Chapter 0768: Jointly Crafting Talismans

Chapter 0768: Collaborative Rune Crafting

Qin Yun didn’t need to kill the Black Wolf Star Beasts—it was exhausting, and his mental energy wasn’t as strong as Jian Linglong’s.

All he had to do was keep steering the others’ artifacts in circles.

Mu Fengxiao quickly sent a voice transmission to Qin Yun: "Little devil, what you're doing is dangerous! You’ll easily provoke everyone’s anger!"

"I’m not afraid! Chubby Mu, don’t you dare expose me!" Qin Yun replied immediately.

"Relax!" Mu Fengxiao’s Crystal Artifact was also spinning in circles, and he had given up struggling.

The group of *Runes Masters* all wore extremely grim expressions.

"Sword Sect Leader Jian, he’s breaking the rules!" one of the elders roared.

"That’s right! He’s interfering with others’ attacks!"

"Stop him immediately! Restart the third round!"

"This little devil is really sneaky!"

"What kind of runes did he carve?"

Jian Shitian was also in talks with several elders, as this was something they hadn’t anticipated.

Jian Linglong said, "The competition rules never stated that obstructing others isn’t allowed. We’re not breaking any rules—because there isn’t one to begin with!"

Jian Shitian was also exasperated. This was indeed an oversight on their part.

"Little devil, stop right now, or I’ll break your legs and pop your balls!" an elder bellowed furiously.

"You fossil, make your move if you’ve got the guts! Let’s see whose balls get popped!" Qin Yun laughed loudly. "You fossil, you fossil, come on, come on..."

The elder was from the Jian family. Though furious, he couldn’t make a move—otherwise, it would bring shame to the Jian family.

Moreover, he might not stand a chance against Jian Linglong.

Earlier, Jian Linglong had even planted one on this kid. If he attacked now, she might just be the one to crush his balls instead.

Jian Linglong made quick work of all two thousand Black Wolf Star Beasts!

Everyone could see that the cores harvested from the Black Wolf Star Beasts all bore Jian Linglong’s name.

At this point, Jian Linglong and Qin Yun’s team had shot from last place to first, with a total of over two thousand cores.

The second-place team only had a hundred and thirty!

Neither Qin Yun nor Jian Linglong had expended much mental energy and were still raring to go.

Jian Shitian took the opportunity to declare: "When using Crystal Artifacts to hunt Star Beasts, intentional obstruction with others is prohibited!"

Qin Yun asked, "So, if the interference is unintentional, it doesn’t count as breaking the rules, right?"

Jian Shitian nodded. "Unintentional interference refers to residual energy caused by controlling artifacts to kill Star Beasts. I’ll know the difference!"

Jian Linglong patted Qin Yun’s handsome face and smiled. "Don’t sweat it. There are only two rounds left—first place is in the bag!"

First place would earn them 10K cores—one hell of a prize!

This many crystal cores aren’t easy for a Mystic Rune Master to get, and they are also very useful.

Qin Yun chuckled, "You got that right!"

The group of Rune Masters who had mocked Jian Linglong earlier were now green with envy. They never expected that Jian Linglong and this young man would click so well together.

...

In the audience, Yang Shiyue discreetly glanced at Xiao Xuanqin, Zi Qingcheng, and Shui Tianzi, picking up on something. She quickly sent a voice transmission to Xiao Xuanqin, "Yueqin-jie, is that young man Xiao Yun?"

"Ah? Well... yes, it's him!" Xiao Xuanqin hadn't anticipated that Yang Shiyue would recognize him.

"You guys are unbelievable! Such a big event like Xiao Yun's return, and you didn't even tell me!" Yang Shiyue scolded Xiao Xuanqin through the transmission, though she was thrilled deep down.

"We didn’t want you running off after him! If you left Lady Yunyao's side, it could be dangerous!" Xiao Xuanqin hastily explained.

"Thank goodness he’s back! I knew it—how could a woman like Linglong suddenly be so affectionate toward some random kid?" Yang Shiyue laughed. "I can’t exactly go to him right now, but he can come to me!"

"I'll let him know when I see him," Xiao Xuanqin said.

"Did Yuemei, that brat, turn him into this?" Yang Shiyue asked with a smile.

"Yes! Yuemei is here too, but I don’t know where she’s hiding!" Xiao Xuanqin also scanned the area.

Yang Shiyue had always been worried about Qin Yun, especially after the mess in the Dark Moon Wilderness. Now that she knew he was safe, she could finally relax.

...

The fourth round of beast hunting began!

Qin Yun controlled his Crystal Artifact to attack the Black Wolf Star Beasts.

Though he was just messing around, his Crystal Artifact let out this weird wind that could disperse the mental energy from others' artifacts.

As a result, the Crystal Artifacts near his own got way weaker when attacking the Black Wolf Star Beasts, requiring multiple strikes to break through the beasts' defenses.

Jian Linglong's Crystal Artifact, positioned near Qin Yun's, remained unaffected and swiftly mowed down large groups of Black Wolf Star Beasts.

Qin Yun and Jian Linglong had already had first place locked up, but they continued slaughtering the Black Wolf Star Beasts relentlessly.

This was Jian Linglong's way of blowing off steam!

She wanted the arrogant old Mystic Rune Masters to end up with squat.

In this competition, she aimed to rub those Rune Masters’ noses in it with an overwhelming victory.

By the end of the fourth round, Jian Linglong had slain over a thousand Black Wolf Star Beasts.

Her Crystal Artifact, engraved with Dao Runes, was scary strong!

Now, no one dared to underestimate her.

Everyone also realized how worthless weapons are without engraved runes!

A Crystal Artifact inscribed with Dao Runes, however, could amplify its power many times over.

Jian Linglong's Crystal Artifact could summon a storm of sword shadows through the Dao Runes, and her mental energy had multiplied, allowing her to effortlessly slaughter entire packs of Black Wolf Star Beasts.

The fifth round began, and unsurprisingly, Jian Linglong topped the kill chart again.

This round is over!

The first place goes to the team of Jian Linglong and Qin Yun, who killed over four thousand Black Wolf Star Beasts!

The second place only had just over four hundred, a tenfold difference!

Remember, the second-place team consisted of two highly respected Mystic Rune Masters from the Jian family.

To be so thoroughly outdone by Jian Linglong, their expressions were understandably grim!

Jian Linglong was delighted and said cheerfully, "We're first! Hand over the prizes already!"

Jian Shitian smiled and said, "That's our Jian family disciple for you—truly impressive! Here’s your reward!"

Jian Linglong took a storage bag and tossed it to Qin Yun, saying, "Kid, this is for you. This junk's no use to me anyway!"

Qin Yun caught it, grinned and pocketed it.

The others were green with envy!

Scoring ten thousand Star Beast cores just like that was a small fortune!

The third round will be held tomorrow morning, followed by the fourth round in the afternoon!

Qin Yun was itching to train, so he hurriedly followed Xiao Yuemei back to the Mystic Rune Hall.

Xiao Xuanqin and the others also went along.

At night, Qin Yun cultivated together with several women, quickly absorbing energy from the Star Beast cores.

"Sister Yang's something else—she pegged you right away!" Xiao Yuemei said. "It’s all because Sister Linglong was too enthusiastic toward you!"

"I won’t go see Sister Yang for now. I've got to focus on my training and strive to refine a Dao Mystic Pill before the competition, breaking through to the Mystic Martial stage!" Qin Yun said.

"Got it, I’ll let her know. I’m sure she’ll understand," Xiao Xuanqin said.

"Aunt Xiao, next time, invite fox-sis over and see if she can cultivate with me!" Qin Yun said.

"Brother, who knew you were involved with that fox sister too!" Xiao Yuemei giggled.

"Don’t talk nonsense! We’re just friends, and we’ve collaborated a few times!" Qin Yun quickly explained.

This made Shui Tianzi and the others burst out giggling.

...

After cultivating with several women all night, Qin Yun’s Mystic Dao Crystal grew a bit bigger. At this rate, he could break through any day now.

The next day, Qin Yun showed up early at Sword Immortal Villa for the third round of the Mystic Rune Competition.

Jian Linglong also came to the arena early, waiting for Qin Yun.

"Qin Yun, why haven’t you reached the Mystic Martial Realm yet?" Jian Linglong sent a voice transmission to ask.

Qin Yun had to explain again about being stuck in the spatial-temporal passage.

"After the competition ends, I’ll help you round up more cores so you can break through faster," Jian Linglong said.

"Mm, then thanks in advance, Sister Linglong!" Qin Yun laughed.

The participating Rune Masters and spectators also began arriving.

Only thirty groups remain today, totaling sixty people. Mu Fengxiao is still on the field and hasn't been eliminated yet.

Jian Shitian said, "The next challenge will be crafting Mystic Runes! You can refine any type of Mystic Rune, as long as it can generate significant power!"

He took out a small tower and said, "After refining the Mystic Rune, insert it into this tower to activate its power! The stronger the power, the stronger the tower's vibrations—there are a total of one hundred tiers of resonance. The ten groups with the highest levels will advance to the next round!"

"Can we only carve Mystic Runes?" Jian Linglong frowned and asked.

"No Dao Runes allowed! Of course, if you have the skill, you may carve Star Runes or Moon Runes! The completed Mystic Runes will be inspected. If any Dao Runes are found, they'll be voided!" Jian Shitian said.

This put many Rune Masters at ease!

Because Jian Linglong's Dao Lord Rune Soul would be useless here!

Jian Linglong asked again, "Can we carve totem runes?"

Jian Shitian laughed, "Of course! But it takes considerable time. If you can finish within the time limit, go ahead! Just don't carve Dao Runes!"

Jian Linglong was greatly relieved because Qin Yun had many totems, especially beast totems.

"You have three hours!" Jian Shitian took out an hourglass. "Begin now!"

Once it started, Jian Linglong sent a voice transmission to Qin Yun: "I'll make the rune paper, and you carve the runes. Have you decided what runes to carve yet?"

"Let's make the rune paper together, or I'll be bored!" Qin Yun chuckled.

As for what runes to carve, Qin Yun hadn't decided yet—mainly because he had mastered many unique runes and hadn't figured out how to combine them!

The other groups also began diving into work. They, too, were making rune paper together, while secretly whispering their plans through voice transmission what runes to carve.