Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 62 – Talents From Ning City

“Oh? A beast carriage? And there were only two of them?” A routine scouting report raised a green shirted youngster’s suspicion. “A skinny boy and a purple haired girl right?” His surveillance was concealed by many others who were looking in the same direction.

At the age of fifteen, Li Zi Yan looked way more mature and elegant than most teenage girls therefore it was not a surprise that she was drawing so much attention.

But simply watching them did not provide enough information so approached the couple, “Hi!” He greeted them while astounded by Li Zi Yan’s beauty after taking a closer look.

Alarmed by the green shirted youngster’s diplomatic smile, Li Zi Yan subconsciously took a small step back.

Driven by the need to befriend and find out more about the couple who traveled in such a luxurious carriage, he enthusiastically lifted his hand towards Ye Wei, “My name is Zhou Hou, what about you?” He saw the indifference from Li Yan Yan’s posture and figured he could find out more from the innocent looking Ye Wei.

“I am Ye Wei!” He wondered if he should use a pseudonym but didn’t see the need because it seemed that people here came from all across the country, and Ye Wei was a pretty common name anyways.

“First time here?” Zhou Hou asked with a smile on his face after briefly looking them over.

“How did you know?”

“I’ve been here before. During which, I had to camp for months. If I don’t recognize you then you’re probably a first-timer!” Zhou Hou chuckled then continued, “I basically know this place like the back of my hand.”

“Ah... That makes sense!” Ye Wei nodded.

“May I ask where you two are from?” He could feel Ye Wei’s guard was down.

Lin Zi Yan discreetly nudged Ye Wei and he finally realized what Zhou Hou was trying to do. “We are from far away, we’re just passing through!”

Zhou Hou was no fool; he didn’t expected them to tell the whole truth so he just smiled and nodded. “Bloodmist Valley is an interesting place, Students can basically walk in unaffected by the mist whereas Warriors can’t really enter unless the mist is thin. Not to mention condensed prime Warriors who will most definitely be killed if they enter! With that in mind Students should still bring a Warrior with them because there are some strange and dangerous creatures within the valley...” He kept playing the friendly stranger.

‘Judging by their age they are at most Students, but why are they so calm? People usually freak out a little when I tell them about the valley.’ Zhou Hou thought as he kept analysing the couple. ‘They seem rich in the end, so they probably came prepared.’ He was thinking about recruiting the two for his expedition team to increase their chances of salvaging something valuable.

Zhou Hou guessed correctly, Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan talked about what they were going to do when they were in the carriage.

“There are fifty-six people in my group. Seventeen of them are Warriors, would you two be interested in joining us? We have been in the valley before, and we’re familiar with the terrain. You two seem like nice people, and it would be mutually beneficial for both parties.” He suggested with a smile on his face, and as he spoke he could feel that Lin Zi Yan was not just a pretty face.

Ye Wei turned to Lin Zi Yan for her opinion, but before he could open his mouth she answered Zhou Hou in a cold, calm tone: “We can go together, but if we find Welkin Leaves they are ours, everything else you can keep.”

“Oh that’s what you two want? No worries! We will enter the valley together, and when you two find what you want you can leave, but staying together will increase our chances of getting out safe!” Zhou Hou admired their bravery, just a while back a group of thirty warriors were ambushed by a group of beast and never made it out of the valley. The past of the Bloodmist Valley was literally painted in blood.

“There around ten thousand people here at this campsite; some are alone while others prefer to be in groups. We are actually one of the stronger groups. Some of the others are pretty hopeless actually, like those guys over there. I don’t even see the point of them trying!” Zhou Hou pointed to a group of seven aggressive looking youngsters and chuckled, “I heard the strongest of them is only a five star Student!”

Lin Zi Yan’s eyes followed Zhou Hou’s finger to the group and a purple light flashed through her eyes. She was intrigued by the aura they were giving off.

Ye Wei too found the group intriguing. Judging by their confident appearance, they didn’t look like five star Students to him.

“Stop staring at them, they are not worth our time.” Zhou Hou said pridefully as he signaled the couple to follow him.

“Little Wei, this is for you!” Lin Zi Yan discreetly handed Ye Wei a interspatial bag.

He opened it and peeked inside. He discovered that there were five Mystic scrolls within, and he couldn’t help but be shocked. Each of the scrolls was worth a fortune and Lin Zi Yan had just given him five.

Ye Wei wanted to decline the gift, but Lin Zi Yan held his hand down, and signaled for him to be discreet.

“These two are defensive scrolls.” Lin Zi Yan pointed inside the bag and whispered in Ye Wei’s ear, “You will activate a defensive Mystic stance by tearing it. Only use them when you’re in trouble. And the other three are offensive ones.”

The physical contact and her soft voice sent a shiver down his spine.

“Remember their faces!” Zhou Hou pointed at a group of teenagers in a distance. They were wearing blood colored uniforms with a golden hem. He seemed intimidated just by the sight of them.

“They are all from the Golden Wood Academy in Frozen Sun City. Everyone of them is a seven star Warrior or above. Their leader is the nine star Warrior, Luo Wu Xue. He is the most talented student at his school, and he defeated a ten star Warrior with a low level Myst stance. He’s quite a character...”

Ye Wei followed Zhou Hou’s glance, and he saw three youngsters dressed in red about three hundred meters away from him.

One of them was significantly paler than the other two. He was wearing the same robe as the others, but his tall build set him apart. Luo Wu Xue was sat down cultivating but even still he stood out. He quietly cultivated, and while he did there was a screen of red Qi surrounding him.

‘I can feel his energy from here... What kind of stance is that?’ Ye Wei was slightly scared from what he was seeing.

Lin Zi Yan though was calm and collected like usual. She didn’t seem to care about these three while Zhou Hou was too afraid to keep his eyes on them. He turned away and briefly introduced some of the other campers around them.

“Xue Yao, the strongest youngster of the Xue family from Frozen Sun City. He is only seventeen but he is already a seven star Warrior!”

“Lu Chao, the strongest youngster in the Lu family, also from Frozen Sun City.”

“Hong Xun. Now, he is a mysterious one. Nobody knows where he is from or how powerful he is. But three days ago he had a fight with a six star Warrior over a disagreement, and he managed to kill his opponent with one palm strike...”

With that many people gathered in one place, conflicts were very common between groups and families. Every once in awhile there were some condensed prime Warriors at the camps sent by the groups’ leaders to protect the youngsters before they enter the Bloodmist Valley.

“These four are the most dangerous people here, that we know of at least.” Months of being at the camp made Zhou Hou quite paranoid and cautious but that’s what kept him alive. “Just avoid conflicts if you can; it’s for the best.” He then led Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan to his group.

Everyone was there. The seventeen Warriors along with the rest who were nine, or ten star Students. Although they were sitting together by the campfire, they weren’t really talking because they were just temporarily put together for the expedition.

“We don’t know when the blood mist will thin out. It might be in a few hours or in a few days...” Zhou Hou said reluctantly.

After the talk with Zhou Hou, Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan settled down and started training by the campfire while waiting for the mist to fade.

A few campers near them started chatting.

“I’ve heard a group of youngsters from Ning City just arrived!”

“Ning City? Maybe they are here for the inner regions.”

“You’re saying that they want to enter the forbidden sanctums? That would be interesting, I don’t think anyone has ever made it there. Well maybe they did, but they didn’t live to tell the tale.”

“I don’t know, we’ll see.”

Ning City was the biggest of the thirty-six cities on the outskirts of the dynasty’s territory. This big city attracted talents from everywhere, and rumour had it that some returned prime Warriors resided there.

“Why would they be here otherwise? I think they came prepared.”

At the other side of the campfire, Lin Zi Yan was disturbed by what she heard, and she opened her eyes while frowning.