Chapter 96: The Misaligned Path to National Prosperity Through Technology, Part 11

Mu Yin wanted to craft magical instruments and create puppets, which required mastery of runes and formations. Therefore, she began by studying formations and runes. Although both formation patterns and runes evolved from fundamental law patterns, they were not exactly the same.

To put it simply, both were composed of basic divine patterns—divine runes—that served as the script of the gods. When combined, these divine runes produced different effects, resulting in formation patterns and runes. The distinction lay in their different applications.

To deepen her understanding, Mu Yin exchanged for a book of existing divine runes. She discovered that once she memorized a divine rune, she automatically knew its pronunciation. It became clear that divine runes possessed energy not only in their written form but also in their spoken sound.

Almost all incantations derived their pronunciations from the sounds of divine runes. These resembled the pronunciations Mu Yin had learned in her previous life, which motivated her even more. However, divine runes were difficult to master—far harder than runes or formations—as if inherently limited.

Her spiritual power capped how many divine runes she could learn. If she failed to master one, she wouldn’t even retain it in memory, no matter how many times she studied it—it was as if a barrier automatically blocked her.

With her current spiritual capacity, she could remember at most ten divine runes, yet there were 999 in total. Intrigued, she was naturally eager to learn more. She resolved to find a way to bring this knowledge back with her. She recalled that when she had previously taken a cellphone, it was exchanged through a quest item—she wondered if the Heavenly Dao would still allow such a request this time.

After learning ten divine runes, she found she could not learn any more. This limitation was likely why such lofty divine runes were placed on the first floor for disciples to copy—only those with sufficient spiritual insight could learn more.

Mu Yin continued studying formation patterns and runes. When combined, these had no learning limit, though she suspected their power was somewhat diminished. She wasn’t sure why, but thought she might understand once she mastered the divine runes fully. For now, she chose to be patient.

The runes she studied now differed from those in her past life. Previously, she had merely drawn incantations on talismanic paper. Though effective, these paled compared to true runes, which were composed of multiple divine runes whose strokes connected to form a complete pattern—like a schematic of an energy circuit.

Runes demanded precise strokes and thickness; even a slight deviation would cause failure. Likewise, the talisman paper and brush ink had strict requirements. The paper was made chiefly from a spiritual plant called Papergrass; the brush body had to be crafted from a special mineral capable of conducting spiritual energy, and its tip required hair from a spiritual beast that conducted energy well. The cinnabar ink was refined from powdered spirit stones mixed with spiritual beast blood and extracts of medicinal herbs.

In short, creating talismans in this world was no simple task. Most importantly, Mu Yin lacked the spiritual stones needed to buy these materials. Even though everything but the brush was affordable, she still couldn’t afford them.

Thus, she had to put this aside for the time being, committing the runes to memory and practicing with ordinary paper and pens. Of course, she wasn’t solely focused on talismans but also studying formation crafting, as combining these sciences was essential.

As for formations, there were three types: formation diagrams, formation devices, and the Five Elements Eight Trigrams method. Formation diagrams were like talismans—patterns drawn onto scrolls to be activated. These had advantages and disadvantages. The benefit was convenience—just unfurl the scroll to deploy the formation. The drawback was that they could only be used once.

Formation devices involved forging the formation into physical objects, like formation plates or flags. This method produced powerful formations that could be reused countless times, as long as the devices remained intact.

The Five Elements Eight Trigrams method was considered the origin of formations but was seldom used among cultivators. It relied not on patterns or devices but on biological magnetic fields and the interplay of the Five Elements and Eight Trigrams. Mastering this allowed even a small stone to become part of a formation. However, it demanded exceptional talent and immense computational power to determine where to place each component.

All things in the world possessed their own magnetic fields, varying by direction. When these fields complemented each other, formations emerged naturally. Some places even had innate formations. Humans learned to harness these magnetic fields, evolving them into today’s formations.

Generally, learning the first two types sufficed for most. But to deeply grasp formation principles, one had to study the Five Elements Eight Trigrams method. Mu Yin lacked such grand ambitions and planned to take that slowly. She focused first on formation diagrams and devices, while gaining some understanding of the Five Elements Eight Trigrams as the foundation.

Next came forging magical instruments, which had ranks and were collectively called magical devices or treasures. After understanding forging methods, Mu Yin realized that forging differed fundamentally from mechanics.

Mechanics revolved around control—whether automatic or manual, the principle was manipulation. Magical instruments, however, emphasized guidance. Indeed, they were tools that channeled and amplified the cultivator’s internal energy. Though instruments with spirit might be controllable, those without spirit were simply guided weapons under control.

Mu Yin also studied puppet crafting methods and discovered that puppetry was closer to mechanics. She thus added puppetry to her studies, keeping herself endlessly busy. Amidst this, she caught wind of some news about the heroine.

The heroine possessed dual Fire and Wood spirit roots, making her well-suited for alchemy. Several sect leaders competed fiercely for her, and in the end, she chose the Alchemy Peak. Mu Yin was surprised she hadn’t chosen the Forging Peak but didn’t think much of it. After all, choosing Alchemy Peak didn’t preclude learning forging.

She also heard that the heroine was currently close to the eldest senior brother of the main peak. Mu Yin’s reflection was that even with the story altered, the heroine still attracted male leads and rivals.

Mu Yin herself had little reaction. She was busy every day managing the fields, attending lectures, cultivating, and self-studying runes, formations, forging, and puppetry. Except for meals with Cao Lihua, she had no time for much conversation.

Seeing Mu Yin so occupied, Cao Lihua said little and mostly helped tend the crops in her fields. The Cao family had no particular ambitions beyond cultivation. Their daily routine involved raising spiritual chickens and pigs. Since they farmed, they naturally raised livestock, though much of their meat still came from hunting monsters.