Chapter 0317: The Second Method

Chapter 0317: The Second Method

The two Runes Masters who first refined the keys both failed.

Everyone in the Hall of Fine Runes, including the palace masters, looked at Lan Huayu with puzzled expressions.

Lan Huayu smiled, seemingly having anticipated this outcome.

At this moment, another Runes Master finished refining his key. He anxiously rushed over, inserted the key into the lock, and twisted it forcefully.

The result was the same—he couldn't turn the lock core and failed to open the box!

Next, the remaining two Runes Masters also completed their keys and went to try, but none could open the box.

"What on earth is going on?" Murong Daren turned to Lan Fengjin and asked, "Sister Lan, what trick did your grandfather play with those two boxes? Why can't they be opened?"

"I don't know!" She shook her head, frowning as she looked at the two boxes.

Even though she was Lan Huayu's granddaughter, she had no idea what was going on.

After his failure, Qin Yun returned, holding a forging hammer and staring at the deformed key, deep in thought.

The other failed Runes Masters immediately began forging new keys.

Earlier, the five competing Runes Masters had initially used low-grade bone steel to refine their keys.

Thus, when they forcefully twisted the keys, the insufficient strength caused the keys to deform.

They had used low-grade bone steel to save time, aiming to refine the keys as quickly as possible. After all, there were only two spots available, and none of them wanted to fall behind.

Now, they had no choice but to bring out their best skills and use high-grade bone steel to refine their keys!

For senior Runes Masters, using high-grade bone steel for refining was the pinnacle of their craft.

In such a competition, the requirements wouldn't be deliberately raised, so there was no need for top-grade or Imperial Bone Steel.

This was the consensus among the competing Runes Masters.

Qin Yun thought the same, but he believed that strength alone wasn't enough. Otherwise, Lan Huayu wouldn't have made things so mysterious.

There must be something else to pay attention to!

He frowned as he looked at the damaged key and suddenly remembered that when they inserted the keys into the lock, they had all overlooked one thing!

They hadn't infused energy into the keys!

"Since the keys aren't spirit tools, we all ignored this step because it wasn't necessary to infuse energy! But it definitely isn't that straightforward!"

Qin Yun took out another piece of low-grade bone steel and placed it into the furnace.

The Runes Masters watching the competition were startled to see him using low-grade bone steel.

The majority of Runes Masters believed that keys refined from low-grade bone steel wouldn't be strong enough and that high-grade bone steel should be used instead!

No one understood Qin Yun's intentions, and they could only watch in bewilderment.

Qin Yun quickly refined another key, but rather than attempting to open the box, he infused energy into it!

The spirit runes on the key immediately lit up, absorbing his energy.

"Just as I thought!" Qin Yun carefully examined and found that the key absorbed minimal energy, barely enough to make the runes glow.

The energy absorbed was minimal, partly due to the low-quality runes.

Additionally, the distribution of the two sets of runes was problematic, causing the runes to absorb negligible energy.

"That explains it!"

Qin Yun discovered the mystery and thought, "The positions of the solid and alchemical runes on the blueprint are flawed, preventing the two sets of runes from perfectly combining, thus absorbing very little energy. However, the positions of the runes cannot be altered; they must be carved according to the blueprint to open the box!"

The current issue is that the key lacks sufficient energy supply!

Without enough energy to activate the runes, the runes cannot be activated, and the box cannot be opened!

If the runes are carved according to the blueprint, they cannot be fully activated. If not, the box will definitely not open.

This seems like a catch-22!

Finally, Qin Yun took out premium bone steel and a small pile of purple crystal coins!

"The only solution lies in the materials. Elder Lan didn't specify which materials to use, which means the breakthrough lies in the materials!" Qin Yun placed the premium bone steel and purple crystal coins into the furnace.

"Is he burning purple crystal coins?"

"What's he up to? Purple crystal coins vaporize at high temperatures, losing most of their internal energy!"

"Is he trying to enhance the flame?"

Many Runes Masters speculated.

Qin Yun was at the ninth level of the Martial Body stage, and in some aspects, he was certainly inferior to those at the Martial Dao stage. Therefore, everyone thought he was using purple crystal coins to compensate for his shortcomings.

"I want to fuse the purple crystal coins into the bone steel!" Qin Yun had only put in a small piece of bone steel earlier.

If others used intense flames to burn purple crystal coins, they would indeed vaporize, but Qin Yun was using Nether Sun Purple Flame and possessed special spiritual energy!

This allowed him to soften the purple crystal coins while conserving most of their energy.

The purple crystals contained Nine Sun spiritual energy. If the runes and purple crystals fused, they could absorb the energy within the purple crystals.

Refining with purple crystals is an incredibly intricate and time-consuming process!

After considerable effort, Qin Yun finally shaped the pile of purple crystal coins into a key.

Now, there was only half an hour left.

The other four Runes Masters had each refined two keys, but none succeeded after trying.

"Elder Lan, are you messing with us?" asked a Runes Master from the West Palace, somewhat angrily.

Lan Huayu smiled slightly, "If the competition ends and no one can open the box, then I will reveal the secret. I guarantee you will lose convincingly!"

At this moment, Qin Yun took something out of the furnace.

After refining for so long, he finally opened the furnace.

Everyone immediately looked over, curious to see what he had been working on.

What Qin Yun pulled out was a dark, key-shaped object!

After the fusion of the purple crystal with the high-grade bone steel and undergoing high temperatures, it resulted in this form.

He quickly shaped the black material into a key and began to carve the runes.

The other four Runes Masters had given up, all watching Qin Yun, secretly hoping he wouldn’t succeed, so they wouldn’t feel jealous.

The blueprint for the arcane artifact was not available in the four palaces, only in the Holy Palace.

This is also why the Blue Spirit Holy Palace leads the four palaces.

After Qin Yun finished carving the runes, there was still a little time left. He strolled over calmly.

If he couldn’t succeed, he was out of options.

Lan Huayu, seeing Qin Yun holding the black key, let out a small sigh: "It seems no one will be able to open the box in this fifth round!"

"Really?" Qin Yun frowned: "Is my method wrong?"

"Of course it’s wrong, it’s different from my method... There’s only one way to refine a key that can open the box, and it’s not too difficult!" Lan Huayu smiled and said: "Don’t be disheartened, if you join our Holy Palace in the future, you still have a chance to get the blueprint for the arcane artifact!"

Qin Yun sighed: "I’ve already made it, let’s give it a try!"

He inserted the key into the hole, simultaneously activating the runes on the key, allowing the runes to automatically absorb energy.

After the key absorbed energy, Qin Yun slowly turned the key!

Everyone in the room watched in silence!

Click!

It successfully turned!

The room erupted in cheers of astonishment!

"As expected of Qin Yun, he really succeeded!"

"Haha, Lan Huayu kept saying Qin Yun couldn’t open it, now he’s been proven wrong!"

"Qin Yun is really amazing, how did he do it?"

The Runes Masters on the field were extremely jealous, their faces flushed as they looked at Qin Yun, feeling somewhat embarrassed, as this completely proved that their skills were inferior to this youngster Qin Yun!

Qin Yun, having heard Lan Huayu’s earlier words, also thought he couldn’t succeed.

But now, he had opened the box!

He looked at Lan Huayu and smiled triumphantly!

Lan Huayu widened his eyes, looking at Qin Yun in great surprise: "You... you succeeded! Alright, you’re impressive!"

The Runes competition finally ended, and the one who won in the end was actually this young man, Qin Yun!

Qin Yun was ecstatic, quickly opening the box and taking out a thick piece of paper, obviously the blueprint for refining a sword’s arcane artifact.

"Elder Lan Huayu, there’s more than one way to refine such a key!" Qin Yun chuckled.

The Runes Master from the West Palace hurried over and asked: "Elder Lan, can you reveal the secret now! The method this kid Qin Yun used seems different from yours!"

"The key point is to allow the runes to fully absorb energy. The layout of the two sets of runes was meticulously designed by me. This way, you couldn’t inject energy from the outside. You needed to find a way to store a large amount of energy inside during the material refining process."

Lan Huayu looked at Qin Yun's key, paused for a moment, and said, "When I refined it, I injected the inner energy from my Dao Core into the material. During the forging process, I continuously infused inner energy and repeatedly forged it, allowing the bone steel to fully absorb the energy. This way, the runes can be activated!"

"As for Qin Yun's method... it seems he refined the purple crystal and bone steel together to form an energy source. I never expected him to succeed—it's truly unbelievable!"

Refining purple crystal is extremely difficult. After Lan Huayu explained Qin Yun's method, the other Runes Masters were equally astonished.

"Qin Yun, the design you have belongs to our Blue Spirit Star Palace. Do not share it outside! Now that you are a disciple of the Blue Spirit Star Palace, you must do your part," said the palace master of the West Palace. "Hand over the design to me. As a member of the West Palace, you should contribute something!"

"Why should I? Such a precious item was hard-earned by me!" Qin Yun snorted coldly.

"I'm not taking it from you. I just want to borrow it to make a copy, and I'll return it to you later! As for the benefits, you won't be shortchanged. How about 100 million crystal coins?" said the palace master of the West Palace.

No matter how many billions were offered, Qin Yun wouldn't sell it because he disliked this person!

Qin Yun took out the design, and the palace master of the West Palace immediately smiled, reaching out to take it. However, Qin Yun handed the design to Lan Fengjin instead.

"Sister Lan, I promised you the prize. Here it is!" Qin Yun handed the design to Lan Fengjin. He wasn't actually giving it to her but merely letting her hold onto it temporarily to avoid the palace master's pestering.

Lan Fengjin understood Qin Yun's intention and quickly took it, keeping it safe.

"You... I said the design must not be shared outside!" The palace master of the West Palace, his face red with anger, shouted.

"Sister Lan is a Blue Spirit saintess and a Runes Master. How can that be considered sharing outside? Besides, this design originally came from the Blue Spirit Holy Palace!" Qin Yun laughed. "Palace Master, I'm exhausted. I'll take my leave now!"

Qin Yun exchanged quick greetings with Xie Wufeng and the others before hurrying out of the Runes Pavilion.

Yang Shiyue was waiting to guide him in mastering the Star Profound Steps.

The combat tournament would begin the day after tomorrow, and Qin Yun still had one more day to rest before the competition.