Chapter 2: Source Pattern

Inside the inner hall, silence reigned, and the oppressive atmosphere was suffocating.

Zhou Yuan looked at Zhou Qing, who sat beside him. Zhou Qing's usually majestic face was now filled with powerlessness and dejection, clearly indicating that the incident from years ago had been a devastating blow to him.

To have his own son's destiny stolen and foundational bones shattered by an enemy right before his eyes, while he himself was powerless, must have been a profound humiliation for any father.

Zhou Yuan bit his lip. He knew Zhou Qing's character well; he figured that if it weren't for the need to protect the hundreds of millions of citizens of Great Zhou, Zhou Qing would likely have chosen to perish with King Wu.

"So this is why my eight meridians have remained dormant, making cultivation impossible. King Wu's methods are truly vicious," Zhou Yuan thought, gazing at the dark red mass slowly wriggling in his palm, a hint of anger in his eyes.

King Wu not only seized his destiny and destroyed his Sacred Dragon Root but also clearly intended to eradicate him completely, forcing him towards a slow death by the Resentful Dragon Poison.

What infuriated Zhou Yuan most was that his mother had also suffered a severe blow to her vitality because of this, leaving her with less than ten years of life.

Zhou Yuan took a deep breath, slowly suppressing the surging anger within him. He looked at Qin Yu, who was lying unconscious nearby, her face pale, and his heart ached. "Father," he asked, "What about Mother? Her lifespan..."

Zhou Qing fell silent for a moment before slowly replying, "There are rare heavenly treasures in the world that can extend life. If we could obtain one, it might prolong your mother's life, but..."

At this point, Zhou Qing gave a bitter smile. "Such treasures are incredibly rare. I've devoted countless resources and manpower from Great Zhou to search for them, but to no avail."

"Great Zhou is not what it once was. Now confined to a corner, we can barely protect ourselves."

Zhou Yuan clenched his fists. At this moment, he finally understood the benefit of having power. If he possessed strength, he could venture into even the most perilous situations to seek out those life-extending heavenly treasures.

However, his eight meridians, which stubbornly refused to manifest, left him without even the ability to protect himself.

Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, "Father, can I truly not become a Source Master?"

His mother had depleted her vital essence and shortened her lifespan for him; as a son, how could he stand idly by? Furthermore, if he hadn't known about all that the Wu family had done to Great Zhou and to him, it might have been different. But now that he knew, this debt could not be easily dismissed.

Yet, all of this depended on him possessing sufficient strength.

And in this world, the group of people who wielded the greatest power were, naturally, Source Masters!

Hearing Zhou Yuan's words, Zhou Qing's brows furrowed as if in deep thought. After a long moment, he quietly asked, "You really don't want to give up?"

Zhou Yuan gently shook his head. The hardships of these past years, though tormenting, had also endowed him with a maturity and resilience beyond his age.

He knew that from the moment the Wu family rebelled and seized his destiny, an irreconcilable feud had been forged between them.

Great Zhou's continued survival was solely due to the ancestral oath King Wu had made back then. It was imaginable that once a century passed, the Wu Dynasty would be the first to purge Great Zhou to eliminate any future troubles.

Therefore, to change this outcome, he himself must possess sufficient power.

Zhou Qing was somewhat relieved by Zhou Yuan's resolve. After a brief silence, he clapped his large hand heavily on Zhou Yuan's shoulder and said, "Good! Not willing to give up easily, you truly are my son, Zhou Qing's son! Since you have this desire, I, your father, will naturally do everything to help you!"

"Father has a way?" Zhou Yuan's eyes instantly lit up with surprise upon hearing Zhou Qing's words.

Zhou Qing nodded slightly, then gave another wry smile. "Don't get too excited yet, because even I can't be certain if this method will work."

"What method?" Zhou Yuan's eager demeanor finally showed a hint of youthful vitality.

"In three days, it will be the Ancestral Ceremony. This time, you will accompany me to the ancestral land."

Zhou Qing didn't elaborate, merely smiling. Then he paused and continued, "However, I also have a condition."

"What condition?" Zhou Yuan was taken aback and asked, puzzled.

Zhou Qing said earnestly, "Regardless of whether you can open your meridians, you must not abandon the path of genesis runes. You should know that if your eight meridians remain closed, cultivating genesis runes will be your last resort. And if you cultivate genesis runes to an advanced level, it might not be impossible to suppress the Resentful Dragon Poison within you."

In this world, Source Masters were the mainstream, but not the only path. Many other avenues had flourished, with the so-called path of genesis runes being particularly profound and extensive.

During the time his eight meridians remained dormant, Zhou Yuan had, at Zhou Qing's instruction, been studying genesis runes. After all, "more skills don't weigh you down," and many Source Masters would actually learn some genesis runes roughly.

Zhou Yuan nodded gently. He understood the deeper meaning behind Zhou Qing's words: his father was worried that if his eight meridians still didn't manifest and he couldn't become a Source Master, he might give up entirely, abandoning his last remaining path.

Zhou Qing nodded, a relieved smile appearing on his face.

"Rest for a day first. Tomorrow, you'll still go to Great Zhou Manor for your studies. In three days, I will take you to the ancestral land."

"Alright!" The boy's voice was filled with intense anticipation.

Zhou Qing smiled, stroked Zhou Yuan's head, then picked up the unconscious Qin Yu and, accompanied by Master Qin, walked out of the inner hall.

Zhou Yuan watched Zhou Qing's retreating figure. That usually majestic back now conveyed a poignant sense of powerlessness and weariness. He knew his father must have once harbored great ambitions, but cruel reality had gradually eroded them.

And the instigator of all this was King Wu.

Zhou Yuan's lips were pressed tightly together, and a cold glint appeared on his slightly delicate, youthful face.

"The Wu family, King Wu... these debts, we will settle them, one by one, in the future!"

The next day.

As morning arrived, Zhou Yuan left the palace under the protection of a squad of guards, heading directly to the northwestern district of Great Zhou City, where the Great Zhou Manor was located.

The Great Zhou Manor, as it was called, had been personally ordered into creation by Zhou Qing some years ago. He had also mobilized military experts to serve as instructors. When recruiting students, Great Zhou Manor made no distinction based on social status; even commoners, as long as they possessed talent, were permitted to enter for cultivation.

Over the years, the Great Zhou Manor had cultivated numerous talents for Great Zhou, thus its status within the Great Zhou Dynasty had steadily risen. Therefore, even Prince Zhou Yuan studied there.

At the main entrance of Great Zhou Manor, defenses were strict, with armored guards rigorously checking the identification tokens of all entrants. However, Zhou Yuan was naturally exempt from this procedure; within Great Zhou City, it was unlikely anyone wouldn't recognize him, the Prince.

"Greetings, Your Highness!"

So, when Zhou Yuan appeared at the entrance, all the guards respectfully bowed to him.

"Your Highness." Many other students of Great Zhou Manor, coming and going, also smiled at Zhou Yuan at this moment, their expressions showing a degree of respect.

Zhou Yuan returned their greetings with a smile and a cupped-fist salute. He knew that most of these students were commoners, and their respect for him stemmed more from his father's establishment of Great Zhou Manor, which had given them, as commoners, an opportunity to improve their status and change their destiny.

Great Zhou Manor, West Garden.

In a spacious and bright hall, desks were neatly arranged. In front of the desks, many young men and women sat kneeling, and the atmosphere was quiet.

At a desk in the first row, Zhou Yuan also sat kneeling calmly. On his desk lay a smooth jade tablet, and beside it, a dark red long brush.

The brush, crafted entirely from red jade, had bristles made from the softest fur found on the belly of a Flame Mouse, slender and shimmering faintly — it was a genesis rune brush.

If one were to ask what was most important for carving genesis runes, everyone would say three words: "genesis rune brush."

All genesis runes required a genesis rune brush as a medium to be drawn; only then could they tap into the profound and mysterious genesis runes, thereby drawing upon the ambient Genesis Qi and unleashing immense power.

Therefore, the importance of the genesis rune brush was self-evident. Without it, no matter how skilled one was in genesis runes, the power of inscribed runes would likely be diminished.

Zhou Yuan held the red jade genesis rune brush, his gaze fixed on the front, where a middle-aged male instructor was calmly giving a lecture.

"So-called genesis runes," the instructor explained, "use one's spirit as a guide, gathering it at the brush tip to sketch the rune marks. Every stroke must use the spirit as ink; only then can the drawn runes draw upon the Genesis Qi of the world."

"Remember, when inscribing genesis runes, your mind must be as still as water, devoid of any distracting thoughts. The genesis rune brush in your hand should become an extension of yourself. Only then can your spirit gather at the brush tip, allowing your brush to move with your will, completing the inscription in one fluid motion."

"Now, continue practicing the three genesis runes I taught you a month ago. I hope someone can successfully complete one of them today," the instructor said after finishing his explanation.

As soon as he spoke, groans immediately filled the study hall. Many young men and women looked distressed, because practicing these genesis runes, though seemingly simple, caused a depletion of their spirit and a feeling of exhaustion after each attempt.

"Hmph, what are you groaning about? The three genesis runes I taught you—the Barbarian Ox Rune, the Light-Body Rune, and the Iron-Skin Rune—are merely entry-level," the middle-aged instructor snapped sternly upon hearing their complaints, his voice filled with frustration over their lack of progress.

Seeing the instructor's anger, the young men and women shrank their necks, not daring to speak, then all picked up their genesis rune brushes and began to draw on the jade tablets before them.

Zhou Yuan also smiled faintly, holding the genesis rune brush. His mind became focused, the surrounding noisy sounds immediately blocked out. His heart was as still as a secluded pond. He gazed at the smooth jade tablet, a faint light appearing between his brows, followed by a weak red glow shimmering at the tip of the genesis rune brush.

Zhou Yuan set his brush down, its tip slowly gliding across the jade tablet, leaving behind intricate rune marks. These marks, like antelope horns hanging in the air, exuded a certain charm, and when completely combined, they seemed to possess a wondrous power.

Each genesis rune was formed by a varying number of rune marks. Generally speaking, the more rune marks a genesis rune possessed, the higher its grade and power.

What Zhou Yuan was currently drawing was the Iron-Skin Rune, one of the three genesis runes. This was merely an entry-level rune, comprising hundreds of rune marks. However, perfectly depicting these hundreds of complex rune marks clearly required extensive practice.

Zhou Yuan's brush tip flowed like water, smoothly and without any hesitation, displaying a fluid beauty.

Over the past year, because his eight meridians had not manifested, he had spent almost all his time studying genesis runes. Consequently, his foundation in this area was far more profound than that of other students.

Of course, the most important point was that he could sense his spirit was superior to that of ordinary people. It seemed that although his destiny had been seized and his Sacred Dragon Root destroyed back then, fortunately, his spirit had not been harmed. He presumed it was because he was too young at the time, and his spirit had not yet fully formed, allowing him to escape that particular misfortune.

The brush tip flowed on, and after several minutes, as Zhou Yuan's slender hand gently moved diagonally downwards, a light suddenly bloomed on the jade tablet before him. A complex and graceful genesis rune slowly took shape upon it.

"Good, excellent. The rune marks are complete, truly divine brushwork. This Iron-Skin Rune can be considered a successful masterpiece." Just as Zhou Yuan finished, an admiring laugh came from beside him.

Zhou Yuan looked up and saw that the instructor had, at some point, come to stand beside him, admiring the genesis rune on his jade tablet with a smiling face.

The other young men and women in the hall all looked up at Zhou Yuan, their eyes filled with some amazement. Some of them hadn't even started writing, yet Zhou Yuan had already succeeded.

The instructor's mood also brightened considerably. He sighed to the many students, "How wonderful it would be if all of you could have such learning efficiency."

Upon hearing this, the young men and women all shook their heads with a smile. Prince Zhou Yuan clearly had a great talent in this area; how could one expect everyone to achieve such efficiency?

However, amidst the various smiles and chuckles, a peculiar laugh abruptly sounded.

"Heh heh, Instructor, I beg to differ," the voice said. "Our main focus is more on opening meridians. Naturally, we can't dedicate ourselves entirely to studying genesis runes like Prince Zhou Yuan. Otherwise, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"

The laugh was slightly grating and immediately silenced the hall, drawing many gazes.

Zhou Yuan also raised an eyebrow slightly, his gaze falling upon a young man in brocade robes not far away. The young man was looking at him with a smirk, lazily twirling a genesis rune brush in his hand.

The smile on his lips held a hint of mockery.