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Translator: Truth
Editor: Dhael Ligerkeys
At the Summit of Clarity, Lu Ye was seated in front of Lady Yun in the library. His palm held out in front of him, he channeled a bit of Spiritual Power and created a Yin element that was smaller than a grain of rice in just a short time. Once done, he changed it to the Yang element. For the next couple breaths, he would continuously switch between the two primary elements while maintaining their stability.
Lady Yun inspected his work for a while before saying, “You may stop now.”
Lu Ye dispelled his Spiritual Power as she asked.
“Now I understand why the Glyphweaver’s inheritance chose you. You are incredibly talented in this Way.” Lady Yun looked at him with approval.
When the Sect Master brought Lu Ye to her, she had made the decision to teach him not because she had caved to that bastard’s pleadings, but because she did not want the Glyphweaver’s inheritance to be wasted on an amateur who didn’t even know the fundamentals of Glyphs. At the very least, she would teach him enough to make the most out of the inheritance.
Now though, she realized that the late Glyphweaver who chose Lu Ye to be his successor also had a discerning eye for talent.
When she created her first ever Yin and Yang element, it had taken her two days to perform the exercise successfully. Lu Ye was just as green as she was back then, but he had done it in just an incense stick’s time. On top of that, it had taken her a whole month of practice before she was able to switch between the two primary elements and maintain a stable form, but Lu Ye had reached that level in just five days.
Clearly, he was much more talented in the Way of Glyphs than she was. He was definitely worth her teaching.
Her eyes grew softer as she stared at Lu Ye. [Maybe… just maybe… I could steal him from the old fool and make him my official disciple? I doubt that old fool would dare to go against my wishes.]
[There is no hurry though. Let’s take this one step at a time.]
She cast away her stray thoughts and summoned a wafer like translucent crystal about the size of an egg on her palm. The crystal was flat with many hollow spots on its surface. In fact, the hollow spots looked like a picture made of many joined Yin and Yang elements.
Lu Ye took a moment to examine the crystal after Lady Yun tossed it into his hands. He said, “Is this a Glyph?”
“That is correct.” Lady Yun nodded. “Any combination of Yin and Yang that could exist in a stable form is a Glyph.”
It was a line that Lu Ye was familiar with because he had read it in a book before, one that was written by Mu Xiaoyao no less.
He had no doubt that Mu Xiaoyao was an incredible Glyphweaver.
According to Mu Xiaoyao, stability was the determinator if a Glyph could be considered a Glyph.
You could not create a Glyph by combining a bunch of Yin and Yang elements at random. Certain rules and principles must be obeyed in order to create a stable Glyph, or it wouldn’t take form 99% of the time. Even if it took form somehow, the primary elements would actively try to repel each other. Worst case scenario, it might even trigger a Spiritual Power explosion.
This was why inventing a new Glyph was never an easy task. It was quite common for a Glyphweaver to walk out of their abode while covered in self-inflicted wounds.
“Glyphs can be divided into two major categories: useful Glyphs and useless Glyphs.”
“There are useless Glyphs?”
“The one you’re holding is one such example.” Lady Yun explained, “A useful Glyph is a stable Glyph that creates some sort of effect, while a useless one is stable but does nothing at all. Now, try disassembling the Glyph I gave you and tell me how many primary elements it contains. I also want you to tell me exactly how many Yin and Yang elements it is composed of.”
“Understood,” Lu Ye replied and examined the translucent crystal in his hand closely. At the same time, he began simulating the construction of the Glyph in his head.
This wasn’t an easy task because the patterns in the Glyph looked almost identically to one another. The combination of Yin and Yang elements was also so seamless that what looked like a link made up of two primary elements were really three or even four primary elements.
It tested not just his eyesight, but also his mind.
The lesson was incredibly useful though. Already, he was getting a better understanding of the Glyph. Only by disassembling the Glyph correctly would he be able to grasp its structure in its entirety.
In fact, most of the great men and women Lu Ye knew from his past life had begun their career by breaking down what seemed like an impossible task into small, manageable components and dealing with them one at a time.
An incense stick and many confirmations later, Lu Ye finally looked up and replied, “Lady, there are thirty primary elements in this Glyph in total. Twelve of them are Yin, and eighteen are Yang.”
Lady Yun nodded smilingly. “That is correct. To date, this is the simplest Glyph we know and the first Glyph all Glyphweavers teach their disciples. We call it the Glyph: Thirtieth.”
“Glyph: Thirtieth?”
“All useless Glyphs are referred to as numbers instead of names.”
“I see. The senior who created Thirtieth must be an incredible genius.”
Glyphs weren’t necessarily better the more primary elements it contained. While it was true that a Glyph containing more primary elements possessed greater potential and power, to create a stable Glyph with only thirty primary elements was an incredible feat in its own right.
It was like how cooking stir-fried shredded potato was one of the hardest tests a chef could receive. A chef who could prepare an incredibly time-consuming and complex dish like the Buddha’s Temptation was certainly skillful, but they might not necessarily be able to cook a stir-fried shredded potato that absolutely everyone was satisfied with.
“I am glad you feel that way.”
After that, Lady Yun quizzed Lu Ye on some of the knowledge that was written in the books she gave him. More than happy to learn, Lu Ye used the opportunity to pick Lady Yun’s brain about problems that confounded him as well. Finally, Lady Yun gave him another lecture on the fundamentals of the Way of Glyphs.
Time passed quickly. The teacher was eager to teach, and the student was eager to learn. It was a match made in heaven.
When night fell, Lady Yun finally rose to her feet and said, “Let us stop here. Your cultivation level could be better, and the Way of Glyphs is wide-ranging and profound. It will take time for you to become a master. For your new exercise, study the Thirtieth and try to construct it. You may find me when you have succeeded.”
Just like last time, she made a hand gesture and summoned a dozen books to her. She gave them all to Lu Ye and sent him away.
A while later, the servant girl from last time escorted Lu Ye to the exit. He turned around to thank her before asking, “If you don’t mind, may I ask for your name, miss?”
This wasn’t the first time he met the servant girl, and it wouldn’t be the last. Naturally, he would like to put a name to her face.
However, the servant girl merely smiled at him and said nothing. Lu Ye watched her for a moment before clasping his hands together and saying respectfully, “Until next time.”
He did not realize she was deaf. What a pity.
After he returned to the Summit of Fortitude, he saw the Sect Master standing beneath the square and looking up at the flag of the Crimson Blood Sect; a golden flame with tinges of red. He immediately stepped forward and saluted the man respectfully. “Sect Master.”
The old man turned around as if he just noticed him and asked, “Did you come back from Summit of Clarity?”
“Yes.”
“That’s good. There’s no harm in learning the Way of Glyphs.” The Sect Master nodded before looking to his left and right. Then, he lowered his voice and asked, “Did Lady Yun mention me while she was teaching you?”
Lu Ye’s expression immediately turned conflicted. [How the heck am I suppose to answer this?] In the end, he decided to be honest and said, “No, Sect Master.”
The dejection on the old man’s face was plain to see.
Lu Ye left after answering a couple more questions from the Sect Master. Then, he entered the Outpost, hid in his training chamber, and constructed a small funnel in his Spiritual Points just like before. He then switched his cultivation technique to Gluttonous Feast and ate some Spirit Pills.
Finally, he began constructing the Thirtieth.
First, he created a Yin element on his hand. Then, he embedded it with a Yang element…
A Glyph must be constructed in one go. To pause for even a second in the middle of the work would result in failure. Not only that, the Glyphweaver must possess incredibly precise control over their own Spiritual Power. Otherwise, the work would fail as well.
Although Lu Ye was now capable of switching between the two primary elements freely, he had never created more than a single primary element at a time. As a result, he felt difficulty immediately after he started constructing the Thirtieth.
This was unlike any of the Glyphs he had constructed in the past because those Glyphs took form the instant he commanded them to. It was because the secrets of the Glyphs had already been imprinted into his mind through the leaves of the Tree of Glyphs.
It is why he was able to complete Lady Yun’s first exercise as quickly as he had. Unlike his peers, he possessed the unique advantage of having constructed many Glyphs in the past. His foundation in the Way of Glyphs was quite special.
His first attempt ended in failure after he had constructed just three primary elements. It was because his Spiritual Power wasn’t stable enough. He tried again, and again, and again…
…
An hour later, Lu Ye felt like murdering someone. Despite repeatedly telling himself to be patient and stay calm, the frustration kept mounting with each failure. Another hour passed, and he finally could not stand it any longer.
He sucked in a deep breath and took two items from his Storage Bag. The first one was the Mystic Fruit Seed, and the second was the Inviolable.
[Daddy’s come to see you, insects!]
He paid fifty Contribution Points to enter the Rift of Illusions and he went to town on the praying mantises.
For the past couple days, Lu Ye had entered the Rift of Illusions almost once everyday. While honing his combat technique through countless death matches, he realized that the praying mantises weren’t the only monsters he could encounter. He had fought against an ant that was as big as a human, a locust that was half his height tall, a spider, and many, many more strange creatures whose name eluded him completely.
In fact, he almost never encountered the same monsters every time he entered the Rift of Illusions, not to mention that they all possessed a unique ability of their own. For starters, the ant-like monster’s possessed extremely corrosive blood. He had nearly pissed his pants the first time he almost caught a full body acid bath. The locust was even worse, however. Every time it landed a wound on his body, it also left behind parasitic eggs that hatched mini locusts in just a short time.
He had also encountered one monster that could spit venom, and another that was covered in spikes like a porcupine. Unlike a real porcupine, this one could actually discharge its spikes in every direction and deal a crazy amount of damage.
Their unique skills were so varied and deadly that his first meeting with these monsters never went perfectly. It was also why he was never able to overcome the stage where nine of the monsters were set on him. His best record so far was killing five monsters before succumbing to the other four. The way he had died, well… that was better left unsaid.
This time, the monster he encountered after entering the rift was the boar-like monster. He kept fighting until their numbers grew to nine, and spikes were flying toward him from literally every direction. He was unable to survive even though he spammed Protection as frequently as he could, though he was able to kill six of them before perishing.
He was improving bit by bit. Lu Ye was pretty sure that he could overcome the stage in another two or three tries.
His head hurt as usual after he exited the Rift of Illusions, but his frustration was much diminished compared to before. The best way to vent one’s frustration was to kick someone’s ass, or have your ass kicked.
I love that there are useless glyphs that work simply because the underlying principles of the system allow for it. That’s what in my mind separates magic from science ^^
This Glyph training is fascinating. Very cool. Thanks for the chapter. 🙂