Chapter 1561 – The Divine Runic Master Examination
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The Divine Runic Masters Guild held examinations for divine runic masters every year. In order to seek out talented individuals, the Divine Runic Masters Guild spared no effort.
For this examination there would always be a massive number of young martial artists that entered into Divine Rune City every year, hoping that they would be able to obtain the recognition of the Divine Runic Masters Guild and bring back the divine runic master badge that they could proudly display to the world.
These youths came not just from Divine Rune City but from many other places all over the Asura Road. For instance, Yue Qifeng and Yue Liuxing were such examples.
In the early morning of the examination, Lin Ming stood in front of the gates of the Divine Runic Masters Guild, looking up at the dignified and weighty plaque. He took a deep breath.
After he became a divine runic master registered with the Divine Runic Masters Guild then it would be much easier for him to come into contact with the Heaven’s Net assassin, Blood Moon. With his status as a divine runic master, wanting to exchange for the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace section of the Celestial Tyrant Manual shouldn’t be a problem. Moreover, Lin Ming suspected that even though Blood Moon possessed the latter half of the Celestial Tyrant Manual, this cultivation method shouldn’t be too useful to him. Lin Ming didn’t believe that there had been anyone besides himself and Empyrean Primordius who had opened the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace.
“We’re finally here! It’s this place!”
As Lin Ming was lost in thought, he heard a soft woman’s voice behind him. He turned to see a young woman in a white divine runic master’s robe dragging along a gray-haired old man, seemingly in a hurry to enter the Divine Runic Masters Guild.
This young woman looked to be around Xiao Moxian’s age. Beneath her voluminous divine runic master’s robes, one could still see her winding curves. She was definitely a shapely young woman.
On the chest of her robes was a divine runic badge. This badge only had a single rune carved atop it without a single stripe; this was the badge worn by divine runic apprentices.
As for the old man that was being dragged along, he smiled as he was being pulled. “What are you in a hurry for, what are you so anxious for? The examination doesn’t even begin for another two hours and there aren’t many people on the martial field. As for those other old fellows, they definitely won’t appear until the last moment.”
As the old man spoke, Lin Ming glanced at the divine runic master badge on his chest. There were six stripes, indicating that he was a sixth grade divine runic master!
Moreover, the last stripe was embellished with three small runes. This meant that this old man was considered first class amongst sixth grade divine runic masters. He could even be called a superior sixth grade divine runic master!
This was an amazing accomplishment and it also meant that this old man’s cultivation had likely reached the Great World King boundary. Even if it hadn’t, he likely wasn’t too far away.
“The inner Asura Road really has many World Kings…”
Lin Ming was already mentally prepared for this. The Asura Road originally gathered all outstanding individuals from the 33 Heavens, and this was especially true for the inner Asura Road. Moreover, Divine Rune City was one of the most prosperous cities of the inner Asura Road. Here, Holy Lords and Divine Lords were far too common, and even World Kings weren’t a rare sight.
As this old man moved towards the gate, the two guards standing there immediately greeted him with great respect, bowing to him. This was the respect given to a sixth grade divine runic master. Even if this old man wasn’t a divine runic master of the Divine Runic Masters Guild, this etiquette could not be ignored.
However, as Lin Ming walked closer he clearly wasn’t treated so well. The two guards didn’t even glance at Lin Ming and allowed him to enter.
In order to join the examination, there were no strict requirements to register. However, there was one point: materials needed to be prepared in advance by the examinee or purchased through the Divine Runic Masters Guild. Only when one successfully passed the examination would they be reimbursed for these materials. This was to prevent some divine runic apprentices from showing up and participating while not caring if they passed or not.
As Lin Ming walked into the hall, he traced his spatial ring. He had prepared five sets of materials today. Two were for the first grade divine runic master examination and three were for the second grade divine runic master examination.
Lin Ming wanted to raise his grade as a divine runic master as soon as possible. This was because even if he obtained the Nine Stars of the Dao Palace section of the Celestial Tyrant Manual, he still required a massive amount of exceedingly rare and precious materials to refine the medicine. However, these rare and precious materials were nearly impossible to collect unless he had the status of a high grade divine runic master!
As he arrived in the examination hall, 11-12 youths were already waiting there.
Lin Ming saw the young girl he had bumped into at the gates. In addition, he saw Yue Liuxing and Yue Qifeng, the brother and sister duo he had met when he first arrived at the inner Asura Road. They were also entering the divine runic master examination this year.
“Eh? Lin Ming!”
“What a coincidence to run into you here.”
This wasn’t as much of a coincidence as it seemed. The last time he saw Yue Liuxing and Yue Qifeng, they had only been divine runic apprentices and now was the appropriate time for them to try out for the diviner runic master examination.
“It’s been a while.” Lin Ming smiled in greeting.
“Lin Ming, what are you doing here?” Yue Liuxing asked, curious. She didn’t think that Lin Ming had come here to take the divine runic master examination with them.
Lin Ming awkwardly coughed. But, just as he was about to answer, the wooden door of the hall opened and another examinee arrived.
As Lin Ming turned, a strangely interested look came over his face.
The newly arrived examinee was also a young girl in her prime, She wore a blue robe and her hair was like a shawl that spread down her back. Her entire body exuded a light and sprightly feeling.
However, what caused the strange expression to come over Lin Ming’s face was not the young girl but the master following behind her. This master was a bit short and fat, with small and bright eyes. From his looks, he resembled an extremely large and fat mouse. This was the Old Man Xue that Lin Ming had accidently encountered in the Divine Runic Masters Guild a year ago.
This Old Man Xue had been tricked by Lin Ming. The emperor jade fragment had been sold to Lin Ming as if it were a mere spirit treasure fragment. Although he hadn’t noticed anything afterwards, Old Man Xue still thought he could con Lin Ming once more and take him in as a disciple. In the end, he failed.
“This stingy old geezer would actually accept an apprentice?” Lin Ming looked at the young and beautiful girl standing in front of Old Man Xue. Although he felt it a bit unbelievable, she was clearly his apprentice. He felt that any apprentice of his was surely unlucky.
Old Man Xue was all smiles as he entered. After passing through the doors, his eyes locked onto another high grade divine runic master. This was the sixth grade divine runic master that Lin Ming had seen at the entrance.
“Old Su, haha, to think I’d see you here today!”
“Hehe, this isn’t something normal. But, let me give you a warning. I brought Clearshadow here today not to become a first grade divine runic master, but to take the test for a second grade divine runic master! At that time, make sure you don’t bully me, haha!”
“Oh! What a coincidence! I also brought my apprentice Dreampearl here to take the second grade divine runic master test.” Old Man Xue responded in sharp opposition. The young girl called Dreampearl behind seemed much more modest. She smiled and said, “Teacher, you think too highly of me. I only have 30% confidence that I can successfully draw up a second grade divine inscription symbol.”
30%!
Although Dreampearl spoke humbly, Old Su still felt his heart skip a beat once he heard this. A divine runic master examination would last for around 10 hours, and during this time an examinee was allowed to attempt drawing up a divine runic symbol several times. Even if one failed once, they still had a second attempt and a third attempt. If she could guarantee a 30% success chance then there really might be a possibility she could pass the test.
Old Su couldn’t help but glance over at his own apprentice Clearshadow. He could faintly feel that Clearshadow didn’t have a 30% chance of success.
“Don’t worry, Teacher! Just because she says 30% doesn’t mean it is 30%. I would like to experience her skills myself!”
Clearshadow wasn’t too anxious or panicked. Old Su nodded in satisfaction. But at this moment, Old Man Xue halted. As soon as he passed through the door he had come into conflict with Old Su and hadn’t noticed the other people in the room. But now that he glanced over everyone else, he discovered there was someone he was acquainted with – Lin Ming, a little pig that he had wanted to butcher for money but that had managed to escape.
“Hey brat, you’re here because…” Looking at Lin Ming’s posture as well as the divine runic pen in his hand, a ridiculous complexion flashed over Old Man Xue’s face. “Brat, don’t tell me you’re here to participate in the divine runic master examination!”
Lin Ming spread out his hands, saying, “It’s a bit regrettable, but… that is the reason I am here.”
“Hahaha!” Old Man Xue heartily smiled, waggling his fat finger at Lin Ming. “You, you must be teasing me! In any case, why don’t you consider my earlier suggestion and become my apprentice? If your talent was too low and you were unfit for the divine runic arts then I wouldn’t think of receiving you to begin with.”
Lin Ming helplessly shrugged and sighed, saying, “I’m really not teasing you.”
Like this, Old Man Xue’s laughter suddenly stopped. He looked at Lin Ming with the eyes of a stranger. He was well aware that a year ago, Lin Ming had been nothing but an interested outsider to the divine runic arts. Now, he wanted to take a go at the divine runic master examination. It seemed this young man really liked to waste his time away.
Well, what’s done was done. This was Lin Ming’s materials and money to begin with so there wasn’t anything he could do.
“Well, keep thinking about it. I think it's best if you were my apprentice.” Old Man Xue said, giving Lin Ming ‘advice’ one more time.
Lin Ming responded, “Senior’s price for taking in an apprentice is too high. This junior truly can’t afford to enjoy such luxuries.”
As Lin Ming spoke, he glanced at the Dreampearl behind Old Man Xue. This young woman was clearly Old Man Xue’s best apprentice, someone who might inherit his complete legacy in the future. Otherwise, there was no way that someone like Old Man Xue would accompany her here for the divine runic master examination.
It was hard to say what was so special about this young woman that someone so stingy like Old Man Xue would see in her.
After listening to Lin Ming joke about Old Man Xue’s tuition fees, Old Su laughed, “Old Xue, just what do you want me to think of you? You would even con a little junior out of his money!”
Old Su naturally wouldn’t relinquish a chance to mock Old Man Xue. However, Old Man Xue’s skin was thick enough for the both of them. After being seen through he said, “All goods come at a cost. If I dare to put out such a price then I naturally have confidence in my worth. Boy, if you don’t believe me then you can come and study with me. I guarantee that it will be much faster than you studying alone.”
Old Man Xue struck his chest in guarantee. But, just as he was about to say something else, the doors to the hall opened once more and another young heroic elite entered.
This person was a spiritas youth that seemed to be just over 20 years old. He walked with mighty strides, like tigers and dragons. His eyes were bright, and there was no teacher following behind him. He had come here alone!