Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 63 – Rune Barrier

Lin Zi Yan quickly calmed down and went back to training.

A lavishly dressed teenage boy walked passed Zhou Hou’s camp, and he spotted the most astounding beauty he had ever encountered; a girl that made his heart skip a beat.

He couldn’t stop his feet from walking towards Lin Zi Yan. He saw that Ye Wei sat right next to her, but he didn’t think the plain-looking boy was associated with her.

“Hello, my name is Lu Chao. I am from the Lu family in Frozen Sun City. What would you like me to refer to you as?” His snobbishness was over the top, and you could tell he was proud of himself from his posture all the way to the way he introduced himself. Being the boy with the most potential in his family, and also one of the top three teenagers in his city did more harm than good to his personality.

Zhou Hou was alarmed by Lu Chao’s visit. ‘Why is he here?’ He wasn’t the only person who was not pleased with the sudden visit. Lin Zi Yan wasn’t impressed by Lu Chao’s attitude and therefore didn’t reply while Ye Wei just frowned.

The tension was building up, and Zhou Hou came over to dismiss the unwanted visitor. “Mister Lu, it’s good to see you. Did you need something from her? She is a member of our group; maybe I can help?”

“You have no business here!” Lu Chao did not respect Zhou Hou at all as he knew he didn’t have to. “Can’t you see I am trying to have a conversation with this lady?”

He pushed Zhou Hou to the side and continued speaking to Lin Zi Yan, “If you wish to enter the Bloodmist Valley you might as well join us! I can guarantee your safety under our banner.” He garnished his offer with a confident smile.

“Please leave me alone!” Lin Zi Yan was irritated not charmed. Her tone of voice was as cold as ice.

In frustration, Lu Chao frowned and grunted, he couldn’t understand why she treated him like this, “What do you mean miss?” He had not been declined his whole life.

“I would like you to go away. Do you understand?” Lin Zi Yan raised her long, slender eyebrows as the temperature around her seemed to have dropped suddenly.

“Don’t insult me!” Lu Chao looked furiously at Lin Zi Yan.

Ye Wei clenched his fists; he wouldn’t sit back if Lu Chao decided to move any closer to Lin Zi Yan, regardless of his cultivation deficit.

A purple light flashed through Lin Zi Yan’s pupils, Lu Chao’s head slightly dropped forward, his confidence was replaced by fear. He was spooked by what he saw in her eyes; his body froze, and his palms turned sweaty.

“My lady, I should not have disturbed you. I apologize for the intrusion.” He pulled his shoulders back and stood up respectfully. He bowed to Lin Zi Yan then ran away clumsily.

Ye Wei was shocked to see Lin Zi Yan’s influence outside Green Moon City.

Zhou Hou and the rest of the group had many questions in their minds, and they started to wonder what kind of person had just joined their group. They all looked towards Lin Zi Yan now and then, but they didn’t dare talk to her. ‘What was that? He’s the golden child of the second biggest family in Frozen Sun City, how could a teenage girl scare him away?’

Now Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan were left in peace. They could finally focus on training in the quiet. The golden flash in Ye Wei’s Sentient was surging. It sensed danger within the red mists and this gave him an unsettled feeling that something monstrously fearsome was concealed within the depths of this valley.

He opened his eyes and looked at the mist. There was a voice in his head that told him he should not enter the BloodMist Valley if he treasured his life. Ye Wei did treasure his life, but he just prioritized Ye Zhong’s life above his own. ‘Finding Welkin Leaves to save cousin Zhong, that’s my mission.’

A few hours later, the lingering red mist started vibrating and pulsing rhythmically. It sounded like a colossal monster was breathing.

The red mist was quickly thinning revealing the vegetation and rocks in the valley.

“The mist is fading!”

“Get your asses up! The mist is fading!” The noise level escalated quickly.

It was logical that the campers were heated up as if they miss this window of opportunity they did not know when the next one would present itself.

The campers stirred up chaos as they entered the valley, but their speed sorted them into distinguishable groups. At the front were the seven star Warriors, led by Luo Wu Xue, Lu Chao, Hong Xun, and Xue Yao as they flew and glided ahead with their primal energy feathered wings which left swirls of red mist behind.

And far behind them were the six and five star Warriors kicking up dust and entering the valley in a flash. The rest were whizzing through overgrown trees and rugged rocks towards the valley akin a swarm of ants.

“Let’s not wait!” Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan stopped hesitating and followed the large crowd.

“This is...” Ye Wei noticed through trees and rocks that the red mist was dispersing as he headed towards the bottom of Bloodmist Valley. It was too thin to cover the breathtaking sight that froze him in place. His eyes were wide open and set on an enormous sculpture. It was a statue of a crouching beast that was almost a kilometer tall.

The delicately sculpted details of the beast made it feel alive. It was covered in scales from head to tail, and on its forehead were three long horns. This beast’s mouth was open, and there were runes carved on the inside of its mouth which was where the red mist originated from. Its sharp teeth looked bloodied from the reflecting redness around them.

It was obvious who was entering Bloodmist Valley for the first time. The newbies were all stunned and stood still, scared witless by the statute whereas the others were running straight towards the mouth of the beast. Only the experienced people dared to head right into it because they knew that was real entrance!

The first-timers saw how everyone else was rushing in and eventually followed once they overcame their fear.

Lin Zi Yan quietly mumbled to herself, and there was a deep purple flash in her clear eyes. “This is a Selenic spirit beast, are we at...” The statue reminded her about one of the old articles in her family’s library.

“Let’s go!” She said in a cautious tone. Lin Zi Yan was worried, but she did not let that affect their mission because Ye Zhong’s life was at stake. They followed the rest of the group into the statue’s mouth after the little pause.

Just as they entered, they were already facing an obstacle. There were around forty tunnels in front of them, and the running crowd came to a stop. Everyone was worryingly wondering which path they should take while the braver and experienced quickly disappeared into different tunnels.

Lou Chao noticed Lin Zi Yan’s presence from a distance, and he quickly picked and entered a tunnel before she saw him.

Ye Wei’s frustrated gaze was on the tunnels behind the thin mist. The tunnels all looked similar therefore everyone gave up on analyzing them and just entered a random tunnel as they could not tell which was the safe path.

As Lin Zi Yan was struggling, wondering which way to go, the golden flash appeared in Ye Wei’s Sentient, “Zi Yan, the seventh tunnel from the right!” Out of all the tunnels, he could feel the strongest runic disturbance from the seventh.

“Everyone follow me!” Zhou Hou shouted at his team signaling them to enter one of the tunnels. He saw that Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan were far behind and wanted to pick their own path, after exchanging a regretful look he decided to move on without the two. ‘If that’s what they want...’

“Yea!” Lin Zi Yan narrowed her eyes while looking at Ye Wei with a bit of doubt, but she trusted him, and he looked confident and determined, so they proceeded without further discussions.

The tunnel was lit up by slightly red swirling runic patterns on both sides. Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan were not the only ones who picked this path. People were staring at the runes closely with greedy eyes. The swirls were arranged in a way that resembled the shape of a door.

Further down the tunnel there were swirls that had been broken open, and there was a stone house behind each of the openings. It was not a strange scene for some; the experienced cultivators just ran through the tunnel stopping now and then to see if they could forcefully break open the swirls. Everyone who managed to break them looked incredibly happy. They ran inside and searched for treasure.

“Rune Barriers...” Lin Zi Yan’s purple eyes looked a bit worried. She slightly frowned and mumbled because she had read about them before and knew how problematic they could be.