In the wilderness, Su Hao continued his research rhythm as before, moving to a new location after a period of study.
From time to time, he would enter towns for a bit of rest and recovery.
He even went to a major human city — He'an Capital City.
The purpose of his visit was to search for more information. He needed to deepen his understanding of the materials in this world.
He had a theory: if he could find a material capable of restraining blood Qi, then pre-engraving runes on objects would no longer be just a fantasy. It would open a new field of sience [Enchantments].
The material Su Hao envisioned would function like wires conducting electricity. If such a material could be embedded into weapons and armor according to rune patterns ahead of time, it would allow a warrior to simply infuse blood Qi into it during battle, instantly activating the runes.
That's right, Su Hao was aiming to create a foolproof, simple method of rune activation. This would drastically lower the threshold for using runes. As long as one had blood Qi, anyone could easily use them.
However, Su Hao search came up empty-handed. It seemed as though no such material existed in this world, and there was no documentation on the subject either.
In his quest, he even captured several rune masters and engaged in deep discussions with them, only to be disappointed yet again.
Could it be that there really wasn't a material capable of restraining blood Qi?
Impossible!
Su Hao firmly believed that such a material must exist.
Otherwise, how was he able to control his blood Qi? Nearly every warrior at the elite level and above could control their blood Qi, which was a form of restraint in itself.
Su Hao's mind raced as he pondered the differences.
"Maybe... it doesn't necessarily need to be constrained?"
blood Qi, in essence, was a form of biological energy. This energy worked far better within a living organisms, but once separated from it, its controllability diminished greatly.
For instance, when blood Qi was infused into a long blade, it was simply forced into the weapon to produce a burst of power, but it couldn't be used for more delicate, refined operations on the blade.
Su Hao came to a conclusion: "In other words, living organisms have a much stronger compatibility with Blood Qi than mineral based materials do!"
So, to achieve pre-engraved runes, there might not even be a need for a material that restrains blood Qi. All he needed was to pre-engrave the rune patterns into weapons or armor and then fill those rune patterns with a material that was more adaptable to blood Qi than metal. This would assist in the activation of the runes.
After all, blood Qi would naturally prefer to flow through a material that better matched its properties.
Su Hao's eyes gleamed with excitement: "So what should I use? Should I grind flesh into a paste and stuff it inside?"
It was worth a try.
So, Su Hao engraved a rune onto a metal plate and filled it with ground flesh, then tried channeling blood Qi to activate the rune.
It failed.
The ground flesh was essentially dead matter and lacked the integrity of a living organism.
Moreover, this type of material couldn't be preserved for long.
What should he do?
A multitude of ideas flashed through Su Hao's mind, but he rejected them one after another.
Suddenly, an idea struck him
Golden Threadworms!!!
He suddenly remembered a type of parasite he had encountered in many ferocious beasts during his dissection research.
The parasite, a slender, thread-like creature with a shimmering golden hue, had been aptly named by Su Hao as the "Golden Threadworm."
He had once forced himself to study them despite feeling nauseous.
He found that the golden threadworms were not only extremely resilient but could also survive solely on blood Qi. At the time, they had seemed useless to him.
But now... not only were they useful, they were a treasure!
Excited, Su Hao caught a few unlucky ferocious beasts and extracted a large number of Golden Threadworms from their bodies.
Then, based on the thickness and length of the worms, he carved new rune grooves on a metal plate. With tweezers, he carefully placed the worms into the grooves, enlarging the grooves where they intersected and pressing the worms firmly into place.
Once both ends of the worms were connected, Su Hao channeled his blood Qi to test it.
The rune activated successfully, emitting a burst of brilliant light.
Success!
Su Hao clenched his fist in excitement.
Looking at the Golden Threadworms again, they were completely unharmed! On the contrary, they looked more lively, as if they'd just had a satisfying meal.
They could be reused!
This single discovery kept Su Hao up for two whole nights, his mind racing with endless possibilities for the future.
What direction would this world ultimately take, guided by his hands?
....
A Year and a half later.
Su Hao was now fifteen years old.
He had completed the integration of basic runes, thoroughly documenting and categorizing over 800 base runes.
Based on their properties, he divided them into nine series, with each series further categorized into ten levels based on their segments of use.
All 800-plus runes were incorporated into this system.
When designing his own runes, Su Hao could now quickly reference the required effects, choose the appropriate segmants, and add them to the formation rune.
In this way, most of his imaginative ideas could be realized through formation runes.
Su Hao even developed simple runes like ‹Fireball›, ‹Ice Spike›, ‹Corrosive Ray›, ‹Earth Spike›, and ‹Electric Discharge›. These types of rune effects were something he had never observed in the ferocious beasts.
He also created more complex versions, household Runes, such as the ‹Clean› Rune, ‹Fan› Rune, ‹Clean Water› Rune, ‹Writing Copy› Rune, ‹Grill Rune›, and ‹Steam› Rune.
After all, wasn't one of the main purposes of runes to improve life?
He even succeeded in developing rune weapons and rune armors.
Even an elite warrior, after some practice, could use a rune sword to activate the runes embedded within the blade and gain a significant power boost.
For example, the rune long blades Su Hao made had three runes embedded: ‹Hardening›, ‹Sharpness›, and ‹Penetration›. The results were nothing short of remarkable.
If the warriors back in Lingyun Town had used this blade in their battle against the Bearded Beast, every one of them could have inflicted at least a minor wound on the beast.
Although a small wound wouldn't have made much difference against the Bearded Beast, going from +0 damage to +1 damage was already a qualitative leap.
As for the rune armor, which bore runes like ‹Hardening›, ‹Deflection›, ‹Barrier›, and ‹Vibration›, its defensive capabilities were equally impressive. Even if someone let a Bearded Beast stab them, the armor wouldn't budge.
What was this?
This was the call of a new era!
This was a true revolution for humankind!
Moreover, the Golden Threadworms embedded within the runes could survive for at least a year and a half, as long as they were occasionally fed some blood Qi.
The first batch of Golden Threadworms Su Hao captured were still alive, although they seemed a bit lethargic.
But did that matter? Not at all. The worms had such powerful functionality that this development could be considered their moment of glory.
....
Su Hao also wrote two books:
One was titled ≤The Path of the Warrior≥.
It contained chapters like "Beginner's Guide", "Theory of Blood Qi Bottleneck and Breakthrough", "Advancing to Elite — Centrifugal Chapter", "Blood Qi Strengthening Waves and Flesh Strengthening", "Advancing to Master — Formation vein Engraving", "Formation Rune Compendium", "The Warrior's Objective Exploration", and finally, to touch on mental resilience, "The Warrior's Heart, The Strength of the Humans".
A thick book that Su Hao was very satisfied with.
He planned to spread this book across all of Yonghe Continent.
To make it more accessible, he created a second version where each chapter was split into standalone parts, forming a serialized format.
This way, those who obtained the full book would treasure it, and those who collected single chapters would be motivated to complete the set. The book was sure to gain popularity quickly.
....
The second book he wrote was titled ≤Comprehensive Guide to The Worlds of Runes≥.
This book also had various chapters, including "Beast veins and Runes", "Three-Dimensional Runes", "Formation Structure Theory", "Complete Guide to Basic Runes", "Rune Practice Workbook", "The Beauty of Nature — Golden Threadworms", "Application of Runes in Life and Combat", and finally, to spark inspiration, "The Enlightenment of Thought, The Exploration of the Universe".
Su Hao was very pleased as he looked at the two thick books in his hands, signing them with the name: "The Traveler".
Perfect!
He reached out his hand and made a grasping gesture toward the sky.
"I have arrived, world!"