In the rune system, the part that dominates the system’s function is called the ’Core Node’.

In the world of runes, this node is also known as the ’Leading Rune’.

The leading rune usually contains no more than nine bytes, yet it can support the core function of an entire component, transforming the wizard’s ideas from a few pieces of rare metal and gemstones, several unrelated spells, bonded with a few drops of ink, into a finished product with complete functionality.

The most typical example is the ’Suiyang Rune’ (also known as the ’Huanglong Rune’ or ’Rulai Talisman’) in the Alchemy War Doll Huangjin Lishi, which contains three ’Yellow Dragons’ (representing the three luminaries) and one ’Bird’ (representing destiny). According to classical Talisman Studies interpretation, when the ’Destiny Bird’ in the rune is called, it summons the Yellow Turban Warrior to help you achieve your goals; while ’Yellow Dragon’ refers to the three celestial lights of sun, moon, and stars. The ancients said, ’imitate the immortals on the post-earth, and shine together with the three luminaries’. By calling upon the energy of the three luminaries and the Destiny Bird, wizards can gain the blessing of high power in the world, thereby using the Suiyang Rune to obtain the power of invocation, and ultimately bring the Yellow Turban Warrior to life.

And at this moment, in this scroll, Zheng Qing has been carefully identifying for a long time, yet he cannot find a rune that could be called a ’core’. The runes attached to each other give the impression that they are merely coincidentally there, without understanding why they are there.

But eventually, he focused his attention on a few runes that initially seemed somewhat abrupt.

"Could it be the Liu Qi Rune?"

The young teaching assistant’s fingertips lingered on the round star circles at the edge of the fabric paper for a long time, speaking uncertainly: "This should be the Jueyin Rune, this is the Shaoyin Rune, this is the Taiyin Rune... then over here is the Yangming Rune, Shaoyang Rune, Taiyang Rune. Although they have changed to a certain extent in the system, their essence has not changed, leaving six Qi Eyes... and all the surrounding runes are connected with these Six Paths, including those three Strengthening Runes. According to general rules, this Liu Qi Rune should be the ’Leading Rune’ in this rune system, it’s just..."

"Just?" Professor Qian squinted, seemingly noticing the boy’s hesitation.

Zheng Qing licked his slightly dry lips, his voice involuntarily lowered: "It’s just I remember the book said, the Liu Qi Rune is for sorting out ’human’... or rather sorting out the six flows of primordial energy of wind, heat, summer, damp, dry, and cold within the life body, so theoretically, it should only appear in magic rituals related to living beings... but those few Strengthening Runes are very clearly runes used to strengthen magic artifacts, absolutely not possible to be used on a person... no one can withstand the consequences of the Strengthening Rune, not even ogres or giants, the strengthening magic power would cause them to stiffen entirely from the inside out, turning into stone!"

"That’s enough, that’s enough."

Qian Jiuzhou clapped his hands gently, interrupting the young teaching assistant’s analysis, nodded with satisfaction, then took out a nearly transparent piece of fish skin paper and a feather pen with a metallic gloss from under the table, placing them on the spread-out scroll:

"This is a piece of fish skin paper tanned with a separation magic potion... and this feather pen, made of pure Valyrian steel, possesses very excellent magical conductivity. Your task is to copy and engrave the runes from the scroll onto the fish skin paper using this feather pen."

He first pointed to the Mithril Metal Plate initially placed on the table, then pointed to the scroll and feather pen spread out on the table, and finally pointed to the nearly transparent fish skin paper.

And Zheng Qing’s ears only heard the word ’etching’.

Not long ago, he had just learned the related concept in the Symbol Science class.

So-called etching, it is divided into ’wet etching’ and ’dry etching’, the former uses specially formulated etching liquid applied to the plate to complete the carving process through the magic potion corrosion; while the latter uses a special talisman pen that does not dip in ink (usually using a gemstone as the pen tip) to guide magic power into the metal plate, repeatedly engraving the rune until a tangible rune is formed on the fish skin paper.

From the perspective of the effect, there is no difference between the two.

The only difference is that wet etching craft cannot complete precise operations; the characteristic etching liquid can easily stain adjacent areas during the soaking process, causing base plate pollution; while dry etching, although it does not have these drawbacks, requires very high demands on the talisman maker, in addition to proficiency in runes, the talisman maker also needs to have a profound and unique understanding of the runes.

"Have you used a talisman board to engrave fish skin talisman paper?"

Without waiting for the young teaching assistant to answer, Qian Jiuzhou reached out, directly grabbed the boy’s wrist, placed it on the Mithril Metal Plate, and slightly emphasized: "Fish skin is not suitable for making talisman paper, but it has a big advantage — fish skin talisman paper can melt the runes on them onto the surface of metal or even gemstones without any loss... you must know, how difficult it is to directly etch runes on metal or gemstone surfaces!

But correspondingly, it is not easy to engrave runes that meet the requirements on fish skin talisman paper either.

Feel it, the rune traces on this talisman board are not smooth and continuous, but are twisted together with extremely fine metal threads... when you place the fish skin paper on the talisman board to start engraving, the Valyrian steel feather pen will not completely carve through the fish skin paper, but through those dense lines on the talisman board, creating a series of dense holes on the surface of the fish skin paper.

In this process, the lines on the talisman board will naturally guide the direction of your pen tip... And with what appears to be continuous strokes is actually not continuous, this ensures that the enclosed runes will not fall off the fish skin paper due to etching... the magic power follows your wrist, feather pen, pen tip, seeping into the Mithril Talisman Board through the dense holes on the fish skin paper, forming a complete magic loop, and ultimately leaving these runes intact on the fish skin paper."

Zheng Qing kept nodding continuously, like a pecking little chick.

"...That’s basically how it is, your task for the next week is to engrave the runes on the scroll onto the fish skin paper with precision, and once completed, both the fish skin paper and the scroll need to be returned to Assistant Team Leader Zhang Yu."

Saying this, Professor Qian paused, looked up at the young wizard in front of him, and asked a question: "Do you think what is the most important quality of a talisman maker?"

Zheng Qing pondered seriously for a few seconds.

"Focus?" he asked, somewhat unsure.

The professor shook his head: "It is finding ’balance’ — how to balance different runes on the same plate, making the function that needs to be highlighted more prominent, while minimizing or even erasing the functions that are not needed — during this process, the talisman maker needs to be particularly careful in dealing with the weight of the rune structure’s strokes, which stroke should be a bit heavier, force through the paper, which stroke should be a bit lighter, just enough connection, all requiring special attention... Life is the same, in learning and work, you should find the right balance, to become a truly excellent talisman maker."