Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 89 – Abyss

Held by both, the force field and the black vine python, the sword wheel was finally defeated after being struck by the Howling Wolf stance over eighteen times.

‘The Flaring Sword Wheel was not controlled by anyone but still packed immense power, if someone was holding that ancient sword, I know I wouldn’t be able to suppress it this easily... Forbidden low-level Myst stances are just ridiculously strong!’

‘Before the force field fades, I should deal with the scarlet blade!’ Ye Wei quickly leaped back to the stone monument and pulled the mystic arm out of the mud.

‘Peak low-level Myst stance – Blood Riverblade!’

‘This is much weaker than the sword!’

As soon as the lengthy blood-colored Qi blade appeared, created by the mystic arm, it was frozen in place by the force field.

Right when Ye Wei thought he had everything under control, he felt an approaching presence from the woods. It seemed the wild beast was curious, apparently drawn forth to the swamp by the Qi disturbance.

A loud roar sounded out, deafening like thunder. The whole swamp shook, the ground rattled and a fearsome presence greater than a condensed prime Warrior was approaching. Ye Wei felt like he was in trouble.

Up till now, Master Yi was the strongest cultivator Ye Wei had ever met. In normal cultivation terms, Master Yi was a ten-star condensed prime Warrior, but the presence hidden behind the trees was much greater than what he felt in the Ye’s family arena.

“Sh*t!” Ye Wei’s face turned pale and drops of sweat started pouring down his forehead; he could feel that a pair of cold eyes was focusing on him!

Ye Wei held his breath and kept still. He was afraid that if he moved, the beast would feel like his territory was being challenged. After a few moments of complete quietness, Ye Wei could feel that the beast was no longer looking at him, and the fearsome presence quickly backed off like a falling tide.

A cold breeze sent a shiver down Ye Wei’s spine.“Phew!” After making sure the beast was far away, Ye Wei finally felt safe enough to breathe again. He kept staring at the woods, afraid that the beast might return. Ye Wei could not believe his luck if the beast were to pursuit him no scrolls or items could save his life, but he still needed to deliver all the treasures back home and save his cousin’s life, so he did not want to just die here.

‘This is not a safe place to stay!’ Ye Wei turned his head back to the blood colored Qi blade. ‘I don’t have any time to waste!’ He then tore yet another medium-grade scroll.

“Zoom!”

Hundreds of runes burst forth. The sequences intertwined in the air and transformed into a purple spear. Ye Wei quickly drove the spectral weapon towards the red Qi stripe created by the scarlet blade.

“Pop!”

The purple spear penetrated and shredded the blood coloured Qi blade. It only took seconds before both the spectral spear and the blade disappeared. Calmness once again was restored in the swamp as the talisman fell to the ground.

Ye Wei grabbed the talisman and then went forth to collect the mystic arms.

“Four-star medium-grade!?” There was an undisguised smile on Ye Wei ‘s face. He held the scarlet blade and was extremely euphoric as he recognized the incredible energy that flowed within it.

‘If I give this to grandpa he would be able to fight a seven-star, maybe even an eight-star condensed prime Warrior although he is just a three-star condensed prime Warrior himself!’ The Ye family was Ye Wei’s root; he couldn’t help but imagine how these weapons could benefit his family back home.

Back when the Du family was trying to plot against them, if the Du Patriarch didn’t have those medium-grade scrolls with him then the Ye Patriarch would have been able to fight the whole Du camp alone with his powerful three-star medium-grade bracelet.

“This ancient sword...” Ye Wei put the scarlet blade into his bag, and then he turned his attention to the sword. He was certain, the sword’s wheel stance, that he fought, was a forbidden low-level Myst stance which meant the sword was a five-star medium-grade mystic arm!

“Five-star medium-grade!” Ye Wei’s eyes glittered with joy as he placed his hand on the sword, its blade engraved with star constellations.

“It was a forbidden stance; therefore, it must take a lot of Qi to activate this sword... Even grandpa might have trouble using it!” Ye Wei mumbled to himself as he put the sword inside his bag.

‘It shouldn’t matter much if anyone learned that the Ye family had acquired three, four-star medium-grade mystic arms, but this five-star one should not see the sun just yet. I think even the City Lord himself might be envious of such a valuable treasure.’

After putting the two mystic arms in his bag, Ye Wei smiled satisfyingly. He had never possessed so many valuable things in his life. This trip to Bloodmist Valley had so far been a lot more rewarding than he expected. Not only did he acquire what he came here for, but he also got his hands on what could make the Ye family great again.

‘I have to find Zi Yan as soon as possible.’ Ye Wei cautiously looked at the woods again, haunted by the fear he just experienced. He bent his knees and launched himself towards the other side of the swamp.

For a seven-star Student who has the Qi capacity of a nine-star Student walking on water was not such a hard task.

Occupied by the sword wheel, Ye Wei did not notice that the stone monument actually rattled when he pulled out the mystic arms and that the backside of the stone tablet was starting to glow. Now that he was close to the edge of the swamp, the tablet was covered in runes.

“Zoom!”

The stone tablet was now rattling more and more, and the runes on it came alive.

“Brummm!”

A loud rumble caused Ye Wei to turn his head, curious to find out the source of this deafening noise. Ye Wei scanned the swamp behind him and saw a shining object.

‘What is that stone tablet doing?’

The rattling intensified and the whole realm shook as the stone tablet flew up into the air. The sky darkened, and the land quaked. The mountains were shaking so much it looked as if they were trembling in fear.

‘This can’t be good...’ Ye Wei’s heart dropped. His heart was beating so fast he could see his chest moving.

“Boom! Boom!”

The swamp suddenly sank into a crack. The black water evaporated and created an unpleasant smell in the air.

The land split into two parts before Ye Wei’s eyes. The swamp disappeared into a twenty-kilometer long abyss that reached to the heavens and extended deep down into the center of the realm.

“Roar!”

A shrill scream, followed by the sound of rattling metal chains, reached Ye Wei’s ears from the depths of the abyss. It was the sound of the chained demons fighting for their freedom!

The scream and the rattling grew stronger as if the monsters were reaching up to the surface. The louder the sound got, the paler Ye Wei’s face turned.

“Tzzzzzz!”

A mist of black smoke started oozing out of the cracked earth, and Ye Wei could see the silhouettes of a large demon horde.

The fearsome presence overwhelmed Ye Wei and sent a shiver down his spine. He shook and fell to the ground after taking a few steps back and despite his best efforts, he was having trouble breathing normally and moving his body.

‘What is this...’

Just as Ye Wei thought the demons were going to escape the abyss, an explosion of bright runic light erupted from the stone tablet. Millions of runes materialized and formed a pillar of golden energy. The runes then started to react with each other and released an astounding wave of energy.

The pillar shone down into the abyss, brightened up the darkness and disintegrated the black smoke. After a series of loud cries, the demons quieted down and the abyss returned to its previous calmness.

Ye Wei’s eyes widened, and he stared at the stone tablet. He could not feel any strength in his body; he was just sitting on the ground gasping for air. ‘What the hell is this?’ The shivering didn’t stop, although the demons’ cries did.

But after the brief moment of peace, Ye Wei sensed a greater evil presence within the depths of the abyss. An even thicker screen of black mist exploded out of the huge rift in the ground. This presence was more than a hundred times stronger than the others!

“Boom! Boom!”

Within the black mist, a red glow shone through. A three-headed serpent appeared in the mist, and parts of its kilometers long body came out of the black shroud revealing its blood red scales.

The serpent then squeezed a loud cry out of its elongated lungs shattering the bright runic pillar, emerging out of the black mist. Its mouth was wide open as it flew towards the stone tablet trying to swallow the artifact.

The serpent’s cry shook the entire realm. Ye Wei was already far far away, but the impact struck him hard. He could taste rust in his mouth and the next thing he knew, he was vomiting blood.

“Zoom! Zoom!”

The stone tablet rattled violently as if it was trying to match the serpent’s intensity, and more runes burst forth. Numerous runic energy pillars burnt through the black smoke and then landed on the serpent’s muscular body where they left a few large holes.

Struck by the stone tablet’s counter strike, the serpent rolled around in pain, but it was not giving up. Instead, it flew up viciously as a dark ball of energy grew inside its mouth.

The dark energy sphere was glowing red and filled with electricity. After a while, when the ball of energy was fully charged the serpent spat it out towards the stone tablet. Its colossal momentum had the power to shatter the earth.

As the dark sphere was about to connect with the stone tablet, the realm’s natural primal energy resonated within the tablet and strands of billion rune sequences burst out of the tablet in every direction!