Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 154 – Qing State’s Seven

‘Crazed River Blade!’ Chen Yuan grunted. His cold face and bloodthirsty eyes conveyed his intent to kill the demon. The long black blade buried into the demon’s tough flesh.

“Boom!”

As the City Lord stuck his stance to the Qi tornado, the compressed air transformed into a sword shape.

“Chen Yuan, when did you learn how to use Supreme Chen Feng’s Void Cleve!?” The demon king’s voice furiously echoed into the human realm from the other end of the nether. The demon king figured out why the mortal being could cut off his arm, “You better leave my kins alone! Otherwise, I will make sure your people die together with mine!”

The demon’s voice faded while his broken arm on the ground suddenly started pulsing. Scarlet light burst out of the detached limb; every drop of demon blood began to ignite, emitting fearsome energy.

“Watch out! He is using his necromancy powers! The arm is going to explode!” Chen Yuan yelled in shock. He dismissed his Qi blade in order to free up his hands, enabling him to make runic seals.

He didn’t want to let Tu Fusheng escape. Nonetheless, he couldn’t let the arm explode since it would lead to numerous combustions that the younger cultivators had no chance to survive.

In this situation Chen Yuan only saw one correct course of action, to prevent the explosion from taking place by all means necessary.

Not only did the City Lord, but the rest of the powerful cultivators on the cloud platform agreed as well. They all decided to use suppressing stances against the demon’s broken limb.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

The arm exploded without warning and sent pieces of flesh and blood all over the nearby young cultivators. These pieces incinerated their skin and turned their bones to dust. Fortunately, Chen Yuan suppressed the true might of the outburst, saving numerous lives, otherwise the consequences would have been disastrous.

“Demon king! We will meet again soon, and next time I will kill you both!” Chen Yuan shouted. The demon took Tu Fusheng and vanished, only his lingering laughter could be heard from the wind.

The tournament ground became chaotic. All of the audience was startled by the bloody scene. The ones who stood closer to the explosion could not believe their friends were now dead and in pieces. They were stunned by the sudden demonic assault, but at the same time, they felt lucky that the explosions were contained.

Chen Yuan looked at the remains of the void where the demon king and Tu Fusheng disappeared, frowning.

“I now declare Ning City in a state of emergency due to demon infiltration! I want everyone from the Seven Star School who had contact with Tu Fusheng arrested and interrogated immediately!” Ordered Chen Yuan in a cold voice. ‘Usually demon’s disguised as human beings are easily detected by teacher or even stronger students. This time however, Tu Fusheng was before their eyes for a very long period of time undetected. It is definitely a matter to worry about. Maybe they have mastered better disguise methods.’

The city guards proceeded without hesitation. They hastefully took Seven Star School’s tutors and students in custody. One by one, they were interrogated. The officials found out Tu Fusheng had a mysterious female associate who happened to disappear around the same time the fight between South Star and Seven Star ended in bloodshed. A number of scouts were sent to track the young girl’s whereabouts.

The chaos of the earlier events slowly began to calm down. Ye Wei was sent to the medics by the City Lord to make sure that all of his grievous injuries would be attended.

The guards of the Ning City began to search for traces of demons within the city’s walls.

***

Thousand of miles away, in a huge mysterious cave hidden beneath the mountains, Tu Fusheng was kneeling on the trembling ground before an enormous dark mass of sinister energy that levitated. This sinister energy began to reflect the ghostly glow radiated from the stones in the cave.

“You insolent creature! You almost ruined my plans! You should have practiced the Empowering Technique instead of wasting your time!” A loud grunt echoed in the dark as a surge of negative energy span around Tu Fusheng, ready to harvest his life.

Tu Fusheng felt the demonic force spirals’ hostility, and his whole body was turned rigid by fear. Scared, but trying to stop his voice from trembling: “Thank you, Demon king, for your gracious mercy!”

The cluster of dark clouds gathered and dissipated slowly over and over, creating runic patterns that shown a dark light onto the demon king’s body.

A deep thought crossed Tu Fusheng’s mind while seeing the presence of the complex runic patterns. Only human beings are capable of writing, ‘Maybe the Pall Demon king was human once before! I heard rumors that he was one of the few humans that used ancient spells to transform into a demon…’

“Please, teach me how to use the empowerment technique! I am willing to work as hard as I can to improve so I can finish the task! I promise, I will not let you down again!” Tu Fusheng exclaimed anxiously.

“Save your excuses, I sent little Yin to finish what you failed to do. I have another small task for you, you pathetic joke. If you fail me again, this time there will be consequences!” The Demon king spoke and let out a heavy, low grunt.

The loud rumble made Tu Fusheng’s ears bleed. He knew he was in no position to negotiate or to argue, “Your wish is my command, Your Grace!” He hid his insecurities, but secretly he felt envious that the demon king sent someone else to finish what he started.

After receiving his new instructions, Tu Fusheng carefully left the cave mindful to not turn his back to the demon king while exiting.

The black mist suddenly became unstable after Tu Fusheng left the cave, “Chen Yuan, I will not let this go! When I am finished with preparing the ancient moon corpse technique, I will annihilate Ning City and cover its ground with dead bodies! Hahaha!”

As the demon king laughed hysterically, a pool of blood started bubbling out of the ground, and a human corpse emerged.

It was a completely naked corpse of a handsome young man. His hair was black and long, and his facial features were well defined and proportional. There was a tenderness in his masculinity and a hint of wittiness.

The body was in perfect shape. His hair was perfectly glossy, and his nose was straight as a gangplank. His smooth skin and thin lips appeared slightly pink, delicate like a young girl.

He was laying in a pool of blood. His dim grey eyes slightly open, showing great sadness.

It’s impossible to find out everything the young man experienced in his life; however, there was grief and hopelessness in his eyes.

The demon king had acquired this ancient corpse from the wild wilderness. It’s soul had long since l had faded away, but the body was in perfect condition. It seemed to have collected a mass amount of spirits and negative energy due to its violent death. If the demon king would be able to integrate himself into this ancient corpse, he would have the chance to become a demon sovereign or even a demon emperor.

***

The City Lord’s mansion, Ning City.

Gravely injured, Ye Wei finally started to wake up after extensive care of several nurses.

A slim, beautiful maid was hovering over Ye Wei when he opened his eyes at last. “Little one, are you awake? How do you feel?” she worryingly asked she.

“Where… Where am I?” Ye Wei asked in a weak barely audible voice, staring blindly at the nurse.

“You are at the City Lord’s mansion, his grace sent you here for us to attend your injuries.” She smiled gently, still a bit worried about Ye Wei’s condition.

Pictures of his memory started to appear in his mind. The Demon king and his mighty attacks, the talisman, how he was able to freeze the demon’s arm, Chen Yuan’s efforts of bravely fighting to defend the youngsters. Ye Wei’s heart filled with gratitude towards the City Lord, ‘if it wasn’t for him, I would be dead by now, crushed by the demon’s arm.’

“That Demon King held such immense power.” Ye Wei was terribly shaken. He remembered the fight and tried not to show how scared he actually felt. His body seemed to be healing; however, his Sentient was full of scars.

Ye Wei suddenly sat up straight. The blanket covering his body slipped, revealing his naked body. His cheeks flushed red and he hurried to cover himself up again.

Seeing how embarrassed Ye Wei was acting, the maids couldn’t help but chuckle, “don’t be shy, we have been taking care of you for days now. We have already seen everything.” she said playfully.

Hearing the words of the maid, Ye Wei felt even more flustered. ‘You can’t be serious. Was I in coma for that long?’

He looked down at his completely naked body under the blanket to double check. His cheeks now looked like a pair of tomatoes.

“Would you mind leaving the room for a moment so I can dress myself appropriately!” Ye Wei could still not get over his embarrassment.

“Yes sir, we will be on our way now!” The prettiest of them spoke, bowed, and closed the door behind her after leaving Ye Wei alone in the comfortable, spacious room.

Ye Wei took a deep breath.He was relieved as his eyes followed the beautiful maids out of the room. He was not at all comfortable with how the maids saw his naked body. He sighed and then began to check his body, only to discover his meridians were partially blocked and his Sentient was cracked. All in all, he was not in good enough condition to cultivate or train.

He took a few pills and began to nourish his body with the medicines’ effect. After a few moments, he was feeling a lot better. However, his Sentient injuries were still not resolved.

Ye Wei heard rapid footsteps from the outside while he was trying to cultivate. He wanted to get the best out from the pills.

Led by City Lord Chen Yuan and commander Shi Qing, a group of people burst into his room, including Xu He, Cao Ning and other related personales.

“Ye Wei! How are you feeling?!” Cao Ning’s concerned voices sounded from the door as he rushed in to see if his friend was recovering well.

“I’m alright. A few injuries, but nothing too serious.” Ye Wei calmly answered. Ensuring, he sounded as energetic as he could.

“I did not expect Tu Fusheng to be an infiltrated demon. I don’t think anyone understood this fact until the very last moment. It is our duty to protect all the citizens and guests of this City, and we failed. But I am glad that you are alright!” Chen Yuan sighed sadly. Blaming himself for not noticing this demon invasion earlier, he handed a pill bottle to Ye Wei, “These are two Sunfire pills. They can heal injured meridians and provide a Qi boost. I assume you might have some use for them.

“I owe my life to you and all the City protectors, as well as the people who looked after me here. I do not dare to accept any more gifts from you, Lord.” Ye Wei quickly replied, impressed by the extraordinary generosity of the City Lord.

Chen Yuan smiled, touched by Ye Wei’s modesty, “It’s only two pills. You have way more need for them right now than me.”

“I would find it offensive if you didn’t accept my gift.” said the City Lord. Only then, Ye Wei bowed to Chen Yuan and accepted the valuable pills, “Thank you so much for your help!”

‘These are two Sunfire pills. My meridians will be able to heal and fully recover and perhaps even improve my cultivation. Nevertheless, the Sentient injuries there is nothing much I can do, but just to take it easy and slowly recuperate.’

“The tournament is officially over! We finished first and even were granted a special reward from the City Lord. Lord Chen Yuan awarded us a plaque with handwritten inscription!” Said Xu He, looking proudly at Ye Wei. This was South Star Academy’s best finish ever in the history of the school’s participation in the tournament.Without Ye Wei, they would have never had a chance.

“Our school was also rewarded with the prestigious «College» title in addition to a bunch of new stances, prizes and money. Southern Star will be able to provide so much more for their students!”

Ye Wei nodded, and a smile grew larger on his face. He could not help but feel happy and extremely proud for his school.

“This is a frozen iron body armor for when you defeated Tu Fusheng. Defeating that filthy demon, you became the highest ranked God’s Seven! There this belongs to you.” Chen Yuan spoke as he took the silvery item out of his interspatial bag and handed it over to Ye Wei.

“You’ve already given me two valuable pills, how can I take more from you?” Ye Wei lifted his hand to refuse the City Lord’s offer.

“Didn’t you hear? This is not a gift for you specifically. It is tradition and custom that the strongest God’s Seven own this piece of armor!” The City Lord laughed, “Well, I would have personally given you something for protection otherwise! Hahaha! On a serious note, you should always be wearing this armor, it can save your life!”

Ye Wei nodded. ‘Since all of the God’s Seven were awarded with this armor, I cannot refuse’, Ye Wei thought to himself as he took the armor. Upon contact with the armor, he felt a cold chill passing his finger, which flowed through his whole body. The armor, made of cold iron cast, was greatly sophisticated and extremely hard to penetrate or broken even by returned prime Warriors.

“Ye Wei, are you interested in joining the Green Army?” Commander Shi Qing, who stood on the side. He had no patience left in him. “You and your family will be protected, and the army will provide you will all kinds of resources you need for training!”

Listening to this proposal, Chen Yuan couldn’t help but started laughing. “Commander, I fear that you will be disappointed. Ye Wei has already joined Runemaster Union and is a three star Runemaster, approved to become one of the Seven New Runes!”

“Runemaster? God’s Seven?!” The Commander was startled. Even though the army provided a lot of benefits for the troops,he knew his offer couldn’t interest a Runemaster.

“Three star Runemaster?! The first of God’s Seven?” Xu He and others also looked shocked. Cao Ning, Joe Yin and Liu Jian stared at Ye Wei, stunned by the sudden news.

“He is so young! Only our age and already achieved this much!”

“Unbelievable!”