Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 102 – Temptation

‘Bring it on!’ Ye Wei stood steadily in the hall, determination shone in his eyes. Having experienced it once, Ye Wei was not as nervous as when he first encountered his inner demons six hours ago.

Ye Wei learned that they had no shape, no shadow, can’t be touched, and can’t be felt. ‘Rather than being submissive and anxious, I should just be open to it!’

“Bang!” A gust of cold wind howled through the chamber rushing in like a rising tide. Ye Wei’s body shook, and his vision faded as his consciousness blurred.

A beautiful girl’s face appeared in front of Ye Wei. She was wearing a semi-transparent chiffon robe, and her big watery eyes were looking straight at him, “Mister!” The beautiful voice of this sensual figure woke him.

The stunning young lady looked at Ye Wei with an alluring, soul capturing gaze as she gracefully walked towards him. She brushed her collarbone with her slender hand, and her chiffon robe started to slide down her shoulder. She had her arms across her chest covering the bottom half of her perky breasts. Her radiant skin made her sultry display that much more alluring.

“Mister, I feel really hot!” The young lady said while not taking her charming eyes off Ye Wei. She lifted her hand and placed a finger on her lip. She chuckled and licked her fingertip with her perfect tongue, then she ran her wet finger down her neck and flicked the robe off her other shoulder.

Her seductive body was now bare in front of Ye Wei, and her look was as if she was gazing right through his soul.

She wrapped her hand around his neck, moved her head closer, “Mister do you not like me?” She panted through her cherry lips.

The young lady’s facial features were exquisite, and her appearance greatly resembled Lin Zi Yan in quite a lot of ways.

However, she was more forward and seductive. No man could resist her charm. At his age, Ye Wei was currently going through puberty, and it was nearly impossible for him to think straight because of what he was seeing.

Feeling the touch of her soft, wet fingertips on his neck, Ye Wei slowly lost control of himself and his eyes quickly started roaming around.

All of a sudden something flashed through Ye Wei’s mind which caused his body to shake and cleared his mind a little.

‘With my heart, I shall master the way of the universe; with my heart, I will calm my mind. I will cultivate my mind and control my heart with my mind!’ Ye Wei repeated the ancient teachings in his head. What small bit of sanity told him that everything was just an illusion; that the girl in front of him was a demon.

Inner demons were not actually from within one’s body, but they had the ability to weaken their preys’ minds by manipulating their thoughts. The one he was facing now was able to identify Lin Zi Yan as Ye Wei’s weak spot when it invaded his mind.

Ye Wei clearly understood that if he were to lose his mind here, the test would be over.

He ground his teeth and channeled his Qi to protect himself.

Of course, when Ye Wei’s tried to push the girl away, he was surprised to notice his Qi was absorbed when she touched him.

Inner demons are formless!

“Mister, I really like you!” The girl’s arm softened and locked down on Ye Wei’s upper body like a snake, and with him held firmly she drew closer. She put her soft body against Ye Wei’s chest, and his breathing turned heavy. He could smell the girl’s heavenly fragrance.

No attack was going to work; Ye Wei could not fight back. He only had a small bit of reason left in his mind to hold on to, a small voice in his head that constantly told him that everything was not real. That everything he was seeing and feeling was illusory.

Even though Ye Wei knew she was the inner demon, he couldn’t control himself. His breathing became heavy as he felt the girl’s hand grabbing him tighter and tighter.

If this went on, Ye Wei’s mind would overload. Even though he was in the Karma Tower, and if he did lose his last shred of rationality and gave in then the runic arrays would save him. But Ye Wei was stubborn and did not want to give up. ‘This experience will be very valuable in the long run. It is an excellent opportunity to train my mind for when I have to go through a major breakthrough again. Then it will be much easier...’

‘Control my heart with my mind...’

Ye Wei ground his teeth and tried to keep conscious the best he could to suppress his impulses and many impure thoughts. Chances to train one’s mind like this were too rare, he had to take advantage of it now.

But as stubborn as Ye Wei was, his eyes were becoming cloudier. He was on the verge of breaking down.

‘The most fearsome enemy in this world... is myself!’

“Zoom! Zoom!”

Inside Ye Wei’s Sentient runes shone golden as the Mystic Mount’s presence appeared. Needless to say, inner demons are fundamentally evil; therefore, the girl was stunned by the unexpected surge of energy.

‘She is sugar coated poison and is not real!’ Ye Wei’s mind cleared up, and he opened his eyes. There was a golden glow in his pupils which helped replace the feelings of intoxication in his mind.

‘Evil is born from one’s heart. It is just a concept; if one’s mind is calm as a mirror, evil will cease to exist!’ Teachings of the monks echoed and shielded Ye Wei’s mind from the inner demon’s seduction. He pushed the girl away and sat down in the lotus position like a meditating monk as he radiated a golden aura.

The sacred words kept ringing in Ye Wei’s head, and the demon’s voice quieted down when his mind became calm, but when he was distracted it would turn as loud as thunder.

“Am I not good enough for you mister? I have a few sisters if you insist I will bring them here so we can please you...” The young lady was leaning over Ye Wei while she bit his earlobe and whispered alluringly in his ear.

“Mister!”

“Mister!”

Hot bodied, pure and graceful, petite... Seven other girls appeared out of nowhere, and they called out to Ye Wei in moaning voices as they ran over to him.

The kind of beauty these eight girls possessed was extremely rare. A man would be hard pressed to find just one, but now there were seven more in front of Ye Wei.

They surrounded Ye Wei, and engaged themselves in an intimate merrymaking session, but Ye Wei was not moved. The presence in his mind shielded him from any distractions.

Two hours, four hours... Seven hours had passed! The eight girls tortured Ye Wei incessantly with their appearance, but he was protected by a grand presence, and the girls could not make him give in to his desires.

‘I see! All of us are descendants of the sages in one way or another. We all have the potential to overcome the evil intents in our minds, and that’s the mindset each of us needs before we can make mankind great again...’ Ye Wei thought as he slowly opened his eyes. Seven hours of mental torture had pushed him deeper into his own mind and caused him to think more than he ever had before. Now his soul was as clear as a diamond, and his eyes were no longer cloudy.

There was nothing for the demon to take hold of and use, Ye Wei’s mind at that moment was impenetrable.

“Pop! Pop! Pop!”

All eight girls disappeared like exploding bubbles.

Ye Wei saw and was positively surprised that he had defeated the inner demon, but he stayed cautious in case there were any challenges left.

“Zoom! Zoom! Zoom!”

The runes on the chamber walls flowed and rotated, and a beam of blue light was cast upon Ye Wei. The tower’s teleportation array activated once again, moving Ye Wei to the tower’s top story.

***

‘On the third story was the high-level demon master captured when he was breaking through to become a condensed prime Warrior.’ Pu Yuan was just curious, but Jin Yan and Lin Zi Yan were getting restless. They couldn’t stop pacing around and looking towards the tower.

“Are you certain that he will be teleported out if it becomes too dangerous?” Lin Zi Yan frowned and asked full of worry wondering why Ye Wei had been in the tower for so long.

It’s been seven hours since she heard Pu Yuan report Ye Wei’s progress, and she was aware what mid-level inner demons could do to a cultivator’s mind. ‘Maybe he just became a Warrior, but it takes much more than strength to deal with inner demons...’

“It has been over three hundred years since the Glacial Emperor built this tower, are you sure its runic arrays are working correctly?” Jin Yan narrowed his eyes while he looked at Pu Yuan.

‘I am a peak ten-star Warrior, and I was only able to stay on the second floor for two hours, Ye Wei just broke through to become a Warrior, there is no way his mind is stronger than mine!’

‘Seven hours... really? If the runic array isn’t working, he would definitely be trapped in the illusions created by the demons. That’s the only thing I can think of!’

“This tower will stay standing long after you have died and your name has been forgotten. Three centuries? Master’s work can last for at least three millennia! Hahaha!” Pu Yuan answered. “If Ye Wei’s body falls to the inner demons, the tower will send him back out. Do not worry.”

All of a sudden Pu Yuan narrowed his eyes, “He is on the third story!” it was getting hard to believe, but it was a fact. He could feel that Ye Wei had advanced.

“What?!”

Both Lin Zi Yan and Jin Yan gazed upon Pu Yuan in disbelief, wondering if they heard correctly.

‘I wonder how he managed it. This boy is extraordinary!’ Being the Glacial Emperor’s disciple meant that Pu Yuan himself was something of a powerful cultivator and that he had met countless talents in his time, but none of those encounters brought him the shock he got from this boy Ye Wei.

‘If Ye Wei becomes as strong as master was, he might even be able to revive me in twenty or thirty years...’ Pu Yuan thought and decided to nurture Ye Wei anyway he could.

***

Ye Wei appeared on the third story, and he was immediately surrounded by a gust of cold wind. His vision blurred and a black mist swallowed him whole.

“What is this? This feels different.” Ye Wei’s face turned pale as he saw a figure approaching. He could feel its cold hand reaching for his throat.

The killing intent and the bloodthirsty presence was drowning Ye Wei; he could barely breathe because of the thick, bloody aura emanating from the inner demon.

Images started appearing in Ye Wei’s head of various demons, monster, and wild beasts fighting savagely against the human race. The boundless fear consumed Ye Wei, and his consciousness faded quickly...