Chapter 139 – Creative (1/2)
Chapter 139 – Creative
“Okay then! Next!”Pausing, Zuo Qiu Ming then focused his attention towards the participants.
A total of eleven candidates passed the first round. All nine of them who took the test after Ye Wei and Zhang Han performed well. Therefore, round two took more than an hour.
Only five out of eleven passed the second round in the end, including Ye Wei, and Lu Feng achieved the best result at six mirages.
Lu Feng’s talent intimidated Ye Wei. Although six years younger, he inwardly competed against him. Ye Wei couldn’t help compare himself with his nemesis.
Though Ye Wei expanded his knowledge on runes only years ago, his emotions blinded him from the fact that Lu Feng had began training and taught runic knowledge by Master Mu longer than Wei had even lived! There was no way he could outshine Lu Feng just yet.
“You may take an hour break before we start the third test – the final part of the exam.! Passing gains you a place in our union and the title Runemaster!” Zuo Qiu Ming looked at Ye Wei, Lu Feng and the other three who passed round two. He solemnly announced this only after the failed candidates had exited the side hall.
The third task was the most dreaded. All the previous effort would be wasted if they failed the third round. These were the reasons why Zuo Qiu Ming decided to give the candidate an hour to prepare for the most important part of the exam. Thus, in order for them to tackle the arduous finale he decided they should be in their best condition.
“Stance creation is not something I’d deem difficult.” Smiling arrogantly, Lu Feng muttered to himself while disdainfully glancing at the agitated faces around him.
His confidence originated from his experience of creating a mid-level Spirit stance in just twelve hours and knowing he only had to compose a low-level Spirit stance.
“Creating a stance…” Ye Wei slowly took a few deep breaths. He appeared slightly anxious as he was on the verge of tackling a difficult challenge he had never faced before. Unlike the first two challenges that Master Yi touched on while training, stance creation depended on understanding and being in a creative process.
Ye Wei’s heightened senses heard what Lu Feng mumbled a few meters away, and thought ‘Lu Feng looks way too confident! I will have to pass this test too, I can’t stand still while he is just getting stronger and more influential…’ Ye Wei clenched his fist, haunted by the idea of Lu Feng possibly using his powers to overtake the Ye family again.
‘I have to use my time well, being upset does not allow me a better position to pass the last round.’ He stopped looking at Lu Feng, cleared his mind and began to use the Falling Star form to maximize his condition.
Apart from the two youngsters, the other three older candidates also had their eyes closed, optimizing their minds and bodies for the task ahead.
“I have been supervising this entry test for three years now, and I have seen more failing candidates than the stars in the sky, most of which failed in the third finale.” Zuo Qiu Ming murmured.
‘I kind of like today’s participants; I hope they’ll work something out. It’s tiring seeing people’s efforts wasted everyday! Especially the young ones, we haven’t had young blood entering the union for a while now…’ He sighed and thought to himself.
An hour quickly passed as the candidates focused on preparing themselves.
“This is it. If you pass this test, you will become dragons. All of you are aspiring Runemasters, you know how important this is!”
“My advice? Relax. Let your experience and intuition guide you through.”
“It’s okay. If you fail, do not despair. We have thousands of candidates enter every year, and only two or three get through. We’ve had years when nobody passed the entry exam, so do not despair if your fears come true.” Zuo Qiu Ming looked at the five potential Runemasters’ slightly nervous faces, speaking calmly.
“You have twenty-four hours to create a low-level Spirit stance. Furthermore, if you can create a mid-level Spirit stance, you will directly become a two-star Runemaster, creating a high-level Spirit stance will make you a three-star Runemaster!”
“Attitude is everything. It is normal to make mistakes, the most important thing is to learn from those mistakes and use them as a point of reference instead of them affecting your mood!”
Zuo Qiu Ming’s advice sounded loud and clear in the candidates’ ears. He made a few hand seals then three hundred and thirty-six shining runes appeared in front of him.
“These are the only runes you are allowed to use. As much as we would like, we can not learn every rune in the world. See this is your first lesson: using limited runes is what you need to be prepared to do. There will always be limitations when you create something!”
“You may begin now!” An hourglass appeared in Zuo Qiu Ming’s hand. He tipped it upside down as he spoke.
All five candidates without delay focused their attention, trying to remember all the runes they were given. Without knowing the runes, they would never be able to begin the test.
Zuo Qiu Ming waved his arm, summoning pillars of white light. Five pillars fell on each of the candidates, encapsulating them to ensure they couldn’t talk to each other, and they won’t be disturbed from occurrences in the hall.
“These are all basic runes…” Ye Wei sat himself in the lotus position; with his eyes closed, the three hundred and thirty-six runes appeared in his mind.
The energy flow and structure of runes can be similar, but they are never identical. Both runes positioning and sequence order are, therefore, very important for Runemasters. Their rune consonance will allow them to manipulate runes better than ordinary cultivators. Additionally, Runemaster’s rune knowledge will give them better insights to each runes’ structure and energy flow, and their soul sensitivity will allow them to actually feel the macro energy flow in the sequence as they try to put the runes together.