Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 67 – Iron Talisman

“Let’s cut the small talk; we need to break the runic barrier together!”

Jin Yan stared at the light shield, and his eyes lit up with enthusiasm as he thought about the item he was told to retrieve from the depths of Bloodmist Valley. He extended his arms and started swinging his spear in a circle, injecting a large amount of Qi into Burning Gold activating the stance within.

The runes on the tip of the spear started to shine, and the bright light intensified transforming into a thirty-meter long spectral spear. It then shot out towards the light shield.

Like Mo Ya’s Autumn’s Grace, Jin Yan’s Burning Gold was a three-star medium-grade Mystic Arm. The stance he just activated was a peak-level Myst stance, and for the Students and Warriors in the hall seeing Jin Yan using a stance as powerful as their own patriarch’s stances was quite shocking. They admired the power, but at the same time were afraid of it.

The golden spectral spear was giving off a pressure wave that radiated in all directions, and suddenly everyone felt like there was a rock pressing on their head making it hard to breathe.

The spectral spear gave off a screeching rumble as it broke through the air, even the roof was shaken and pieces of stones rained down.

“Is it my turn now?” Mo Ya, who was still standing on his sword, said as he channeled Qi without moving a muscle. The energy he emitted created a small whirlwind around him, causing his hair to flow with the wind as he transferred his Qi down to his feet thus activating the stance in the sword.

Upon activation, Autumn’s Grace shone with a bright green light and sequences of runes rushed out of the blade forming an enormous cyan-colored spirit sword. The sword then tore through the air towards the shield with unstoppable momentum.

People had mixed feelings about these two attempting to break the barrier. On the one hand, they wanted it broken so they could progress further into the labyrinth, but on the other they didn’t want their leaders to look like idiots. It will be humiliating if just these two from Ning City could finish a job they had been working on for hours.

Ye Wei’s eyes were set on the two fearsome stances in the air like everyone else. The screeches from the spear and the sword were the only audible sound in the hall as people were quietly witnessing the stances rushing towards the massive rune barrier.

The heat emitted by the stances warmed the air creating a ripple effect. It was this moment when the light shield reacted as if it could sense a threat and lit up brighter.

It didn’t just get brighter, but the runes within started to come alive as they rotated around and strengthened the shield.

Jin Yan’s golden spirit spear landed first, and its tip crushed onto one small point close to the middle of the shield. Its force was so focused that it pierced a tiny hole into the seemingly unbreakable shield. The impact sent ripples across the shield causing its strength to weaken.

The shield stood as the spear faded; it was still unbroken, but now its shine was dimmer. Just as the spear disappeared, Mo Ya’s stance struck on the same weak point Ji Yan’s spirit spear just left on the barrier.

Slowly but sure the sword pierced through the shield. Mo Ya seized the opportunity, and he calmly looked a the spirit sword and grunted. As his grunt echoed in the hall, the spirit sword shattered on his command. It turned into thousands of little swords that spun like a tornado as they expanded and ate the shield. It wasn’t long before the shield lost its structural strength and shattered into pieces.

People’s eyes went widened when they saw how easy Mo Ya and Jin Yan broke the shield. But their appreciation was short lived. After a few cheers, they shifted from looking at what’s left of the shield to the treasures behind it.

Most of the levitating treasures were held in the air by the shield’s energy, and once the barrier broke all the items starting falling to the ground. All except ten of them. These dazzling pieces were floating by their own energy.

Seven of them glowed black, and three of them glowed green. “Mystic Arms!” The crowd went wild. They were here for treasures, but they didn’t imagine they would see medium grade Mystic Arms.

Crazed with greed, people were breathing heavily, staring at the Mystic Arms aggressively and seemingly ready to take other’s lives for the treasures.

Lin Zi Yan was a bit calmer than the others. Her eyes were set on the leftmost medium grade Mystic Arm, a purple-gold chiffon cloak. It had tiny runes flowing on each thread of the garment.

While everyone else had their eyes on the ten Mystic Arms in the air, Ye Wei couldn’t take his eyes off a rusty little iron talisman that fell to the ground. His Sentient started to glow as it reacted to the sight of it. It filled his body with Qi and will-force.

The iron talisman looked beat up and old, and it was just quietly laying on the floor. Nobody was paying the piece of junk any mind.

“What is this iron talisman?” Ye Wei widened his eyes in shock. He couldn’t believe his body would react just by looking at this ordinary item. Supposedly, it was more attractive than the Mystic Arms to him.

“I have to have this!” Ye Wei mumbled while he clenched his fist. He couldn’t quite explain the desire, but he was hopelessly drawn to that rusty trinket.

There were a lot of powerful fighters in the hall, but most of them had their eyes set on the Mystic Arms, almost nobody noticed what Ye Wei saw. That means it was actually possible for him to acquire the item. Furthermore, he was even ready to use his mystic scrolls if that’s what it took.

The atmosphere in the hall became a little strange. Moments ago they were united by the same cause wanting to break the shield together, but now that the treasures were within everyone’s reach they started to keep a distance from each other as they saw everyone as competition instead of comrades.

Without Jin Yan and Mo Ya’s presence, the crowd would have already turned into a brawl. People were afraid of the two from Ning City; thus, they waited for them to make the first move.

“Ha, you guys are pretty respectful!” Mo Ya looked down to find the crowd was anticipating him and Jin Yan’s action.

“What a shame! If these trash actually dared to go wild, I would have an excuse to crush some skulls!” Jin Yan said indifferently. Although he was a bloodthirsty teenager who didn’t really care about anyone in the hall, he restrained himself from unnecessary bloodshed.

The crowd knew Mo Ya and Jin Yan could easily wipe them out, and as much as they wanted the treasure they valued their lives more. That respect and fear might just have saved their lives.

“These three medium grade Mystic Arms are off limits! But the rest... you guys can fight for them if you wish!” Jin Yan chuckled and shouted to the crowd. “Go!”

As Jin Yan’s words echoed in the hall, the greed-crazed crowd ran towards the treasures, and their bloodshot eyes were set on the seven low-grade Mystic Arms.

Lin Zi Yan’s eyes darted to Ye Wei, “ Little Wei, you must follow me be no more than a hundred meters away. I have to get that Mystic Arm; it cannot fall into anyone’s hands but mine!” She said calmly as she channeled her energy, and her will-force rushed out of her Sentient to her entire body. Her Qi wrapped tightly around her skin, and she appeared to be covered by a layer of purple flame.

“Zi Yan, don’t worry about me; I have to do something here!” Ye Wei didn’t want to burden Lin Zi Yan, and she looked determined. Furthermore, the iron talisman was nowhere close to where Lin Zi Yan was heading.

Ye Wei knew Lin Zi Yan was hiding her true strength, but he couldn’t imagine she would actually go and compete with Jin Yan and Mo Ya for a medium grade Mystic Arms.

Lin Zi Yan was in a hurry, and although she cared about Ye Wei like no other, she had to get to Jin Yan and Mo Ya before it was too late. “Please take care of yourself! If you find yourself in any kind of danger, just use the scrolls!” She knew if Ye Wei were to use the scrolls, he would be relatively safe if he wasn’t crazy enough to pick a fight with someone as strong as Mo Ya or Jin Yan.

“I understand! Just do what you have to!” Ye Wei answered and leaped towards the iron talisman.

Lin Zi Yan’s body disappeared. She used the Shadowshift stance to get herself close to the medium grade Mystic Arms.

A brawl broke out as Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan headed separate ways, the hall was filled with the smell of blood. As Ye Wei expected, the whole crowd was heading towards the seven low-grade Mystic Arms, and only a few of them were actually running towards the less desired items on the ground.

“I’ve got this!” Ye Wei was relieved that there were no Warriors on the way to contest him. He clenched his fist and transferred some Qi to his feet to speed up.

Although he had no idea what the rusty talisman was, anything that could excite his Sentient would not be ordinary.