Night of the Broken Gliph

“But after hundreds of years, it has now transformed into the frost dragon rock. Windy frost dragons are powerful gliphic beasts that are born with the ability to breathe out frost, which can turn a two-chambered glipher into an ice sculpture in no time. Even a four-chambered glipher shouldn’t let his guard down in front of one. The frost dragon rock is a similarly chilly ingredient. After turning into minerals centuries later, gliphs can be found in it. 

“We can use both gliphic plants and beasts to tattoo gliphs because they come naturally with gliphs. Since that’s the case, minerals that I shall call… gliphic minerals can also be used. Of course, these are all assumptions, and I had no choice but to try it on you.” 

“So you mean I was your first lab rat?” Hearing Chui Yim, Chor Shing Chit was left speechless. 

“I didn’t have any other choice. I had nothing on me suitable to be used as an ingredient for gliphs,” Chui Yim repeated his words slowly as if trying to make an excuse. Chor Shing Chit looked down at his chest as the origin of the Frost Dragon Rock came back to his mind…

Although he had saved Chui Yim’s life first, he knew how pressured Chui Yim was when he tattooed the gliph on his heart chamber for him. It was an emergency, and he was on his own—without another gliphist, nor was there any gliphic plant for him to use. All sorts of elements gave birth to the gliph on his chest. The gliph was tattooed on him using a mineral by a gliphist who hadn’t even stepped into the single-gliphic state! 

The world would definitely be astonished if the news spread. But Chor Shing Chit wouldn’t do so, as he knew that outstanding talents died the fastest. 

No matter how much of a genius Chui Yim was, he was still an ordinary twelve-year-old with nobody to back him up. A child like him would be targeted and destroyed easily, turning from a genius to waste or cripple. This was why Bak Wun and Chor Shing Chit decided to keep his innate double chamber secret during the chamber check. 

Chor Shing Chit shook his head, trying to shake his jumbled thoughts away. The most important thing right now was to get medicine for Chui Yim to recover. 

The hardyhorse coach drove slowly. The trip was no longer between Southary and Chui Yim’s village. This time, he was going on a long journey. 

Mounts mattered a lot on long road trips. As it was an emergency and there weren’t many suitable mounts in a city like Southary, all they had was a hardyhorse coach. Thus, they couldn’t go too fast, or the hardyhorse would die from overwork and they’d be left with their feet.

Chui Yim looked out of the coach as they arrived outside Night Lion City. He was dazed at the sight. Compared to this world, the cities of the Sallow Continent sucks! 

The high city walls were shining in dark gold. They lined up orderly, and Chui Yim could catch many gliphs on the wall, but he couldn’t tell what gliphs were there. There was even a five-metre tall, lifelike lion statue standing outside the city gates. It looked extremely intimidating 

“Night Lion City is an interesting place. It’s different from Southary,” as if understanding Chui Yim's feelings, Bak Wun, who was controlling the hardyhorse coach said. “According to legends, a gliphic beast, the Night Lion, appeared at this place a hundred years ago, bringing along great devastation. Many people died to it; life was terrible at the time. A glipher who just returned from the Bloody War Frontier heard about this and volunteered to take the beast’s life to the reigning Emperor Lam then.  

“The glipher was four-chambered, but the Night Lion wasn’t weaker or even better than a five-chambered glipher. Back then, five-chambered gliphers were as rare as phoenix feathers. Everyone thought the glipher was suicidal, but they admired his courage at the same time. 

“The previous Emperor Lam then promised him that as long as he completed the mission, the glipher would immediately be bestowed a title of nobility to be passed down through generations of his family. The Lam dynasty wouldn’t even ask for the materials he got from eliminating the beast. 

“To everyone, it was just an empty promise that Emperor Lam would never be able to fulfil as nobody thought that the glipher would survive. The glipher set off and returned after a month, bringing back the news of success to the Lam Dynasty. The whole South was thrown off their feet to hear that a four-chambered glipher defeated the fierce Night Lion.”

After hearing the story, Chui Yim was in a daze. Successfully taking down a beast of a higher stage? How powerful was that glipher? 

“The Emperor kept his promise. He immediately ordered the glipher to be given the title of nobility, and that is the city we are heading to. The glipher built his city here and named it after the Night Lion he slew. Their Clan’s crest is the Night Lion, and it’s still being passed down generation after generation,” Bak Wun continued. 

“What was even scarier was that the glipher stepped into the five-chambered stage after the event, turning into one of the most powerful cultivators of that generation. He watched over the South for hundreds of years. The glipher was Tse Man Tin. The Night Lion Tse Clan is a well-known clan even today.” 

They finally arrived at the city gate, accompanied by Bak Wun’s storytelling. Under the five-metre tall Night Lion statue stood a guardpost. Seeing the aged and harmless Bak Wun, along with the weak Chui Yim and poker-faced Chor Shing Chit in the coach, they were allowed to enter in no time. 

An old coachman ferrying a father and son—this simple combination made it easy for them to pass through without restriction. Chui Yim looked around as the coach drove into the city. He felt slightly weird seeing the architecture in Night Lion city, which was vastly different compared to that of Southary. 

Bak Wun, who had a lot of knowledge, started showing off again. “Rumour has it that the powerful glipher, Tse Man Tin travelled deep into the North alone to challenge all the powerful cultivators of the North and only returned after four to five years. This was why the architecture in Night Lion City was mostly inspired by the North. Instead of skyscrapers, they have neater, more straightforward buildings.” 

Chui Yim nodded as he recalled the scrolls he had read before. The scrolls from Chui Tin contained all sorts of knowledge. The South was made up of cities, where space was finite, but the population was great. As the number of inhabitants increased, buildings grew in height to meet everyone’s needs. 

As there weren'’ many cities in the North, Northerners built their houses wherever they wanted. The huge and many differences between both parties led to their conflict.