Chapter 406: Preparations For Drawing Divine Textures
Zen didn't expect that this matter was impeccably solved because the cyan dragon helped to interpret that particular ancient phoenix text.
Not only did the old man completely change his attitude towards him, but he also promised to sell the materials at a discounted price of about 30 percent.
Because the old man showed him genuine sincerity, he had no qualms interpreting the second half of the text on the jade. The old man listened with great attention, apparently intending to memorize every word of it.
When he had finished translating, the old man's weary eyes lit up. And he asked respectfully, “Young man, where did you learn the ancient phoenix language?”
As far as he knew, there was once ancient phoenixes existing in this world, but this species had already died out long ago. Sadly, their descendants were nowhere to be found.
Zen definitely deprived him of the truth. “Sorry, I can't tell you,” he chuckled. “But if you come across words or texts you don't know, you can ask me to decipher them. I think I should be able to interpret them all.”
Upon hearing that Zen might need his help, the cyan dragon immediately grumbled in Zen's mind, “Hey Zen, cracking this text for you doesn't necessarily mean that I promise to interpret anything else in the future. Besides, I can't possibly know all of them even though I do know a lot of languages...”
On the other hand, the old man's face changed at what he heard.
If the young man had uttered such arrogant words before translating the phoenix language, the old man would have taken off his shoe and aimed its sole in hitting Zen's face right there and then. How many strange languages were there in the world! And how could anyone possibly know all of them? Some species had left their writing in the world when they had fallen. If this was the case, who could recognize their writing?
This young man bragged about himself too much!
Considering Zen had effortlessly transcribed the ancient phoenix language, the old man decided not to contradict him directly. He surmised that there was a possibility that Zen might know some out-of-the-ordinary words or language and he might need his help later on. Although he found Zen's words unfavorable, he still respectfully stated, “Good, good. Are you a disciple of the Cloud Hall? From the look of you, you must be a disciple of the Elite House. May I have your name, please? I might require your aid sometime later.”
Zen let out a smile, and after disclosing his name to the old man, he uttered, “All right, please prepare the materials I need.”
The old man nodded. Then he called out for his two clerks, who emerged from the store a few moments later, waiting for his instruction. The old man took the list of materials that Zen was offering him. Then he threw it to the two clerks, and ordered, “Go get these materials ready.” Then turning to face Zen again, he suggested, “Mr. Luo, if you want to learn to draw runes, you will be needing a special pen. There happen to be some in here. They are not the best, but they are great for practicing drawing.”
Afterward, he opened a drawer, took out a penholder from it and put it on the table. Several runic pens were arranged meticulously on the penholder.
These runic pens varied in style and material. Some were made of jade, some made of animal bones. “I recommend this one for beginners,” the old man said, pointing to one of the runic pens. “This runic pen is made of broken jade. When you use it to draw runes, your soul power will be able to seep through the cracks between the pieces to the tip of the pen, so it will be easier to write.”
Zen felt tempted by the old man's introduction. He thought that it would be easier for him, a beginner, to draw runes with a lighter runic pen.
He was about to decide to buy the pen when the cyan dragon resting in his mind voiced out, “Don't choose that one, pick the one next to it.”
Then Zen's gaze shifted to the next pen. Pointing to the metal runic pen, Zen inquired, “How is this one?”
“You have a sharp eye, but I don't recommend this one,” the old man stated and shook his head. “It is made of hematite, more than three times the weight of an ordinary runic pen. It will not be easy to lift and will be hard for the soul power to penetrate. I really don't recommend it. Only senior runic experts will choose this style.”
Zen became hesitant because of what the old man said, but then the cyan dragon stated again, “One of the purposes of asking you to draw runes is to toughen your soul. So what's the use of the runic pen made of broken jade? Listen to me, buy this one!”
The cyan dragon was, after all, his teacher of runes, so Zen had to take his advice and choose this runic pen made of metal.
The old man's thought was opposed to Zen's insistence of having the metal runic pen since it was quite heavy to lift. But still, he took the runic pen out and handed it to Zen so as not to offend him.
As soon as he took the runic pen from the old man, Zen felt it was indeed heavy. While its weight was nothing to him, it would have a considerable impact on drawing runes. After all, every rune was so precise that if he couldn't hold it steady, a single stroke would ruin the rune.
Soon after, the two clerks had the materials on the list ready.
These materials, though rare, were all used to draw the most basic divine textures. Thus, they were not particularly hard to find. After inspecting the items, Zen asked about the price. “How much are all the materials?”
The old man did a little calculation with his finger and replied, “800 mid-grade life vitality crystals. Giving you a 30 percent discount, it will be 560 mid-grade life vitality crystals.”
“560 mid-grade crystals...” Although it was a cost that Zen could afford, he couldn't help lamenting how expensive the materials were.
He already had acquired general information of the currencies in circulation in the Central Region and their exchange rates with other currencies. Low-grade life vitality crystal was the base currency here, and the rate of exchange with the cubic crystal was basically one to one. And 100 low-grade life vitality crystals were equivalent to 1 mid-grade life vitality crystal.
That was to say, the value of 560 mid-grade life vitality crystals was equal to 56, 000 cubic crystals.
“Can I pay with cubic crystals?” inquired Zen. Before leaving the Eastern Region, Zen gave part of his heavenly essences to Wurth to look after and took out a lot of cubic crystals for his use.
“Cubic crystals?” The old man was a little surprised. He had guessed that Zen might be from an exalted family or even a descendant of one of the elders of Cloud Hall, but Zen's question denied his speculation. As the cubic crystal was the currency of the Eastern Region, it indicated that Zen was supposed to come from that little place.
The currency of the little place could also circulate in the Central Region, but it tended to trade at a discount to the local currency. “Yes, you can pay with cubic crystals,” replied the old man. “But a single cubic crystal can only be exchanged for half a low-grade life vitality crystal...”
The old man's words made Zen depressed. At the rate of exchange that the old man mentioned, the cubic crystal was even less valuable than he knew, and it would cost him 112, 000 cubic crystals to buy these materials. 'That's unreasonable!' Zen complained bitterly in his heart.
Noticing the frown on Zen's face, the old man grinned, “I can't help it. You may ask others about the exchange rate, and you'll know the currency of the Eastern Region is worthless in the Central Region!”
Luckily, Zen was carrying a lot of cubic crystals, and he didn't bargain again. But he thought that if the old man asked him for help again, he would exploit him severely.
Reluctantly, he paid the old man 112, 000 cubic crystals before he left the market with the purchased materials.
The old man, with a complicated look, stared at Zen's back, sighed in his heart, 'What a strange young man! And what a waste of materials! 112, 000 cubic crystals aren't a small sum of money. The youth of this generation is really unpredictable...'
Back at his place of residence, Zen began preparing for drawing runes.
These materials could not be used directly, but needed to be processed first. Drawing the divine texture was purely technical, and Zen knew nothing about it. But under the guidance of the cyan dragon, his teacher, he handled the materials himself at ease.
Potent kudzu roots, for example, needed to be ground into fine powders.
Besides, the roots of Gelid Herb should be cut and kneaded before mixing with another material which was cloud ash.
It took him a long time just to mix the materials. Moreover, any of the procedures could not go wrong, or else he had to throw out the wrong mix and start over.
An hour later, Zen was finally finished mixing the materials.
Zen then languidly picked up the runic pen and took a deep breath. Although the cyan dragon had taught him out, he was still a little nervous for the first time to draw divine textures.
Holding the runic pen up, Zen closed his eyes and meditated. Soon, a pale yellow soul appeared between his eyebrows. However, it was different from the soul when he launched the Spiritual Thorn. The move of turning a soul into a thorn, in the Spiritual Thorn, was for the sake of attacking enemies, so the soul must act extremely quick and with profound fierceness. But this time, he was trying to introduce his soul power to the point of the runic pen to draw divine textures! So, the slower his soul went, the better!
When Zen's soul filled the runic pen, its point drew the first stroke on the paper.