Chapter 499: Chapter 355: It’s over, am I not the Emperor’s biological child?
How could Xu Yang not detect the concern in Supreme Sage Taixu’s voice?
“Master Taixu, there’s no need to worry. Although I’ve never done sculpting before, I have great confidence in my sculpting skills… We have an old saying in Da Xia, ‘Having a well-thought-out plan’. I think my current state can be described this way!”
Xu Yang said with a smile.
In his words, there was an inexplicable self-confidence!
He had scared countless ghosts and gained numerous “skills”, but apart from Daoist skills, he had never used any daily-life “skills” in his daily life.
Now that he finally had the chance, how could he not seize it?
Having said as much, Master Taixu couldn’t really object any further.
He could only pray silently in his heart.
Hoping that Xu Yang wouldn’t botch the job too badly!
At the back.
Wang Hou and Xu Zhiyuan had also caught up.
Xu Zhiyuan asked in a low voice: “When did you learn to sculpt, grandson… I’ve only been dead for a little over four years. When did you find the time to practice sculpting in addition to your usual training, talisman drawing, and martial arts?”
Xu Yang bluffed: “I didn’t practice much. Mainly I watched some tutorials online when I was bored after cultivating. It helped me pass the time.”
Master Taixu: “……”
Xu Zhiyuan stared and said: “Does this… really count? This is a statue of Emperor Dongyue, you cannot afford to make a mistake.”
Xu Yang replied confidently: “Rest assured, Grandpa…Hey, look over there!”
As he spoke, he pointed to a cliff.
On the cliff, there was a smoothly polished giant rock embedded!
This giant rock was more than ten meters high, shiny and half-exposed outside, while the other half was embedded in the cliff.
With his foot on the auspicious cloud, Xu Yang came to the front of the cliff and looked at Master Taixu, asking: “Master Taixu, what do you think of this rock?”
“This…”
Master Taixu made a pained face and said: “Isn’t it too big?”
“No, it’s not too big.”
Xu Yang said: “I’ve never done this before, if I mess up, I can just start over.”
Supreme Sage Taixu tried to persuade him: “Celestial Master Xu, why don’t we go back… After all, as the Heavenly Master of our Daoist group, it doesn’t really suit your status to do this sort of thing yourself.”
“It’s okay.”
Xu Yang said: “No matter how esteemed the Daoist Heavenly Master is, he’s not more important than Emperor Dongyue.”
While speaking, he had already taken out the Bi Shui Sword and started mining the rock, he said while mining, “Furthermore, Emperor Dongyue and my father were as close as brothers. It’s only natural that I help him to repair his statue if it’s damaged.”
This giant rock embedded in the cliff, if an ordinary person wanted to dislodge it, it was almost impossible.
But with Xu Yang’s current strength and means, he quickly mined the giant rock.
Then he threw the boulder onto the auspicious cloud and returned to Dai Temple.
Standing in front of the headless statue that was already erected, Xu Yang cut out a piece proportionally. Then using the Bi Shui Sword as a carving knife, he started to sculpt the head of the statue of Emperor Dongyue.
His movements were swift, and under the carving of the Bi Shui Sword, the stone material continuously flew out. In just about 20 minutes, the shape of a head had been completed.
Seeing this, Supreme Sage Taixu finally exhaled in relief, asking Meng Mingshan to fetch a “portrait of Emperor Dongyue”, and said: “Celestial Master Xu, this is the portrait of the Emperor that we worship in Dai Temple. You can sculpt the facial features according to the portrait.”
Xu Yang took the portrait and scrutinized it carefully, then frowned and said: “This portrait…why does it look familiar?”
Supreme Sage Taixu was surprised, he leaned over to take a closer look and was astonished: “You’re right, it does look familiar.”
“Really?”
Wang Hou leaned over, glanced at the portrait of Emperor Dongyue, and said: “Don’t many of the portraits that your Daoist group worship look alike? Besides, the facial contours of this portrait are so blurry…”
Xu Zhiyuan took a closer look, his body slightly shook, and murmured: “This…why does it look a bit like Xu Yang?”
Xu Yang: “???”
What the heck!
He widened his eyes and stared at the portrait for a few more seconds. You couldn’t be serious…
It really did resemble him a bit!
No wonder it looked familiar to him.
“How could this be?”
Supreme Sage Taixu looked at the portrait, then looked at Xu Yang, feeling that the facial contours of Emperor Dongyue in the portrait looked more and more like Xu Yang…the more he looked…
A lightbulb lit up in the old Daoist’s mind, and he blurted out in surprise: “I understand now…”
But the next moment, he clamped his mouth shut.
Xu Yang, Xu Zhiyuan, and Wang Hou all looked at the old Daoist and asked: “What do you understand?”
The old Daoist shook his head and said: “Infinite Heavenly Venerate…it’s inauspicious to say, inauspicious to say…oh right, Celestial Master Xu, are you really the son of Emperor Beiyin of Fengdu?”
“My father, Emperor Beiyin of Fengdu, personally acknowledged it, could there be…”
Xu Yang’s words were cut off halfway, and suddenly he paused.
He felt…he was beginning to understand what the old Daoist meant. His face changed dramatically, his expression becoming incredibly complex, he murmured: “Impossible… that’s impossible!”
Xu Zhiyuan was utterly baffled and said in surprise: “What’s impossible?”
But Wang Hou had an expression of sudden realization: “Hehe…I never expected the underworld powerhouses to have such intriguing gossip, interesting, so interesting!”
Interesting your butt!
Xu Yang was dumbfounded!
He hurriedly said: “It’s impossible. Emperor Dongyue is a top-notch immortal deity in the world. He managed the underworld with my father and treated each other as brothers. How could this kind of thing happen…it must be a coincidence, the world is so big, sometimes two entirely unrelated people might look alike, that’s perfectly normal!”
Xu Yang even gave an example: “A few years ago I saw a news report online, there was a girl who looked exactly like another girl thousands of miles away…and they didn’t even know each other.”
Wang Hou picked up the thread of conversation and said in a deep, serene voice, “I know about the news you’ve mentioned, and even I thought it was absurd at that time. I even had the agents from the Supernatural Affairs Bureau investigate… the result of the investigation found that the two girls are actually biological sisters, because of a mistake made by their father still in his youth. After the story blew up, the man, afraid he might get punched by his wife, lied and said that he had never been to that city!”
“……”
Xu Yang was left speechless!
Wang Hou patted Xu Yang on the shoulder and comforted him, “Don’t be down, in a way… you are still the son of a great emperor.”
Xu Yang: “!!!”
Is this supposed to be the same thing?
Upon reflection though…
It seemed to be a reasonable argument?
For a moment, Supreme Sage Taixu became more respectful towards Xu Yang and from calling him “Celestial Master Xu”, he changed to “Master Xu”. After all, the Dai Temple has been honoring Emperor Dongyue for many years and if Xu Yang is the son of Emperor Dongyue, it made sense to call him “Master”.
Xu Yang felt overwhelmed and could only shake his head, dispelling the messy thoughts, “Sage Taixu, Minister Wang… Don’t make up stories, with my father’s, Emperor Beiyin of Fengdu’s, ability, wouldn’t he know whether I’m his legitimate son or not?”
Suspending Emperor Dongyue’s portrait to the side, Xu Yang, holding the Bi Shui Sword, began to carve according to the portrait.
Eyes.
Nose.
Ears.
Mouth.
These are the details.
It was definitely much harder than merely carving just a bust.
Xu Yang began to carve conscientiously, and it took almost over an hour to finally complete.
“It looks like him!”
“It truly looks like him!”
Supreme Sage Taixu applauded, “Master Xu, you truly possess superb craftsmanship! The character looks really identical to the portrait!”
Xu Yang: “…..”
Upon praising that the sculpture is identical, why are you staring at me?
Yet…
It does seem to look exactly like me!
Xu Yang kicked the sculpted head to shreds and started carving anew.
This time, it took him a full two hours, but the resulting sculpted head still … looked very much like his own!
He destroyed the second sculpted head.
Then the third time.
He still failed.
The facial features of the bust no longer resemble his own, but it seemed off, no matter how you look at it.
With one slash from the sword, he smashed the third sculptured head into pieces. Beside him, Supreme Sage Taixu offered some refreshing tea, “Master Xu, it’s already afternoon… Shall we go have a meal?”
“Please call me Celestial Master Xu!”
Xu Yang ground his teeth, “Stop calling me wrongly!”
Master Taixu: “Alright, Master Xu.”
After eating.
Xu Yang took a short break and embarked on the fourth attempt.
This time, Xu Yang didn’t immediately start carving, but instead studied the “Portrait of Emperor Dongyue” in detail.
He examined each detail of the facial expressions on the portrait/g.
After half an hour, Xu Yang began his composition.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
Stones danced and flew away with the swings of the Bi Shui Sword. Xu Yang’s moves were as smooth as flowing water, and he was engulfed in a strange state of mind…
It felt as if the stone had become a living entity.
He could clearly perceive the texture and grain of the stone.
Each of his carves seemed to land perfectly in the ideal spot…
Half an hour later, Xu Yang sheathed his sword.
He exhaled a long breath and revealed a satisfying smile, “I’ve succeeded…”
However, when his eyes fell onto the fourth carved head, Xu Yang stood dumbfounded.
“It’s a disaster…”
“Could it be that Minister Wang was telling the truth?”
“Did the traitor Emperor Dongyue… betray my father, Emperor Beiyin of Fengdu, in his harem?”
If the first two carved heads bore some similarity to Xu Yang’s appearance.
Then the fourth one…
Looked exactly the same!
From his looks, charm, to his spirit, everything was a spitting image!
Xu Yang felt as if the world was spinning around him… But, he quickly recovered and thought to himself, “Wait, why am I blaming Emperor Dongyue as a coward… If that’s true, wouldn’t Emperor Dongyue be my father?”
……
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