Heavenly Runes, Newfound Power

[Host must be joking.]

Guihu Luixing gelt like the system was really looking down on him right now. Even though the system's voice is always very emotionless and neutral, this time he felt like it was coated in scorn.

'What do you mean?' he asked.

[The Heavenly Runes are the most basic thing in any universe. Everything is made up of them. They are, literally, the building blocks of the universe.]

Just these sentences were enough to make Guihu Luixing pause, but the system felt like it wasn't enough and went even further.

[Exactly because they are the most elementary, they are also the most mysterious and powerful. Be it in combat, formation, blacksmithing, pill making, talisman crafting or even beast raising, the difference between a person who can use the Heavenly Runes and someone who can't is the same as the Heavens and the Earth.]

'I don't really understand. Just what is their use?'

[Basically, if someone can manipulate the Heavenly Runes, they are able to manipulate reality. A very loose exemple would be if you sent an attack in the direction of someone who can manipulate the Heavenly Runes. They could simply alter the power of your attack and make it harmless, by changing the "blocks" that made up your attack.]

'Wouldn't it make them invincible then?' Guihu Luixing asked, understandably astounded.

[That's the reason why most experts try mastering the Heavenly Runes. If two experts can manipulate them, they can stop the others interference, at least to some degree, but obviously the one with deeper knowledge has an advantage.]

'What about the uses outside of combat.'

[Outside of combat, the Heavenly Runes show their usefulness more prominently in the crafts. Any formation, pill, talisman or piece of equipment that uses Heavenly Runes is much more powerful than one that doesn't. Also, if someone has complete mastery over Heavenly Runes, they can, quite literally, create things out of thin air.]

'So it's like unlimited power?! I could make treasures left and right?!'

[Of course not. By using the Heavenly Runes, you are challenging the Heavens. People who tend to abuse the Heavenly Runes, usually die by lightning. You however, are the little darling of the Heavens. As long as you don't do something too outrageous, there'll probably be no consequences.]

'I see. I guess I should hurry up and memorise them.' he decided in his mind.

[Memorise? Host, I believe you are having a misunderstanding.]

'What do you mean?'

[The mission tasked you with "mastering" the Heavenly Runes you received. In other words, memorising is nowhere near enough.]

'I see. I might have been too naïve. What do "mastering" the Heavenly Runes entail?'

[That's for the Host to find out.]

Guihu Luixing could only shake his head before he asked one more question.

'How likely is it for me to master all the rune in the beginning part in a hundred years?'

[A bit over ten thousand times the projected chance of you defeating the Trial Beast.]

'And how much is that?' he curiously asked.

[Fourteen times ten powered to a negative seventy two.]

Guihu Luixing still didn't know enough about math, but he could infer that his chances were abysmal. He wasn't too depressed. Since the beginning he knew his task was nearly impossible.

He decided not to focus on it right now. The time he had until the inter-sect competition was running out and he was still far away to breaking through the Qi Fusion Realm.

He had to hurry!

Guihu Luixing was so focused in talking to the system that he didn't notice that Dark Moon left his room.

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If anyone saw Dark Moon's current state, they would believe she has some sort of mental illness.

In one moment she was skipping happily, as if remembering something really good, the other she looked really gloomy.

Today's event were replaying constantly in her head.

That soul that came out of nowhere. How hard Guihu Luixing tried to convince her to follow him. How cool he looked controlling that Qi maelstrom. The secret between just the two of them.

Every time she remembered a different things he expression changed. This patter kept repeating until she noticed something was not right. Her surroundings were too bright.

Shocked, she looked behind her and saw a pair of fire balls floating behind her. At first she was scared, thinking someone was attacking her, but the fireballs just obediently followed her.

After observing some time, she remembered she had read about this a few days ago. These were Slave Souls.

Slave Souls were souls that had too mcuh rancor to proceed to the next life so they stayed in the mortal plane longer than they could. After they surpassed their limits, they would start to lose their sentience, along with their emotions, becoming simply energy-like ghosts, forever wandering the mortal world until the stumble in a portal to the underworld or have their energy completely spent.

She read that some Yin and Dark creatures could control Slave Souls to do everything, use them in combat, as emergency energy batteries, materials for rituals, literally everything. They are called slaves because they just naturally follow and obay these creatures.

What surprised Dark Moon however was that in the Ghost Fox Valley Sect, there wasn't anyone, to her knowledge, that could use Soul Slaves.

Suddenly she thought a possibility. Maybe that thing she went through while listening Guihu Luixing chanting really was a breakthrough! Maybe these Soul Slaves were attracted to her!

She concentrated in one of the Soul Slaves and tried giving it a command.

"Gau!"

Very slowly, the Soul Slave started floating in a circle around her.

Seeing this, Dark Moon was greatly excited. She finally could start to see her path!

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Outside a stone building, a muscular boy was sitting a few metres apart from the door that lead inside the building. Even though the boy was seated, currently cultivating, he was still paying close attention tp his surroundings.

Suddenly he felt a presence approaching and opened his eyes.

The arrival didn't try to hide their presence and calmly came to his side.

"How is it?" asked the tall, muscular young man who just arrived.

"Nothing yet." Answered the seated boy. He looked very similar to the muscular young man.

The boy continued "Big brother, don't you think it was a bit rushed? It has beed just a few weeks since he reached the Qi Gathering Realm. Should he really be in such a hurry to advance?"

The young man answered with a calm face "Hector has more talent than you or me. It's natural for him to advance faster than others. But his rush indeed could cause trouble, I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing."

"What do you mean, big brother?" the boy asked for clarification.

"He's in arush because his classmate, Guihu Luixing, the headmaster's son, said he would be breaking through these days. Hector must be feeling some rivalry. Not wanting to be left behind by a rival can be a good aid in cultivation."

*Bam*

At this moment the door was kicked open. The kick was so strong it sent the door flying.

"I did it! Brother Guihu, I hope we can fight again soon! This time I won't lose!" said the child who kicked the door, wearing a big smile.