Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 106 – New Face

“Master, push me ten times harder. I can take the pain!” Ye Wei rose his head and gazed at his master with a determined look. He needed to become stronger, not only for Lin Zi Yan but also for himself and his family!

When you are weak, you do not matter; you can’t do anything but watch as things happen around you. His family was nearly wiped out, his cousin was put into a coma, and on top of everything else he was abandoned by Lin Zi Yan. All of this effected Ye Wei’s mind greatly and perhaps wouldn’t have happened if he was stronger. Because of all this, he desperately sought after power.

Master Yi was startled. He could feel Ye Wei’s determination and intensity. He also saw a lot of his younger self in Ye Wei, especially his thirst for power driven by a sense of self-incompetence. He wasn’t sure how high Ye Wei’s talent would take him paired with his intense desires.

Master Yi said, after a moment of silence, “We will go to the hidden area at South Star Academy. The coming three years you will train ten times harder than normal cultivators. Are you ready?”

“Yes!” Ye Wei nodded heavily.

After giving some of the treasures he collected from the Bloodmist Labyrinth to his family, Ye Wei bid farewell and followed his master to South Star Academy.

In a corner of South Star Academy, there was a hidden area that was accessible only with a specific mystic stance. This was a place built on the principal’s orders specifically for Master Yi as a token of friendship.

After being runically marked by the stance, Ye Wei was able to enter Master Yi’s quarters. It was the perfect location for intensive training because there would be no disturbance from others.

Ye Wei started to cultivate every day while being supervised by Master Yi. When he was not training, he would practice the stances he had learned that week. He took all kinds of pills every day including Silver Moon pill and Unyielding Gold, apart from that he also bathed in herbal medicine prepared by Master Yi.

Day after day, year after year, time passed by in a calm and fulfilling manner, and the once naive and innocent boy slowly grew up.

Three years later...

After a day of class, the students of South Star Academy gathered in the dining hall. There was always a vibrant and lively vibe when students gathered and exchanged their stories about how fun or boring their day was.

It sounded like sirens singing in the females’ dining area, and the smiling youthful girls of South Star Academy were quite a pleasant sight. This made it quite hard for the boys to focus on their food.

Seated at the eastmost table were the students who lived in Green Phoenix hall. They were beautiful and graceful even compared with the high standards. Their confidence and small prideful smirks set them apart from the others, and that was because they, together with the boys from the Crouching Dragon hall, were the top students in the whole academy.

“Joe Yin, you can probably challenge the elite students again! I think you might actually be one of the strongest students at South Star. Do you plan on participating in the cross academy exchange if you rank high again on the next assessment?” The clear eyes of a round-faced girl fell onto the charming looking girl next to her.

It was not a surprise that people were jealous of Joe Yin. In only three years her cultivation had improved massively, and this five-star Warrior was one of the top ten students in the academy, top three among the girls.

“Oh well... ” Joe Yin replied coldly. Comparing to three years ago, she has changed a lot. Her body was long, slim, and beautifully curved. Today she was wearing a long white dress that complimented her curves. Her body was not the only thing that had grown as she now had a head of long glossy hair. Despite this, her delicate facial features remained the same and with this new image she was considered a goddess by many male students.

‘They seem to like me... But to be honest, I don’t think I have that much do be proud of.’ There was a faint hint of bitterness on her otherwise calm face.

In the past three years, Joe Yin had visited the Ye mansion countless times, but she never got to see Ye Wei. All she heard was that Ye Wei was training with Master Yi. She heard briefly about how he broke through to become a Warrior before he hid behind a closed door training with Master Yi.

Every so often she would stop and wonder how Ye Wei was doing, not wanting to be left too far behind, and this was the reason why Joe Yin has been constantly training and got to where she was now.

“Sis, are you okay?” The round-faced girl asked in a confused tone.

“I am fine.” Joe Yin shook her head.

There was a series of disturbance on the other side of the females’ dining area, and the faces of all the girls were glowing red, covered with excitement.

“Who is that boy? Is he new? He’s quite handsome!”

“I don’t know! I’ve never seen him before!”

All of a sudden every girls’ eyes were set on the boy who just entered.

This boy was tall, handsome, and looked energetic. He wore a white robe, and his hair was layered and medium long. His pale skin made his chiseled face stand out even more. His eyebrows were long and sword-shaped, and his eyes were as bright as the stars. He was aware that everyone was looking at him, but he didn’t seem to care; he just kept walking confidently towards the food counter.

“It’s him!” Joe Yin suddenly stood up. She excitedly looked at the boy as her eyes started to get moist, he was no other than Ye Wei.

“Sis, do you know him?” The round-faced girl looked at Ye Wei from a distance as her face turned red.

“Yeah...” Joe Yin nodded. How could she forget the face that she has been missing for three years? She had mixed feelings about Ye Weiand wasn’t sure if she should walk up and greet him.

Ye Wei’s presence and appearance had changed greatly, and now he stood out like a crane standing in a group of chickens. The boys, especially the ones from Crouching Dragon hall, were not happy with the commotion caused by him.

“Where did this kid come from?”

“I don’t know him, but if we haven’t heard of him he’s probably just a weakling with good looks!”

Disappeared for three years, Ye Wei had no contact with anyone in South Star Academy. Even his old friends, few as they were, couldn’t recognize him because of how different he looked.

Ye Wei scanned around him to refamiliarize himself with the environment. He felt a bit melancholic looking around. He went to the food counter and planned to say hi to his old friend Cao Ning after eating.

Joe Yin was fascinated by Ye Wei’s graceful bearing and could not contain herself anymore. She quickly walked towards him.

“Wei...” Joe Yin stood next to Ye Wei, and she looked at Ye Wei with charming eyes. She took some time to organize her thoughts then said.

“You are...?” Ye Wei glanced at the long haired young lady with a dazed and confused looked.

“I am Joe Yin. Wei... It’s been a while” She tried to contain her emotions while speaking in a soft tone.

“Oh! Yin, long time no see.” Ye Wei nodded and said calmly; then he turned around to collect his food. In his heart, Joe Yin was no more important than anyone else in the dining hall; she could no longer set his heart off.

Joe Yin opened her mouth, but words wouldn’t come out. Her heart ached as she looked at his back with bloodshot eyes.

The boys were furious. The cold girl who they would do anything to please, the goddess whose smile they dreamt about before falling asleep, was being friendly to approach a new face and was then ignored!

“Pfft, who is this guy? Does he want to die?”

“Joe Yin said hi, and he is just going to turn around?”

A few of the Crouching Dragon hall boys were very upset. Many of them had confessed their love to her in the past and were rejected for stupid reasons. Ye Wei’s cold reaction to her was like grains of salt to their mental wounds.

One of the taller boys stood and walked up to the food counter. He spat on the ground then grabbed Ye Wei on the shoulder.

“Hey, who are you?” He asked angrily as he stared at Ye Wei from a height two heads taller.

The crowd was already looking at the tall boy when he stood up; he was one of the top three cultivators at South Star Academy; Mu Feng, a six-star Warrior.

The girls knew what Mu Feng was capable of, and they were starting to worry about the good looking new face. Ye Wei looked too young and pale to be someone who was able to defend himself properly.

“Mu Feng, what are you doing?!” Joe Yin frowned and shouted.

“This kid is a psychopath. I should teach him some manners!” Mu Feng grunted, and his eyes were filled with hostility as he filled his body with Qi.

“Leave me be.” Ye Wei said indifferently.

“Watch your mouth boy. Who do you think you are?” Mu Feng got even more mad from the cold response.

When Mu Feng was about to throw his Qi filled fist, Ye Wei turned around in a fast, ghost-like manner and gently slapped his palm on Mu Feng’s stomach.

“Bang!”

The palm strike connected, and Mu Feng was immediately knocked flying backwards. He was stopped by a dining table twenty meters behind him as plates of food were flipped over and covered his body. He grunted and screamed behind a layer of warm food.

After sending Mu Feng flying, Ye Wei shook his head and patted his clothes. He sighed then walked towards an empty seat with a tray of food in his hands.

Silence fell in the dining hall. Everyone in the dining hall widened their eyes in disbelief.

Most of them stopped eating, and chopsticks were frozen in the air. Some of the students were paying so much attention to the violence they accidentally sent their food to their noses instead of mouths.

They knew how strong Mu Feng was. What they didn’t know was the identity of this boy whose casual slap was powerful enough to send him flying.

‘Who is this boy?’

‘Three years... has he become this powerful? Looks like he will just keep walking further and further away from me...’ Joe Yin looked at Ye Wei’s back and realized they were now in different worlds.