Given the current pace of New City’s construction, and the usual traversal routes of wizards, the best place to hold the art exhibition would be the task coordination area near the entrance of New City.
This task coordination area, serving as the temporary command center before the New City is fully established, is not only a place to receive tasks but also a city planning center for distributing materials.
Due to the demand for materials, wizards generally come to the task coordination area when they arrive at the New City, making it the region with the highest traffic at present.
However, although there are many buildings in the task coordination area, they are all temporary structures, making it difficult to find a suitable place to hold an art exhibition.
"Or should I just hold an open-air art exhibition?" Angel thought to himself, after all, these paintings are constructed using magical illusions, impervious to wind and rain.
Angel pondered while walking towards the task coordination area.
Upon arriving at the task coordination area, Angel first wandered around a bit, observing the surrounding buildings as he did so. During his stroll, he was also silently evaluating in his mind.
As he had thought earlier, temporary buildings hadn’t considered aesthetic appeal, mostly barely functional, with the exception of the provisional city hall. They are mostly drab stone structures, rather primitive in appearance.
Even if Angel only used Illusion Technique to simulate Feng’s paintings, placing them inside such rudimentary buildings felt like an injustice to the art. Moreover, placing the paintings here might not capture the attention of other wizards for the exhibition.
Angel considered whether to construct a more elegant gallery nearby.
While Angel was contemplating this, a sudden sound came from behind him.
"I’ve been toiling nonstop, constructing the New City, while you, on the other hand, are acting like a hands-off manager."
Angel turned around to see a glamorous witch adorned in a rose-patterned court dress approaching him.
"Good afternoon, Lianna," Angel greeted with a cheerful smile, deliberately ignoring the complaints in Lianna’s words. He could tell that although her words were full of grievances, her tone wasn’t angry, and she wore a gentle smile, indicating she was in a good mood.
After all, personally building such an unprecedented tea party that might even change the tide of the era. Despite the hard work, Lianna found it remarkably sweet.
Sure enough, once Lianna approached, she didn’t mention the "hands-off manager" thing again. Instead, crossing her arms, she gazed directly at Angel: "When you first arrived here, I saw you through the window on the third floor of the city hall... I watched you wander around here for quite a while. What are you doing?"
Lianna originally thought Angel had come to find her. After all, she was currently the only wizard in the task coordination area. But after arriving, Angel didn’t even go to the city hall, instead leisurely wandering the surroundings, causing Lianna to be deeply curious and thus come over directly.
"Huh? What did you say? Art exhibition?" Lianna expressed disbelief upon hearing Angel’s response.
"Yes, I want to hold an art exhibition here."
"If you said you were going to host an alchemy works exhibit or a new product launch, I wouldn’t be surprised. But you said you’re hosting an art exhibition?" Lianna: "Since when did you start pursuing pure art?"
"I don’t intend to showcase my own paintings." Angel casually gestured, using the Authority of ’Celestial Alternation’ to create an oil painting framed with rose vines through Mirage Technique.
"Not your paintings?" Lianna looked skeptically at the illusion Angel had created.
"Your illusion cast in the Wilderness of Dreams, it’s truly astounding." Lianna praised while focusing her attention on the painting.
The painting depicted a midsummer town viewed from a mountaintop. The colors were incredibly vivid, using a palette of bright, saturated hues, merely looking at it evoked the lazy warmth of summer heat.
Even after carefully observing for a long time, Lianna... still couldn’t discern the origin of the artwork.
Ultimately, it was the signature in the bottom right corner that revealed the artist to her: "Milafeer Feng."
"Is this a painting by the Magic Painter Wizard?!" Lianna exclaimed.
Angel nodded: "Yes."
Looking at the artwork again, as someone who hasn’t even stepped into the threshold of painting arts, previously Lianna only regarded the painting as simply beautiful, but upon knowing it was by the Magic Painter Wizard, the more she looked at it, the more beautiful it seemed.
Though she couldn’t pinpoint what was appealing, it was simply more pleasing to the eye than before.
Pretending to appraise, praise, and contemplate it for a few minutes, Lianna then turned to Angel: "This painting, indeed by the Magic Painter Wizard, is imbued with a deep sense of historical weight, as if one sees time swirling and flowing within it."
Angel: "..." Where do you see the historical weight?
Observing the seemingly earnest nonsense spouted by Lianna, Angel paused in silence but decided not to expose her.
"The exhibition I’m planning, all the artworks within are paintings by the Magic Painter Wizard." Angel directed the conversation back on track.
"Such an exhibition would surely attract many wizards with an interest in art like me," Lianna paused, "But, I still don’t quite understand, why do you wish to host such an exhibition? Just to display the Magic Painter Wizard’s paintings?"
"During my recent outing, I unexpectedly discovered a batch of Feng’s paintings. At first glance, they appear to be ordinary oil paintings, but considering the artist is the Magic Painter Wizard, I suspect these artworks might hide some secrets."
Lianna did not probe into how Angel discovered Feng’s paintings, instead, she followed his thought and said, "So, you want to use the exhibition as a means to leverage other wizards’ appreciation skills to explore potential secrets within the oil paintings?"
"Exactly." Angel made no attempt to conceal, after all, he couldn’t stay in the Wilderness of Dreams indefinitely. Once the exhibition was underway, if any wizard indeed discovered a secret within the paintings, he would need Lianna’s assistance to convey it.
Lianna pondered carefully, feeling there might actually be a real possibility in Angel’s speculation.
After all, he is the renowned Magic Painter Wizard.
The Magic Painter Wizard’s artworks are filled with oddity and mystery. Even the most ordinary oil paintings might hold intricately arranged secrets by him.
"You plan to host the exhibition in the task coordination area?"
Angel nodded: "This area has the highest wizard traffic, hosting the exhibition here makes it easier for them to see. The problem is, there doesn’t appear to be any buildings suitable for an exhibition nearby, I’m considering whether to specifically construct a gallery."
Lianna: "That being said, the task coordination area is ultimately temporary and will definitely be dismantled eventually. Even if it’s currently popular, once dismantled, this place would be deserted. My advice, place the exhibition within the New City."
"It’s not required to exhibit for long, a few days should suffice."
Lianna, however, shook her head: "Such masterpieces should not be displayed just for a few days; a plan for at least a year and a half seems appropriate."
"Huh?"
Angel’s stance was just to exhibit for a few days. But Lianna didn’t see it that way; earlier she hadn’t taken it seriously, but after thoughtful consideration, realized this was quite a remarkable opportunity.
Feng’s paintings, even if they are just ordinary paintings with no hidden secrets, embody the essence of art!
As the host of an upcoming cross-century tea party, Lianna feels this is a great opportunity to showcase this essence.