Lin Yun couldn’t tell what Mo Ling was thinking, so he asked, “Can I take a look at it?”

“This? Sure.” Mo Ling was rather generous to hand over her silver fan.

When Lin Yun held it, he realized that it was heavier than it looked. This artifact had thirty-six silver blades, each engraved with similar runes. It might look simple, but it was also very elegant. When Lin Yun tried inserting a strand of his origin energy into it, he could vaguely sense the terrifying energy within.

If the full power of this fan was unleashed, it could probably injure a Yin-Yang stage expert. This artifact was probably comparable to transcendent cosmic artifacts and it wasn’t just simply a high rank cosmic artifact. But it was weird that Mo Ling could control it as she wished.

His Scarletflame War Flag was the best among mid rank cosmic artifacts, but Lin Yun could barely control it.

“Weird.” Lin Yun was baffled by this.

“Are you baffled by how I can control it so easily when I’m only in the greater Yin stage? Cosmic artifacts are separated into cosmic weapons and secret artifacts. Cosmic weapons are the weapons you martial cultivators use, while secret artifacts are spiritual artifacts used by spiritualists.”

Mo Ling played with the fan in her hand and continued, “Martial cultivators can naturally control cosmic weapons easily. However, it’s not easy for martial cultivators to control spiritual artifacts. Both of them might be cosmic artifacts, but they’re also different at the same time.”

Secret artifacts are spiritual artifacts? Lin Yun suddenly recalled the Hidden Sword Gourd in his interspatial pouch. He wasn’t able to control it, so could this be the reason why?

“You think that your attainments in spiritual runes are decent, but third grade spiritualists are considered the entry level. Everyone beneath the third grade isn't able to control the charm of the spiritual runes. You’re talented and your foundation isn’t bad. If you’re willing to learn from me for the next fifteen days, you might be able to become a third grade spiritualist.” Mo Ling looked at Lin Yun. 

“You came to our academy for spiritual runes and I’m willing to teach you now. What’s the matter? Are you scared?” Mo Ling said this as she raised her eyebrow with a smile. Her eyes were filled with disdain as she was challenging Lin Yun. No man could possibly take the provocation lying down.

Lin Yun’s heart throbbed before he smiled, “You win. I have no reason to refuse.”

“Very well. I’ll start teaching you for the next fifteen days, but you’re not allowed to give up unless you can defeat me,” said Mo Ling with a cold expression. Her tone was unquestionable.

Lin Yun rubbed his nose as he had a feeling that he had boarded a pirate ship. However, he would just deal with whatever came his way. Plus, he had already given his word, so he wasn’t going to worry about it anymore. He asked, “Where should we start?”

“Let’s start with spiritual runes. The second grade spiritual runes you have grasped are still too little. Gold, wood, water, fire, earth, ice, and thunder. You have to grasp at least a hundred of each. You have to be prepared because grasping them doesn’t just mean copying them,” said Mo Ling with a solemn voice as she looked at Lin Yun.

Lin Yun wasn’t bothered by what she said. After all, he had a photographic memory, so he could copy anything with a glance. However, he smiled bitterly in his heart when they started the process. First, Mo Ling passed him a hundred second grade spiritual runes and he had to practice them a hundred times in the morning.

This meant that he had to draw ten thousand spiritual runes. Not only did he have to draw them, but he also had to keep his mind working. After all, inscribing spiritual runes required him to stay focused.

Each spiritual rune would exhaust his mental energy and inscribing ten thousand of them was a heavy load. Lin Yun barely managed to draw a hundred before he felt that his mind was going to blow up. His eyes were bloodshot and his vision was blurred. He began to make more mistakes and wasted a lot of canvases during the process.

The plaza of the Nightcloud Hall was a mess. Lin Yun raised his head and noticed that morning was about to end. He rubbed his eyebrows and rested briefly before he looked at Mo Ling, “Can someone really draw ten thousand spiritual runes at once?”

“Of course,” said Mo Ling calmly. “It looks like your talent in spiritual runes isn’t as monstrous as I imagined. You barely managed to draw one thousand and five hundred. Speaking of which, one-third of them are crude. Strictly speaking, you’ve only completed eight hundred.”

Lin Yun looked at his ‘masterpiece’ and couldn’t refute Mo Ling’s words. He knew that many of the runes weren’t satisfactory.

“You can return for now. If there aren’t any improvements tomorrow, then I’ll have to reconsider,” said Mo Ling.

“Reconsider what?” asked Lin Yun.

“Reconsider if I’ve chosen the wrong person. After all, not everyone can receive my personal guidance,” said Mo Ling indifferently.

Lin Yun had a trace of rage rising up in his heart. After all, he didn’t beg to be taught by Mo Ling, but she made it sound as if he begged her for it. Perhaps he was too tired or perhaps it was because of his pride, but he couldn’t take this lying down.

He quietly turned around and left. The splitting headache caused him to stagger until he returned to Spiritwood Peak.

Not long after he left, Elder Yu quietly appeared. She looked at the surrounding spiritual runes and sighed, “He really is a monster to complete a thousand and five hundred spiritual runes after one entire morning.”

Mo Ling nodded her head and picked up the papers on the ground. “This is not his limit. This is just the beginning.”

“Mo Ling, aren’t you rushing a little too much?” Elder Yu frowned her brows. After all, completing ten thousand spiritual runes in one morning was terrifying. Even an ordinary third grade spiritualist might not be able to do it.

“How can I make him a third grade spiritualist otherwise? It’s not easy to become a third grade spiritualist, not to mention that his foundation is a little too bad. So I can only use this stupid method to force him,” said Mo Ling calmly.

Yu Mu pondered about it briefly, but she said nothing because what Mo Ling said made sense. Returning to the Spiritwood Peak, Lin Yun practically fainted.

A long time later, Lin Yun struggled to the cultivation room and circulated the Iris Sword Sutra to begin his cultivation. In the next second, an Iris Flower bloomed with him in the center as spiritual energy poured towards him from the surroundings.

Lin Yun finally calmed down as his body began to feel great. It looks like he had forced himself to the limit by drawing over a thousand spiritual runes. However, his cultivation was a lot faster than usual, which was a pleasant surprise. Aside from the surrounding spiritual energy pouring into him, Lin Yun could also sense that his mental energy was recovering.

After circulating the Iris Sword Sutra ten times, Lin Yun’s mental energy had returned to the pinnacle. He opened his eyes and was filled with energy.

“Interesting. It looks like inscribing spiritual runes will increase my mental energy.” Mental energy was too vague for Lin Yun and it couldn’t be seen, unlike origin energy. He only had a rough feeling for it, but now he could sense that his mental energy had gotten stronger.

When the first glimpse of dawn peaked into the window, he wore a smile as he recalled the gaze that Mo Ling looked at him with. “I should be able to inscribe two thousand runes today. I wonder how that woman will feel when she sees that.”

His focus might be on his sword, but he was also a prideful person. After all, it would be too embarrassing to get kicked out.