Chapter 89: Wielding the Brush
Chapter 89: Wielding the Brush
Zhang Yu initially thought that when Li Yi mentioned making a draft, he meant going somewhere else to continue attempting the Bedrock Rune.
He had even prepared a sarcastic and mocking speech in his mind. Once Li Yi failed, he would use words to belittle him, causing his confidence to falter and creating a psychological shadow.
To his surprise, Li Yi simply took a wooden stick and, with a mystical air, began drawing in the air. His strokes were bold and sharp, sketching one invisible Rune after another.
After a while, Zhang Yu recognized what was happening, and his eyes widened in shock!
“Are those… Great Dao Runes?”
Great Dao Runes, created by Cang Jie, were the origin of all Runes, known as the “Primordial Runes”!
But nowadays, Great Dao Runes had another name—Incomplete Runes.
Great Dao Runes imitated the tracks of birds, fish, beasts, and scales, and mirrored the shapes of mountains, rivers, and streams. They harmonized with the Great Dao, flawless and perfect, capable of commanding the heavens and earth, ordering the Nine Heavens above, and the Nine Netherworlds below! At their birth, grains of rain fell, and hundreds of ghosts wailed!
Because of their power, these nine Runes, like Heaven’s Condemnation Equipment, attracted heavenly punishment.
The result was that the nine Runes were altered by the power of the Rule/Law, becoming inherently flawed and losing all their effects.
However, they were not useless!
The reason Zhang Yu could recognize these Runes was that he had once seen his uncle, Zhang Baichi, waving a brush in the air. His form and posture were exactly the same as Li Yi’s now!
He had asked his uncle about it, and Zhang Baichi replied that although Great Dao Runes were flawed, they contained profound truths and could be used for enlightenment.
“He is… seeking enlightenment?” Zhang Yu came to this conclusion, feeling a sour numbness in his heart.
One, then another, nine Runes encompassing the universe, like a drop of water concealing a mountain, took shape faintly in the air, only to instantly dissipate.
After drawing all nine Runes in one go, Li Yi raised his hand again and repeatedly sketched one of them.
“Yue Rune!”
This Rune concealed dragon veins, embodied mountain ranges, was profoundly heavy, supporting the blue sky above and anchoring the Yellow Springs below.
Just like that, Li Yi seemed slightly dazed as he wielded the brush. Runes were born and vanished continuously.
The onlookers felt the air grow heavy, making it hard to breathe, and their bodies felt weighed down.
Li Yi stopped his brush.
He sat down on the spot without a word, closed his eyes, and seemed to be savoring something.
“Hurry up, our time is precious. We don’t have time for your mystical antics…” Zhang Yu felt flustered and deliberately spoke, intending to disrupt his thoughts.
Many aspects of Li Yi’s actions aligned with what his uncle had done, making him feel that Li Yi was not putting on a show but had genuinely grasped something profound.
“What are you doing?” Yan He stepped forward, blocking his way, and coldly scolded, “Are you deliberately disturbing him because you can’t accept losing?”
“Can’t accept losing? Me, unable to accept losing?” Zhang Yu laughed loudly to cover his panic, turned around, and found a chair to sit in.
Yan He also turned and glanced at Li Yi with a complex expression.
Just how many secrets did this kid have? Time and again, he turned the impossible into possible…
Li Yi remained completely unaware of the commotion around him.
His mind was immersed in thought. Deep in his consciousness, towering mountains rose and fell, continuously extending, condensing into a profound and majestic character: “Yue.”
Yue meant mountain, the emperor of all mountains!
“I’m ready!”
He stood up. This was the fifth piece of Mist-Haze Sandalwood Paper. Aside from the first piece for testing, three others had already been ruined.
“Ah, what’s wrong with Li Yi? He’s too impatient!”
“Exactly, for a young man, how can he be so restless?”
As soon as he put brush to paper, a series of exclamations and sighs erupted.
Li Yi’s brushwork was as swift as a soaring dragon, faster than a galloping horse!
To the onlookers, the three failed Runes had been crafted with slow, meticulous care, yet they still hadn’t succeeded. How could such hasty strokes possibly work?
“All of you, shut up!” Yan He angrily shouted. He was also anxious but couldn’t show it on his face.
The sighs quickly turned into stunned silence. In just a few breaths, a faint glow floated, and the Rune was completed in one go!
“This Rune weighs one hundred and eighty jin!” One person stared intently at the measuring platform and laughed loudly. “This Rune has already surpassed Zhang Yu’s!”
“Don’t forget, the competition now is based on total weight!” Zhang Yu’s lips twitched. After a dazed moment, he cleared his throat. “He ruined three Runes. The remaining five Runes need to weigh at least two hundred and sixty jin! Hmph, how can he win?”
Hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned solemn.
But before Zhang Yu’s words had fully settled, he was proven wrong.
The sixth Rune was completed with a single stroke.
This Rune actually weighed two hundred and eighty jin!
“Two hundred and eighty jin?” The refutation came so quickly that Zhang Yu’s voice grew hoarse, and he couldn’t speak for a moment. After a pause, he added, “I don’t believe he can achieve such success with top-tier Runes!”
Again, he was proven wrong!
The seventh Rune weighed even more!
“Three hundred jin!” Zhang Yu had intended to take a sip of water to calm his nerves, but upon seeing the number, he spat it out, coughing until his face turned red.
Three hundred jin was already twice his own weight!
The eighth, ninth, and tenth Runes appeared one after another without any hesitation.
When the tenth Rune was completed, a cracking sound echoed, and spiderweb-like cracks spread all around the Rune.
This Rune had already exceeded the measuring platform’s limit.
“Please excuse us. Our Butian Pavilion’s measuring platform isn’t of the best quality… How should we calculate this last one? Oh, right, even if we don’t count the weight of the final Rune, we still won.” Yan He, when being cutting, also had some skill. “A narrow victory, just a narrow victory…”
This time, it was Zhang Yu’s turn to feel his confidence shrink.
His opponent had crushed him with overwhelming force, leaving no room for excuses.
“In the art of Runes, the ‘Weight of a Thousand Jin’ is just the tip of the iceberg.” Zhou Xun stepped forward and suggested, “How about a match of ‘Striking the Water at Midstream’? I think Talismans better reflect one’s skill in Rune arts.”
“Striking the Water at Midstream?” Li Yi rubbed his chin.
The so-called “Striking the Water at Midstream” involved both parties simultaneously drawing three first-grade Talismans—”Rapidflow Arrows”—and shooting them at each other, pitting needle against needle.
This method was more dangerous for testing Talisman skills.
“Well? Dare to try?” Zhou Xu’s tone was provocative.
“Not interested.” Li Yi’s reply left him stunned.
“You’re scared?” Zhou Xu frowned, trying to provoke him again.
“Do we look like people with that much free time?” Li Yi spread his hands and pointed at the crowd. “Dao Transformation Armament is like sailing against the current. It requires day and night diligence without a moment’s rest. The path of armed equipment is not a monkey show. We’re so busy we hardly have time to eat or sleep. How could we have time to play games with you?”
More importantly, I’m not skilled with Talismans, Li Yi added in his heart.
A few words left the two speechless. Of course, the more important reason was that as the defeated, they had no grounds to argue.
“Everyone, chase them out!” Li Yi turned and shouted loudly. “We have no time for monkey shows!”
“Li Yi, we’ll see about this! Don’t push me, I’ll walk myself! Who kicked me just now? Step forward if you dare! Still kicking? Wait until I get back…”
Zhou Xun’s reluctant roars kept echoing.
Li Yi looked around. Everyone burst into laughter, the sound filled with delight.
Drawing Runes!
Suppressed for far too long, Li Yi now wanted to draw to his heart’s content!
One Rune after another leaped from the tip of his brush, formed, and was placed aside.
Starting with the Droplet Rune, Bedrock Rune, Flame Rune, Shadow Rune, Freezing Rune… Runes of different attributes flowed from his brush, lively and smooth, without any hesitation.
The joy of such release was indescribable, a marvelous feeling not easily shared with outsiders.
Li Yi completely lost track of time. His brush never stopped, releasing strokes that were firm and soft, clumsy and clever, capturing every aspect from surface to core.
He had no idea how much time had passed when his brush paused.
He suddenly realized: he had run out of Mana.
Drawing Runes until his Mana was depleted?
My goodness! Li Yi clicked his tongue in amazement.
“Wipe your sweat!”
A towel was offered from the side.
“Thank you. Huh? Senior Yan He? Why are you still here? Oh, none of you left?”
Coming back to his senses, Li Yi realized it was Yan He who had handed him the towel.
Recalling further, his Rune ink and Rune paper had constantly been replenished by someone, or else how could he have kept drawing?
A large crowd was staring at him intently, giving him the creeps.
“What’s wrong?” Li Yi touched his face. Wasn’t he still as handsome and dashing as ever?
“Kid, you’re not a devil wearing human skin, are you?” One person couldn’t help but say. “Success rates for drawing Runes usually start at twenty percent, then go to thirty or fifty percent, then seventy or eighty percent, before finally reaching perfection. But you… went from zero directly to near perfection?”
Li Yi looked down and only then noticed that throughout his drawing, his failures and defective products were pitifully few.
Such a success rate was something only a few, like Yan He, could achieve in Butian Pavilion.
“How about giving me those Bedrock Runes?” Yan He seemed to have waited for a long time and eagerly spoke up. “I recently plan to make a pair of Stone Fist Gauntlets. If I use these Runes, the quality will increase by at least fifty percent!”
“Senior Yan He, you’re too cunning!” someone protested. “Everyone who saw them should get a share. You can’t hog them all!”
“Exactly!”
Instantly, they quarreled like a boiling pot over a few Bedrock Runes!
“Stone Fist Gauntlets?” Li Yi licked his dry lips, his mind stirring with an idea.