Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy



Alex painted two more scenes from his memories. 

One scene was of him standing in the crater of the Southern Continent, the one he thought he had created, but was instead the crater where Scarlet had been reborn. 

The scene was a simple one as there wasn't much to draw aside from a crater, some sand dunes, and a bright blue sky.

He got some praise from Tian Honglui for his painting and was also somewhat scolded because he chose another simple scene. The young man wanted to see him draw a difficult scene.

Alex made his next picture a little more complicated. It was the scene of him sitting inside a volcanic crater with magma surrounding him while snow fell from the sky.

It was the moment when he had received his Undying inheritance and that was the more complicated drawing he made.

The painting didn't come out as good as he wanted to. In fact, it had so many things he had to care about that overall, it was the worst of the three paintings he had made.

However, the young man didn't give him any flak for it being bad, only letting him know what mistakes he made.

"Now that you have an idea about how to paint something, your Majesty," the young man spoke. "I think it is time for you to try and learn on your own."

"On my own?" Alex asked. "It has been barely half a day since I started."

"I know," the young man said. "I'm not saying I won't be criticizing. I'm just saying that you should try and learn what you can by yourself before showing it to me. Of course, you are going to learn by looking at a professional's work."

The young man brought his own painting, one that depicted a simple scene of a busy market with people going about their daily life.

Alex looked at the painting and got a feeling of mundaneness. And in that mundane painting was a magnificence that only it could hold.

Alex could see steam coming out from the food stall and could smell the scent of flowers from the flower market at the front. He could hear the murmur of people at the front and could see how the detailed lives of many people had come together to become this.

Normal.

Alex shook his head, a little surprised that he was somewhat entranced by the painting. He looked at the painting once more and turned to the young man. "What exactly am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"Try and draw it one to one," the young man said. "Remember to figure out what is the background and foreground aspects on this one. Draw it as I've taught you before. Leave the details for the end."

Alex nodded and started drawing.

He copied the young man's painting starting from what was in the background. A sky and a road. After that, he added houses, stalls, and lamps. 

He then added the people, only in simple shapes and colors. Once that was done, he added the colors.

He looked at the painting and saw every single person that was drawn. Every shade of color on his body. Every shadow, every highlight. 

He copied it all and as he did so, he learned from it.

He finished detailing the people and detailed the houses as well. He then added the soft smoke and dust that he could see in the original painting and took a step back as he was done with the painting.

When he saw what he drew in its entirety, he was surprised this was his own work. 

It was nowhere near close to what the young man's painting looked like, but the problem mostly came from the colors he couldn't accurately portray and the different widths of outlines that he couldn't force his brush to make.

It all was of the same size and that was what made it inferior in his eyes. Adding onto the fact that it didn't have the aura of the original one. It could only be a cheap copy.

Even then… he was still surprised as it had turned out way better than he could've ever expected.

"That's amazing!" the young man suddenly said.

"What?" Alex turned to look at him. "You think so too?"

"Yes," the young man said. "I'm surprised how quickly you picked up everything. You might not need that many days to learn it all actually."

Alex couldn't help but smile.

"There are a few obvious mistakes, but not the ones that I need to tell you about," the young man said.

"I'm surprised you like it," Alex said. "I thought you would consider this a cheap copy."

"It is a cheap copy," the young man said. "But it is a fantastic cheap copy that came from someone who has barely made any paintings. Your majesty, if you continue at this rate, you will most definitely end up becoming a painter in a year."

"In… a year?" Alex asked. Going by his shock and surprise, he had thought the young man would say it would take lesser time.

"Yes," the young man said excitedly, not understanding that Alex wasn't very enthusiastic about it taking a year to become a good painter. "It took me at least a hundred years before I became any good. Even if I had a good teacher, I would've at least taken 20  years in the least. Your Majesty is truly too talented."

"Oh!" Alex said, smiling now. "That's good. Let's not waste any of our precious time then. What do I do next?"

"Let's continue copying a few paintings and then drawing your own original one to see how much you learned," the young man said.

Alex nodded and continued on his painting journey.

He spent in the room for another day, painting every single moment. He did his best to learn as much as he could from the young man and applied it to his own painting.

By the end of the day, the young man was way too shocked to even say anything. Alex was just way too talented.

"That should be it for today, Your Majesty," the young man said. "You need to rest and learn on your own for a while to get good at it. You can try using your Intent to make some of the paintings, but I suggest not doing that for a while."

"Just focus on painting," the young man said.

"I see," Alex said. "I will. When will our next session be held?"

"Hmm, I don't know," the young man said. "It will depend on the date that is chosen for my painting's evaluation."

"I see," Alex said. "Since I hear it will take some time, why not do it the day before the evaluation? Once the training is done, we can go straight to evaluation."

"If that is what Your Majesty wishes then we shall do that," the young man said. "For now, you should read a few books on painting. I will get you some on the way out."

"Alright," Alex said. "I will need a few brushes and canvases too."

"I shall get them too," the young man said. "As for our next session, I will let you know when I will be ready to hold it."