The Prodigies War
chapter-473

Rune Armament!

It was a kind of unfathomable aeth treasure that only a rune grandmaster who had mastered spirit gathering was able to fathom.

Of course, that was only the qualification to study it. It would be even more difficult to make one!

Shen Tuo was an experienced rune grandmaster with a spirit-gather ability, but he had never made a rune armament in his life!

He knew about the difficulty in making a rune armament better than many people in the world.

First of all, it required several rare rune materials, which would cost at least fifty million gold coins.

That alone was an obstacle to many rune grandmasters.

After all, fifty million gold coins were enough to purchase a large battleship! It was an astronomical amount.

Secondly, the making of a rune armament involved many ancient, obscure rune patterns and arrays, and the slightest error could cause a catastrophic change and failure in the rune armament!

Shen Tuo had previously spent several years making a rune armament along with several rune grandmasters from the Rune Department, but a slight mistake in the rune patterns ruined the rune materials and their efforts had all been wasted.

The most terrifying thing was that one of the rune grandmasters had been hugely impacted by the failure. Almost half of his cultivation was destroyed after he had invested so much time and energy into the making of the rune armament.

The experience made it clear to Shen Tuo that not anyone could make precious treasures such as rune armament.

In the present empire, only the old monsters of the rune founder level could successfully cast a rune armament!

However, there were only a handful of such old monsters in the world.

The most famous rune founders were all being worshiped in the Divine Workshop, Rune Master Association, the Rune Department or the three great rune clans.

Therefore, that was why Shen Tuo had an unusual and rude response when he confirmed that Lin Xun had wanted to borrow the ninth floor of the Refinement Tower to cast a rune armament.

Shen Tuo drew several deep breaths before he could suppress the astonishment in his heart. Then, he wanted to confirm it again. “Are…are you kidding?”

“No.”

Lin Xun shook his head. He, of course, wasn’t joking.

Shen Tuo’s eyes blazed as he asked, “How confident are you in succeeding?”

If someone else had said they wanted to make a rune armament, he would have treated them as a lunatic, but Lin Xun was different. Despite being only sixteen years old, he had evoked the nine draconic cries phenomenon and had created an unprecedented miracle.

Moreover, he had miraculously restored the damaged Sword of Apocalypse, a rune armament, which had no hope of being repaired!

Lin Xun’s amazing feats had made Shen Tuo start to believe that the youth could make a rune armament!

Lin Xun shrugged and said, “I have a rough idea, but I’m not sure about my chance of success.”

Shen Tuo stared at him blankly, the excitement subsided from his heart and his mind became much calmer. He realized that he had been a little too excited too early.

Lin Xun had no experience in refining rune armament so he, of course, had no idea how difficult it was.

Perhaps, he only wanted to attempt to make a rune armament.

“Then, what kind of rune armament are you planning to make? Have you got the rune materials ready?” asked Shen Tuo.

“A spear,” Lin Xu stated without hesitation.

He had wanted to make it for Lin Zhong. There were only very few people he could trust with his life in the entire world, and Lin Zhong was no doubt one of the very few.

“As for the rune materials…” Lin Xun sounded helpless.

“What is it?”

Lin Xun didn’t try to hide anything and calmly explained, “I’m still missing seven or eight kinds of rune materials, such as the five-element iron of the ancient star, cloud light sea soul silk, black divine gold jade essence…”

Shen Tuo was dumbstruck. He realized that he had gotten too excited too early. Those rune materials were not only rare but also almost impossible to find!

For example, the five-element iron of the ancient star contained the essence of the five elements and even a thumb-sized piece was worth thousands of gold coins. It was considered a heaven-grade rune material.

The black divine gold jade essence had long disappeared from the world. The only ones remaining were only found in the imperial family and ancient aristocratic clans.

“Kid, it's going to be difficult.” Shen Tuo sighed

He had started to suspect whether Lin Xun was playing a prank on him. If he lacked so many rune materials, how could he make the rune armament?

“Which is why I came here to find you.” Lin Xun grinned.

“Me?”

Shen Tuo smiled wryly. “Kid, you think too highly of me. I might know a little about the rune materials you lack, but it would be extremely difficult to get hold of them...”

Lin Xun’s eyes lit up. “As long as you know a little about them, I have some rune materials to exchange for them.”

With a flick of his sleeve, a silvery glow on the ground dazzled their eyes.

Shen Tuo didn’t believe Lin Xun at first and thought he was only joking. After all, the rune materials he wanted were extremely rare and nothing could be exchanged for them.

However, he froze and fell into a dazed-like state at the dazzling glow from the treasure.

The silvery glow was illusionary as it swayed like the stars like a miniature roaring waterfall. It wasn’t only magnificent but also had a natural supreme beauty!

Too beautiful!

Shen Tuo was shaken. He could instantly tell the treasures were silver grass stems. They were all perfectly straight and sharp and looked like supreme swords or halberds capable of piercing the sky!

Shen Tuo was most stirred by the extremely pure and rich aeth qi that surrounded the silver rune materials. They seemed ethereal, cold but fragrant and could penetrate the depths of the soul.

“Their leaves are like swords, their spirits are like stars, their light is dreamy and illusionary…”

A thought flashed across Shen Tuo’s mind like lightning and made his body go stiff. He cried out, “Could they be silver frost sword grass?”

To Lin Xun’s surprise, Shen Tuo had recognized them right away. He nodded. “That’s correct.”

Lin Xun had acquired the silver frost sword grass from the ancient ruins in the Spirit Burial Sea.

When he had first arrived in the Forbidden City, he had an urgent need of money so he sold several kinds of medicinal herbs, such as the nine twisted heart iron, pure void spirit flower, Azure Fiendish Dragon Wood, Great White Meteorite Iron and Tear Stained Scarlet Shadow Grass, to Stone Cauldron Alms. He had received an astonishing amount of money for them.

As for the rune materials left on Lin Xun, such as the silver frost sword grass, true sun dragon essence fruit and purple sprite iron, they were all extinct treasures worth a remarkable amount.

“It’s really them! They still exist in the world!”

Shen Tuo’s eyes blazed with excitement. “Even in ancient times, they were considered rare treasures because they are first-class medicines. They could bring people back to life and restore flesh and bones. Even great cultivators of the Cyclic Derivation Stage would fight to the death over them and even a Life Death Stage King would covet them!”

Lin Xun was surprised once again. Shen Tuo had said the same thing as the Azure Turtle when he had described the marvelous ability of the silver frost sword grass.

“Those treasures have long disappeared from the world. I thought they were only legends. I never thought that I could see some today. Unbelievable!” Shen Tuo repeatedly marveled out loud.

The appearance of the silver frost sword grass had a huge impact on him.

Just as Lin Xun was about to speak, Shen Tuo exclaimed again, “Heavens, there are ten of them! Isn’t it said that a person would burn to ashes if they touch one?”

Lin Xun sighed inwardly as he watched on. An always serious and dignified rune grand master was repeatedly screaming and exclaiming like a little kid. That was the power of rune materials. They could tempt any cultivators.

After a long moment, Shen Tuo restored his calmness a little and said with a complicated expression, “It seems like you came prepared.”

Lin Xun bowed respectfully. “Elder, please can you help me?”

“Do you really want to use these stalks of silver frost sword grass to exchange for rune materials?”

Lin Xun nodded.

“Okay, leave it to me. I believe that no one will refuse to exchange for rune materials when they see a silver frost sword grass!” Shen Tuo happily agreed.

“I remember that some old guys in our Qinglu Academy have some of the rune materials you need. Oh, there should also be some in the Divine Workshop…”

He began to think about whom to exchange for the rune materials with the ten stalks of silver frost sword grass.

“Elder, one of the silver frost sword grass is for you. Please don’t exchange it.”

Shen Tuo’s eyes went wide. Then, he immediately understood that this was Lin Xun’s payment for helping him.

He couldn’t help but clap Lin Xun on the shoulder and said emotionally, “You—you still don’t understand the value of these silver frost sword grass. If I let out some words, all sorts of powerful people will come crying and begging me to exchange for one.”

He continued with a smile. “I can also gain some favors that way. There are many benefits.”

Lin Xun gasped inwardly. Ginger indeed gets spicier as it gets older.

“By the way—”

Shen Tuo suddenly remembered something. He said with a frown, “There is a rune material that can’t be exchanged for. From what I know, there is only one stored in the Langya Treasure House of our Qinglu Academy in the entire empire.”

“What?” Lin Xun narrowed his eyes.

Shen Tuo said, “It’s the horn of the Kui Ox!”

That was the core material of the rune armament. Without it, everything would be useless.

“If I can’t exchange it, how do I get it?” asked Lin Xun worriedly.

“It’s very simple, but... it’s too difficult. There are many conditions—first, you have to have 5,000 points before you are qualified to go take the most stringent Sky Stairs Assessment in the Dao Martial Department. And only when you pass can you exchange this treasure in the Langya Treasure House.”

Lin Xun took a deep breath.