Night of the Broken Gliph

Somewhere far, in a place hidden from the world, stood a coal-black seven-storey tower. 

Siu Fu expected to be greeted by a place full of negative energy, but to his surprise, it was a place that he’d describe as holy or dignified. Seeing the black tower excited the middle-aged man that brought him here.

“Honourable Sacred Son, we have reached our destination, our Negrogliphism Sect’s Sacred Land, the Black Promise Tower!” 

Black Promise, what an odd name. 

However, this didn’t scare Su Fu who had ample experience and knowledge from his past life. He was aware that the middle-aged viewing him as their sacred son was an opportunity tied with danger; any careless action could result in the man labelling him useless and killing him.

“Lead the way.” Siu Fu turned to the powerful cultivator, Law Sum. 

It was an order, but Law Sum was glad to hear Siu Fu take charge as it coincided with his growing belief in the legend of Siu Fu leading necrogliphism to a bright future. “Yes, please come with me, Sacred Son.” 

As they walked towards the Black Promise Tower, its grandeur got increasingly striking, reminding Siu Fu of an ancient religious landmark known as “churches” in his past life where there was an unknown force referred to as “religion”.

Does this tower serve to harness the power of people’s beliefs too?  

Siu Fu was a descendant of a martial arts clan in his past life. He knew that Kung Fu, inner energy, and many other kinds of energy exist. He had already seen many fascinating glipilities in this world, so he accepted that all kinds of energy existed. 

Law Sum couldn’t help but be pleasantly surprised at Siu Fu’s calmness since he himself fainted and vomited blood when he had first visited the Black Promise Tower. 

This was necrogliphism’s holy land with an intense aura that any non-necrogliphism cultivator wouldn’t be able to enter unless they were above the three-chambered stage. But even then, their strength would be greatly suppressed. Siu Fu wasn’t even in the one-chambered state, yet he could remain unfazed.

He’s indeed our Sacred Son! 

Soon, they arrived at the base of the Black Promise Tower, where a mighty door over ten metres tall stood. Siu Fu looked up to see many unknown gliph patterns inscribed on the tower and door, emitting dangerous auras. At the same time, two guards stood in front of the door. 

“It’s Law Sum… Oh? Who’s that behind you? A new candidate to become a necrogliphism cultivator?” 

“Shush! This is our Sacred Son! Inform the great elder immediately!” Law Sum scowled.

Both guards frowned. Every necrogliphism cultivator had great strength, and despite having lower cultivation achievements than Law Sum, they were capable of fighting him. They were upset by his words, but his attitude made the guards believe him and not delay his orders.

“I’ll inform the great elder immediately.” 

“Greet the Great Elder,” the guard returned after some time and opened the door after announcing. 

After exchanging a glance and a nod… Boom! 

Energliph waves were emitted all over the place. Like Law Sum, the energliph belonging to the guards were like pitch-black clouds. 

“Honourable Sacred Son, the Black Promise Tower was founded by our tribe’s founder a thousand years ago. The dense door made of Negative Dragon Stone will only open under our unique energliph. Non-necrogliphism cultivators need to be at least of the five-chambered stage to break in forcefully.” 

The explanations allowed Siu Fu, who was creasing his brows, to have a general grasp of what necrogliphism was. From what he had heard so far, it was probably a powerful religion or tribe in this world, and because of certain reasons, it  was denied by the rest of the world, which resulted in the need for such a strong defence mechanism. 

In the past, he learnt from Shu Sam that the six-chambered stage and ten thousand-gliphic state only existed in legends; not a single record of such beings had been recorded in history books dating even a thousand years back. Maybe there had been records of such existences in the past, before the war that resulted in the loss of many records and the gap in gliphism. 

The intelligent and crafty Siu Fu could guess the position of necrogliphism in the world with just that brief explanation. They are powerful but unable to live under the sun. 

After activating it with energliph, the guards pushed the door open. It was as if a ferocious beast was opening its bloody mouth to swallow the world whole. 

The guards stood at the side while Law Sum respectfully let Siu Fu enter first. “Please, Sacred Son.” 

Siu Fu knew there was no room for cowardice at this point. Without showing any expression, he walked through the door without replying.

Both guards stared at Siu Fu weirdly. They couldn’t tell how this ordinary boy was the sacred son of their sect, but since the great elder had invited Siu Fu in, there was nothing they could do besides watch the duo enter the hall. 

Bang. 

The black door behind them shut tightly. In contrast to Siu Fu’s imagination of a pitch-black hall, the tower was brightly lit and crowded. Everyone inside the tower spoke in whispers, and they dared not look at the incomers for too long when they saw it was Law Sum who walked in. It was obvious that Law Sum had a high status or rank. They then took the stairs leading up. 

It was a spiral staircase, and Law Sum deliberately moved at a slower speed to match Siu Fu’s speed. 

Despite his mysterious facade, Siu Fu kept his guard up as he knew that anyone here could easily kill him. All he could do was brace himself and go up the stairs. 

When they reached the fifth storey, Siu Fu was sweating slightly. At the same time, the man waiting for him at the top of the stairs sucked in his breath when he saw Siu Fu, as Law Sum had done so before. In his eyes, Siu Fu was the legendary Bloodstained Hill’s Sacred Icon of necrogliphism. 

Only necrogliphism cultivators who were at least of the four-chambered state could see the Bloodstained Hill’s Sacred Icon, which meant that both the man and Law Sum were at least of the four-chambered state. 

“Your honourable Sacred Son, the Great Elder invites you in.” The arrogant man bowed toward Siu Fu respectfully as he led Law Sum and Siu Fu in. 

“I’m Ling Fei, the Great Elder’s servant.” He smiled. “I deal with all the various miscellaneous matters of the tribe.” 

Siu Fu glanced at Ling Fei. Unlike the others he met on his way up, he was a lively and energetic person. There was no eerie aura coming from him. 

In no time, they arrived at the centre of the fifth floor. There was a figure sitting in the middle on a huge chair.