A few hours later, I stood in front of the full-length mirror in my guest room, examining my handiwork in the dim light.

"Better to keep the more obvious runes hidden," I murmured, tracing the interlocking triangles that formed the hexagonal pattern on my stomach – the Titan's Crest.

"Yes, Master," Azure agreed. "Cultivators would recognize runic patterns, even if they couldn't decipher their exact purpose."

I nodded. In this world, anyone who saw patterns like these would immediately assume they were formations of some kind. And while they wouldn't be entirely wrong, it was better to avoid unnecessary questions.

The exceptions were runes like the Explosive Seed, etched into my right index finger, and the Vine Whip rune on the back of my right hand. Some patterns simply worked better in specific locations.

My gaze drifted to the pair of black gloves sitting on the desk – another gift from Wei Lin. I'd offered to pay for them, but he'd just laughed.

"These?" he'd said with a dismissive wave. "I never wear them. Not my style at all. Besides, I'm sure you'll make better use of them than I would."

The gloves would completely cover my hands, perfect for maintaining a low profile, at least until I no longer needed them.

Taking stock of my progress, I mentally cataloged the runes I'd inscribed so far:

The Fundamental Rune on my chest, its tree-like pattern branching out from just above my heart. Below it, the Worldroot Conduit's endless knot design created the pathways needed for elemental manipulation. The Woodweave Seal sat on the right side of my chest, ready to provide healing if needed.

The Titan's Crest on my abdomen would give me bursts of enhanced strength, while the Blink Step rune on my left thigh would let me cover short distances instantly. The Vine Whip and Explosive Seed runes on my right hand would give me ranged attack options.

That left only two runes from my original set: the Aegis Mark and the flying rune. The latter wasn't a priority – flying wasn't exactly common at the Qi Condensation level anyway. Better to keep that particular trick hidden for now.

The Aegis Mark, however... I sighed, trying to twist around to see my own back. That one would have been extremely useful for the fight with Chen Wu. Unfortunately, some places were simply impossible to reach alone.

Now would be a really great time to develop some sort of cloning ability.

"You seem troubled, Master," Azure observed.

"Just frustrated," I replied, giving up on my contortionist attempts. "If I had more time, I could probably figure out how to manipulate vines precisely enough to inscribe the pattern."

"Do you trust them enough for that level of detail work?"

“No, which is exactly why I'd need time to practice first. One wrong line and the whole rune could backfire spectacularly."

"The physical runes are only a temporary solution anyway," Azure reminded me. "Once you’re proficient at pure energy inscription, location won't matter."

"True." I nodded, thinking of the eventual goal.

Once I mastered creating runes purely from energy, I could integrate them directly into my elemental system. Then it wouldn't matter which world I traveled to; I would have access to my Skybound cultivation.

I moved to the private training ground to begin testing out the runes to make sure there were no nasty surprises.

Starting with the Woodweave Seal, I made a shallow cut on my arm with Wei Lin's knife, then activated the rune. Wooden fibers emerged sluggishly from the edges of the wound, their growth uneven and stuttering.

I frowned in concentration, trying to guide the process like Elder Molric had shown me, but healing had never been my strong suit. The fibers wove together clumsily, forming a rough, bark-like patch that barely covered the cut.

"Your control needs work," Azure observed diplomatically.

Looking at the unsightly patch, then at the miniature blue sun in my inner world, a thought occurred to me.

"What is it, Master?"

"What would happen if I tried channeling the blue sun's energy into the Fundamental Rune?"

"Given that these runes were likely created by Skybound cultivators specifically to channel the red sun's energy," Azure replied, "it would be surprising if they could handle the blue sun's energy."

"Would there be some sort of explosion if I tried?" I asked, only half-joking.

"No," Azure assured me. "The Fundamental Rune wasn't designed to explode upon encountering different energy types. It will most likely just reject any energy it wasn't designed for."

"Well, in that case I might as well give it a try." I reached for the blue sun's energy, my eyes flashing azure as I carefully directed a small amount towards the Fundamental Rune.

The silvery pattern began to absorb the energy for a brief moment before quickly rejecting it, pushing it back out without any other reaction.

I sighed. "What about the other runes?"

I activated the Titan's Crest and tried channeling the blue sun's energy through it, but nothing happened at all.

"It seems these runes were not built with the blue sun's energy in mind," Azure observed.

I shook my head, then paused as another thought occurred to me. "Azure," I said slowly, "you know how the red sun's energy gives off that demonic aura when I use it?"

"Yes, Master."

"What if I channeled the blue sun's energy through my body at the same time I activate one of the runes using the purified red sun’s energy? Wouldn't its overwhelming righteousness mask the demonic qualities?"

There was a moment of silence before Azure responded. "That's actually something I've been wanting to suggest you try. Shall we test it now with the Woodweave seal? You still have that cut to heal after all."

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Might as well," I replied, glancing at the unsightly bark-like patch. "It certainly can't make it look any worse."

I channeled the blue sun's energy through my body, and not into the rune itself. My eyes flashed azure, the righteousness of it was almost overwhelming – like being dunked in holy water while a choir of angels sang overhead.

The wooden fibers suddenly grew, weaving together in patterns that matched my skin's texture perfectly. Within seconds, what had been a rough patch now looked like it had been crafted by a master healer.

I stared at the seamless healing, mind racing. The two energies hadn't just coexisted - they'd enhanced each other. “Azure... what if the two suns aren't meant to be enemies at all? What if they're actually meant to work together?”

“An interesting theory, Master, the priests and skybound cultivators saw them as opposing forces, but maybe that was their mistake.”

I nodded slowly, watching the last traces of red and blue energy fade from the now-perfect healing patch. “The red sun brings destruction, the blue sun brings life - but maybe you need both for true cultivation.”

"Master, we still need to test if the blue sun's energy truly masks the demonic aura,” Azure reminded me. “The Woodweave Seal's energy signature was quite subtle - perhaps we should try something more dramatic?"

I nodded as I carefully added the red sun's power into the Titan's Crest. The usual demonic undertones seemed to dissolve into the blue sun's radiance.

A quick Blink Step took me to a training dummy, where a simple punch reduced it to scattered fragments of wood and straw.

I couldn't help but smile, even as I thought about how impressive that would have been if I didn't know these particular dummies were only designed to handle attacks up to the 4th Stage of Qi Condensation.

"Did any of the red sun's aura leak through?" I asked.

"None that I could detect," Azure replied. "Though you did appear to be the very model of righteous power."

"Let's not go quite that far down that road,” I shuddered slightly, remembering the fanatical light priests. “And let's see if that holds true for the elemental runes as well."

Maintaining the blue sun's energy coursing through my body, I activated the Vine Whip rune. The plants growing around the training ground responded instantly, three thick vines rising from the earth like serpents. I guided them through a series of complex movements, pleased with how responsive they were. The vines struck another training dummy, wrapping around it tight enough to leave deep grooves in the wood.

Finally, I tested the Explosive Seed.

Still keeping both energies flowing, I touched my right index finger to the ground, channeling power through the tiny rune. A small, innocent-looking seed appeared where my finger had been. I Blink Stepped back about twenty meters, then triggered the detonation.

The explosion wasn't huge, but it was focused - perfect for creating distractions or setting traps.

"Even with the elemental manipulations, I couldn't detect any trace of the demonic aura," Azure confirmed. "The blue sun's energy seems to mask it completely, regardless of which rune you're using, but you might want to check your stats.”

The familiar display appeared before my eyes:

Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 4

Inner World: 135 cubic meters

Soul Essence: 850/850

Spiritual Essence: 800/800

Physical Essence: 800/800

My eyes widened. I thought I felt something different when channeling both energies together, but seeing the numbers confirmed it. "The spiritual essence..."

"Yes," Azure confirmed. "It seems each energy source has its specialty. The red sun primarily affects physical essence, the blue sun influences soul essence, and using them together provides a boost to spiritual essence."

"And that's just with raw blue sun energy," I mused. "If I could create something similar to the Fundamental Rune for it, the soul essence increase would probably be permanent – maybe even double what we're seeing now. And the spiritual essence boost from combining them would likely increase as well."

“Master, I believe you may be right about the two suns. They don't seem to be opposing forces at all, but rather complementary ones that work best in harmony."

I nodded. The possibilities were intriguing, but they'd have to wait. I had no immediate plans to return to the Two Suns world. Being transformed into pure light once was enough for now, thank you very much.

I let the blue sun's energy fade, my stats returning to normal. My eyes stopped glowing, and that overwhelming sense of righteousness receded to manageable levels.

The sun was high in the sky by the time I finished cleaning up the remains of the training dummies, I did the best I could, though I suspected the Wei family servants were used to cleaning up after cultivation practice.

Back in my room, I finally allowed myself to feel the bone-deep exhaustion that came with inscribing so many runes in one night. Even with the blue sun's energy keeping me going, my body needed rest to properly integrate all the new patterns.

As I lay down, I couldn't help but smile slightly. Less than two days until the duel with Chen Wu. Hopefully Wei Lin would have detailed information about his fighting style by the time I wake up – he seemed to take intelligence gathering very seriously.

"You know what they say," I murmured as sleep began to take hold, "battles are won in the preparation, not the execution."

"That's very wise, Master," Azure replied. "Though I believe the original quote was about war, not individual battles."

"Same principle," I yawned. "And tomorrow, we continue our preparation."