Golden vines were enveloped in a dazzling glow like they were cast from gold, and striking vein lines were marked across their bodies like scars.
The Scarlet Blood Cloud Dipper Stone emitted bright red rays of light as it floated in the air.
The Violet Copper Dragon Iron was translucent and lustrous with purple clouds lingering around it. Faintly, there seemed to be a dragon looming inside.
The Horn of the Kui Ox was half a foot long and entirely azure green. It was simple and unadorned, but it produced faint roars that rippled the fabric of space.
Rare rune materials emerged one after another. There were a dozen in total, and all were the core materials for casting Lin Xun’s rune armament.
Additionally, there were a thousand kinds of auxiliary rune materials—Some were for extracting rune ink, and some were for arranging rune arrays.
Lin Xun’s expression was calm and tranquil as he concentrated on sorting out the various rune materials.
A huge ancient-looking furnace stood on the ninth floor of the Refinement Tower. It had three legs, two handles, and a perfectly smooth and round mouth.
The furnace was called Azure Sky and was an important weapon in the Rune Department. Its inside was covered densely with rune patterns, which had unbelievable effects in refining rune materials.
After Lin Xun dealt with all the rune materials, his gaze shifted to the Azure Sky Furnace. At that moment, his body and mind sank into a state of extreme calmness and tranquility. All distracting thoughts were discarded from his mind, and he stood as still as the moon’s reflection on the sapphire sea.Lin Xun had long been preparing for that moment, so he wasn’t the least bit excited to start casting his first rune armament.
He had no worries, no concerns, no joy and no sadness.
The storm in the outside world and the hatred and distractions he repressed deep inside his mind were no longer important anymore.
“Let’s start.” Lin Xun took a step forward and started the rune armament-making process.
He had already practiced and rehearsed every little step in his mind. As a result, the process seemed incredibly natural, calm and peaceful.
Buzz—
The furnace glowed as its roar reverberated around the ninth floor of the empty Refinement Tower.
Lin Xun solely focused on refining rune materials, extracting rune inks, and inscribing rune patterns. His brows were ruffled in concentration and seriousness, and he had temporarily forgotten everything.
……
In the outside world, storms were raging, and there was an underlying turmoil.
Qinglu Academy has become the center of attention of countless cultivators in the past two days. Many sects and clans were closely watching the academy.
A sixteen-year-old rune grandmaster was going to cast a rune armament!
That felt surreal, even impossible for ordinary people, so many people felt that Lin Xun had very little chance of succeeding.
Rune armaments were too rare, so the difficulty in making one wasn’t known to ordinary people. They just thought it was so out of reach to them, so they didn’t believe that Lin Xun could succeed.
Only well-experienced powerful figures knew the terror of rune armaments!
They were incredible weapons, and it was not an exaggeration to say that any aristocratic clans with a rune armament would have the power to suppress their enemies!
If low-level clans acquired a rune armament, they could change their situation and compete with middle-level clans!
That was the power and influence of a rune armament.
Rumor had it that Heaven Ascension cultivators could compete with Cyclic Derivation cultivators if they wielded a rune armament!
Understandably, the news of Lin Xun making a rune armament drew the attention of the world and caused a sensation.
Even if the vast majority of people didn’t believe that he would succeed, that didn’t stop them from paying close attention to the matter!
A rune armament!
One could change a cultivator’s situation and power. Who wouldn’t be tempted by it?
Qinglu Academy became the eye of the storm.
Clatter—
Nine divine Fire Qilin Beasts pulled a jeweled carriage through the dense clouds and landed in front of the gate of Qinglu Academy.
A purple-robed middle-aged man stepped out of the gorgeous carriage with his hands clasped behind his back, exuding an imposing and majestic bearing like a sacred mountain. As he scanned the area, bolts of lightning shot out from his eyes.
The cultivators watching the academy closely couldn't help but exclaim, “The Fire Qilin Beast Carriage! It’s Great Heaven Ascension Cultivator Qin Baoji from the Qin Family!”
Qin Baoji was a powerful figure among the aristocratic clans.
Qin Baoji stepped into Qinglu Academy without any obstruction.
Swoosh!
A divine rainbow cut through the sky.
A slender figure standing alone on a floating boat drew everyone’s attention.
His figure was straight as a spear, and his clothes were fluttering around him. His body was enveloped in rainbow-colored light formed from the imago power of the great dao, making it impossible to see his true face.
“The Marquis of Hundred Battles from the Zuo Family!” some of the cultivators of the older generation exclaimed.
They recognized that he was a famous Heaven Ascension figure from the Zuo Clan—the Marquis of Hundred Battles Zuo Fuguang!
He was an invincible, tyrannical figure who had won every battle and killed hundreds of powerful figures of the brute race!
His amazing feats were all adorned with blood, so the emperor specially bestowed him the title ‘of Hundred Battles.’
Zuo Fuguang’s appearance stunned many cultivators.
It was no doubt not going to be peaceful in Qinglu Academy that day. Powerful and influential figures came one after another as though they had arranged this beforehand. Every one of them was considered an authority leader with monstrous power!
Naturally, the news of Lin Xun casting a rune armament drew them to Qinglu Academy. Otherwise, it would be impossible to see any traces of them on normal days.
Rumble!
Booms resembling beating drums rang out from the horizon, followed by fluttering flags, and guards clearing the way. Sixteen servants dressed in court dresses surrounded a bronze jeweled carriage like stars surrounding the moon.
The bronze carriage was adorned with gorgeous patterns of clouds, mountains, rivers, the sun and the moon, and it was shrouded in violet-gold qi. Its grand appearance made it seem as though a king had arrived.
The other people were visibly shaken by the group of people’s appearance.
Violet-gold bronze carriage!
It was the carriage of Zhao Jiuxiao, Sea Subdue King of the imperial family. There was only one in the entire empire!
Sea Subdue King was a legendary and powerful prince rumored to have reached the Cyclic Derivation Stage.
Even a prince had come!
The violet-gold bronze carriage clattered to a halt, and a thin middle-aged man walked out in a gray robe. His sharp face seemed to have been carved by a knife and steely light darted from his eyes. His body was thin, but there seemed to be a destructive volcano concealed inside. If he erupted, he could incinerate mountains and valleys.
The commotion intensified when the powerful figures arrived one after another. Everyone knew that they had come for Lin Xun.
The atmosphere within Qinglu Academy was also very unusual, especially in the Rune Department. All teachers and students had suspended classes, and it was no longer tranquil like it was in the past.
This was because great figures of the empire had successively come to Refinement Tower for the same thing—To watch Lin Xun’s rune armament-making operation!
Seats had already been prepared for the influential figures in front of the Refinement Tower.
Shen Tuo’s face was overcast with worry as he looked at the uninvited influential figures on the seats from afar.
Shen Tuo had to leak the news that Lin Xun intended to cast a rune armament to defuse the situation of students attempting to get Lin Xun fired.
The news made the academy change its attitude, and Lin Xun’s crisis was averted.
However, Shen Tuo didn’t expect the leaked news would attract the attention of so many people and make influential figures come one after another.
Even the higher-ups of the academy were alarmed and had arranged for Shen Tuo to properly handle the matter.
“Brother Shen.”
Yu Beidou, a senior rune grandmaster from the Rune Master Association, and Cheng Jing, a rune grandmaster from the Divine Workshop, had also come.
“You guys came too.”
Shen Tuo cast away the distracting thoughts in his mind and hurried over to welcome them.
“How confident is Lin Xun in making the rune armament?” Yu Beidou asked directly.
His question drew the attention of countless people as it was a question that many people were concerned about.
“You have to ask Lin Xun,” Shen Tuo responded casually. He had answered the same question countless times in the past few days. He didn't try to brush him off, but he indeed didn’t know the answer.
“I understand, after all, this is his first time making a rune armament. No one can guarantee that it will be successful.” Yu Beidou nodded.
He, Cheng Jing, and Shen Tuo had overseen the process of Lin Xun being verified as a rune grandmaster and also witnessed the phenomenon from the Nine Tablets of the Dragon Gate, so they knew about Lin Xun’s amazing mastery in the art of runes better than many other people.
However, they were still shocked when they found out that Lin Xun was going to cast a rune armament, so they hurried over to confirm it.
“There’s something wrong with the situation. Why are there so many people here?” Cheng Jing frowned. “Did they all come hoping to see Lin Xun make a fool of himself?”
“It’s hard to say,” Shen Tuo mumbled.
In truth, he could tell that many of those people didn’t come to purely witness Lin Xun’s rune armament-making process!
Meanwhile, more and more famous figures gathered. Each one of them had an impressive background. There were no ordinary people among them because ordinary people were not qualified to come to Qinglu Academy as they wished.
Buzz!
Suddenly, a mighty wave of energy rippled out from the ninth floor of the Refinement Tower and bell-like noise reverberated between heaven and earth.
Immediately, it captured everyone's attention.
“The Azure Sky Furnace has been activated. It seems like the kid has started,” someone whispered.
The person had a thin face and lightning-like eyes. His long gray hair was perfectly combed. It was Chu Shanhe, the deputy head of the Rune Department!
Chu Shanhe had once schemed to prevent Lin Xun from being able to gain a foothold in the Rune Department as revenge for Chu Haidong. However, Lin Xun had successfully restored the empress’ Sword of Apocalypse, and Chu Shanhe had to leave the Rune Department in embarrassment. He had decided to retreat temporarily to protect his face.
Unexpectedly, he had come today.
“If he succeeds, he can make up for his mistakes. He will no longer be held accountable for slandering and insulting the dignity of the imperial family. But if he fails, then I won’t be polite to him!” uttered a mighty-looking old man beside Chu Shanhe. A chilling glint flashed across his eyes.
The old man was Zhao Zhanye, the deputy head of the Dao Martial Department. He was also an important figure in the imperial family. Clearly, he didn’t come with the sole purpose of observing Lin Xun’s rune armament-making process!