Chapter 245: Rune Technology
“By the way, you seem to have quite a few enemies, and even the Ten Arbiters are against you. I feel like I’ve been tricked into something.” The Ghost Monkey’s voice sounded out in Lu Yin’s mind again.
If the tamed monkey hadn’t spoken, then Lu Yin would have forgotten that there was something he did not have total control over in the Time Stop space. He absolutely could not let this astral beast see him rolling his die. Who knew if it would one day escape from his control. With this in mind, he turned around and headed towards the entrance of the teleportation arena. He wanted to speak with Kuang Wang and learn more about beast taming.
Soon after, Lu Yin appeared next to the Ocean of Death within the Dao of Heaven. Kuang Wang wasn’t there, so Lu Yin found someone from Astral-5 and requested to meet with Kuang Wang inside one of the trial zones.
When they saw that it was Lu Yin making the request, the person's face took on an expression of worship as they immediately agreed.
After the recent Astral Combat Tournament, the treatment that Astral-10’s students received in the trial zones had improved drastically now that nobody dared to make life difficult for them. Regardless of whether it was Big Pao, Little Pao, Xia Luo, Silver, or Lulu, all of them were very strong. Lu Yin, in particular, was more powerful than most academy leaders, and was one of the strongest people in the entire Astral Combat Academy. Even Area Masters would be very polite when they met Astral-10 students.
This was Lu Yin’s first time visiting the Dao of Heaven. The trial zones were a simulated world, but they contained ancient inheritance within themselves. It was a strange place where even the Ghost Monkey could accompany Lu Yin. Having a tamed beast was apparently considered a type of ability.
“Is this one of the so-called trial zones that belong to the Astral Combat Academy? Hey, have you killed a war spirit before?” the Ghost Monkey asked, sounding very excited.
Lu Yin nonchalantly answered, “Yup.”
“What did it feel like? What did you see?” the Ghost Monkey eagerly asked.
Just as Lu Yin was about to answer, he suddenly had a random thought. How did the Ghost Monkey know about the war spirits here? Also, there were so many other things that he could ask about, but he was specifically inquiring about war spirits. Why?
Lu Yin casually replied, “I didn’t see anything other than…”
“Other than what?”
The Ghost Monkey seemed anxious to hear his next words, which caused Lu Yin to smirk. “...Other than some strange things that I couldn’t understand.”
“What was it?!” The Ghost Monkey became increasingly distressed.
With that, Lu Yin was able to confirm that the Ghost Monkey actually knew something about the war spirits. However, the monkey was just a student of the Astral Beast Domain’s Sky Academy. Even if it was a top student there, he’d still only be comparable to an academy leader from the Astral Combat Academy. How did he know the secrets of the trial zones? Even Hunters weren’t this knowledgeable.
“Go on! What exactly did you see?” The Ghost Monkey was getting frustrated.
Lu Yin’s tone suddenly turned cold. “What do you know? Spit it out.”
The Ghost Monkey froze before responding in a mocking tone. “Me? What could I know? I was just curious, that’s all! Don’t overthink things.”
Lu Yin frowned in displeasure. “You’ve been with me for long enough to know my general characteristics. I don’t like it when people hide things from me. You know a little too much for a mere student. I’ll give you one last chance. Tell me what you know, or I’ll end you.”
“Fine, fine. You always use this move on me. Just wait. I won’t let you do this again.” The Ghost Monkey was left with no choice.
Lu Yin chuckled. He had finally seen through this guy’s character. This astral beast may seem fierce, but he was all talk. When he did know something, he would easily spill the beans with a minor threat. It was a wonder how he’d managed to survive in the Astral Beast Domain for as long as he did.
“Actually, the trial zones that your Astral Combat Academy own came from a unique civilization known as the Runemasters.”
Lu Yin was surprised. “Are you saying that they cultivated by drawing runes on paper?”
“Who said anything about drawing runes on paper? I don’t know anything about that, but the Runemasters’ cultivation method was essentially linking runes together and creating space with them. In their eyes, whether it was a being, an environment, or a planet, everything was formed from runes. Their battle power was a representation of how many runes they could see. For example, a person might only be able to see a hundred runes at first, but the stronger they grew, the more they could see. Take a planet, for instance; it might consist of a million runes. It was a very interesting civilization. These trial zones should have been left behind by them. Their characteristic ability was to see through the laws of this world and change material things into a simulated reality. They could also turn these virtual simulations into material items,” the Ghost Monkey explained.
Lu Yin was surprised, “Such a civilization existed? Does that mean that they were able to create miracles?”
“You can put it like that. This civilization was very powerful and had a very unique way of fighting. They focused on erasing their opponents’ runes, which was the same as disrupting the essence of their opponents’ attacks. But then, their entire civilization mysteriously disappeared without a trace one day. Regardless of if it’s their cultivation methods or their bodies, nothing remains other than some scattered ruins. These trial zones are one of the few things that were left behind,” the Ghost Monkey said ruefully.
Lu Yin recalled what he had seen with the Cosmic Art after killing a war spirit; there had been some strange characters formed from lines. Could those have been the aforementioned runes?
“How do you know so much?” Lu Yin found this matter strange.
The Ghost Monkey was very proud of himself. “I know a lot of things. If you want to know what I know, then you’d better treat me well. I even know about Progenitor Wushang and the Runemasters, and Progenitor Wushang is an even older existence than the Runemasters.”
Lu Yin narrowed his eyes; there was something off about this Ghost Monkey. Not even a Hunter would know all of this ancient history, much less a Limiteer. This guy was definitely worth milking more information.
“Maybe you could try killing a few more war spirits. You might even obtain some kind of Rune Technology inheritance from these runes! It’s a very strange way of attacking, but don’t tell anyone about this,” the Ghost Monkey suggested.
Lu Yin had no interest in such things. He knew that it was better not to bite off more than he could chew. If he had extra time, then he was better off training and refining his battle force. He wanted to raise his battle force to nine lines and see how powerful it would be.
While the two were conversing, Kuang Wang arrived. “I heard that you were looking for me?”
Lu Yin nodded. “I wanted to ask about the Dao of Heaven’s Sea of Death.”
Kuang Wang’s eyes narrowed. “You want to steal the Dao of Heaven’s Realm Master position?”
“Of course not. I’m just curious about it. I’ve heard that the Ten Arbiters have been here before,” Lu Yin hastily responded. He wanted Kuang Wang’s help, so it wouldn’t be wise to offend him here.
After confirming that Lu Yin really wasn’t there to take his position, Kuang Wang sighed in relief. He wasn’t sure if he could win against Lu Yin—no, it was more than that; he was certain that he wouldn’t be able to win. While Kuang Wang might have been reckless, he also knew his own strength. “The Sea of Death is the Dao of Purgatory’s strangest training ground. There are rumors that…”
Lu Yin actually held no interest in the Sea of Death and had only brought it up as a conversational topic. After listening to Kuang Wang’s explanation about the Sea of Death, Lu Yin asked, “By the way, I’ve always been curious about how you guys from the Beast Tamers Flowzone fight. Do you let your tamed beasts out?”
Kuang Wang nodded. “Kind of. Actually, tamed beasts don’t have bodies of their own, and you need techniques to tame them. Why are you asking about this?”
“If I had a tamed beast, is there a way for me to hypothetically block off its senses?” Lu Yin asked. This was what he really wanted to know.
After hearing this, the Ghost Monkey exclaimed, “Hey, what are you doing?! Stop it, bro, we’re sharing one body. Everything I do is for your own good…”
Kuang Wang looked at Lu Yin oddly. “You have a tamed beast?”
Lu Yin casually shrugged. “I’m just interested in it, and I was thinking of learning about it at the Beast Tamers Flowzone.”
Kuang Wang burst into laughter. “Sure. If you go to Beast Tamers Flowzone, you’ll definitely be able to join the Divine Grade Hall. They’ll even teach you the technique there.”
“Can you briefly tell me how it works?” Lu Yin asked.
Kuang Wang gave Lu Yin a strange look and focused on his right arm. After considering things a moment, he answered, “Well, it’s very easy to block off its senses. You just have to cut off its access to your star energy.”
“That’s all?” Lu Yin was surprised.
“What did you think it entailed? Taming beasts is just one of the myriad forms of battle techniques. And without star energy, battle techniques are useless. This applies to tamed beasts as well. Every action that a tamed beast takes requires star energy, so the basic principle of controlling it is controlling its star energy,” Kuang Wang explained.
“Bro- no, Seventh Bro, please don’t do anything! I want to be able to see the outside world! I don’t want to die without knowing how it happened! Please, Seventh Bro, I’m begging you. Don’t block me…”
The monkey’s voice gradually faded away after Lu Yin had cut off all star energy from going into his right arm. After the Ghost Monkey’s voice disappeared, Lu Yin suddenly felt refreshed.
“If it’s not necessary, there’s no need to block a tamed beast’s senses. That’s because once you successfully tame a beast, they definitely won’t be able to leave you. If they do, they’ll immediately die since you’ve become one entity,” Kuang Wang said.
Lu Yin knew that Kuang Wang had guessed that Lu Yin had a tamed beast, but Kuang Wang had purposefully not exposed him; Kuang Wang wasn’t dumb. “Thank you for letting me know, Kuang Wang.”
The person being addressed stretched leisurely. “When are you joining the Council of Astral Academy?”
Lu Yin shook his head in response. “Not now. It’ll have to wait until after I become a Limiteer.”
“That makes sense. Nobody can go against a decision made by the Ten Arbiters. By the way, if you manage to break through on time, you can go straight to the Tilting Tower and have them notify the other academy leaders. They’ll then hold a student council meeting there since that’s where they’re usually held,” Kuang Wang said before moving to leave.
Lu Yin thanked him once more and then let the Ghost Monkey regain access to his senses. “You and I have one body, Seventh Bro. There’s no need to block me out.” The Ghost Monkey felt maligned.
“You babble too much,” Lu Yin dryly replied.
The Ghost Monkey had no response to that. “If you block me out, then I won’t be able to tell you about a lot of things.”
“That doesn’t matter to me. I’m happier without you.” Lu Yin acted nonchalant about the Ghost Monkey’s supposed benefits.
The Ghost Monkey tried to test the waters. “Is there something that you’re trying to hide from me?”
Lu Yin blocked off the star energy in his right arm again. It was time to roll his die.
In an abandoned area of Astral-10, Lu Yin let out a light breath and spread his fingers as his die appeared, whirling slowly in the air. It had been around two months since he had last rolled it, and there seemed to be a relationship between how long he waited between rolls and how likely it was for him to get the result that he wanted, such as Six: Possession or Three: Enhance. He hadn’t rolled six pips in a while, so it was probably about time.
Lu Yin rolled his die, and as he watched it spin, he had a strong feeling that he really might get six pips.
When it stopped spinning, Lu Yin saw six pips on the die’s face, and the scenery before his eyes changed. He saw the familiar darkness filled with little specks of light.
He was more experienced now, and he knew that the more attractive a speck of light was to him, the better it was as a match. The specks of light quickly flitted through the dark space. Lu Yin had ten star essence in his cosmic ring, which was equivalent to about a million star crystals. It might seem like a lot, but he could use them all up in a single moment. Lu Yin did not dare waste too much time in this dark space as he would rather spend the star essence on extending the time he Possessed another person for.
He did not hesitate, especially since he couldn’t tell who he would be Possessing anyway. Lu Yin chose a random speck of light that was fairly attractive and charged over to fuse with it.
When Lu Yin opened his eyes again, he saw he was in a room with an ancient air to it. There were wooden tables and stools, paper lanterns, and copper mirrors. This was an ancient civilization.
A few moments later, Lu Yin finished going through the basic memories of the person whom he’d fused with. This man’s name was Wu Xia, and he was the butler for the Shenwu Empire’s Crown Prince Residence. He was a peak Fighter, which meant that he was the same as a peak Melder. He was also on the verge of breaking into the Martial King realm, which was the equivalent of a Limiteer.
[1] Shenwu - Divine Martial