Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 95 – Results

In normal circumstances, cultivators charge their fingers with will-force, and use that as a pen, their Qi as ink to write runes in the air. After they finished writing the rune sequences, they would inject Qi into it, activating the stance.

But with amplification stances, it’s slightly different. The canvas would be the user’s body instead of the air.

‘If I want to refine this stance, I need to know its weaknesses!’ Ye Wei thought as he focused on the human figure in the beam of light. He, deep in a thought, was mesmerized by the one hundred and thirty-six glowing green runes.

The few hundred Warriors sat on their seats in the spacious hall. They were all so focused on the task at hand that they did not feel three days worth of time pass.

“Buzz!”

All the pillars in the hall illuminated once again. Beams of light crossed over the large jade disc, and Pu Yuan reappeared on top of the dazzling artifact.

“Time’s up!” Pu Yuan looked down on everyone as his thick, hoarse voice sounded in their ears, shaking and waking them up.

“What! That’s all?” Everyone opened their eyes. Some looked sad and disappointed, some felt insecure, and only very few of them looked confident.

“This Supernova stance… out of the hundred and thirty-six runes, I’ve deciphered twelve in the three days. Thankfully Pu Yuan said we only needed to figure out the basics; I wonder if I did enough.”

“I deciphered fifteen!”

“What a shame… I only figured eighteen runes out…”

The Warriors who had deciphered less than twenty runes knew their chances were slim, and their eyes were a little teary after they heard that their time was up.

“I’ve only understood four runes, I have a feeling that isn’t good enough…”

“I don’t expect myself to pass this test; these runes are just too complicated. I couldn’t decipher even one rune…”

As for the people who couldn’t decipher more than ten runes, their heads were down but they were a bit less frustrated as they knew not passing the test was more or less a certainty.

Surrounded by low-spirited Warriors and not knowing how they were going to be assessed, Hong Xun and Xue Yao were also a little anxious. Both of them thought they did pretty well, but neither of them deciphered the whole stance.

“Hahaha! You guys think that was hard? It wasn’t that bad!” Jin Yan looked around him only to see that everyone seemed down and frustrated which only fueled his confidence by miles. ‘These untalented commoners are wearing their incompetence all over their faces!’

“Pfft, what are you so proud of? Maybe we did not do as well as you, but it doesn’t mean you’re going to pass the test either! Have you figured out the whole stance? Thought not! So shut up!” One of the more competitive Warriors spoke up.

Hong Xun didn’t want to engage in a pointless argument, but he agreed with the point that the Warrior was trying to make. ‘Jin Yan is really mouthy, isn’t he? None of these hundred and thirty-six runes were normal ones, and even Runemasters might not be able to decipher the whole stance in three days… Even if he did decipher more runes than us, as Pu Yuan said, we only needed to figure out the basics to pass this test. I think he should still be on course to fail the final test.’

“Ha! No, I haven’t figured out the whole stance, but you are looking at a genius who deciphered eighty-one runes! If I fail then, none of you stand a chance!” Jin Yan said proudly and loudly as he was sure that he was first.

“Jin Yan deciphered how many runes!?” All the cultivators gasped for air as they learned of Jin Yan’s achievement.

Although nobody really got along with Jin Yan due to his pride and arrogance, they couldn’t deny his strength and talent when it came to cultivation, his fame and his ranking in a major city.

Lin Zi Yan was sitting next to Ye Wei, and her sculpted eyebrows twitched. She opened her beautiful purple eyes, and there was a flash of disappointment present.

“Argh, I can’t finish this stance in the end.” Lin Zi Yan quivered disappointed in herself because she hated not achieving her goal.

Unlike Jin Yan, Lin Zi Yan preferred keeping a low profile, and even if she did pretty well herself, she was far from satisfied as she did not finish learning such a rare stance. ‘It’s a shame I couldn’t understand all of it. I thought I would be able to get more out of this trip.’

‘Eh? Is Little Wei still trying?’ Lin Zi Yan could see Ye Wei was still sitting peacefully by her side with his eyes closed.

‘Little Wei’s soul sensitivity is ridiculously strong. I still can’t believe he achieved the best score possible in the tests Master Yi gave him! If there is anyone here who can figure out this stance, it is surely him!’ Lin Zi Yan glared straight at Ye Wei with a purple glitter in her eyes. While she was a competitive person, she wished Ye Wei would be able to learn this exquisite technique.

Jin Yan’s eyes fell on Lin Zi Yan. Not that he was ready to lose against anyone, but in his mind she was his only competition in this test and it actually wouldn’t surprise him if she won.

“Present your results!” Pu Yuan looked around emotionlessly. Their emotions seemed to be fascinating for him.

Pu Yuan then waved his arm to summon a runic light pillar. “Zoom!” A human figure appeared in the middle of the light beam, and on the figure’s body there were one hundred and thirty-six dimly lit runes.

“Place your palm on this figure, the runes that you’ve deciphered will light up on this figure’s body.” Pu Yuan pointed towards the light pillar and said.

“Mister, how many runes have to light up for us to pass?” Everyone was staring at the runic figure. One of the cultivators sighed and looked up at Pu Yuan to ask the question everyone wanted an answer for.

“If you pass, I will let you know!” The tone of Pu Yuan’s hoarse voice revealed his excitement and expectation. He subconsciously looked at Ye Wei, partially interested as he didn’t expect a Student to make it so far in this labyrinth, but mainly attracted by Ye Wei’s mysterious aura.

‘I wonder there is anyone worthy in this group. Three hundred years of being alone was not as enjoyable as I told myself it would be…’ Pu Yuan looked out over the cultivators as he thought. His eyes turned watery as the sense of being abandoned overwhelmed him.

“I will go first!” Jin Yan could not wait to show off as he rushed towards the pillar of light. He carefully raised his hand then placed his palm on the figure.

“Buzz! Buzz!”

As Jin Yan’s palm touched the figure, a mysterious surge of energy entered his body and went into his Sentient. Moments after eighty-one of the runes on the figure’s body lit up. Those were the eighty-one runes he had deciphered.

“Eighty-one? That‘s not bad. Next!” Impressed by the result, Pu Yuan nodded radiating satisfaction. ‘Eighty-one runes in three days? Give him enough time, and he can surely learn this stance.’

“Three!? Next!”

“Next!”

“Next!” One by one, all the Warriors joined the queue and got their results. Jin Yan was leading by eighty-one while Hong Xun and Xue Yao made seventy-two and seventy-five runes light up respectively.

By now, only Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan were the only two unassessed cultivators, and because they were both not too eager, they waited at the end of the line.

“Well… The eighty-first rune is a block. If you can decipher eighty-one runes in three days, then you have a chance to learn the whole stance. But for anyone who learned less, if you can’t understand the Qi flow in the eighty-first runes in this amount of time, I’m afraid you probably don’t have minds bright enough to master this stance even if you tried for your whole life.” Pu Yuan said solemnly.

Hearing Pu Yuan’s words, Jin Yan’s eyes flashed, but on the contrary, Hong Xun, Xue Yao, and the rest looked depressed by his words.

Knowing that he needed to go up and get assessed soon, Ye Wei opened his eyes from trying to refine the stance.

Seeing one after another scoring so low, Ye Wei was surprised. He didn’t really find the process that difficult. He did find the later runes harder and more complicated, but he was able to use the earlier easier runes as a template to decipher the harder ones. ‘Why is everyone doing so bad? We had three days!’

If Jin Yan knew what Ye Wei was thinking right now, he would probably be coughing blood. He gave his best efforts just to get stuck a bit more than halfway through.

Pu Yuan smiled and spoke, “Considering the level of talent, you lot actually did pretty well. Back in the days when the Glacial Emperor was deciphering this stance, he figured out one hundred and eight runes in three days with his extraordinary talents in understanding cultivation and runes. It was half a year after that when he mastered the Supernova stance!”

“This mystic stance was the Emperor’s foundation. He built his arsenal of stances from it, and if it wasn’t for this stance he wouldn’t have been half as strong as he was!” Pu Yuan was not even looking at the cultivators at this point; he was feeling nostalgic therefore he unconsciously closed his eyes.

“Oh, even the Emperor himself only deciphered one hundred and eight runes in three days!” Jin Yan was feeling even more confident after hearing what Pu Yuan told everyone about the past.

“Like the eighty-first rune, rune one hundred and eight is also a block, and if you can understand the tricky Qi flow in these two runes quickly, you will have a much greater chance of successfully learning this stance” Pu Yuan continued.

“Next!”

Pu Yuan’s eyes fell on Lin Zi Yan and Ye Wei and thought, ‘It’s that Student kid! Oh wait, we only have two cultivators left? I don’t really like the cocky boy who deciphered eight-one runes, but I guess he is the best chance for my spirit to be set free.’