Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 83 – Secret Realm

Ye Wei could not estimate the value of his treasures. There were now more items in his repository than in some City Lords’ vaults!

With this many resources, the Ye family will easily become the strongest family in Green Moon City! Apart from the City Lord, Master Yi, and South Star Academy, nobody would be able to challenge their position.

Even if the other two Runemaster of Green Moon City wanted to make a move on the Ye family, they would have to join force to do so.

Most importantly there was Welkin Leaves in the repository with which Ye Zhong could be woken up. Due to this Ye Wei could not help but to be extremely emotional.

If Ye Wei didn’t have astounding self-control, he would have screamed out of excitement. You should never put your wealth on display; Ye Wei understood that very well. The amount of treasures in this repository was shockingly enormous, and if anyone was to learn of it before a large secure vault had been built then the Ye family would be in a crisis.

Although everyone took an oath words can spread, and that’s why Ye Wei would not let anybody know just how much treasure was in the repository he took.

As Ye Wei looked around, he saw Hong Xun and Xue Yao still distributing the goods. Sharing hundreds of treasures between hundreds of people was an extremely troublesome task.

First, they had to estimate how much was each piece worth. Then they had to rank every person in the group based on cultivation level and strength. ‘The stronger one was, the more valuable treasure one could acquire’ was the principle they went by, and it was very difficult to be completely fair and just. This made Hong Xun and Xue Yao’s job very hard.

‘There were two passageways that led into the depths of this labyrinth. Zi Yan, Jin Yan, and Mo Ya went through the other one. If I am correct, these two passageways should ultimately lead to the same place!’

‘Jin Yan and Mo Ya were really strong by the looks of it; I wonder if Zi Yan will be fine following them…’ Ye Wei clenched his fist worrying for Lin Zi Yan’s safety.

‘My cultivation advanced to the seven-star level now, but compared to Jin Yan and Mo Ya I am still weak! Most likely I will not be able to help Zi Yan, and I will probably only be a burden if I get involved. However… with all the treasure… Even if I have to face them, I should be able to hold my own!’ Ye Wei thought about what he could do with the thirty six medium-grade scrolls, and his lips curled up into a confident smile.

‘I’m sure they will distribute the items fairly. It is a tedious and time-consuming task, I can’t just sit here and wait. I have to find Zi Yan and make sure she is safe!” Ye Wei glanced at the busy crowd and slowly stood up.

“Everyone, take your time and please share the treasures fairly. I can’t stay because there is something I must do deeper in the labyrinth!” Ye Wei waved at them and said.

“Sure, little bro! Stay safe!”

“Take care of yourself!”

Hong Xun, Xue Yao, and the other cultivators nodded at Ye Wei bidding farewell.

Although Ye Wei was just a Student nobody was really worried about him. Not taking into account the repository he just got, everyone knew he had medium-grade scrolls with him, and therefore nobody could do much harm to him.

Lu Chao had also gone deeper into the labyrinth, but after the standoff earlier it became apparent that he was not a threat to Ye Wei.

“Farewell!”

Ye Wei nodded back and waved again. He then turned around and followed the crystal passageway that continued at the back of the chamber. The crystal passageway seemed endless. The large jade crystal wall was only a gate through which the wide tunnel continued onward.

“Run!” Although Ye Wei’s cultivation was at just the seven-star Student level, his Sentient was as large as a Warrior’s and his dantian was as spacious as a nine-star Student’s.

While running, Ye Wei transferred everything in the repository into his interspatial bag and the spatial runes slowly disappeared after it had been emptied.

Although, when compared to a Warrior with speed boosted stances, Ye Wei’s normal speed was still considered slow, but at his full speed he wouldn’t be looked down upon by any Warrior. After four hours of running nine dots of purple light appeared on the edge of the vanishing point in the passageway. As Ye Wei got closer, he discovered that they were nine huge amethyst pillars that were engraved with mystic runes.

“Amethyst pillars?”

“Eh?” Ye Wei came to a stop and took a look at the massive purple crystal pillars. He couldn’t feel any runic repositories within pillars, and the Qi disturbance that spatial runes usually gave off was absent.

Surrounded by the nine pillars of purple light stood an ancient octangular bluestone platform. Carved into its surface was a sequence of complicated runes which formed the part of a bigger mysterious pattern.

“These runes are incredibly complex.” Ye Wei mumbled as his eyes scanned the amethyst pillars. He couldn’t take his eyes off the runes…

‘ I don’t understand any of them!’

Ye Wei’s soul sensitivity was stronger than ordinary Runemasters, and his Sentient was spiritually linked to the Mystic Mount. Every time he saw unfamiliar runes, his Sentient provided him with related knowledge and helped him understand its energy flow, but this time, there was nothing.

Ye Wei understood nothing about these runes!

He couldn’t help but wonder, ‘Who is the creator of this labyrinth? He has to be unimaginably powerful!’

‘This is strange. Where did Lu Chao go?’ Ye Wei scanned the area and saw no signs of anyone; he frowned in confusion.

Ye Wei was sure Lu Chao entered this very path, and now that he had reached the end of the passageway there was nowhere to hide.

‘Could it be…’

A thought came to Ye Wei’s mind causing his eyes to widened, and he cast them onto the bluestone platform.

‘Can these runes on this bluestone platform be the legendary dimensional runes? If so these pillars together with the platform could be a teleportation device!’ Ye Wei was utterly shocked by the idea.

Dimensional runes are something only Grand Runemasters are able to create and manipulate. Even Master Yi, the most powerful man in Green Moon City, was only a ten-star Runemaster. Grand Runemasters are a rare group of Runemasters, very few would dare to ever offend them, even noblemen would have to bow their heads to them!

‘This is outrageous. It must be a runic teleportation array! The person who built this is at the very least a returned prime Warrior, possibly even a god’s prime Warrior!’

Ye Wei’s eyes couldn’t blink, and his mouth went dry. It was hard for him to imagine someone with this kind of power, and that now he was standing in a place left behind by such a person.

Ye Wei was familiar with the concept of teleportation. Everyone who lived in the Zhou dynasty knew of it. It had been almost a millennium since the Zhou dynasty was established. During this period of time, the governing body dedicated vast sums of money and human resources to build a runic teleportation array in every major city within the sovereignty’s borders.

Cities like Green Moon City and Frozen Sun City were just minor cities. They were nothing in comparison to major Ning City, and at its heart there was a teleport array that was directly linked to the imperial capital.

Because of such a system, the forces of the dynasty were able to be dispatched to anywhere within the borders quickly and effectively, and that is the main reason why demons and wild beasts had been purged and kept out of the dynasty’s borders and also how they kept the peace.

Ye Wei was pretty certain he was looking at such a device, hidden in the depths of the Bloodmist Labyrinth. As such it was no surprise that he was deeply shocked.

‘It’s easy to verify; I can just try it!” Ye Wei couldn’t believe he was looking at something so extraordinary. He couldn’t feel any evil aura around the device; therefore, he was wondering if he should leap into the unknown.

‘Could this really be a teleport? But it takes so much money and manpower to build just one. If it truly is, I assume this labyrinth is a private facility because it’s not on any official map… How could someone build this without everyone knowing about it! But if this is not a teleport array then where could Lu Chao be?’

With suspicion, Ye Wei started to move his feet, and the moment he placed his foot onto the bluestone platform, something unusual happened.

“Warp! Warp!”

The nine amethyst pillars and the platform shone a deep purple hue. The complex runes started to oscillate, and the runic pattern started to spin rapidly.

When the spinning pattern reached its maximum speed, it became blurry and a large octangular pillar of light appeared on the platform.

Ye Wei was standing in the middle of the platform as he felt a little dizzy. Suddenly, he lost his vision, and he couldn’t see or sense anything as he was consumed by endless darkness. He was swallowed by nothingness, by this tiny yet large portion of the space-time continuum.

After that, he felt as if his body turned weightless, lighter than a feather. He felt as if he was still, but somehow, at the same time, traveling an infinite distance at an astonishing speed.

Ye Wei couldn’t feel time nor could he sense his own body. The next thing he knew he was conscious again, and when he opened his eyes, he was on top of a small piece of dry land in the middle of a swamp.

The water in the swamp was black and bubbling, and there was a lingering, sickening odor. Ye Wei looked up to try and figure out where he was, but he saw that the swamp was completely surrounded by mountains. He could see that within the mountains grew many strange looking trees, and he could hear the occasional shrill chirping sound coming from the woods enveloping him. The place he found himself in was very strange, as if it was another world, or more accurately, a secret realm.A thought came to Ye Wei’s mind causing his eyes to widen and he cast them onto the bluestone platform.