Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood

Chapter 413: Felix Was Unlucky

Felix rushed into the ice palace. He almost slipped and fell as he walked too fast on the ice palace's slippery floor.

It was rare for a cultivator at the Internal Elixir Realm to have such an accident.

“Felix, what is happening? Why are you in such a hurry? Did something happen to the sect protecting array?” Tia asked before Felix could greet her as usual. Tia frowned as she could not understand why Felix was in such a rush. What perplexed her more was his expression. He appeared frightened. 'He didn't come here for Zen's case, did he?' Tia told herself.

“No. There is nothing wrong with the array. I'm here because of Zen,” Felix said quickly. “Oh, no. I apologize for my rudeness.” Felix quickly bowed to Tia and greeted her respectfully.

“Zen? What happened?” Tia nodded her head and asked, “That's why you came dashing in here?”

Her brows wrinkled as Tia felt that it was unreasonable for Felix to interrupt her cultivation because of Zen. Felix could have waited until the next day. Tia felt as though Felix was behaving strangely.

From what she knew, Felix could have shamed Zen into abandoning his quest to learn the skills of drawing runes. He could have directed Zen's focus toward cultivation instead. After all, most cultivators did so.

“Yes, exactly, Miss. I want to talk to you about Zen,” Felix nodded and replied to Tia reverently.

“What is it? Did you do as asked? Did Zen lose his confidence to acquire rune making skills?” Tia asked. Tia smiled slightly. Felix was Cloud Hall's top runic expert. His knowledge of runes was unparalleled in the Central Region. It would surely be easy for him to deal with a beginner like Zen. Tia knew that Felix did not need to do much. A little dissuasion from Felix would have been sufficient to stop Zen.

Felix had thought the same before he met Zen. When he learned that Zen had finished drawing some runes, he planned to comment on his works harshly. After all, most beginners would make several mistakes when they made their first runes. Felix had such vast knowledge of rune making that he would be able to identify mistakes in the work of a runic maker with exceptional skills. Zen was a beginner, and so, his mistakes would be easier to identify.

However, Zen had made runes unlike any that Felix had ever seen. How could he criticize Zen as planned? Seeing that rune had been activated and that Zen had used Perfect Brushwork, Felix felt embarrassed about his skills. Of course, he was not qualified to criticize Zen's work. Felix didn't even know how to use the skill of Perfect Brushwork! How could he destroy Zen's confidence regarding rune making when Zen knew more than Felix?

“No, Zen didn't,” Felix answered, shaking his head.

Tia asked in surprise, “What? You are looking pale. What happened exactly?”

Felix cupped his hands to Tia and replied, “Miss, Zen has a remarkable talent for runes making. I believe we should not prevent him from learning these skills. His future achievements will probably be higher than that of Arnold Feng, the Son of Runes!”

“Arnold Feng?” Tia was shocked. Although Tia did not know much about runes, she had heard about the famous 'Son of Runes'. Cloud Hall had gone so far as to preserve two works of runes made by Arnold.

But after hearing Felix's explanation, Tia was more puzzled. 'Arnold was the most outstanding runic expert of the Central Region. No one has ever matched his level of expertise. Can Zen reach a higher level than Arnold in the future? Is Felix insane? Or did Felix think he could talk nonsense to me?' Tia was lost in her thoughts.

Then her face fell and she said angrily, “Felix, do you know what you are talking about? This is absurd! Are you teasing me?” Tia's tone conveyed a subtle warning to Felix.

Tia, despite being young, had become the head of Cloud Hall. However, she didn't have much authority. After all, talent and qualifications were required to become the head of Cloud Hall! Tia was not old enough and did not have many qualifications. Since she lacked complete authority, she had a hard time controlling the elders of Cloud Hall. That was why Tia asked Felix if he was teasing her.

“I dare not, and Zen is a runic genius! His talent for runes is even better than his martial arts. He just started to learn how to draw runes, and he has acquired the skill of Perfect Brushwork. It is said that Arnold grasped this skill in his forties.” Felix shook his head quickly. As a matter of fact, Felix attached great importance to Zen because of the lines of Zen's runes! Apparently, Zen drew the runes with his unique style, which was different from the two typical styles, the northern style and the southern style.

Zen seemed to have created a new type of runes by himself! Few people were able to create runes. This was particularly true now as there was a lack of new types of runes. It could be said that creating a new type of runes could be as tricky as learning of the skill of Perfect Brushwork. Even Arnold, at his time, invented only three new types of runes.

Of course, Felix did not know that what Zen had drawn was not a rune at all. It was the divine texture. The first divine texture made by Zen was called meditation divine texture. Its function was to calm one's mind. Since Felix was not knowledgeable about divine textures, he thought Zen had drawn a new type of rune. Although Felix sensed that the meditation runes Zen made seemed to calm one's mind better than a regular one, the effect of the meditation runes was difficult to quantify. So Felix could not compare the effects of the divine texture made by Zen with the regular meditation runes.

If Zen could make runes for attacking in battles, Felix would have a better chance of sensing the differences.

Hearing what Felix said, Tia smiled and asked, “Felix, is Zen really such an outstanding genius?”

“Yes, Zen is. I am sure he...” Felix answered Tia's question. An ice awl flew toward Felix while he was still speaking. Surprised, Felix jumped up high. He barely dodged the ice awl.

Tia's expression had turned cold. An ice awl shone in her hand. Apparently, it was Tia who was attacking Felix.

Although Tia's cultivation base was lower than Felix's, he was a runic expert who was not good at close combat, even though he was at the Internal Elixir Realm. Felix spoke with a bitter smile, “Miss, I'm serious. I would not lie to you.”

“Is that true? I'm also serious!” Tia said coldly. After she finished, Tia waved her hand a second time. Several footlong ice awls shot toward Felix again.

Felix racked his brain for a solution. He needed to convince Tia before she killed him! The more he thought about it, the more Felix felt his plan would work. Quickly, he pulled out the meditation rune that he bought from Zen with ten supreme crystals, and threw it at Tia.

“Miss, I'm telling the truth. If you don't believe me, please look at this!” Felix rolled over the slippery ground and pulled out his life vitality into the rune and said, “This is Zen's work!” Felix almost shouted out the last sentence. At this moment, Felix was terrified. He was really unlucky!

But he had no other choice. Had he not seen Zen draw the line with his own eyes, Felix would not have believed it either. It was challenging to convince Tia that Zen had more talents in making runes than Arnold, who was a born runic expert!

The meditation divine texture began to shine as Felix's life vitality entered it. Tia stopped attacking Felix when she saw the green light. Surprised, she reached forward and grabbed the paper.

Tia was by no means a runic expert. Even though she couldn't tell what kind of rune this was, or how effective it would be, Tia could see that the rune was beautiful! The lines of the divine texture were mellow and smooth. She could tell that the lines contained a sense of perfectness.

“Is it true? Did Zen draw this?” Tia stared at Felix as she spoke. Ice crystals appeared in her eyes, and her cold tone tightened Felix's heart.

“Exactly, Miss. Zen drew this. I don't know how he learned the skill of Perfect Brushwork,” Felix answered with a bitter smile on his face.

“Oh, I see. This is why you disturbed my cultivation, right?” Tia nodded and asked.

“Yes. This is the reason. I'm afraid that I cannot finish the task you assigned to me. Maybe Zen can help with the protection array in the future,” Felix explained. Then he continued, “The protection array of the Ethereal Spirit Sect was drawn with the skill of Perfect Brushwork. Combined with the array of the grade six sect, Zen's skill will make our Cloud Hall's protection array be the strongest one in the Central Region!”

Tia did not reply. She never expected this would happen—Felix was unable to destroy Zen's confidence to learn the skill of drawing runes. On the contrary, he was convinced of Zen's potential.

Could this young man, Zen, be such a genius? Tia was lost in her thoughts for a long while. When she realized that Felix was still in the ice palace, She waved her hand to dismiss him. “I know what you mean. Please leave me alone for a while, and I'll consider what you have said carefully.”

Felix sighed with relief and left.

After thinking about it for a long time, Tia returned to her seat. Thick fog covered her body again. Before her beautiful face disappeared in the fog, Tia gave a slight smile.

'I will let him continue and watch how high he can go, ' Tia thought before she started cultivating again.