, taking him from the beginning of Level Six Mage to Level Seven Mage and carrying him across the first major hurdle in a mage's cultivation. Lin Feng had now leaped from the peak of Level Eight Mage to the peak of Level Nine Mage for the same reason.

Doehring Cowart sighed. "But when inspiration and passion strike, the model for the sculpture is already in your mind. There's no choice in the matter."

Lin Feng understood, too.

It was just like when he had looked at the boulder and its markings, and his feelings had caused five figures to take shape naturally in his mind. When that passion came, he forgot the world and himself. All he knew was the sculpture.

All his thoughts, all his feelings, were in the sculpture.

In that state, there was no room to think, I'll carve a huge sculpture. It was impossible to divide his attention. The moment he did, the state would be broken.

"Lin Feng, I'd like to ask: what are you calling this work?" Doehring Cowart asked.

"What should I call it?" Lin Feng thought it over. In the original story, the other Lin Feng had named his work Dream Awakening because a beautiful dream had been shattered. But his own work couldn't have that name; its meaning was different.

"I'll call it Love!" After considering many names, Lin Feng decided none of them suited the sculpture or did it justice. In the end, he chose the simplest one: Love.

Doehring Cowart savored the name for a moment, then nodded. "Good. It's a fitting name. This sculpture fully expresses the simple yet passionate love between you and your young lady. The five figures form a continuous whole—a perfect love story."