Cult of the Sacred Runes

‘Kid, I have given you the chance. What you can learn from me is very powerful; so powerful, in fact, even prime Warriors would kill to learn my techniques. Just imagine, if you could create a Heaven stance!’ the Progenitor tried to sound calm and collected, so he wouldn’t raise Ye Wei’s suspicion.

‘Fine then, let’s cut the crap, and tell me what I should do!’ Ye Wei glared at the hourglass. Time was passing too fast. Desperately but deliberately, Ye Wei pulled the dark, glowing scale out of his bag.

‘That’s right, good decision! Being stubborn won’t do you any good! What is most important now is passing the exam not stressing out!’ The Progenitor persuasively replied.

‘Stamp this hand seal onto the scale. Once done, you will finally understand my power that I can offer. Although this will only give you a small portion, it will be good enough for you to at least compose a Earth stance out of the experience!’ the Progenitor explained He sent a mental image of a sequence of hand shapes directly into Ye Wei’s mind.

The complexity of the hand seals were too much for Ye Wei to understand right then. However, he still strangely replicated them as if he was guided by muscle memory.

Ye Wei felt a weird sensation similar to answering a question he didn’t even understand. As well, he couldn’t comprehend how the hand seals could cause him harm after briefly studying them. Not willing to waste any more time, he channeled his Qi and will-force. His hands became a blur as he quickly reproduced the hand seals and placed his hand onto the scale.

Suddenly an ancient present flooded his mind the moment his skin touched the black scale.

“Bang! Bang!”

Ye Wei fell into a trance. No longer was he in control of his body or mind. Rather, he felt an existential experience, a separation of the mind from the body. He was floating in a borderless, expansive starry space; it took him some time to gain awareness of his surroundings. Finally, he recognized that he was on the back of a monster, which stretched over ten kilometers. They were being propelled through the indefinite distance by three pairs of large wings. Because they were travelling so quickly, he felt stationary while the universe around him was spinning. He could not logically reason out the environment around him; however, as he slowly looked at his transporter that was the least of his worries. The monster’s body shone golden like the setting sun. Ye Wei could see its face as it rose its head,howling in the darkness surrounding it.Now, he could identified the creature which carried him. It was one of the legendary beasts – a sky wolf.

The beast noticed Ye Wei, and all of a sudden, Ye Wei was overwhelmed by its pressure. He felt an intense corruption of his mind.

The wolf vigorously struck its wings, exploding into a mysterious golden beam of light that extended infinitely.

Ye Wei was completely stunned, paralyzed. Sitting on the beast’s back, he saw the infinite combination of runes in the trail of light that he became a part of.

Although demons are not capable of using stances, the stronger ones were able to channel the power in their blood exactly how cultivators use runes sequences to multiply the power within their blood. This transformation Ye Wei saw of the sky wolf was a demonic technique that had the power of a Heaven stance – Star Blink.

For Ye Wei would never learn this powerful technique that allowed its user to travel light years in the blink of an eye. It was almost inhumanly impossible; nevertheless, all Ye Wei needed was just a spark of inspiration and after seeing the sky wolf, his mind filled with ideas, inspiration that could only be gained through experience or, for Ye Wei’s case, a sky wolf.

‘Star Blink!’

‘Spindrift Steps!’

‘Star Shifter form!’

All these stances and forms, old and new, constantly flooded Ye Wei’s head. The runes Zuo Qiu Ming showed the candidates began to come together, one hundred and twenty-eight runes began to form in Ye Wei’s mind.

Those one hundred and twenty-eight runes floated back and forth, slowly assembling together.

Wary of the sinister effect it may bring, the Progenitor’s plot, Ye Wei did not reproduce, but, instead, he used the principal of its energy flow to link the puzzle pieces in his head together.

While Ye Wei was processing the rush and quantity of information, Zuo Qiu Ming was lamenting. Pacing in the hall and inspecting the four remaining candidates, he reasonably thought that Lu Feng would be the only person passing the exam today.

Four hours, two hours...

The remaining twelve hours would soon be over, and Zuo Qiu Ming became more and more certain no one else would pass..

At the exact moment the last grain of sand was dropping in the hourglass, a milky white pillar of energy dropped down and devoured Ye Wei.

“This is cosmic energy!” Zuo Qiu Ming stared at the hefty pillar with widened, disbelieving eyes. His face displayed an undisguised expression of shock.

“High-level Spirit stance!”

Zuo Qiu Ming easily discerned that the amount of cosmic energy, which descended was vastly superior to Lu Feng’s stance.

“How is this possible!?” Lu Feng stared, amazed at this teenager who sat inside the cosmic energy pillar. Of course, he enviously frowned, shocked that someone, especially someone so young, had out beat him. ‘How can a sixteen year old create a high-level Spirit stance in a day!?’ it’s f**king impossible!’

Lu Feng was completely startled. He just could not believe his eyes. This scenario was so improbable, for a second, he thought he was hallucinating. He never heard of anyone of this age managing to create any stance at all; and, now, he just witnessed a teenager passing the Runemaster entry exam by creating a high-level Spirit stance.

“Hahaha! I have actually lived and was the protector the day an unbelievable genius passed the exam!” Zuo Qiu Ming was lost in a mixture of emotions, so strong he started to laugh hysterically.

“He actually just created a high-level Spirit stance...” Lu Feng was still struggling to believe what he saw, but Zuo Qiu Ming’s hysterical laughter confirmed that he was not hallucinating. A sixteen-year-old boy just created a high-level Spirit stance from only basic runes, passing the remainder of the Runemaster union entrance exam to become the youngest Runemaster ever recorded in the history of Qing state.

The previous record holder was Ke Bai. He managed to pass the entrance exam at the age of eighteen. Now, when Ye Wei just surpassed him, he had the position of Runemaster Union’s Qing state regional president and also the only one-star Grand-Runemaster in the state.

Being a Grand-Runemaster meant that Ke Bai influenced those who lived all across the Zhou dynasty’s land and even the royals who sometimes consulted him when it came to strategic matters of the dynasty’s security.

Ye Wei just broke the Grand-Runemaster’s old record. Familiar with the big names and legacies in the Runemaster Union, Zuo Qiu Ming saw what just had happened in front of his eyes, a miracle. He could no longer contain himself.

“I will report this to the president as soon as possible, so that they can notify the head quarters. This kind of news is too big just to be included in the regular reports!”

“What happened today doesn’t guarantee him being equal in power to President Ke, but it certainly places him in the Seven New Runes!” Zuo Qiu Ming excitedly looked at Ye Wei, amused by his new discover, the groundbreaking young genius and thinking how this could bring the union to its new height.

Like the God’s Seven, the Seven New Runes represented the seven best young talent of the state, but, unlike God’s Seven, the Runes specifically refer to youngsters with runic talents.

As Runemasters are rare among cultivators, the Seven New Rune title is even more prestigious than the one Ye Wei gained a couple days ago.

As the last grain of sand in the hourglass fell, the entry exam ended. Ye Wei had absorbed all the cosmic energy surrounding him.

‘Two-stars condensed prime!’

Ye wei opened his eyes, clenched his fist, and felt a burst of energy coming out of the newly formed golden crack on the silver Qi ball in his dantian.

The amount of cosmic energy Ye Wei acquired greatly exceeded what he’ve gotten so far from refining stances. Not only did he break through, his Sentient was also upgraded to yellow grade.

During the past three-year training under Master Yi, Ye Wei’s Sentient transformed to orange grade and now under the nourishment of the vast cosmic energy his Sentient underwent another transformation.

‘This speed enhancement stance is based on the dog’s Star Blink, and translated to a stance using the runic principals that constructed Spindrift Steps and Star Shifter form, let’s call it Starblink Steps haha!’ Thought Ye Wei. Although it was just a high-level Spirit stance, it was inspired by a Heaven stance and had great potential to be refined.

Ye Wei thought the perfect form of this stance could well be either an Earth or a Sky stance.

“Although Starblink Steps is only a high-level Spirit stance, I believe I will be able to match the speed of a cultivator two levels above me...” Ye Wei murmured to himself as he reviewed his proud creation.

‘Humm, I incorporated the Qi flow of Star Shifter form for its energy sustain, but I think Starblink Steps could actually help me deflect attacks due to its smooth and slippery Qi flow!’ Ye Wei activated the stance. He felt unrestrained by gravity. Weightless, each small step Ye Wei took him farther than was possible before, via a slight arced path.

‘Why didn’t you just learn my Star Blink technique!?’ The Progenitor’s screamed, echoing in Ye Wei’s Sentient, ‘you foolish insolent brat!’

‘The Star Blink technique is as strong as a Heaven stance! Using only itsminimal potential would be the same as performing a Myst stance. It was created by me and therefore not recorded in any human archive! You could have claimed this greatness and made yourself famous!’

‘It’s not hard to translate my technique into those three hundred and thirty-six runes...’

‘Your pathetic creation stinks like a hundred of mounds of horse shit! The stench insults me! Plagiarizing brat!’ The Progenitor was furious., Ye Wei was not as foolish as he believed or wanted him to be. If only Ye Wei would have mimicked his technique, the demonic energy would flow in Ye Wei’s body and resonate with the Progenitor’s presence, allowing the demon ancestor to take control. Yet, Ye Wei maneouvered precisely out of the jackal demon’s scheme.

The Progenitor became furious as his second attempt to conquer Ye Wei also failed; he could not believe he was outsmarted by a being less than ten thousandth his age.

‘Old dog, there is no point being mad. I will be taking precautions every step I take and with every decision I make. I am young but I am not naive unlike you!’

‘I have been warned, and I am protected. You should just stay quiet before I either get rid of you or make use of you!’ Taunting the Progenitor, Ye Wei attempted to enrage the old demon, so he could have some peace.