2219

 Chapter 2219: The Final Test, A Massacre

Lin Moyu wasn't sure if the three-dimensional runes he had combined counted as ancient runes.

"They should count. They do possess some characteristics of ancient runes."

"But compared to ancient runes, they seem to be missing something."

Lin Moyu thought for a moment and realized what was missing.

They lacked rules. Without the infusion of rule power, the three-dimensional runes he had combined were still somewhat different from ancient runes.

Lin Moyu used the Undying Rule to inject the power of life into the runes.

The combined runes immediately burst with vitality, emitting the true aura of ancient runes.

Because this ancient rune used the technique of splitting runes and contained the power of life, even if it was shattered, it could still independently evolve.

Of course, Lin Moyu knew his power was weak and couldn't achieve the same as the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign, whose shattered rune fragments could still evolve into secret realms.

He couldn't do it now, but he believed he could in the future.

He had already grasped the key core of rune evolution, so the remaining tasks were no longer difficult.

"Different rule powers can give ancient runes different characteristics."

"Combined with the function of the ancient runes themselves, the effect of the rule power can be multiplied."

Lin Moyu gradually understood that he possessed four major rules: Undying, Time, Space, and Starlight.

Lin Moyu murmured to himself, "The power of life from the Undying Rule as the core ensures that the puppet can quickly recover after being injured."

"Time and the power of death as the sword, becoming the strongest sword."

"Starlight as the shield, protecting the entire body."

"Space as the defense, preventing the enemy's attacks from crossing over."

With a clear plan in mind, he began to work quickly.

One by one, runes were picked up by him, dismantled, and then recombined, carrying the power of rules.

Using himself as a model, Lin Moyu created a rune puppet.

Due to the lack of corresponding materials, this rune puppet wouldn't last long. Once the power within the runes was exhausted, the puppet would disappear.

But no matter what, it was more than enough for a fight.

The puppet held a shield in its left hand, with the Starlight Rule providing strong defense.

In its right hand, it held a sword composed of metal runes, carrying the Time Rule and the power of death.

The puppet's body was covered in armor, with space rules flowing on the armor, containing a vast internal space.

To break this armor, an attack would have to cross billions of miles of space to hit it, by which time the attack would have been weakened countless times.

Beneath the armor was the core rune, filled with the power of life, along with some backup runes.

Even if some runes were damaged, the power of life could quickly heal them, and the backup runes could quickly take over.

A hundred hours was too short, and Lin Moyu could only achieve this much.

When the time was up, the six rune masters stopped simultaneously.

Each had refined a rune puppet, each with a different form, but all looked impressive and emitted strong auras, all reaching the peak of the God Veneration realm.

After all, the runes provided by the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign were limited, and without corresponding materials, reaching this level was already strong.

"Looking similar is one thing; actual combat power will be revealed in the fight."

The voice of the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign rang out, "Time's up. All rune puppets, begin the melee!"

As soon as the words fell, Lin Moyu and the other rune masters automatically retreated, leaving space for the rune puppets.

The battle between the rune puppets erupted instantly. Lin Moyu's puppet swung its long sword, and a flash of sword light appeared.

The speed of the sword light was astonishing, breaking the limits of time and space, hitting a rune puppet instantly.

With the blessing of the Time Rule, the time belonging to the sword light was slowed down, making its speed appear faster in reality.

One second for others was two seconds for it.

The distance that originally took two seconds to reach now took only one second.

This distortion of time was quite peculiar.

The sword light exploded, and the power of death swept out, corroding most of the opposing rune puppet almost instantly.

The rune puppet collapsed on the spot, turning into dust.

With one sword strike, one rune master was eliminated.

Lin Moyu's eyes showed no surprise; he knew his puppet well.

With the blessing of four major rules, it could even entangle a real Other Shore realm cultivator for a while.

Not to mention these rune puppets, which were nothing.

Lin Moyu's puppet, like a god of death, charged forward, the sword light flashing, eliminating one puppet after another.

Some rune puppets tried to resist, but their attacks were blocked by a shield of starlight, to no effect.

There was no intense battle, nor any prolonged entanglement.

Lin Moyu's puppet almost crushed the others, slaughtering all the remaining puppets in less than a minute.

Each time a puppet was eliminated, the corresponding rune master also disappeared.

Their storylines ended, and they returned to dust and runes, going back to where they came from.

In the end, only Lin Moyu and the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign were left, staring at each other.

Lin Moyu smiled, "Long time no see, senior!"

The Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign's eyes also gleamed, "It seems you have indeed received my inheritance!"

Each remnant soul of the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign existed independently, with no shared memories.

But Lin Moyu's techniques couldn't deceive him; this remnant soul immediately recognized his own inheritance.

Lin Moyu openly admitted, "Thank you, senior, for your guidance. Your inheritance has been of great help to me."

Lin Moyu spoke the truth. Without the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign's inheritance, without the Concealment Rune and the Containment Rune Array, his plans wouldn't have gone so smoothly.

The Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign waved his hand, "Being able to obtain all my inheritance proves your aptitude, and reaching this point further proves your strength."

"Counting these six, you should have obtained eleven of the twelve core ancient runes by now."

As he spoke, he pushed the six core ancient runes in front of Lin Moyu, who accepted them without hesitation.

"Indeed, only one remains!" Lin Moyu knew that since the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign said so, the last core ancient rune must also be here.

The Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign chuckled, "The first core ancient rune you obtained was the Xuan Star Rune. The Xuan Star Rune is ever-changing, meaning the ancient rune warrior has countless combat and attack methods."

"And the last ancient rune is called the True Spirit Rune. It is the most important of the twelve core ancient runes."

"Its existence is like the soul of a living being. You understand its specific function."

Lin Moyu instantly understood. The body is the vessel, but the soul is the essence.

The same applies to ancient rune warriors. Without a soul, they can only mechanically follow their master's orders.

But with a soul, they gain a certain level of intelligence.

The simplest analogy is that the ancient rune warrior gains a semblance of sentience.

Of course, this sentience isn't very strong, but it's sufficient.

The difference between having it and not having it is significant.

Lin Moyu pondered, "The ideal state would be for the ancient rune warrior to develop its own artifact spirit, but that's clearly not achieved."

"The ancient rune warrior is too powerful, making it extremely difficult to develop an artifact spirit. So the Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign used another method, directly using runes to give the ancient rune warrior a semblance of sentience."

"The Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign's goal of evolving real life seems to have never been extinguished."

Lin Moyu asked, "What must I do to obtain the True Spirit Rune?"

The Holy Rune Heavenly Sovereign chuckled and pointed, and a vortex appeared in the void.

"Enter and kill everyone inside. The True Spirit Rune will be yours, and I will also tell you the detailed method of refining ancient rune warriors."

"Let me warn you, it's very dangerous inside, and you might die."

Lin Moyu laughed heartily and, without hesitation, transformed into a stream of light and rushed into the vortex.