Chapter 54 – Manipulation

As Su Hao approached the Academy, Radar perceived a strange Blood Qi fluctuation in the shadows outside the Academy. It was hidden cautiously, at a certain distance from the Academy grounds, seemingly afraid to enter the Academy’s territory.

This strange fluctuation was different from the vibrant vitality of normal humans, appearing somewhat ethereal and scattered, as if the Blood Qi would dissipate with the wind at any moment, yet it stubbornly gathered together.

This contradictory feeling piqued Su Hao’s interest.

Su Hao observed carefully with Radar. The Blood Qi was not strong, only at the level of a high-level elite, posing little threat to him.

He then continued to walk forward without a sound, always ready to counter.

When Su Hao was about 5 meters away, the other party moved.

Silent Movement circled behind Su Hao and launched an assault.

In the blink of an eye, he was behind Su Hao, bringing a chop down towards Su Hao’s neck.

“Trying to knock me out!” Su Hao immediately realized the attacker’s intent. He instantly recalled the news he heard in town today, wondering if Harmony, the attacker, was related to the disappearances in town.

It seemed the attacker had set their objectives on the students staying at the Academy.

Su Hao ducked his head, and the attacker’s chop missed.

He took a step back, behind the attacker, jumped up, grabbed the attacker by the back of the neck, and slammed him to the ground.

“Bang!”

The attacker’s face was forcefully slammed into the stone slab by Su Hao, scattering blood.

To Su Hao’s surprise, the attacker, despite taking such a heavy blow, let out no sound and struggled fiercely, trying to get up.

Su Hao frowned. The strange feeling intensified, as if the attacker felt no pain in his nose. Even a normal blow to the nose would make someone cry out, let alone being slammed directly onto the ground.

Seeing the attacker still resisting without any pattern, Su Hao simply grabbed him by the neck and lifted him up, then slammed him back to the ground.

“Pfft!”

The bleeding from his face intensified, looking like a broken chili oil packet spilled on the ground.

The attacker still struggled without a sound.

Su Hao then proceeded to break all of the attacker’s limbs, and once he was certain the attacker could no longer resist, Su Hao flipped him over.

His face was already bloody and mangled from being slammed by Su Hao, making it impossible to discern his features, but he appeared to be an ordinary middle-aged man.

Most peculiar were the middle-aged man’s eyes, which were unfocused and lifeless. His smashed mouth hung slightly open, saliva mixing with blood and flowing freely.

This is a lunatic! No consciousness!

Like a corpse under Manipulation.

“What is this? Could it be that some Ferocious Beasts have really infiltrated the town and are capturing Human Clans for Manipulation?”

Su Hao couldn’t figure out what was happening. Just as he was about to examine the strange Blood Qi within the middle-aged man, that peculiar Blood Qi suddenly began to vibrate violently and then slowly dissipated.

Su Hao was startled. Perceiving the location where the Blood Qi was dissipating, he immediately lifted the middle-aged man’s shirt.

The strange pattern on the middle-aged man’s abdomen was seen to sublimate and disappear rapidly, as if water marks were evaporating.

“Rune?” Su Hao was stunned for a moment. After the Rune disappeared, the middle-aged man’s body twitched and then became completely still.

Su Hao placed his fingers on the pulse on his neck. The pulse had stopped beating. He was dead.

“Using Rune Manipulation on a corpse?” Su Hao had never seen this before and was bewildered.

Seeing that no one was around, Su Hao quickly cleaned up the scene and left.

In two hours at most, someone would discover the body, and the Catalyst would come to handle it.

In any case, it had little to do with him afterwards.

Although the strange Rune evaporated quickly, Su Hao had already recorded it and could replicate it perfectly.

He planned to study it when he had time in the next couple of days.

… Back in the dormitory, Su Hao first found paper and pen and, following Little Light’s instructions, successfully drew the Rune he had seen.

After waiting for a moment, there was no effect.

Su Hao thought for a moment, then found a piece of wood and carved the Rune on it, but there was still no reaction.

“Does it need to be drawn on a living being with Blood Qi?” Su Hao wondered. He got up and went out. His radar instantly locked onto a tiny Blood Qi reaction: a Large Weasel in a corner.

In just a moment, Su Hao returned to the dormitory with the Large Weasel by its tail. The Large Weasel’s short limbs struggled desperately. After a while, it stared blankly ahead, resigned to its fate.

Su Hao first flipped the Large Weasel onto its back, tied its limbs with rope, and spread them out. He instinctively reached for a small knife to shave the fur off the poor Large Weasel’s belly.

Then he realized that fur wouldn’t affect the drawing. He chuckled self-deprecatingly and, under the Large Weasel’s terrified gaze, extended a finger and touched its belly.

Then, carefully controlling his Blood Qi, he began to draw according to Little Light’s instructions. This Rune was much simpler than Su Hao’s “Perception” Rune, but drawing it on such a small Large Weasel would not be easy.

A moment later, the drawing was successful. Su Hao withdrew his hand, breaking control of the Blood Qi. The Blood Qi instantly collapsed and then burst within the Large Weasel.

“Bang!”

Flesh and blood splattered all over Su Hao.

Su Hao was speechless. He silently gave the Large Weasel a thumbs-up. It had selflessly sacrificed its precious life for science and deserved his respect.

Then he began to ponder the reason for the failure.

Blood Qi could construct Runes within a living body, but once control was lost, it would burst and dissipate, failing to achieve a long-lasting effect.

“Why can others do it?”

“Materials, a carrier, or is this Rune incomplete?”

If Blood Qi energy is compared to an electric shock, and an electric shock needs the restraint of wires to follow a predetermined path, then does Blood Qi also require some kind of wire-like material to stably bind it within a defined range to achieve its effect?

Su Hao recalled the rapidly evaporating watermark on the man’s stomach, and the more he thought about it, the more likely it seemed. That watermark-like substance might be the material that stabilizes Blood Qi.

He then recalled a book he had read, “Mysterious Rune Masters.”

It described a group of mysterious people in this world who hid in the shadows, secretly researching forbidden knowledge. These people were called Rune Masters, and they researched Runes extracted from Beast Patterns.

The reason why Runes were listed as forbidden knowledge was because the earliest Rune Masters conducted extensive human experimentation, which was against ethics.

In order to research Runes, historical Rune Masters even committed numerous massacres. The catalyst sparked widespread outrage, and at some point, Rune Masters became synonymous with evil, hunted by everyone, even more so than Ferocious Beasts.

“Perhaps I need to find these Rune Masters to understand the secret of drawing Runes.”

Su Hao had never considered researching Runes from scratch himself; it wasn’t his style to ignore knowledge accumulated by others over countless years and try to do it alone.

It was like trying to innovate and research Harmony without fully understanding the knowledge of predecessors; most of the time, it would end in failure. This is because it’s usually not innovation, but rather repeating the failed paths of those before, wasting time.

Under the long-term task “Unravel the Secret of Runes” in his log, Su Hao created a sub-branch: “Seek Rune Masters, Acquire Rune Knowledge.”

Su Hao looked at his blood-splattered dormitory and let out a long sigh, murmuring, “If I have the means, I’ll set up a dedicated Laboratory.”

The thought of his empty pockets made his head throb.

So, the question is, how to make money quickly without wasting time?

Su Hao immediately dismissed the idea of preparing Chemistry supplies. Although it could yield significant profits, the initial preparation work was too extensive, and the return period was too long; he didn’t want to waste this time.

His ideal scenario was to find a plan that would both advance his Rune research and generate substantial income.

“Didn’t Teacher Liu say that a complete Beast Pattern is very expensive on the market?”

Thinking this, Su Hao formed a preliminary plan in his mind.

(End of Chapter)