158: Spiritual Pattern

Lu Yang personally oversaw Wani's interrogation.

The common language of the Hanhai Star's sea creatures was similar to the human language spoken by Lu Yang and his companions from the Train World, so there were no communication barriers.

At most, there were slight dialect differences.

Verification of basic information was, of course, a given.

Upon learning that he was the chieftain of the Chenmao Tribe, a position second only to the deceased Snake-Person Great Elder, Lu Yang nodded.

From the previous conversations and actions of the snake-people, Wani's status was indeed slightly lower than that of the Snake-Person Great Elder.

After asking about the Chenmao Tribe's situation, Lu Yang shifted the topic to what he was most interested in.

"What are those peculiar crystals inlaid on the Snake-Person Great Elder's scepter?"

Wani had been thoroughly subdued and answered questions very quickly: "Reporting to the esteemed Otherworlder Leader, those are rune stones, a very rare, scarce, and precious treasure. After clergy members obtain them and inlay them on their staves, they can gain the ability to cast magic attacks by guiding the spirit patterns on them."

Lu Yang: "How are they obtained?"

"They can usually only be found in the Land of Sunken Abyss. After magic-infused rune raw stones are mined from the Land of Sunken Abyss, high-level mages can use their mental power to engrave the spirit patterns they have fully mastered onto the rune raw stones, which then form the rune stones that Elder Walong used."

"However, the power of these artificially made rune stones is much smaller compared to the original spirit patterns; their power might only be one-fifth to one-third of the original spirit patterns. But they are still exceptionally precious. Warriors in the tribe usually have to mine hundreds of rune raw stones from the Land of Sunken Abyss before they can exchange for one finished Tier 1 rune stone from the Sunken Sea Temple."

This stuff even has tiers?

Lu Yang: "Then what tiers are the rune stones on Walong's staff? And what are the original spirit patterns?"

"The rune stones on Elder Walong's staff are all Tier 1. Tier 2 rune stones can only be exchanged for by large tribes; our Chenmao Tribe is not yet qualified."

"As for the original spirit patterns, they generally come from powerful exotic beasts. Some powerful exotic beasts naturally possess beast cores with innate spirit patterns, which is what is called innate magic. Even the same Ice Crystal Arrow spell, when empowered by the powerful innate magic of exotic beasts, can reach the power of Tier 2 or even Tier 3 temple magic."

"Moreover, most of these powerful exotic beasts also live in the Land of Sunken Abyss, guarding the rune raw stone mines, and enhancing their abilities by absorbing the power of the rune raw stones. Only a very small number live in shallow sea areas or on land, turning the places they inhabit into forbidden zones where no living beings can enter."

Lu Yang: "Are there any so-called powerful exotic beasts in the area of your Chenmao Tribe?"

Wani: "No? If there really were such exotic beasts, the Chenmao Tribe would have moved long ago. Although Elder Walong possesses extraordinary magical attack capabilities, in front of a powerful exotic beast, he is no different from an ant, just as I am in front of the great Otherworlder Leader, without the slightest power to resist."

Outside the interrogation room, Lu Yang held the rune stone that Walong had previously activated to cast the Ice Crystal Arrow, and infused it with his mental power.

As his mental power flowed through the spirit pattern, illuminating it, an Ice Crystal Arrow identical to the one Walong had fired appeared before Lu Yang.

It shot with a whoosh into the concrete wall ahead, leaving a large patch of ice crystals.

Lu Yang then input mental power again, and another Ice Crystal Arrow, identical to the previous one, shot out with similar power, also leaving a square meter of ice crystals on the wall.

After several attempts, Lu Yang generally understood.

This thing was like the flintlock rifles manufactured on the train; the rune stone was the gun, and mental power was the bullet.

Inputting a fixed amount of mental power would fire an Ice Crystal Arrow of fixed power.

The other rune stones were all the same.

The magical power that could be released was already fixed the moment the rune stone was engraved.

There was no room for deviation.

A little more mental power wouldn't work, and a little less mental power wouldn't work either.

Lu Yang: "By the way, Wani, you just said that these rune stones are engraved by high-ranking clergy members in the so-called Sunken Sea Temple using the spirit patterns they have fully mastered. What does it mean to fully master a spirit pattern?"

Upon hearing this, Wani suddenly became anxious.

Sweat beads seeped from his forehead at a visible rate.

He was not a clergyman.

He also didn't know what it meant to fully master a spirit pattern.

After racking his brain for a while, he suddenly remembered something Elder Walong had mentioned inadvertently during a conversation.

"Esteemed Otherworlder Leader, I remember now! To fully master a spirit pattern means to use mental power to construct a unique mental rune in one's mind, following the patterns on the rune stone. This way, even if the cleric does not have a finished rune stone, they can directly activate the mental rune and cast spells."

"And the power is much greater. The more solid the mental rune, the more mental power it can contain, and correspondingly, the greater the power of the spell released. Although I haven't seen it, I heard Elder Walong say that the Red Archpriest of the Sunken Sea Temple can cleave a deep trench over a hundred zhang long in the sea with just a single Water Blade spell."

A deep trench over a hundred zhang long?

Even the Small Electromagnetic Railgun, the most powerful single-target weapon on the Xinhuo Train, didn't have that much power, did it?

If Wani's words were true, then the natives of Hanhai Star really shouldn't be underestimated.

Otherwise, on the battlefield, if a giant Water Blade spell were to suddenly target him, who knew if his mecha could withstand it.