Chapter 217: Clumsy

In the study hall, Grand Academician Kou Jing casually placed a sand timer on the table.

There is a time limit.

Two time-units, three rune tablets.

Then, Grand Academician Kou Jing waved his hand, and one by one, diagrams of star pivots and connecting star patterns appeared on the star-curtain, allowing disciples who could not engrave to study and contemplate without wasting time.

As for Grand Academician Kou Jing himself, he waited quietly for the results.

A rune is something a cultivator can rely on to save their life in a critical moment, and one of the few ways in this world to pre-store offensive or defensive techniques.

Extremely important.

Grand Academician Kou Jing teaches public classes both to raise the overall rune proficiency of the National Dao Academy disciples, enhancing their future survival and combat abilities, and also to select talent for the nation.

Not to mention high-rank rune masters above seventh rank, even sixth-rank rune masters are exceedingly rare.

Over the years, the National Dao Academy has strived to cultivate more fifth- and sixth-rank rune masters to stockpile fifth- and sixth-rank runes.

But the higher the rune rank, the more complex it becomes, demanding greater spiritual soul requirements, and few succeed.

Beyond that, Grand Academician Kou Jing teaches public classes because he wishes to find a successor for his rune craft.

His study hall has many disciples, nearly all of whom have learned his rune-engraving techniques, yet nearly all focus primarily on cultivation.

Even his most cherished senior disciple, Ye Anshi, has not learned even two-tenths of his rune-engraving skills.

But there is no help for it—everyone's energy is limited.

Obsession with runes delays cultivation.

Grand Academician Kou Jing himself is no exception.

Kou Jing was once a prodigy of the Chen Guo National Dao Academy, even earlier than Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao by over a decade, yet to this day, he has not broken through to the seventh rank, largely due to his obsession with rune research.

But whether he has taken the wrong path is hard to say.

Like Grand Academician Kou Jing, though at the peak of sixth rank, he is now a national treasure of the Chen Guo National Dao Academy.

Even if he wished to go to the Star River battlefield, Grand Master Cheng Yuexiao would beg him not to go.

Why? Because the few sixth-rank runes he produces each year are the sole source of sixth-rank runes in Chen Guo.

Each one equals the full-power strike of a mid-sixth-rank powerhouse.

Time and again, they have turned the tide at the brink of collapse.

Unfortunately, production is too scarce—the Emperor claims one fixed each year, and the rest are insufficient even for the Star River battlefield.

If he could, before his death, cultivate just one more sixth-rank rune master for Chen Guo, he would be perfectly content.

In the study hall, all disciples who received the jade tablets had already begun engraving star patterns.

Ji Hongli and Wang Jiugao beside Xu Jin had also achieved Spiritual Soul Casting and received jade tablets, beginning to engrave star patterns alongside Xu Jin.

These two achieving Spiritual Soul Casting was no surprise.

Among Xu Jin's several teachers, Qi Shanye spent over a decade in the Lingji Star Hall refining his spiritual soul with Clear Soul Star Patterns before achieving Spiritual Soul Casting, while Ning Yuchan took six years total before achieving it.

She eventually exchanged for a Spirit-Refining Golden Core, which Xu Jin refined thrice before she achieved Spiritual Soul Casting.

Xu Jin estimated that even if he hadn't given her that Spirit-Refining Golden Core to refine thrice, Ning Yuchan would still have achieved Spiritual Soul Casting, but her spiritual soul cultivation base certainly wouldn't be as high as it is now.

In fact, these two represent commoner disciples.

Especially old Qi—he's the epitome of a commoner, a mediocre talent among talents.

Ning Yuchan is a gifted disciple from an ordinary family.

So their Spiritual Soul Casting was slower.

But with strong family support, like Ji Hongli, Wang Jiugao, and Ying Ge, they could achieve Spiritual Soul Casting much earlier.

Not to mention anything else—a single Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core plus about ten opportunities to ascend the Heavenly Steps would allow most to achieve Spiritual Soul Casting.

Talented disciples like Wang Jiugao and Ying Ge can receive three or five opportunities to ascend the Heavenly Steps within the academy; with family assistance, achieving Spiritual Soul Casting is easy.

If they perform exceptionally well and earn a Spirit-Refining Golden Core, Spiritual Soul Casting comes even faster.

Disciples from small families or local aristocratic clans, if their families can support three or five opportunities to ascend the Heavenly Steps—that is, three or five thousand Dao Merits—and obtain a Spirit-Stabilizing Golden Core, most can achieve Spiritual Soul Casting within about a year.

But without family support, it is extremely difficult.

Dao Merits are not easy to earn.

Take Xu Jin—he wiped out an entire second-rank Fire Glitter Star Zone, reaped great rewards in the third-rank Purple Wind Star Zone, and received numerous bonuses, yet still only accumulated three or five thousand Dao Merits.

Old Qi was actually quite tragic—a talented disciple, yet among the lowest tier of talents, performing very average, and thus received minimal rewards from the Lingji Star Hall back then.

The few resources he had were all used to raise his cultivation base; as his cultivation lagged, he received even fewer resources.

That's why he wasted over a decade before achieving Spiritual Soul Casting.

Only then did his long accumulation finally bear fruit.

Most disciples admitted to the National Dao Academy have family support.

Moreover, those who come here all wish to engrave runes and know the requirements for rune engraving.

So there are many disciples who have achieved Spiritual Soul Casting.

Upon grasping the second-rank star jade tablet, Xu Jin's spiritual soul energy surged in, instantly sensing the dense star force within; the next instant, he began engraving the Star Pivot Star Pattern.

The Star Pivot Star Pattern must envelop as much of the star force within the jade tablet as possible.

But any external force entering causes the star force inside to surge and spill into every corner, preventing full containment.

This demands speed and stability.

Generally, enveloping eighty percent of the star force within a jade tablet constitutes a qualified base rune.

Ninety percent is considered an excellent base rune.

Xu Jin had practiced the Star Pivot Star Pattern tens of thousands of times in the Star Lamp—he knew it better than his own breath.

With powerful spiritual soul energy surging in, he engraved the Star Pivot Star Pattern like writing, instantly enveloping the entire jade tablet, causing it to emit a faint ripple of star force.

The base rune succeeded on the first try.

Xu Jin scanned with his mind—the Star Pivot Star Pattern had bound only about eighty-five percent of the star force.

Not bad—qualified.

But not excellent.

He pondered for a few breaths, reviewing the key points he needed to pay attention to during the engraving process.

Xu Jin picked up the second star jade tablet and began crafting the base rune.

Five breaths later, the second base rune was complete.

Ninety percent.

Excellent standard.

Xu Jin was satisfied.

He reflected again, then began crafting the third base rune—less than five breaths later, it was done.

Sensing with his mind, Xu Jin smiled slightly—he had improved again.

Ninety-one percent star force.

The quality of the base rune is closely tied to the rune's rank.

Only base runes that bind ninety percent or more of the jade tablet's star force can produce corresponding mid-grade runes.

The Connecting Star Pattern must be engraved simultaneously with the star technique, linking the Star Pivot Star Pattern to the intended star technique to form a closed loop.

In Xu Jin's understanding, the base rune engraved with the Star Pivot Star Pattern is like the body's star core—the energy source; the Connecting Star Pattern is akin to an engine that converts and outputs energy; and the Star Technique Star Pattern is the driving system.

Sounds simple, but is difficult to execute.

Use spiritual awareness to activate the star force within the Star Pivot, shaping the star technique but holding it latent, then connect and solidify each part with the Connecting Star Pattern.

This step is the most time-consuming and critical.

Xu Jin, as a beginner, struggled clumsily, nearly failing and exploding the rune several times, but he endured through sheer strength of his spiritual soul.

After fifty breaths, under Xu Jin's guidance, all star force qi returned to the jade tablet, after which he added a sealing star pattern to lock the star force inside, preventing its gradual dissipation over time.

A second-rank star shield rune was complete.

Boom!

Boom!

In the study hall, explosions rang continuously.

One disciple after another exploded their runes.

Some experienced disciples had already raised their protective starlight; inexperienced ones were thrown into disarray by the explosions.

This is one of the difficulties of rune engraving.

Low-rank runes are manageable.

Mid- and high-rank runes are highly valuable, containing vast amounts of star force—if they explode during engraving, the loss is enormous, and one might even suffer serious injury.

Boom!

An explosion erupted beside Xu Jin—Ji Hongli leapt up, her rune having exploded.

"Senior Brother, I'm sorry."

Seeing she had disturbed Xu Jin, Ji Hongli felt embarrassed.

Suddenly, Ji Hongli noticed the second-rank rune in Xu Jin's hand and exclaimed in surprise, "Senior Brother, you've finished?"

Xu Jin nodded slightly.

Ji Hongli froze. "Senior Brother, this is your first time attending class! I'm on my second time today."

"My first," Xu Jin replied calmly. "First try, first success." Ji Hongli stared at Xu Jin, her eyes sparkling.

Senior Brother truly lives up to his name!

To his right, Wang Jiugao, influenced by Ji Hongli's words, glanced at Xu Jin—then Boom!

It also exploded.

Fortunately, following Professor Kou's instructions, I had already raised my protective starlight barrier in time; otherwise, I would have been utterly humiliated.

Then he turned to Xu Jin with a pained expression.

No envy—only admiration!

Senior Brother is truly Senior Brother!

"Focus. Stabilize your soul force. Continue."

Xu Jin gave the two a reminder and began engraving the second rune.

With the second rune, Xu Jin had gained experience.

The mistakes he made earlier were now corrected.

During engraving, the risk of explosion dropped sharply—from over ten times to just three—and he safely passed through using his soul force.

Second attempt successful.

After carefully reviewing for a minute, Xu Jin began the third engraving.

The third engraving went flawlessly, drawing lessons from the first two.

He completed it in one continuous motion.

In less than forty breaths, a second-rank Star Shield rune was successfully forged.

At that moment, Ji Hongli and Wang Jiugao both exhaled in relief, one after the other.

Both succeeded!

Both completed successfully.

Ji Hongli had come to learn this twice before, while Wang Jiugao had come three times.

"Senior Brother, I made it."

Ji Hongli smiled sweetly, and in her joy, she instinctively reached for Xu Jin's arm—but immediately realized something, then darted away like a startled rabbit.

To his right, Wang Jiugao was about to announce his success when he suddenly noticed the three jade tablets before Xu Jin, none emitting any star force—his expression froze.

"Senior Brother, all three of yours succeeded?"

Star jade tablets emit star force, but finished runes, with their star force bound and sealed, do not.

Xu Jin nodded.

Immediately after, Ji Hongli, still astonished, blurted out: "Senior Brother, you must report it! There's a reward! Even if the reward isn't much, the first three to complete all three runes will receive personal guidance from Professor Kou!"

"Isn't that right!"

As Xu Jin was about to report, a disciple suddenly stood up: "Report, Professor Kou—I've finished."

Xu Jin was a step too late.

Immediately, a second disciple reported completion.

Xu Jin rose at once to report—but found himself third in line.

Kou Jing, who had been meditating, opened his eyes, didn't even look, and gestured—his first three runes floated to him. His spiritual sense sank in, and he began his critique.

"The second connection of the star pattern is too hasty, too narrow. The fourth junction turns too sharply—it will impede star force output speed, thus reducing output power."

Overall, your second-rank Star Shield is decent—already mid-grade, bordering on high-grade. With a bit more effort, you can reach high-grade."

"Good. Keep going."

The disciple being critiqued was Wen Lie, a core disciple of Professor Kou's academy, with fourth-rank Condense Star cultivation base, who had studied runes under Kou for over half a year.

After the critique, Kou Jing casually tossed a third-rank rune toward Wen Lie: "First to finish receives a third-rank high-grade rune I personally engraved."

Below, Ji Hongli's cheeks puffed up in anger.

So close—so close! That reward should have been Xu Jin's.

Her angry expression was both adorable and charming.

She looked angrier than Xu Jin himself.

Then Professor Kou moved on to critique the second finisher, Yan Jiang.

Though slightly slower, Yan Jiang's three second-rank runes included two that were high-grade; Professor Kou clearly favored him and offered extensive critique.

After the critique, Kou Jing turned to Xu Jin—and froze upon seeing him.

While not all disciples in the National Dao Academy recognized Xu Jin, the professors and vice-profs all remembered him vividly.

Not to mention, Professor Kou had already invested two Dragon Turtle Soul Forging Pills on Xu Jin.

That alone was worth at least thirty thousand merit points.

Such a painful loss was impossible to forget.

Kou Jing never expected Xu Jin would attend his rune class.

But as a senior official, Kou's surprise flashed only in his eyes before he gestured and drew Xu Jin's three engraved runes toward him.

"This one, though completed, is clearly crude. Many areas barely succeeded—barely formed. It's bottom-tier among bottom-tier."

If the user is unlucky, it might even injure them. Destroy it."

"Crude!"

Since the jade tablets were provided free of charge, all finished runes were to be returned to the National Dao Academy for sale, to replenish classroom expenses.

When Professor Kou destroyed Xu Jin's bottom-tier rune in front of everyone, someone chuckled.

In an instant, the chuckle erupted into roaring laughter.

Xu Jin didn't care—but Ji Hongli's teeth clenched in fury. She rose to protest when suddenly, Professor Kou's gaze shifted—and hundreds of star-force whips materialized in midair!

They lashed down violently upon the laughing disciples!

Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!

The sound of whips striking never ceased.

One overconfident disciple, thinking he could dodge, suddenly pulled back—

This enraged Professor Kou. He flicked his finger—a starlight cord shot out, hoisting the dodging disciple into the air, then the star whips began hammering him relentlessly.

Ten lashes in a row!

His back split open, bloodied and raw, screams echoing—before the beating finally stopped.

"His rune is crude—only crude in my eyes as his teacher! You lot, who keep exploding runes—what right do you have to laugh at him?"

"If you're so capable, make your own crude piece and let me critique it!"

Professor Kou's words silenced the laughing disciples, each lowering their heads.

The punished disciple, hanging in the air, was too ashamed to speak—he slunk into a corner, head bowed.

"Let me reiterate: my classroom allows speech—but forbids mocking others!"

"Learning comes at different paces!"

"Each has their own specialty!"

"Everyone's talent differs, as do their strengths!"

"Even if you're useless in rune class, you might excel in alchemy, forging, beast taming, or sea-harvesting!"

"Next time, you'll be banned from the hall!" Kou Jing snapped.

Instantly, every disciple in the hall stood rigid with solemnity.

The next instant, Professor Kou continued critiquing Xu Jin's second rune: "Hmm. This one is still low-grade second-rank, but it qualifies as a proper finished product."

"Good progress."

"But the first connection was rushed. During formation, insufficient soul force was applied, causing output lag."

Xu Jin listened carefully, absorbing every point.

Some issues he had noticed during engraving; others he hadn't—now revealed by Professor Kou.

Professor Kou pointed out more than six flaws.

When Kou Jing's spiritual sense sank into the third rune, he paused slightly.

He glanced at Xu Jin again.

This third rune showed significant improvement over the second—barely meeting mid-grade second-rank standards.

Compared to the first, crude rune, the progress was enormous.

And in his memory, Xu Jin had never attended his class before.

"Xu Jin, how long have you studied runes?" Professor Kou asked after pointing out several flaws in the third rune.

"Report, Professor Kou—today is my first time."

"What about star patterns?"

"I've studied related star patterns for quite a while—over a month and a half, I think." Xu Jin deliberately overstated; in truth, it had been only ten days.

"Hmm. I can see you've put in serious effort. Your understanding of the Star Pivot star pattern surpasses many disciples who've studied for one or two years."

Hearing this, Professor Kou scolded his own disciples: "Look! Look! You who study under me directly—your grasp of the Star Pivot star pattern is worse than Xu Jin's, who's only studied for a month and a half!"

He scolded them into silence, heads bowed.

Xu Jin felt helpless and embarrassed.

Again, Professor Kou had drawn hatred toward him.

After scolding, Kou Jing addressed the class: "Everyone else, continue. You have one more quarter-hour. If you don't finish, you may only listen to the next segment—no more engraving."

As he spoke, he flicked three specks of starlight toward Xu Jin, then whispered to him:

"You still have time. Practice a few more."

Kou Jing had decided to test Xu Jin.

(End of Chapter)