Chapter 1 A Discussion on Art

The vast garden of the Magic Engineering Institute was lush with greenery, dewdrops clinging to the leaves and shimmering in the light.

At that moment, as the staff of the Magic Engineering Institute arrived, the automatic irrigation system in the garden began to operate.

Lan Qi and Vivian were still standing not far from the entrance of the old liberal arts building.

All because of the question Vivian had suddenly raised.

In the borderlands of South Wantina, Lan Qi had never met anyone who would discuss such topics with him.

Although the butler Hans and the maid Francine had expressed high praise for his paintings, they had never discussed professional art-related issues with Lan Qi.

Lan Qi thought for a moment and replied with a smile, "If I were to point out the differences... the goddess statue is carved so lifelike, her eyes are gentle and loving, immersed in the sparkling, rugged starry surface, sometimes vast and sometimes returning to calm, sinking deeper and deeper in a tranquil embrace, yet also seemingly rising to the surface, soaring upwards."

"Indeed."

Vivian nodded in agreement upon hearing Lan Qi's answer.

Although she agreed with Lan Qi's statement.

But after hearing so many similar views from famous artists, she felt a hint of mediocrity.

However, soon.

She heard Lan Qi continue.

"But if you ask me why this work is so moving overall, I think it starts with the Southern Cross constellation behind the goddess statue."

"Why?"

Vivian frowned slightly and asked.

People usually praise the goddess when evaluating this work, and the background, even though the carving is excellent, is not the main focus, serving more as a backdrop to enhance the goddess.

"The constellation that Mr. Jella carved actually has very subtle deviations from the official school emblem. Of course, it's not a mistake, just a difference in the angle of observation..."

Lan Qi looked at the carving on the dome again, his clear and focused emerald eyes seeming to precisely penetrate the position of each star, and sighed with fascination, "I'll just guess... could it be that the sculptor Mr. Jella was inspired by the stars that night and spontaneously carved this work? The starry sky that night might have been like the Creator's answer, giving Mr. Jella the incentive to make this work spiritually natural. With this realization, he poured his heart and soul into the starry sky, and in the end, it's hard to say whether he was carving lapis lazuli or starlight. And it's precisely this starry sky behind the goddess that makes the whole work seamless, highlighting the goddess to the extreme without taking away any of her moving radiance."

"!"

Lan Qi's absorbed remarks obviously startled Vivian.

The meticulous insight and understanding of the carving was unique and profound.

Vivian remembered that according to the records of the Ikritt Academy, the Magic Engineer Jella indeed completed this work at night.

Although it's impossible to verify the state of mind of the deceased Master Jella Zelt at the time of creation, it just happened to match Lan Qi's statement.

Vivian couldn't help but look up at the carving again, and felt that Lan Qi's words made more and more sense.

"You..."

Then she looked at Lan Qi's profile.

Seeming to suspect whether Lan Qi was really seeing this carving for the first time.

"I've made a fool of myself in front of Princess Vivian. Perhaps my guess is not thorough enough. If I have offended Master Jella, I hope you will forgive me."

Lan Qi felt Vivian's gaze, turned his head, and smiled brightly.

"I heard that your ancestors were all merchants, so you are very good at appraisal?"

Vivian came back to her senses, nodded slightly, and then asked.

Although Lan Qi had a good ability to appreciate, Vivian didn't know what type Lan Qi was good at, and what his own creative level was.

"Just a little understanding, it's just a hobby."

Lan Qi replied modestly.

Vivian knew that Lan Qi always spoke like this without any sharpness, but indeed, if Lan Qi himself had extremely superb artistic attainments, it would be impossible for him to be completely unknown in this field until now.

"To be honest, the royal treasury also has collections of the Magic Engineer Jella's works, each of which can be called a national treasure."

Vivian's tone didn't have the slightest hint of showing off, but it was rare to meet a like-minded peer, so she couldn't help but introduce, "If my royal brother Einol sees you, he might invite you to appraise them... forget it, you better not meet him, if you ever encounter a third-year student from the Magic Engineering Institute named Einol, be sure to avoid him."

Vivian stopped in the middle of her words and quickly changed the subject with a slightly awkward expression.

"Isn't Prince Einol as approachable as Princess Vivian?"

Lan Qi asked curiously.

He hated people who only said half of what they meant and riddle-makers the most.

But out of politeness, he still asked his question with more appropriate rhetoric.

"Am I approachable? Hmm... my brother is indeed very approachable, but his problem is that he's too approachable."

Vivian nodded after a moment of thought, and then explained.

Her brother, the second prince of the Hutton Kingdom, was a very unique person.

As a member of the royal family, he was quite disdainful of power and status, but only loved elegance and art.

And he loved to show off in front of people.

If Einol discovered that Lan Qi had a say in art appreciation, he would definitely invite Lan Qi to tour the royal palace with him, appreciate and comment on his many collections, and show Lan Qi the way of pretense.

"I see. Then Prince Einol is also a very good person. I will be careful to avoid him and not cause him any trouble."

Lan Qi roughly understood.

It was just that this prince was too enthusiastic, and would not be able to control himself when he met someone he could chat with.

"Well, there's no need to worry too much."

Vivian was sure that even if her idiot royal brother really met Lan Qi in the future and hit it off with him, he wouldn't pester Lan Qi too much.

Obviously, with Lan Qi's age, it was impossible for him to be a true art master.

Then her royal brother would at most show off to Lan Qi and there would be no follow-up.

While chatting.

Seeing that the old liberal arts building had started working normally.

The two of them walked into the building to go through the enrollment procedures.

Everything was very simple with Vivian by his side.

He felt like he had become a minister too.

In less than half an hour, Lan Qi happily left the Magic Engineering Institute and headed towards the dormitory.

The student service center would send the student's temporary luggage directly to the corresponding dormitory.

Lan Qi was quite satisfied with the school's service.

"Do you have a team in mind now? If you don't join a team, you probably won't be able to challenge the Shadow World."

Vivian walked with her arms crossed, lightly tapping her elbow with her fingertips.

She was going to the dormitory building as well, and they would be classmates in the Sage Institute in the future.

Students who are granted the qualification of registered challenger by the South Continent Shadow World Management Association can challenge the real Shadow World, of course, they can also form a team.

So in the school, there are many quite famous and powerful teams.

The school has clear regulations prohibiting first-year students from participating in the Shadow World challenge alone.

So often even if a student gets a registered challenger license as early as the first year, they will join a team and team up with seniors to challenge.

"Speaking of which, can't I find a first-year companion to form a team to challenge?"

Lan Qi asked curiously.

He really wanted to challenge the real Shadow World as soon as possible, and didn't want to waste any time.

Because after the Shadow World is opened, there will be a rejection time and it will not be possible to enter the Shadow World again, as the saying goes, the sooner you fight, the sooner the cooldown.

And joining a team, there are various running-in, arrangements, and preparation periods. As a newcomer, it would be difficult to get on the field quickly.

"That's purely an act of seeking death."

Vivian looked at Lan Qi and said coldly.

She didn't want Lan Qi to ruin himself because of excessive arrogance and ignorance. He was a promising talent of the Hutton Kingdom.

"Uh."

Lan Qi felt that Vivian's attitude had become a bit scary, but he also knew that Vivian was worried about his safety.

His understanding of the real Shadow World was only limited to some combat records and analysis literature. As a princess, Vivian knew many powerful challengers, and she definitely understood the actual situation better than himself.

"Speaking of which, compared to the difficulty of the third round of the exam, the real third-order Shadow World..."

"The difficulty of the third-order Shadow World is far greater than the second-order 【Infinite Phantom Canyon】. Even with the addition of stricter modifiers, they are not at the same level."

Before Lan Qi could finish his question, Vivian answered decisively.

She found that Lan Qi obviously did not realize the danger of the real Shadow World.

How could a artificially simulated second-stage Shadow World fragment be compared to the difficulty of a third-order Shadow World!

If Lan Qi really became arrogant and complacent because he passed the entrance exam and was exempted from the exam and got the license, he would cause serious trouble in the Shadow World sooner or later.

Vivian took a deep breath and felt that even if she became a bad person, she would have to wake Lan Qi up.

But before she could organize her words, Lan Qi asked again:

"Suppose, I mean suppose, add the three negative modifiers of 'small hill terrain', 'examiner rank increased from four to five', and 'examiner starting distance halved' to the 【Infinite Phantom Canyon】 exam, can it compare to the third-order Shadow World?"

After hearing this, Vivian was stunned.

What devilish modifiers, how could anyone come up with this?

The nature of the exam had completely changed.

"...What are you joking about? If you add these three modifiers, I believe no new student can pass. This is almost a berserk third-order Shadow World."

Vivian murmured hesitantly.

Generally speaking, if a serious error occurs during the Shadow World process, resulting in the inability to successfully reach the end and defeat the final powerful enemy through the mechanism, or even being hunted by the final powerful enemy first, it is often called the Shadow World entering a "berserk state".

And in a third-order Shadow World that has fallen into a berserk state, the third-order challenger may need to directly face the hunt of a fifth-order final powerful enemy.

After speaking, Vivian looked at Lan Qi again in confusion.

It couldn't be that Lan Qi and Hyperion encountered these modifiers, right?

If these two passed the exam, how abnormal would Lan Qi be?

"Then I have a rough idea of the difficulty of the third-order Shadow World."

Lan Qi nodded, holding his chin.

Then as long as he pulls in his old teammate Hyperion, and the real Shadow World they match into as a team, their ranks are two and three respectively, and it will be a second-order or third-order Shadow World without any accidents.

On the contrary, it is much easier than joining a team and teaming up with third-order and fourth-order seniors.

"You... didn't you and Hyperion encounter these three modifiers?"

Vivian tilted her head suspiciously and stared at Lan Qi.

Although she thought it was impossible.

But at that moment, she felt that Lan Qi seemed to have an inexplicable calmness and steadiness. Even though she was a princess with good insight, she felt a little unable to figure out Lan Qi's depth.

"Of course not, how could it be these three?"

Lan Qi smiled and waved his hand, shaking his head.

He encountered the modifiers "plain terrain", "angry Ferat", and "one-third distance".

A little different from what he told Vivian just now.