The Prodigies War
chapter-18

‘Take the challenge or not?’

After calming down, Lin Xun repeatedly asked himself the same question. Everything he heard so far was unknown to him.

He didn’t know what danger would be involved in the first level of the Great Azure Cloud Path, also known as Spirit Refining. He also was worried about the consequences he would face if he were to fail.

However, he was certain that his success would be rewarded with the Little Divine Meditation Art and he would be one step closer to the Omega Door, the blood-red door at the end of the Great Azure Cloud Path.

‘Should I do it or not?’

No one was around at such a time to advise Lin Xun on what to do. He had to decide for himself.

‘Wait!’

Lin Xun suddenly thought of something—’ If there is no one here, where did that voice come from?’

“Elder, dare I ask what preparations I need to pass the first level?”

Lin Xun suddenly raised his head and bowed in all directions. Even if he didn’t know who was speaking, a polite manner was the best when asking for help.

However, no one answered him no matter how long he waited. Only the light screen continued to emit dazzling light before him.

“It seems that I need to make a decision myself.”

Lin Xun sighed inwardly, but his eyes suddenly flashed a resolute glint. He was never an indecisive person.

Since such an opportunity was right in front of him, he wouldn’t be happy if he didn’t give it a try!

“Let’s do it!” Lin Xun spat out.

It was like a signal. The previous clear and icy voice rang once again, “The test now begins. Only when you comprehend and master the Flowing Light Rune will it be considered a pass.”

‘Flowing Light Rune?’

‘To think the test was to evaluate my skill in drawing runes?’

While Lin Xun stood there puzzled, the light screen in front of him rippled like it was awakening.

Soon, Lin Xun saw a complex and obscure rune pattern shining within the light screen. Each rune rippled livelily like streams of dancing light, dazzling his eyes.

Mesmerized, Lin Xun subconsciously stepped forward, staring even more intently.

Lin Xun had started to follow Mister Lu from a young age and as a result, he had developed a strong understanding of the art of runes.

Runes could also be called rune patterns and each one exhibited a different ability or power.

They were divided into basic and advanced based on the specific rune’s power.

Basic runes were those with just a single rune pattern, such as the fire rune, azure wood rune, and the aged gold Rune.

Advanced runes were also called rune formations and were composed of several basic rune patterns.

To put it simply, rune masters tended to call basic runes and advanced runes as rune patterns and rune formations, respectively.

This naming system was related to the classification between rune apprentice and rune master.

In the cultivation world, a person who could skillfully control thirty-six basic rune patterns was called elementary rune apprentices, and those able to successfully master seventy-two basic rune patterns were called intermediate rune apprentices. Anyone who mastered 108 or over was considered an expert rune apprentice.

As for runemasters, only those able to solely complete a rune formation were considered qualified.

Of course, Lin Xun had no knowledge of such titles, but he was very familiar with various basic runes.

In his years of following Mister Lu, his daily life inevitably involved drawing runes. By now, he had mastered over one thousand rune patterns.

However, they were all basic runes. Given his current cultivation base, he could only draw basic runes.

But even so, other rune masters’ jaws would drop when they learned that Lin Xun had mastered over one thousand runes at the age of thirteen.

After all, anyone who mastered 108 basic runes was called an expert rune apprentice.

This clearly demonstrated Lin Xun’s extraordinary mastery of basic runes.

It was a pity that Mister Lu had never told Lin Xun about the different classifications. Moreover, Mister Lu acted dismissive every time Lin Xun asked about it.

However, no matter how Lin Xun racked his brain, he had never heard of Flowing Light Rune in the world of basic runes!

Despite that lack of knowledge, Lin Xun could tell from a glance that the rune within the light screen was a basic rune and not a rune formation.

It was just that he had never heard of the name Flowing Light Rune before, nor had Mister Lu mentioned a word about it to him either.

Of course, Lin Xun knew the number of basic runes in the world was as vast as the open sea, and although he had no understanding of it, it didn’t mean it was nonexistent.

He organized his thoughts. Now that he knew that the first level of the Great Azure Cloud Path only involved a basic rune pattern, his heart quivered.

Without any hesitation, Lin Xun began to concentrate.

It was only when he started to comprehend the basic rune that he realized his mistake. A ridiculous mistake!

The Flowing Light Rune was moving endlessly in different tracks like a thousand streams of dancing light.

Each one was incredibly mysterious, but when the thousand tracks repeatedly crossed and overlapped one another, it was no longer mysterious, and instead looked complex and obscure!

One glance at it could blur a person’s vision and make it impossible to figure out anything. Looking at it longer would make the person confused, annoyed, and even vomit blood from being unable to bear the stress.

Although Lin Xun was thin and frail, he had a tough mind, which was an essential quality for a rune apprentice.

If a practitioner's spirit wasn’t strong enough, it would be difficult to comprehend and control rune patterns.

Therefore, not all cultivators were suitable to become a rune master. This was also one of the reasons for the low number of rune masters in the world.

The Flowing Light Rune, however, even made Lin Xun feel like his head was swelling, and began to feel extremely exhausted.

Lin Xun couldn't control his shock because he realized that he had underestimated the Flowing Light Rune.

Although it was indeed a basic rune, it was extremely unique and completely different from the foundation in runes that Lin Xun had grasped.

The vein lines and tracks of every basic rune he had previously encountered were traceable. Even the more complicated patterns weren't too difficult to understand.

Most importantly, basic runes were always in a static state!

This was common sense because every basic rune possessed unique rune veins and fixed tracks. When drawing a rune, if its vein lines and tracks deviated, it would be impossible for it to display its power and would be equivalent to failure.

It was similar to writing in that each word had a different meaning and a wrong stroke expressed a different word and made the word lose its meaning.

But the Flowing Light Rune broke Lin Xun’s conventional thinking. It was the first time he realized that rune patterns could actually ‘move’!

However, even if he learned that the Flowing Light Rune’s vein lines and tracks could and did change, how could he possibly draw it?

Once a rune was drawn, it should have a fixed track and vein lines!

Lin Xun was increasingly astonished the more he thought about it. The Flowing Light Rune was becoming progressively more unusual to his eyes. He felt that no other basic rune in the current cultivation world could likely compare to it.

It was too unique. It destroyed the conventional standard and had its own new style!

‘Is it still considered a rune pattern?’

Lin Xun knitted his brows in deep thought for a good while but still couldn't come to an answer.

Then, he stopped pondering over that question and focused on studying.

Time flew by before he knew it. Lin Xun felt his head become increasingly swollen and heavy, and his mind was under tremendous pressure.

Both his vision and heart were filled with the tracks of dancing runes, which were so concentrated, so complex, so chaotic…

Vaguely, Lin Xun seemed to notice streams of flowing light streaking across the dark sky, some dim, some bright, some long as a strand of silk, and some as short as feathers…

But regardless of what kind of flowing light they were, they vanished like fireworks in a flash.

Faintly, Lin Xun grasped an idea that flashed through his mind, and subconsciously, he lifted his finger and gently drew on the light screen.

Like a brush, his fingertip lightly and gracefully stroked the light screen, creating faint marks that proudly danced about as soon as they appeared.

As Lin Xun continued to draw, several marks emerged one after another, each one lively and quick as they constantly fluttered on the light screen.

Soon, an astonishing scene appeared. The runes that were originally dancing energetically on the light screen, like a coordinated school of fish moving together, suddenly gathered around the marks that Lin Xun made.

A slight smile curled Lin Xun’s lips. ‘As I thought!’

He continued to swirl his finger, creating more and more marks on the light screen. Soon, when he saw the light screen could no longer support anymore, he suddenly flicked his finger.

Buzz！

Following a strange buzz, the countless rune marks began to gather and combine on the light screen.

In the end, they all merged into the one under Lin Xun's fingertip.

Boom!

Immediately after, the entire light screen broke down into a rain of light and vanished.

Lin Xun put his hand away knowing that he had comprehended the secrets of the Flowing Light Rune.

The secret was that the Flowing Light Rune wasn’t a basic rune, but instead, a passed down technique!

It was just that someone had used the art of runes to integrate the mystery of the technique into each of the rune vein lines!

The name of that technique was precisely the Little Divine Meditation Art!

Lin Xun muttered, “It should be called the Inheritance Rune instead. Who would invent a new rune pattern just to pass on a technique? This person is incredible…”