Chapter Twenty-Eight: Breakthrough

However, when he thought of Zhao Yuyang’s character, his confidence returned, and as he furrowed his brow, much of his guilt faded away.

Afterward, he mulled over many things, which eventually turned into a long sigh.

“I’ll just wait for the matter in Divine Wind City to conclude. Once Xiao Cai is settled, I’ll head west. While searching for news about the Mysterious Spirit Island, I’ll focus on cultivating, striving to break through to the Purple Mansion Realm as soon as possible to prepare for the journey to the Sea of Ascension. As for Zhao Yuyang’s affairs… whatever happens, happens.”

He pondered for a while, then shook his head.

However, when his gaze fell upon the Primal Meridian Sword, he hesitated again.

He had originally planned to inscribe the Fire Pattern Rune on the sword, but now, after seeing the Fire God Rune, he was tempted by another idea.

He felt that for a set of high-grade, top-quality artifacts, using only basic runes would be a waste. However, the Fire God Rune was composed of eighty-one basic runes, more than twice as complex as the Fire Pattern Rune. More importantly, the consumption of spiritual power would be tenfold higher, and he wasn’t confident he could endure it!

“Even so, now that I’ve seen such a rune, there’s no way I could just inscribe the Fire Pattern Rune on the Primal Meridian Sword,” he sighed, putting the sword away before leaving the room.

“Xiao Dong, spread the word: the Inscription Shop has decided that, to help combat the beast tide, as long as they bring in their artifacts, the master here will inscribe runes for them. Success only costs five hundred Thunder Stones. If it fails, not only is there no charge, but they’ll also be compensated with a rune-inscribed artifact!

“As for the number… hmm, let’s limit it to ten inscriptions per day!”

Hearing this, Xiao Dong was stunned, his mind nearly unable to process it!

He didn’t know much about inscription techniques, but he had some common sense—it sounded like the boss had gone mad!

Ten artifacts inscribed per day?

Only five hundred Thunder Stones for a successful inscription?

If it failed, there would be compensation, and not just anything, but a rune-inscribed artifact?!

“Did you hear me?!” Tu Lu frowned.

Startled, Xiao Dong stammered, “Y-yes, I heard you!”

Swallowing hard, he hurried out to spread the news, his heart still pounding with shock and a vague sense that something big was about to happen.

But he had no idea that once this news got out, it would be like an earthquake—Divine Wind City was thrown into chaos!

“Did you hear? The Inscription Shop across from the trading market is going to inscribe runes directly onto our artifacts—ten per day, only five hundred Thunder Stones if successful, and compensation if they fail!”

“This can’t be true! Ten a day? Even Master Zhao couldn’t manage that!”

“Who cares if it’s possible or not? With so many cultivators, there’s no way he’d cheat us all! Maybe he has some other method—if you don’t believe it, fine, but I’m going to try!”

“Who said I don’t believe it? It’s only five hundred Thunder Stones—I’m going to try too!”

In an instant, everyone surged toward Tu Lu’s shop once more.

After all, no matter how good the rune-inscribed artifacts at the trading market were, they couldn’t compare to one’s own weapon. And Tu Lu’s price was so low that no cultivator could refuse!

As for the conditions? They could hardly be called conditions at all!

It was practically this: as long as they handed over their artifact and five hundred Thunder Stones, regardless of success or failure, they would end up with a rune-inscribed artifact. If it failed, they wouldn’t even lose the five hundred Thunder Stones!

At this point, aside from the wealthy few who might buy one or two artifacts at the trading market before bringing theirs to Tu Lu, no ordinary cultivator stayed at the trading market!

Strangely, this time, there was no response from the trading market.

They had six people; even if each could inscribe only two artifacts per day, their efficiency wouldn’t be much worse than Tu Lu’s. Yet, after hearing the news, they went completely silent, admitting defeat without even a word.

In the Tianlong Pavilion, after Hu Tu relayed the news to Zhao Yuyang, Zhao Yuyang burst out laughing.

“Hu Tu, they’re just scared! Ten a day wouldn’t be a problem for them, but the real issue is… how many could they succeed at?”

He shook his head, holding up three fingers. “Three. Three at best!

“But for each failure, they have to compensate with a rune-inscribed artifact—that’s not a joke. Even I wouldn’t dare make such an offer. If those fellows at the trading market dared to take up this challenge, I’d have some respect for them!

“But that’s impossible. With their skills and resources, a few days of this would ruin them. Honestly, saying they have a thirty percent success rate is already generous.”

Hu Tu swallowed hard but then said, “But wait… wouldn’t it be the same for that master at the Inscription Shop? Even with internal refinement, could the success rate be over thirty percent? For each failure, a rune-inscribed artifact as compensation, and ten attempts a day… it sounds absurd…”

“Not necessarily,” Zhao Yuyang narrowed his eyes, pausing for a long moment before continuing. “If the other party is a grandmaster of inscription, perhaps they really could do it.”

Hu Tu was stunned.

Zhao Yuyang went on, “A grandmaster-level inscriber has such a profound grasp of basic runes that it’s become second nature. For basic runes, apart from a little luck, their success rate could be nearly a hundred percent!”

He paused, then chuckled softly. “In any case… let’s wait and see. I won’t be getting involved. Just watch and we’ll know.”

…

Meanwhile, in the small room inside the Inscription Shop, Tu Lu was drenched in sweat, his hands moving non-stop, his mind running the Minor Heaven Visualization Technique, focusing on that stone statue.

The closer his consciousness drew to the indistinct statue, the more he longed to see its true form, and the faster his spiritual power grew.

His hands moved ever faster—unless he encountered something amiss, he had no need to use the white orb at all!

After all, his command of the Gravity Rune had reached a level of effortless mastery. While others had to constantly fumble and correct mistakes, he had proceeded correctly from the start, every misstep instantly rectified, each movement edging toward perfection. For him, mastering the Gravity Rune was no challenge at all!

As for the Fire Pattern Rune, he still wasn’t confident, so he didn’t try to inscribe it on these artifacts.

However, in the midst of his work, at a certain moment, his spiritual power suddenly broke through a threshold. His mind felt as if it had exploded, and the stone statue radiated a burst of light. He froze on the spot, his hands halting abruptly.

As a result, the spear he was inscribing suddenly sparked and then lost its luster, growing dim.

Yet Tu Lu remained frozen, unmoving, his aura fluctuating wildly until, after just a few breaths, it finally stabilized.

“Haha!”

He suddenly burst out laughing and stood up!

Body-Tempering, Second Layer—the Middle Stage of the Mountain-Moving Realm!

He hadn’t expected that not only would the Minor Heaven Visualization Technique greatly enhance his spiritual power, but it would also help his vital energy break through the first barrier of Body-Tempering, propelling him smoothly into the middle stage of the Mountain-Moving Realm!

After a few hearty laughs, he gradually calmed down.

He then used the orange orb to absorb Thunder Stone energy, consuming several second-grade Thunder Stones in succession. His vital energy surged as if stimulated, pulsing again and again until his cultivation reached the peak of the Mountain-Moving Middle Stage before finally settling.

“I never imagined that such a sharp increase in spiritual power would so greatly improve my control over vital energy, making breakthroughs much easier. This is a shortcut to advancing in cultivation. I wonder if I can now attempt the Fire God Rune…”

But after considering it, he shook his head.

He didn’t have the materials for practice, and as for inscribing directly onto the Primal Meridian Sword… he shook his head again.

The Fire God Rune was made up of eighty-one basic runes—a top-tier intermediate rune. Inscribing it directly was simply too risky.