THE MARTIAL KING - Season 7 Episode 26

The Potent Kudzu Root is cyan in color, in the same shade of the glinting light of the cyan dragon’s work. If this is so, then the most important material of this divine texture must be the Potent Kudzu Root.’ Zen analyzed in his mind, breaking down the materials into their smallest particles.

‘Now!’

Fixing all his concentration on the tip of the brush, he pressed it against the paper. He could almost feel the contact in his skin. All of a sudden, a strong cyan light, similar to the one he saw earlier came off from where the brush was in contact with the paper.

‘What? How did he do it?’ The cyan dragon was shocked at the flawlessness of Zen’s brushwork. When he regained his composure, his thoughts were accompanied with complex emotions. ‘It seems that I have underestimated this boy!’

At Zen’s third attempt, he was able to make full use of the materials in the ink and fulfilled their functions perfectly. This was the so-called “perfect brushwork”, by runic experts.

A perfect brushwork of a one-star texture was a paltry feat for the cyan dragon to achieve. However, it was unimaginable for Zen to be able to do it only at the third attempt.

‘There could only be one possible explanation for this, ‘ the cyan dragon thought to himself as he looked at Zen. ‘The boy was born with the gift for painting divine textures.’

Such genius was impressive even to the cyan dragon’s eyes. If other runic experts in Central Region knew about this, they might fall unconscious from shock.

The cyan dragon’s knowledge and experience enabled him to quickly understand and accept Zen’s incredible achievement.

But runic experts were a different matter altogether. For them, the perfect brushwork was something of similar nature to a miracle, the perfect blade to a blacksmith. Most runic experts were not able to achieve it in their lifetime. At most, they would arrive at seventy to eighty percent of the materials’ functions. One who could achieve ninety percent would be upon the ranks of a master.

But here was Zen, achieving it at his third attempt. What did this mean?

It was like a blacksmith creating the perfect blade after a third trial. It was, quite simply, unbelievable.

The most important part of painting divine textures was the ability to control the materials in the ink. After Zen’s successful attempt, there were no other difficulties for him. The only thing left was for him to pay attention to the intersections of different lines.

The structure of a one-star divine texture was not at all complicated. Zen moved his pen according to the cyan dragon’s instructions, and lines started to stretch and cross on the paper.

It was not long before Zen finished the last line and connected it with the first line. Gradually, the cyan light in the lines paled until they disappeared, and a complete divine texture of twenty-four lines appeared on the paper.

“It’s finished!” Zen’s face lit up in excitement as he traced the strokes on the paper with his eyes.

The cyan dragon fell silent as he watched Zen’s first accomplished piece of work—a one-star divine texture for meditation.

With Zen’s perfect brushwork, this one-star texture could be as powerful as an ordinary two-star texture.

After a long while, the cyan dragon opened his mouth, “You did a fine job. A little more, and it will be as if I had made it myself.”

The cyan dragon praised in half-truth. Now that Zen had achieved the perfect brushwork, the effect of his texture should be the same as the cyan dragon’s. But the dragon could not admit this. After all, he had to save face after teasing Zen’s failure some moments ago.

Besides, Zen had a long way to go. Divine textures of higher ranks required much more materials and had more complicated steps. Accomplishing a one-star texture was a far cry from the more complex textures. There was a greater control needed for materials. As of the moment, it was something beyond Zen’s current skill.

“How can I use this meditation rune?” Zen asked as he picked up the paper with divine texture and observed it carefully.

The cyan dragon decided to pause his musings and focus on the matters at hand. “Runes are usually used in an array. Since you don’t need to arrange an array now, you can activate the rune directly with your life vitality,” he answered.

The magic-array experts in Eastern Region were also runic experts. Mack, the disciple of Ninety-foot Peak who had fought Zen during the All Peaks Competition, was one such expert. His runes were painted in his array flag and were activated through his magic-array plate. For those magic-array experts in Eastern Region, they usually employed the use of cubic crystals as energy sources. In the Central Region, the life vitality crystals were used instead.

Zen nodded after hearing the cyan dragon’s words. He put up the paper on a wall and then transferred some life vitality into it.

The divine texture shone as Zen’s energy flowed through it. Cyan rays broke out from the symbol and Zen immediately felt refreshed at the touch of the warm light. It was the same feeling that one had after waking up from a restful sleep. He felt the tense knots of his muscles relax, and his exhaustion dissipated like the night being forgotten at dawn.

‘This divine texture is very effective! I wonder how much I can sell this for, ‘ He thought to himself.

At first, Zen had thought himself to be a rich man, but he found out that his 100, 000 cubic crystals was not even worthy to be considered a fortune after he came to Central Region. He decided to inquire about the price of this divine texture the next day.