Reaper of the Martial World

The Demon Sage sighed as Dyon's eyes opened, having finished meditating on the final pieces of the Infernal and Celestial Beast Tome.

'While the most important things for array alchemy was soul strength and spiritual plants and fruits. For Runic Vein Theory, the most important things are bodily strength and bestial treasures…' Dyon's eyes flashed.

If he wanted to implement the runic veins he wanted to, he needed the corresponding bestial treasure. For example, it was impossible to draw a supreme grade runic vein without specific important body parts of a correspondingly supreme grade beast.

This concept was slightly more complicated than it seemed on the surface. This was because there were two grading systems to take into account. The first was the grade of the beast, while the second was the grade of runic vein.

To lay matters b.a.r.e, the Demon Sage was a Star Grade Runic Vein Master. This referred to his level of mastery, but how did this translate to bestial grade?

The truth of the matter that the realms of comprehension Dyon was used to – ie, the common, practitioner, master, grandmaster, comet, moon, planet and star realms – depended on the cultivation of the beast. Meaning, only a high and peak dao formation beast could elicit the runic veins within itself corresponding to the star grade. And, by extension, only a runic vein master of this grade could make use of said runic veins.

At the same time, the grade of the beast determined how likely these veins would awaken. What were the odds a mere heaven grade beast became a peak dao formation expert? It was fairly low. As such, it was equivalently low that they could evoke star grade runic veins.

Within the beast tomes Dyon read, the number of star grade runic veins he had knowledge of grew steadily. There wasn't even a single one among common and earth grade beasts, but some heaven grade beasts began to have one hidden deep within their bodies. Transcendent grade beasts could have anywhere from three to nine star grade runic veins. As for supreme grade beasts, although Dyon only had a three to sample from, they had hundreds!

However, Dyon also noticed some runic veins that seemed to surpass the star grade in complexity… In fact, they were so complex that he could only f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y ingrain them in his mind, something that caused him to pass out more than once. Unfortunately, the Demon Sage didn't explain much about these…

Much of this knowledge, Dyon had no way of making use of. His runic flame was too weak to draw moon, planet and star grade runic veins. At the same time, his control was far too poor to draw even the simplest common grade runic vein. However, he now at least had the knowledge.

Seeing the glint in Dyon's eye, the Demon Sage was quick to shoot him down.

"You need to keep in mind that the number of runic veins a warrior can support is dependant on their potential and cultivation. If you start slapping runic veins onto the weak, they'd implode before they could make use of their power.

"Only dao formation experts can withstand the strength of planet and star grade runic veins. By extension, only celestials can withstand comet and moon grade runic veins. And so on and so forth.

"There's a bit more leeway for those of weaker cultivations only because the difference between realms is smaller. But, it's still better to be safer."

Dyon nodded. "I see…"

"Let me see your runic flame."

With a thought, a brilliant flame appeared in Dyon's hand. It was a beautiful blue, almost like sparkling sapphire. But, there were hints of rose-bronze within it that shimmered like the drink of the Gods, ambrosia. It was only Dyon who noticed that the rose-bronze tint was definitely more than when he first awakened this flame, but he didn't understand what that meant immediately.

The Demon Sage's eyes contracted. "These flames alone are strong enough to form moon grade runic veins…"

It was difficult for the Demon Sage to admit, but somehow, Dyon's flames far surpassed the level of his cultivation. He didn't quite understand why, but with his level of expertise, he wouldn't be wrong.

"However, your control is terrible." Finally finding a flaw, the Demon Sage sighed in relief. "Even common grade children put you to shame. What the hell have you been doing all this time?"

The flame disappeared as Dyon scratched the back of his head. "I haven't had a teacher."

"Didn't you not have a teacher for array alchemy either?"

Dyon shrugged. "Array alchemy is easy."

The Demon Sage's lip twitched. Array alchemy is easy? It far surpassed runic vein theory and magic in difficulty, yet it became easy in the mouth of this boy?

"I won't teach you anything until you can control your flame to a grandmaster level. You'll begin with exercises for children until you learn to act like an a.d.u.l.t. Ridiculous." The Demon Sage snorted, not wasting his chance to insult Dyon.

True to his words, Dyon was forced to begin with children's exercises.

His first task was to split his flame into two equal pieces without one being any larger than the other. Then he had to control its flickers, tempering down the flame until it was gentle and calm. After this, he had to split the flame into four.

This monotonous cycle continued. He was once again hammered with concepts of calming and tempering, not to mention splitting and control.

Eventually, Dyon was forced to learn how to change the flame's shape. First into a ball, then a square. However, what Dyon found the hardest was the straight line. The demon sage wouldn't allow him to move on until this line was as thin as a single string of silk…