"What a strong soul force." Lin Ming was slightly surprised in his heart. Even Mu Yis soul force couldnt compare to the old mans condensed soul force in front of him. Of course, Mu Yi mainly practiced martial arts, and being a runic master was just a sideline. The old man in front of him was probably a full-time runic master. For these full-time runic masters, practicing martial arts was only to increase their lifespan so that they had more time to study the runic arts. Such peoples attainments in the runic arts were truly terrifying.
Lin Ming stood still for a while, suddenly discovering that Lin Xiaodongs eyes were staring at the girl without blinking, with a silly expression. Seeing Lin Xiaodongs appearance, Lin Ming suddenly felt a severe headache. He elbowed Lin Xiaodong, who then came back to his senses, scratching his head in embarrassment.
Just then, Lin Ming sensed a slight fluctuation in the girls soul force, and the layer upon layer of dazzling characters in front of her seemed to be ignited by sparks, exploding with a "peng" sound, turning into five-colored fireworks that shot out in all directions.
The girl was stunned, dejected and sighed, "Grandpa, I failed again."
The old man, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, opened them and smiled: "Yu Han, youve done very well. At this rate, in another year or two, youll be able to get the certification of a Mingwen Master. When Grandfather got this certification, he was already 18 years old. You will probably be able to do it at 16, at most 17."
This girl is the inscription master guilds inscription technique genius Wang Yuheng, and the old man beside her is her grandfather, the president of the Inscription Master Guild, Wang Xuanji.
"Hmm... But I probably cant surpass Qin Xuan, shes half a year younger than me, yet her achievements in seal carving are already on par with mine. Moreover, my progress in seal carving has slowed down significantly over the past few months, and I dont know what the reason is."
Geniuses always compare with each other, Wang Yuheng admits that in martial arts, no matter what, she cant catch up with Qin Xingxuan, but calligraphy is her main profession, and she doesnt want to lose.
While Wang Yuhan and Wang Xuanqi were talking, the receptionist walked over respectfully and said, "Chairman."
"Whats up?"
The receptionist hesitated for a moment, pointing at Lin Ming and saying: "That young man is going to take the Inscription Master assessment."
"Huh?" Wang Xuanji was taken aback, and with a look of surprise, she sized up Lin Ming again. With only a cultivation base of Second Grade Body Tempering and an age of merely fifteen or sixteen, he actually wanted to take the examination for a Scripture Master?
"Whats your name? How old are you?" asked Wang Xuanji.
Lin Ming hesitated for a moment, he didnt expect this old man to be the president of the Mingwen Shigong Association. With his position as president, it was impossible for him to covet anything from Lin Ming, as long as he didnt reveal his extraordinary skills in Ming medicine and Ming body, which were unprecedented in Tianyun Country.
Lin Ming had to guard against those who would risk everything for a few tens of thousands of taels of gold, the petty thieves and outlaws. As for Wang Xunyi and Mu Yi, they only regarded Lin Ming as a junior genius in the art of inscription.
Lin Ming said truthfully: "Im Lin Ming, 15 years old."
At the age of fifteen, Wang Yuhans beautiful eyes kept turning around Lin Ming for several rounds. Was this young man also a genius? He was younger than herself and his cultivation wasnt high either. Had he come to humiliate them?
However, the Inscription Guild does not provide materials or treasures, so no one will spend thousands of taels of gold to cause trouble here, that would be brain-dead.
"Are you aware that you need to prepare your own materials and treasures?"
"Ah, I know. Id like to purchase from the Linwen Master Guild," said Lin Ming as he pulled out a piece of paper and listed out a string of material names.
Lin Ming chose the simplified version of "Power Rune", which does not require heavenly silkworms, and the runes are much simpler, but the amplification effect is naturally inferior, and there is no technique of inscribing runes.
His goal was just to pass the assessment, and didnt need to be particularly sensational or powerful, and also involved some new things that were not present in any of the Tianyuan Continents inscription systems, which Lin Ming did not want to expose.
"Thats all for now, thank you." Lin Ming handed the list to the receptionist.
The receptionist glanced at Wang Xuanji with her eyes and saw the other nod, then said: "Okay, what device do you use?"
"Then use a sword, right? My treasured artifact after engraving still belongs to me."
"Of course, the treasures and materials were bought with the examiners own money anyway. Lets go pick one out."
"Okay."
After Lin Ming left, Wang Yuhan was still staring at the back of Lin Mings disappearance, muttering to himself: "Grandfather, this young man is only fifteen years old and has come to take the exam for a Mingwen Master. If he were to pass the exam for a Mingwen Master, even Qin Xuan would be surpassed."
Wang Xuanji smiled and said, "The examination for the position of Mingwen Master is not that easy to pass. However, this young man dares to come and take the exam, so he must have some skills. Hes probably not from Tianyun City, but rather a disciple of some reclusive master. With his exceptional talent and high self-esteem, he came to take the exam at the age of 15, thinking that he could sweep through the young generation of Mingwen Masters in Tianyun City and establish his reputation. However, haha, its not that easy."
Wang Xuanji said as she lit a transmission talisman, sending it to the two inscription masters who were usually in charge of testing the inscriptionists, asking them to come together.
Wang Yuhan bit her lip and said in a low voice: "Mm, I wont lose to him, nor will I lose to Qin Xingxuan."
……
The Association of Inscription Masters had a special treasure for assessment, Lin Ming randomly picked one and chose a very good long sword, saying: "This one will do."
This sword is worth three thousand six hundred taels of gold, which is one of the more expensive treasures in this treasure house. The receptionist was somewhat surprised, as most warriors who came to participate in the inscription technique assessment would choose a relatively inferior treasure, but this young man chose such an expensive one, it seems that either he is from a wealthy family or he has a plan.
Lin Ming had his own plans. Since he was going to use the treasure, he naturally couldnt waste it. A high-grade treasure paired with a decent inscription technique could also be sold for a good price.
"Our precious items cannot be returned or exchanged once sold." The receptionist wasnt quite at ease and specially reminded me of this.
Lin Ming drew out four golden tickets and smiled: "Of course I know this."
"Alright, follow me then." After the payment was done, the receptionist led Lin Ming back to the assessment location and left herself.
After returning to the inscription room, Lin Ming found that there were two more people in the inscription room. One was a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties, wearing a blue long gown, and the other was a smiling, affable-looking fat old man.
These two are the examiners responsible for the assessment of Inscriptionists in the Inscriptionist Guild. Wang Xuanji usually doesnt care about assessments, but this time, hes very interested in taking a look.
"Is it okay?" asked Wang Xuanji.
"Hmm." Lin Ming nodded, placing the long sword on the inscription stone pedestal. The materials needed for the inscription technique were also laid out one by one. Most of the materials from the Inscription Master Guild had already been processed, so Lin Ming didnt need to grind, purify or melt them.
The middle-aged man in the long gown looked at Lin Ming deeply, his face expressionless as he said: "The assessment has a time limit of two hours. If you fail three times in a row, you will lose your qualifications. If the final product cannot increase the power of the treasure by more than 20%, it is also considered a failure."
"I understand."
"Alright, lets begin." The middle-aged man flipped over an hourglass, and the sand flowed silently downwards.
Lin Ming closed his eyes and meditated for a moment, circulating the true yuan in his body to its optimal state. He then stretched out his hand and beckoned, and a small cluster of blue liquid seemed to come alive as it jumped into Lin Mings palm.
It was just this simple gesture of beckoning that made the crowd in the arena immediately feel the dense spiritual energy wrapped in blue liquid emanating from the young man.
"This soul power... is probably a fifth-grade heavenly gift." Wang Xuanji was secretly shocked.
"No wonder you came for the exam at the age of fifteen, you have some skills." The middle-aged man nodded slowly.
Wang Yuhan pursed her lips, and she naturally also noticed Lin Mings soul force. She muttered to herself in her heart, "A fifth-grade soul talent? The same as me! In the past, my only strong enemy was Qin Xuanxian, now there is another one!"
Five-product innate talent is extremely rare. Generally speaking, the martial artists soul talent and martial talent will not differ too much, but the soul talent is generally lower than the martial talent. Therefore, high-quality soul talent is even more difficult to find. If a five-product martial talent is seen once every ten years in Tianyun Country, then a five-product soul talent is seen once every twenty or thirty years.
Wang Yuhans martial arts talent was only fourth-rate, but her spiritual talent was actually higher than her martial arts talent, which was also inherited from her grandfather.
Wang Yuhans five-product medium innate talent is absolutely a rare genius in the field of inscription, and with Wang Xuanjis guidance since childhood, Wang Yuhans inscription skills are now on par with Qin Xuanxuan, who has superior talent and innate abilities, except that Wang Yuhan is slightly older.
Lin Ming didnt have a five-element soul talent, but because he used the "Taiyi Soul Scripture" from the Divine Realm, his soul power was not only condensed and thick, but also as easy to control as his arm, which led people to have this misconception.
If it was said that the initial soul power only made Wang Xuan and others amazed, then Lin Mings next move made the two unbelievable.
When the blue droplet fell onto Lin Mings fingertips, his fingers unexpectedly pulled out a string of residual shadows. The droplet was stretched into a bright blue light line in these residual shadows, just like a meteor streaking across the night sky.
In just a few blinks of an eye, a complex hieroglyphic symbol was drawn.
Wang Xuanji took a deep breath, and the smile on the old mans face also froze.
"Tomorrow well pick lotus flowers!"
Outsiders watch the excitement, insiders watch the door, Lin Mings movements are like flowing clouds and water, in the world of seal cutting, there is a special term called "Ming Buddha picking lotus", Ming Buddha is the thousand-fingered Buddha in ancient mythology, it is said that this Buddha has ten hands and a thousand fingers, every year in the back garden of the Ming Buddha Palace, the lotus flowers bloom, and Ming Buddha can pick out hundreds of lotus seeds with just one move, so there is the saying "Ming Buddha picking lotus" in religious classics, and seal cutting masters use this term to describe the thick and solid finger shadows left behind by top-level seal cutting masters when they draw seal characters at an extremely fast speed.
Of course, in terms of speed, some high-level martial artists can be faster, but to maintain the stability of their spiritual power at such an extremely fast speed and accurately and evenly materialize the inscription materials into inscription symbols is as difficult as ascending to heaven. This kind of finger movement cannot be practiced without extraordinary intuition and solid hard work!
How old is this young man? Even if he started practicing finger techniques from the womb, it wouldnt be so skilled!