Chapter 991 - 517: Divine Rune Artifact Refining

Chapter 991: Chapter 517: Divine Rune Artifact Refining

The stars were as small as dust motes, while the colossal bodies of the two Nine Nether Whales glided past in utter silence, one ahead and one behind, leaving a splendid yet fleeting trail deep in the cosmos.

The Dark Spirit Star lay at an unattainable distance; even at the speed of the Nine Nether Whales, it would take over ten years to reach it.

Li Mu immediately decided to use this long journey to continue enjoying a leisurely life.

In the Painting Realm Treasure Mansion, Li Mu resumed his former rhythm of life—tending Spirit Plants, joining hands with Xue’Er to cook delicacies and brew Spirit Wine, savoring this rare tranquility and ease. The only difference was that, with the Star Nebula Visualization Method brought to Perfection and his Divine Soul undergoing a qualitative transformation, a hint of ethereal, transcendent aura now clung to Li Mu.

In his spare time, Li Mu also prepared to improve his other arts.

One day, on a sudden impulse, Li Mu took out the Divine Rune True Understanding that had been lying at the bottom of his chest for a long time, and unexpectedly discovered that the inheritance once sealed by itself due to being a fragmented transmission could now, under the influence of his powerful Divine Soul, be glimpsed—revealing a faint thread of Divine Rune pathways.

Under Innate Divine Power - Recognition of Ten Thousand Spirits, this remnant spiritual Ancient Scripture, Divine Rune True Understanding, revealed a new face.

[Divine Rune True Understanding (Fragment)]

[Grade: Tier Eight Dao Scripture]

[Attributes: Eternal Divine Patterns, Water and Fire Immune, Ancient Thought Inheritance (Sealed), Divine Rune Inference (Unlocked), Three Thousand Divine Patterns (Unlocked)]

[Status: Divine Essence Dispersed, Spiritual Deficiency, Divine Object Polluted, Fallen to the Mortal]

[A Tier Eight Ancient Chaos Beast Hide, a Divine Rune Ancient Scripture drawn with Immortal Thought, suffered catastrophic damage and was scoured by ten thousand years of time; its Divine Charm dispersed, its Spiritual Energy deficient, degraded into a mortal object. Only by gathering the Innate Five Spirits Pattern, a thousand Threads of Time, and the Power of Ten Thousand Dao Cause and Effect can it be unsealed and allowed to recover on its own.]

Li Mu could not help but devote vast amounts of time to it, cradling this True Understanding every day, delving into the mysteries of Divine Runes, and assembling part of the unsealing Spiritual Materials to lift its seal.

As Li Mu immersed himself day after day, more and more of the mysteries among the Three Thousand Divine Patterns were uncovered one by one, each displaying its own unique and formidable function.

"Elemental Storm" Divine Rune: This Divine Rune can draw upon the Five Primordial Powers between Heaven and Earth (metal, wood, water, fire, earth) to form a colossal storm, delivering devastating strikes upon the enemy.

"Life Weaving" Divine Rune: Unlike the "Source of Life" Divine Rune, Life Weaving focuses more on the fine control and creation of life. Through this Divine Rune, Li Mu can heal almost any type of injury.

"Soul Power Resonance" Divine Rune: This is a Divine Rune that touches upon the level of Soul Power; it allows the user to establish a direct connection with another’s soul, achieving communication and exchange on the level of the heart.

...

Li Mu succeeded in deciphering one-fifth of Divine Rune True Understanding, roughly six hundred Divine Runes. They greatly simplified the formation of Artifact Patterns, Pill Patterns, Talisman Patterns, and Puppet Patterns, enabling far more efficient operational performance.

This discovery invigorated Li Mu’s spirit. These Divine Runes altered his understanding—they seemed to transcend the original Hundred Cultivation Arts System of the Spirit Realm.

A light never before seen flickered in Li Mu’s eyes as he realized that the Divine Runes he had grasped were not merely the acquisition of new knowledge, but a key leading toward an entirely new Cultivation Realm.

The efficiency and subtlety displayed by these Divine Runes prompted Li Mu to reexamine and optimize the arts he already commanded, striving to draw out the power of Divine Runes from within the Hundred Arts.

Li Mu began to investigate more deeply, preparing to fuse these Divine Runes into the Cultivation Techniques and skills he had mastered. The Perfection of the Star Nebula Visualization Method had not only brought a qualitative leap to his Divine Soul, but had also elevated his understanding of Heaven, Earth, and all things to a new height.

And these Divine Runes were like wings added to a tiger for Li Mu; if he could successfully integrate them into Artifact Refining, Puppets, Spirit Talismans, and even Alchemy, the power of his finished products would be vastly amplified.

First, Li Mu turned his gaze toward the Path of Artifact Refining that he was most proficient in.

With a wave of his hand, Li Mu summoned a cluster of Five Elements Spirit Fire, then took out from the Nine Treasures Spirit Pearl a batch of Tier Five Five Elements Refining Spiritual Materials, and began refining a Five Elements Spiritual Artifact that used Divine Runes as its Artifact Base.

Celestial Fallen Spirit Gold, Star Wood, One-Origin Heavy Water, Sun Flame Golden Lotus, Earth Treasure Essence—these five Tier Five Refining Spiritual Materials, under the control of Li Mu’s powerful Divine Soul, slowly melted into that ever-leaping Five Elements Spirit Fire.

Li Mu employed the Divine Refining Technique, refining artifacts out of thin air by Spirit Taming Fire. The Five Elements Flames seemed to be endowed with life, dancing lightly around the five Refining Spiritual Materials, precisely stripping away impurities and purifying their essence.

As the Refinement went deeper, the impurities on the surfaces of the Spiritual Materials were gradually removed, revealing their inner, pure Five Elements essence.

Seeing this, Li Mu knew the time had come. He closed his eyes to Concentrate Spirit, sinking his mind into the Sea of Consciousness to keenly sense them, refining them together with Divine Refining to urge them into an Artifact Embryo. At the same time, he took Divine Thought as his brush and Spiritual Power as his ink, beginning to draw Divine Runes within the Artifact Embryo, condensing them into an Artifact Array, then condensing them into Artifact Patterns.

Li Mu’s powerful Divine Sense was like an invisible great hand, effortlessly kneading the entire cluster of Five Elements essence into a ring-shaped Artifact Embryo. One Divine Rune after another, condensed by Divine Thought gathering Spiritual Power, slipped into the Artifact Embryo like schools of fish, one following the other.

These Divine Runes possessed numerous effects—Enhancing Spirit, Fusion, Spirit Transformation, Phase, Star Shift, ...—dozens in all, nearly a hundred Divine Runes with different functions.

His thinking in Refining Spiritual Artifacts had undergone a tremendous change compared to before. The structure of the Divine Runes was far more intricate, the overall configuration far more precise. With ordinary Artifact Refining Techniques, a Spiritual Artifact of a given Tier could at most condense four Artifact Patterns. However, by using Divine Runes to condense its Artifact Patterns, a Spiritual Artifact of the same Tier seemed able to condense forty Divine Runes. With each additional Divine Rune condensed, the Spiritual Artifact would gain one more function, and its overall power would be greatly enhanced.