Coiling Dragon_Book 1 of the Coiling Dragon Saga

by Wo Chi Xi Hong Shi

  Linley nodded.

  “Boss Yale, let’s go.” After formally handing the sculpture over to the Proulx Gallery, Linley could feel something missing in his heart, but at the same time, Linley also felt as though his mind was a bit more relaxed now.

  Within the main hall of the Proulx Gallery.

  Count Juneau still visited the Proulx Gallery virtually every morning. First, he would admire the sculptures in the main hall, before progressing to the hall of the experts and the hall of the masters. But this morning, once Count Juneau stepped into the main hall, he discovered…

  “Hey, why are there so many people congregating over there at the hall of the masters?” Count Juneau felt a bit puzzled.

  The hall of the masters always had just those few sculptures that everyone had seen before. After being on display for so long, the number of viewers had become rather low. Unless, of course, a new work had been produced by a master sculptor. Only then would the hall of the masters become a bit more lively.

  “Can it be that a new work has been produced by a master?” Excited, Count Juneau also headed directly to the hall of the masters.

  Currently, it was eight in the morning. Logically speaking, there shouldn’t be many people at the Proulx Gallery. But there were already several dozen people squeezed into the hall of the masters. What was more, all of these people were staring in astonishment at a sculpture placed dead center in the hall of the masters.

  What was more, this exhibit had eighteen powerfully-built guards standing around it.

  “So popular? I wonder which master has produced a new work.” Count Juneau forced his way to the front to take a closer look.

  Count Juneau’s eyes immediately widened, and his gaze locked onto the sculpture in front of him. For an instant, Count Juneau thought that he was looking at five living persons. A person madly in love, an adorable person, a shy person, a mesmerizingly beautiful person, and an icy, heartless person.

  Count Juneau remained in that half-drunken stupor for a long moment before awakening.

  “What a godly sculpture! The work of a Grandmaster!” Count Juneau’s mind instantly became agitated.

  Based on Count Juneau’s hundred-plus years of appraising art, he naturally could sense how spiritually stirring this sculpture was, but upon taking a closer look, Count Juneau’s eyes began to shine. “This sculpting style… isn’t it that of that genius magus of the Ernst Institute, Linley?”

  Just from the sculpting style alone, Count Juneau could tell who had carved this sculpture.

  Count Juneau was very familiar with Linley, because the first time Linley had placed three sculptures for sale in the Proulx Gallery, he had been the one to purchase them. And then, when Linley’s artworks began appearing in the hall of the experts, the price of each sculpture had reached six thousand gold coins.

  The genius of the Ernst Institute who was only seventeen years old!

  On that business transaction alone, Count Juneau had turned a profit of over ten thousand gold coins. Naturally, Count Juneau would pay tremendous attention to Linley.

  “It really is him.” Count Juneau saw the two characters for ‘Linley’ written on the lower corner of the statue.

  And on the placard next to the sculpture, there was an explanation of who Linley was…

  “The sculptor of this sculpture is named ‘Linley’. This year, he is seventeen years old, a graduate of the Ernst Institute, and a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank. In this day and age, he is, without a doubt, the number one genius magus in the entire Yulan continent, and even if we look at the history of the Yulan continent as a whole, he is still the number two genius magus in all of history.”

  “But Linley isn’t just a genius magus. In the field of sculpting, he also has made amazing accomplishments. Although only seventeen, this sculpture of his, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, already carries the grandeur and the spirit of a Grandmaster-level sculpture, especially considering the fact that this sculpture is so huge. Naturally, its value is all the more priceless. When you factor in the reality that this seventeen-year-old sculptor is also an ultimate genius magus… the value of this sculpture is simply unimaginable.”

  “Our Proulx Gallery has the privilege to be authorized by Linley to exhibit this sculpture for five days. On April 21st, after the exhibition has ended, the Proulx Gallery will carry out the auction.”

  Seeing this introduction, Count Juneau understood…

  “The various nobles, magnates, and royals will all be moved and intrigued…” Count Juneau knew very well that this sort of sculpture definitely wasn’t something which a person of his level could hope to purchase.

  “A seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank?” Upon rereading this part of the introduction, Count Juneau couldn’t help but sigh in amazement as well.

  At the same time, Count Juneau’s admiration of this Linley deepened.

  A person who was able to achieve such accomplishments in two different fields was definitely worthy of admiration.

  “This sculpture should be on roughly the same level as the sculptures of Grandmaster sculptors. Plus the fact that it is huge… and the status of the sculptor, a seventeen-year-old who is the number two genius magus in the entire history of the Yulan continent… the price is going to be sky-high.” Count Juneau made a mental prediction.

  “April 21st!” Count Juneau was already beginning to anticipate this day.

  As time passed, the people coming to visit this hall of the masters grew more and more in number. Many of the extremely wealthy families in the Holy Capital began to receive word of this as well.

  Within Austoni’s office.

  “Please inform his Majesty, King Wylder, that I don’t have the authority to make this decision. If his Majesty would really like to purchase this sculpture, we would like to invite him to attend on the 21st.” Austoni sent off the royal herald from a king.

  When that herald left, Austoni’s face sank.

  “What a joke. He actually dared to offer just a million gold pieces to directly buy this sculpture? In his dreams! Just yesterday, his Royal Majesty, King Clayde of the Kingdom of Fenlai, offered three million gold coins!”

  After being on exhibition for just three days, over ten important personages had made offers to directly buy the sculpture.

  “On the 21st, I’m afraid that we really are going to see a sky-high price,” Austoni secretly mused.

  72

  Rage

  Within the Debs clan’s private garden, Alice and Kalan were sitting together and discussing the question of marriage.

  “Alice.” Kalan’s face was all smiles. “I’ve already discussed this with my father. Our engagement ceremony will be on June 18th, and our actual wedding ceremony will be on January 1st of the next year. Which is to say, it will be on the Yulan Festival day of next year.”

  A hint of a smile appeared on Alice’s face as well.

  “Next year, next year will be the year 10000 of the Yulan calendar, right? For us to hold our wedding on the Yulan Festival of year 10000 of the Yulan calendar, that’ll be… so, so perfect.” The more she spoke, the happier she felt. Alice, too, began to beam.

  Seeing Alice smile so happily, Kalan felt very content.

  “Alice, hurry up and discuss this with your father, then prepare the list of guests from your family’s side for me so I can make arrangements as soon as possible,” Kalan urged.

  “Okay.” Alice nodded slightly.

  Kalan gently stroked Alice’s soft hair, his heart content.

  But when he thought about the dire circumstances his clan was in, Kalan’s heart began to grow frantic. Not long after he and Alice started their relationship, the Debs clan suffered a painful blow like they had never suffered before. The Dawson Conglomerate had cut them off!

  The current success and glory of the Debs clan was inextricably linked to their relationship with the Dawson Conglomerate.

  But then, last December, the Dawson
Conglomerate had publicly announced the dissolution of their business relationship with the Debs clan. What was more, they had also reached out to every business union and trading clan within Fenlai City and informed them that they were looking for someone to replace the Debs clan in their previous position.

  Additionally…

  The Dawson Conglomerate’s actions weren’t just limited to that. The Dawson Conglomerate even began to suppress the business activities of the Debs clan, causing every single business operated by the Debs clan to suffer losses.

  “Why is the Dawson Conglomerate suppressing my clan like this? The Debs clan hasn’t offended the Dawson Conglomerate.” Kalan felt extremely vexed. As the next heir and successor to the clan, Kalan naturally cared greatly about this affair.

  And because these issues had occurred soon after Kalan and Alice started their relationship, there were quite a few clan members who now believed that Alice was the bearer of disastrously bad luck.

  Otherwise, why would the Dawson Conglomerate, whom they had worked with for so many years, suddenly turn on them?

  Fortunately, over all these years, the Debs clan had managed to accumulate massive wealth. Although their losses were great, the foundation of the Debs clan was still intact. But the leader of the Debs clan was aware that, due to unclear reasons, the Dawson Conglomerate was now suppressing their businesses. This was causing the Debs clan to lose all hope in the ‘business’ side of their activities.

  After all, no one was willing to offend the massive behemoth which was the Dawson Conglomerate.

  Thus, the only choice the Debs clan had was to embark on a certain other route.

  Shaking his head and casting these thoughts aside, Kalan laughed as he looked at Alice. “Alice, I heard that yesterday, the Proulx Gallery began to exhibit an extremely incredible work of art. Supposedly, it’s on the Grandmaster level. Many people have gone there to take a look. Would you like to go with me?”

  Alice was feeling bored as well. “Alright.”

  Kalan and Alice were riding towards the Proulx Gallery in a carriage.

  “This sculpture is supposedly extremely extraordinary. These past few days, I’ve been so busy arranging our engagement and wedding that I haven’t had the chance to take you to check it out.” Kalan was the first to leap off the carriage, and then, in a very gentlemanly fashion, helped Alice out as well.

  Side by side, Alice and Kalan walked towards the Proulx Gallery.

  “Big brother Kalan, look at all those people!” Alice’s eyes were shining as she pointed.

  Deep within the Proulx Gallery, at the hall of the masters, there was a sea of people. But within the hall of the masters, everything was extremely orderly, people entering from one door and exiting from another. Every person was only permitted three minutes or so of viewing time.

  After three minutes, the people currently in the hall of the masters were forced to leave. If they wanted to view it again…

  Fine! Go back and wait in line again!

  “What a long line.” Kalan felt somewhat amazed as well. In all these years, he had never seen the Proulx Gallery so packed with people before.

  Kalan and Alice both obediently got in line and waited for nearly twenty minutes. Only then was it their group’s turn to go and enter the hall of the masters. In one large group, they were ushered into the hall of the masters. Immediately, all of them headed towards the front.

  Curious, Kalan and Alice naturally rushed to the front as well.

  But in that moment when Alice first spotted the sculpture, she froze as though she had been struck by lightning. Standing there, she stared stupidly at the enormous sculpture. Those five beautifully, immaculately carved female figures, each of them carrying a unique aura of their own.

  Others were absorbed in contemplating the meanings hidden within this ‘Awakening From the Dream’.

  But when Alice saw this giant sculpture, her mind couldn’t help but begin to replay memories of every single event she had previously experienced with Linley.

  The first time, just as she was despairing, Linley had descended like a god from the heavens.

  On the balcony, the two of them hiding in the corner and chatting an entire night away.

  One scene after another played in her mind. Alice was totally dumbstruck. She really had no idea that this famous Grandmaster-level sculpture, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, had her as the subject.

  “Lin… Linley…” Alice’s current emotions were extremely complicated.

  She stared at the introductory text on the side.

  “The sculptor of this sculpture is named ‘Linley’. This year, he is seventeen years old, a graduate of the Ernst Institute, and a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank. In this day and age, he is, without a doubt, the number one genius magus in the entire Yulan continent, and even if we look at the history of the Yulan continent as a whole, he is still the number two genius magus in all of history.”

  “But Linley isn’t just a genius magus. In the field of sculpting, he has also made amazing accomplishments. Although only seventeen, this sculpture of his, ‘Awakening From the Dream’…”

  Seeing those lines of words, Alice was dumbfounded yet again.

  “It’s Linley. It’s Linley.” Alice stared at the placard unbelievingly. “A dual-element magus of the seventh rank? He’s already a magus of the seventh rank? But… but just last year, he was just a magus of the fifth rank.”

  Alice had no idea that before they had broken up, Linley had become a magus of the sixth rank. Only… Linley had never been given the chance to let her know.

  “’Awakening From the Dream’. This sculpture is called, ‘Awakening From the Dream’.” Staring at the five female figures in the sculpture, especially that last one with the slight aura of heartlessness, Alice suddenly understood the true reason why Linley had given this sculpture the name, ‘Awakening From the Dream.’

  “The dreamer… has awakened?” Alice felt that her mind was a total mess.

  As the first man she had ever truly cared for, in the bottom of Alice’s heart, there was always a special place reserved for Linley. But when she discovered that Linley had given this sculpture the name, ‘Awakening From the Dream’, she suddenly felt as though something had disappeared from her heart.

  That sort of feeling… was very difficult to bear.

  Alice suddenly noticed that by her side, Kalan’s fists were knotted, and an extremely unpleasant look was on his face. His veins were bulging out, and his face was terrifyingly grim. His eyes flashed with dark light as he stared a deathly gaze at this sculpture.

  “Big Brother Kalan!” Worried, Alice called to him.

  But Kalan paid her no mind.

  “Linley, you… you go too far.” Kalan was filled with boundless, fiery rage. In the past, Kalan had been rather well-disposed towards Linley. But in the depths of his heart, Kalan somewhat looked down on Linley. As far as Kalan was concerned, no matter how hard Linley worked, he would never be able to match Kalan’s clan.

  After all, his clan was hitched to the enormous war machine that was the Dawson Conglomerate.

  But in what, just five months?

  His Debs clan had been abandoned by the Dawson Conglomerate. And Linley? Out of nowhere, he became a seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank. What was more, he was acclaimed as the number one genius magus of this age.

  Even in the long history of the Yulan continent, there was only one person slightly better than Linley.

  “A seventeen-year-old dual-element magus of the seventh rank, and a sculptor approaching the level of the Grandmasters.” Kalan suddenly felt enormous pressure.

  This person was simply too incredible.

  But shortly after, Kalan only felt boundless fury.

  Because the inspiration for this sculpture was his fiancée!

  “Hey, take a look. Isn’t this girl really similar to the woman in this sculpture?” A voice suddenly rang out within the hall of the
masters, and instantly, over ten heads turned to stare at Alice. The hall suddenly became a hotbed of commotion and discussion.

  Linley’s sculpting abilities were simply too amazing. He had totally captured Alice’s grace and charm in this sculpture.

  From their very first glance at Alice, those viewers had the feeling… that the girl in front of them and the female carved into ‘Awakening From the Dream’ were incredibly similar. In fact, they could totally be considered the same person. That unique gaze. That slightly sharp, arched nose.

  “Miss, dare I ask what your relationship is with Master Linley?” An old man with a head full of white hair, at least a century old, asked very courteously towards Alice.

  In the field of sculpting, Linley had already reached the level of a master.

  Linley’s skill in sculpting was enough to cause these collectors who had decades or centuries of experience in sculpting to prostrate themselves in admiration. Respectfully addressing him as ‘Master’ was something which came from their hearts. Based on this old man’s century-plus years of experience in appraising stone sculptures, he naturally could tell that the woman carved into the sculpture was most likely a person with whom Linley had shared a period of turbulent love.

  Alice felt rather awkward, and couldn’t help but turn to look at Kalan.

  “Oh, Kalan, you are here as well.” The old man looked at Kalan. Old people naturally being as sly as foxes, the old man naturally could tell that Kalan and Alice’s relationship was not a simple one. “Kalan, who is this young lady?”

  Although Kalan felt extremely unhappy, he still modestly bowed and said, “Milord Duke Berner, this is Miss Alice, my fiancée.”

  “Fiancée?” Duke Berner cast a meaningful glance at Kalan and Alice, then laughed, asking no more.

  Pulling Alice by the hand, as though running for his life, Kalan quickly fled back to the Debs clan’s manor.