‘So that’s how it works! The treasures are hidden in the stone houses!’ Ye Wei figured out while observing the people around him. He also realized these rune barriers were the source of the runic disturbance he felt.
A fight broke out not far ahead of Ye Wei. The sound of Mystic stances exploding echoed through the tunnel, and he could see bodies flying everywhere.
“I will not show mercy to anyone who stands in my way! Not here!” A tall six star Warrior activated a Dark Lightning stance and bolts of black electricity wrapped around his body. The sound of thunder accompanied each step this human thunderstorm took as he charged towards a few men guarding the front of a rune barrier. He reached them quickly knocking quite a few of them out cold.
Some of the lower star level Warriors and Students around him were lucky enough to dodge the attack and ran away without looking back. They had lost their treasure to the tall Warrior, but they were not going to lose their lives too.
“Zi Yan, can we only break these barriers by force?” A golden flash shone through his eyes as Ye Wei scanned the whirls of runes around him and one of them in particular caught his attention.
Like all Mystic stances, rune barriers were composed of sequences of runes. This one was slightly different than the others. The patterns on it were spinning, and the energy seemed to be growing and spreading. Because it was located close to the entrance of the tunnel, many people had tried breaking it open, but it was still completely intact!
The paths of this rune barrier were very complex, and upon touching it, Ye Wei ‘s fingers were numbed by the enormous rebounding force. He stepped back and kept observing the barrier. The whirling patterns were making him dizzy, so he closed his eyes for a brief moment. Surprisingly when his eyes closed, he could feel the energy flow more clearly, and he also felt the complex swirl’s multiple pivots.
“Rune barriers are really just a simple form of runic seals. If you find the breakpoint of them, you don’t need brute force to crack them. A trained Runemasters, for example, would be able to find these breakpoints easily. However, ordinary cultivators like us will have to find the weak spots and break these barriers by force from these spots.” Lin Zi Yan answered while observing the spinning rune’s whirls around her, “Don’t waste your time looking for the breakpoint, though, just see if you can find smaller thus weaker barriers, and I will break them open, did you forget I am a Warrior?” She added as she could see Ye Wei was caught up in looking at that one rune barrier.
Ye Wei nodded and stood back up. After getting a good footing, he closed his eyes again and placed his hand close to the rune barrier that knocked him down. He attempted to locate its weak spots. ‘It’s a shame I am not a seven star Student yet!’ Ye Wei was a bit upset about having to rely on Lin Zi Yan again.
Just as he sighed, his Sentient flashed with a golden light and sent a surge of primal energy to his hands. The energy then found its way to the pivot points Ye Wei earlier discovered and took over the rune’s flow movement. The whirls started to spin faster, and the rune barrier began to shine. Seconds after, it cracked open with a bang!
Lin Zi Yan was looking away, “I told you, you will have to use a stance to break the barri…” She heard the noise Ye Wei was making and turned around to see if he was hurt. But she froze in shock when she saw how the rune barrier was opened and a stone house was revealed behind the tunnel wall.
‘He’s just a four star student! What was that? Could this be his rune consonance?’ Lin Zi Yan was not incorrect, Ye Wei’s rune consonance allowed his Qi to adhere onto his body and beyond that more easily than anyone at his level or even higher for that matter.
Ye Wei pulled his hand back when he heard the bang. He relievingly exhaled and displayed a childish excitement on his smiling face. He never thought he would be able to open it that easily.
“Zi Yan, let’s go in!” Ye Wei was a little forceful as he pulled Lin Zi Yan into the stone house before she could react.
Once they entered the stone house, the runes on the wall vibrated, and the barrier closed itself again.
“We don’t have much time!” Lin Zi Yan could sense the energy of a few powerful Warriors approaching, and if they were not quick while searching the house, a fight could break out when the Warriors arrive.
When Ye Wei opened another door to the stone house, a bright light blinded him. He narrowed his eyes and discovered the floor of the main room was tiled with extremely valuable cold-marrow jade. This caused the temperature to be significantly lower inside the main room, and there was a thin mist of water vapor above the floor.
Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan looked around them and found out that they were surrounded by shelves and closets full of big and small containers.
Lin Zi Yan opened bottle after bottle and poured the pills into her palm for further inspection. She noticed that all the bottles contained the same pill. These pills were all glossy, each of them was about the size of a cherry, and they had a refreshing fragrance. There were also a few patterns printed on them that vaguely resembled a silver moon.
“Are these Silver Moon pills?” Lin Zi Yan turned her head to look at all the bottles around her, and she abruptly took in a deep breath of cold air; she was completely dumbfounded by the sight.
Regardless of cultivation, from Students to renowned returned prime Warriors, body strength is always the foundation to any type of training. That’s why quencher pills were so sought after.
‘I didn’t think these exist anymore!’ Silver Moon pills were around five times as effective as Fiery Sun Quenchers, and its fabled formula was lost in time; therefore, the pills were thought to be extinct!
While the rare Fiery Sun Quenchers were known to be the best quencher pills available on the market, very, very few powerful families and martial artists were rumoured to have access to the secret formulas for and, stocks of other high-quality pills and potions that were reserved for personal and family use, Silver Moon pills were one such pill.
These Silver Moon pills can easily fetch ten thousand silver each at auction, and by Lin Zi Yan’s visual estimation there were a few hundred of these pills in the room.
This room was worth more than a Big Three family’s wealth that had been acc.u.mulated through generations. But their rarity can not really be measured with money as they will ultimately be used for a greater cause than numbers and luxuries.
Lin Zi Yan was from a wealthy background and she didn’t really care about money, but she couldn’t ignore these pills. “Ye Wei I will guard the entrance; meanwhile, you have to collect all these pills!” Not knowing what they were, Ye Wei just stood there shivering in the cold.
“Okay!” Ye Wei nodded, and took out the interspatial bag he had acquired earlier while starting to collecting the pills.
“There are three hundred and eighty pills altogether. I’ll split them up equally.” Ye Wei smiled and handed the pills to Zi Yan. “Here is your one hundred and ninety pills.”
Ye Wei was not sure what these pills were but judging from Lin Zi Yan’s facial expression he could guess that they were valuable, ‘If it’s valuable I should share it with her! I wouldn’t be here if she didn’t lead the way.’
“Little Wei, about the portion you just gave me… Do you know how much these pills are worth? Lin Zi Yan spoke to Ye Wei’s innocent smiling face.
“How much are they worth? What has that got to do with anything?” Ye Wei shrugged and asked casually. ‘If it wasn’t for you, Zi Yan, I wouldn’t have become Master Yi’s apprentice and my family would not even exist today. Whatever they are worth doesn’t really matter…’
“Okay then! Thank you very much!” Lin Zi Yan’s lips curled into a smile, and although with her wealth she could get all the pills she wanted, she was still touched by Ye Wei’s gesture and kind heart.
After handing over the pills, Ye Wei started collecting the cold-marrow jade on the floor; they were just floor tiles in this house, but they are worth quite a bit outside.
A few banging noises came from the corridor, and the house was shaken. Someone was attacking the barrier from the outside, just as Lin Zi Yan expected. If she wasn’t there to block the entrance with a stance, they would have already entered the stone house.
Ye Wei and Lin Zi Yan gave each other the same look, both of them could feel that the intruders were strong, and they had to get ready for a fight.
“Bang! Bang!”
The stone house was shaken a couple more times, and Lin Zi Yan’s defensive stance was neutralized with a rumbling noise.
Four silhouettes appeared behind the dusty entrance, and they slowly entered the room then scanned around. They could feel the cold and see the jade tiles. The jade was not just a luxurious decoration, this was a pill room. The temperature was lowered intentionally to keep the bottles of pills in peak condition.
There was no pills in sight, all they could see was a boy and a girl. Their pupils dilated and their greedy glare intensified; all eye bloodshot eyes were now on Lin Zi Yan and Ye Wei.
“Give us the pills, and we will spare your lives!” All four of them were wearing light blue robes and blocking the entrance like a blue wall. Seeing that all four of them were Warriors, and knowing that Lin Zi Yan’s defensive stance would take more than one person to neutralize, they knew it would be a tough fight.