Humanity’s Great Sage

The woman couldn’t be too young because the sect master claimed that she was an old friend of his. If he were to make a conservative estimate, he would guess that she was in the same generation as the sect master. She looked young probably because she practiced some kind of youth technique.

“This is Lady Yun,” the sect master introduced simply.

Lu Ye and Hua Ci saluted her. “Well met, Lady Yun.”

The woman gave them a nod of acknowledgement before examining Lu Ye from head to toe. Then, she said, “So, the old fool told me that one of the good fortunes you received from the Spirit Creek Battlefield was a Glyphweavers’ inheritance?”

Lu Ye wondered how the misunderstanding came to be. It probably had something to do with his ability to use Glyphs in battle. After he shot the sect master a look and got a nod in return, Lu Ye replied, “Yes.”

It technically wasn’t a lie because the Tree of Glyphs definitely had something to do with Glyphweavers.

“Activate your Glyphs and show me,” she ordered.

Lu Ye hesitated for a moment, but he opened his palm and activated a Protection.

A look of surprise spread across Lady Yun’s face. “What incredible speed…”

She hadn’t inquired too deeply when the sect master had told her that Lu Ye’s good fortune had something to do with Glyphweavers. It was only now she realized that the little guy’s Glyph mastery had reached the point where he could activate it any time he wanted to.

That said, she was a woman of vast experience and knowledge. She knew that it was possible for the top sects’ disciples to produce the same results if they had been studying Glyphs from a young age.

She stepped closer and looked down to examine the Glyph in Lu Ye’s hand. “This is the Protection G… hmm? Your Glyph is…”

She abruptly cut herself off and frowned. Then, she surprised everyone by grabbing Lu Ye’s hand and examined the Glyph closely. What did she discover to make her react like this? Lu Ye shot his sect master a pleading look, but he slowly shook his head and motioned for the young man to calm himself.

A while later, Lady Yun finally released Lu Ye’s hand and fell into deep thought. Her expression was inscrutable.

The sect master decided to break the silence, “Is something wrong with his Glyph?”

“No, no.” Lady Yun shook her head. “It’s just that his Glyph is a little different from the one commonly used in Jiu Zhou, and unless I’m mistaken his looks a little more… logical. I would have to make some comparisons to determine the exact differences though.”

She then looked at Lu Ye again and asked, “Do you know any other Glyphs?”

Lu Ye replied honestly, “Yes. I know three more.”

“Show them to me.”

Lu Ye did as she asked and showed off Sharp Edge, Gathering Spirits and Bloodrage. When Lady Yun was done examining them, she declared with a note of certainty, “The inheritance you got is pretty extraordinary. Whoever left it behind must be extremely accomplished in the Path of the Glyphs.”

“Oh?” The sect master was surprised. He rarely heard such high praise from Lady Yun. He asked curiously, “How do they compare to yours?”

Lady Yun shook her head without hesitation. “They are better. In fact, their Path doesn’t belong to any existing system in Jiu Zhou. Despite being an original expression, these Glyphs are much stronger than their Jiu Zhou counterparts.”

She looked at Lu Ye again. “How much do you know about the Path of the Glyphs?”

Lu Ye replied with an embarrassed look on his face, “I only know how to use these four Glyphs, and I know nothing else.”

Lady Yun looked surprised but broke into an understanding chuckle. “It seems that the inheritance you received is incomplete. That is pretty normal.” There were plenty of fortuitous encounters to be found on the Spirit Creek Battlefield, and plenty of people have obtained the inheritances of unknown champions as a result. However, many of these inheritances were incomplete for one reason or another.

In Lady Yun’s opinion, Lu Ye’s being able to activate the four Glyphs at the speed of thought but knowing next to nothing about Glyphs in general was because the inheritance he received was incomplete. A complete inheritance would have taught him the structure and basic characteristics of Glyphs at the very least.

“Come visit me often in the future. You will allow me to study these Glyphs, and in return I will offer you my Glyph knowledge. Is that okay with you?”

As soon as she said this, the sect master blinked rapidly at Lu Ye like he was having a stroke. Knowing what he was trying to hint, Lu Ye responded, “Of course. Thank you, senior.”

Lady Yun nodded with a smile. Her expression looked much kinder than before.

It was at this moment the sect master let out a cough. “Now that that’s done, let’s get down to business, shall we?”

“Follow me,” said Lady Yun while leading them down a long corridor to the side. A short while later, they arrived at a small room with a bed at the center. There was also a bench next to the bed.

After she entered the room, Lady Yun performed some sort of hand seal before pressing her hand against the wall. There was a surge of Spiritual Power, and the entire room suddenly lit up like multiple powerful lights had been turned on at the same time. However, the light felt soft instead of glaring.

“Take off your shirt and lie down on the bed,” Lady Yun instructed.

Lu Ye was confused until the sect master explained things to him, “Lady Yun will be tattooing a Glyph onto your body. We call this type of Glyph a tattooed Glyph, and it functions just like a normal Glyph. We believe it may help you in the upcoming battle royale.”

This was the first time Lu Ye heard of something like this, so his curiosity was immediately piqued. This was probably the real reason the sect master had brought Hua Ci and him to this summit. His doubts settled, Lu Ye took off his shirt and layed down on the bed. 

Lady Yun sat down on the bench and took out a jade box. She opened it to reveal a stack of needles of varying lengths.

“Where is it?” Lady Yun held out her hand to the sect master. After he passed her a bottle, she opened it and gave it a tentative sniff. She raised her eyebrows in surprise. “The blood of a great Spirit Beast of the Real Lake Realm? What Beast is this?”

The sect master replied simply, “A Firecube!”

“That is pretty rare.” Lady Yun nodded approvingly before ridiculing him a little. “I can’t remember the last time you were this generous.”

The sect master wisely kept his mouth shut.

Lady Yun picked up a long needle from the jade box and dipped it in the blood of the Firecube. After she activated her Spirit Power, the needle drank the blood and turned completely crimson almost as if it was alive.

She raised the needle and pressed a hand against Lu Ye’s shoulder blade. “It will hurt a little. Try to endure it.”

She then stabbed the needle into his back.

Lu Ye felt something entering his flesh before a kind of burning pain flared from the point of contact. It wasn’t particularly painful, but it irritated like an itch that could not be scratched. It was incredibly difficult to endure, but Lu Ye had no choice but to grit his teeth and soldier on.

In the process, Lady Yun kept changing the needles she was using, slowed or quickened her movements whenever necessary, and even changed the intensity of her Spiritual Power from time to time. The one constant throughout all this was that her hands were incredibly steady.

Hua Ci stood next to him while the tattooing was happening. She watched as the peculiar picture of a Glyph slowly took form on Lu Ye’s back.

Two whole hours later, when Lady Yun had pierced his skin for the last time, she finally let out a long sigh of relief and patted Lu Ye’s back lightly. “It’s done!”

Lu Ye slowly climbed to his feet and took a moment to feel things out. Not only did he feel like something had been added to his back—something that was fused to his very skin, yet still felt like a foreign object—he had the distinct feeling that he could channel Spiritual Power into the object and activate it.

The sect master explained, “Your cultivation level is still pretty low right now, so tattooing a permanent Glyph to your body would be a bad idea. The tattooed Glyph Lady Yun gave you is a temporary Glyph that grants you the power of flight. If you ever encounter a champion that is beyond your ability to defeat, simply channel your Spiritual Power to activate it.”

“Transient Wings is the name of this Glyph!” Lady Yun added. “At full activation, you’ll be able to fly for six hours max. Any longer than that, and the tattooed Glyph will lose its efficacy.”

A Glyph of flight? Lu Ye thought in shock. If he didn’t know the sect master cared for him before, he knew now.

The Battle Royale of the Legates was right around the corner, meaning that there was only so much power he and Hua Ci could cultivate before then. On the other hand, this Glyph of flight was an instant power-up. It granted them the ability to escape if they ever ran into a champion they couldn’t hope to defeat.

It was hardly low cost, however. Forget that it took a master like Lady Yun to tattoo the Glyph, the blood of a Firecube alone was a rare treasure. He wouldn’t have wasted the blood of a Real Lake Realm great Spirit Beast on a Spirit Creek Realm cultivator like himself.

Lu Ye was touched to say the least.

“Well, what are you two still standing here for? Get out!” Lady Yun suddenly shooed them with a stern expression. After the sect master and Lu Ye had scrambled out of the room, she shut the door firmly behind her.

After the sect master led Lu Ye out of the sanctum, he asked, “It takes practice to master flight properly. Would you like to give it a try now, Yi Ye?”

“Of course!” Lu Ye could barely suppress his excitement.

Countless people had dreamed of flying at least once in their life. Although he had flown before, to fly while being carried on someone’s back and to fly via one’s own strength were two completely different things. Originally, he thought he would have to cultivate to the Eighth or Ninth-Order before he could attempt true flight, but now his experience had been expedited thanks to none other than the sect master himself.

Although Transient Wings would only last six hours before losing its efficacy completely, the sect master was also right that he needed to practice the ability. Otherwise, he might screw up if he waited until danger was right on top of him.

So, he channeled his Spiritual Power and poured them into his back. When Transient Wings activated, a pair of wings covered in a fiery red Spiritual Power shot out of his left and right shoulder blade with a whoosh.

The pair of wings looked rather thin. Judging from its shape, it resembled the wings of a Spirit Beast. He reckoned that it was the same shape as a Firecube’s.

Anyway, he sent a mental command to the wings and caused them to flap a little. The next thing he knew, he was blasting off diagonally like a meteor.

The sect master immediately waved his arm and enveloped Lu Ye in a gentle gust of Spiritual Power. The young man’s ascent was stopped before he could crash into anything.

Cold sweat broke out of Lu Ye’s forehead as he stared at the tree he damned near crash into. If the sect master hadn’t been here to watch over him, he would have suffered quite the concussion.

Again and again, he lost control and nearly crashed into far more objects than he cared to count as he practiced, but eventually he got the hang of it and was able to steady his flight to an extent. He still didn’t dare to fly too quickly though. He knew he would lose control if he pushed it beyond a certain point.

A full hour later, Lu Ye was finally able to let loose and fly freely in the sky. He had a lot of fun and wanted to enjoy it more, but considering that Transient Wings’ time was limited, he reluctantly returned to the ground and allowed them to fade away.

Transient Wings was absolutely one of the best escape tools he could ask for. Its only flaw was that it consumed a lot of Spiritual Power. He had only been flying for an hour, but his Spiritual Power had already dwindled to thirty percent. The Tattoo should be saved for crises where it was the only viable option left.

A while later, Hua Ci exited the sanctum as well. The sect master and Lu Ye walked up to Lady Yun to bid her goodbye, and the lady responded with a wave before walking back into the building.

Lu Ye raised his eyebrows at Hua Ci and asked, “Do you want to test out your wings now? The sect master said it takes practice to master flight properly.”

Hua Ci nodded in agreement. “Sure.”

There was a surge of Spiritual Power, and a pair of green wings grew out of Hua Ci’s back. She wobbled a little as she slowly floated into the air, but it took her little time to stabilize herself.

A short while later, the young woman was flying across the sky as lithely as a butterfly. Lu Ye’s eyelid twitched at the sight. Why… why is the difference so big?