Chapter 602

The cracks on Yuan Chongjing’s surface continued to spread, and its blue glow dimmed considerably.

Chi Jiu Yu extended two fingers like a sword and traced a faint golden rune upon the mirror’s surface, sending it toward the shattering Yuan Chongjing.

The rune rotated as it neared the mirror, and upon contact, it vanished directly into the surface, visibly slowing the spread of the cracks.

Seeing this, Chi Jiu Yu swiftly drew two more runes and launched them.

Only when the cracks ran vertically through the entire mirror did the spreading finally halt.

“Phew~”

Chi Jiu Yu exhaled softly, raising a hand to wipe away sweat that wasn’t there.

I almost had to make another trip.

Even though my Tai Xu Sword Dash has reached teleportation level, finding an unowned Yuan Bing within this Military Realm’s vast universe is still incredibly difficult.

Delaying the mission progress would be even worse—I’m planning to claim all the Ascension Points this time!

Thinking this, she looked at the Yuan Chongjing in her hand.

Beneath the Tai Xu Breaking Illusion Golden Gaze, she effortlessly saw through its outer structure, spotting the mirror spirit curled deep within, barely clinging to life like a flickering light orb.

Its spiritual essence was damaged, but it still belonged to the ‘Yuan Bing’ tier.

Chi Jiu Yu nodded in satisfaction:

“Not bad! Looks like my cultivation of Rune Dao is still effective!”

The runes she had just drawn were called the [Universal Artifact Maintenance Rune], one of the foundational runes of the high-grade talisman [Nisheng Talisman], extracted by twelve high-grade rune masters from the original [Nisheng Talisman].

It can partially repair wear and tear on magic artifacts and is applicable to the vast majority of such items.

As for the purpose of doing this…

There’s no choice.

Fewer and fewer cultivators are practicing Rune Dao these days; among the once-great Four Professions—Alchemy, Artifacts, Arrays, and Runes—the rune branch is nearly been erased!

If things continue like this, this lifeless Rune Dao won’t just stagnate—it’ll eventually be left with only a few old men clinging to their past glory.

That’s something the high-grade rune masters absolutely won’t allow!

After all, the more prosperous an industry becomes, the more support its high-grade practitioners receive.

Take the alchemy industry next door, for example.

Three years ago, Lin Xuanxuan, a prodigy alchemist from Jishi Valley, proposed the ‘Three Yuan Alchemy Theory,’ which inspired Qing Li, an alchemist stuck at Tongxuan Realm, and helped her seize a glimmer of opportunity toward Dongzhen!

Everyone who followed alchemy knew about this at the time.

Similar examples abound across every profession.

Though young cultivators may lack deep accumulation, sometimes a sudden flash of brilliance can inspire higher-level cultivators.

Especially those exceptionally gifted young ones!

That’s why high-grade rune masters have been trying to design runes that even beginner rune cultivators can easily master and use to earn cultivation resources.

Ideally, bypassing the traditional entry method of Rune Dao.

Shifting from beginners learning complete low-grade talismans as their foundation, to learning single universal runes as their entry point.

Unfortunately, the results of decomposing high-grade talismans into various universal foundational runes fell short of expectations.

Though named ‘Universal Foundational Runes,’ they still originated from high-grade talismans.

For rune cultivators with exceptional talent or some prior foundation, it’s manageable.

But for ordinary cultivators trying to learn them…

The difficulty of learning these universal foundational runes rivals that of Array Dao—the most difficult entry-level cultivation profession!

And they don’t even earn as much as Array Dao!

Array cultivators can simply install a set of arrays and craft portable array bases, earning several times what these rune masters make!

So the current situation is…

The idea is good, but the implementation still needs serious refinement.

Of course, for Chi Jiu Yu, these current universal foundational runes are already very convenient…

Back to the matter at hand.

After carefully observing the structure of Yuan Chongjing through the Tai Xu Breaking Illusion Golden Gaze, and combining it with the dying mirror spirit…

A strange expression crept onto her face:

“The Chongshui Miaohua Yuan Scripture…”

It was a cultivation method recorded within Yuan Chongjing, capable of guiding one directly to Nascent Soul.

Or rather, Yuan Chongjing itself was the vessel of this cultivation method—its very existence arose from the Chongshui Miaohua Yuan Scripture.

“Hmm…”

Chi Jiu Yu scratched her head.

In that instant, she felt she had grasped something—but the final crucial piece of the puzzle was still missing.

Cultivation method, divine weapon, using the weapon to control the person…

There must be a connection among these three!

Just as Chi Jiu Yu struggled to piece it together—

BOOM!

RUMBLING!

The sea churned violently; the Yuan Chongshui waters around the bubbles erupted in furious turmoil.

Whirlwinds of water stretched from sea to sky, plunging heaven and earth into darkness, as two streams of black and white light flashed within the whirlwinds, colliding endlessly.

Unaware, a swift light had quietly descended beyond Xuanhai Star.

…

…

In the dark, profound space of the universe, a Dunguang trailed a seven-colored tail flame, arriving from a distant star region.

It cut through the starry void and halted beyond Xuanhai Star.

As the seven-colored light receded, a man clad in crimson-gold magic robes, holding a straight longsword reversed in his grip, stood there with a calm expression.

The ink-black blade absorbed all light, darker than the void itself—as if merely glancing at it would drag one’s spirit into an endless abyss.

At his waist hung a token, seemingly carved from ink jade, inscribed with two ancient, powerful dark-gold characters—

Huangji!

Seventh disciple of Huangji Daojun.

He had already consolidated seventy-nine ‘Other-Selves,’ his cultivation reaching the peak of Soul Transformation, renowned across countless great universes, revered by cultivators in multiple great universes as the ‘Dark Annihilation Sword Lord.’

His most glorious feat was holding his own against a Return-to-Void cultivator for several exchanges without defeat.

In this Military Realm universe, he was a household name.

“One Yuan Chongshui, Miaohua Yuan Scripture…”

The Dark Annihilation Sword Lord gazed down at Xuanhai Star.

His gaze lingered only briefly on his registered disciple before turning elsewhere.

Consolidating ‘Other-Selves’? Not worth watching.

Far more interesting was the Chongshui Miaohua Yuan Scripture his third elder brother cast down 124 years ago—by now, it should have birthed a Yuan Bing.

Time to retrieve it and deliver it to a life-bearing planet for refinement.

Thinking of this, the Dark Annihilation Sword Lord couldn’t help but sigh at his third elder brother’s indulgence toward his youngest daughter.

Even before birth, he had planned several Yuan Bings for her—such treatment was rare even across the entire Military Realm universe.

His thoughts shifted swiftly, and his gaze swept across the entirety of Xuanhai Star.

Yet to the Dark Annihilation Sword Lord’s surprise, he found no trace of Yuan Chongjing at all.

“Could the disturbance from consolidating ‘Other-Selves’ have triggered the Yuan Bing’s self-concealment…?”

The Dark Annihilation Sword Lord frowned, his eyes glowing with faint light as he scanned Xuanhai Star once more.

Huangji Observing the World Divine Gaze!

A single Yuan Bing—even in ‘self-concealment’—could never hide from his divine ability!

The Dark Annihilation Sword Lord was utterly confident.

After roughly three minutes of meticulously re-surveying Xuanhai Star, his face had sunk into deep gloom.

Nothing!

Still nothing!

Who dares steal a Yuan Bing cultivated by Huangji Mountain?

“You’re the Soul Transformation cultivator who held his own against a Return-to-Void? The Dark Annihilation Sword Lord?”

A voice suddenly came from behind, jolting the Dark Annihilation Sword Lord—he instinctively slashed his sword backward!

TING!

A soft chime!

Instantly, countless stinging pains pierced deep into his bones, as a violent, exquisitely refined killing intent crushed down upon him.