Rune Stones and Rune Arrays

Lincon sat alone in the courtyard, once again carving the Shrine he was familiar with.

Now, without anyone disturbing him, he could steadily maintain the Shrine's quality at the fine grade.

However, his mind was not entirely focused on carving the Shrine.

Zhou Qing's arrival had undoubtedly pulled taut the string that Longwind Fortress had previously allowed to slacken.

On this land shrouded in darkness for so long, danger sometimes came not only from roaming dark creatures, but also from one's own kind.

Zhou Qing was right. He was not being alarmist. If Longwind Fortress could not provide a reasonable explanation, the people of Black Iron City would absolutely choose to flatten this place and turn it into territory under their control.

Lincon did not know how much covetousness a patch of land capable of producing food in the darkness would attract, but he feared ninety percent of the people in Jiangzhou would go mad over it.

It was like an ancient year of famine, when every other place suffered total crop failure, yet a small county somehow enjoyed favorable weather, with its granaries piled full of food.

What would everyone else think?

It was precisely because he had anticipated this that Lincon chose to put it on the table early and tie it to his own abilities.

He wanted to tell Black Iron City that if they wanted food, the best choice was to trade with Longwind Fortress rather than seize it by force.

As Longwind Fortress gradually came into the sight of the various factions in Jiangzhou, similar situations would definitely become more common in the future.

And if he wanted to avoid being coveted by others, he first had to make himself stronger.

It was also through today's events that Lincon realized that once he left for any reason, the fortress would have no defensive capabilities at all.

Against ability users with special powers, ordinary people had no ability to fight back whatsoever.

Therefore, aside from increasing his own strength, he also had to improve the fortress's strength.

But how could the fortress's strength be improved?

Either he could cultivate a batch of defensive spirit plants similar to Ancient Maple Guardians, or he could thoroughly research the three Junior Runes and try to find a breakthrough there.

Or perhaps he could pursue both?

Lincon sank into deep thought. He had already gained some insight in the swamp yesterday.

Although the Junior Rune Industry Blueprint contained only three runes, they definitely did not have only three simple applications.

The three runes could not be inscribed onto the same item. Aside from conflicts between their energies, there seemed to be another layer of meaning behind it.

"Crack..."

Lincon, lost in thought, accidentally chipped off an extra piece from the Shrine in his hands. The Shrine, which had just begun to take shape, instantly became incomplete, and its spiritual charm abruptly scattered.

Yet as he looked at that incomplete stone, Lincon's eyes gradually lit up.

"In mathematics, numbers and symbols are the foundation of everything. Runes are the same."

"It is meant to stop beginners from fixating on a vast number of runes from the start, so they can focus on what is before them and think more about how runes can be used together."

Lincon lowered his head and looked at the stone in his hand. In the past, he had always used spiritual power like a brush to inscribe runes onto objects directly.

But now, he gathered his spiritual power at the tip of his carving knife and inscribed a Reinforcement Rune onto the stone.

He tried to condense that power within the rune he had carved instead of letting it spread through the stone. He wanted to manifest the rune itself.

After failing dozens of times in a row, he finally completed a rather crude Rune Stone in his hands.

[...]

[You have successfully developed a Rune Stone. Main career experience +100.]

Looking at the experience notification that appeared on his Career Panel, a happy smile finally appeared on Lincon's usually silent face.

It was like solving a math problem that had always blocked his path. Once he successfully found the answer, a deep sense of satisfaction naturally burst forth from within him.

[Reinforced Rune Stone: A stone containing the power of a Reinforcement Rune. The creator inscribes rune energy into the stone, allowing it to maintain the rune's power for an extended period without dispersing.]

Lincon picked up the palm-sized Rune Stone, then found an ordinary Shrine and placed it on top.

Gradually, the Reinforced Rune Stone flickered with a deep blue light as though breathing, and the light enveloped the Shrine.

A few seconds later, a Reinforced Shrine appeared before him.

"It works!" Lincon smiled.

The appearance of the Rune Stone proved that even after a rune left him, ordinary people could still use it.

This was an enormous breakthrough, one that made Lincon even happier than his previous discovery of Rune Arrays.

"However, once the rune's power dissipates, this Rune Stone will become useless."

After the light vanished, the Rune Stone leaning against the Shrine split in half and became extremely brittle.

But that did not matter. The ruins of Longwind Fortress had only just been cleared, and for now, stones were the one thing they lacked least.

A thought even arose in Lincon's mind. If stones could carry rune energy, could other materials do the same?

Naturally, that idea could be tested later. Following his current train of thought, Lincon found several more stones that he had originally intended to use for carving.

This time, however, he did not make Rune Stones. Instead, he transformed them into Purification Stones with spiritual power, then carved them into Purification Shrines.

This time, he used his spiritual power to inscribe Reinforcement Runes onto the Purification Shrines. Though he could not directly grant two runes to the same object, through this indirect method, Lincon created an item possessing two runes.

[Reinforced Purification Shrine]

[A Purification Shrine enhanced with runes. Its purification ability within the Purification Shrine's range has been strengthened.]

Lincon's eyes brimmed with excitement. He wanted to recreate the Rune Array he had accidentally set up in the swamp last night.

This time, he was even more focused and meticulous. In his current state of clarity, as though he had suddenly attained enlightenment, he quickly reproduced a Rune Array similar to the one from last night.

At the same time, through the faint connection between his spiritual power and the runes, he corrected several unreasonable parts.

The instant the Rune Array was completed, Lincon clearly sensed an unfamiliar yet familiar energy fluctuation in the air.

Within the Rune Array's range, the air quality in his courtyard rapidly became clear.

He took a deep breath, and it felt as though his lungs had been washed clean. It was like living in a smog-filled city for a long time, then suddenly returning to a primeval forest. The difference was as vast as a chasm.

[You have created a Purification Rune Array. Main career experience +500.]

[Longwind Fortress Guardian has reached level 10.]

[Strength +5, Agility +5, Charm +1.]

Seeing the experience increase on his Career Panel once more, Lincon was no longer surprised.

By now, he had roughly grasped how to rapidly gain main career experience.

That was to invent and create things beneficial to the territory's development. All of them granted him a large amount of experience, much faster than clearing dark creatures.

The same applied to secondary careers. Researching advanced plants was also faster for leveling up than dealing with dark creatures outside.

The two powerful talents on the panel were not meant for him to go out and fight. They were meant for growth, development... and crushing enemies with the absolute force of the true path.

Of course, the bonuses from each attribute increase also gave Lincon strength no weaker than that of ordinary reinforcement-type ability users and spell-type ability users.