Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 91 – Close Combat

“Huh?” Jin Yan frowned as he watched Ye Wei fly towards him wondering why a Student would dare challenge himself.

“Piss off!”

Jin Yan glared at Ye Wei with a disdainful gaze. Without the slightest concern for Ye Wei’s feelings, he spat out the insult. He stomped his foot in Ye Wei’s direction, and the moment his foot went down an invisible force wave spread in the sky. The rippling wave gathered and shot towards Ye Wei.

Jin Yan’s Qi distorted the air around him, and his overbearing presence made Ye Wei feel and look tiny.

“Ye Wei!” Lin Zi Yan was distracted while confronting Mo Ya and concern was evident on her face. She didn’t expect to run into Ye Wei here, and never would she expect Ye Wei to stand up against Jin Yan to protect her. She did give Ye Wei a few medium-grade scrolls, but she did not expect him to use them this way, nor did she think he stood a chance against Jin Yan.

“Lin Zi Yan, I strongly advise you to focus on your opponent, especially when that opponent is me!” Just when Lin Zi Yan was ready to launch herself to Ye Wei’s side, Mo Ya made a move. In just a flash he appeared in her path. He flung his Qi sword at her with a flick of his wrist.

The Green Qi sword tore through the air and approached Lin Zi Yan leaving a shrilling whistle behind it; it was right in front of her in mere seconds.

Lin Zi Yan’s face changed, and sparks of purple flame appeared on her fingertips as she lifted her hand. The fire soon turned into a sequence of runes as her finger danced in the air.

Mo Ya was, in the end, a ten-star Warrior at his peak, and Lin Zi Yan could not take the threat he imposed lightly.

After placing runes and sparks of fire in the air each of them grew into a little flying serpent. Feeling the pressure on him, Mo Ya wiggled his finger, tried to rid the Qi serpents by striking them with his Qi sword.

Lin Zi Yan was not trying to fight Mo Ya, she just wished to distract him so she could be by Ye Wei’s side, but Mo Ya answered each of these attempts to escape with a devastating sword strike blocking her path.

“Zi Yan, don’t worry about me. I will be fine!” Ye Wei said while he calmly stared at Jin Yan who clearly did not understand his confidence. Jin Yan then chuckled as he spun his spear over his head sending a sharp, invisible force wave at Ye Wei.

Ye Wei sped up dramatically as the translucent wings on his back flapped forcefully. His agile movements made it easy to dodge Jin Yan’s powerful strike, but knowing that it was only the beginning of the fight, Ye Wei reached into his bag and took out a low-level scroll.

“Hahaha!” Jin Yan laughed insolently when he saw the black glow in Ye Wei’s hand, “You are hilarious! Please don’t hit me with that low-grade trash. I am very ticklish! Scrolls or arms just take them out now; you’re are gonna need a lot more to stay alive! I will show you what it means to be truly powerful without all these pathetic items!”

Jin Yan roared, and all of a sudden his body was wrapped in a golden light and flickering runes. Without moving a muscle, a stance was forming in front of him. It was a three-meter tall spirit bear with golden fur which appeared. It raised its muscular arm, and the next thing Ye Wei saw was a gigantic paw rushing at his face.

“Forbidden high-level Spirit stance – Golden Bear!” Down on the ground, Hong Xun and Xue Yao were staring at the spirit bear. Every single Warrior, who fought alongside Ye Wei, was becoming wary.

Normally, users of forbidden stances would be struck by a recoil force, but Jin Yan just casually used a forbidden Spirit stance as if he did not care about the after effects!

The power of forbidden stances varies, and the recoil force would also vary accordingly. If a fighter was strong enough or his or her Sentient was exceptional, the recoil force won’t have as much effect on them as it would on normal cultivators.

Jin Yan was a ten-star Warrior, and actually one of the strongest ten-star Warrior ever. With the three-star medium-grade mystic arm in hand, he could even take on a condensed prime Warrior. His body and Sentient were tough enough for him to pretty much ignore the recoil.

“Hey! Watch out!”

“That kid won’t make it!”

“He saved our lives. Guys do something!”

“Jin Yan you shameless excuse of a cultivator! You’re a peak ten-star Warrior, and you’re actually using a forbidden stance against a mere Student? You bloodthirsty bastard!”

“Help him!”

Everyone was on Ye Wei’s side. The oath they made meant they had to help each other, but they knew Ye Wei had saved their lives and even if they didn’t make a vow they would still have helped him here and now just out of appreciation to what he did for them.

Jin Yan might be one of the strongest people in the labyrinth, but he was also alone, with the treasures they acquired it was entirely possible for them to defeat Jin Yan!

“Screw his mother!” With the sound of cursing and swearing, hundreds of Warriors fired their stances in the air towards Jin Yan. The ones who were seven-stars and above spread their primal wings and flew next to Ye Wei to fight by his side.

“Mid-level Spirit stance – Hailstorm Sword!”

“Mid-level Spirit stance – Rolling Stone Punch!”

“High-level Spirit stance – Firewolf Strike!” The sky was filled with runes. Hundreds of spectral weapons and beasts came crushing towards the golden bear.

“Bang! Boom!”

None of these stances would have left a scratch on Jin Yan, but the sheer amount of them were making it impossible for the Golden Bear stance to gain an advantage. It only took moments before the Golden Bear crumbled into blinding runic lights.

Staring at the stances flying towards him, Jin Yan could not be rash. Surprise was evident on his face as he flew backwards and deflected stance after stance that rushed towards him; he couldn’t understand why he was suddenly the common enemy of this many Warriors.

“Little bro, are you okay?” Hong Xun went in front of Ye Wei and patted his shoulders then he turned back around to Jin Yan. There was a determined glow in both Ye Wei’s and Hong Xun’s eyes.

“Thank you so much!” Ye Wei exclaimed gratefully. If Hong Xun and the others didn’t step in, he wouldn’t even have the time to talk while fighting Jin Yan.

“Hahaha! Little bro, did you forget we made an oath? We can’t just stand back and watch even if we feel lazy!” Hong Xun said jokingly.

Jin Yan’s face darkened as he pointed his spear at Ye Wei and the Warriors then said, “All of you, piss off! Consider yourselves warned. From this moment I will not hold back!” Although he was facing this many Warriors, he didn’t seem to be scared.

The Warriors down on the ground rose up.

“Humm... He’s a ten-star Warrior right. I’ve never used a scroll before, and I really want to try it, to be honest. Now is as good a time as any!”

“This low-grade arm, I just got it back in the chamber and I don’t really know what stance is in it! I want to try my new stuff too!” Confidence comes with numbers and armed with scrolls and weapons the Warriors were not as scared as they were when they first met Jin Yan at the rune barrier. They were actually prepared to fight if Jin Yan wanted to do anything to Ye Wei.

Jin Yan stared at the Warrior who flew between him and Ye Wei then turned his focus to the Warriors on the ground. ‘They are all holding mystic arms or scrolls...’

Undoubtedly Jin Yan was one of the strongest cultivators here. He could easily take on ten Warriors by himself on a typical day, but when there were hundreds of armed Warriors in front of him, he could not just ignore them.

Unless he was a condensed prime Warrior, and even then he would need a miracle to defeat this large armed group of Warriors and come out unharmed.

Every single one of these Warriors were armed with some kind of powerful item, and furthermore, they were bonded together by the heavenly oath. If he wanted to fight one of them he needed to be prepared to fight all of them.

Facing so many people even Jin Yan, confident and powerful as he was, knew better than to take this group of Warriors lightly.

Lin Zi Yan leaped backwards and stared at the Warriors who were shielding Ye Wei then glanced towards the rest of the group. ‘All these weaklings are from different powers and families, why would all of them help Ye Wei as if he was one of their own people. Even I wouldn’t want to fight someone like Jin Yan!’

‘What happened after I separated with these guys? I guess I’m glad they found these weapons and scrolls and somehow are now fond of little Wei. Jin Yan shouldn’t be dumb enough to make a move now.’ She was relieved as she could see Ye Wei was in safe hands.

While Lin Zi Yan was distracted by Ye Wei, Mo Ya spotted this moment of opportunity. He wiggled his fingers and flung his Qi sword at Lin Zi Yan’s blind spot when she was looking away!

“I told you I do not want to fight, but I guess there are no other ways to shut you up!” Lin Zi Yan leaped into the air, and her dress flowing in the wind made her look like a mythical goddess descending from the heavens. Her eyes were burning with a purple flame while her hands formed many complex hand seals.

Lin Zi Yan was suddenly surrounded by a blinding purple light, and her presence exploded. Just when the green Qi sword was inches away from her body, she lifted up two fingers then they clamped onto each side of the sharp Qi sword!

Her slender fingers were packed with power and with a crisp cracking sound, the enormous green sword shattered like glass. Lin Zi Yan then quickly wrapped her purple Qi around the shattered pieces and flung them right back at Mo Ya.

It took less than a second for Lin Zi Yan to react to Mo Ya’s strike. The Qi sword was sent back to him before he even registered what had just happened. In a panic, Mo Ya pulled his sword in front of his chest to defend himself.

Flashes of purple landed on the sword, and a burst of violent force exploded at the point of impact.

The enormous recoil force knocked Mo Ya back. He flew backwards like a kite without a string; he couldn’t stabilize his balance until he was fifty meters behind where he got hit.

“What strength!” Mo Ya looked down at his bleeding hand; he had never been this concerned all his life. He raised his head to look at Lin Zi Yan, and this was the moment of his life he would later recall as ‘The first time I tasted genuine fear.’

Lin Zi Yan was way stronger than he expected!

Mo Ya did not pursue her. It was clear that even with his three-star medium-grade sword, there was no point to carry on their fighting as Lin Zi Yan possessed power that can not be compared to any fighting techniques he was taught.

Mo Ya flew back to Jin Yan’s side, and Lin Zi Yan retreated to Ye Wei’s side.

Ye Wei, Lin Zi Yan, and the Warriors were on one side with Jin Yan and Mo Ya on another. The atmosphere became heavy as nobody said anything.

“What should we do now?” Jin Yan looked at Ye Wei cautiously as he consulted Mo Ya in a whisper.

‘Mo Ya can’t do anything to Lin Zi Yan, and I got myself stuck... I can’t fight all of them on my own!’ Jin Yan was extremely frustrated as he did not want to give the pills to Lin Zi Yan.

“Lin Zi Yan, I can’t just let you have the pills like this! Let’s hear a deal from your side; let’s be civil and we can negotiate like adults!” Mo Ya looked up and said with a slight stutter. He was not used to asking for favors at all.