Phoenix Destiny

“Let the third round begin!”

Lu Mingshu and Jing Chu just stood there. Fighting with a rune talisman is something that no one had ever done before, so there wasn’t any reference for them on how to fight, leaving both of them not knowing how to start.

“Miss Lu, how are we supposed to do this?”

Lu Mingshu bit her lips, “Three moves to determine the winner; how about that?” she answered after some consideration.

“Okay.”

Both of them went back to their tables. They took up their pens and started drawing.

Lu Mingshu pondered while playing with the pen. Soon, she recalled a suitable rune and got to work.

On the other hand, Jing Chu didn’t have to think much before he started drawing.

Both of them stood in silence, each taking up a corner of the wide rooftop.

The tension between them had unintentionally attracted some passersby who were idling around the street.

“Hey, what’s going on over there?”

One of the neighbors replied enthusiastically, “The rune-carving shop’s arena is having a competition!”

“Rune-carving shop’s arena? What’s there to see? It’s just drawing a rune and deciding the winner, there’s nothing to see,” the passerby rolled his eyes.

“No, it’s different today – they’re having a rune fight!” the neighbor smiled widely.

“Rune fight? What’s that?” the passerby asked curiously. “Runes can be used to fight?”

“Erm… I’m not really sure either,” the neighbor scratched his head awkwardly. How would I know? I’m not a rune carver, and I know nothing about that industry.

However, it still evoked the passerby’s interest, “Wow! I didn’t know about that, I’m gonna take a look!”

After Lu Mingshu finished drawing the three runes, she put her pen down.

Jing Chu did the same too.

When he looked up, he saw that Lu Mingshu was done too; “Miss Lu, you’re done?”

Lu Mingshu nodded as she took the rune talismans and walked to the center.

Jing Chu saw that she had stepped out and immediately followed as well.

“Shall we start now?”

Lu Mingshu nodded, “Please.”

After the first two rounds, Jing Chu was aware that Lu Mingshu’s ability was no worse than his; thus, he did away with the modesty.

“I apologize for the offense.”

Jing Chu wedged a rune talisman in between his fingers. Mystic force rushed to his fingertips and started to flow into the talisman.

The mystic force flowed through the talisman and outlined the pattern of the rune, causing the rune to slowly light up.

“Talismans can be activated like that?” the passerby who came to watch out of curiosity said in awe.

This passerby, who knew nothing about runes or talismans, was in awe. However, the chief, who knew them by heart, had a face that was as white as a sheet of paper.

Anything in this industry that could be used to attack was considered to be a rune, which could also be carved on weapons and be activated automatically, giving the weapon a certain ability. For rune talismans, activation was possible as well. Being a rune carver for many years, of course the chief had tried it, but upon activation, the talismans tended to exhibit unstable effects, so they couldn’t truly be used to fight.

As for the talisman in Jing Chu’s hand now… it was steady, and it looked more like magic.

This child… he must’ve been practising it secretly for a long time.

The chief sighed.

The talisman shone brightly as it turned into a ray of light and dashed toward Lu Mingshu.

Lu Mingshu remained at her spot without dodging. She snapped her fingers, and a talisman shot up into the sky.

The talisman was similar to Jing Chu’s as it also shone brightly with mystic light. With a loud bang, the talisman turned into a ball of mystic light and dashed toward Jing Chu.

The light that Jing Chu’s talisman gave off was already blinding, but Lu Mingshu’s was much greater!

In no time, the mystic lights met.

Boom!

The mystic lights crashed and dissolved into smoke.

Jing Chu never expected to win with one strike, but he was still unhappy that his talisman was broken in one strike. He bit his lip as he wrangled another talisman in between his fingers and got ready to attack again.

This time around, the ray of light was even more steady.

Lu Mingshu did the same thing as well; she only snapped her fingers, and the talisman did its job.

Both rays of light crashed and turned into smoke once again.

Jing Chu failed again. He gripped the last talisman and paced himself. This was his last chance. Even after all his experimenting and all the remaining flaws, it was still worth the try.

The last talisman lit up, and it was even brighter than the first two. A ball of mystic light shot up into the sky. It became bigger and turned into a light blade before flying toward Lu Mingshu like lightning.

The previous mystic lights were all just rays of light, but this one had an actual form.

The chief stood rooted to the ground. This kid… he’s been secretly practising until he’s this good? It’s no different from magic!

The chief quickly calmed himself down. No, he’s a martial artist; this much is easy. But in order to activate that talisman, Jing Chu had to waste a lot of his mystic force, so it’s still quite difficult for him. The only way to make this method useful is to improve the efficiency of the mystic force.

It was Lu Mingshu’s turn to attack, and she still used the same strategy.

When the mystic light clashed with the mystic blade, it was broken in no time.

She lost! Such a pity. It’s obvious that her way of battling with talismans is way better than Jing Chu. It’s such a pity that she underestimated him… wait! What’s happening?

Everyone could see that Lu Mingshu suddenly raised her hand and used her fingertip to touch the mystic light lightly. She moved her fingers with great speed as if she was writing something, or rather… drawing a rune?

Slowly, rays of mystic light started to form, and a rune could be seen floating in the middle of the air. After the last stroke, she lightly snapped her fingers.

The rune made out of mystic light suddenly shot up into the air and combined with the mystic light that had been broken by the mystic blade.

The mystic light rose up slowly, and it became bigger and bigger. In the blink of an eye, it was wrapped around the mystic blade.

Boom!

A loud sound could be heard as the mystic blade was crushed into ashes by the mystic force.

Silence took over.

After a moment:

“Is that a talisman?”

“How can someone draw a talisman in the air?”

“That’s magic, isn’t it? That’s disobeying the rules!”

“How could you use magic here? This is a rune talisman fight!”

Jing Chu was struck dumb like a wooden chicken.

It wasn’t because he lost. He knew what his talisman’s flaws were; it required a bunch of energy and it didn’t last very long.

What did Lu Mingshu do? Is that a talisman? Aren’t talismans supposed to be on a paper and drawn with ink? Does such a method also work?

“This is a talisman,” Lu Mingshu turned around to look at the rune carver who accused her of using magic, “It’s not a requirement that talismans be drawn on paper.”

He muttered, “So, what’s the difference between that and magic?”

“What is a talisman then?”

The rune carver answered, “A talisman is a route drawn out for the mystic force to pass through. By following the route, it creates a cycle of energy that allows the rune to activate.”

“So, what’s the difference between what I did and a talisman? I only took away the paper.”

The rune carver was speechless.

“That is a talisman!” the chief announced and went up to the rooftop. “Starting with the base, polarities, consecration of the elements… no steps were left out.”

The chief went in front of Lu Mingshu and bowed, “Thanks, Miss Lu. We concede defeat.”

As if he just woke up from a dream, Jing Chu rushed over to Lu Mingshu and asked, “Miss Lu, how did you do it? Without paper, how can the talisman stay for so long and not crumble?”

“Chu!” the chief shouted. “How disrespectful. How can you ask for her secret…?”

“Whatever,” Lu Mingshu cut the chief off, “It’s not a secret. It’s just an old method that people in the past used. You can just make the air your base. It’s more unstable without paper, but you just need to add more mystic force to the outline of your talisman to ensure that the energy stays and you’re good.”

“Outline? But mystic light…” suddenly, an idea popped up in Jing Chu’s head. “Ah, I get it!” he burst with excitement.

Jumping in joy, he ran back into the shop. Before entering, he turned back to Lu Mingshu and shouted, “Thanks a ton! I will repay you soon!”