Xuanwu Chen

It took Leng San more than a month to reach the second level of the Valley of the Ten-Thousand Trees. The boy didn’t cultivate qi at all, as he was learning about thousands of species of herbs that grew along the way, in great detail, from Freya.

For normal people, it would take them decades to remember all the details which included the appearance, special features, and location of thousands of herb species. But Leng San needed only a glance to remember them.

Freya had not taught the boy the art of medicine making yet. She only fed the boy with information about the herbs. But Leng San never complained and carefully followed Freya’s instructions to memorize as much information within the shortest time possible.

“Kid, you will have to be careful from now on. We’re on the second level of the valley now, the home to numerous magical beasts with blue qi.

You should indeed be able to deal with them easily. But you would have a hard time if several blue stage magical beasts come at you simultaneously.”

“If that’s the case, give me one night before entering the second level.”

“What’s the reason??”

“To increase my chance of survival, I must bond with the Heaven Shattering Axe, to draw out the power of the rune.”

Leng San found a suitable cave for the night. The boy then brought out the Heaven Shattering Axe and the vial of Su Zhao’s blood from the dimensional ring. After that, he circulated a small amount of qi to the tip of his finger, dipped it into Su Zhao’s blood, and drew something onto the Heaven Shattering Axe.

Soon after, the rune flashed with blue light. The boy grinned.

“You cut the bond that Su Zhao had with the axe already?” Freya asked the boy.

“Right, the Heaven Shattering Axe hasn’t bonded to anyone anymore.”

“That’s it??”

“Freya, what I did might look easy to you. But in reality, I might be the only one that could sever the bond. However, it would’ve been easy if the owner of the runic weapon wished to sever the bond himself.

But in order to sever the bond against the owner’s will, one must understand the runes very well.

Not all users of runology understood the meaning behind each rune. In fact, most of them just copied the shape of the runes that my grandpa shared with them. Only those who have mastered the seventy-two ancient scripts could adapt their usage according to their wills.”

“I understand now.”

“Now I’m going to create a bond between myself and the Heaven Shattering Axe.”

Leng San used his razor-sharp qi to slit his palm, gradually dropping some of his blood onto the rune on the Heaven Shattering Axe.

Leng San’s blood gradually seeped into the rune. Then the rune’s blue light flashed, lighting up the whole cave. The boy then closed his eyes as he slowly sensed the bond he had with the Heaven Shattering Axe within his subconsciousness.

After one incense stick, the rune’s blue light dimmed as Leng San opened his eyes. The boy smiled satisfactorily and raised the Heaven Shattering Axe into the air. The blue light of the rune flashed once more.

“I did it!!”

“It looked even brighter than when Su Zhao was holding it,” Freya said.

“Honestly, Su Zhao couldn’t bring out even half of the Heaven Shattering Axe’s potential. All he did was leveraging the blue qi within the axe, by randomly swinging it.”

“There’s something else that the axe could do??” Freya was extremely curious.

The boy grinned again as he tightened his grip onto the axe.

“This rune amplifies its throwing power. Even if it doesn’t look like one, this axe is actually a long-ranged runic weapon.

The way Su Zhao was swinging this axe was as if he was using an arrow as a sword. What a fool.”

“Runes had this kind of power as well!!” Freya’s voice perked up, surprised.

Leng San scratched his head. ‘I have to explain more?’ he thought.

“Of course, the type of augmentation provided will be in accordance with the rune written on the weapon. In reality, there are countless combinations depending on each person’s understanding of the runes. But I told my grandpa to share only seven of the strongest runes. This rune which augments its throwing power is one of the seven.”

“So, now you should be ready for the second level of the valley.”

“I am confident that I will survive the third level as well,” Leng San smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“What an arrogant kid. Alright, within the first half of the year, I will teach you everything about medicine making and the art of metamorphosis that you wanted to learn last time. The latter half will be dedicated solely to qi cultivation!!”

Leng San’s eyes widened as a wide smile appeared on his face. For the study of metamorphosis, if the user knew what they were doing, it would become an invaluable tool for assassination or infiltration.

Furthermore, Freya’s technique would even enable him to transform the structure of his body, which made it even more powerful!!

....................…

Black Sky City, the capital of the Black Tortoise Continent, was located at the center of the continent. The recorded history of this city spanned back more than five thousand years. The city, ten times larger than the Indigo Cloud City, was where the Xuanwu Dynasty’s Black Tortoise Palace was located.

The Black Tortoise Palace was as large as the Indigo Cloud City itself. Each and every inch of the palace was exquisite as if the entire place was carved out by a master artisan. The palace was akin to heaven for those who had been here for the first time.

At this moment, Xuanwu Jincan had just arrived in the capital city. The old man hastily descended to the palace on his Swift Eagle without dropping by his residence, as he urgently needed a royal decree for Leng San.

“I have an urgent business to report to his majesty. Please allow me to enter the chamber.”

Xuanwu Jincan reported to the imperial eunuch before entering the chamber. The old man was allowed to enter immediately with his position as the emperor’s relative and as a leader of troops in the northern region of the empire.

The emperor of the Xuanwu Dynasty was Xuanwu Chen, who was aged sixty. However, with his powerful qi, the old man looked to be around the age of forty, with eyebrows arched like the blade of a sword, eyes that were graceful and stern, skin that was smooth and radiant, and every strand of hair that was still black in entirety. As for his skills, Xuanwu Chen ranked among the best of the Black Tortoise Continent.

Without looking up, Xuanwu Chen, who was reading reports, sensed the arrival of Xuanwu Jincan since the first step.

“Why are you in such a hurry? Shouldn’t you be at the Indigo Cloud City, acting as the head referee for the youth tournament?”

“Your majesty, the tournament has ended already, so I came back here to report the result and request a royal decree to enlist the winner as an official of the palace.”

“Hmm...enlisted as an official?”

“Your majesty, the winner wishes to be enlisted as an official of the Xuanwu Dynasty in exchange for the first prize. I took an interest in the boy, so I hurriedly returned to the palace to report.”

“Took an interest? Last year, Yi Longwang was the winner, but he had no interest in serving the dynasty. You, who was the head referee at that tournament as well, told me that the number one prodigy of the north was quite average and incomparable to the core disciples of the large sects within this city.”

Xuanwu Chen frowned as he said and continued to read the reports on his desk.

“The winner of this year’s tournament isn’t Yi Longwang. Yi Longwang whose qi was eight levels higher lost without being able to inflict any injuries onto the opponent. And the winner of this tournament is a boy named Leng San.”

Staggered, Xuanwu Chen dropped the report he was holding and stood up.

“This person defeated an opponent with qi that was eight levels higher? And his surname is Leng?”

“Your Majesty, his surname is Leng, and his name is San. The boy’s background is shrouded in mystery. But... the techniques that he used were so similar to that of the Leng Clan that have appeared in the dynasty’s record!!”

“Are you insinuating that the boy might be related to the Leng Clan that had been annihilated in the past?”

Xuanwu Chen’s voice had a hint of excitement, but his demeanor remained calm.

“There’s a ten percent possibility that it might be true. However, this is still worth the risk, even if he isn’t related to the Leng Clan of the past, as having a prodigy of such caliber joining the dynasty would bring nothing but benefits.”

“Brilliant!! Call Gonggong, and I will draft the royal decree for you to enlist the boy.”

“Well then, please excuse me, your majesty.”

Xuanwu Jincan exited the chamber. Xuanwu Chen paused to think. His hands were trembling with excitement.

‘I will have to tell this news to the mysterious clan!!’