Andrew's hands didn't stop; he began carving details, his stone knife flying so fast it even created afterimages.
Head, hands, legs...
Hair, expression, eyes...
A quarter of an hour later, a lifelike statue of Behemoth appeared before everyone... The behemoth roared to the sky, its ferocity immense. Under Andrew's stone knife, its savage, brutal, and bloodthirsty aura was fully revealed... A perfect statue, a realistic presence, the Behemoth seemed to come alive!
"Ah, a monster!"
The nobleman who had fainted first just woke up, saw the statue, and fainted again... Even those nobles who were looking at Andrew's sculpture were pale and panicked, because the statue was just too shocking!
Aside from Han Yue and Andrew, there was only one other person present.
As soon as the work was completed, the exhibition hall director was overjoyed and forgot about Andrew's imposing presence, rushing towards the statue without a second thought.
"Perfect, absolutely perfect! This is the most perfect work I've ever seen in my life!"
Andrew didn't stop him; after all, he had just ruined someone else's work. Besides, judging from the man's behavior, he genuinely loved stone carving.
Han Yue walked around the stone carving, admiring it and nodding as she did so.
"Excellent, capturing both form and spirit. Andrew, I never realized your stone carving skills were so high."
Andrew pulled her along, thinking to himself that there were stone sculptures everywhere in the house, but she just hadn't appreciated them...
At this moment, the frightened nobles also came to their senses. Some of the bolder ones slowly gathered around and carefully admired the stone carving. Seeing their reverent eyes, Han Yue was very happy, as if she had been praised.
" Andrew, you haven't left your name yet!" Han Yue said, her eyes darting around. According to the stone sculptor's custom, they must sign their name before exhibiting their work.
Seeing her happy, Andrew reached out and carved " Andrew Lance " on the base of the stone sculpture with his finger, and Han Yue was finally satisfied.
"Let's go."
The two walked for a long time before someone finally noticed Andrew's signature.
"Look at this signature..."
" Andrew Lance, do you think he's Duke of Lance of the Yulan Empire?" someone guessed. Everyone thought about it and agreed that it was very likely.
"Yes, Duke of Lance is said to be very young, and besides, only he could sculpt such a Behemoth..."
"I never imagined that Duke of Lance was not only so powerful, but also so skilled in stone carving. In my opinion, he is definitely a stone carving master that is rare to see in a hundred years!"
The discussion grew lively, and even the nobleman in purple robes looked excited. Having guessed Andrew's identity, he felt much more at ease.
In the end, everyone's attention turned to the stone carving.
"The strongest person below the High Priest, the strongest genius in the history of the Yulan Continent, the Duke of Lance Duchy, such a perfect creation, this price..."
Wealth is a powerful motivator, and from that day forward, the small stone carving museum was destined to be anything but peaceful.
After the news spread, Andrew received another title as a master stone carver, and his only offshoot work, the Behemoth, was fought over by various forces, causing considerable bloodshed on the Yulan Continent. It was not until ten years later that it was collected by the Yulan Empire's royal family.
Traveling south along the western part of the Yulan Continent, Andrew and Han Yue enjoyed themselves immensely. The Yulan Continent was indeed vast, and before they knew it, they had been traveling for more than half a year.
When they returned to the Duke's mansion, Herbert was able to run around on the ground.
Having made up for his regret with Han Yue, Andrew then lived a semi-secluded life. He spent most of his time in the small dimensional space, cultivating and comprehending the Mysteries Shattering fire—"explosion"—and Lightning Element— " Mysteries." It must be said, the small dimensional space was incredibly powerful. There, Andrew's soul's perception of the Mysteries was nearly twice as strong as usual. And this was Mysteries, not just elements!
"I can now perfectly unleash 20% of my power, however, the intensity of the burst only increases to sixteen times. As I expected, a burst of 20% power should result in a twenty-fold increase in attack power..."
"I've been comprehending the individual Fire Element and Lightning Element Mysteries quite smoothly lately, but the fusion of the two Mysteries has been progressing very slowly. The difficulty of Fusion Profound Mysteries is at least hundreds or thousands of times greater than comprehending Mysteries, and this is just the fusion of the same element; if it were two different Laws, it would be even more difficult!"
Andrew, whose soul was exceptionally powerful, was now focused on cultivating the Laws, which slowed down the accumulation of his Battle-qi. However, even so, two years later, he reached the Saint Realm Mid-Stage.
For the past two years, Andrew has focused most of his energy on Fusion Profound Mysteries, and what he wants to fuse are the High-level Profound Mystery of Fire Element and Lightning Element. If he had focused on comprehending one Mysteries, he would have at least grasped 70-80% by now, but Fusion Profound Mysteries is something he has only just taken the first step.
"The lower one's strength, the easier it is to comprehend and Fusion Profound Mysteries. Ordinary Saint-level, even if they know this, cannot do it because their soul power is too weak. But I have an innate advantage. My strength is at the Saint-level, but my soul strength is very close to that of Deity-level."
Andrew was very clear in his mind that he must comprehend as many profound Mysteries as possible during the Saint-level stage, and even find the point of convergence of these Mysteries, so that his future cultivation would be smoother.
During this time, Longgedosi spent less time cultivating in the small dimensional space. He discovered that his cultivation had reached a bottleneck and he couldn't break through it no matter what he did, so he went out to travel, hoping to find an opportunity. Andrew could only offer his blessings.
Howard is the most enthusiastic cultivator in the Lance family besides Andrew. Before he's even fifty, his strength has already reached the mid-stage of level eight. Breaking through to level nine before he turns sixty shouldn't be a problem. Ninth-level Warrior already have a lifespan of five hundred years.
Janice still loved flowers and plants, and felt that cultivation was optional. Even though Andrew concentrated most of the Duke's resources, Janice only became a level six Fire Element mage.
Ling'er and Han Yue are making the fastest progress. Both have graduated from the Divine Grace Academy. Ling'er has become Fire Element archmage, while Han Yue's light magic has reached the level of Magus of the Eighth Rank. With Andrew's help, both of them have the opportunity to break through and become Saint-level Magus.
Moreover, in recent years, Andrew has recruited many powerful individuals to bolster the Duke's mansion, including a Saint Warrior and a Level 9 Great Mage Master. Both of them came because of his reputation and greatly admired Andrew.
In addition, Doehring Cowart's strength also broke through, becoming Magus of the Eighth Rank...
Under Andrew's suppression, everything in the Lance Duchy proceeded smoothly.
Life was peaceful, like flowing water; before we knew it, ten years had passed.
"Father, what do you think of my move?"
In the backyard of the Duke's mansion, a boy of thirteen or fourteen years old swung his long sword and shattered a rockery in front of him. The strike was powerful and imposing, comparable to the blow of High-Level Warrior.
Beside him, Andrew laughed and said, " Herbert, you've done a good job. But you've ruined this artificial hill; your grandma won't be happy."
The boy was Herbert, the son of Andrew and Han Yue.
Herbert was born after Andrew fused with the Azure Dragon Essence Blood. Andrew's fusion with the Azure Dragon Essence Blood was very high, and while his own bloodline was strong, Herbert's bloodline was also quite strong. According to Andrew's tests, Herbert's Azure Dragon Bloodline should be no less than that of a third-generation disciple of the Azure Dragon Clan.
Because the Azure Dragon Bloodline was too domineering, Herbert was unable to cultivate Battle-qi, so Andrew created a " Dragonblood Secret Manual " for him. Speaking of this, we must mention Kleiman and the others who were among the first to become Dragonblood Warrior. These four had all fused with the Dragon Essence Blood, yet they were still able to cultivate human Battle-qi. This shows that their bloodline level was far inferior to Herbert's.
When Herbert was six years old, Andrew tested his magical talent. Born into a privileged family, he had perfectly inherited his parents' talents. His affinity for Lightning Element, Fire Element, and light elements was all top-notch, while his Water Element talent was not yet obvious, hidden in his bloodline. His Divine Power was also far beyond that of ordinary people, forty times that of his peers.
With his talent, Herbert had the potential to become Saint-level Magus. However, influenced by Howard and Andrew, he was more interested in warriors. With the Azure Dragon Bloodline, Herbert's warrior talent could be considered exceptional. He began training at the age of six, and now, at less than fourteen, Herbert was already Sixth-level Warrior. After transforming, he could even put up a fight against Eighth-level Warrior.
" Herbert, your move was pretty good, but it still didn't meet my requirements!" Andrew picked up a dry branch and walked to the open space.
Herbert was puzzled. "Father, you always say that we can't just accumulate Battle-qi, we have to understand the essence of the moves, but what is this essence?"
Andrew said, " Herbert, I told you long ago that the most powerful force in the universe comes from the Laws. And the concept, or 'momentum,' is the manifestation of those Laws. For example, look at your move ' Wildfire Sweeps the Plains Across the Plains'..."
Excitement gleamed in Herbert's eyes. Over the years, Andrew had also been in seclusion, and hadn't had much time to guide him. However, each time Herbert received guidance, his strength would improve by leaps and bounds.
Unremarkable, Andrew followed Herbert's move, swinging the withered branch. The two-foot-long branch seemed to transform into a sea of fire, held in Andrew's hand. When the branch landed on another artificial hill nearby, the rockery burst into flames, vanishing in a few breaths.
"This is my ' Wildfire Sweeps the Plains ' technique, which I unleashed using Fire Element Law. It contains no Battle-qi or power, yet through the aid of these Laws, its power rivals that of a forbidden spell!"