Chapter 852 - He Shocked Himself With His Own Greatness

Translator: Henyee Translations  Editor: Henyee Translations

The so-called convergence here wasn’t the literal meaning of the word. Rather, it was a state of harmonious balance between the heavens and earth.

In Yuan Zhou’s Nine Dragon Sculpture, the Cloud Dragon was the heavens and also the earth. Thus, after the cloud and the dragon converged, the nine dragons converged as well.

Yang Shuxin’s Nine Dragon Sculpture with a prominent Coiling Dragon at the middle of it, Yuan Zhou’s Nine Cloud Dragon Lines could only be noticed from the minute details.

Fortunately, the issues of this sculpture had been solved and the only thing one could see was dense clouds and mist.

The clouds were thick, and at a glance, the clouds seemed to be a curtain of the sky. When one peered into the clouds, one could see three dragons hidden within.

One dragon had bright and clear eyes, seemingly moving as fast as lightning in a joy.

One dragon had neatly lined up scales, giving off a cheerful feeling, as if one’s spirit was bathing in the rainbow.

One dragon showed its teeth, seemingly in a contemplation, capable of causing the earth to quake and the mountains to shake.

That was an extremely shocking sight. Even if this was an ice sculpture, one could still feel the majestic of the dragons. Apart from that, the winter peach tree served as a clear dividing line in this sculpture, seemingly a tree erected by the immortals, a tree with incomparable boldness.

From the left side of the sculpture, the empty branches of the peach tree could be seen, indicating that the sculpture would not be giving off such majestic feeling from the left point of view.

From the left point of view, one could see that the clouds appeared light and gentle. A dragon was soaring amid the clouds, looking like a cloud itself yet not a cloud, also looking like a dragon yet not a dragon.

Basically, this ice sculpture had reached a level where regardless of whether one was studying it or only giving it a rough glance, one would not be able to determine if the clouds had transformed into dragons, or if it were the dragons that had blended into the clouds. One could only see rising winds and scudding clouds, rising clouds, and soaring dragons.

From each angle, one would be able to see something different. And in the middle left of the sculpture was the winter peach tree, also giving off a different feeling from different angles. From the front, it had the largest number of branches, and from the back, it only had one single lonesome branch.

When one looked at this sculpture from the back, the first thing one saw would be the dragon and not the clouds.

The dragon’s whiskers were droopy, its eyes were shut, with clouds twisting around its body while it lounged there, partly hidden amid the clouds.

If one used Yang Shuxin’s traditional classification of dragons, this dragon could be classified as the crouching dragon. But in Yuan Zhou’s sculpture, this dragon was a worried dragon. Between its drooping whiskers, tightly shut eyes, and horns that seemed to have been washed out by the passage of time, the dragon appeared old and senile, while the roiling clouds around it seemed like they were the blood of a cloud dragon.

And beside this dragon was a smaller dragon. There seemed to be tears in its eyes. The clouds were graceful and fickle, yet the dragon’s body was curled up.

No explanation was required for this part. When looking at the sculpture from the back, one could see a story. The old cloud dragon was about to die, but was worried about the young dragon’s future.

The little cloud dragon was sorrowful and afraid, guarding the old cloud dragon’s side at all times.

If one said that Yang Shuxin’s Nine Dragon Sculpture was a bomb, Yuan Zhou’s Nine Dragon Sculpture would be a nuclear warhead that instantly lit the crowd up with excitement.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that without the Queuing Committee keeping order, there would already be a crowd rushing and pasting their faces on the sculpture by now.

“Are the ice sculptures sculpted by these two even the same thing as the ice sculptures I usually see?”

“All nine dragons are lifelike, each giving a different feeling. This is amazing.”

“Holy sh*t. Holy sh*t. Holy holy sh*t.”

“Today is the best day ever. I get to see the ice sculptures of two masters for free.”

“These sculptures have my utmost reverence. They are too amazing.”

The works of a master in ice sculpting did not require people to have a certain level of understanding in it to be able to appreciate them. Even without understanding anything about sculpting, one could still see the greatness of a masterpiece.

It was human nature to pursue beauty.

Some were busy taking pictures, while some wished they had more eyes to gaze upon these sculptures.

“I feel like Boss Yuan’s sculpture is better. Look, even the dragon’s expression is clear. This is crazy.”

“Boss Yuan is too amazing. If I am half as good as him with knives, I will be able to make enough money to eat in his restaurant every single day.”

“I mean, Master Yang’s sculpture is good as well. Look, there are mountains and water, and all sorts of dragons. It feels complete.”

A number of them preferred Yang Shuxin’s sculpture as well. After all, it was normal for people to have different preferences.

However, the vast majority of them preferred Yuan Zhou’s sculpture. After all, Nine Cloud Dragon Lines was truly an exquisite piece of art.

A certain customer was speaking loudly in stupefaction.

“I searched online previously to find that this person is called Yang Shuxin. He is one of the best ice sculptors in our country. At that time, I felt like although Boss Yuan is great, he will at most get a tie with this Yang Shuxin. After all, Boss Yuan specializes in cooking. Unexpectedly, from their completed works, Boss Yuan’s Nine Dragon Sculpture looks even better.”

The place was filled with lively discussions with everyone talking at once. The previous time this place was so lively was when Yuan Zhou offered a discount.

The source of this lively crowd, Yuan Zhou and Yang Shuxin, were presently completely exhausted in body and mind. Yuan Zhou had returned to his restaurant to sit down and rest, while Yang Shuxin was sitting on the chair his assistant brought him.

“This Master Yuan is too great…” muttered the assistant Little Feng as he looked at Yuan Zhou’s piece. “It’s fine for Teacher to be so good at it. After all, he has been training for so many years and has rich experience. But what am I to make of this Little Master Yuan that can also sculpt a Nine Dragon Sculpture?”

Both Yuan Zhou and Yang Shuxin ended their rest at the same time and returned to their sculptures. They stood before their sculptures, gazing upon their creation.

Yang Shuxin nodded as he gazed at his work. He was very satisfied with this piece. He seemed to have understood something as well.

In truth, it was not like he had surpassed his limits this time to complete this Nine Dragon Sculpture. He had merely persevered more. In other words, when he was sculpting the Nine Dragon Sculpture in the past, he would feel exhausted by the time he reached the seventh dragon, and by the time he reached the eighth dragon, he gave up.

It was not that he was lazy, but he had set invisible fetters on himself.

But when he was competing with Yuan Zhou, he forced himself to persevere on, causing him to break off the self-imposed fetters and completed a work that was satisfactory to him.

Yang Shuxin looked at the expressionless Yuan Zhou and concluded that perhaps this Yuan Zhou had already realized that long ago.

Moreover, when Yang Shuxin recalled how Yuan Zhou did not seem nervous at all, he concluded that Yuan Zhou was a rarely seen talent that at a young age. He also had a temperament and the bearing of a grandmaster.

Although Yang Shuxin did not have the time to study Yuan Zhou’s work yet, but from the reaction of the crowd, it was obvious Yuan Zhou had completed his piece as well.

To the side, although Yuan Zhou was expressionless, when he gazed at his Nine Dragon Sculpture, he thought to himself inwardly, “Holy sh*t, such a beautiful ice sculpture. Is this really something I sculpted?”

He was so great he himself was shocked.

After they were done looking at their own works, it was time to look at the work of their opponent. Both Yang Shuxin and Yuan Zhou walked towards the other’s ice sculpture.

There were no judges deciding the victor in this competition. Even Old Yan and Old Gu were only invited to watch.

Yuan Zhou and Yang Shuxin had a tacit-understanding that they shall decide for themselves who the victor was.

“Ten points.” This was what Yuan Zhou gave Yang Shuxin. There were water and nine different dragons that were all vivid and lifelike. Regardless of the angle in which one looked at it, there were no flaws. This was an absolute masterpiece and was worthy of the 10 points Yuan Zhou gave.

And when Yang Shuxin looked at Yuan Zhou’s Nine Dragon Sculpture…