Cult of the Sacred Runes

“This boy is a monster! The palace is finally going to be more interesting place after all these years of peace!”

“He will stir up a storm. It’s about time for the top ten ranks to change up a bit, it has been the same for how long? Five years?” the elder’s green eyes glinted. He spoke in a relaxed, playful tone as he played with his beard.

“This is no ordinary child! I think he will be able to exclude himself from the whole humbling process we put initiates through.” The grey-robed elder stared into the mirror at the image of Ye Wei.

“Maybe you are right. How many howls do you think we will hear if he does get in?”

The golden-robed Helian Zhenshan and the grey-robed Helian Zhenkong shared a smiling look. Both of them were from the Zhen generation, their responsibility was to oversee the palace, keep the young and thriving egos under a certain degree of control.

“What kind of amplification stance do you think he is using? I have never seen anything quite like this.” Helian Zhenshan sounded slightly uncertain, he narrowed his eyes but the cyan glow remained bright, he frowned in front of the mirror’s rippling surface.

“I am not sure. But whatever he is using it’s not an original creation if that’s what you are thinking. This is not something a teenager is capable of composing.” Helian Zhenkong casually shook his head.

Neither of the them was overly interested in the stance itself as Qi compression was not an effective mean to improve one’s combat capabilities at god’s prime level. Furthermore, they didn’t have the suitable bodytype to practise amplification stances.

The Zhen generation elders were not planning to interrogate the young Runemaster, they were merely curious, and found Ye Wei’s technique inspiring. The Helian family’s foundation was built from the hard work of their recruits as much as their own bloodline’s strategic management. The elders respected talents and were not going to act against the family’s reward based approach just to satisfy their own interest.

“He is now as strong as Jin Kui with the amplification effect. I am not certain who is going to win now.” Helian Zhenshan’s eyes glinted bright. “I am going to activate the black dragon!”

Helian Zhenkong nodded, also filled with an air of expectancy.

The black dragon statue in the middle of the palace was engraved with ancient arrays left by the original Helians. Apart from its function as a notice board, it was also a tool to help the officials determine one’s potential.

“Do you think the dragon will howl for him? Or should I say how many times it will howl?”

Shrouded by a cloud of runes, the duo flashed towards the statue. Before spotted by anyone, they disappeared into the black dragon’s head.

Meanwhile in the ring, Ye Wei and Jin Kui had expanded their Qi presence to its limit.

“Now that we are almost at the same level, we will know if your stance is stronger than mine!” Ye Wei muttered, with his eyes on his target, he made a series of hand seals.

‘Selenic Reveal!’

A Selenic beast’s figure appeared behind Ye Wei, its energy presence reached the clouds. It quickly lifted its huge paws and pounced towards Jin Kui.

“Swoosh!”

The Qi spear quickly dissolved Before Jin Kui’s eyes could catch up with Ye Wei’s new-found dazing speed, The Selenic beast’s paw had already struck his back. A squirt of blood jetted out of his mouth as his body flew towards the square’s edge.

Just when Ye Wei gathered his strength for the finishing blow, the sky shook and the ground rattled. The black dragon statue opened its mouth and engulfed masses of primal energy, moments after it spat out a dark beam at the young Runemaster.

“What is this!?” Ye Wei was completely incapacitated by the darkness that surrounded him, and screamed in fear.

Staring at the sky, the initiates shook their heads in confusion while the veterans glared at the statue enviously.

“The elders actually activated the statue for this newbie!?”

“What have you been watching all this time? Didn’t you see how strong he is?”

Qing Mu, deeply jealous, casted his eyes at the statue then back to Ye Wei. Displeased and irritated by the attention the elders gave to Ye Wei, the amount of attention that had no initiate had ever gotten.

Qing Yao was emotionless but completely focused at the beam of dark energy.

Xue Er’s playful smile was replaced by an air of surprise. She was childish but not clueless.

After a short pause, the black dragon came alive and began to dance in the sky.

“Howl! Howl! Howl!” It shook three times exactly and its howls echoed through the palace. All the veterans were silent, anticipating.

“Hahaha! Just three howls? You won’t be better than me for long then! I will take my revenge soon!” Jin Kui laughed as he regained balance. Having earned five roars at his black dragon list induction, he felt liberated, felt that he was defeated by the initiate’s luck.

“Just three huh? So I was overreacting...” Qing Mu the Spiritualist muttered to himself then chuckled disdainfully.

“How is that possible?” Baili Hengtian was startled, could not believe an initiate who managed this much only triggered three howls. ‘Three howls is sufficient to get him on the list but he is the one that discontinued the bullying tradition of this palace, he has to be worth more than three howls...’

“That’s mediocre at best!”

“Some people are destined to shine bright then fall.”

“This is not unheard of, there were many initiates that made an impression, but the majority of them just lose their spirit, burnt out their talents before they climbed higher.”

The veterans were immediately discussing the sight, some were appreciating what they saw, and most were trying to make sense out of the strange experience.

Amongst the veterans were some weaker cultivators who were struggling to stay relevant and some of them made themselves known soon after their initiation. However the variation, the black dragon’s howl had never failed to predict the cultivators’ potential.

“What? What does that mean!?” Xue Er rolled her dark round eyes, then stared at the statue without blinking.

“Eh?” Qing Yao frowned slightly, confused by the occurrence.

As the spectating veterans were exchanging their views, Xue Er appeared right next to Ye Wei, after a glance she smiled and spoke. “ Hello, my name is Xue Er. The fact that the elders had activated the statue for you means that you are now on the black dragon list! You will be replacing Jin Kui and be relocated to the black dragon valley shortly! Congratulations!”

Xue Er’s soft purple clothing and innocent smile relaxed Ye Wei, he nodded and replied. “May I ask how I should interpret the three howls?”

“Three howls is good, it gets you in the valley. However, considering you are the first initiate to get onto the list, I think three howls is bad. Surprisingly bad!” Xue Er pressed her lips together, stopped speaking as she realised she might have gone a little too far.

“By surprising I mean it’s in no way accurate, you don’t strike me as the type that relies on luck. You are a creative fighter and I can see that you have been developing yourself from your versatility...” Just as she was running out of words, the dragon statue shook again.

“Howl! Howl! Howl!” Three more noises rang out from the dragon’s mouth.

“Three more? How is that possible?” Jin Kui’s smile froze and vanished, the shock in his eyes shone through as the dragon’s howl echoed the square.

‘Six howls? I am worse than this newbie in every way?’ Jin Kui was frustrated and scared that he will soon have to let go of the reputation and position he worked hard and long to achieve. Regretted to take on the task of humiliating the initiates.

“Woah! I knew it! I knew you deserve more than three howls! I’m so good!” Xue Er started dancing as if she was the person who got rated as a six-howl cultivator.

“You are, thank you for the kind expectation.” Ye Wei couldn’t help but giggled, amused by the childlike behaviour.

Although curious about the rating system, Ye Wei did not really care about the results. He was going to work as hard if he lost against the veterans today, as much as he would if he defeated everyone on his path. He believed in himself, believed that destiny is handcrafted.

‘The statue will not predict my future, I will just work as hard as my body can take it. Nothing is set in stone and nothing will limit me except the limit itself.’ The young Runemaster thought to himself.

The initiates were cheering but they did not understand fully that they just witnessed a historic moment. The veterans on the other hand knew that the six howls meant Ye Wei was most likely going to reach the summit of returned prime level and would even breakthrough to god’s prme level with a bit of luck.