Evana’s eyes narrowed with a dark intensity, a shadow passing over her features.
Suddenly with a swift and practiced motion, she summoned both the death and abyss runes. The air crackled with a heavy energy as these two powerful runes converged, forming a swirling vortex of black mist.
As the mist coalesced, it morphed into a massive array, its intricate symbols pulsating with malevolent power. The array glowed with an unholy aura, emanating an overwhelming sense of death and despair. It was as if the very essence of death had taken physical form, a manifestation of darkness and dread.
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From the heart of the array, a giant skeletal hand emerged, its bones charred black and covered in ancient markings. An aura of decay and desolation emanated from its very core, causing the surrounding air to grow heavy with foreboding.
The hand, with its bony fingers outstretched, surged forward with a chilling resolve. The air around it seemed to thicken with an icy coldness, its touch freezing everything in its path. Each skeletal finger exuded an aura of death and decay, capable of sapping the life force from any living being unfortunate enough to come into contact with it.
With a burst of eerie energy, the skeletal hand lunged towards the dragon, its grip tightening with an iron determination. The very air seemed to shudder and freeze in its presence, as if the hand wielded the power to drain the life force from anything it touched.
Liang’s instincts screamed at him to move, to evade the impending doom. He launched himself into the air, his body twisting and contorting in a graceful display of agility. His black robe billowed behind him, accentuating his ethereal presence.
In that split second, the skeletal hand made contact with the mighty dragon, its grip tightening with each passing moment. The sound of agony and despair pierced the air as the dragon let out a haunting cry. Its once vibrant and majestic scales turned ashen and dull, losing their luster and magnificence. The flames that had once danced upon its back flickered weakly before dying out completely, leaving behind only scattered ashes that were soon carried away by the wind.
Not satisfied with its victory over the dragon, the skeletal hand’s malevolence now turned towards Liang, its determination unyielding. The elongated, bony fingers stretched out, emanating a bone-chilling coldness, as they hungrily reached out for Liang. The air around them grew heavy and oppressive, as if the very essence of life was being drained away by the hand’s presence.
With an iron grip, the skeletal hand tightened its hold on Liang, sending shivers down his spine as the penetrating energy of death seeped into his body through every pore. He could feel his life force being drained away, his strength waning under the unearthly grip.
Suddenly, a resounding crack shattered the tense silence. Liang’s body transformed into a solid block of ice, which shattered into countless glistening pieces, scattering across the ground. The freezing coldness dispersed, replaced by a chilling aura of death that lingered in the air.
Evana’s eyes widened with astonishment as she turned her gaze towards the commotion behind her. A shrill scream pierced through the air, causing a shiver to run down her spine.
In the midst of a swirling, chaotic aura, Liang stood his ground, firmly grasping his Voidwing Sword. The gleaming blade protruded from Makrin’s body, a testament to the unexpected strike he had landed.
Blood seeped from Makrin’s mouth, his face contorted in disbelief as he struggled to comprehend the gravity of the situation. Caught off guard by Evana’s diversion, he had failed to notice Liang’s lethal blow until it was too late to evade.
In a desperate attempt to escape, Makrin swiftly formed hand seals, his fingers dancing through the air. As if ignited by an unseen flame, his five runes blazed to life, surrounding him with a swirling vortex of energy. The maelstrom enveloped him in a blinding light, filling the space around him with an otherworldly glow, before abruptly dissipating into nothingness.
Liang’s cold laughter echoed through the aftermath, filled with both amusement and disdain. "Oh! What an interesting escape technique. Burning blood essence, runes, and even sacrificing your soul. Impressive, but futile without the central region array that allowed you to cheat death. I wonder who meticulously set it up."
"It seems like I have underestimated you," Evana coldly remarked, her eyes fixated on the Voidwing Sword.
"A Dao Artifact forged through a high-grade spirit formation, quite the rarity I see," a trace of admiration glinted in her eyes.
"Oh! It seems like I have underestimated you too," Liang smirked, his eyes shifting towards the skeletal hand that still lingered menacingly in the air. He knew the peril it posed. If it had touched him, his fate would have been sealed.
The figure that had appeared on the dragon’s back moments ago was merely an ice duplicate created using the Absolute Ice Rune.
But what exactly was the Absolute Ice Rune?
Well, shortly after Liang reached the Runeforged Embodiment Realm on Crystalis, he unlocked another ability of his Chaos Rune, called ’Affinity Fusion.’
Liang’s ability to merge runes with the same affinity into a more powerful rune allowed him to create the Absolute Ice Rune by combining all the ice runes he had obtained on Crystalis.
As for his rapid breakthrough to the Runeforged Embodiment Realm, it was due to his background as an Omnicolor Paragon. These individuals possess a cultivation speed ten times faster than others, as their inherent comprehension of runes allows for swift progress. Many Omnicolor Paragons are known to awaken their rune and achieve Runic Mastery within three to four years, with some achieving it in just one year.
Runic cultivation, like any other cultivation system, requires both comprehension and resources. While the inherent understanding of runes possessed by Omnicolor Paragons accelerates their progress, other factors such as the type, power, and abilities of their runes still influence their cultivation speed.
The true potential of runes is fully unraveled upon reaching the Harmonic Nexus Mastery Realm, where cultivators can fuse their runes to create powerful Runic Arrays.
Runic Arrays serve as a magnificent expression of a cultivator’s mastery over True Runes. These intricate and powerful formations harness the combined energies and properties of multiple True Runes. Similar to a conductor directing an orchestra, a cultivator of Runic Arrays orchestrates the harmonious interplay of these mystical forces.
To create these awe-inspiring Runic Arrays, a cultivator must possess an intimate understanding of the properties and interactions of their chosen True Runes. Calculations, precise positioning, and infusion of energy are required to activate and stabilize the array. It is a process that demands not only knowledge but also finesse and mastery.
As a cultivator delves deeper into their runic cultivation journey, they continuously refine and improve their arrays. Through unwavering dedication and constant exploration, they seek to unlock new levels of complexity and potency, surpassing their previous achievements.
The grading system for Runic Arrays categorizes them based on the number of True Runes involved, with each grade representing a higher level of complexity and potency. At the fundamental level, cultivators manifest a single True Rune within the array, allowing them to unleash its primary talent or ability. This marks the initial step into the world of Runic Arrays, which begins upon their breakthrough to the Harmonic Nexus Realm.
Advancing to the Runeforged Embodiment Realm allows cultivators to integrate a second True Rune, unlocking the potential of an Advanced Runic Array. Further progression to the Ascended Runic Mastery Realm grants cultivators the capability to create an Arcane Runic Array with the incorporation of a third True Rune.
From the third rune onwards, further changes occur. Unlike the other realms, the Ascended Runic Mastery Realm does not have minor realms. Instead, cultivators at this level are categorized according to the level of their runic arrays, which increases with their deepened understanding of the formation dao.
At the Ascended Runic Realm, experts are classified into four levels: Arcane, Mystical, Enlightened, and Divine. Each level represents an ascending degree of mastery over the law.
The black-robed woman stood in a state of bewilderment, her mind struggling to fully comprehend the astonishing sight before her. Memories from five years ago flooded her thoughts, transporting her back to a time when this person stood at the meager Runic Transmutation Realm.
She vividly recalled the debt she owed him for saving her life, a debt that she had sought to repay by gifting him the Ethereal Serenity Technique, one of the most revered cultivation techniques of her clan.
But as she observed the scene unfolding, a wave of disbelief washed over her like a turbulent tide. The immensity of his newly acquired power seemed inconceivable.
How could he breakthrough to the Runeforged Embodiment Realm in this short amount of time? Such an achievement typically required an unwavering commitment spanning at least two thousand years or so, complemented by fortuitous encounters along the way. It was unfathomable that he had not only accomplished this feat but also possessed the ability to confront and challenge Markin, an Ascended Virtuous.
In the midst of her swirling contemplation, a jarring thought flashed through her mind.