The next day.

Early in the morning, Yuan Ming still started with refining the embryo before following Fang Ge's guidance through the Fire Workshop to the Artifact House.

The Artifact House, located behind the Fire Workshop, was an independently established small courtyard.

Compared to the bustling chaos of the Fire Workshop, the Artifact House, merely a dozen steps away, seemed much quieter and more peaceful.

Yuan Ming quickly walked into the central hall of the courtyard, first coming upon a display room filled with various items. Most were everyday objects such as saddles and saddle pads made by the disciples of the Fire Workshop, but there were also some weapons like swords and spears.

He unconsciously slowed his pace, meandering among the brilliant array of weapons. Noticing only a few covered in odd runes, he knew they must be Magic Artifacts.

"Pretty, aren't they?" Suddenly, a voice came from behind.

Yuan Ming quickly turned around and saw a slovenly middle-aged man in a short robe with disheveled short hair and a scruffy beard, digging in one ear while holding bundles of white paper rolls in the other hand, standing not far away.

The man wore the same green waist card of an Inner Sect Disciple around his waist as Chen Wan and Fang Ge, likely the brother he was supposed to meet.

"Greetings, Brother Mu He," Yuan Ming immediately said, bowing.

"These Magic Artifacts are beautiful, aren't they? Especially those runes, the combination of lines is practically art," the scruffy middle-aged man walked over, his eyes admiring the Magic Artifacts in the display case as he praised them.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming took a closer look at the runes on the Magic Artifacts.

Upon closer inspection, he was somewhat stunned.

What he thought were simple lines, once he concentrated his Divine Thought, began to twist like living things.

Some lines twisted softly like flowing water, some grew dense and rapidly like wild grass and trees, and others twisted violently like ascending flames...

Yuan Ming was so engrossed that he seemed to fall into a trance, his gaze focused, standing motionless.

After an unknown period, his shoulder was suddenly slapped hard, snapping the illusion before his eyes and jolting him back to reality.

He turned around bewildered, only to see the scruffy brother frowning intensely at him.

"What did you see?" the scruffy brother asked.

Yuan Ming paused before recounting his experience in detail.

The scruffy brother listened intently, his frown deepening as if grappling with a profound puzzle, falling silent for a long while.

As Yuan Ming observed his changing face, his heart hung in suspense, unsure of what the matter was.

Just as he was growing increasingly uneasy, the scruffy brother's face suddenly relaxed, and he burst into hearty laughter.

This left Yuan Ming even more perplexed.

"Hahaha, to think you're a kindred spirit! My name is Mu He. What's your name, young man?" the scruffy brother slapped Yuan Ming's shoulder, laughing loudly, leaving Yuan Ming's ears ringing.

Before Yuan Ming could answer, angry curses came from several tightly shut rooms in the courtyard:

"Mu He, shut your damn mouth..."

"Mu He, keep laughing and I'll pull out your tongue..."

"Mu He, be quiet..."

...

Upon hearing this, Mu He immediately silenced himself and lowered his voice to Yuan Ming, "Let's go, quickly. Those old geezers are busy engraving runes and opening the spirit of the Magic Artifacts. If they fail, they'll blame us again."

With that, he pulled Yuan Ming by the sleeve and hurried toward the back of the courtyard.

Following behind, Yuan Ming heard Mu He muttering very softly, "A wife who doesn't give birth blames the lack of embroidery by the kang; day in and day out, blaming the road for one's own failings..."

Yuan Ming couldn't help thinking, this fellow carries quite some grievances.

The two of them arrived in a room in the backyard, where Mu He set down the paper rolls and closed the door behind them.

Yuan Ming's gaze swept across the room, and he couldn't help but feel surprised.

The not-too-large room was packed to the brim with furnishings, yet, contrary to Mu He's disheveled appearance, it was immaculately tidy.

Besides a bed against the north wall, two square tables were placed in front of Yuan Ming. The east and west walls were each lined with a row of wooden bookshelves as tall as a man, neatly filled with round paper rolls.

The two square tables in front of him had been joined together to form one long table, with a pen rack, ink, and inkstone neatly arranged on the far left, next to a stack of neatly piled white paper.

Below the table were three large bamboo baskets lined up side by side, filled with crumpled paper balls.

What puzzled Yuan Ming was the wooden bucket filled with water placed next to the baskets, with its dark interior reflecting subtle ripples.

"Young man, what did you say your name was?" Mu He looked at Yuan Ming and asked.

Now having a chance, Yuan Ming quickly introduced himself.

"Yuan Ming... I think I heard someone mention that..." Mu He scratched his slightly unkempt hair.

Immediately after, he shook his head as if he couldn't remember who'd mentioned it and seeming to decide it wasn't important, he asked, "Ordinary disciples don't come to the Artifact House; you must have some business here, feel free to speak."

"Yesterday, I completed the Thousand Hammer Refining, and the Three Cave Masters ordered me to learn Drawing Talismans from Brother," Yuan Ming said.

Mu He nodded his head upon hearing this and said, "That's right, that's right, the last person who completed the Thousand Hammer Refining was..."

"It was the last person." He thought for a long time but still couldn't come up with the person's name.

Yuan Ming was left speechless.

"Just now you mentioned that viewing those runes gave you different insights, and that's excellent. It means you are either highly talented in Drawing Talismans, or you were born with a powerful Divine Soul," Mu He said, not feeling the least bit embarrassed.

After thinking it over, Yuan Ming felt it was more likely the latter reason, and that his Divine Soul was not naturally strong, but was instead due to his cultivation of the Moonlight Technique.

With that thought, his mind subconsciously flashed to the mysterious silver cat, but the thought was fleeting.

"Senior brother, why did I have such a reaction?" Yuan Ming asked.

"The runes on those Magic Artifacts you saw have been enriched with spiritual energy, and they have the fundamental attribute of channeling nature's spiritual energy. When your Divine Soul pours into them and your Divine Thought is sufficiently focused, you will naturally be able to see them," Mu He explained.

Yuan Ming suddenly understood, no wonder he did not have that same feeling when he previously looked at the runes Elder Hei Mu had drawn.

"Since you're here, I'll start teaching you today, beginning with rune recognition," Mu He said.

As he spoke, he turned around, took a handmade bound booklet from the bookshelf, and placed it on the long table, flipping it open.

"This one with curved and twisted lines is the Flames Pattern, this one with three parallel and twisted lines is the Water Wave Pattern, and this one with sharp edges is the Earth Rock Pattern..." Mu He explained as he turned the pages.

Yuan Ming watched with furrowed brows.

He found that the runes Mu He was showing him were very different from those he had seen in Elder Hei Mu's notes, and also different from what he had previously seen on the outer Magic Artifacts.

"Senior brother..."

"Be quiet." Yuan Ming hadn't finished speaking when he was interrupted by a stern rebuke.

Yuan Ming was startled and looked at the suddenly enraged senior brother, feeling somewhat at a loss.

"Do not interrupt when I am teaching runes," Mu He said harshly.

"Understood." Yuan Ming swallowed, now realizing why Fang Ge had said Mu He was of a peculiar temperament.

Mu He continued his explanation and turned further pages. Only then did Yuan Ming realize the runes were starting to "normalize" and could be matched with the ones he had seen before.

After all the runes had been presented, Mu He finally asked, "Is there anything you don't understand?"

"Oh, senior brother, I wanted to ask why the earlier runes are so different from the ones that follow?" Yuan Ming quickly asked.

"The first few are the most basic Five Elements Attribute runes, similar to the strokes when learning to write. The later runes are mostly their variations or combinations. I teach you this to prevent you from not recognizing them in the future," Mu He explained.

"I see." Yuan Ming said, enlightened.

"You are just starting to learn; there's no need to rush into drawing. You must remember all of these rune patterns first. Only when you have the runes in mind can your hands draw them out," Mu He advised.

"Yes," Yuan Ming immediately responded.

"Start with the Flames Pattern. Look closely, remember every detail before you try to draw it," Mu He instructed.

As he spoke, he turned to the Flames Pattern, allowing Yuan Ming to carefully observe it.

"I've got it," Yuan Ming said after studying it for a moment, nodding his head.

At his words, Mu He stared at Yuan Ming without saying a word, seemingly dissatisfied with his perfunctory attitude.

Yuan Ming consequently looked at the rune carefully for a good while longer before looking up and saying, "I really have got it."

His Divine Soul was robust, and he had the ability to not forget what he saw; hence, it wasn't perfunctory – he truly remembered every detail of the Flames Pattern in his mind.

"Try drawing it out," Mu He suggested, spreading out a sheet of paper.

With that, he took a brush from the brush holder, licked up the ink, and handed it to Yuan Ming.

Only then did Yuan Ming notice that the ink in the inkstone didn't need to be ground, was not congealed, and that within the black ink there was a hint of red and fine sandy particles, clearly no ordinary ink.

Yuan Ming, having not handled a brush for a long time, took it naturally, his movements far from awkward.

Clothed in the short clothing of Fire Refining Hall, he didn't need to lift his sleeve with one hand and hold the brush with the other. He took a deep breath, envisioned the Flames Pattern in his mind, and then began to outline.

As the brush twisted, a red and black line began to take shape on the white paper, surprisingly smooth.

Mu He watched this spectacle and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, surprised.

He was astonished that Yuan Ming was so confident that there was no hesitation when the brush went down, thereby eliminating the need to break and continue the line.

It is well known that when drawing runes, breaking the line is taboo, as broken lines equate to interrupted breath, and it requires drawing in one go, in a single breath.

He had never mentioned it, yet Yuan Ming had already achieved it.

Once Yuan Ming finished, Mu He asked with a frown, "Tell me, young man, have you learned to draw talismans before?"

"No," Yuan Ming shook his head, although feeling a bit anxious inside.

"This is strange, how did you know to finish drawing in one stroke?" Mu He asked.

Yuan Ming had learned about finishing talisman drawing in one breath from Elder Hei Mu's notes, hence he knew it even without Mu He mentioning it.

But knowing and doing are worlds apart. Even he was surprised by his own accomplishment.

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