Chapter 1760: Runes and Records
To a certain degree, these people were already this world’s most amazing men, and yet they all had enmity with Jing Teng. Zu An felt a huge headache when he thought about what was to come.
“But I heard that the Divine Firmament Sect Master has already been missing for many years, and the higher-ups of the sect have been fighting over the position of sect master viciously. However, they still haven’t reached a decision,” Zu An said. He had done everything he could to understand more about this world to find Yun Jianyue, Yan Xuehen, and the others.
“As one of this world’s largest daoist sects, the Divine Firmament Sect naturally cares about immortality. The real reason he interfered with my relationship with Zang Ao wasn’t for the sake of a so-called exorcism of a monster, but because he wanted to obtain the secrets of Immortal Ruler Baopu from me,” Jing Teng said icily. “Eventually, he did obtain some benefits. Furthermore, he was already one of the strongest in the world at that time. When he took a step further, he even began to face tribulation.”
“Face tribulation?” Zu An and the others repeated in surprise.
Facing heavenly tribulation was something from legends. It was often something one had to experience in order to ascend to immortality! Even with Zhao Han’s cultivation, perhaps because of the world’s laws or other such reasons, he still hadn’t been able to take that last step. That meant he couldn't face tribulation.
Jing Teng said with a sneer, “This world’s path to immortality was cut short in ancient times; how could tribulation be so easily faced? Naturally, he was blasted to death by tribulation lightning. He fell into the sea and vanished without a trace. The Heavenly Firmament Sect doesn’t know of that and only believes that he went missing. They couldn't find the three records he kept on him either, and none of them were willing to bow down to another and let someone else become the sect master. As such, that’s why they haven’t selected a new sect master even after all this time.”
“Records?” Qiu Honglei asked in confusion.
Jing Teng explained, “The people of the world often treat runes and records as the same thing, but they’re actually two entirely different objects. Runes such as war runes are used to summon celestial forces.”
Zu An asked in surprise, “There really are celestial troops in this world?”
Jing Teng shook her head and said, “No one knows for sure if those are really the armies of the celestial palace, but that’s what people decided to call them. In the past, Immortal Ruler Baopu once mentioned that those ‘celestial troops’ are closer to the embodiment of some of this world’s laws.” She continued, “And records are the proof of one’s identity needed to use such runes. Only those who have matching records are allowed to use the corresponding runes. Otherwise, wouldn’t any random commoner without cultivation be able to wield tremendous power just by copying the drawings? Wouldn’t that be absolute chaos?
“Furthermore, Sun En had the three most powerful records passed down from the Divine Firmament Sect’s ancestors. To a certain degree, those records serve as proof of being the Divine Firmament Sect Master.”
“So that was what happened!” Zu An and Qiu Honglei said, exchanging a look.
Their world’s runes seemed to be a bit different from the ones in this world. They had seen Xie Daoyun and Yan Xuehen use some runes, but those were usually used in formations and not to summon ‘celestial forces’. They had never heard of needing some sort of record either.
“In short, Sun En is already dead, so there’s no need to worry about that. We just need to be careful of the Ghost King and Zang Ao,” Jing Teng said.
“Judging from what you’re saying, you plan to make a trip around the great tomb?” Qiu Honglei asked with a frown.
“That’s right. Back then, my body was buried in a certain place in the great tomb,” Jing Teng said, feeling a bit sad when she talked about the past. She was extremely beautiful to begin with, so now, she was even more pitiful.
Qiu Honglei sighed inwardly in admiration. Then, she sent Zu An a voice transmission. “Ah Zu, I think we should test out our luck in that great tomb. I believe that even if master can’t find us, she’d definitely want to look around in that kind of place.”
Zu An nodded and said, “Indeed. According to my experiences in secret dungeons, it’s always necessary to deal with some special situation in order to leave. It seems as if that great tomb should be the key area. Since Jing Teng and Immortal Ruler Baopu are related, having her with us might actually solve some problems.”
Qiu Honglei couldn't help but look at Jing Teng with a smile, saying, “Oh my, she is so pretty, so what man can refuse her help? There’s no reason for so many excuses.”
Zu An was speechless. Come on, I’m clearly just making a rational decision here!
Thus, the group quickly reached a decision to continue escorting Jing Teng toward the Zhi River. She promised to provide them with any necessary information as well.
…
In a beaten-down courtyard, there stood an ancient, pitch-black well. Countless strands of long hair extended from the well opening. If an ordinary person were to see it, perhaps they would just faint out of fear.
However, the hair seemed to have encountered something even more terrifying. It started trembling while trying to flee in alarm. A moment later, though, a trace of frost appeared on the mouth of the well. Immediately after, it crept along the long hair at a visible rate. Soon, all of the hair was frozen solid.
A streak of blade radiance flickered through the air, and the frozen statue completely shattered. The hair seemed to no longer exist in this world. Then, a slender and beautiful figure with a longsword in hand gracefully leaped out of the well. Her long hair fluttered in the air, her white clothes as fair as snow.
Clap clap clap~
A round of applause filled the air. A middle-aged man dressed in an Adventurer’s Guild uniform walked over from nearby and said, “I heard that there was a formidable new member who had joined the guild recently and dealt with eighteen troublesome malicious spirits. Now, I can see that you are indeed different from the others.” He paused, and a look of surprise flickered through his eyes as he continued, “And you are so beautiful, too.”
The white-clad woman was naturally Yan Xuehen. She gave the man an indifferent look, and her gaze shifted to the special symbol on his clothes. The staff members of the Adventurer’s Guild all had such symbols to mark their status and rank. This person was of higher rank than any other staff member she had seen before.
“Do you need something?” she asked. The man’s praise hadn’t made her feel the slightest thing. She had always been aloof and indifferent, after all. Perhaps it was only in front of that person that she would seem a bit more emotional.
The man hadn’t expected her to be so cold. But when he recalled that the intelligence he received had mentioned that, he didn’t mind it too much. He said, “Let me introduce myself; I am the Adventurer’s Guild manager in this region, Zang Jiu. I have a mission of the highest rank to provide you with this time.”
“I’m not interested,” Yan Xuehen said, turning around to leave. The reason she had come to the Adventurer’s Guild was to find out Zu An and the others’ whereabouts. She didn’t really plan to work for these people forever.
Zang Jiu was stunned, but he reacted quickly and said, “This is a mission our guild president has assigned personally. He is summoning the most formidable adventurers from many different areas. I have heard that high-level adventurers can use the Adventurer’s Guild’s information network at will, so after this mission, you will not have to work all sorts of odd jobs so painstakingly.” After a pause, he added, “Furthermore, according to the promotion system of the Adventurer’s Guild, no matter how many missions you complete, you have to go through a long period of evaluation. It is almost impossible to reach a high rank without spending a few years at the least. The mission the guild president has just issued is an extremely rare opportunity.”
“Oh? What kind of mission is it?” Yan Xuehen asked, finally turning around.
“It is to explore the great tomb that has appeared by the Zhi River together with the president. At the same time, you need to capture a woman named Jing Teng,” Zang Jiu said, expecting her to ask her for more details.
However, Yan Xuehen nodded and said, “Alright, I will accept this mission. Contact me through the local Adventurer’s Guild when it is time to set out.”
When he saw her leave, Zang Jiu couldn't help but sigh. He remarked, “This woman really is exceptional, and she is a pure and honest human. If the one the young master met back then had been her and not that vine fiend, how could he have experienced such a disaster…
“Alright, this time, I should play a little matchmaker between her and the young master. Who knows, the young master might be able to completely leave his mental shadow.”
…
Meanwhile, Xie Daoyun and Yun Jianyue were fighting a group of evil spirits in a valley.
“What the hell is this? Why are there more and more of these damn ghosts the more we kill?” Yun Jianyue cursed as she scattered a large group of ghosts with a casual slap.
“Big sister Yun, can you not say the word ‘ghost’ in front of me anymore…” Xie Daoyun said, practically about to cry. Even the sound of the word made her entire body feel out of sorts.
They had spent quite some time looking for Zu An and the others, but they hadn’t found anything. A few days prior, however, they had heard that there was a place named Wang Port nearby, and that the Wang clan was a famous clan in this world. Their clan had produced many geniuses that were now officials of different powers throughout the world. At the same time, the village leader who stayed behind in the Wang clan was an important member of the Divine Firmament Sect, and was extremely capable. This Divine Firmament Sect was the number one sect of this world too, and had access to all sorts of information, so the two had planned to get some intelligence there.
Since their arrival, the two of them had learned about the dangers of moving at night, but they wanted to find Zu An and the others as soon as possible. Furthermore, they weren’t too far from Wang Port anyway. Besides, both of them were confident in their cultivation. That was why they had decided to move through the night.
However, when they arrived at this valley, strange things happened. The quiet valley suddenly filled with countless ghosts that rushed at them from all sorts of different directions. Whenever they took out a batch, a new batch took their place. It was simply endless.
It was only thanks to one of them having extraordinary cultivation and the other being proficient in runes that they were able to hold on by coordinating together. Any other cultivators would have already been drowned in the endless tide of ghosts already. Still, the two of them were already surrounded, and it was extremely difficult for them to leave.
Suddenly, a flying boat passed overhead.
“Which unfortunate souls ended up entering this ancient battlefield in the middle of the night?”
“It’s actually two beautiful women!”
“Hm? The runes that young lady is using are ones we’ve never seen before! Hurry and report this to the second young master!”
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