Chapter 1064: Researching Divine Runes

Chapter 1064: Chapter 1064: Researching Divine Runes

Facing the crowd’s wonder and congratulations, Shen Mo felt little emotional upheaval but still responded to each person with a smile.

"Village Chief Wang, Guo... I’d like to borrow your god-given weapons for a look, is that possible?"

The long spear of Village Chief Wang Tie, Guo Yun’s bow and arrow, and other disciples’ weapons were engraved with numerous divine runes that could be activated by divine power to produce different effects, offering Shen Mo significant research value.

Under the fake god, there was a strict hierarchy among the disciples determined by the amount of divine power and strength possessed. Thus, even though Shen Mo had not yet officially obtained the title of Elder, Wang Tie and others dared not refuse his request and soon delivered their god-given weapons to Shen Mo’s residence.

Shen Mo donned the [Method Eye Candle Wisp] and began researching the divine runes on these weapons. These runes originate from the same source as the spiritual marks used for opening the God Realm but are not from the same system as Immortal Dao Talismans.

Nevertheless, both divine runes and Immortal Dao Talismans belong to the Great Path’s runes. Shen Mo had a profound understanding of elixir, talisman, artifact, and array, coupled with Special Destiny aiding him; studying these divine runes was not too difficult. He quickly derived seventy-nine different types of basic divine runes from these god-given weapons.

Just as the basic strokes of characters can derive thousands upon thousands of words, these basic divine runes can be arranged and combined in various ways to form more powerful and profound divine runes, albeit divine runes are far more complex than text!

Seventy-nine basic divine runes can be paired in twos to derive over three thousand types of Layer II divine runes; arranging three runes can derive over ten thousand types of Layer III divine runes; arranging four runes can derive 490 million types of Layer IV divine runes... at the highest, nine basic runes can be combined, producing Layer IX divine runes that reach an exceedingly terrifying numerical level, not enough to be described even with trillions in numbers.

However, most multi-layered divine runes are ineffective or conflicted with one another.

For example, of the over three thousand types of Layer II divine runes, only over two thousand are effective, activated by divine power with unusual effects; of the over ten thousand Layer III divine runes, only over a thousand are effective, and of nearly five hundred million Layer IV divine runes, only over five hundred are effective...

As far as Shen Mo knows, throughout countless millions of years of development in the cultivation world, no effective Layer VII divine runes have yet been discovered!

And these multi-layered divine runes, capable of divine power activation and similar effects to talismans, are all in the hands of high-level disciples under various fake gods.

Under the Long Eared God, only five Senior Disciples and Elder Qian Gui possess such runes, and Wang Tie, the only Elite Disciple of Wang Village, has no understanding of them.

The numerous god-given weapons in the hands of Wang Tie, Guo Yun, and others were manufactured by Senior Disciples of the Long Eared God, typically engraved with one Layer III divine rune, supplemented by some Layer II divine runes and basic divine runes.

The first individual under the Long Eared God, Elder Qian Gui, only possesses two types of Layer IV divine runes. He holds a god orb that has been inherited for tens of thousands of years by the Long Eared God’s faction, engraved with one Layer IV divine rune and several Layer III divine runes. Once divine power is inputted, it can listen to all sounds within the wild forest!

Indeed, the divine runes and god-given weapons of this world have their unique qualities.

Elder Qian Gui’s strength is limited to an unrestricted Immortal Dao Cultivation Spirit Sea Realm cultivator. To achieve "listening to all sounds within the wild forest," only a Divine Bridge Realm expert’s five senses can accomplish; yet Elder Qian Gui can, with the power of divine runes, possess some Divine Bridge Realm means with Spirit Sea Realm strength.

After comprehending seventy-nine types of basic divine runes, Shen Mo once again calmed his mind, delving into the study of multi-layer divine runes.

Currently, Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying haven’t performed the offering ceremony, and their bodies lack divine power, unable to contribute to the study of divine runes. Shen Mo assigned them the task of collecting wood... verifying the effect of multi-layer divine runes requires suitable carriers, and many trees in the wild forest can endure divine power circulation.

For a long period following, Shen Mo was secluded in his wooden cabin, immersed in researching multi-layer divine runes.

For him, Layer II divine runes posed no difficulty, merely testing over three thousand possibilities one by one, identifying over two thousand usable divine runes; Layer III divine runes weren’t too challenging either, but upon reaching Layer IV divine runes, the difficulty soared to an intimidating degree!

Even Shen Mo’s powerful soul and abundant energy couldn’t verify each possibility, finding effective divine runes from five billion possibilities.

Thus, he turned back, seeking rules in combination arrangements from the verified two thousand plus Layer II divine runes and over one thousand Layer III divine runes, even exhausting Wang Village’s paper resources, necessitating deploying the [Riding the Clouds and Mist] Destiny to leave the wild forest, purchasing writing paper in bulk from Qing Country cities.

...

Half a year later, Shen Mo called Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying into his cabin.

Beside him, discarded wooden blocks were piled up, each block meticulously crafted by Chen and Jiang for carving divine runes, if not completely destroyed during divine rune testing, the surface could be shaved for reuse. Inside the cabin, the blocks were either charred black, filled with cracks, or rotten and muddy, mostly unusable again.

Stacks of paper scribbled with various text also formed several small mountains.

Seeing Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying arrive, Shen Mo immediately picked up a wooden block, engraving a Layer IV divine rune along with several Layer III divine runes with his fingertip; upon inputting divine power, the sounds outside the cabin’s perimeter instantaneously vanished, as if separating the interior and exterior into two worlds...

Villagers of Wang Village, being disciples and worshipers of the Long Eared God, possessed particularly sensitive ears. If no preparations were made beforehand, anything said inside the cabin would be overheard by them.

Subsequently, Shen Mo took a book bound with string from atop the paper mountain and handed it to them: "Recorded above are seventy-nine basic divine runes, two thousand four hundred seventy-six Layer II divine runes... two hundred twenty-one Layer IV divine runes, seventeen Layer V divine runes. The specific effects of the divine runes have been annotated one by one. You can memorize them first; once you possess divine power, you can use these divine runes to perform different techniques!"

Knowing this book represents Shen Mo’s painstaking efforts over the last half year, Chen Mengze and Jiang Yingying nodded solemnly in acknowledgment.

"When will Yingying and I perform the offering ceremony? We lack divine power and exhibit unusual vitality... Over half a year, Village Chief Wang and others seem increasingly suspicious and cautious of us," Chen Mengze said.

"Prepare yourselves, in an hour, I will open the God Realm!"

Shen Mo delayed cultivating the [Long Eared God Praying Scripture] and hadn’t yet acted against the Long Eared God due to a lack of means to control the Long Eared God. Now, everything was ready, and it was time to open the God Realm to confront this fake god.