Chapter Eighteen: Tulu’s Vision

After rereading "A Beginner’s Guide to Inscription Arts," Tu Lu made sure he hadn’t forgotten any materials, tidied up a little, and then stepped outside.

This time, he did not bring the little girl with him. On one hand, the atmosphere in Divine Wind City was tense and anxious; everyone was on edge, and it was unlikely anyone would be foolish enough to investigate the Chief Steward’s affairs at such a time. On the other hand, after all that had happened, he vaguely sensed that—even if he left the little girl behind—she wouldn’t be in any real danger. Though it was merely an intuition…

The southern part of the city was not like the east. While it was more developed than several other districts, shops catering to cultivators were still pitifully few. He circled the area several times, but failed to gather all the necessary materials.

In the end, he had to make another journey to the eastern district. By the time he returned, it was nearly noon. He had managed to assemble everything, but his supply of Thunder Stones had drastically diminished. The third- and fourth-grade Thunder Stones were not his concern for the moment, but over four hundred first-grade Thunder Stones had been entirely consumed, and only a scant few second-grade stones remained.

“Let’s hope I succeed on the first try…” He drew a deep breath, and following the steps laid out in "A Beginner’s Guide to Inscription Arts," began to prepare the spiritual liquid.

The essence of inscription arts lay in the technique of inscribing runes. Beyond that, the runes themselves were crucial; without inherited knowledge, no amount of resources or talent would suffice. Though this book was but a simple introduction, it contained several basic runes.

The next critical step was preparing the spiritual liquid. If the liquid lacked sufficient spiritual energy, or if its elemental attributes did not match the requirements of the intended rune, even the most skilled technique would result in failure.

Originally, Tu Lu thought that preparing spiritual liquid was so simple it wouldn’t require the expense of Thunder Stones. But reality proved otherwise. As soon as he started, the moment he added a drop of beast blood, the liquid suddenly began to bubble, then emitted a muffled sound and a curl of blue smoke.

He hadn’t even had time to react before the batch was ruined.

These were Thunder Stones! His heart ached; in just that moment, he had lost at least several dozen first-grade Thunder Stones…

The little girl watched him from a distance. Gritting his teeth, Tu Lu tossed the ruined liquid aside, took out new materials, and began again.

This time, he was much more cautious. At every step, he used the white sphere in his mind to observe, each breath of time allowing him to foresee the next dozen steps.

This attempt took nearly half an hour.

Only then did he successfully prepare the spiritual liquid. In that time alone, he had observed the process over ten times, expending the energy of more than one third-grade Thunder Stone, and avoided several mistakes. At last, he succeeded.

“Is this really preparing spiritual liquid? Something even an apprentice inscriptionist is said to master? Why is it so difficult?!”

Staring at the finished spiritual liquid, he hesitated, beginning to doubt whether his approach was correct.

Though he succeeded, if measured in first-grade Thunder Stones, he had wasted over a hundred more, far exceeding the value of the small dish of liquid he’d produced!

What he did not know was that if others learned he succeeded in just two attempts, their jaws would drop in astonishment. Even those apprentices guided by renowned masters would, under such conditions, require countless trials and pay a price far greater than a mere hundred or two Thunder Stones.

“No matter. I still have nine fourth-grade Thunder Stones—enough for several tries!”

With this thought, he steeled himself, took out a luxurious brush made of Zen wood and Ice Silkworm thread, popped several Marrow Cleansing Pills into his mouth, set one aside, and began inscribing runes onto it following the steps from "A Beginner’s Guide to Inscription Arts."

During the process, he spared no expense, using the white sphere to observe the energy flow of every stroke, ensuring not a single step went awry.

An hour passed.

Something was wrong!

When two-thirds of the inscription was complete, Tu Lu’s expression changed abruptly as a wave of dizziness washed over his mind. In his vision of the future, the Marrow Cleansing Pill suddenly burst, but his mind blurred, he couldn’t react in time, and with a sudden “pop,” the pill exploded into dust.

“My… spiritual power isn’t enough?”

He stood stunned. In truth, that brief lapse could have been avoided, but as he was about to act, his consciousness grew fuzzy, his vision blurred, leading to the error.

Yet according to "A Beginner’s Guide to Inscription Arts," the initial Mountain-Moving stage should suffice for inscribing up to ten runes; he had barely started the third, yet already faltered?

“Something’s wrong. There must be a mistake somewhere.”

He frowned. The energy consumed by the white sphere, driven by his consciousness, was negligible—this shouldn’t be the issue. But aside from that, where else could the problem lie?

After much deliberation, his gaze settled on the Marrow Cleansing Pill.

The inscription method was strictly as described in the guide, and the spiritual liquid was fine. If there was an issue, it had to be with the pill.

Indeed, though in theory, inscription could be applied to pills, he rarely heard of inscribed pills being sold—there must be a reason for this!

With that in mind, he swallowed several Marrow Cleansing Pills, closed his eyes, and rested.

Several hours passed before he felt his spiritual power return, and when he opened his eyes, they shone brightly once more.

Then… he drew a magical staff from the Heavenly Dragon Order.

“Success and failure hinge on this!”

After his last failure, he proceeded with heightened caution, maintaining constant awareness of the staff’s internal structure, and scrutinizing each step with the white sphere, vigilant about his mental state.

This round of inscription lasted half a day.

On the staff, he inscribed eight runes—only the final one remained to complete the cycle and finish the process.

This was the most crucial step.

Sweat beaded on his forehead. If he succeeded now, he would become a true inscriptionist.

“Just one last stroke… done!”

With the final stroke, the staff suddenly gleamed, erupting in a burst of flame, then quickly subsided. On the surface, it looked unremarkable, but Tu Lu knew: if wielded with blood energy, this staff could unleash a force of a thousand pounds!

For he had inscribed the rune of gravity.

After turning it over in his hand for a moment, Tu Lu tossed it aside and collapsed on the floor, exhausted.

He had never cultivated any method for strengthening spiritual power; after barely completing one inscription, his reserves were spent.

But at least he had held on.

“My spiritual power can just manage, but the Thunder Stone consumption is outrageous—one inscription burns through a fourth-grade stone, equivalent to a thousand ordinary ones!

Looks like I’ll need to sell these newly inscribed magical items for some income.”

The thought filled him with anticipation.

After all, inscribed artifacts were priceless in the market—even the lowest grade possessed special powers that ordinary high-grade ones lacked. Especially in times like these, their value was sure to be immense!

For him, it was the same; as long as he could trade for enough Thunder Stones, he could continue practicing inscription arts. When his skill had matured, he could distribute inscribed artifacts throughout the city. In time, the strength of Divine Wind City would surely multiply!

“If only it were that simple…” he sighed.

No matter how he looked at it, it seemed far from realistic.