"You are Tian Honglui?" Alex asked the young man with an amazed expression on his face.
"Hehe, have you heard of me?" the young man asked in a gleeful expression.
"I have," Alex said. "I have seen both of your paintings in the Hall of Fame. The Player's Descent and the Lightning God's Anger."
"Oh, you've been to the Hall of Fame, brother?" the young man said with a slightly surprised face. "You must be someone important to have been let in there."
"You could say that," Alex said softly. "Do you not know who I am?"
"Nope!" the young man said. "Should I?" He looked Alex up to down, judging him for a moment. "I can't really place you from anywhere at all."
"I assume you haven't been up to date with the continent's news for the past 3 years then," Alex said.
"Oh no," the young man said. "I've barely left this place for the past 3 years."
"I suppose you can't make a masterpiece without putting in the work. I'm sorry my beasts disturbed you," Alex said.
"That's alright," the young man said. "I'll just go back to learning about the Metal aura."
Alex got a little curious. "What do you want to learn about the Metal aura?" he asked.
"Do you know about the metal aura?" the young man asked.
Alex moved his hands and Metal Qi flowed out of it to form a small image of a sword. At the same time, the Metal aura from around the room coalesced in his hand, adding intricacies to the sword that wasn't previously present.
"Woah! Is that… dao of Metal?" the young man asked. "Is that what is it?"
"It is," Alex said.
"Can you teach me about the Meatl aura, brother?" Tian Honglui asked.
"I can," Alex said. "But are you sure you want to learn it from me? If I teach you about it, it will be harder for you to learn the Dao."
"No, no. Don't teach me directly," the young man said. "Just use your aura so that it is stronger than the aura in the mine. If I can notice stronger Metal aura, then I'm sure I will learn Metal aura within 2 months."
Alex shrugged. "I can, but what can you do in return for me?" he asked.
"Uhh… what do you want from me, brother?" the young man asked. "Ooh, how about a painting? I have a few paintings with me that I can give to you in exchange for helping me."
"If not… I can always give you some money?" the young man said.
"No, I don't need your paintings or your money," Alex said. "Instead, I want your painting skills."
"My… skills?" the young man was a little confused.
"Yes," Alex said. "I want you to teach me how to paint."
"Oh, teaching… I'm not sure I'm the right person to teach anyone anyhting, brother," the young man said. "I don't really know what I'm doing really. I just do what I want and the thing comes out generally good."
"You can teach me whatever you want," Alex said. "Even if you fail to teach me altogether, I will accept that as my fault."
"Oh, okay then," the young man said. "But that will mean you will have to wait here for 2 months. Is that okay with you?"
"Yeah, that is fine with me," Alex said. "Except, wait. Why are we staying in here for 2 months?"
"To see if I can learn Metal aura enough to paint the golden mountain," the young man said.
"Yes, I understand that, but why 2 months?" Alex asked. "I have to leave this place in a week. I might be able to extend it to a month, but any more than that and I will miss the auction."
"Auction? Isn't that in 2 months?" the young man asked.
"No, it's in 5 weeks," Alex said.
"What!?" the young man suddenly got up from his seat. "Then I'm getting late. I must quickly draw the golden mountain, or else I won't have anything to sell."
The canvas flew out of the rubble, setting itself in front of the young man. The young man started clearing up the canvas and Alex went to seat on a giant rock next to him.
"Why are you in a hurry to complete it before the auction when you are looking to sent it to the Hall of Fame?" Alex asked.
"Hall of Fame?" the young man shook his head. "Not every painting gets into the hall of fame. I have made thousands of paintings and of those only 2 have made it, and those two are miralces by themselves."
"I can make paintings that are very good, but none that are worthy of the Hall of Fame. Its just that I try to make every single one as if they are going to be the next one, and that helps me do the best I can."
"I see," Alex said. "Your two paintings in the Hall of Fame were quite amazing. I will hope this Golden Mountain becomes as good."
"Thank you," the young man said. "And of course, if it doesn't, I'm still going to be rich selling it in the auction, so I have to do it before it starts."
"Ah, I see," Alex said. "I need to hurry along too. I have some pills to sell as well."
"Let us begin then," the young man said. "Can you show me your metal aura?"
"Sure," Alex said and brought out his Metal Qi while using the Dao of Metal with the strongest Intent he could manage at the moment.
The young man was a little suprrised and looked at Alex for a second. He didn't imainge that someone that was barely at the 9th realm of Saint Core realm could bring out such a strong aura.
He smiled after seeing that. "You might just make for a great painter," he said and started focussing on the aura in front of him. He didn't have much time to learn as much as he could.
