Chapter 226 - Recruit
Stances above Earth grade were always so well refined during the process of their creation, that even assisted by the other Qing elders, their ten-star Runemaster leader was not able to make any progress.
Three days flew by in a flash, but even Qing Yao’s help did not quicken the process.
Outside Ye Wei’s new villa, Xue Er restlessly paced next to the gate, waiting for the initiate to disable the seal.
“What is this about! Why would Qing Yao make me camp outside his doorstep without telling me why she so desperately wants to see Ye Wei!?”
While Xue Er was becoming more and more impatient, the villa’s occupant was quietly training in a quiet chamber inside.
Surrounded by clouds of starlight, Ye Wei was struggling to imitate the second movement set in the Eternal Star stance. It required him to face his palms and feet towards the sky, and he could not stop his body from shaking while holding the weird pose. Him and his star clone’s meridians were both absorbing the energy from above.
“This is close to impossible!”
After learning the third pose of the second movement, he decided to cut his training session short as his muscle cramps were intensifying. While feeling sore, he could also feel his body strengthening even while he was taking a break.
‘Great progress considering it was only three days of work. But my body is still nowhere near as strong as four-star returned prime level…’ Ye Wei thought to himself, slightly worried for his body as he had not improved as rapidly as he hoped to. ‘It should be fine, my body is tired but this sensation is not particularly uncomfortable.’
“If I keep getting stronger at this rate, can my body reach five star returned prime level when I finish the second movement set?” He smiled and his eyes lit up, as he muttered to himself.
“I can’t afford to get injured right now, I should get some rest to be ready for the next push sooner.” The young Runemaster let out a deep breath, realizing that he was physically and mentally tense.
He got up, opened the doors and inhaled a lungful of fresh air for the first time in three days, his mood immediately brightened up, refreshed by the morning breeze. He then closed his eye, let the hazy warm sun nourish his skin pulled his arms back and thoroughly stretched his body.
“It’s been three days since I locked the villa down, they should realize that I don't want to be disturbed, right?” Ye Wei mumbled as he walked into the courtyard, disabling the runic array with a wave of his hand.
“FInally!” Xue Er jumped as she felt the energy disturbance, her frustration evaporated while a cute smile grew. “Ye Wei! Come out! It’s me, Xue Er!”
‘Just when I got used to the peace.’ Ye Wei heard the call loud and clear, shook his head as he chuckled reluctantly.
“Hey, what brought you here?” He quickly came out of the villa, forced his lips to a smile and asked.
“You are a bully! You made me wait three days and three night!” Xue Er stomped the floor, her aggression appeared awkward because of her dainty figure.
“Three days!?” Ye Wei scratched his head and replied in an apologetic tone. “Was there an emergency? I am sorry but I’ve locked the villa down since three days ago.”
“Qing Yao told me to fetch you for her! Let’s go! You’ve made me waste enough time already!” Xue Er urgently pulled Ye Wei’s arm and the pair disappeared in thin air.
Just moments later, they reappeared right at Qing Yao’s doorstep. Before any explanations made, Ye Wei was dragged into the large villa.
They directly walked into the courtyard to a suspending mist of runes, where the Qings were still working on refining the Light Slash Finger stance.
“What is going on here?” Ye Wei was immediately intrigued by what he saw. He could tell that he was looking at a powerful rune sequence that was at no less than mid-Earth level.
“Hi! I’ve brought him back.” Xue Er ran to the middle of the focused cultivators tugged Qing Yao’s arm, said urgently in a soft tone.
“Eh?” Qing Yao and the elders took their eyes off the runes floating in the sky, smiled and looked at the visitors.
Ye Wei greeted them while staring at the rune sequence, frowned and muttered bluntly. “This stance is less than perfect….”
Although he could immediately tell there was a problem with the stance’s flow, he had not studied the sequence enough to specifically tell what the problem was.
He kept looking at the sequence hoping to identify the flaws, but struggled doing so as the Earth stance was one of the more complex structures he had seen.
The elders narrowed their eyes, slightly offended by the comment but also shocked and impressed.
“Little man, do you know what you are looking at?” A sheer disbelief moulded on Elder Qing Ming’s face.
‘How could anyone lesser than a Grand-Runemaster make a comment like that…’ The head of the Qing elders knew the sequence well from decades of practising the stance and therefore was shocked to hear the youngster’s casual words.
“Bits and pieces, yes.” Ye Wei phrased his answer as humbly as he could, with the knowledge that he would be able to figure the sequence out in his own time with the aid of the Mystic Mount presence in his Sentient.
‘There is only a handful of people in the entire Qing dynasty who can say that without lying.’ Qing Yao, also surprised by the answer, rose her brows as she heard the response she could only expect to hear coming out of a grandmaster’s mouth.
The elders were doubtful regarding Ye Wei’s ability to find flaws in the sequence but they were not going to challenge and interrogate the young initiate they wished to recruit.
“So I am guessing you are Ye Wei?” Elder Qing Ming smiled and nodded.
“Yes, sir.” Ye Wei nodded and looked at Xue Er and Qing Yao. ‘What have they dragged me into now? This is a quite a crowd…’
“Little man, congratulations for your display at the induction day fights! You are destined to achieve greatness!” Elder Qing Ming said with respect.
“Thank you for your kind compliment.” Ye Wei lowered his head and nodded humbly while trying to figure out the reason he was summoned.
“Have you by any chance heard of the Qing family? The elders’ leader asked.
“The Qing family?” Ye Wei knitted his brows as he scanned the courtyard, “yes, my master told me the Qings are led by a legendary ten-star god’s prime Warrior, and it is the dynasty’s strongest family apart from the royals. Would you happen to be…”
“I am still very weak, I do not wish to burden any families or forces before I can carry my own weight and figure out what I want.” Ye Wei quickly bowed as he realized that people who stood before him were some of the most influential cultivators within the borders. Not wanting to offend the superpower, he decided to openly declare his perspective before any misunderstanding was made.
‘You don't have to be so modest, and you don’t have to be scared of us. We certainly understand the situation you are in.” Qing Ming picked up on Ye Wei’s fear and replied in an assuring tone. “We are not pushing you for a decision in anyway, in fact we are here to help you, to offer you an exchange of favors so to speak.”
“Exchange? How do you mean an exchange? I don’t have much to offer a renowned power like the Qing...” Ye Wei hesitated then replied.
“You really are too modest! I will be less cryptic I guess.” Elder Qing Ming chuckled and said. “Suffice it to say our patriarch is impressed by what he heard of you, and he would like to help you develop your potential. In the coming three years, the family would like to supply you with a hundred bottles of primal essence, to craft a customized weapon for you and give you three high-Earth level scrolls for protection. In return, we would just like you to honor our gesture and be friends of the Qings and watch over us if you manage to become a god’s prime Warrior.”
Elder Qing Ming understood the bashfulness of a humble initiate and decided to encourage the relationship by kindness. He wished to draw Ye Wei closer to the family and make sure Qing Yao would get the chance to befriend the initiate.
Although bearing the intention to set up the two, the elder was not going to propose a marriage before seeing Ye Wei’s improvement. Even if Ye Wei failed to live up to the expectations the resourceful family would not have lost much.
‘Cultivating resources, a customized runic weapon and scrolls for protection? That is better than all the other offers I’ve been given by miles!’ Ye Wei thought to himself, his eyes lit up. ‘This is a lot of investment even for superpower like the Qings, they might be desperate for some reason…’
“Thank you very much for the generous offer. I am not even a returned prime Warrior yet, but let’s say if I do eventually become a god’s prime Warrior, how am I supposed to watch over a family as big as the Qing?” The young Runemaster took a deep breath then said calmly.
“You are thinking too much! As you said, you are still a condensed prime Warrior and you managed to defeat three and even four-star returned prime Warriors, you are an inspiration in many ways and my family would like to help you reach however high you can reach.” Elder Qing Ming explained.
“That is reassuring. I am looking to join a bigger family when I am more capable and I promise you I will consider joining the Qings before even thinking about others.” Ye Wei replied after a deep thought.