Ye Ziyun took out two rune scrolls from her Spatial Ring.
Powerful people inscribe their techniques into rune scrolls.
In battle, one can use the scrolls to unleash powerful skills much faster than performing them directly.
However, rune scrolls are incredibly expensive; just a blank scroll costs several hundred demon spirit coins.
A Bronze level rune scroll can sell for thousands, a Silver one tens of thousands, and as for a Gold one, it's beyond imagination.
These items are not something an average person can afford; they are exceptionally precious.
"Both of these rune scrolls are Snowstorm Runes."
Ye Ziyun's slender fingers slowly unrolled one of the Bronze scrolls.
"There seems to be an issue with these two runes, making them unusable, but I can't figure out the problem."
Nie Li glanced at the scrolls and immediately saw the issues.
Having trained with the Temporal Demon Spirit Book for so long in his previous life, Nie Li reached the pinnacle of understanding all kinds of runes.
Correcting two Bronze runes was child's play for him.
"Even most teachers wouldn't notice the problem with these two Bronze runes. With your family's status, can't you ask your father?" Nie Li looked at Ye Ziyun and asked.
A faint sadness flickered in Ye Ziyun’s lilac eyes.
Nie Li understood; Ye Ziyun lost her mother young, her father is the City Lord with endless duties, and her grandfather, a legendary demon spirit master, is often exploring the Saint Ancestor Mountain Range to protect Glory City.
Naturally, no one was there to help Ye Ziyun.
With newfound compassion, Nie Li said, "If you ever have questions, come here at this time every day!"
With that, Nie Li turned his attention to the two Bronze rune scrolls, pointing at one of them.
"This Bronze rune is a Snowstorm series 'Snowstorm Blade' rune. There's no problem with its structure, but the scroll itself is of inferior quality."
"Inferior quality?" Ye Ziyun asked, surprised.
"Indeed, the deception is very skillful. If one’s vision isn’t precise, buying such a scroll is understandable."
Nie Li smiled, "The 'Snowstorm Blade' rune is inscribed using the blood of a Snowstorm Spirit Worm. Normally, adult Snowstorm Spirit Worms have silver-grey blood, not this bright silver-red. I estimate this was written with the blood of a juvenile Snowstorm Spirit Worm, which isn’t strong enough, making this rune unusable."
Blood of adult Snowstorm Spirit Worms is indeed silver-grey, while juvenile ones have silver-red.
Ye Ziyun never expected the issue lay there.
She had consulted many instructors at the academy, even vice principals, but none pinpointed the problem, thinking the Bronze rune scroll was intact.
The doubt had lingered in Ye Ziyun’s mind until today, when it finally unraveled.
Her approach had been wrong; she was trying to find faults where there were none.
For Nie Li to see through this problem at a glance, what kind of knowledge does he possess? Even those instructors and vice principals don't compare academically to Nie Li, right?
Ye Ziyun developed deep respect for Nie Li and slowly lowered her guard.
A person with such deep knowledge surely has a decent character?
"And this Bronze rune?" Ye Ziyun pointed to the other scroll while reassessing Nie Li.
His figure was just slightly taller than hers; his face was sharp and handsome.
In the past, Nie Li was hardly noticeable in class, but today, after her engagement with him, Ye Ziyun felt a deep sense of respect.
"This rune is the 'Gale Wind and Sudden Snow' from the Snowstorm series. It was originally a Silver level rune, but remnants from the Dark Era had parts missing. When people patched it up, the level decreased to Bronze," Nie Li explained.
Ye Ziyun was puzzled; she hadn't heard of such history.
Was this recorded in a book she hadn't read?
Nie Li continued, "Aside from being downgraded, the patched 'Gale Wind and Sudden Snow' rune has structural issues, often malfunctioning during use. The structure needs some adjustments."
"Adjust the structure? How?" Ye Ziyun’s eyes were filled with curiosity.
Not even her legendary demon spirit master grandfather would alter a rune on a whim, as the ancient ones were considered perfected.
"Got a pen?" Nie Li asked Ye Ziyun.
Ye Ziyun moved her right hand, retrieving a silver horn pen from her Spatial Ring, crafted from a horned goat’s sharp horn.
Nie Li took the silver horn pen from Ye Ziyun’s hand, his fingers brushing against her palm, causing a ripple in his heart.
Ye Ziyun quickly retracted her hand, staring vigilantly at Nie Li, suspecting he might have been taking advantage of her.
Yet, Nie Li remained earnestly focused, leaving her to reconsider.
Perhaps she overthought it, but the interaction left a subtle feeling in her heart.
Nie Li quickly sketched on a blank sheet, outlining an even more complete 'Gale Wind and Sudden Snow' rune.
Each meticulous line appeared as though printed.
The complexity Nie Li demonstrated with just a few casual strokes was astonishing.
This altered rune was far more intricate than the unaltered one, to the point where Ye Ziyun couldn’t fully comprehend it.
“This is the complete 'Gale Wind and Sudden Snow' rune.” Nie Li noted, “It’s Silver level.”
Ye Ziyun focused on the rune.
Its complexity, after Nie Li’s modifications, had doubled, leaving her without a way to verify without crafting it into a scroll.
She had never seen a rune formed like this!
“The rune is constructed with thirty-six foundational runes.” Nie Li elaborated, “This creates a stable structure; prior, the incomplete form was unstable!”
Ye Ziyun nodded slightly, not pressing further, gathering up Nie Li’s sketched rune.
She planned to have it made into a scroll to test if it truly was the Silver-level rune Nie Li claimed.
Ye Ziyun asked a few more questions about the Snowstorm runes and cultivation techniques.
Nie Li responded fluently, enlightening Ye Ziyun considerably.
She marveled at how much time Nie Li must have invested to gain such vast knowledge.
“Nie Li, thank you for your explanations. Don’t forget our agreement; meet here again tomorrow.” As she left, Ye Ziyun smiled like a radiant pearl, enchanting and pure.
Her brilliant smile left Nie Li momentarily dazed.
Before he realized, she waved goodbye with a graceful and charming silhouette.
Nie Li felt cheerful.
His first chat with Ye Ziyun went quite well, in his view.
Just as he was about to leave, a figure suddenly appeared, grasping Nie Li’s collar.
“It’s you,” Nie Li’s eyes landed on Shen Yue, and his expression darkened.
Shen Yue clutched Nie Li’s shirt with one hand, glaring fiercely. “What did Ziyun say to you just now?”
“Let go, or I won’t be polite,” Nie Li replied coldly.
“Hmph, not polite, huh? Nie Li, you think too highly of yourself. Think you’re something special with your knowledge of runes? You’re still far behind! Stay away from Ziyun, or else, you’ll regret it!” Shen Yue’s voice was sinister.
Du Ze, Lu Piao, and others saw this from afar and rushed over.
Yet, several followers stood with Shen Yue, eyeing them threateningly, creating a tense standoff.
Other students in the distant library saw and cautiously moved back, wishing to avoid involvement.
“What's happening?”
“I heard Shen Yue clashed with Nie Li over Goddess Ye, about to brawl.”
“Who’s Nie Li to dare provoke Shen Yue? Shen Yue is from the Divine Sacred Family!”
“That Nie Li is crazy, doesn’t know his limits! Shen Yue is nearly at Bronze one-star, and Nie Li is no match for him.”
To Shen Yue, dealing with Nie Li seemed easy; he only needed a tenth of his strength to crush Nie Li!
Nie Li, however, looked at the arrogant Shen Yue with disdain.
To him, Shen Yue was just a brat.
From the start, Nie Li never considered Shen Yue as a rival.
Even the entire Divine Sacred Family was barely worth playing with; Shen Yue was nothing in his eyes.
Although Nie Li’s current strength and soul force seemed weaker than Shen Yue's, having only begun training in the Heavenly Dao Divine Technique two days ago, Shen Yue’s primitive methods felt laughable.
Even with just 38 strength and 32 soul force, handling Shen Yue was still no problem.
“Thinking you can act domineering with the Divine Sacred Family’s backing, with a green soul realm you’re a genius? You’re far from it!” Nie Li gripped Shen Yue’s fist, pressing Shen Yue’s wrist joint with his middle finger, channeling energy to twist Shen Yue’s hand back slowly.
Shen Yue was shocked when Nie Li’s grip numbed his entire arm, rendering it powerless despite every effort.
Within moments, Nie Li’s grip clamped like iron on his arm, a sharp pain nearly twisted Shen Yue’s face in agony.
How was Nie Li doing this? Shen Yue's power clearly surpassed Nie Li’s, so why couldn’t he contend with him?
In Shen Yue’s mind, Nie Li was always the weakling with poor talents, while he was the class genius with a green soul realm, nurtured from youth on elixirs far beyond peers.
Yet, in this brief clash, Shen Yue utterly lost against Nie Li!
What sorcery is Nie Li using?!
Nie Li smirked faintly.
Although his strength had yet to peak, his control over it surpassed Shen Yue’s.
Directing energy to Shen Yue’s joint pressure point made his arm instantly powerless!
(Chapter End)