Denny came to Ye Chui’s place not only to deliver the master’s sculpture but also because she knew Jacob would be coming today.
Ever since his identity as the prince was confirmed and he became the thirteenth prince, Jacob had been protected within Prince Gale’s residence. However, Jacob was not accustomed to life in the prince’s residence. He had just gained the power of an archmage and needed to hone his strength, and there was no place better for honing strength than with Ye Chui. Following Ye Chui around and mixing with him guaranteed all sorts of surprising encounters.
Over the past two days, Ye Chui and the others had visited Jacob once, but Denny had visited even more frequently. Yesterday, she had heard Jacob mention that since Ye Chui’s manor was almost fully renovated, he planned to move here to live, and Prince Gale had agreed to Jacob’s decision.
From the perspective of the thirteenth prince’s safety, in the current imperial capital, there was probably no place safer than Ye Chui’s. Leaving aside the undead army that Ye Chui could summon within the manor, Ye Chui’s reputation alone made him an existence that no one in the entire imperial capital dared to provoke.
Not long after Denny arrived, a convoy of carriages pulled up outside the manor. Those carriages belonged to Prince Gale, and in the lead carriage were Prince Gale and Jacob.
On both sides of the convoy, there were teams of black-armoured guards escorting them.
Jacob and Prince Gale alighted from the carriage, and Ye Chui and the others were already waiting at the door to welcome them. Jacob had changed into a plain white robe. He was originally a handsome young man, and after this careful dressing, he appeared even more extraordinary. However, Jacob himself did not particularly enjoy such attire and looked somewhat awkward.
He happily hugged Denny, but at this moment, Debbie became extremely interested in the carriages that Prince Gale had brought: “Little Seven, what exactly is in those carriages?”
“Hehe, I heard that your castle is undergoing renovations, so I specially brought some artworks. These are all treasures from my collection. If it were not for you, I would not be willing to take them out.” Prince Gale said with a smile, then waved his hand, instructing the servants he had brought to unload the crates of precious paintings and carry them into the manor.
Ye Chui and Debbie both became curious. In fact, over these past few days, quite a few noble clans and powerful figures in the imperial capital had been sending gifts to Ye Chui, which was only natural. Ye Chui’s fame was now at its peak, he had merit in protecting the illegitimate son of the emperor, he had gained the royal family’s attention, and on top of that, his own strength was formidable while his style was exceptionally domineering. Who knew how many people wanted to curry favour with him.
Ye Chui had originally wanted to refuse these overtures of goodwill, but Prince Gale had reminded him, “It is best to accept these people’s gifts, otherwise they will panic on their own. For a great guild like yours, who knows how many people want to fawn over you.” Hearing Prince Gale say this, Ye Chui had no choice but to accept the gifts. However, seeing Prince Gale now sending so many things made Ye Chui and Debbie indescribably curious.
After all, Prince Gale was a prince; his gifts should not be ordinary.
“What exactly are these paintings?” Debbie immediately opened one of the crates and took out a painting from inside, saying.
Prince Gale smiled, gently stroking his beard, and said, “These are all works by Master Kandinsky.”
“Kandinsky again!?” Ye Chui was immediately shocked and turned to look at Denny.
Upon hearing this name, Denny’s body trembled slightly, then she turned her head to look at Prince Gale, her expression becoming extremely strange, as if to say: Your Highness, I never expected you to be this kind of person…
“Bloody hell, there is something fishy about this Kandinsky!”
A sense of vigilance immediately arose in Ye Chui’s heart. He hurriedly opened his spellbook and selected the search engine he had not used in a long time, typing in the name Kandinsky. Moments later, he indeed found a large number of memory articles about Master Kandinsky.
And a few minutes later, Ye Chui’s face had turned green.
Kandinsky was indeed a master, and thirty years ago he had indeed been renowned for a time. His sculptures and paintings had once sold for high prices at auction houses.
The distorted style of art he created had once been praised by people.
However, all of that was ruined on a certain day thirty years ago…
Someone discovered that he was secretly having an affair with a noblewoman!
And that noblewoman was the wife of the then-famous “Blue Knight” of the Star Empire.
The Blue Knight was one of the empire’s top experts, commanding the empire’s national guard. His status was equivalent to that of a general with real power in Ye Chui’s other world. He was also a duke himself. For Master Kandinsky to have a tryst with the Blue Knight’s wife? This was absolutely a super scandal!
After that, this master with questionable morals quickly vanished from the scene. Some said he had been assassinated by the Blue Knight, others that he had secretly left the Star Empire and hidden elsewhere, but in any case, after that he completely disappeared.
His works also plummeted in value instantly.
Sculptures that had originally been worth thousands of gold coins instantly depreciated into worthless piles of stone. That distorted style was instantly mocked by several other art masters, and the craze extinguished in an instant.
Those who had spent a fortune buying Kandinsky’s works back then had nowhere to cry. Those works could now only be displayed in some secret rooms, gradually gathering dust… Yet now, both Hoin and Prince Gale had successively sent large quantities of Master Kandinsky’s works to Ye Chui.
Bloody hell, were you dumping rubbish?
Looking again at the paintings in those crates, they were all twisted things that one could not even tell what they were supposed to be. Calling them artworks was more like calling them a child’s scribbles, and the scribbles of a child with questionable intelligence at that.
At this moment, Debbie was deliberately putting on an appreciative expression, having Green hold the painting while she propped her chin and nodded occasionally, murmuring, “Mm, mm, it truly has profound artistic depth…” and such words.
Ye Chui patted Debbie’s shoulder and told her about Kandinsky’s background. After hearing it, the little girl immediately had veins bulging on her forehead. Bloody hell, these things were just rubbish? She immediately stormed off angrily to confront Prince Gale, who had already entered the manor.
Ye Chui also “hehe” smiled and looked at Denny.
Denny hurriedly hid behind Jacob, forcing a smile: “It is all Father’s fault. He said there was no place to put these things at home and it was not good to just throw them away, so he simply sent them here. Anyway, you have plenty of space…”
“Guildmaster, do not blame Denny.” Jacob also hurriedly stepped forward and said, “My magic cultivation can actually make good use of that stone sculpture.”
“Who are you trying to fool? How could your magic possibly use that thing?” Ye Chui asked somewhat annoyed.
“My gravity magic can alter the weight of objects. Prince Gale said I should start practising by eliminating the gravity on objects. I think that stone sculpture is the most suitable for me. I can try eliminating the weight of that stone sculpture to hone my magic.” Jacob defended Denny.
For a moment, Ye Chui could not find a way to refute him, so he “hehe” said to Jacob: “Fine then. From now on, every day you have to carry that stone sculpture and walk a lap around the manor.”
Jacob’s face immediately turned bitter.
And Ye Chui had already rushed into the manor to settle accounts with Prince Gale. In the front garden, there was a pavilion where Ye Chui saw Prince Gale and Debbie. Debbie was furiously saying something to Prince Gale, while Prince Gale wore an apologetic smile. When Ye Chui approached, Prince Gale hurriedly stood up: “Ye Chui, you came at just the right time. I happen to have something to tell you…”
Debbie interrupted him: “We can talk about that later. Take these paintings away first and we can still be friends.”
“Sister Debbie, these paintings were worth tens of thousands of gold coins back in the day. They are most suitable here with you. This matter is settled, anyway I have no place to put them anymore.” Then he continued to Ye Chui, “The Crown Battlefield is about to begin. Every prince will participate, and they can also bring seven guards. You will accompany Jacob into the Crown Battlefield, yes?”
“The Crown Battlefield?” Ye Chui was stunned, then nodded. “Jacob is also a member of our guild. Since he is a prince, we must assist him in ascending to the throne. I, Debbie, Raisa, Guni, Green, Xilaisi, the six of us will all participate.”
“Mm.” Prince Gale was not surprised by Ye Chui’s answer. In fact, among Ye Chui’s group, Green and Raisa were not considered top experts, but since they had followed Ye Chui through so many adventures unscathed, it proved they had their own unique strengths. They were perfectly suited to be Jacob’s guards. However, one more was needed. Prince Gale said, “At that time, I will arrange for a black-armoured guard swordsman to accompany you.”
“What exactly is the Crown Battlefield? What are the specific rules?” Ye Chui then asked. Since the Crown Battlefield had not been held for many years, information on it was scarce.
“The Crown Battlefield is a secret realm with a special connection to the Star Empire’s royal family. Every person with royal prince blood can obtain a guardian spirit in that secret realm. The guardian spirits have extremely strong combat power in the secret realm. The princes compete with each other, eliminating other princes’ guardian spirits to gain the secret realm’s blessing, obtain the crown, and become crown prince.” Prince Gale explained, his words carrying some sorrow. The so-called competition among princes was in reality a situation of mutual slaughter. In past history, almost every Crown War ended with other princes dying tragically and one prince emerging victorious.
This was the Star Empire’s cruel ritual of the past, and unexpectedly, it was to be revived now.
“So that is how it is?” Ye Chui’s eyes lit up. “Are those guardian spirits classified as titles like swordsman, berserker, assassin, lancer, and so on?”
Prince Gale looked puzzled: “Why would you say that? Of course not.”
“Oh, nothing.” Ye Chui quickly shook his head and continued asking, “Then go on. What exactly are guardian spirits?”
“Guardian spirits are all past sages of the Star Empire: kings, generals, powerful magic guild masters, mercenary group leaders… These figures who left their mark in Star Empire history will be summoned by the Crown Battlefield and, after death, become its guardian spirits. Their existence is similar to heroic spirits. What kind of guardian spirit the princes awaken is also unknown; it depends on their personal abilities and talents. Perhaps they will awaken a powerful emperor guardian spirit, or maybe just an ordinary civilian swordsman guardian spirit. It is all uncertain.”
Prince Gale explained: “However, in the Crown Battlefield, while the guardian spirits’ power takes up the most weight, the princes’ and guards’ own strengths are also crucial. So I hope that in the time before the Crown Battlefield opens, you can find a way to enhance Jacob’s power.”
“You do not need to worry about training Jacob. I am confident I can greatly increase Jacob’s magic power in a short time.” Ye Chui immediately guaranteed. What Jacob lacked most now was that his magic power had never been trained, so its quantity had always been minimal.
“I am at ease with your methods.” Prince Gale nodded, then stood up. “It is getting late. I still have matters to discuss with my fourth brother…”
“Wait!” Debbie, who had been standing by with a sulky little face, immediately stood up. “Little Seven, take those paintings with you too!”
“Haha, the weather today is really nice…”
“Hey, you are not leaving those paintings behind!”
“I must set off quickly. The North Ridge Empire’s delegation has already arrived in the imperial capital today. I have to attend the banquet…”
“You give me a moment!”
“Coachman, no time to explain, get on the carriage!”
“…”
In the end, Prince Gale still left the several carts of Master Kandinsky’s paintings here and hurriedly departed…
Debbie was extremely displeased and had the remaining servants throw all the paintings into the basement, planning to find a time to send them back to Prince Gale. The little girl was fuming at the moment and, seeing the sculpture standing at the door, walked over and kicked it. Then she could not help but cry out in pain, holding her leg and squatting on the ground…
Everyone: “…”
Denny hurriedly went to comfort Debbie, while Jacob walked to Ye Chui’s side: “Guildmaster, you said you have a way to enhance my magic power… It is not going to be by making me carry the sculpture, is it?”
“Hehe, you definitely have to carry the sculpture, but the method I mentioned is not that. Rest well today. Tomorrow morning we start special training.”
Ye Chui patted Jacob’s shoulder and said, then looked at the others: “Debbie, Green, Raisa, Guni, and Xilaisi, you all have to participate in tomorrow morning’s special training too. Denny, you stay here as well and join the special training tomorrow. I am confident that in these remaining dozen or so days, I can increase all our magic powers by a level!”
Ye Chui was not boasting when he said this; he really had a method.
Did he still remember the One Punch Man BGM that Ye Chui had unlocked when he summoned One Punch Man?
That BGM was Teacher Saitama’s exclusive BGM, but it itself could not be unlocked in the resource library. Ye Chui had searched for it and could not find this piece of music at all. He could even find the Northeast Danyangge dance accompaniment, yet he could not find this anime hot track that had been quite popular back then!
Such a BGM could not be unlocked with points.
A couple of days ago, Ye Chui had played this BGM, wanting to test if playing it would allow him to possess Teacher Saitama’s power.
If that were really the case, would he not be invincible?
But the result greatly disappointed Ye Chui. This BGM was not for combat at all. Its effect was: training!
When playing this BGM, a prompt directly appeared on the screen of Ye Chui’s iPad spellbook:
“Please complete the following exercises under the BGM:
100 push-ups
100 sit-ups
100 squats
10 kilometre run.
Upon completing the exercises, strength will be enhanced. Note: This BGM is a group BGM.”
Bloody hell, this turned out to be a training BGM!
