Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 126 – Fame

“Qi Xiu!” The vice-principal of Polaris widened his bloodshot eyes, and his heart was shattered by what he saw. He then quickly flew into the platform next to Qi Xiu checking his injuries.

Ye Wei was panting, and feeling a bit tired from the violent exchange; however, he did manage to reserve some of his Qi and will-force. Although his clothes were charred and his body was scorched by the dark energy flares, he did come out of the fight as the victor without having to give it his all.

A complex smile appeared on Ye Wei’s face.

“Not bad at all!” Xu He said in an admiring tone as casually walked onto the platform. He patted Ye Wei’s shoulder feeling shocked as he did not anticipate to see such a masterful display; this had been way out of his expectations.

Ye Wei defeating Qi Xiu meant more than just a victory. It implied that South Star just got into a much better position. They had now gained the momentum to challenge the top ranks.

“Xu He, Qi Xiu is our principal’s grandson, if he does not fully recover from these injuries then I am sure the principal will make South Star pay!” Polaris’ vice-principal growled at Xu He like an angry lion after feeding Qi Xiu a healing pills.

South Star Academy and Polaris Academy had never been on good terms and the result of this fight just brought them to a new low.

“Vice-principal Zhu Ge, it’s unavoidable for fighters to get injured on the martial platforms, but isn’t that why we always teach the youngsters the importance of defending themselves?” Xu He chuckled, mocking Zhu Ge’s arrogance. “A few days ago your boys came to stir up quite a dispute at our school gate, and yesterday after our students had just settled, Qi Xiu decided to bring his friends to pay us a visit. I got over it as nobody was harmed badly, and I really did not want to bring this to the authorities attention so that the kids can have a chance to learn something in a fair match! Now you are calling us out for injuring Qi Xiu when that brat got what he asked for by not defending himself? Ye Wei did not break any rules before and during the fight!” Xu He’s face went bright red as he was unwilling to give Zhu Ge an inch.

“You… you.. Just wait!” Zhu Ge was shivering in anger and embarrassment. He flicked his sleeve then ordered the students to carry Qi Xiu back to their palace.

The result of the South Star versus Polaris matchup was a surprising upset for the audience. Every school started talking about and analyzing what they had just saw, and they couldn’t help but speculate how well this dark horse would perform later on in the tournament.

“I never thought South Star would be hiding talents under our noses like this! Where was he last year?”

“Polaris would never have been what it is today if it wasn’t for the Seven Dark Flare stance. It’s both impressive and kind of a shame that the stance was defeated by some nameless kid; the world surely is changing!”

“I think we have ourselves a possible contestant for the God’s Seven title!”

A few days ago when Qi Xiu fought Xuan Yu, he only lost by a small margin and everyone thought that he would redeem himself in the tournament and get himself a spot in the seven. Never did they expect Qi Xiu to lose in such a manner, crushed before he even had a chance to fight one of the seven. The crowd’s attention naturally fell onto the person who stopped Qi Xiu.

“Does anyone know his name?”

“He is called Ye Wei!”

“Ye Wei? I’ve never heard that name anywhere. I guess he really is new. I heard that we should expect to see quite a few new faces who can actually fight.”

A lot of young cultivators gathered around the platform including students from Seven Star School.

“Tu Fu Sheng, that Ye Wei character looks very promising. He might be one of your main competitors in the tournament!” A foxy young lady said to the dark skinned boy next to her with a slightly seductive smile. Her pink silk dress highlighted the curves on her slender body which caught the attention of quite a few boys around her.

Although the boys were from the same school as she was, they were looking at her with fear, that was everyone except Tu Fu Sheng; the one who had brief eye contact with Ye Wei.

“Well, let’s not come on conclusions before I actually fight him! He is my prey by the way, don’t you dare take this one away from me!” Tu Fu Sheng replied but he was not looking at the girl, he had his dark brown eyes set on Ye Wei. As he watch this previously unknown cultivator a wicked green glow shone deep within his pupils as he smiled.

Not a lot of young cultivators interested him, but Ye Wei happened to be one of the few.

“Oh yeah?” The girl replied noncommittally and as her eyes narrowed as her charming smile grew.

On the other side of the platform Jian Shi Yu was having a chat with Jian Chen.

“Those were some impressive forbidden Myst stances by Qi Xiu, and that South Star youngster was able to deal with them all. On top of that he only shown two stances of his own while doing so. What do you think Chen? Do you think you can beat that South Star youngster?” The sage-like old man asked in a caring tone.

“If I keep my seals intact while fighting him I will definitely lose, but if I break my seals open, he doesn’t stand a chance.” Jian Chen paused and said as his brows rose.

“Haha, it’s good that you are confident, but don’t underestimate him. He has not shown us everything. Fight safe even if you decide to break the seals!” Jian Shi Yu patted his young apprentice’s head and said earnestly.

A flash of determination appeared in Jian Chen’s eyes as he thought about his master’s words. ‘It would be fun to fight him if that was not his all! Otherwise I won’t be able to practise those stances before I fight anyone stronger!’

The team from Tri-Solar School assembled and also caught the end of the fight. “That was the kid we saw in the mountains right? The kid without any Qi presence! I guess they do have a chance to fight for one of the top three spots with someone like that in their team… Hun Tian, do you think you will come out ahead if you are to fight that kid?” The red-haired vice-principal looked at Ye Wei striding down the martial platform and asked his favourite student.

“Seventy percent sure I will. Qi Xiu is just trash compared to me!” Shi Hun Tian’s gaze darted at the winner of the fight and sneered.

For Shi Hun Tian, cultivation was life. After becoming one of the God’s Seven, he gained a lot of confidence and developed his fighting style from his experience he knew that Xuan Yu did not fight seriously or else Qi Xiu wouldn’t last a minute against any of the seven.

“I will let that South Star kid know he is too young and too weak!” Shi Hun Tian grunted.

His vice-principal nodded. He had no choice but to trust his student as he had no idea what tricks were hidden up the newest God’s Seven’s sleeve.

As the host, Galaxy Academy had the advantage of numbers. All their non-competing students were told to gather as much information as they could before the tournament even started.

“Ye Wei could probably get himself into the seven.”

“In my honest opinion, not at all. All seven of them had one or more powerful special stance in their arsenal. Ye Wei’s stance is not powerful enough to pull him through, not to mention he will need more stances to fight the seven.”

“It really depends on how you look at it. I think it was obvious he fought Qi Xiu offhandedly.”

The Galaxy School students stopped their chatter and bowed when they saw three teenagers approaching.

“Greetings!” It was hard for any of them to stay calm as all three of the approaching teenagers were the top cultivators of Galaxy School one of which was even a God’s Seven.

“Interesting!” The sleek teenager looked at Ye Wei and smiled playfully. “Qi Xiu is a fool, just because he learned a few nice stances doesn’t mean he can fight so carelessly… Did he really think he was one stance away from beating Xuan Yu? It was so obvious Xuan Yu was toying him!”

“He can use forbidden Myst stances so what? Everyone of the seven can do much better, furthermore with Qi and will-force as weak as his, Myst stance or not, it will not be effective,” The tall, sleek teenager continued. It was obvious he despised Qi Xiu. “On the other hand, the cultivator from South Star is definitely something special. It will take either me, Xuan Yu, or Feng Yi to beat him,” This sleek teenager was not overconfident despite the fact that he was the second strongest of the God’s Seven.

The other students listening in were shocked by the high praise Ye Wei was given.

After this fight, South Star suddenly became the center of attention and Ye Wei had become the young cultivator of the hour.

The audience on the platform were also impressed by Ye Wei, not by his victory, but how quickly he learned and his ability to copy his opponent’s techniques under pressure.

“Your lordship, everyone from the Green Army to the Mo family would like to recruit this kid, would you care to let me have this one?” The Mo Patriarch shamelessly requested as he realized he had been wrong this whole time, it was apparent after the fight that Ye Wei had better potential to achieve greatness.

“Mo Patriarch, your greed is disgusting. We didn’t say a word when you said you wanted to recruit Qi Xiu because we respected you but can you not push us?” One of the other patriarchs smiled and expressed his honest opinion.

“This kid has great potential, but we never really know who would be the best candidate until the later stages,” One of the men in golden armor said.

It was the army’s tradition not to decide who they’d recruit until they saw the later fights. That was how they kept their new blood’s quality high throughout the years.

The first day of fights ended with a lot of guests being disappointed as the army has shown interest in Ye Wei. They knew they wouldn’t have a chance to recruit such a talented individual.

The South Star team finished on a high gaining one point and putting themselves on the top half together with seventeen other schools.