Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 182 - The Gathering

Lu Qianying’s fearsome presence encaged Ye Wei. While Lu Qianying approached Ye Wei, sequences of runes surged out of his body.

‘It’s not even a stance yet!’ Ye Wei ground his teeth. He could not move an inch. He was bewildered by the returned prime Warrior’s control over him.

‘Wait, I can take advantage of this!’ Ye Wei relaxed his body. Dropping his defenses, he allowed the Lu elder’s Qi to penetrate his body. Then he directed the energy to his bones, using it to help transform the runes on his bones.

‘I guess this will be good for now, but I needeto stay alive!’ Ye Wei was enduring the excruciating pain. He held tightly onto his iron talisman, waiting for the best moment to strike back.

Ye Wei slowly lifted his head to take a good look at his returned prime level opponent. His eyes lit up and his mouth opened to speak, “the Drakehead is not something you Lu’s can monopolize for your own profit! I’ve ordered my men to spread the news regarding the Drakehead’s location if I didn’t return back tonight. I would love to know the royal families would react! If they found out your family was not planning to share the treasures, they will kill you all!”

“What!? Who are you!? How do you know this much!?” Lu Qianying’s face drastically changed. He slightly held back his Qi and stared cautiously at Ye Wei.

It was not difficult for Lu Qianying to kill Ye Wei,. However, having everyone learn about the Drakehead,and keeping the Lu’s family’s trustworthy image and influence, would be..

ILu Qingying couldn't tell if the assassin was bluffing or not. He stared coldly at the masked man, calculating the most appropriate response.

“You are a liar! Show me some kind of identification. Give me a reason not to kill you!” Lu Qianying screamed his ultimatum. His golden Qi become thicker and grasped Ye Wei harder.

Meanwhile, he casted his will-force upon the assassin. Lu Qianying attempted to extract information by mental torture.

However, the returned primed Warrior’s specialty was not effective, Ye Wei’s Sentient vibrated and shone golden, rendering Lu Qianying’s will-force useless.

“I’ve seen this trick before. Even then I was not impressed by it!” Ye Wei chuckled. He hoped by angering the elder would allow him some time to come up with an escape plan.

“Eh?” Lu Qianying was concerned. He was surprised Ye Wei was not affected by his presence. It confirmed his suspicion that this assassin was indeed likely related to a powerful martial family.

The Lu family’s power reigned supreme in the Qing state, but in Lu Qianying’s eyes, the assassin could very well be related to one of the royal families’ rivals. He was therefore afraid to get himself involved in something he would not be able to handle. He hesitated to kill Ye Wei because he didn’t want his family’s future to be in peril.

Furthermore, he could not risk potentially exposing the Lu’s secret mission to the rest of the world.

Thankfully for Ye Wei, a moments hesitation was all that he needed. He quickly leaped forth with the aid of the Starblink stance, ‘this is good, if I feel him approaching I will just use another scroll!’

“You cheeky little…” Lu Qianying’s cold gaze lit up, ‘if I can’t catch you, Lu Li’s death will become my responsibility!’

“Kid, I wouldn’t be annoying now if I were you. In the end, I will be the one torturing you, so you better cooperative.” Lu Qianying’s Qi transformed to a massive hand-shape. It fiercely shot forth towards Ye Wei.

‘My life is worth more than this scroll I guess.’ Ye Wei was startled and unsure. He kept advancing, not willing to tear the scroll unless absolutely necessary.

“The North Barren Mountains is not men’s territory!” A low, screeching voice sounded. Lu Qianying turned his head. Ye Wei decided against tearing the scroll and instead he observed who was coming towards them.

There was a cruel tone to the shrill voice. Ye Wei ears felt a piercing pain. He was consumed by an unexplainable sense of fear. From what he could feel, the person who just came was at least ten times stronger than Lu Qianying.

Ye Wei’s face became pale. He even blacked out for a second. Thankfully his Sentient was enforced by the mystic mount.

“It’s a demon king…” Lu Qianying gasped. He shivered as he witnessed the disintegration of his runic golden palm. He lifted his head to look at the darkening sky. ‘F**k, I shouldn’t have followed him this deep into the mountains…’

“I knew what you’ve done to the bloodwolves, I was nice enough to ignore how you disturbed the peace… Growl! How dare you come to our home! Are you trying to rub it in my face?” Another rough voice sounded.

“It’s a king grade wild beast!” Lu Qianying exclaimed. His face turned sheet white,and his feet were uncontrollably shaking. He knew he was staring at death itself.

“Rumble!”

A pulse of primal energy shook the sky while a creature that was as large as a small hill stopped by. It was a king grade beast, and its mile long body was covered by dark moss green scales. On top of its armor-guarded spine were four golden wings.

“Quadwing Barren Beast!?” Lu Qianying was unable to remain calm. He took a few clumsy steps back before completely freezing up. He stood as still as a statue in front of all beasts residing in the mountain range.

“Swoosh! Swoosh!”

Thirty-six arcs of fog bows brightened the dark sky. Each of the arcs quickly condensed to lotus paddle shapes and together formed a large rosette seat. A surge of energy created an opening in the middle of the rosette. A man came forth the from the dimension within the mysterious structure.

This pale man stood on top of the rosette, glanced at Ye Wei and chuckled. He then scornfully moved his attention to the returned prime Warrior.

Lu Qianying crossed the demon’s gaze. His pupils shrunk to the size of a needle’s eye. The demon king was in humanoid form. He looked not a day older than twenty-four years of age.His perfectly proportionate face made his sinister presence slightly less repulsive. Yet, the strange glow in his eyes sucked his victim in a captivating, foreboding darkness.

Three more demon king and six more king grade beasts arrived. The demons stood behind the rosette seat while the wild beast were levitating in the shadow of their leader’s wings.

‘This is the Skeleton Demon King. He is the third and strongest son of the Nightfall Demon Emperor.’ Lu Qianying was uncontrollably stuttering and shivering. He wondered what attracted all these wild beasts and demons when any single one of them could have easily killed him.

‘The Skeleton Demon King possessed the strength of a eight-star returned prime Warrior, meaning even the Patriarch could not do anything...’ Lu Qianying was spasming.

The Skeleton Demon King stared at Lu Qianying. He was calm; it looked like he had no intention to fight; thought, that did not matter since Lu Qianying was unable to move..

Released from Lu Qianying’s enchanted will-force, Ye Wei was free to move. He could not see any difference between a normal human being and the demon before him, but his stomach acted like it was eating him from the inside. He knew he was looking at something evil; therefore, he clenched tighter to the iron talisman and the scroll in his other hand.

Ye Wei had no idea if the gadgets were going to save his life or not. Nevertheless, he had no other choices.

“A one-star returned prime Warrior who dares to wander this deep into the North Barren Mountains, are you insane or just suicidal? You know more than well that this is no place for the living!” The Demon King spoke. He snickered at Lu Qianying’s idiocy. He then nodded at the Quadwing Barren Beast.

“When I heard that some bloodwolves were killed, I thought we were attacked by the Royal Huyan family! Oh well, you can be the appetizer of the night for the young ones.” The winged beast spoke human tongue again. It inhaled air as it lifted its head. A large golden beam of molten lava erupted out from the dark deep abyss of the beast’s mouth.

Lu Qianying was telling his body to move, but it did not work. He defensively watched as the beam flew at him. ‘What is he talking about? Are the royals around? If so, I might have a chance of living!’

The elder did not want to die, thus he bit his tongue. The intense pain reawakened his senses; he then quickly moved out of the impact zone.

Once he landed on the ground and steadied his footing, he channeled his Qi and shaped it into runes with his fingers as quick as he could. Never did he think he would use his best stance for the chance to survive.

‘Forbidden high-level Myst stance, Frozen Goldsplit Sword!’