Cult of the Sacred Runes

Chapter 92 – Enter the Temple

‘If we can’t fight her we will have to talk it out!’

Jin Yan shared a look with Mo Ya, ground his teeth as he was getting mentally ready to compromise.

Lin Zi Yan was more selfish than she was considerate but being a Warrior herself she could relate to their frustration.

‘There are only ten pills. I have these seals on my body, and it will be harder for me to breakthrough to the condensed prime Warrior level than everyone else. I will need around five pills for myself to be safe, and I need to save some for Ye Wei…’

“Zi Yan, if we really want to we can just fight them. I don’t think they can take all of us!” Ye Wei thought as he could see that Lin Zi Yan was frustrated. He briefly looked at Jin Yan and Mo Ya, ‘Finders keepers! That has always been the rule in these kinds of situations. Why do they think they can just ask for the pills when Zi Yan was the one who got her hands on them first?’

Thinking about the thirty odd scrolls in his bag and how he was backed up by hundreds of strong cultivators, Ye Wei was actually feeling pretty confident.

“Mo Ya, Jin Yan, both of you know how rare these pills are. You couldn’t buy them even if you had the money for them! I need them as much as you two do!”

“I can give one pill away!” Lin Zi Yan laid one pill on her palm and said calmly.

“One pill?” Jin Yan’s face darkened. It was obvious that Lin Zi Yan was trying to turn Mo Ya against him; therefore, he shook his head and made a counter offer that involved an even number. “Four pills at least! Name your price!”

Mo Ya also saw through Lin Zi Yan’s cheeky plan. He frowned and said, “Yeah, four pills. That’s the bottom line.”

“Only one. I have a use for the rest of them.” Lin Zi Yan determinedly shook her head. There was no way she would let Mo Ya and Jin Yan take four pills from her.

“No? How about two then?” Mo Ya and Jin Yan were desperate, and they were too stressed to hide it.

“One pill and I will trade it for no less than eight hundred thousand silver, or something of the same value. Final offer. If you don’t want it all the better!” Lin Zi Yan sounded determined.

“Eight hundred, what? Why don’t you go rob the City Lord?” Jin Yan’s face darkened further, and his eyes twitched as he spoke, ‘Even I can’t come up with that much money.’

Mo Ya frowned. He was deep in thought and didn’t talk, ‘If I were her, I wouldn’t give the pills up easily either… If Jin Yan and I were in a better position then fine, but now they really do have the advantage. There is no real reason for her to give us any pills. As ridiculous as her offer sounds, I think this is actually decent.’ Mo Ya acquired a lot of treasures from this labyrinth, so much so that it would make up for the price Lin Zi Yan proposed.

“No? Fine then.” Lin Zi Yan said and put the pill back inside her bag.

“Wait! Eight hundred thousand correct? I will take your offer!” Mo Ya stepped forward and threw his interspatial bag to Lin Zi Yan, “This is everything I have with me. I’ve acquired quite a bit since I stepped in this labyrinth. I’m sure this is worth eight hundred thousand silver if not more!”

“Mo Ya… What are you doing?”

Jin Yan’s eyes widened, and he stared at Mo Ya’s silhouette. He was furious and surprised. Until this moment Mo Ya and him were on the same side.

“If I fail my condensing breakthrough then I will need to train for two or even three years to regain my Qi. Only after that could I attempt a breakthrough again. I am not a gambling man, use your common sense, Jin Yan. Outside of this labyrinth, even if you have eight hundred thousand silver, you won’t be able to get yourself half of this pill! And that’s if you’re lucky enough to find a seller! If you’re not taking the offer, you can’t blame anyone who does!” Mo Ya said calmly. It was true that Jin Yan has become a person he could trust, but in the end, they were not that close. They only fought alongside each other because they didn’t stand a chance against Lin Zi Yan on their own.

“Sure, here’s your pill!” Lin Zi Yan caught the bag and after sensing its contents and confirming their value, she threw one of the ten pills to Mo Ya.

“Farewell!”

Mo Ya carefully put away the pill and immediately headed back.

“Good. Excellent!” Jin Yan stared at Mo Ya until he eventually disappeared into the woods. He ground his teeth so hard the grinding noise was audible from where the many Warriors stood. The bulging veins on his head didn’t fade for quite a while after Mo Ya was out of sight. After many deep breaths, he looked at Lin Zi Yan and said, “Fine then I will pay you the same amount. Give me a pill!” Jin Yan ground his teeth as he spoke. He looked like he was going to bite someone.

“No. I told both of you, I will only give away one pill!” Lin Zi Yan directed rejected Jin Yan’s request. She had already planned to save five for her personal use and four for Ye Wei; there was no room for negotiations.

Mo Ya and Jin Yan as a duo were threatening, but on his own against hundreds of armed Warriors, Jin Yan was nothing.

“Hmpft!” Jin Yan grunted reluctantly. He then turned and quickly flew towards the Glacial Temple.

Seeing that Mo Ya and Jin Yan left, Lin Zi Yan looked at Ye Wei with a friendly glance and smiled, “Let’s go. I want to see the Glacial Temple!” She dragged Ye Wei using the Shadowshift stance.

‘There is no doubt, the most valuable thing in this labyrinth is hidden here. And if the rumors are true The emperor also left something else here before he passed.’

“Go!”

“Let’s go together!” Hong Xun, Xue Yao, and the Warriors were motivated by the possibility of inheriting the Glacial Emperor’s legacy. They could hardly contain themselves.

Everyone flew towards the Glacial Temple.

***

“Damn it… Damn it!”

“Lin Zi Yan, Mo Ya, and that annoying Student brat! I will remember this! Just wait! I will make sure you all pay!” Jin Yan suppressed his rage, “If I inherit the Glacial Emperor’s legacy, none of you will leave here alive!” Looking at the grand structure that was mysteriously floating in the air, Jin Yan stood on his spear and injected Qi into it making the three-star mystic arm levitate. The spear turned into a flash of golden light and brought Jin Yan to the green and blue runic cloud platform outside the temple’s gate before anyone could even see the temple’s entrance.

“Ha, you guys want the Glacial Emperor’s legacy, that is a bit of a reach for you!” Mo Ya was watching on a mountain top as the cultivators flew up to the temple.

***

“This Jin Yan is an idiot. He doesn’t get it. Does he really think it is a good idea to compete with them? It would take a condensed prime Warrior to take them out…”

“Now that I have this pill, I can surely breakthrough right here! When I become a condensed prime Warrior, I will join you in the temple and then I will kill everyone and take everything!”

Mo Ya closed his eyes as he sat down in a lotus position. He swallowed the Condensing Primal pill. He then started cultivating and building up his Qi to attempt a breakthrough.

***

Eventually, everyone arrived on the cloud platform, “It looks even bigger when you’re up close.” The temple was over two kilometers tall and decorated with countless precious stones and metals. Beside the platform was twenty stone pillars. Each pillar was so thick that twenty people couldn’t wrap their arms around it; they were like giants’ legs.

In front of this temple, the group of cultivators looked like a small group of ants.

Behind the pillars were thousands of beast fossils. The largest was more than fifty meters tall, and all of these fossilized bones were engraved with runes. They were glittering like wild jade and even still emitted a fierce aura that pressured the nearby cultivators even though these beasts were long dead.

‘Why did the master of this temple place these fossils here?’

Thinking back to the stone giant and the puppets everyone started to shiver. They held their breath afraid that any movement might wake these beasts up.

These fossils were on both sides of the entrance arranged like they were guardians of the temple gate. Following the line of bones to the far side of the platform was the three hundred meter tall tightly shut gate. The gate’s dark metallic shine was dispersing a cold presence.

The tranquility and quietness did not make any of the Warriors feel relaxed; they were all feeling very tense at the moment. They felt as if they were standing in front of heaven’s gate while they wondered what they should do next.

The Glacial Emperor was very much a mythical figure. His name was often heard from bards and storytellers, but nobody was really sure whether to take these stories of his unrivaled powers seriously or not.

As the stories went, the Glacial Emperor was a master of mystic runes. He single-handedly created the Glacier rune set and invented most of the popular ice related stances. There were tales about how he traveled to the ends of the world and acquired the essence of ice. There were also rumors about how he could turn his body into solid ice at will.

Now seeing this grand structure right before their eyes, it was clear to everyone that the Glacial Emperor did indeed exist, and he might have been even stronger than they had heard judging by this labyrinth and the treasures he left behind.

It was a surprise to many when he disappeared off the face of the planet. Nobody knew where he went and as the centuries passed, every once in awhile one of the emperor’s stances would appear, and whoever obtained the ice king’s legacy would become a legend themselves.

All the Warriors were now standing in front of the gate, staring at it and wondering how they were to get to the other side.

Everyone there understood that if they could learn even one stance from the Glacial Emperor’s collection they could become someone. But at the same time, they were aware the Glacial Emperor did not intend for just anyone to inherit his legacy and the traps and tests inside this temple might just end their lives.

Just when nobody quite knew what to do, Lin Zi Yan stepped forward. Her light steps made her seem more relaxed than she was, and the clueless crowd could not take their eyes off her.

“Zi Yan!” Worried about Lin Zi Yan, Ye Wei held her wrist and pulled her back. He didn’t know who the Glacial Emperor was, but he was sure everyone there had a valid reason to be so nervous.

“Relax, it’s going to be fine!” Lin Zi Yan turned to Ye Wei and ruffled his hair.

“I’ll come with you!” After a brief moment of hesitation, Ye Wei stepped forward alongside her.

Under everyone’s attention, they walked the path made of green and blue clouds towards the gate.

All of a sudden the fossils started to rattle and the path lit red from a blood colored glow that came from these skeletons’ eye sockets.

Everyone gasped. These skeletons had a presence similar to, but stronger, than the stone puppets.

Ye Wei too was petrified, digging his hand into his bag and clenching onto a defensive scroll. But unexpectedly, the skeletons did not leave their positions and only then was he relieved.

Lin Zi Yan, on the other hand, was never worried. She walked right in front of the gate and placed her pale, slender hand on the cold metal.

When Lin Zi Yan’s small hand touched the gate, a green and blue light burst forth, and before Ye Wei could react, she was sucked into the temple by a mysterious force.

The gate was still sealed shut, but there was no trace of Lin Zi Yan in sight.

“Zi Yan!” Ye Wei’s pupils dilated. He ran to the gate without hesitation.

“Zoom! Zoom!”

An energy engulfed Ye Wei’s body as he touched the gate. His body was pulled right through the gate as if it was nonexistent.

“They went in?!”

“The girl knows what she’s doing; they will be fine.”

Startled by how Lin Zi Yan and Ye Wei vanished, everyone felt speechless.