‘Ah, I thought he could create another miracle, but it looks like I was thinking too much.’ Elder Universe thought.
Nonetheless, since the elder had given his word, he would not break the promise.
He put his hands behind his back to see how long the arrogant young fellow would take to grasp every rune.
Ou Yangming was unaware of what Elder Universe was thinking because he was observing a stone through the thoroughly meticulous state. At last, the steel in his hand took a new form, and the veined pattern on it was the same as the one on the stone.
“Boom…”
In his mind, the purple light flowed out and circulated the rune.
Next, a new rune surfaced in Ou Yangming’s sea of consciousness.
The rune seemed quite obscure for now as it had not been solidified, but it truly existed.
Ou Yangming curled his lips into a smile. He realized that his rather exhausted mind became stimulated all of a sudden.
Every stone on the ground was so alluring that he felt like he had endless energy to be used.
The young fellow immediately looked at the second stone.
Subsequently, the Military Fire burned again to wrap the steel. The veined pattern on it disappeared at once, and was replaced by a brand new rune.
Chapter 229 - Testing His Memory
New runes were displayed on the steel one after another, and as time passed, Ou Yangming was bound to feel weary.
After carving five runes consecutively, Ou Yangming finally stopped. He sat with his legs crossed and took a rest in silence. At this instant, he missed the big multicolored tiger’s carcass. It was a formidable half-spirit beast, after all. If Ou Yangming could replenish his Qi and blood through the carcass’ flesh and blood, there was no need for him to rest at all, and he could simply remember all runes in one go.
The young fellow subconsciously glanced at Elder Universe, who felt an intense chill once more.
Nonetheless, the Supreme Great Ancestor could not figure out why even if he racked his brain. It was true that Ou Yangming did not have a reason to attack him at all, but the elder was unaware that the young fellow was not looking at a senior just now; he was looking at flesh and blood, which contained plenty of energy.
Elder Universe shook his head and curbed his thoughts. He fixed his gaze on the steel that was placed beside Ou Yangming.
A rune drawing was seen on the surface, and it looked the same as the veined pattern on one of the stones around the young man.
It was worth noting that it was not the first drawing made. Elder Universe noticed that Ou Yangming had made five rune drawings earlier, each one was perfectly replicated without any mistake.
Elder Universe would be extremely pleased to see an ordinary person having such an ability.
On the contrary, he thought that Ou Yangming was still lacking if this was all he could do. At the end of the day, Ou Yangming’s mental power was far beyond a normal person’s, hence his performance should be good enough to suppress other people. Carving runes on steel and visualizing runes were two entirely different matters.
After resting for 15 minutes, Ou Yangming opened his eyes and picked up the steel to continue etching runes on it. The pitiful steel was constantly being kneaded by him, where veined patterns were formed, removed, replaced, and the cycle kept repeating
If another person had carried out the same process, one could not have withstood it even if one had greater mental power than Ou Yangming.
This was because the engraving of runes not only consumed mental power, but also enormous energy.
Without sufficient energy, one would deviate from the right path of runes. At times, even if one forced oneself to form a rune, it might not be qualified; even if it was qualified, it would only be a poor product.
For instance, Master Lu could produce molds, but due to his limited strength, the molds that he made only had a 50% success rate in upgrading pieces of equipment.
It was not the result that Master Lu was aiming for, but given that his strength was restricted, he could not accurately grasp the runes’ veined patterns. Consequently, he could not enhance the molds’ qualities.
On the other hand, Ou Yangming had achieved the thoroughly meticulous state. Under the state, the runes that were imitated by him would be rated as perfect.
Nevertheless, when the eighth veined pattern was formed, an accident took place.
The purple light, which Ou Yangming was hoping to see, did not appear. The young fellow was in a daze as he looked at the veined pattern on the steel like a fool.
‘What’s going on?’
For the first time, Ou Yangming was feeling uneasy.
The purple Military Fire had always been his greatest support and his trump card. In fact, even the Devouring attribute from the Sky-devouring Devil God was inferior to it.
Therefore, when the mysterious purple Military Fire malfunctioned without warning, the impact on Ou Yangming was so huge that it was unimaginable.
Elder Universe looked at Ou Yangming and remarked, “You consumed too much mental power today, so you should rest.”
Ou Yangming was stunned. A strange thought crossed his mind when he looked at the elder, then he shook his head and uttered, “Let me try again.”
He changed to another stone and began to carve according to the rune drawing.
It did not take long for the drawing to be completed, and the purple light in his mind emerged as it should.
Ou Yangming’s eyebrows twitched because he finally knew what was wrong earlier. He reached out to point at the previous stone. “Senior, is there something wrong with the rune on this stone?”
Elder Universe was startled, and he was slightly furious when he turned to look. “Nonsense. I etched the runes by myself, so how could there be a mistake!”
“But…” Ou Yangming frowned and explained, “I remember seeing the same rune from one of the Ni family’s ancient books, and this one’s a little different…”
“Oh, the Ni family?” Elder Universe was taken aback. He was one of the people who knew the Ni family’s background very well, so if the rune was truly recorded in one of their ancient books, he dared not claim that he was right.
The elder raised his hand, causing the stone to fly up and land in his hand.
Elder Universe studied the stone carefully with his bright eyes, then an unusual look was seen on his face after a brief moment. If Ou Yangming was not mistaken, he even noticed a hint of red on the elder’s cheeks.
It was quite rare to see the thick-faced powerhouse, who was over a hundred years old, blush.
“Uhm…” Elder Universe cleared his throat. “The rune on this stone is indeed wrong, but it doesn’t affect its function. Hmm, I’ll bring you another one.”
He turned his wrist and retrieved another stone from an unknown area, then he tossed it to the ground.
Once the stone landed on the previous stone’s spot, there was a subtle change in the environment.
Ou Yangming sensed a boost in Heaven and Earth’s power in this area. Although it was not much, the enhancement was legitimate.
The young fellow nodded and began carving according to the new rune.
When the new rune was made after some time, Ou Yangming finally sensed the purple light.
He finally understood that the purple light was mysterious indeed. If he carved a wrong rune or if the rune was flawed and imperfect, the purple light would refuse to show up.
The purple rune naturally possessed the ability to appraise, and it was so picky that it would not make an appearance if the rune was not perfect.
Ou Yangming grinned and continued to engrave more runes, but Elder Universe was quite infuriated.
“This young fella is quite capable; I can’t believe that he spotted a tiny flaw that I made.’
Suddenly, Elder Universe became anxious. If Ou Yangming were to find another flaw, he would be totally embarrassed.
Fortunately, as Ou Yangming controlled his Militar
y Fire to produce more runes and replicated everything, he did not point out another faulty stone.
The moment Ou Yangming opened his eyes, he was surprised to see Elder Universe’s look of relief.
Elder Universe scoffed when he noticed Ou Yangming looking at him oddly. He spoke to the young fellow proudly, “Take your time to memorize them; you don’t have to rush it.” Despite that, Ou Yangming smiled and informed the elder, “Senior, I’ve memorized all runes.”
“You memorized all of them? Young fella, don’t speak carelessly. Hmph, do you think copying the runes means you’ve remembered and grasped them?” Elder Universe furrowed his eyebrows and sneered disdainfully. “If the path of runes can be learned so easily, I wouldn’t have trouble in finding a suitable successor.”
Ou Yangming was dumbfounded. He replied to the elder with a bitter smile, “I really memorized all of them.”
Elder Universe curled his lips and flapped his sleeves, causing the stones to fly into his sleeves.
Ou Yangming’s eyes glowed as he had a question in mind.
“There are quite a number of stones here, so how does Elder Universe keep them in his sleeves? Besides, his sleeves don’t look like they’ve expanded.’
“Since you claim you’ve memorized them, I’ll be testing you,” Elder Universe noted with a deep voice. He pointed with his finger and ordered, “Draw the runes that were shown on the stones just now.”
With something as a reference, even an ordinary martial artist could reproduce the rune drawings.
Needless to say, without a deep understanding of runes, whatever produced would only have mere appearance; it would not be able to activate the unique power between Heaven and Earth.
That said, even if Ou Yangming understood the path of runes, without references and without visualizing the runes, it was quite impossible for him to replicate the runes.
Elder Universe stroked his long beard and looked at Ou Yangming smilingly. He intended to see how the young fellow would embarrass himself.
However, Ou Yangming closed his eyes and pondered for a while, then he nodded and responded, “Okay.”
The Military Fire burned in his hands once more, causing the steel’s surface to be flattened right away. Under the sunlight, a striking light was reflected from the material.
Following that, untypical routes appeared on the steel mold’s surface.
It was the routes of one of the runes, and the instant the veined patterns surfaced, Elder Universe was fully immersed.
Under the elder’s watch, the rune was successfully and accurately drawn. Each route was precise and solid as though the steel became a thin paper while Ou Yangming drew on it.
Upon sensing a hint of aura, which was as firm as a mountain, Elder Universe had a feeling that Ou Yangming had completely grasped the rune. If one had not perceived the rune’s true meaning, one could not have carried out the process so smoothly.
This was because runes were closely related to nature, thus it was not something that could be remembered through mere memory.
At last, under Ou Yangming’s control, the rune was perfectly displayed to the elder.
Elder Universe looked deeply at Ou Yangming and instructed, “Now, change to this rune.
“Change to another one.
“Change to this one.
“This one, this one, this one…”
Veined patterns of different runes were etched on the steel one after another. With that, Elder Universe was unknowingly looking at Ou Yangming with a completely different look.
Chapter 230 - An Enormous Change In His Sea Of Consciousness
“Young fella, did you really memorize every rune?” Elder Universe mumbled.
Ou Yangming nodded while he smiled with squinted eyes. “Yes, it’s not that difficult to remember them, is it?”
Elder Universe twitched his mouth and wanted very badly to teach the young fellow a lesson, but it was an undeniable fact that Ou Yangming had memorized the runes. This completely surpassed his perception of the matter, so he could not pride himself on being a veteran anymore.
The elder had a question in his head at that moment, ‘Could this young fella be a peerless freak who was born with knowledge?’
In any case, he would not believe that a person could grasp more than ten runes in a short period. Even if the truth was right in front of him, he was unwilling to believe it.
This was because it was no longer a matter of memory.
Ou Yangming had only used the Military Fire to carve rune routes on the steel, but Elder Universe was able to judge with his great vision and experience that the routes were not just for show; they were official runes that could stimulate Heaven and Earth’s power.
The fact that Ou Yangming could draw the runes proved one thing.
He was not merely memorizing the rune routes; he truly visualized them.
If Ou Yangming could achieve such a result by relying on his memory alone, it would only be because he had drawn the runes for a thousand, if not ten thousand, times and had fathomed the mysteries behind them.
There was only one explanation for why he could grasp the true meaning of runes after having drawn them once.
Ou Yangming had successfully visualized all of them.
Nonetheless, to visualize more than ten strange runes in one go… Even if Ou Yangming’s mental power was doubled, he could not have done it, could he?
Elder Universe stared at Ou Yangming in confusion. He was certain that the young fellow had a secret, and it had something to do with mental power. Ou Yangming’s hair stood on their ends as he was being stared by the old man. He forced a smile and asked, “Senior, you’re…”
“Young fella, you’re very lucky.” Elder Universe sneered.
‘What does he mean?’ Ou Yangming thought to himself as he was startled.
“You’re that little girl’s sweetheart, or else… Hehe…” Elder Universe added plainly.
Ou Yangming had goosebumps when he looked at the weird smile on Elder Universe’s face. He continued to force a smile and said, “Senior, I suddenly remember that I have something else to attend to, so I’ll be making a move first!” Following that, the young fellow turned and fled without any hesitation.
Elder Universe could not help but laugh when he watched Ou Yangming leave.
‘This young fella is gifted and smart, but he’s too timid.
‘I’m curious about him, but I’m already so old. Besides, for the sake of the little girl, how could I do anything to him?
‘But…’ Elder Universe stroked his beard as he recalled how unbelievably fast Ou Yangming learned the runes. For some reason, the elder was feeling hopeful.
‘Perhaps he’ll be the key to the upgrade of Humans’ pieces of equipment.
XXXX
Ou Yangming left the vegetable farm in a hurry as if he was being pursued by a monster; he dared not stay on the farm any longer.
He sighed a breath of relief after he returned to his courtyard in the Ni residence.
The odd expression on Elder Universe’s face at the end was truly appalling. Although Ou Yangming’s strength had changed so much that he could resist even a Supreme Great Ancestor, he knew his limitations. Perhaps the young fellow could escape if he relied on pieces of equipment, but it was wishful thinking if he wanted to defeat or kill a great ancestor in Extreme Grade.
Nevertheless, since Ou Yangming had returned to the Ni residence, Elder Universe would not capture him even if he wanted to.
Ou Yangming immediately felt weary. He consumed a great amount of energy to smith molds in the military camp, and his meeting with Elder Universe also resulted in a consumption greater than if he had fought a Supreme Great Ancestor.
Once he returned to a safe place, he could not hold on any longer.
He closed his eyes and became soundly asleep in a split second.
In his sleep, Ou Yangming dreamt that he slaughtered yet another formidable half-spirit beast, employing the Devouring attribute to transfor
m the creature’s blood and flesh into his power.
Despite that, just as he was cheerfully absorbing energy from the blood and flesh, his dream was crushed, and he woke up just like that.
Ou Yangming shook his head and looked at the time and realized that he had slept for three hours.
Sleep was crucial for martial arts powerhouses like him, but two hours of deep sleep was actually enough for him to be fully recovered.
It was evident from the fact that he slept for three hours how much energy he had consumed earlier.
Somehow, Ou Yangming recalled his dream, and his heart pounded as though he was still immersed in the wonderful feeling of absorbing energy from the half-spirit beast’s flesh and blood.
The young fellow looked like he was bewitched, but he regained his senses before he fully indulged in the moment.
‘What’s happening to me…’
Ou Yangming looked around him warily and confirmed that he was not affected by any external force, but why did he suddenly have that untimely and intense feeling?
He inhaled deeply to calm his throbbing heart.
The Devouring attribute was extremely mighty and important to him. It played a huge role in letting him survive for so long.
That said, after the dream earlier, Ou Yangming became cautious of the Devouring attribute; the powerful attribute was not as wonderful as he imagined it to be.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yinli and Cheng Bingyu had died, or he could interrogate them about it.
Ou Yangming wondered if anyone else from the Zhang family knew about the secret. If someone else knew, he must find a way to get to the bottom of it.
After a long time, Ou Yangming curbed his thoughts and put aside the matter about the Devouring attribute.
When he recalled everything that happened in the past few days, the runes were the ones that gave him the deepest impression.
He also envied and admired Elder Universe for being able to toss Rune Stones out of nowhere in the courtyard.
Moreover, it was quite unbelievable that roughly ten stones could change Heaven and Earth’s energy in an area.
Ou Yangming knew that the stones were unordinary, but he knew nothing about them because there were no records of them in the Ni family’s ancient books.
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