Xiuxian: I use magnetic fields to prove my truth

Chapter 156 Not Afraid of Not Taking the Bait
When asked about his recent experiences, Wu Tao had a lot to say.

Wu Tao said, "Master Bai has become even more extreme than before. First, you created the Heaven-defying formation of Anti-Qing Restoration, making you a rising star in the entire sect's formation field. Then, you created Thorn Entanglement, opening up sales channels in the business world and taking a big bite out of the formation court's financial path. Master Bai hates you to the bone."

"He couldn't do anything to you, so he had to torment us, especially us disciples who knew you."

“He always suspects us of colluding with you and selling court information. He investigates us every few days, and now everyone tries to avoid him.”

"I've taken a huge risk to come to you today."

Zhou Qing understood his unspoken meaning perfectly: I took a huge risk to come to you, so you can't let me down with the good thing you promised.

Zhou Qing chuckled inwardly, thinking, "As long as you're interested in profit, you're already in our grasp."

Instead of getting to the point, he said, “Since Master Bai is so extreme and unreasonable, you might as well leave the Array Academy and come work for me.”

“My scale is much smaller than that of the Array Court, but the staff is also much more streamlined, so the results may not be worse than those of the Array Court.”

Wu Tao smiled but did not respond.

He had high hopes for Zhou Qing's potential, but potential and reality are two different things, and too many people in this world cannot turn their potential into reality.

Wu Tao didn't have the courage to ask Zhou Qing to give up his current job at the court, given his potential.

Wu Tao asked, "What is it that you summoned me here today?"

Seeing that he wouldn't agree, Zhou Qing didn't continue to persuade him. He said, "I heard that when Sect Leader Bai used new runes to construct the array, the research room exploded. Is that true?"

Wu Tao immediately became wary and said, "Master Bai has given a strict order not to reveal any information about the new runes to you. Don't make things difficult for me."

That guy is really clever; he saw through his scheme at a glance.

However, seeing through things is useless. As long as there is still a desire for profit in one's heart, one will always take risks.

Zhou Qing shook his head and said, "Brother Wu, why are you so wary? The rune is in your brain. Are we going to open your brain and dig it out? Brother Wu, just put your mind at ease. We are old friends, and I will not harm you."

Wu Tao smiled to ease the awkward atmosphere and said, "I'm mainly scared of Master Bai."

"What you said did happen. This kind of news can't be kept secret. Everyone in the sect should know about it."

Zhou Qing leaned forward and said mysteriously, "Brother Wu, I want to give you a great benefit."

Wu Tao hurriedly asked, "What benefits?"

Zhou Qing said, "The most prestigious job in the Array Academy is the one that best enhances the reputation of array masters. Brother Wu, do you know what that job is?"

Wu Tao blurted out, "Of course it's analyzing new runes. This is theoretical work, which is more profound and valued than applied work like constructing formations."

Zhou Qing nodded in satisfaction and said, "Think about how much benefit you can gain if I help you decipher these newly discovered runes from the Array Court."

Wu Tao looked intently at Zhou Qing and said, "You're still after the runes."

Zhou Qing laughed and said, "There are always gains and losses. If you want to gain benefits, you have to take risks."

"Cultivation is a matter of millions crossing a single-plank bridge. If you don't dare to take risks, how can opportunities fall into your lap out of thin air?"

Wu Tao fell into deep thought, weighing the pros and cons.

If Zhou Qingzhen can help him decipher the new runes, he will become a rising star in the Array Academy, and his promotion to a formal Array Master will be just around the corner. At that time, his status will be completely different.

For him to reach that level on his own, even if everything goes smoothly, it will take at least another ten years.

Ten years can change a lot. Therefore, the benefits of this deal are enormous.

However, the risks are also enormous.

If the White Master finds out that he revealed the runes to Zhou Qing, not only will he be expelled from the Formation Court, but he will also likely be pursued for the loss of the runes.

Currently, each rune traded on the market costs more than ten high-grade spirit stones, not to mention the various risks that may be involved in rune trading.

I couldn't afford to lose money even if I sold myself.

Seeing that he was struggling with his decision, Zhou Qing smiled and said, "Brother Wu, there's no need to rush to make a decision."

"We're old friends, I'll give you a rune analysis for free."

"The new rune that Headmaster Bai used to construct the formation this time, you can use the Gold 1127, Gold 39, Wood 651, Wood 883, and Water 461 runes to determine its correct properties. I believe you will soon be able to find out its correct properties."

Wu Tao was utterly shocked and blurted out, "How did you know?"

Deciphering the properties of runes is a very tedious and difficult task for array masters.

Determining the type of a rune, that is, the element it belongs to, is easy.

However, determining its five elements attribute only provides a very general understanding of the rune, which is of no help in constructing formations using the rune.

To truly utilize runes, one needs to understand their specific details.

This requires interacting unfamiliar runes with runes that have already been analyzed and observing the effects they produce to determine their identity.

Just like in geometry, to know the exact coordinates of a point, you can obtain it by its relative position to a known point.

However, studying runes is more complex.

Array masters need to constantly interact unfamiliar runes with many known runes before they can gradually figure out the properties of new runes.

Zhou Qing had already guessed that the talisman Jin Mang gave to Bai Muyun was a messed-up version of his Thorn Wrap.

Considering that Wei Kuang could not add runes to this disordered version, the new rune used by Bai Muyun could explode with this disordered version, which gave Zhou Qing enough clues to determine the approximate frequency range of this new rune.

So he pointed out a few runes to Wu Tao, instructing Wu Tao to use these runes in conjunction with the new runes, which would have a high probability of revealing the true nature of the new runes.

All of this was perfectly reasonable to Zhou Qing, but it was nothing short of a fantasy to Wu Tao.

He thought to himself that Zhou Qing clearly hadn't seen the new runes before, otherwise he wouldn't have needed to ask him. Yet Zhou Qing could point out several runes at will, guaranteeing that he could determine the properties of the new runes.

How could that be possible? If he really succeeded, his principles of formations would be overturned.

Although he thought this way, Wu Tao couldn't help but mutter to himself about Zhou Qing's past amazing performance.

What if he's right?
Let's go back and give it a try.

Wu Tao was immediately impatient. He got up to say goodbye to Zhou Qing and wanted to go back to conduct the experiment according to Zhou Qing's instructions.

"Wait a minute."

Zhou Qing called out.

Wu Tao turned around and looked at him with a puzzled expression.

(End of this chapter)