Hearing his words, Yang Bin's eyes widened, as his body became slightly tense. After successfully cultivating Mystic Pupil, he didn't know exactly how strong his spirit was, only knowing that it was stronger than his peers. Since this old man not only knows the strength of a spirit condensing cultivators but could also see through his spirit, this old man must be a strong spirit cultivator. Coming to this conclusion, Yang Bin became more respectful but also guarded. "Senior, may I ask who you are?"
Studying Yang Bin's face closely, the old man seemed to be lost in thoughts. Noticing Yang Bin's change in expression, he chuckled. "Little boy, there's no need to be so wary. I'm just an old man who has seen and experienced many things in life. It's rare to see such talent like you. Allow me to give you a gift." Saying this, the old man waved his hand and a thin book appeared in his palms. He handed it to Yang Bin.
"Spatial storage!" The man advertising, seeing the book appear out of thin air, cried out.
Hearing that, Yang Bin became shocked. Despite coming from a humble background, he had once heard his mother talk about it.
Spatial storage comes in many forms, a ring, necklace, bracelet, and more. No matter what the medium is, all of them have a special rune engraved onto them. This rune allows it to function like a storage compartment, when the user infuses qi into it.
The amount of people who can make these goods are far and few between, thus even the smallest spatial storage was priceless, costing thousands of gold coins. They were often the heirloom of royalties and powerful families, and only a small handful of nobilities were able to own one.
Carefully, Yang Bin accepted the book from the old man. Looking down, the cover was plain gray and it looked old and about to fall apart. But now knowing the status of this old man, Yang Bin knew this shabby looking book couldn't be as simple as it looks.
"Thank you senior. May I know how I should address you?" Yang Bin looked back up and asked. But the old man, who was once there in front of him, disappeared. Confused, Yang Bin looked around but couldn't find any one who resembled the old man.
"Ahem." A small cough brought Yang Bin and Yang Mengyao's attention back to the salesman. After hearing the old man's praises, he realized Yang Bin could potentially be affiliated with some rich family. "Young man-"
"Thank you uncle for your offer. Sorry, we don't have money, so we can't buy anything." Yang Bin interjected and gave him an apologetic smile.
"Oh. That's alright. Come back in the future!" Slightly disappointed, the salesman laughed and waved his hand.
Bubbling with curiosity, the Yang Bin quickly left, dragging Yang Mengyao with him. After searching for a minute, he found a nice resting spot without too many people, and sat on the bench.
Under Yang Mengyao's curious eyes, Yang Bin gingerly opened the book and saw... nothing. Frowning, he flipped through the pages and realized it wasn't just the beginning that was empty, all the pages were empty.
Yang Mengyao blinked her eyes a couple of times. "Could this be just a blank notebook?" She asked.
"I doubt it. With his status, it'll be shameful to give something so cheap and worn out. I must be missing something." Yang Bin furrowed his brows. He flipped back to the cover and searched for some clues. Then he recalled his conversation with the man.
"Spirit cultivation! Maybe I need to inject spirit power into the book!" Yang Bin exclaimed. Immediately, Yang Bin channeled his spirit power and poured it into the book. At first, nothing happened, but as he continued, the cover began to straighten out, removing the creases and mending tears. After a while, words began to slowly appear.
In large black characters, the words Four Elemental Runes were written across the top half of the cover. Underneath it was a name, Lu Tiankuo.
Lu Tiankuo. Is that the name of the old man? Yang Bin wondered. The book was still as thin as before, but it didn't feel flimsy. Flipping to the first page, he saw that it was no longer empty like before. There was a short note on the first page. Yang Bin read the note.
"After decades of experiment and research, I was finally able to create this masterpiece. I call these, Timeless Runes. They function like talismans, significantly strengthening the user, but unlike talesman, they won't burn up, allowing you to use it indefinitely."
Reading this, Yang Bin raised his eyebrows in mild surprise. From what he had just heard, talesman can't be used more than once, but Lu Tiankuo seemed to be able to disregard this flaw. Casually shrugging, he flipped the page and found another message; this time it was much lengthier. If Yang Bin knew anything about talesman, his reaction would be much more dramatic.
"Timeless runes are much more expensive to make compared to regular ones. Each one requires the essence blood of a demon beast and plaques made of sky gold to act as medians. It is possible to create these runes with normal ink, but without the blood of demon beasts, they won't be permanent.
Each page has one rune. Every four pages are one group: one for strength, one for defense, one for speed, and one for recovery. As you go through the pages, the runes will get more and more complex and the enhancement will increase proportionally, one stage at a time. Until you have reached a certain spirit requirement, the later runes will be locked and inaccessible.
To use the rune after making them, you simply have to channel your spirit to activate it. Each rune holds up to three charges. Activating it consumes a charge, and it'll require 8 hours to restore the charge."
Not only do I need the blood essence of demon beasts, I also need sky gold? What is this metal? This assignment seems a little difficult. Forget it, I'll worry about it in the future. Yang Bin thought.
Although there was simply one word difference between blood and blood essence, the difference in value between the two was like the earth and sky. Simple blood doesn't have much vitality and would dry up quickly. However, the blood essence contains a significant amount of lifeforce of the beast, meaning each time it was harvested, the beast would be weakened. Although most will recover in time, doing it too often in a period of time can kill the beast.
Yang Bin turned his attention to the picture on the next page. There was one large rune, taking up nearly the whole page. It was completely red, as if it was dyed with blood. Below it was the name: Eruptive Fire Rune.
Yang Bin studied the runes closely. Even though they don't seem too hard or complex at first glance, there was something mysterious about them that prevented him from focusing. He leaned in and squinted a little. Suddenly, he started to feel dizzy. Bewildered, Yang Bin jolted back.
What a strange picture! Yang Bin thought. Turning his head, he saw that Yang Mengyao was staring at the rune as if in a trance. Coughing lightly, he woke Yang Mengyao from her trance.
Yang Mengyao blinked a couple times and looked at Yang Bin. "Brother, these pictures are really weird."
Yang Bin gave a helpless smile. "Yeah, I became a bit dizzy from them. Look, there's also a note below the name." Looking below the Eruptive Fire Rune, he found the note: "Requires the blood of a peak rank 2 flame lion."
A peak rank 2 demon beasts are comparable to a ninth rank qi condensing cultivator. The blood of a demon beast at this rank… would probably cost about 50 gold. Yang Bin's eyebrows twitched as he thought of this. This is way more than I can afford.
"The book said there are four runes per group, so there should be 3 more pages." Yang Mengyao commented.
"Good point." Yang Bin flipped the page.
Sure enough, there was another rune. This one was in yellow. Unyielding Earth Rune: "Requires the blood of a peak rank 2 mountain turtle." Next page in green, there was the Volant Wind Rune. "Requires the blood of a peak rank 2 phantom falcon. Finally, in blue, was the Eternal Water Rune. "Requires the blood of a peak rank 2 deep sea turtle."
Seeing these requirements, Yang Bin felt like his heart was being stabbed over and over again. All of it requires the blood essence of a peak rank 2 demon beast! Looks like I won't be making any timeless runes any time soon.
****
In another part of the city, not too far away from the duo, an old man appears out of thin air. It was the same person that gave Yang Bin the book.
After looking around, he closed his eyes. He began to rapidly transform. His hunched back became straight and upright, his white hair turned darker, and his sagging cheeks lifted. When he reopened his eyes, his appearance had completely changed, from an elder to a man in his 40s.