High-level martial arts: Long spear with black flames to suppress demons.

This time, however, the shadowy figure was not carrying that terrifying spear.

"Good evening, senior."

Shen Chang'an knew this big shot had an eccentric temper, but he still greeted him politely.

The shadowy figure ignored his polite words, simply raising his right hand and waving it lightly in mid-air.

In an instant, hundreds and thousands of black runes emitting a faint glow appeared out of thin air, swirling and hovering around the shadowy figure like stars.

Then, the lesson began.

The shadowy figure flicked out a ball of black flame from its left hand, heading straight for the runes. The runes swirled rapidly, weaving in mid-air to form a black shield of light, firmly blocking the raging black flame.

Then, the shadowy figure changed its gesture. The array of runes in mid-air instantly changed its order, transforming into a stream of light that "slapped" onto the gray ground.

"boom!"

Without any delay, the runes imprinted on the ground instantly erupted with a powerful shockwave and flames, displaying astonishing power.

In the following moments, the shadowy figure demonstrated two other completely different uses. At times, the runes transformed into chains, fixing a mass of empty air in place; at other times, they transformed into streams of light that wrapped around the shadowy figure's arm, causing the oppressive aura emanating from it to surge dramatically.

Shen Chang'an stood still, staring intently without blinking, his mind racing.

He understood. This mysterious, shadowy figure wasn't planning to teach him gunplay or hand-to-hand combat today; instead, he was going to impart advanced rune techniques to him.

The four variations just shown correspond to the four core uses of runes: defense, instant detonation, immobilization control, and enhancement enchantment.

Before Shen Chang'an could fully digest this knowledge, the shadowy figure flicked his finger, and a "defense" rune emitting a ghostly glow floated to Shen Chang'an's front, hovering in mid-air.

The meaning is obvious.

Copy the drawing.

Shen Chang'an took a deep breath, raised his right hand, and condensed a wisp of spiritual power at his fingertips, beginning to trace the complex rune trajectory in mid-air.

The beginning stroke, the turning point, the outline.

The runes' texture resembled a complex microscopic spiderweb, easily distorted with the slightest carelessness. Just as Shen Chang'an reached the third turning point, the spiritual energy at his fingertips trembled slightly, causing the line to deviate by half an inch.

"laugh--"

Before Shen Chang'an could react, a cluster of black flames shot out from the shadowy figure's fingertip without mercy, slamming directly into Shen Chang'an's shoulder.

"hiss--!"

A piercing, burning pain instantly spread throughout his body. Shen Chang'an gasped in pain and couldn't help but grimace.

In the dream world, the pain caused by this black flame is amplified several times, making it even more painful than being stabbed in the face in reality.

But when he glanced at the indifferent black figure, he swallowed back the retort that was on the tip of his tongue. He knew all too well that this big shot's teaching method was always this simple and brutal.

No nonsense, if you draw it wrong, you burn it.

Shen Chang'an gritted his teeth, enduring the lingering pain in his shoulder, raised his hand again, and gathered spiritual power at his fingertips. He stared intently at the runes in front of him and began his second attempt.

After drawing runes all night in the dream space, when Shen Chang'an opened his eyes, the clock on the wall was already past eight o'clock.

Although he had exited the dream, the stinging pain deep within his soul, repeatedly scorched by the black flames, remained incredibly clear; it was as if he could smell the burning flesh with the slightest movement. Fortunately, he had already been tempered and refined in that space, so he still possessed this much endurance.

Moreover, the hardships of that night were not in vain; he gained a great deal. He not only understood the operating logic of the runes, but also successfully mastered the defensive [Defense] and the explosive [Explosion], and also had a general understanding of [Control] and [Enchanting].

Shen Chang'an got out of bed, went into the bathroom and took a hot shower, letting the warm water wash away the fatigue and pain, and relaxed completely.

After changing my clothes and going downstairs, I found Zhang Qingqing's door still closed, clearly indicating that this young lady was still sleeping in.

In the restaurant on the first floor, Li Yue placed freshly heated soy milk and fried dough sticks on the table, while Zhang Hai, wearing reading glasses, watched the morning news.

"You're awake? Come and eat while it's hot."

Li Yue greeted him with a smile.

Shen Chang'an pulled out a chair and sat down, munching on a fried dough stick while chatting with the two elders.

Incidentally, he also wanted to try out the runes he had learned last night in real life.

According to his understanding, there are two ways to use runes. The first is to draw them in the air like a black shadow and release them instantly, which requires the caster to personally control spiritual power; the second is to imprint the runes on a certain medium to make them into amulets.

"Uncle Zhang, do you still have any leftover yellow paper or talisman paper at home?"

Shen Chang'an swallowed his soy milk and asked.

Zhang Hai paused for a moment, then put down the newspaper: "Yes, I do. I kept a few as souvenirs when I retired. What do you need those for?"

"Let's research something new."

Zhang Hai didn't ask any more questions. He got up and went to the study to rummage around for a while. He took out an old wooden box, pulled out a few slightly yellowed blank talismans, and handed them to Shen Chang'an.

Shen Chang'an wiped his hands, laid a talisman flat on the table, and gathered a wisp of spiritual power with a dark red flame at his fingertips. He replayed the pattern of the [Guard] symbol in his mind, and his fingers moved quickly across the paper.

However, the last stroke had just been made.

With a muffled "poof," the talisman didn't even last half a second before turning into a small pile of ashes.

"no."

Shen Chang'an shook his head.

"The 'Guard' technique requires continuous extraction and maintenance of the spiritual energy barrier; ordinary yellow paper simply cannot withstand this level of power flow."

Next, he changed to a different talisman, this time inscribed with the character "Explosion".

As the last stroke was completed, a faint dark red light flashed across the talisman paper, then quickly receded, making the entire paper feel heavy.

"It's done."

Shen Chang'an looked at the completed explosive talisman, lost in thought. Explosive talismans are consumables that release all their power at once, requiring no carrier to continuously circulate spiritual energy. Therefore, ordinary talisman paper can barely be used as a one-time bomb.

However, if we want to make a talisman for the two elders, we must first solve the problem of the carrier.

Looking at the ashes on the table, Zhang Hai seemed to have figured out what was going on. He turned around and went back to his study. A short while later, he took out a more exquisite brocade box. When he opened it, he found several pieces of warm-colored, high-quality jade pendants lying quietly inside.

"Drawing a high-level formation on ordinary paper will naturally cause it to spontaneously combust."

Zhang Hai pushed the jade stone in front of Shen Chang'an.

"Try this. It's something I kept from when I worked at the Town Night Division. It costs about ten contribution points to exchange for one of these in the bureau's internal shop. It's a great carrier of spiritual energy. I usually keep it as a little toy."

Shen Chang'an's eyes lit up, and he picked up a piece of jade.

He channeled his spiritual power once more, his fingertip steadily touching the surface of the jade. As the profound runes seeped in little by little, a mysterious black fire pattern gradually appeared inside the originally translucent jade, flowing slowly in the center of the jade as if it were alive.

The jade remained intact, successfully withstanding the pressure of the [Guardian] magic.

Shen Chang'an drew two pieces in one go and handed them to Zhang Hai and Li Yue respectively.

"Uncle Zhang, Aunt Li, please keep these two jade pendants close to your body."

Shen Chang'an gave earnest instructions.

"My defensive spells are sealed inside. They will automatically activate when danger arises, and should be able to withstand a lot of attacks. However, I'm not sure about the exact limit yet. I'll test it at the branch's training ground today and then let you know."

Li Yue happily accepted the jade pendant and immediately found a red string to wear around her neck: "Oh my, our Chang'an people are so sensible, they know how to care for others."

After breakfast, Shen Chang'an slung his guitar case over his shoulder, said goodbye, and headed out to the Qingzhou District branch.

The restaurant fell silent.

Zhang Hai held the warm jade pendant in his palm, his thumb gently stroking the faint black fire pattern inside the jade. He frowned slightly and muttered to himself.

"This technique and the direction of the array patterns... are definitely not any of the common spells in the Night Guard's library. I wonder where this kid learned it from."

As a seasoned veteran who had worked his way up in the system, Zhang Hai could easily see through the scheme. He had actually guessed some of the secrets Shen Chang'an was hiding.

The "attribute manifestation" of a normal fifth-realm expert after their dantian transforms into a sea is mostly the most common and conventional attributes in nature, such as wind, water, fire, and earth. Occasionally, someone will possess the "thunder" attribute, and that's considered an extremely rare genius.

But Zhang Hai, who had lived most of his life, had never seen or heard of Shen Chang'an's dark red "black flames."

That destructive power, which seems capable of devouring all life and burning everything, would probably be able to hold its own against even the most powerful lightning magic, and might even be superior.

After staring at the jade pendant for a long time, Zhang Hai's tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and then he smiled freely and put the jade pendant into his inner pocket.

"Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. It's a good thing that young people can have their own adventures and hidden advantages."