Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 7 – Refinement

Triple Tidal Palm was just a low level stance, but it had special significance to Green Moon because it was the first mystic stance created by Green Moon City’s own Condensed Prime level Warrior, the great Warmaster Jiang Liu!

Back in the dark times, when hordes of demons besieged Green Moon City, Warmaster Jiang Liu held the front line of the city’s defence, leading the armed forces. He fought valiantly for three days and three nights in the fierce battle, and he eventually passed away from extreme fatigue, having slain tens of thousands of demons.

Green Moon City would not be standing this day if it weren’t for Warmaster Jiang Liu, and the millions of citizens have not forgotten about his contribution; the story of the Warmaster’s noble sacrifice would forever be sung by bards and told by the older generations. For the Jiang family the Triple Tidal Palm held great significance, as it was the very first creation of Warmaster Jiang Liu. Over the years, the Jiangs paid seven visits to the Runemaster’s Union and held small conferences with the Runemasters, trying to perfect the stance. They could feel there were some imperfections with the stance, but none of the Runemasters could take the next step and pinpoint the flaws. Thus, sadly, the attempts to perfect Triple Tidal Palm to date have not yielded results.

Lin Zi Yan didn’t carry the Jiang family name, but her mother did. Zi Yan was the Warmaster’s granddaughter.

Having just heard Ye Wei found three flaws when she only intentionally left one, Zi Yan’s hope surged as there was a chance Ye Wei could help perfect this special stance.

She looked at Ye Wei, shocked at how strong his soul sensitivity was and wondering where it all suddenly came from.

“So what are the three mistakes?” Zi Yan tried to suppresses her excitement. She looked at Ye Wei nervously.

Ye Wei didn’t know Miss Zi Yan was trying to perfect the Triple Tidal Palm. Taking the task for a casual quiz, he raised his index finger up in a relaxed way, pointing at three connecting nodes between the runes. One of the flawed nodes was left there by Zi Yan intentionally, though the other two looked completely normal for her and the Runemasters who had been studying this stance too; nobody had ever said anything about these two nodes in the conferences!

“And how do you think these three flaws can be corrected? Would you show me?” There was a trace of trembling in Zi Yan’s otherwise clear voice. Her eyes completely set on Ye Wei, engaging herself in this attempt to completely perfect the stance.

“I am only a one star Student, I don’t have sufficient primal energy!”

Ye Wei shook his head, feeling a bit saddened and frustrated. Ye Wei thought to himself, sighing, ‘How does she expect to me to demonstrate it? I am just a one star Student, ha, I can barely draw a rune.’

Triple Tidal Palm was a low level stance, but there were still thirty-six runes, each extremely complex and cumbersome. To correct the flaws was not an easy task and it was even harder attempting it purely by words, which was the only way Ye Wei could.

“Erm…”

Realising she got carried away, Zi Yan looked at Ye Wei apologetically. She completely forgot Ye Wei was only a one star Student. Ye Wei still had a lot of training ahead of him before he could manipulate his Qi and even more training until he had enough Qi and primal energy to sustain a stance.

“I’m sorry. Can you try to talk me through how it can be refined and perfected?” Zi Yan was getting a bit restless.

“The connecting node between the sixth and the seventh runes need to be smoother, more… circular. The tenth and the eleventh runes need to be swapped, replaced by…” Ye Wei tried to be as detailed as possible, but he struggled, as he did not know the proper terminology.

Zi Yan started to frown. She didn’t understand half of what Ye Wei said. She did not comprehend much concerning advanced rune structures, because she was supposed to learn that after becoming a Warrior.

To refine a stance, one had to understand and be familiar with performing stances!

Zi Yan grinded her teeth in frustration. She was trying to think outside the box, looking for ways to make Ye Wei’s method clear: “Ye Wei, stand behind me!” She blushed as she ordered Ye Wei.

Triple Tidal Palm meant everything to her family. The Jiangs had been dreaming for decades on how to improve the first stance created by Warmaster Jiang Liu. This wish was the same for Zi Yan; being the Warmaster’s granddaughter, she was not going to let this chance of honouring her granddad slip past her.

“Oh?” The shy Ye Wei hesitated before agreeing: “Okay!” Ye Wei moved behind Zi Yan, keeping a breadth of distance between the two as he started to draw on thin air, and Zi Yan copied his motions.

Following Ye Wei’s guidance, Zi Yan slowly drew the runes for Triple Tidal Palm. Feeling Ye Wei breathing down her neck, her heart started beating faster… It was her first time being so close to a boy. Zi Yan took a deep breath and ignored the distraction.

Her primal energy flowed through her fingers as she began drawing the runes.

“That’s not right!” Ye Wei scolded.

As Ye Wei’s voice faded, the half finished rune imploded.

It had failed!

Zi Yan was slightly disappointed but did not give up: “Let’s continue!”

Ye Wei repeated the process a few more times, drawing in the air as Zi Yan followed. None of their attempts were successful, though, and they took a toll on Zi Yan’s primal energy reserve. After several attempts, she was left panting and gasping for air.

“Miss Zi Yan, how about just letting it go for now? We can do this some other time, maybe?” Ye Wei said with a bitter smile. He then looked at Zi Yan, and because she had sweat a lot during the attempts to refining the stance, her dress glued to her body, revealing her pale and flawless skin. Ye Wei lingered for a bit too long and started to have inappropriate thoughts and knew he needed to stop his mind from wandering. He blushed and turned his head around.

“No!” Zi Yan shook her head with determination; she needed to refine this stance while she had the chance! For her family, for her grandad!

Zi Yan reached into her pocket and found a white pill. She quickly swallowed it and sat down in a lotus position, restoring her primal energy and Qi.

Ye Wei was speechless. That was a Primal Spirit pill… one of the most valuable medicinal pills that most Warriors couldn’t even afford.

In a lotus position, Zi Yan was completely focused on restoring her energy while Ye Wei just stood there, as he had nothing to do. He cast his eyes down onto her. Zi Yan’s slightly curled lashes, her delicate nose, pastel pink lips… Her features were exquisitely beautiful… Framed by her silky shoulder length hair, she resembled a goddess from the classic sculptures.

Ye Wei’s eyes followed her slender neck downwards and his heart raced as his eyes stopped below her neckline. He could see her slightly raised breasts, not large but perky, forming magnificent cleavage between them, and her light toned skin was flushed, making her that much more alluring for Ye Wei.

Ye Wei being the teenager he was and alone in the same room with the most popular girl in school was an incredible feat and a rare occasion; his impulses were taking over his body!

“What am I thinking!” Ye Wei shook his head vigorously, trying to rid himself of the impure thoughts. He took a very deep breath and forced himself to look up at the roof. But the thought of Zi Yan’s beauty, her body, forced his head back down, and he couldn’t help but take this chance to look at her again.

Moments after, Zi Yan opened her eyes. With the aid of one Primal Spirit pill, Zi Yan restored all of her energy in a matter of minutes.

She raised her head, and when she was about to say something, her and Ye Wei’s eyes crossed. Judging by how red his face was, Zi Yan realised her posture exposed a lot of skin.: “Ah!” she exclaimed. hHer shy face was colored red due to her blushing cheeks. She immediately stood up, not letting Ye Wei see her like that a second longer.

“I…” Ye Wei was embarrassed. He tried to apologise but choked up instead.

Zi Yan adjusted her breathing and eventually calmed down. She was embarrassed, too, but she let it pass without saying a word. ‘At least Ye Wei knew that it was a bit inappropriate,’ she thought. Ye Wei was a lot more honest and less aggressive compared to her other hormone driven admirers.

“Let’s continue!” Zi Yan was determined to perfect the Triple Tidal Palm. effect

“Yea!” Looking at how undaunted Zi Yan appeared to be, Ye was affected by her vibe. Although Ye Wei didn’t know why she was being so stubborn, he decided to help her fulfil her wish.

Ye Wei continued guiding Zi Yan, but the team had many more failures, because Zi Yan, herself, was relatively new to performing stances, let alone mastering and perfecting the Triple Tidal Palm.

“Let’s try again. You can come closer, it’s okay!” Zi Yan lightly bit her lower lip, turned around and told Ye Wei in a soft tone.

“How much closer?” Ye Wei carefully took a half step forward, which brought his body just a hair away from Zi Yan’s back; he could clearly feel the warmth from her body rising towards his face.

Zi Yan’s fragrance lingered around Ye’s nose and his heart started racing again, but he was focused on the task at hand. ‘Zi Yan was about to make a mistake!’ he thought. His hand reacted quicker than any sound he could make to warn Zi Yan. With lightning, speed, he grabbed a hold of her delicate hand and saved the rune. The texture of Zi Yan’s skin was so soft and smooth, comforting Ye Wei as he continued guiding her.

Feeling the warmth from Ye Wei’s hand, Zi Yan’s face warmed up a little, but it took no time for her to regain focus and steadily release primal energy, flawlessly completing rune after rune.