098 The Pale Knight (4200)

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Life Cycle Four: A Medium-Sized Laboratory.

Within the Rune Workshop, a fragmented model quietly floated within the grid coordinate system. Xiu Nan stood nearby, occasionally observing it, holding a notebook in which he sketched and jotted notes. He frequently used the workshop's magnification feature to study the model in detail.

Displayed was the Bloodsucking Vine Rune, a formidable adversary Xiu Nan had encountered during the main questline. These vines were powerful, elusive, numerous, and once they tasted blood, they would relentlessly attack their prey.

The vines’ surfaces were coated with a toxin capable of corroding the ring power light membranes worn by Ring Masters. This conferred a kind of armor-piercing quality, making it easy to tear through enemy defenses.

Xiu Nan was currently extracting the essence of the Bloodsucking Vine Rune, carefully tracing its most valuable components. The rune was fragmented and its structure scattered—ideal for close observation.

As the sunlight gradually tilted, it was about three or four in the afternoon. Gathering his belongings, Xiu Nan headed to the main laboratory in B-2, where Elder Fu Bing was conducting experiments.

A slender figure sat before the Mutation Counterstation.

He expertly manipulated the metal weaver, its spider-like legs rhythmically probing into a cylindrical object, slicing and transferring valuable rune segments. With a press of his right hand, smoke billowed from inside the cylinder.

The blue gas enveloped both rune workshops.

“Senior Brother, I’m going to Professor Bai Yan’s lecture,” Xiu Nan called from the doorway.

“Go ahead,” Fu Bing replied without turning, waving him off.

When rune masters constructed runes, a quiet environment was essential to avoid distractions. However, those of the Omega lineage, equipped with Thornflower auxiliary runes, could learn quickly and make rapid progress despite interruptions.

“Alright,” Xiu Nan responded and was about to leave.

“Wait, Tang,” a crisp voice came from inside the lab. “If you’re heading to the cafeteria for a meal, bring me something back. I’m tied up here and probably won’t finish until around midnight...”

“Understood.”

Xiu Nan removed his dustproof white lab coat in the equipment room, replacing it with a black cloak.

After donning his apprentice ring and tidying his clothes, he descended the stairs to the basement.

Pressing a panel on the wall, he entered the rune elevator.

Half an hour later, he arrived in a spacious hall.

The entire auditorium was tiered, with Professor Bai Yan’s podium at the lowest level. Rows of seats filled the ascending tiers, occupied by about thirty people, all cloaked in black.

A skylight at the ceiling let a beam of warm sunlight stream in. The air was filled with a fragrance reminiscent of gardenias mixed with fresh grass.

This scent came from a special spice blend, made primarily from powdered jade-horned ox horn, combined with ingredients like Clearheart herb leaves, Bright-eye flower petals, and Goldenroot rhizomes. This rare external resource enhanced concentration to some extent.

The Milodalen School, as the primary producer of the “Silent Fragrance,” could afford to lavishly use it. Even professors would pour a jar of it into burners during lectures to fill the classroom with its aroma.

On the podium stood a burly old man with white hair, bald on top, his sideburns spreading like bat wings.

He was an amusing character—lecturing while downing a dark bottle of liquor in one gulp. Occasionally, when particularly animated, he would finish the bottle at once, only to gently shake it and see it mysteriously refill.

Xiu Nan suspected this was a supernatural artifact.

“I believe after these two days of study, you newcomers have gained a basic understanding of combat auxiliary runes. Today, I’ll teach you the first and simplest combat support rune,” Professor Bai Yan announced, scanning the room before tapping the podium.

A low hum vibrated through the ground as a large rune workshop rose up.

This workshop was specially made for teaching, nearly three times the size of a standard one.

With a finger tap, the workshop activated.

The grid coordinate system appeared instantly, displaying a somewhat intricate circuit floating above.

“Hic,” the old man set down his bottle and pointed to the circuit.

“This is a combat auxiliary circuit: Acceleration. Its overall effect is to temporarily increase the speed of combat runes by roughly ten percent, including movement speed and combat actions.”

“In battle, every increment in speed raises the chance of victory. Acceleration runes are very practical. This is a standard low-tier rune; there are also intermediate and advanced versions.”

Professor Bai Yan paced with his bottle in hand.

“A Tier One rune can bear one to three low-tier combat auxiliary runes depending on potential. The difference between a Ring Master without such support and one with it is significant. If they were evenly matched before, the side with the auxiliary rune will dominate.”

“Therefore, combat auxiliary runes are an extremely important field among rune masters, ranking just below rune construction and supernatural artifact manufacturing in importance. You must take this seriously.”

Gradually, dusk fell.

“All right, that’s it for today.”

The professor waved his bottle.

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The students rose and left the classroom.

Only Xiu Nan remained seated at the front, very close to the podium.

With a bang, Professor Bai Yan shut the door and turned to Xiu Nan. “Good, let’s begin now...”

Having a knowledgeable professor tutor you privately was a pleasant experience—every question met with an answer.

Days slipped quietly by, enriching Xiu Nan’s knowledge.

The gains from Life Cycle Four were as follows:

1. A substantial foundation of knowledge from the inheritance crystal.

2. Several low-tier combat auxiliary circuits.

3. Validation of thirty-five mutation pathways, mastering three Tier One mutation runes.

4. Stripping and studying the Bloodsucking Vine circuit, laying groundwork for creating an independent rune.

5. Increasing proficiency in handling experimental tools and mastering some manufacturing processes, gaining valuable experience.

6. Initial contact with combined runes.

Life Cycle Five: B-2 Laboratory.

Xiu Nan began studying the Bone Statue Rune.

His experimental skills had reached a standard level, with explosions becoming a rarity. Elder Fu Bing grew increasingly fond of him.

On a sunny day in a spacious mountain valley stood Milodalen School’s Supernatural Artifact Manufacturing Center, comprising about twenty buildings.

On the second floor of the leftmost building, in a certain room, Professor Saintmark was tutoring Xiu Nan privately.

“This is a standard low-tier artifact: the Bronze Fire Ring...”

The professor opened his right palm, displaying a ring carved with distinct grain patterns resembling tree rings—its material unknown.

“A standard artifact doesn’t have much destructive power but is invaluable for support. The Bronze Fire Ring is part of the standard fire ring series: low-tier bronze fire, mid-tier silver fire, and high-tier gold fire. At the silver fire level, it can threaten Tier One Ring Masters, offering strong auxiliary effects.”

Professor Saintmark put on the Bronze Fire Ring and snapped his fingers, producing a swirl of bronze-colored flames in the air.

His fingers danced gracefully, the flames fluttering like delicate yet perilous butterflies.

With a gentle flick, a nearby wooden experiment piece was ignited instantly.

The wood burned rapidly until only charcoal remained.

“You can adjust the size at will...”

The professor opened the window and spread his fingers, unleashing a human-head-sized pillar of flame that shot nearly ten meters before dissipating.

“Supernatural artifacts are best used by Ring Masters, as the ring power activates them optimally. Ordinary people can use them too, but with reduced power and duration. For example, if the residual ring power in a Bronze Fire Ring is depleted, a normal person cannot activate its fire rune.”

He removed the Bronze Fire Ring and pulled out a simpler ring from his pocket, placing it before Xiu Nan.

“This is an apprentice’s fire ring, containing only the simplest three burning circuits. You can imitate and practice with this first. When your success rate reaches over ninety percent, I’ll teach you the formal Bronze Fire Ring.”

The next day, Xiu Nan came to Professor Saintmark’s room with twenty basic fire rings.

“Are you sure you made all of these yourself?”

“Absolutely.”

“Not with Fu Bing’s help?”

“Senior Brother was not involved at all.”

“Then make one for me right here!”

“Alright.”

Half an hour later, Professor Saintmark wore a simple ring, flames dancing between his fingers.

“Tang, you truly are a prodigy!”

“...”

“Your talent in supernatural artifact manufacturing is unmatched, I mean it. A normal apprentice would take over two months to make a basic fire ring, but you did it in just one day...”

“...”

“If you weren’t Omega’s newest disciple, I’d snatch you from your teacher.”

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“...”

End of Life Cycle Five. Gains as follows:

1. Defeated a Black Smoke King, doubling the size of the otherworldly incubation chamber. The Thornflower rune, boosted by the initial badges, now has two blossoms.

2. Manufacture of standard low-tier supernatural artifacts.

3. Validation of forty-three mutation pathways, mastering four more Tier One mutation runes.

4. Stripped and studied the Bone Statue circuit, laying groundwork for independent rune creation.

5. Increasing proficiency in handling experimental tools, mastering roughly half the manufacturing process with rich experience.

6. Intensive research into combined runes.

Through repeated deaths, Xiu Nan continuously exploited Omega’s resources, acquiring four inheritance crystals and five initial badges—nine opportunities in total, a correction after recounting.

“Immortal Wood Fate”

The four inheritance crystals provided a solid foundation, with many untested concepts stored in Xiu Nan’s mind awaiting experimental verification.

His foundational knowledge had formed a complete system, forging a sturdy pillar of strength.

The five initial badges were equally significant.

Xiu Nan thus obtained an eighty-square-meter otherworldly incubation chamber—essentially a small laboratory.

His Thornflower rune was upgraded to the second stage’s limit, just one step shy of the third stage, nearly crossing that final threshold.

Its amplification reached 1.6 times.

Now, when reading, he could grasp an entire page at a glance. His disciplined lifestyle’s effects were vastly enhanced—and permanently so.

Next time he entered the disciplined life state, he would enjoy the same boost and extremely high learning efficiency.

In over thirty days, he had fulfilled most requirements to become a Milodalen School certified standard rune master, with only one challenge remaining:

To create a rune independently.

Due to the difficulty, Xiu Nan began this task at the start of Life Cycle Nine, tirelessly assembling models day and night—his energy and stamina unlimited.

On this day, the experiment neared success.

In B-2 Laboratory, a medium-sized room.

Sunlight streamed through the window as the evening sun sank.

Four rune workshops were arranged, each with a fragmented model floating above its grid coordinate system. From left to right: Pale-eyed Vulture Rune, Bone Statue Rune, Bloodsucking Rune, and Tier Two Dark Guardian.

At the center of these four workshops was a massive rune workshop, kept active. Xiu Nan held an advanced engraving pen, meticulously sketching from top to bottom.

Focused without distraction, his concentration was absolute.

His back was drenched in sweat, the dustproof white lab coat clinging tightly.

His hands moved steadily, each stroke as smooth as flowing water.

He was cautious, moving the pen tip slowly.

Before him, a towering humanoid figure formed from densely packed circuits. Nearly three meters tall, it wore a white bone armor, with eerie bloodthirsty circuits writhing along its surface.

Along its spine grew numerous grotesque bony spikes. At its shoulder blades, two pairs of wide, grayish-white wings spread—heavy and hideous.

At first glance, it appeared grand and imposing; on closer inspection, it was terrifyingly grotesque. The longer one looked, the more an inexplicable dread stirred within, causing one’s heart to tremble.

A powerful aura of corruption surged forth.

This was exactly what Xiu Nan envisioned—a combat rune embodying blood and slaughter, a killing machine.

These forty days of accumulation culminated in this moment!

Without using evolution points, he completed it independently. Circuit by circuit, the fearsome figure gradually gained a semblance of spirit, its aura increasingly uncanny.

Blue and red streams of energy mingled on either side, one activating rune vitality, the other stabilizing the structure. Like a suppressed volcano about to erupt, the atmosphere thickened with menace.

Xiu Nan’s gaze was unwavering as he entered a meditative state; the engraving pen danced like a lingering shadow.

Pressure peaked at its zenith. At the moment before eruption, Ding! The pen tip landed on the final stroke.

“Notification: Congratulations on completing the Tier Two rune engraving. You are now a quasi-Tier Two rune master.”

[Name: Pale Knight (Fragmented)]

[Type: Ring]

[Level: Tier Two]

…
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