Cult of the Sacred Runes - Chapter 208

Chapter 208 - Million Stars Palace

‘I have to use the connections I made, the opportunities I’ve been given. The Helians will help me climb the ladders without a doubt. I will be a fool not trying to get stronger and higher through them.’

‘I am not just going away, I am entering a new world. A world where class and standing matters, I came from a family of a Supreme and I’ve inherited the Glacial Emperor’s legacy, I will use those to my advantage in the future. And maybe then, when I’ve gained a better status, I will win Ziyan…’

Ye Wei clenched his fist, determined since he learned from his master that Lin Ziyan was the only daughter of the Lin Patriarch, the dynasty’s emperor.

He now understood why she had to keep a distance; the reason she left was to protect him from a dangerous world.

“I will become unstoppable.” Ye Wei muttered, his eyes glittering with determination. His thirst to become powerful was dominating his mind.

“I will not shut myself in a room and train, that is just stupid. I will learn from the Helians, interpret their wisdom and incorporate their methods to suit my cultivation. I will not become one of their pawns!”

The capital was divided into three zone, each zone was a smaller city ran by a respective royal family.

‘So this is how things are in the capital…’ Ye Wei’s runicle glided through the mild winter storm, approaching Helian City. As he was closer in, he was seeing more and more runicles on the roads.

“Zoom!”

A luxurious runicle whizzed by. At ten times the size of Ye Wei’s carriage, it looked more like a mobile palace.

“Eh?” Ye Wei could feel a great presence from the gigantic runicle’s direction, looked at the small open yard next to its driver seat. 

The young Runemaster quickly identified the source of the Qi presence in between a group of gorgeous escorts; at the young man that was dressed dashingly, in the center of the small dance.

He then shifted his focus to the flagpole at the runicle’s hind end where the Bai family crest was fluttering in the wind.

The Bai was one of the sixteen superpowers of the Zhou dynasty beneath the three royal families. Each of these sixteen influential households had over thousand years of heritage, they were treated as nobles, extension of the royals.

The young Bai sensed Ye Wei’s attention, turned around and stared back with his drunken gaze, rose his glass as the runicle drove further away.

“Zoom!”

The Bai’s accelerated and disappeared into the skyline. Its speed caused a turbulence, shaking Ye Wei’s runicle vigorously. 

In the following minutes, Ye Wei encountered a few more lavish runicles, “this is the twelfth of them! What are the Bais up to?”

“Show offs!” Ye Wei channeled his Qi to stabilize his ride, decided against confronting as he was alone and new to the area. ‘Just wait, you will be bowing before me one day.’

The three imperial cities were the heart, brain and soul of the dynasty. They were guarded by the strongest elites of the land, safe from the threats imposed by demons and beasts. It was natural that the sixteen superpowers based themselves close to the royals but the area had turned into the dynasty’s most materialistic region because of the amount of money that came with them.

Ye Wei shook his head, rid the pessimistic thoughts. He looked ahead to the hills and buildings ahead.

A few hours later, a large conglomeration of building structures as wide as the skyline appeared on the horizon as Ye Wei ‘s runicle escaped the valleys.

The young Runemaster could feel the royal city’s energy and life from a hundred miles away. He could also feel a faint, ancient runic presence emitted by the centuries old city walls.

“This is a colossus runic array.” Ye Wei mumbled to himself as he narrowed his eyes. He noticed that there was a flow of runes circulating, maintaining a semi-spherical shell around the entire royal city.

‘The scale of this barrier is unbelievable, I wonder how many centuries it took for this enormous runic structure to be built…’

Not only did the array protected the royal city, it also shielded the five hundred miles radius around it, creating a humongous no-fly zone, a zone that was powerful enough to turn any lawbreakers, even ten star returned prime Warriors, into dust.

Ye Wei had realized he would have to stop as he went closer to the shield and saw a large amount of wayfarers. He got off the runicle and stored it in one of his interspatial bags.

He then used the Starblink Steps, attempted to finish the last six hundred miles of his journey as fast as he physically could.

It only took an hour before Ye Wei arrived at the front entrance of the Helian city, he lifted his head to appreciate the beautifully crafted frame of the two miles tall, one mile wide front gate.

The young Runemaster was slightly hesitant to move as he was secretly terrified by the immense energy he could sense from within the rectangular shape, but he eventually joined the lengthy queue to enter the city.

“Three vermilion gold each, and there are twelve of you. Of course it is going to cost you thirty-six gold!” One of the golden armored guards yelled impatiently. Ye Wei could tell from the guards’ Qi presence that all of them were returned prime Warriors.

“One thousand silver exchanges to one gold and we do not do exchanges here, you can either try your luck with other groups in the queue, or you will have to ask the vendors around. However I can’t guarantee you they will buy your silver in a fair rate.”

“Nonetheless, you are to pay the entry fee in legal tender if you wish to step your feet in the capital.” The guard captain explained in a cold, strict tone.

The group then shuffled along the queue, emptied their pockets to gather the correct amount. One of the guards handed over a jade sigil as he received the fee.

After briefly reading some information regarding the royal city displayed in the air by the sigil, the group finally walked through the gates. 

Although Ye Wei had never seen queues that long, the guards were processing them efficiently and systematically. Only a few minutes after joining its end, it was already his turn to pay. He immediately melted into the crowd and headed into the city after receiving the jade sigil.

“Zoom!”

The young Runemaster was mindlessly going with the flow, he injected his Qi into the sigil and derived information of the royal city directly into his mind in return.

‘So the municipality is divided into the inner city, south, north, east and west. The inner city is a restricted area that nobody may enter without the royal’s invitation. And intruders will be killed on sight…’ Ye Wei frowned as he received the messages, ‘that is a bit unforgiving…’

The east wing was the most developed, busiest area. It was predominantly a commercial area where many trading guilds and individual merchants also set up their posts and markets.

The west wing was a residential area, home to thousands of powerful cultivators and the headquarters of many influential families and forces. The elevated living expenses and cost of land made the west wing a prestigious location.

The south wing was the fun quarter, from casinos to restaurants brothels to parks, the south end provided the city with entertainment that was suitable to the young to the old, the traditionals to the loose moraled.

‘The north wing, Million Stars Palace…’ Ye Wei’s face showed concern as he processed the information.

The Million Stars Palace spanned over a hundred miles, it as set up by the Helians to house the young elites they have recruited from all over the dynasty. Its size revealed just how eager the Helians were planning to expand.

“A whole zone dedicated to the reruits!?” Ye Wei exclaimed, forgot that he was surrounded by other visitors.

“They must really care about us.” He noticed he made a fool of himself, muttered with a blushed face.

‘But that also means that there are tens of thousands as special as I am, they might be stronger or weaker, but they surely all have potential to achieve greatness…’

‘I am Green Moon City’s strongest, and maybe even the best young cultivator of the thirty-six outskirt cities region. But I don’t think I should expect recognition just yet. Well ranks are just numbers in the end, it will be nice to have someone to compete against, or someone to look up to.’

‘I have to keep fighting stronger opponents and just improve through combats and mistakes. If I don’t exceed my limit, I will never breakthrough to returned prime level quickly enough!’ Ye Wei was thirsting for battles, for the thrills and the improvements and come with bloodshed. He missed the rush he experienced during the regional tournament.

The city was tall and wide, as the center was a prohibited area, even with Ye Wei’s speed, it took him more than two hours to get to the north wing from the south leaning entrance.

“The Million Stars Palace!”

The palace’s front was on the edge of Ye Wei’s sight after the long trip, although he was told the shape and the size of the palace, experiencing it first hand still mind-blowing.

The gates of the palace was made of forged cyan meteorite, the polished surface was glittering like a cloudless night. To each sides of the gates was a row of ten feet tall golden giants, each of them standing straight as a pole.

“What are these…”

Ye Wei stared at the giants, he could not sense any sign of life but his Sentient picked up a cold, intense Qi presence from each of them.

“Who are you!?” Just as Ye Wei stepped forward towards the gate, a young cultivator appeared out of nowhere and shouted. His purple robe fluttered as if he had sprinted out.

“Ye Wei, of Green Moon City!” Ye Wei skipped the socializing, grabbed the talisman given to him by Helian Jieyuan from the interspatial bag hung on his waist.