Depicting Runes

With a hiss.

The green wooden needle before his eyes snapped in two, and the spiritual light on its surface went out in an instant.

Xu Changqing tossed it into the trash bin beside him and frowned. "Failed again."

This was his third attempt.

Forging and artifact refinement truly were as far apart as heaven and earth.

When forging, as long as he controlled the temperature, materials, and timing properly, he could get it done with the help of a mold.

But artifact refinement, even for something as ordinary, common, and simple as a wood-element initiation spiritual artifact like the [Greenwood Needle], still came with all manner of problems.

The first time, the crimson flames he released had been too hot and burned it apart.

The second time, he lowered the temperature, but grew impatient after a few seconds, and failed again.

Now, on his third attempt, he had learned the precise temperature and timing from the previous two failures. Yet at the rune-depicting step, he had applied slightly too much force with the Azure Jade Engraving Knife, causing it to split in two.

Xu Changqing took a deep breath. "It seems forcing my way through artifact refinement won't work. I need to first master the techniques of depicting runes before trying again."

Although he had [Detailed Explanation of Spirit Pattern Basics].

That thing explained Spirit Runes, not runes.

Put simply, runes were equivalent to drawing talismans.

Put more deeply, they were vessels containing the laws of heaven and earth, as well as spiritual energy.

Some were symbols.

Some were patterns.

Some were designs.

The more intricate and ancient they were, the greater their power.

For an ordinary initiation spiritual artifact like the Greenwood Needle, only one rune needed to be carved upon it: the very simple [Windbreaking Pattern].

But