Runology

After releasing the Dragon’s Firestorm at Su Zhao, Leng San tried to distort the radius of his power, gradually, to suppress traces of qi within his body to fool the elders as he quietly escaped. The boy then activated his Dragon Spirit to swiftly sprint off as the elders were focusing their attention on Su Zhao. The boy’s escape went smoothly according to his calculation!!

However, he didn’t go too far. The boy returned to the trench that he had dug before his confrontation with Su Zhao and activated his Dragon’s Sense to observe the elders. He anticipated that the elders would catch up eventually due to the difference of the two stages of qi if they were persistent enough.

Su Zhao, who was still unconscious, couldn’t tell the two elders about this trench. The boy completely concealed his qi and calmly observed the situation...

Both elders knew that Leng San had used this opportunity to get away. Their faces were burning with rage. How could old men, at the age of 60, fall for a trick of a young boy, at the age of fifteen to sixteen, again and again?

The dark-faced old man was about to go out and search for the boy but was stopped by the white-haired old man.

“Elder Ye, why are you stopping me!!”

“Calm down, Elder Hong. The most important thing right now isn’t revenge, but Elder Su’s life. Elder Su is in grave condition. We have to take him back to the sect as soon as possible or else he would die within half a day.”

“Shit!!”

Claaangggg!!

The dark-faced elder fisted at a nearby rock into bits to vent out his anger.

“The boy said that he would return after a year to erase the name of our Fire Fortress Sect from this continent. Good!! I hope he will stay true to his words. I will wait until the day and chop him up into thousands of pieces!!”

Both elders carried Su Zhao’s body and headed towards the city.

Leng San, who was observing the situation, came out of his hiding place and returned to the place he fought with the elders. The boy went straight to the exact location where Su Zhao’s limbs were sliced off.

There were piles of leaves and a large pool of blood. Traces of blood remained on some leaves, but most of them had seeped into the ground. Leng San smirked as he walked to the pool of blood and slowly collected drops of blood that were on the leaves into a vial he kept within his dimensional ring, for about twenty to thirty drops.

“Hmm… this should be enough.”

He put the vial of blood into the dimensional ring and swiftly dashed away to the west.

“Kid, what are you going to do with Su Zhao’s blood?”

Freya’s voice perked up.

“Hmm?... You are asking about this vial of blood? I’m going to use it to cut the bond between Su Zhao and the Heaven Shattering Axe.”

“There’s a way to cut the bond!?!” Freya was slightly surprised.

“Of course, there is a way, but not everyone could do it.”

Leng San smiled with the corner of his mouth.

“Hmph!! I knew about that three years ago before we time traveled. Your grandpa was the one who taught about runology to the rest of the Azure Dragon Continent. You, the successor, must be adept at runology as well.”

Leng San slyly grinned.

“What you said is correct, Freya. And did you know who was the creator of runology?”

“I don’t know. Or do you know??”

“Of course, I know. It was me; I was the creator of runology.”

“It’s you!!”

Freya was apparently dumbfounded.

“That’s right, I’ve mastered 74 types of ancient scripts by the time I was ten years old. Then I created runology from the amalgamation of those scripts.”

“I established runology at the age of twelve and told my grandpa to share about sixty percent of what I knew. For the remaining forty percent, I was afraid that it would turn into a double-edged sword that might become the downfall of my clan.”

“If you’re afraid, why did you share the first sixty percent?”

Freya was curious. Leng San slightly shook his head and continued to explain.

“Runology could be divided into three branches.

One. Creating runic weapons.

Two. Creating runic fields.

and lastly imprinting runic scripts onto the human body.

I told my grandpa to teach the people of the Azure Dragon Continent regarding the creation of runic weapons and runic fields as the human body is exceedingly fragile compared to the other two beings, the Devas and the Asuras, even when all of them are at the same level and stage of qi. If there were to be a confrontation with either of them, the humans would never stand a chance.

Runology can only be used by humans, as human blood must be used as the ink to write runic scripts. If humans became stronger, we might be able to balance out the power of the Devas and the Asuras.

Runic weapons are the key to balance out the power between humans and the two beings. Runic fields are crucial to the defense of infrastructure. They will prevent the Devas and the Asuras from entering the designated area.

However, not many knew about runology yet. And runic weapons aren’t easy to make. The three years that my grandpa had taught about runology wasn’t enough for the Leng Clan to stand up to the Asuras.”

Freya grew quiet. She couldn’t believe that this boy was thinking about the balance of power between the humans and the non-humans at the age of ten years old. The boy had the makings of a king who could successfully lead humankind!!

“Anyone calling you a genius is doing a great disservice to you. Calling you a monster would’ve been more fitting!!”

“What an honor to receive such praise, princess,” Leng San smirked.

“Stop playing with your words. Aren’t you heading to the Valley of the Ten-Thousand Trees?”

“Yes, but I have to visit a place before I go there.”

....................…

At the Floating Cloud village, Xiaolin Yue was sitting on a marble bench, watching the fish in the pond, lost in thought.

“Were that boy, Leng San, able to escape from the Fire Fortress Sect? For ten days, I haven’t heard anything about him. What a mysterious character. I just couldn’t find an explanation for his origin and skills. Or was he really a member of the Mount Taizhu Institute?”

Xiaolin Yue spoke her thoughts out loud as she rested her chin on her hands, looking at the fish that was swimming in the pond. The girl then frowned once she spotted something peculiar on the surface of the water. It resembled the face of someone. She squinted as the face on the water became clearer. It was Leng San’s face!!

Startled, Xiaolin Yue’s eyes widened. The girl raised both of her hands to rub her eyes and glared at the surface once more, but Leng San’s face had disappeared.

“What!! Was I hallucinating? Am I thinking about him too much?”

The girl smiled as she shook her head and hit her face. For a guy, her purity was alluringly refreshing. Even a prolific artist wouldn’t be able to convey the beauty of this young girl in its entirety.

“My lady, why would a beauty such as yourself think about someone like me, to the point that you’re hitting your face. What a joy to be born into this world, hahaha.”

A voice rang in her ears. Xiaolin Yue’s eyes widened instantly. The girl swiftly turned her head and found Leng San smiling as he gracefully stood with hands crossed to the back.

The girl’s face reddened like a ripened fruit. She wasn’t sure whether Leng San heard what she said earlier or not.

“You’re Leng San!!”

“Yes, my lady, I am certainly Leng San and not anyone else. We were apart for only ten days, but now you’ve forgotten my face already??”

“Weren’t you being pursued? Why are you here? The Fire Fortress Sect is searching for you across the northern part of the continent.”

Xiaolin Yue hastily turned left and right immediately, as she was afraid that a member of the Fire Fortress Sect might have seen them.

“My lady, who are you looking for? Did you forget that this is the garden of your residence? How could a member of the Fire Fortress Sect be here?”

Xiaolin Yue’s face reddened again. She realized she had expressed too much concern. Leng San couldn’t keep himself from smiling at her red cheeks.

“My lady, I risked my life today, just to come and visit you.”

“Visit me?” Xiaolin Yue slightly tilted her head out of curiosity.

“I remembered that you didn’t quite like my face. So, I just wanted to make a promise with you, to make you stop doubting me for a moment and give me a little smile.”

“It was your fault for acting mysteriously. It’s only natural for me to be suspicious to protect my clan.”

Xiaolin Yue crossed her arms across her chest as she raised her chin up.

“Well... what is your promise?”

Leng San gently smiled. He then bent over so that his eyes would match the level of Xiaolin Yue’s eyes, who was sitting on the marble bench. Her cheek reddened as the face of the boy who was staring into her soul was only a few centimeters away.

“One year from now on, I will take my lady back to the Indigo Cloud City.”

Startled, Xiaolin Yue’s eyes widened after she heard the boy’s word. The girl then shook her head and let out a sigh.

“That is impossible. You do know about my conflict with the Fire Fortress Sect, right? I don’t want to go back and cause more trouble for my grandpa and the Xiaolin Clan in the Indigo Cloud City.”

Leng San smiled again. He stood up straight, turned around, and shouted.

“I’ve already made a promise with you, my lady. In a year, I will take you back to the city. It’s up to you whether you’re going to believe me or not. Please take good care of your health…”

After saying what he wanted, the boy slowly faded and disappeared. Xiaolin Yue was still confused with Leng San’s words but decided to remain silent. The girl then turned around and returned to the pond to continue looking at the fish. Reflected on the pond was the girl’s smile that had blossomed on her beautiful face. She mumbled as if someone might hear her.

“I believe in you. And I hope you will keep your promise…”