Chapter 71

The moment this thought appeared, Du Qian shook his head vigorously, driving the idea away. ⊙

It was too unrealistic. Not to mention whether that guy had the True Spirit Talisman, even if he did, would he give it to him for his aunt?

What a joke! If he were really that generous, his aunt would have adopted him long ago. Would she have let him stay in the orphanage for ten years?

Du Qian's gaze was vacant, his head lowered, his brows furrowed, and his mind raced, but he couldn't think of any solution.

A war orphan who had just graduated a month ago, with no connections and no abilities, what could he do in this situation? Money...

Alright, Du Qian did have money. Even without cash, he had a box of spirit horns, which could be sold for money. Over two hundred spirit horns, worth tens of thousands of gold coins, would be a huge sum in an ordinary family.

But Du Qian wasn't stupid. He knew that if it could be solved with gold coins, unless the amount was unimaginably large, Fei Xue wouldn't care. Clearly, this True Spirit Talisman wasn't something you could buy just because you had money.

His fingers moved unconsciously, feeling the smooth and cold friction. Du Qian knew that Yao Jing's problem was beyond his ability to solve.

Cold?

Du Qian came to his senses and looked at his fingers. A very ordinary-looking ring hung on his finger, its color so pale that Du Qian himself wouldn't have noticed it if he hadn't been so close.

This thing?

Right, it was found in the cloth strip he had torn from the bald man. Du Qian shivered suddenly, lifted his hand, and carefully examined the ring.

This was clearly a ring, and rings should be worn on fingers. Du Qian recalled the life-and-death moment, his eyes blind, seeing nothing, but his hearing and senses ten times sharper than usual.

Du Qian was sure he hadn't made a mistake. The cloth strip he had torn was from the bald man's side or armpit, definitely not his arm.

Ring? Side? Armpit?

Du Qian rubbed his head, his mind almost exploding. He knew there must be something wrong. Who would put a ring in their armpit, let alone hide it in their clothes?

The bald man's strength, he had seen and experienced firsthand. His combat power was extremely strong. At the time, no one among the various elders present was his match, and even when they joined forces, they couldn't stop him from escaping. This showed how powerful he was.

Such a powerful expert, hiding a small, unremarkable ring in his clothes instead of wearing it on his finger?

With a thought, his fingertips surged with combat power, which he channeled into the ring. The ring showed no reaction, and Du Qian was not surprised but rather delighted.

After all, Du Qian was now a martial cultivator, even if just a beginner with a combat power of over ten thousand. His fingertips, with their surging combat power, could deform or damage even the hardest alloy in a few seconds.

But the ring in his hand showed no change, indicating that it could withstand the immense combat power Du Qian was outputting. Even if it wasn't a remarkable treasure, its material alone was enough to surprise Du Qian.

Du Qian's heart began to race, and his combat power surged into the ring like a tide. The ring faintly glowed green, as if a green band was rotating around its surface.

In a moment, Du Qian's forehead was covered in sweat. The rotating green band became increasingly clear.

Du Qian, being young, had sharp eyes. The green band was very thin, but he could see the difference. This wasn't a green band at all, but a line composed of very small characters.

Unfortunately, he couldn't recognize any of the characters. Although he didn't know them, he immediately realized they were runes, a line composed of countless runes.

"Damn..." As Du Qian realized this, his strength waned, and the combat power was cut off. The green band of runes on the ring disappeared immediately.

"Impossible... possible... how... how is this possible?" Du Qian's eyes were wide, and he began to babble.

After all, he had graduated from a proper school. Although the war orphan school was relatively poor, it was still a school. They taught everything that should be taught, just not in great depth or detail.

"Damn, is this a rune equipment?" Du Qian slapped his head several times. This was a big break for him.

At this moment, Du Qian felt a sense of relief. As long as this was rune equipment, he had a chance to obtain a True Spirit Talisman.

Rune equipment was made by the most elite rune masters using special materials, combat power, and runes, possessing magical functions.

The production of rune equipment was extremely complex and difficult. Ordinary rune masters couldn't make it, and it was said that only a few rune masters in the entire empire had the ability to create rune equipment.

A piece of rune equipment, even with the appropriate materials, took years or even decades to make. This shows how rare rune equipment was.

Each piece of rune equipment had its unique function, and no two pieces were exactly the same. These rune equipment greatly helped martial cultivators, significantly enhancing their combat power.

It was said that two martial cultivators with similar combat power, if one had rune equipment, could easily defeat the other in actual combat.

No wonder the bald man was so powerful.

Du Qian's mind raced with thoughts, but he also felt that his idea might be wrong. Even if this was rune equipment, why would the bald man hide it in his clothes? It was more suitable to wear on his finger.

He didn't know much about rune equipment, but he knew that to use it, it had to be activated like a rune. Only activated rune equipment could function properly.

The bald man hiding it in his clothes was clearly to prevent it from being lost, which Du Qian understood. But not wearing it on his hand meant it couldn't be activated, and without activation, its function wouldn't be evident, which was strange.

To find out what this rune equipment was for wasn't difficult; he just needed to fully activate it. Du Qian knew his combat power was still too low. The attempt to activate it was quite difficult, and whether he could activate it was uncertain.

With rune equipment in hand, Du Qian couldn't bear not to try. After a brief rest, he adjusted his state to the best, focused his mind, and channeled his combat power into the ring like a tide.

The green band of runes instantly appeared, and under the surge of combat power, quickly formed a square array of runes.

Du Qian exhaled deeply, his body trembling slightly. From inputting combat power to forming the rune array, it took less than two seconds, but he felt his combat power was almost depleted.

This thing, just to activate, required over ten thousand combat power, which wasn't something an ordinary person could use.

The rune array in front of him remained stable even without combat power support. The runes gently fluctuated, looking as if they were made of liquid, not very stable.

"This... this... what the hell is this?" Du Qian stared at the rune array, which seemed very different from what he had learned.

Rune equipment, once activated, could be used, but what was the purpose of this rune array in front of him?

Du Qian observed carefully. The rune array had a hundred runes on each side, meaning there were ten thousand runes in the small array.

Runes were something Du Qian had never encountered. His school teacher hadn't given a complete definition. Runes were neither images nor text; no one could clearly define what they were.

It was said that each rune could contain countless pieces of information and could change meaning in different combinations. Even the most powerful rune masters couldn't understand all the meanings of rune combinations.

Some combinations had meaning, while most were meaningless. Du Qian, who didn't understand these things, wouldn't be able to understand the rune array even if he were a rune master with detailed knowledge.

"I can't figure it out." Du Qian was frustrated. He had a treasure in his hands but didn't know how to use it. Should he just sell it for money?

Du Qian wasn't well-versed, but he wasn't stupid. He knew this thing was quite dangerous. Without a strong background, he wouldn't dare sell it, and he might lose his life before getting any money.

Moreover, he didn't know what type of rune equipment it was or its true function. Even if he sold it, he wouldn't know what price to set.

Actually, Du Qian was thinking too far ahead. Even if he knew what it was, he still wouldn't know its value.

Rune equipment was so rare that it might not appear in large auction houses in the capital for years.

Once it was released by a rune master, people who wanted to buy it would line up for kilometers, and not everyone would have the资格 to join the queue.

In short, rune equipment was priceless and had no market.

As for Du Qian, he had never even heard of its value and had no idea of its actual worth.

The ten thousand runes in front of Du Qian gently fluctuated, and in a short time, he felt dizzy and nauseous.

Just as he was hesitating about how to handle it, everything went dark, and the surroundings disappeared. Only the rune array in front of him continued to gently fluctuate.

In the distance, three nebulae appeared, in that strange space. Du Qian had seen these nebulae before, but he still didn't know what they were or where they were.

He guessed that this wasn't a real space but existed within his consciousness.

One of the nebulae suddenly exploded, emitting a dazzling light. Countless rays of light surged toward Du Qian, circling the rune array in front of him. It turned out these rays of light weren't targeting him.

The rays of light, like hundreds of large hands, continuously manipulated the ten thousand runes. The runes, under the manipulation of these rays, kept changing positions, flashing with varying shades of green light.