Modern Patriarch

Chapter 108: Greater Runescripting

The Diffusion Greater Rune was the first rune Yao Shen inscribed onto his Lumenite Armor. Invoking the Language of the World was a far easier task than he had anticipated, although that was only because Vondar had shared the true names of the runes along with the exact technique involved in their invocation.

Inscribing a Greater Rune was a matter that required utmost precision. First, Yao Shen carved the exact letter whose schematics Vondar had transferred to him via divine sense onto the Lumenite chestplate and platelegs. Since the two armor pieces contained the greatest percentage of the precious ore yet could not be connected as one, two sets of the same rune were a necessity.

Then, Yao Shen imbued Flame, Earth, Water and Wind Qi into the depression in the ratios Vondar had revealed to him earlier. Regardless of which rune it was that he wished to inscribe, the elements remained unchanging while their ratios had to be figured out through painstaking trial and error.

The Diffusion Rune required Flame, Earth, Water and Wind Qi in a 4:2:1:3 ratio and Yao Shen found it a slight challenge to maintain the previous element as he imbued the next. He made mistakes in his first few attempts, resulting in the Qi he had already invested into the rune evaporating in the blink of an eye. Once he got a better hold of the runes depth and what one unit out of ten looked like, he only required a final try to get it right.

Invocation- Sheynnariar, Yao Shen muttered under his breath, his voice empowered by a flicker of Qi.

Yao Shen watched in awe as the discordant blend of four different types of Qi melded together in a burst of golden light. For a long moment, the rune retained the solid golden color before it faded away almost entirely, leaving behind a faint outline on the armors surface.

Energized by the thoughts of completing his Lumenite Armor Set, Yao Shen marched on with the task.

Invocation- Wanharari, Yao Shen muttered an hour later, after concluding the defensive Amplification Runes inscription.

This time, it was a burst of deep-violet light that bloomed outward, before the Amplification rune too melded with the armor, leaving behind nothing but an outline.

Repeating the process twice for each rune allowed Yao Shen to improve his understanding of the method by leaps and bounds, making him just a little faster every subsequent time.

The Control Greater Runes inscription process also went by smoothly. It was only the final two runes that Yao Shen had to be exceptionally careful with.

For the Discharge Greater Rune, Vondar had specifically told him to get it right in a single try. Although the chances of events turning out to be drastically wrong were low, extra care had to be given due to the violent nature of the rune.

Thankfully, equipped with the experience from his earlier inscriptions, Yao Shen got it right in the first try and proceeded to replicate his success flawlessly the second time.

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That left only the last rune, which also happened to be the most challenging of them all to inscribe.

The Self-Destruct Rune

Yao Shen was glad to have been working in a different chamber, one that he had dug out within the sealed cave systems for himself. He wouldnt be surprised if he had gone deeper than even the Lumenite Mine, but he intended to fill the gap once his purpose was accomplished.

The Mine was far too volatile for him to be inscribing runes and he also could not let anyone else witness the Lumenite Armor. Deep underground, if the inscription process went awry, there would be no casualties and neither was there any chance of the Lumenite Mine detonating.

While the other Greater Runes that Yao Shen had been inscribing were limited to a single word, the Self-Destruct Rune was a fusion of five words. In other words, he was dealing with an entire letter.

The more he learned about Greater Runescript, the greater his interest towards the subject got. Who had first discovered the Language of the World? Or was it discovered at all? Humans were the ones to evolve their own languages and even in the modern world that Yao Shen had left behind, language had not reached completion. New inventions necessitated new words and the new generation supplanted the perception of the old.

Could language really exist in the natural world, on its own?

Perhaps.

Was it possible that Vondar was wrong and what he considered the Language of the World was the creation of a cultivator powerful beyond understanding?

If so, was Greater Runescript something that could be created, like how new words could be discovered?

It was something Yao Shen intended to keep in his mind as he began the final inscription process.

The carving process gave him the least trouble. Precision was no challenge for Yao Shen at this stage.

However, the next stage tested Yao Shens limits.

Not only was he required to maintain the appropriate ratios for each of the five runes and reach completion at the same time, but he also had to imbue a drop of his blood and also a part of his Divine Sense into the rune as insurance- all in the exact instant.

If his Divine Sense was imbued later and the imbuing process would fail, defaulting the Self-Destruct Rune to its original purpose. If anyone other than him tried to wear the armor, it would explode in an explosion so powerful that the usurper would instantly die.

Thankfully, the drop of blood at least, was easy to manage.

Yao Shens brow was beaded with sweat as he held off the final Qi element required for each of the runes. A drop of blood dripped down his thumb and sizzled onto the Self-Destruct rune. At the same moment, Yao Shen manipulated four different types of Qi and sent his Divine Sense rushing forward.

His Human Dao Domain was on standby, ready for things to go awry.

For a long moment, nothing happened.

Then a rainbow of light erupted from the Self-Destruct rune, flooding the dimly lit stone cave with bright, punchy colors.

Well done, Vondar congratulated him as the Lumenite Armor had finally, reached completion.

Now, it was time to see what it was capable of.