Chapter Thirty-Two: The Way of Inscriptions

“Haha, Master Zhao, may I ask what brings you here today?” Tu Lu stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting as he spoke, inviting him to sit.

Though his words were courteous, he knew full well they were merely empty pleasantries. Zhao Yuyang had already offered up the Fire God Sigil days ago, and he had yet to respond. How could the other party not be anxious? He had wondered why Zhao Yuyang hadn’t come looking for him sooner, but now it seemed the old man had simply been holding back, too hesitant to urge him. Now, learning that Tu Lu was about to enter the City Lord’s Manor, he could no longer contain himself.

“Heh, Friend Lu is as forthright as ever. There’s nothing else, really—just wanted to ask if there’s any word from your master regarding last time…” He cleared his throat, his intent clear.

As expected.

Tu Lu frowned and sighed. “Master Zhao, my teacher has reviewed your Fire God Sigil, especially your thoughts on the Fire Realm Sigil and the Fire Intent Sigil. He found your ideas quite intriguing, but…”

“But what?” Zhao Yuyang’s gaze sharpened.

Tu Lu deliberately hesitated, then shook his head. “He said that while your approach is clever, it’s difficult to reach completion. Both you and he have your own paths, and as the saying goes, ‘those whose paths diverge cannot work together.’ More importantly, he doesn’t like visitors, so he’s unwilling to meet with you.”

Zhao Yuyang was taken aback, his expression flickering with irritation and disbelief.

Seeing the situation turn sour, Tu Lu quickly continued, “However, my master also said your line of thinking is commendable. Turning one into nine, then nine into eighty-one, aligns well with the principle of two forms birthing four images, and four images evolving into eight trigrams. Using patterns to connect arrays is not impossible. But when it comes to the Fire Realm Sigil, you must unite all to one, going against the usual method. That is the real challenge.”

“What does that mean?” Zhao Yuyang’s face changed, and he asked urgently.

He had taken the bait.

Tu Lu raised his brows, inwardly scrambling for words. “It’s actually related to basic sigil patterns.”

He paused, then explained, “Every engraver knows, just as the five elements—metal, wood, water, fire, earth—have their own attributes, so do basic sigil patterns. The sigils used in engraving are essentially composed of these basic patterns, just arranged differently for varying effects.”

“True,” Zhao Yuyang nodded.

Tu Lu continued, “Sigil patterns are theoretical, but in actual engraving, subtle errors inevitably occur. Some flaws cause outright failure, but others can be managed by spending extra time and effort to balance conflicting attributes, maintaining stability until success.”

He glanced at Zhao Yuyang as he spoke.

In fact, when he first met Zhao Yuyang at Tianlong Pavilion, he noticed this peculiar skill. Zhao Yuyang made an error on his third sigil, but even after being reminded, he managed to succeed because he balanced the instability with subsequent sigils. Though it cost time, it guaranteed the result. This set him apart from other engravers, who often made unnoticed errors and wasted energy compensating for them, limiting their daily output to two or three engravings at most.

“I understand,” Zhao Yuyang took a deep breath. “Your master means that as long as there are flaws and imperfections in my engraving, so long as the Fire God Sigil is not perfect, I won’t be able to achieve my theoretical goal, right?”

“Exactly.” Tu Lu hesitated, then nodded. “In the earlier stage, patterns are drawn with arrays, balancing attribute conflicts through array techniques. Minor errors aren’t a major issue, but the Fire Realm Sigil requires all nine arrays to merge into one. That’s a serious concern.”

As he spoke, his thoughts became clearer and his words flowed more smoothly. “Merging nine arrays demands a highly stable structure. Unless the errors made during the construction of these nine arrays can balance each other, otherwise…”

“How could that be possible?” Before Tu Lu finished, Zhao Yuyang shook his head with a bitter smile.

Building nine arrays is already a daunting task—how could one also ensure any errors made in the process would counterbalance each other? It’s like nine people carrying buckets through a desert searching for water; it’s hard enough to find water, let alone guarantee each bucket has the exact same amount. Unless all nine fill their buckets to the brim, which is scarcely achievable.

“I understand. Please convey my thanks to your master. At least he’s shown me the direction.”

Zhao Yuyang bowed deeply to Tu Lu, then stood.

“No need for that!” Tu Lu’s scalp tingled at the gesture. Though he knew the bow was meant for that fictional engraver, it still felt awkward.

“By the way, did your master ever mention—can he achieve a perfectly attributed Fire God Sigil?” Zhao Yuyang suddenly asked.

Tu Lu paused, then replied, “My teacher has often lamented that all things have flaws. Even he can only approach perfection, not truly attain it. But with further research, perhaps there’s hope.”

He spoke of himself, and indeed, it was true. He could see errors with the white sphere of light—but only those that lead to outright failure. Subtle flaws that merely affect performance were beyond his reach, as he could only see for a moment, not the final effect after engraving. That’s why his work was only near-perfect, never truly flawless.

As for whether a near-perfect Fire God Sigil could achieve full unification, or if the fusion process might fail, he truly didn’t know. After all, this was merely an idea Zhao Yuyang had, with no concrete steps or methods.

“I see,” Zhao Yuyang nodded thoughtfully.

Suddenly, he said, “By the way, Friend Lu, your master is going to the City Lord’s Manor to engrave, right? You don’t need to go along, do you?”

Tu Lu was surprised, quickly answering, “I’ll be there to help with potion preparation.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Yuyang’s face showed envy. “Congratulations, Friend Lu. The road ahead is clear to me, so I won’t trouble you further. Farewell.”

Tu Lu forced a smile, well aware of why Zhao Yuyang congratulated him—he thought Tu Lu would be learning from the master.

“At least I’ve sent off a great figure. He shouldn’t bother me again for a while.” After Zhao Yuyang left, Tu Lu breathed a sigh of relief and stretched.

“Next, I need to refine those two rare herbs, using the Wood Clone cultivation method to break through to the peak of Mountain Moving. If I succeed, all will be well. If I fail…”

He frowned.

Failure was not an option. If he failed, the trouble would be immense, even fatal, as he had no confidence to support the full set of artifact engravings.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the gloves Lin Fengtian had sent. He had only glanced at them briefly; they seemed to be artifacts as well. He had never engraved an artifact before—perhaps it was time to familiarize himself.