The crowd of painters looked back in surprise toward Alex. Even Senior Ran and Tian Honglui were surprised at his words.
"Your majesty," Senior Ran spoke with a soft smile, seeing Alex try to help them. But it was already over.
"We are happy to hear Your Majesty loves young Honglui's paintings," Senior Guan said. "But unfortunately, you must be a painter to—"
"Be a painter to what?" Alex asked. "To judge the painting?"
Senior Guan tried to continue speaking but paused as he stared at Alex who stared back at him directly. "Are you saying that just because I am not as good as you all in putting colors on paper, I am not fit to judge the quality of one when it is put before me?"
"No, that's not what I mean," Senior Guan quickly said. "It's just that only painters of this continent are allowed to evaluate and judge it."
"If I'm not allowed to evaluate the painting then why was I let in?" Alex asked. "If I'm not fit to judge, then why was I made to stay?"
"I—" Senior Guan didn't know how to say what he wanted to say without offending the king. He took a moment to think and nodded. "You are right, your majesty," he said. "You are allowed to vote. Junior Ran, please include his Majesty's vote as well."
Senior Ran nodded and bowed toward Alex in thanks. However, that alone was not enough at all.
"The voting has changed from 10 in favor and 11 against it, to 11 in favor and 11 against it," Senior Ran said. "It has come to a tie."
Alex looked around. At least he had managed to make it a tie, instead of an outright failure. Surely that helped something, right?
Senior Ran could only frown. "Since it is a frown, we will have to gather another day to judge and evaluate it with a fresh mind," he said. "We must include a few more painters of Level 8 and higher levels."
"I'm afraid that is going to take 2 weeks," Senior Guan said. "We will have to gather another day."
He stood up and looked at Alex before bowing. "Will Your Majesty be visiting the evaluation another day as well?" he asked.
Alex looked up front at the young man and older man next to him and asked, "I will most definitely come," he said. "But, before you all leave, I wish for a question to be answered."
"What question might it be, your majesty?" Senior Guan asked.
"Do you always postpone the evaluation of a painting to some other day when it comes to a tie?" he asked.
"We try not to tie," the old man answered. "That is why we gather an odd number of painters to evaluate. If there does happen to be a tie due to some painter's reluctance to answer, then it is in fact moved on to another day."
"Is there no other method of breaking a tie right now?" he asked.
"There is none," the old man said. "Unless His Majesty the Emperor himself comes and tells us what to do, a tie is always broken by—"
"Great!" Alex said and quickly pulled out something before tossing it over to Senior Ran.
Senior Ran held what he was given and within moments his hands shivered by the weight of what he held.
"Your majesty!" He looked up, his hands wide open for everyone to see just what it was that he was holding.
When everyone saw what it was, their eyes went wide immediately as uncontrollable shock filled their hearts
"In the Dragon Emperor's absence, I shall use the authority he had given me to break this tie right now," Alex said. "The painting will go to the Hall of Fame."
Senior Guan gulped.
With the presence of the Dragon Medallion, there was nothing he could say that could counter Alex's words. As a holder of the Dragon Medallion, his words were only behind the Crown Prince and the Emperor himself in terms of importance.
Alex walked down the room, walking past the gazes of everyone that were there, and arrived on stage. He took the medallion from Senior Ran's hand and looked at Tian Honglui.
"Congratulations!" he said. "You are the only person to not have two, but three paintings in the Hall of Fame. Be proud."
He slapped the young man's shoulders a few times before walking away, leaving him on his own.
Tian Honglui was in shock for a moment as all hopes he had lost had come rushing back somehow. He was stunned beyond belief as he struggled to even realize if this was a fantasy or reality.
Senior Ran quickly nudged him, breaking him out of his stunned state, and forcing him to turn towards Alex.
He finally had to accept that what he had just witnessed was indeed reality and he quickly bowed in his direction. "Thank you, your majesty!" he shouted to Alex who was already walking down the hallway.
He smiled in happiness as what he had strived to achieve for the past several years finally came to fruition. He thanked Alex even as he was out of earshot.
Alex left the painter's guild, letting them deal with the hall of fame and all. He would meet up with the young man once everything around the painting and hall of fame was settled.
He felt like he had paid back what he owed to the young man for the past few weeks. Now that everything was done, he walked back to the Gold King's Palace to go spend his time in peace before the auction began.
He had quite a lot to do as well. Downgrade pills, make a wood pill, practice his painting, learn some—
Just as Alex was thinking about what he had to do, something happened that caught his attention.
At first, it was subtle and he couldn't even tell if it was even real. However, within minutes, it became apparent that his feelings weren't his imagination.
It wasn't just him either. Almost every strong individual around the world felt it to varying extents.
Something big was happening.
The source of this c𝐨ntent is fre𝒆w(e)bn(o)vel