Braised Dragon with Soy Sauce

“Naturally, some grandmasters with high cultivation levels will learn some offshoots of runes, since these runes share the same origin. However, they only choose to study some, because human resources are limited. It is not easy to master all the runes of one's own lineage, let alone other lineages.”

"Clumsy people like me have cultivated for over a hundred years and only reached the master level, still a million miles away from the grandmaster level. I'm afraid I'll never hope for it in this lifetime, so why would I have the mind to cultivate other methods? Hehe."

Old Huo chuckled self-deprecatingly.

"We weapon refiners are all practitioners of fire-based mystical arts, but rune masters and array masters don't seem to be practitioners of fire-based mystical arts. Why are they also able to inscribe runes? Doesn't inscribing runes require the use of fire elemental spiritual power?"

Mo Yuming was puzzled.

"We weapon refiners must be practitioners of fire-based profound arts because the main materials for weapon refining are metals, minerals, gems, and animal bones. These substances must be refined using fire elements, so only practitioners of fire-based profound arts are qualified."

The array plates or array bases used by array masters can be made of wood or other materials. There are not many requirements for their shape and material. In addition, they can also pay a craftsman to make the base material for them. They only need to use special techniques to engrave runes into these array plates or array bases.

Most importantly, it is their arrangement, understanding, and control of the formation.

Those who excel in this area are primarily practitioners of earth and wood-based martial arts, followed by those of metal. Water and fire, due to their elemental characteristics, are less suitable for cultivating formations.

Therefore, most accomplished array masters primarily use earth and wood elements.

Once an earth-elemental array master reaches a certain level, rocks, gravel, and even buildings can become readily available array bases. Wherever they go, they can immediately set up arrays using whatever is around them. The same applies to wood-elemental array masters; they can utilize the trees and weeds around them as well.

Rune masters inscribe most of their runes onto specially crafted talisman paper. Their primary materials are various animal hides and bones, and they require little or no use of fire elemental power in the crafting process. Therefore, rune masters are primarily those skilled in earth, wood, and metal elemental magic.

Mr. Huo explained.

"So you're saying that you don't have to use fire elemental power to inscribe runes, you can inscribe other elements too?" Mo Yuming asked curiously.

"That's one way to put it, but in weapon crafting, fire is the primary element, followed by metal. Other formations and runes are not differentiated; it mainly depends on one's cultivation level."

"So, you don't need to learn weapon crafting to inscribe runes on objects?" Mo Yuming was eager to try. His previous failure in weapon crafting had left him feeling frustrated for a while, and this time he wanted to find some sense of accomplishment in inscribing runes.

"Hehe, it's not that simple. Although it makes sense in theory, the most important thing in engraving runes is the control and use of one's own spiritual power. And the training of weapon refiners starts with iron refining, which is mainly to train the control of spiritual power."

This differs from improving cultivation and combat power. Combat power emphasizes speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, with the aim of destruction and killing. In contrast, engraving runes emphasizes stability, smoothness, and precision.

The goal is to unify creation. The two have completely different ways of controlling spiritual power, so a person with high cultivation level may not necessarily be able to forge weapons or inscribe runes.

This requires a practice process. However, if Young Master wishes to try inscribing runes, it's not impossible; I can guide you through the process.

Old Master Huo said with a smile.

"Please enlighten me, Elder Huo!" Mo Yuming immediately raised his hand in salute.

Old Huo picked up a pen-shaped metal rod from the table and handed it to Mo Yuming, saying, "This is a spirit-gathering pen for drawing runes. The runes on objects are all engraved using this pen, so if you want to learn how to engrave runes, you must first learn how to use a pen."

Mo Yuming took the Spirit Gathering Brush and examined it carefully. It was a metal rod about the thickness of a finger and about five inches long. The front inch was conical. The surface of the metal rod was covered with dense patterns. The lines of the patterns went up and down and intertwined in a very complicated way.

It was immediately apparent that it was a very complex rune. The color variations of the metal on the rod indicated that it was made from a blend of several metallic minerals, with black iron being the main component, followed by soul iron. Mo Yuming couldn't recognize the other metals.

"This Spirit Gathering Brush of mine is a low-grade one. Generally, weapon refiners below the master level use this kind of Spirit Gathering Brush. Each one costs five thousand gold coins. The intermediate grade starts at fifteen thousand gold coins, and the high-grade ones are out of stock and are estimated to cost over one hundred thousand gold coins," Elder Huo explained.

"So expensive! How can an ordinary person afford it?" Mo Yuming said in surprise.

"Even if you can't afford it, you have to buy it. Don't underestimate this small Spirit Gathering Brush. Only the Grandmasters at the Refiner Association headquarters can make it, and the production is limited. If you want to sell it, you have to place an order. It will take at least half a year for it to arrive. So once an apprentice advances to the first level of Refiner, the first thing he will do is to go to the Refiner Association to order a Spirit Gathering Brush to prepare for his future rune engraving."

"If a novice weapon refiner isn't a rich kid, who could afford to buy a Spirit Gathering Brush?" Mo Yuming asked.

"Most people certainly don't have that much money to buy it, but the Refiner's Association offers discounts. As long as you register as a member of the association, you can purchase it in installments. You only need to pay interest of ten silver shells per year, and you can freely choose a payment period of five to one hundred years. However, this pen of mine was not purchased from the association. It was passed down in my family. As for whether my ancestor made it himself or bought it, I don't know."

"I remember now, Xiaoxiao should have two spirit-gathering pens too. I think I've seen them before. I thought they were just ordinary tools and didn't pay much attention to them. I took them to Xiaoxiao to get rid of them. If they weren't sold, they should still be with her. I need to ask her quickly. We can't let such valuable items be treated as scrap metal!"

"Hehe, young master, you mean the two pens of the Sima master and his apprentice? The little girl entrusted them to me for safekeeping a long time ago. She's not as clueless as you, young master. I've decided to make these two pens public pens. If any apprentice weapon refiner in the factory breaks through and advances, they can borrow them for free to learn how to inscribe runes. Once they have the strength, they can buy their own spirit-gathering pens. This will reduce their burden."

“That’s great! If possible, the factory can buy a few more as spares. After all, many of our apprentices will definitely advance in the future, so we won’t have to pre-order the Spirit Gathering Pens with interest payments. We also won’t have to wait half a year and delay our cultivation.”

"Young Master's idea is good, but the Refiner Association has a rule that each refiner can only purchase one Spirit Gathering Pen from the association. Even if you want to upgrade to an intermediate Spirit Gathering Pen in the future, you will have to exchange it for a basic one. So if Young Master wants to buy more Spirit Gathering Pens, he will have to buy second-hand ones from the artifact shop or the black market!"

"Are they also sold in antique shops and the black market?"

"Where there is demand, there will be supply and demand. Some weapon refiners who are unwilling to join the weapon refiner association can only buy spirit gathering pens from weapon shops or the black market."

The vast majority of spirit-gathering pens in these places are second-hand items. The ones in the craft shops are usually consigned to the shops by certain craftsmen for sale under certain circumstances, so the source is relatively legitimate. The ones on the black market, of course, are obtained illegally.

While you can buy spirit-gathering pens cheaper on the black market, the supply is limited, and the prices aren't significantly lower. However, with a bit of luck, you might even find a legendary high-grade spirit-gathering pen. After all, spirit-gathering pens all look quite similar, and only weapon refiners can distinguish their quality.