Chapter 2 Genesis Runes (2/2)
When early morning arrived, Zhou Yuan left the palace under the protection of a group of guards, heading straight for the north-west district of Great Zhou City where the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute was located.
Zhou Qing had personally given the command to establish the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute years ago. At the same time, he had gathered the experts in the army to become tutors. The Great Zhou Inst.i.tute did not discriminate when it came to accepting students, as long as one had enough talent, even the commoners were allowed into the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute to practice cultivation.
Over the years, the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute had groomed several outstanding individuals, hence allowing its status to grow greater and greater in the Great Zhou Empire. Thus, even his royal highness Zhou Yuan would come here to study.
The gates of the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute were tightly guarded. Guards in armor rigorously checked the ident.i.ties of all who entered. However, Zhou Yuan was naturally exempt from this procedure. After all, everyone in Great Zhou City recognized the prince.
”Greetings your highness!”
Therefore, the guards respectfully bowed to Zhou Yuan when he appeared at the gates.
”Your highness.” Several Great Zhou Inst.i.tute students came and went along the way. There was a some respect in their expressions as they smiled at Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan likewise returned their smiles and cupped his fists together in greeting. He knew that most of these students were commoners, and the respect they had for him was mostly due to his father's establishment of the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute. It had allowed commoners like them to raise their status, and gave them the chance to change their destinies.
West district of the Great Zhou Inst.i.tute.
Desks were arranged in a orderly manner within a rather s.p.a.cious and bright teaching hall. Numerous youths were seated in a kneeling position before the desks. It was a tranquil atmosphere.
Zhou Yuan also quietly seated on the first desk of the first row. A bright and clean looking jade tablet, while a dark red long brush lay by its side.
The body of this brush was made entirely of red jade, while the hairs of the brush head came from the softest belly hair of a flame rat. Light glimmered on the fine hairs. It was a Genesis Rune Brush.
When it came to the most important item for drawing Genesis Runes, everyone would answer these three same words; Genesis Rune Brush.
A Genesis Rune Brush was the medium for Genesis Runes. Only with a brush would one be able to draw the mysterious and profound Genesis Runes, draw in the Genesis Qi of the land, and display great power.
Hence, nothing more needed to be said about the importance of the Genesis Rune Brush. Without it, no matter how great one's talent in Genesis Runes, the power of one's Genesis Runes would suffer.
Zhou Yuan held the red jade Genesis Rune Brush, while he looked to the very front, where a middle-aged lecturer was lecturing with a calm voice.
”Focus your soul into the tip of the brush to draw each stroke. Every line and stroke must be drawn with one's soul as the ink. Only then will the drawn Genesis Runes be able to utilise the Genesis Qi of the land.”
”You must remember that when drawing Genesis Runes, one's heart must be akin to still water, and no distractions can be present. Only by making the Genesis Rune Brush a part of your body, will you be able to focus your soul into the tip of the brush, such that the brush and your will become one, allowing any action to be smoothly completed with a single breath.”
”......”
After finis.h.i.+ng his explanations, the lecturer said, ”Next, we will continue practising the three Genesis Runes that I taught you last month. I hope that someone will be able to successfully
complete one of the three today.”
The moment these words were said, cries of grief rang could be heard in the lecture hall, and many youths had pained looks on their faces. Though practising Genesis Runes might seem simple, every practise session would exhaust one's spirit, and make one feel extremely worn out.
When he heard their cries, the middle-aged lecturer spoke out in a stern and angry manner, ”Humph, stop your whining. The three runes that I taught you; Rampaging Bull Rune, Light Body Rune and Metal Skin Rune are merely elementary level.”
His voice was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with resentment towards these students of his whom had failed to meet his expectations.
The many youths shrunk back when they saw that their lecturer had been angered, and did not dare to make any more noise. Afterwhich, all of them grabbed their Genesis Rune Brushes and started to draw on the jade tablets before them.
Zhou Yuan smiled slightly. Brush in hand, he started to focus, and the surrounding noise was immediately shut out. His heart was akin to a serene pond as he concentrated on the clean jade tablet. Rays of light emerged between his brows, and the tip of the brush started to flicker with faint red light.
Zhou Yuan's brush fell, and the brush tip slowly moved across the jade tablet, leaving behind several complicated strokes. These strokes looked like the horns of an antelope, and gave off a certain charm. When they were completely a.s.sembled together, they seemed to
possess a magical power.
Every Genesis Rune was made from numerous strokes and lines. In general, the more strokes and lines there were, the greater the quality and might of the Genesis Rune formed.
The rune that Zhou Yuan was currently drawing was the Metal Skin Rune. It was merely an elementary level rune, and had over a hundred strokes. However, a tremendous amount of practise was required to perfectly draw the over hundred strokes.
The tip of Zhou Yuan's brush quietly flowed like water. There was no hesitation at all, and its movement had a natural and a free flowing kind of beauty.
Due to the fact that the eight meridian channels in his body had not appeared in the past year, practically all of Zhou Yuan's time had been spent practising Genesis Runes. Thus, his foundations were far stronger than the other students.
Of course, the most important factor was that he could sense that his soul was stronger than ordinary people. Although his destiny had been seized, and his sacred dragon root damaged, it seemed that his soul had fortunately not been hurt. It was likely that his soul had yet to fully form because he had been too young, hence allowing it to avoid that disaster.
Several minutes later, Zhou Yuan's slender hand made a light curving movement downwards, and a radiance suddenly emerged from the jade tablet in front of him. One could only watch as a complex and beautiful Genesis Rune slowly took shape.
”Good, good. The strokes are perfect and full of liveliness. This Metal Skin Rune can be considered a successful masterpiece.” The moment Zhou Yuan completed his work, an exclamation of admiration was suddenly heard from the side.
Zhou Yuan lifted his head, only to find that the lecturer had been standing beside him since some unknown time, and was currently looking at the Genesis Rune on his jade tablet with a smile of appreciation.
The other youths in the lecture hall raised their heads and looked towards Zhou Yuan. There was some surprise in their eyes. They had yet to even start, while Zhou Yuan had already succeeded.
The lecturers mood was much better as he lamented towards the many students, ”It would be nice if all of you learned as well as him.”
The youths chuckled and shook their heads upon hearing this. His highness Zhou Yuan was clearly rather talented in this area. How could the lecturer expect everyone to be so good?
However, a strange laughter suddenly rang out amongst the chuckles.
”Hehe, lecturer's words might be a little unfair. Most of our efforts are concentrated in opening our meridian channels, hence we naturally cannot put our hearts and soul into the study of Genesis Runes like his highness. Otherwise, would we not be putting the cart before the horse?”
This laughter was rather piercing, and immediately silenced the lecture hall, as numerous gazes s.h.i.+fted over.
Zhou Yuan slightly raised his eyebrows and likewise cast his gaze over. Subsequently, he saw a youth in embroidered clothes looking back at him with a superficial smile as the latter lazily twirled the Genesis Rune Brush in his hand.
The corners of this smile had slight hints of mockery.
Previous ChapterNext Chapter