Chapter 58: A Great Harvest
After confirming that his pursuers had not followed, Su Hao returned to his previous hiding spot and retrieved the bundle of books. He hefted the two bundles in his hands and chuckled, "Tonight's mission was a success. What a great harvest!"
Su Hao turned on his [Minimap] to the max, carefully making his way back. He skillfully avoided crowds and quietly slipped into his dormitory at the academy.
"Phew∼…" Sitting on his bed, he let out a long breath.
Though only a few hours had passed, the experience left him exhilarated.
It had been his first battle against a master-level warrior—an intense confrontation that tested his skills to the limit. Despite meticulous preparations, two unexpected incidents caught him off guard. One was when his «Ghost Stab» struck the enemy's throat but was mysteriously blocked, and the other was when a sudden flash of light blinded him.
These moments revealed a flaw in his combat experience—his lack of readiness for sudden, unforeseen events.
Nonetheless, his main objective for the night had been achieved, and his spirits were high. Not to mention, he had rid Lingyun Town of a dangerous menace
Although he hadn't confirmed the killer's death, the severity of the injuries left little doubt. Even if the Killer survived, they would be permanently crippled. The chances of them causing further trouble were slim to none.
As for why Jin Datong had appeared and saved the killer, Su Hao didn't care to dwell on it
He had already recorded the killer's blood Qi aura—if they ever returned, Su Hao would sense it immediately.
Now, Su Hao had something more interesting to occupy his time—studying the valuable materials he had acquired.
Unable to contain his excitement, Su Hao opened the bundle carried by the killer.
Inside were two bottles filled with unknown liquids, four scrolls, three books, and two black stones.
Setting aside the bottles and stones, Su Hao first picked up the four scrolls and examined their labels.
‹Barrier›, ‹Blinding Flash›, ‹Control›, and ‹Extract›.
They were beast veins. Su Hao's eyes gleamed with joy as he promptly stored them in his Marble Space
Next, he picked up the three books.
[Fundamentals of Rune Structures], [Application of Runes], and [Rune Drawing Liquids].
"I've hit the jackpot!" Su Hao quickly skimmed through each book from cover to cover and securely stored them in his marble space.
For the rest of the night, sleep was out of the question. Su Hao lit his lamp and immediately dove into [Fundamentals of Rune Structures].
….
By the time Su Hao finished reading all three books, it was already the next afternoon. Instead of feeling tired, he was even more energized.
What had he discovered?
He had glimpsed a unique form of science in this alternate world.
Unlike his old world, which relied on electricity as its main energy source, the scientific system of this world used the blood Qi contained within living beings as its energy source.
In just three books, Su Hao had glimpsed the wisdom of this world, leaving him utterly astonished. It was a miraculous product of nature's evolution.
The books mainly outlined the observable phenomena related to the creation of beast veins and runes.
In simple terms, runes were derived from beast veins and were simplified versions of them, though still highly complex.
The creation of runes required meeting four conditions:
1. Special drawing liquids must be used as a medium, as they could effectively merge with blood Qi and preserve it.
2. Runes must be drawn on a living organisms, as blood Qi was a biological form of energy that couldn't be applied to inanimate objects.3. Blood Qi must be constantly maintained; without it, the runes would quickly dissipate.4. The same rune could only be drawn once on a body; any attempt to draw more would lead to mutual cancellation and collapse.
But Su Hao wanted to dig deeper. He wasn't content with just knowing how runes worked; he wanted to understand the underlying principles.
Why could the ‹Perception› rune detect blood Qi? Why did the ‹Blinding Flash› rune emit light? Why could the ‹Barrier› rune create an impenetrable barrier?
The effects were obvious. But Su Hao wasn't interested in just the effects—he craved the knowledge of why those effects occurred in the first place.
It was like how people in his old world knew that light bulbs could illuminate, fans could spin, and microwaves could heat food, but few knew the intricate science behind those processes.
The people of this world were similar; they understood that runes could create special effects once activated, but only a handful could explain why.
It wasn't that they avoided research—their initial approach had been "flawed".
Modern science in his previous world was based on the study of external materials and energy.
But in this world, people focused on the body, developing biological energy (Qi) and pushing the limits of individual strength. When it came to runes, they either viewed them as divine gifts or as the treasures of fierce beasts.
They studied how to harness these runes for power, reaching incredible combat abilities, but never explored the fundamental reasons behind their effects.
Few had the curiosity or knowledge base like Su Hao, who immediately questioned not just how to use runes, but what truly powered them.
Even if some people thought like Su Hao, they lacked his extensive knowledge base and were often left fumbling in the dark, ultimately giving up in frustration.
"These runes must have underlying principles, much like how electricity generates magnetism, magnetism generates electricity, thermal energy can be transformed into electrical energy, electrical energy converts into light, and so forth. Blood Qi, as an energy source, operates according to specific rules and inevitably generates a special force field when those rules are followed. Multiple force fields then combine, causing blood Qi to undergo unique transformations, resulting in observable effects like ‹Blinding Flash›, ‹Barrier› and so on."
Su Hao's eyes blazed with excitement, and his entire body trembled as he absorbed this newfound knowledge. This was an entirely new science field [Biological based energy]!
'I want to deconstruct every rune, to unravel all the secrets hidden within! How does blood Qi generate force fields? What are the properties of these force fields? How do you control the intensity of a force field?'
He couldn't wait any longer.
Su Hao took a deep breath, calming his excitement, and entered his Marble space.
"[Little Light], set up a rune experiment table."
A circular experiment table materialized in the living room of his Marble Space.
"Deconstruct the runes: ‹Perception›, ‹Barrier›, ‹Blinding Flash›, ‹Control›, and ‹Extract›."
[Please set deconstruction parameters.]
After pondering for a moment, Su Hao instructed, "Divide each rune into ten equal parts based on their operational patterns."
[Deconstruction complete.]
After saving his progress, Su Hao continued to deconstruct the runes based on structural complexity, breaking them into small segments, annular structures, special curves, and more.
Within moments, with [Cosmic Light]'s assistance, Su Hao had deconstructed all the runes into various forms and categorized them.
"Now, it's time to conduct experiments on each fragment and observe their effects."
Su Hao finalized his plan and listed the necessary precautions.
"There are still challenges to address. Some force fields are invisible to the naked eye, so specific experimental tools and equipment will be required. I need to research this world's material science resources. But the good news is that my master rune is ‹Perception›, being highly sensitive to blood Qi, would allow him to track subtle changes."
Su Hao looked around his dormitory and frowned. "It seems this place is no longer suitable. It's time to relocate."
He glanced at the four beast vein scrolls in his hand and smiled mysteriously, "If I can sell these, it'll be a fortune."
"But that will have to wait until Acadamy starts!"
At this moment, there were still ten days left before the start of the new term.
Su Hao wasn't in a rush. He planned to fully digest the books he had snatched during this period and then visit the town to finalize his shopping list.