Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 35 – Mystic Tiger

In no time, Ye Zhong’s hair and eyebrows were burnt. His face became worryingly pale, and he spat out blood due to internal injuries. Despite being hit hard though, he did not shake, nor did Ye Zhong take his eyes off Du Han Yue. He was staring at the six star Warrior with a determined look through the hundreds of burning butterflies.

How was Ye Zhong suppose to defend himself against his rival’s forbidden stance with his cultivation deficit?

“Ye Zhong, just throw in the towel! The plot of ancestral land by North Hill Bay means nothing if there is nobody to inherit it!” Seeing Ye Zhong struggling, the patriarch’s heart dropped. He yelled and tried to interrupt the fight because he could feel Du Han Yue’s killing intent.

Ye Zhong’s display of exceptional strength and talent was more than anyone had expected. But Du Han Yue was an obstacle on a different level. With a forbidden stance in his arsenal, the elite six star Warrior from the Du family was too much for Ye Zhong’s five star Warrior cultivation to handle.

The Ye family had lost. The script for this duel’s finale had been written!

Although inheritance is one of the main priorities for the Ye family, it was not quite as important as the young ones’ lives.

The plot of land at North Hill Bay didn’t mean as much as Ye Zhong’s well-being did to the patriarch. He was only twenty-two and judging by his progress, the five star Warrior had great chance of becoming a condensed prime Warrior if he was given enough time. The patriarch was ready to trade his family’s pride for his grandson’s future. The eldest grandson who had the potential to become stronger that he was.

With Ye Zhong and Ye Wei as the foundation, Ye Zheng Qing was certain the Ye family could rebuild and become strong again, even if they were to lose the duel. One will always win and lose in life, sometimes it’s more important to protect the future than to be obsessed with pride and honor.

“Ye Zhong, surrender now!”

“It’s not worth it big cousin!”

Ye Zhong’s green robe was now blood-soaked, partially burnt black, and in shreds. Looking at the burnt and bloody man, Ye Hai, Ye Yi, Ye Jing Jing, and the Ye youngsters showed immense worry in their eyes as they shouted desperately.

“Du Yuan Ming, I am speaking for my family! We surrender! Make Du Han Yue stop fighting!” Ye Zheng Qing shouted towards where the Du Patriarch sat.

“This fight is not really mine but the young ones’ business. The moment they stepped into the arena we have no rights to interfere, their lives are their own responsibilities. I didn’t call a stop to the fight when our Du Yuan Hong nearly lost his life, did I?” Du Yuan Ming laughed wryly. He wore a cold smile on his face while casually glancing at the desperate Ye Patriarch.

“You!” Ye Zheng Qing was clouded by anger and didn’t know what to say. Du Xian Hong started the torture earlier and it was fair for Ye Zhong to take revenge. It frustrated him greatly because he was willing to give up the ancestral land, but the Du patriarch was still cold and refused to be reasonable! ‘What more do you want!?’ He asked in his mind.

Butterfly Inferno was a forbidden stance, and now that it was performed by a six star Warrior its destructiveness was in a completely different realm! If it was not stopped Ye Zhong will have zero chance of surviving; he will be engulfed and incinerated!

“This is our premises!” Ye Zheng Qing looked towards Ye Zhong who was now in grave danger. He could not wait any longer. The Ye Patriarch took a step forward, and his force had the presence of the great mountains, he stirred up breezes and the air around him started rippling.

At the Ye camp, the one star condensed prime Warrior Ye Hai, the three seven star Warriors Ye Han, Ye Yi, and Ye Yu, and the seven star Warrior Ye Jing Jing were all releasing their Qi readying for a brawl to save Ye Zhong.

How could they just sit back and watch?

“What? Do you lot want to break the rules? Don’t any of you dare come a step closer to the arena!” Du Yuan Ming said as he was staring off with the Ye family. Walking forward he channeled his energy emitting an invisible wave from the tip of his foot.

“Ye Patriarch, I, Zhou Wu, am the judge of this duel. What do you think you’re doing? And who do you think I am? The City Lord will hear about this!”

Seven Star condensed prime Warrior General Zhou Wu too took a heavy step forward. He stood side by side with Du Patriarch and gave a cold glare to the Ye camp.

“Ye Zheng Qing don’t make stupid mistakes!” The sneering Ling He Merchant Guild’s president Dong Ho stood up by his allies as well.

Du Yuan Ming and general Zhou were both seven star condensed prime Warrior whereas Dong Ho was a five star condensed prime Warrior. The energy from these three together was enough to drown out the Ye camp’s despite their greatest efforts.

The Ye family only had two condensed prime Warriors, and they were three star and one star level. There was no chance for them to contend against the Du camp.

The challengers did not plan to go easy on the Ye family from the start. If the Ye Patriarch and his kin decide to interfere with what was happening in the arena then it would be the perfect excuse for the Du’s to wipe them out!

“Du Yuan Ming, if anything happens to Ye Zhong I will fight you to my last breath!” Ye Zheng Qing’s silver hair framed his straight, furious face. The energy he was releasing made his hair stand up, the patriarch resemble an angry lion.

“To your last breath?” Du Yuan Ming sneered with disdain. “We are one of the Big Three. There are six condensed prime Warriors compared to your family’s two! What does your decaying family have to challenge us with? That is some overconfidence!”

“Looks like the Du family wants to go in for the kill. What a shame for the Ye family… This Ye Zhong stood his ground pretty well. His mastery over that forbidden technique and him being a five star Warrior will be wasted. It’s a shame personalities like this will fall at such young age.”

“Ye Zhong looked like he had a shot at breaking through to the condensed prime level before he turned thirty. It’s unfortunate that his family made powerful enemies who don’t really mind taking his life just for face. It is too late for the Ye family to do anything now, isn’t it?”

“Can’t the Ye family see? Do they still think they are the Ye family?”

“A few centuries ago the Ye’s were something. They were undoubtedly the strongest family in Green Moon City, but now… Haha, how much could they achieve by fighting to their last breath?”

Witnessing the two camps’ confrontation and the swarm of butterflies slowly overwhelming Ye Zhong, the Ye family was ridiculed by some members of the audience while the others were shaking their heads and sighing about their misfortune.

“Son of a bitch! I am going to smash your heads in!” Ye Jing Jing’s temper was bad, and seeing Ye Zhong’s end closing in she could no longer just sit and watch. Screw the situation, screw the rules, she was going in no matter what!

“Buzz!”

A thin mist of Qi solidified on Ye Jing Jing’s skin forming a thin but sturdy layer of primal feathers.

“Roar!”

Just as Ye Jing Jing was about to enter the arena and make a move, a deep, powerful roar filled the arena.

The tiger’s roar was fearsome and magnificent, it reached up to the clouds in the blue summer sky!

Ye Zheng Qing, Du Yuan Ming, Zhou Wu, and Dong He were all shaken by the noise. They immediately turn their heads in fear toward the source of the uproar.

Everyone’s sight met at the place where a three meter long spectral white tiger emerged from within the swarm of burning butterflies. This beast was horned. Its well defined silver white hair flowed gracefully in the wind.

The tiger’s eyes opened wide, permeating a domineering aura. The king of beasts’ presence was felt and feared by every single one of the burning butterflies!

“Roar! Roar! Roar!”

The horned white tiger looked up to the sky and cried as three consecutive deafening roars exploded the ears of everyone like thunder. The whole arena shook vigorously and the ground started to crack!

Members of the audience who had less than a five star Warrior cultivation covered their ears and cried out in pain. Some of the ones who had yet to reach the Warrior level were knocked unconscious from the impact.

Back in the arena, Du Han Yue was catching his breath still trying to recover from performing a forbidden stance. Stunned by the horned tiger’s roar, his face was as pale as chalk from fatigue and fear, and his legs were shaky. The noise penetrated his eardrums and dazed him. He lost his balance, and staggered backwards for six steps. His organs were shaken by the vibration and were aching.

“A blazing horned tiger!” Ye Zheng Qing, Ye Hai, and others in the Ye camp were showing a sense of unshakable amazement from their facial expressions when they saw the horned white tiger.

“Ye Zhong’s White Tiger’s Assault is more powerful than a high level Stance, it’s a Myst stance!”

“Myst stance! Our family now has another Myst stance!” The Ye’s could not suppress the thrills and euphoria and screamed out almost incoherently.

Myst stances were normally exclusive to people who were condensed prime Warriors, or stronger. It was a shock to everyone that Ye Zhong had such power at his command.