8 The School of Painting

3 Days later, it was 5.00 early morning in the McArthur family pavilion.

"Where is that stinky young master?" Raina started screaming to a servant.

"Young Master Trevon hadn't returned into the pavilion. Today Master Charles will meet with his teacher." The servant reported.

"I haven't ordered him a lot. That bet was my loss. Hmph..." Raina complained. "Well, I would play outside today then. That cousin of mine is no fun. Prepare the carriage for me!"

"Yes, Young Lady."

At the same time, in Grand Master Vale home.

"Well, you wake up so early Trevon. You are truly a diligent student." A bald old man got out of his room. In the middle room, A beautiful young man was trying his best at drawing painting. He tried to copy his own Margareth painting. If only Jerry and the rest of six-men heard this old man's comment, they would vomit blood from shock. It was impossible for the night owl Trevon to wake up early in the morning.

"Yes, this student of yours can't wait to capture the beauty of women all around the world. In order to reach that, I must capable to draw the soul."

"Good. Let me help you continue the path! You had already had the basic ability. We will move into harder techniques. After you master these techniques you could proudly call yourself Basic Painter. You are truly the most genius student that I ever had."

If Jerry and the rest of six-men heard this old man, they wouldn't feel this surprised. Their young master was famous for being a Master in several professions. Unfortunately, he never used them to get money or in a proper way.

Trevon was a Master Tea Ceremony Practitioner, a Master Wine Connoisseur, a Master Qin Player, a Master Pipa Player, a Master Incense Mixer, a Master Calligrapher, and a Master Poet. All of them are only useful for tricking young ladies.

However, if one was a Master Spirit Tea Ceremony Practitioner, then they would be highly sought out. Cultivators would ask them to prepare their tea. There would be a benefit for one cultivation after drinking the tea prepared by a Spirit Tea Ceremony Practitioner. If one wanted to add a spirit in front of their profession, they need to be a cultivator.

Even a cultivator who was a Grand Master Tea Ceremony Practitioner might not be a Grand Master Spirit Tea Ceremony Practitioner. Perhaps they might be an Apprentice Spirit Tea Ceremony Practitioner.

However, a Grand Master Spirit Tea Ceremony Practitioner must be at least a Grand Master Tea Ceremony Practitioner. For the courtesy, the higher ranked ranking would be used to call a person based on his occupation.

Of course, the important part was for one to reach master first before he would be called as a master. This was already difficult, but Trevon managed to master various common professions. He could be called as a Master Trevon if he wanted.

A good reason for studying the common profession was because it would help in studying the spirit counterpart of a profession. The spirit counterpart was usually harder than the common profession. It because of the difficulty in fusing spiritual energy with a product or service. Sometimes to progress in a spirit profession, one would need to reach certain cultivation rank.

Not all professions had the common counterpart. The examples were Inscription Master and Artificer. One could call the spirit inscription master or just inscription master. Those were the same. The professions required to have knowledge in spiritual energy.

There were also professions without spirit counterpart in example management professions. There wasn't a Spirit Recruiter. All recruiters were the same. A practitioner of these professions didn't have the right to use the term Master or Grand Master in their name. However, if someone managed to reach the Sage level, they would be called as Sage for their dedication to the profession. It was not easy to reach a Sage level in any profession.

Because of this, there were very few of Sage-level treasures. For example, Sage level painting was very hard to find. Since even a Sage Painter wouldn't be able to create a Sage-level painting from every drawing. This was especially for Sage-level spirit painting. It was rumored that the number of Sage Spirit Painter in the world could be counted using 1 hand. Sometimes 1 finger was more than enough.

"You are too rigid." The old man kicked Trevon back.

"Your grip is too powerful, weaken it." Another slap to the hand was given.

"This line is good." Sometimes a praise was given.

"This line is too thick. If you continued on this path, she would be a fat beauty, use 'Cloud Dancing Erasing' techniques." Sometimes a technique was suggested.

"Do you want to draw a lady or a bodybuilder? This foot is too long for a lady. Margareth only had 82.2 cm. Redo it!"

"This drawing of the robe. This part of her robe is created using 'Snowworm Silk' technique. Use the 'Water Come After The Rain' techniques!" Another suggestion was given.

"This color is too dark. See the painting again! Don't you want the field trip? You must have managed to reach Basic painter before you tried to capture women's beauties. Less than this, and you are just creating a disgrace to the female beauty."

After every harsh lesson, only "Yes, Master" was answered. The student added the suggestion into practice. If any previous Trevon's teachers heard it, they would also vomit blood. This untamed student suddenly turned into a model student.

"Good, I think it is for today. You should study in the library. You had to master the techniques to bring the soul of the painting. I wanted to prepare as I have an appointment to meet someone this night."

"Where are you going master? To the Pleasure House? You should bring me, let your student pay for your wine this time. Hwehwehwe."

"What Pleasure House? Redwood doesn't have any! Why do you think your family put you in Redwood?" Grand Master Vale, of course, had checked Trevon information.

"Why? This is impossible, there is no way a city as big as Redwood doesn't have any Pleasure House."

"You must have never heard of the 23rd clan leader of Redwood family. The family leader married with a daughter of a powerful Rank 3 warrior from a distant land. However, the family leader fell in love with a beautiful courtesan from a Pleasure House. The courtesan stupidly requested to be made as a wife if the family leader wanted to marry her. On the other hand, the 23rd Redwood family leader had a marriage contract. In their marriage contract, while the family leader was allowed to have some concubines, he had agreed not to have any other wives."

He continued. "At the same time, The Redwood family hasn't been as big as right now. They were just a medium family that had occupied a spirit stone mine. So, a backing from a powerful Rank 3 warrior was an important thing. But love is blind. The family leader married the courtesan merrily. All big families in his contact were invited as a custom for a wife marriage. He took the woman as one of his wives."

"The Rank 3 warrior suddenly found about the matter. He felt cheated by Redwood family and his pride was attacked. He brought some friends and attacked Redwood city. To make things worse, the courtesan maltreated the warrior's daughter. The angry warrior and his friends totally destroyed the city. 2 crystals were destroyed. Lots of Redwood family branches were destroyed. Their stores in different cities were attacked. That was the biggest disaster in Redwood family history."

"Then what happened teacher?" Trevon asked his teacher. Perhaps he understood that his teacher needed some chance to break that long story.

"Facing the prospect of clan destruction, Redwood family requested the help from allied families. But anyone as stupid to mess with an anger from several Rank 3 warriors? One would need a Rank 4 warrior. The cost of the fight would be very deadly. You could never pay for a Rank 4 warrior service. Those powerful warriors had never been easy to mobilize. Rank 3 warriors also aren't easy to be killed or captured. Deaths of multiple Rank 3 from both sides would be guaranteed." Grand Master Vale stopped his story for a bit. He needed to take some breath.

"There was also a possibility if the angry Rank 3 warriors changed their targets. What could be done if the angry Rank 3 attack their junior or their branch? It was impossible to protect every branch and every young generation with Rank 3 guards."

"So, the alliance asked the Rank 3 master and Redwood family to make some agreement. The first was to remove the family leader branch from the Redwood family. The Redwood elder assembly agreed to this request. There had been some inner competition in the family anyway. The second was the deadly blow for us, the common man. All Pleasure Houses were forbidden in Redwood and all villages under its administration. All families in the discussion were requested to enforce this agreement. Therefore, no matter what, we didn't have any Pleasure House in Redwood. Anyone who dared to open one will be join attacked by about 17 families."

"What happened to the family leader?"

"Rumor said that they created a new small clan in the neighboring Divine Arrow kingdom. It was too face-smacking if a family being forced to kill their own family leader. He was later replaced by his brother the current family patriarch. This teacher lesson is to never hurt your wives."

"Did you ever hurt you wives too, Teacher? Why the sudden lesson?"

"Who have ever had wives? You, Stupid Student! This old man is a virgin. All members of Byeontae including you are all virgin. People who were no longer virgin have to graduate from the school. They would become alumni." Grand Master Vale needed to take some breath.

"If you are affected by worldly pleasure, how could you draw the women fairly? How could you show your desire to praise their beauty? Also, how could one not hurt his wives if he went to Pleasure House like the proud member of Byeontae did? Imagine!" Grand Master Vale needed to teach the important lesson to his student.

"If I had a wife, what would happen to my Byeontae Palace? I don't want it to get burned. If I find the correct woman to be my wife, I will give It to the best student to save it from disaster." The old Grand Master spoke with a sense full of justice.

[Wow, the collection for me? Hahaha, I purchased the first painting for so much money. Now, I could get lots of them for free after this old geezer married. I should start to matchmaking him. Hahaha.]

"Why are you smiling kid?"

"I agree with you, Master! This discipline heard your lesson. Before I get married, I should have visited all Pleasure House in the world." Trevon would never say that he planned to matchmake the old geezer.

"Good. Every member of Byeontae has to marry in the end. It is the end of our journey to find the beauty who captivates one's heart. When we found one, we will create the best painting of Byeontae career." Full of wisdom, the Grand Master taught his discipline. "Do you have any question about that?"

"Well, I have a question for you master. How do you know that I am a virgin? Even my father won't believe if I say I am still a virgin."

"It is the bitter tea, only people who still had natural yang and yin would taste the flowery smell. I will give the tea seeds and the cuttings. You should grow your own tea tree, it was very easy to plant and have a good effect on relaxation. This is a special spirit tree only for our members. Never share the tree with other people!" Grand Master Vale opened the hidden palace again. He didn't forget to give some bundle of seeds and cutting to Trevon.

"Follow me! I will show you my predecessor's final painting. It is his ultimate Byeontae creation." He started to enter the hidden palace.

A painting was taken out. The lady in the painting was not that beautiful. But somehow Trevon could feel a difference in the quality of the painting. It was even better than his Margareth and Cecillia painting. There was some kind of aura that made him want to rank up.

"Is that a Sage-level spirit painting?" Trevon couldn't believe what he saw. The elusive rare Sage-level painting appeared in front of him. It was even a spirit painting. This was an ultimate treasure in the world.

"Now, check this painting! This is the final painting of my grand teacher."

"Another Sage level painting?" This time finally the chance for Trevon to vomit blood. There were 2 Sage-level spirit paintings hidden in an old man basement. While Lots of Rank 3 characters didn't even have a chance to see one in their long lifetime.

"All Byeontae's final paintings are all Sage-level paintings. This is the final painting of my grand teacher's teacher." Another Sage level Spirit Painting was shown.

"So many Sage Spirit Painter in your school of painting. Why have I never heard Byeontae school of painting before?" Trevon asked.

"It is because of your short understanding. The Heavenly Phoenix is just a country in the Continent Rising Dragon. Even the continent was one of the smaller continents in the world. Also, the last Sage level spirit painter was over a ten thousand years ago. There is a huge barrier between Grand Master and Sage level."

Trevon felt the huge distance. Previously, he had never aimed to be a Sage. However, after he knew Byontae painting, he had imagined becoming a Sage Byeontae painter. Of course, that is before he knew the virgin rule.

Grand Master Vale could see the change in Trevon mind. He continued. "Never give up! While becoming a Sage was hard, we can keep spreading the Byeontae painting. Remember our school of painting motto! To capture all beauty of women in the world!" Grand Master Vale gave a piercing glare into Trevon.

There was a great resonance in Trevon heart. The school painting motto and his motto were similar with a small difference. 'To capture all beauty of women in the world!', He just needed to remove "of" and replace the "y" of beauty with "iful". He could only nod in agreement.

"Oh, Teacher Vale. Why do you have a Sage level Spirit Painting? You have said that there hadn't been a Sage Painter in our school of painting in the last ten thousand years? You are not a ten thousand years old geezer, right?"

"Plak..." A slap landed on Trevon head. "You! Stupid student, I am not that old. I still had lots of time to create more painting. I am still virgin for you to remember. Hmph..."

"I am sorry, Teacher."

"But that was a good question. My teacher was still a Grand Master Spirit Painter. The grand teacher was also still a Grand Master Spirit Painter. The way of our school painting will have a possibility to create a Sage-level painting for their final painting. There are some whose final paintings didn't reach Sage level. Yet, their final paintings were definitely their best creation. If it turned into a Sage level painting, the impact would be the lowest of Sage level painting." Grand Master Vale explained.

"But there is another problem. As you know, we create 20 paintings per series. Only the first painting is sold to the masses to enlighten their path. Because of this, the final painting also consisted of 20 Sage-level paintings. The painting that I receive is only the first part. It is given as a guide for my path. Without the full series, we won't be able to feel the full effect of Sage level painting."

"That must be because the rest of paintings were the full glory of your teacher's wife." Trevon remarked.

Yes, the first painting was always the elegant, and beautiful side of the woman. It was the perfect painting for a marriage proposal. The painting which could make a man always want to look for the woman, again and again. It was similar to what happened with Trevon and Margareth or Cecillia. He always wanted to look for the two girls.

"Just shut up kids! Ahem..."

"Teacher, I never know you are this kind to me." Trevon said with teary eyes.

"What do you mean stupid kid?"

"I never know just by studying with you I can get a free Sage level painting? Hahaha."

"Slap..." Another slap was sent to Trevon head.

"Who said I would give these paintings to you? After I created my final painting, only the best student would receive the inheritance. The person will be selected as my inheritance disciple. I had already had 3.210 painting disciple, and 13 of them are worthy to join the Byeontae School of Painting. All of them are Grand Master Painters. 6 are Grand Master Spirit Painters. 3 of them already quit the Byeontae after their marriage. 2 of those 3 have already bequeathed their final painting to their students. The final one gave his final painting and collection to me since he didn't manage to find any successor." Grand Master Vale felt proud when he said his student had graduated.

"There are still 3 candidates other than you. Compared to those people, you are definitely the one with the lowest chance. You are not even a Grand Master Painter. You haven't had the right to call yourself a Grand Master Byeontae."

"What do you mean by that teacher? I am smart, ready to learn, and most importantly, I love the beauty so much."

"Well, while I agree that you have the best mindset, do you forget you came from a Great Family?"

"Why is that? Isn't it good that I came from a great family?"

"You were sent here to learn facial feature for recruitment department. Based on that, I believe that your family was no longer put you into the young master with the potential for cultivation. This kind of young master will be married before they reach 18 years old. They will hope for you to increase your family's population. Hohoho." Grand Master Vale gave a pitying face.

"And when you are 18 years old, you would be kicked outside of Byeontae school. On the other hand, I am still young and I didn't think I could create my final painting in this 3 years. Perhaps you would create your final painting first before me. At that time since you won't have any successors, you could give your collection to me. Hohoho." Grand Master Vale added more salt to Trevon.

"Also, if you somehow obtained the collection, do not hope sold it. You would only bring a disaster to the purchaser and your own family. If the headquarter heard this, they will send some fate reader to track you and the buyer. Finally, some Rank 4 warriors would be sent to kill you, your family, and the stupid buyer. There had been numerous bandit groups, sects, families, and even academies destroyed by the headquarter in the course of Byeontae history."

"There are Rank 4 warriors inside the headquarter?" Trevon felt surprised. He never knew such Byeontae school has lots of powerful members.

"Numerous. Don't you forget we had lots of alumni and our wide network? Of course, if we could get back the painting, we won't need to send such warrior. I don't think you will stay long in the school, therefore I didn't tell you about the school rule before." The grand master deeply looked into the lake around his house.

"But I will have to tell you a simple rule of the school. Our most important goal is our motto, to capture all beauty of women in the world. After you are no longer virgin, you will graduate from the school and become an alumnus. You can draw more female painting in the future but you could never call them, Byeontae paintings."

He pointed his hand to the heaven and continued. "Your graduation is the final painting. You should keep the last 19 for you know why. You have to give the first final painting to your best successor with your collection to act as his guide. If you can't find a successor, then you should give it to the best Byeontae member you know. If you still couldn't find one until your death, then find someone who you trusted. He will be tasked to keep the collection and find another member of Byeontae in your stead."

Grand Master Vale then pointed his hand to the hidden room. "The first scroll in your collection is your record. Who you inherit the collection from are also recorded here. The final destination of our collection will be in the Byeontae Gallery. It was where we Byeontae painter put our painting on the pedestal of beauty."

"Where is the headquarter master?" Trevon asked. A powerful organization with a Rank 4 as a backing, the headquarter must be in somewhere distant. Trevon could see it from Grand Master Vale's large collections. There had been several generations of painters who hadn't sent their paintings.

"In the center of the world. There is a very huge gallery of beauties that even larger than Heavenly Phoenix country. You can even see the beauties from over a million years ago. To put my painting on such gallery is my dream. It is also your grand teacher's dream and every member of Byeontae's dream. To visit it is the final pilgrims of our member." Now, Grand Master Vale looked into the sky full of hope.

"No way, there is no possible way there is a building bigger than a kingdom."

"That is your small knowledge. You should read the first cabinets in my library. There is history literature our school of painting. You can copy it. Perhaps you could find a successor for your path of painting. Hehehe." He started to collect the final paintings.

"Ah, I had to meet someone, he promised me some exclusive wine. Do you have anything to say to your uncle?"

"Just say, that I still need some time to study painting under you, Master!" [I am afraid that cousin of me still waiting to order me around in the pavilion.]

"Fine, I will tell him that, it is not good to study non-stop, you should go out to practice the observation."

5 minutes later, Grand Master Vale was in his wagon, he was about to meet with Trevon's uncle Charles.

[Hm... I seem to forget to tell that kid about the envoy from the headquarter. Well, it wasn't like he could become a Byeontae for too long. It had been 5 generations since the last envoy visit and we don't know when the next visit will be.]

This small mistake will be an important event in the future. Of course, it will be someone's misfortune.