Dragon's Origin

“Me?” Wang Sheng was taken aback. Although Grandmaster Lu had said so initially, everyone could see at the time that it was because Grandmaster Wu questioned the legitimacy of Wang Sheng and the others being there. Now, he really wanted Wang Sheng to step up?

“Since carving those three Lao-Tzu statues, what else have you carved?” Although Grandmaster Lu didn’t have the formal title of teacher to Wang Sheng, they had the substance of it. "Let everyone see if your skills have deteriorated."

“To be honest, I’ve only learned engraving, not sculpting.” After the meal, everyone dropped the formalities of seniority, and all referred to themselves simply as 'I,' and Wang Sheng was no exception. Since Grandmaster Lu insisted on Wang Sheng showing his skills, Wang Sheng had to explain to everyone else first to avoid misunderstandings.

“I know you haven't learned sculpting, only engraving.” Grandmaster Lu became impatient. “Hurry up.”

“Alright!” Wang Sheng stood up and began to look around. To sculpt something, he needed to find a suitable material. He couldn't just grab anything, could he?

“That wall!” Grandmaster Lu casually pointed in a direction.

Everyone followed Grandmaster Lu's finger and saw a mud-brick wall. This was one of the courtyard walls. Originally, the inside was mud-brick and the outside was plastered with white ash, but now the white ash had peeled off so much that it was barely visible. Many of the mud-bricks had also weathered away. The entire wall looked pitted and uneven, with exposed mud-bricks everywhere. It looked like it would collapse with a little force.

Could such a wall be used for sculpting? Especially with a monster like Wang Sheng, who possessed immense strength. Wouldn't a single poke of his finger result in a pile of dirt?

Could it be sculpted? Wang Sheng suddenly recalled the scene when Grandmaster Lu was guiding him in that small mountain village, especially the final demonstration of using a hammer and chisel to treat the black-clothed man as a moving material. Since Grandmaster Lu could even sculpt living people, what was a mud-brick wall that couldn't be sculpted?

Wang Sheng stood up and, under everyone's gaze, slowly walked to the wall. He reached out a hand and began to stroke the wall, walking and touching, seemingly feeling every inch of that side.

Not only that, but after touching this side, Wang Sheng jumped out of the wall with force. He started from the other side and touched it from beginning to end before jumping back.

Everyone was astute, so they naturally knew that Wang Sheng was familiarizing himself with the material. Whether it was blacksmithing, sculpting, or even making defensive gear, you had to understand and familiarize yourself with the material before you started to decide how to proceed.

After jumping back, Wang Sheng still didn't start, but instead walked back and forth slowly along the wall with his hands behind his back, as if he were pondering what to sculpt.

However, Daoist Qing Ling quickly noticed that there seemed to be a familiar spiritual energy fluctuation in the surrounding air. His heart stirred, and he understood. Wang Sheng was using the 'traveler' verse of the Nine Words mantra to explore the inside of the mud-brick wall.

What should he sculpt on such a wall? While Wang Sheng was pondering, the space in his spiritual soul shook, and then the giant stone tablet supported by the Bixi appeared again, the nine large characters on it shining brightly. Wang Sheng immediately had an idea.

“After engraving the Lao-Tzu statues, I’ve only engraved nine characters, nothing else.” Wang Sheng decided what to sculpt and turned back to Grandmaster Lu and the other grandmasters, saying, “Today, I’ll engrave these nine characters again.”

Grandmaster Lu nodded and didn't say anything. When Wang Sheng said he wanted to learn sculpting, he said he wanted to sculpt the characters on the stone tablet. He must have been referring to these nine characters! Iron Old Man was also there at the time, and several other old men and women also remembered the situation. Everyone became curious.

What characters was Wang Sheng going to sculpt? He didn't hesitate to come to the Exquisite Pavilion to learn sculpting from a sculpting grandmaster for these few characters. Seeing that the answer was about to be revealed, everyone was looking forward to it.

Just as Wang Sheng took out a hammer and chisel and was about to approach the wall, Grandmaster Lu suddenly stopped him. “Wait!”

Stopping, Wang Sheng looked at Grandmaster Lu in confusion. Grandmaster Lu walked forward, looked at Wang Sheng's hammer and chisel, and reached out to take them. The chisel was normal, but the weight of the hammer almost made Grandmaster Lu drop it. Fortunately, he immediately activated his eighth-level cultivation, which prevented him from making a fool of himself.

“How heavy is this hammer?” Grandmaster Lu asked in surprise and uncertainty. He didn't know about the set of hammers and chisels that Old Man Ling Xu had made for Wang Sheng.

“This one is two thousand pounds.” Wang Sheng honestly replied.

A wave of surprised glances swept over. It wasn't surprising because of Wang Sheng's strength, but because of the weight of the hammer. It should be known that with such a heavy hammer, if one wasn't careful, the wall would definitely be smashed down. Wang Sheng dared to use such a heavy hammer, which meant he must have a certain amount of confidence and was sure of success.

In that case, Wang Sheng's sculpting level was quite high!

“This one is two thousand pounds? Are there any others?” Grandmaster Lu's eyes lit up, and he heard something else in Wang Sheng's words.

“There’s also one that weighs a thousand pounds, one that weighs a hundred pounds, one that weighs five pounds, and one that weighs one or two.” Wang Sheng honestly replied, “The five-pound one was taken by someone, so now there are only four.”

None of the remaining four hammers were of normal weight. The only normal five-pound hammer was taken by someone else. However, Grandmaster Lu's attention was obviously not on the normal weight hammer, but on these four abnormal hammers.

“So that’s how it is!” Grandmaster Lu suddenly laughed. “I said that when you were making the Lao-Tzu statues, you were still a bit clumsy. So that’s how it is.”

Everyone didn't know what Grandmaster Lu understood. It must have been a mystery of sculpting. They just had to wait and see.

“This time, use the one-ounce hammer, and I’ll take a good look!” Grandmaster Lu chose a hammer for Wang Sheng, but it was the lightest one-ounce hammer.

Those who didn't understand sculpting and didn't understand craftsmanship, such as Meiniang and Shopkeeper Chen, thought that Grandmaster Lu was definitely helping Wang Sheng by letting him use the lightest hammer so that he wouldn't accidentally knock the wall down. But those who knew the trade, like Iron Old Man, understood even more how difficult it was to sculpt this mud wall with a one-ounce hammer.

It should be known that Wang Sheng's strength could be calculated in tens of thousands of pounds. Wang Sheng didn't feel tired even after swinging a tens of thousands of pounds hammer all afternoon. If he used a one-ounce hammer, he wouldn't achieve the desired effect with one hammer strike. If he used a little bit of force, the mud-brick wall would probably collapse immediately. This difficulty was ten times harder than using a two-thousand-pound hammer.

Amid everyone's expectations, Wang Sheng took the lightest one-ounce hammer, walked to the wall, placed the chisel on a mud-brick, and struck it with the hammer.

Ding, the sound of the one-ounce hammer hitting the chisel was just like the sound of an ordinary hammer hitting it. It sounded magical.