“I’ll ask you one last time, where did this runic symbol come from?!” Yu Wenhao glared at Gongsun Yan, forcefully demanding an answer.
Gongsun Yan stammered, “I-I bought it from the Tang Chamber of Commerce.”
“The Tang Chamber of Commerce?” Yu Wenhao questioned with doubt, “Even our Rune Guild doesn’t have this kind of runic symbol. How could the Tang Chamber of Commerce have it? Moreover, even if they did, you couldn’t afford it. Are you still lying?”
Yu Wenhao knew very well that the price of a tenth-grade runic symbol was at least a hundred thousand gold coins. Not being from a noble family, Gongsun Yan couldn’t possibly afford such a sum.
“Master, I really didn’t lie. I bought it from the Tang Chamber of Commerce, and I only paid eight hundred gold coins.” Gongsun Yan immediately handed over the purchase receipt to Yu Wenhao.
After taking the receipt and confirming that it indeed cost eight hundred gold coins, Yu Wenhao muttered, “H-How could it be so cheap?”
Gongsun Yan explained, “The shopkeeper said it’s a runic symbol prototype so the price is very low.”
“Pr-Prototype?” Yu Wenhao’s mouth twitched slightly. If this kind of runic symbol was a prototype, then what he crafted could barely be called a model!
*
News of the tenth-grade runic symbol quickly spread within the Rune Guild.
In just half an incense stick’s time, Guild President Sima Yu, Guild Vice President Sikong Ming, and many runic masters of the guild rushed to the scene.
When they saw the runic symbol, they were all excited, and behaving as if they had gone mad.
“Is this truly the legendary tenth-grade runic symbol?”
“In my lifetime, I can actually witness the legendary tenth-grade runic symbol!”
The runic masters were all exclaiming in amazement.
“This astonishing creation, who is the master behind it?” Sikong Ming also marveled.
“If we could have that master join our guild, our guild would reach unprecedented glory!” Guild President Sima Yu expressed his admiration.
As the towering figure in the runic world, he understood better than anyone the enormous impact a runic master capable of creating tenth-grade symbols could have on the runic market.
Just a single tenth-grade runic symbol had attracted runic masters from all over the country, eager to study and learn.
Let alone a runic master capable of creating tenth-grade symbols.
“Take me to meet this master immediately! We must recruit this master to our guild before the City Lord does!” Sima Yu promptly said to Yu Wenhao.
Although their Rune Guild occupied half of the runic market in Zhongzhou, they hadn’t completely monopolized it.
In addition to the Rune Guild, this was because there was another institution that gathered a large number of runic masters – the Scholarly Mansion established by the City Lord Ye Gucheng.
The Scholarly Mansion was a comprehensive academic institution with numerous top scholars and experts in various fields, including astronomy, geography, puppetry, alchemy, and runic formations.
Over the years, these two forces had balanced each other out.
Now, the appearance of the tenth-grade runic symbol might shatter that equilibrium. Because regardless of the faction they chose to join, the master who crafted this symbol would deal a devastating blow to the runic market of the opposing faction.
*
At the same time, in the City Lord’s Mansion of Zhongzhou.
In the vast courtyard, a large crowd had gathered with an elderly man sitting on a throne at the center.
Though he was over seventy, he appeared lively, and emanating an otherworldly charm. Without a doubt, he was the Lord of Zhongzhou City, Ye Gucheng.
Despite being the city lord, Ye Gucheng hadn’t forgotten his duty as a martial artist.
Like other warriors, he entered the Earth Ranking through his own strength, answering the calls of the Martial Arts Alliance and regularly traveling to various places to eliminate demons and monsters.
After many years of contributions to the Martial Arts Alliance, he had become the third-ranked powerhouse in the Zhongzhou Earth Ranking.
At this moment, Ye Gucheng was attentively watching the two men in the center of the courtyard who were about to start their battle.
The one with a scruffy face was Zhang Hongyu, who had purchased Jiang Yuan’s runic symbol yesterday. Facing him was a brawny man standing at two meters tall, Zhou Yuanzhang.
The surrounding crowd whispered among themselves, mostly expressing doubt about Zhang Hongyu’s chances.
“Zhang Hongyu is at the Eighth Level of Condensation, while Zhou Yuanzhang is at the Ninth Level of Condensation. This level of difference isn’t easily bridged.”
“Cases of defeating opponents across levels exist, but those are geniuses like Shen Hanbing who can achieve such things. Zhang Hongyu and Zhou Yuanzhang have similar talents, there’s simply no possibility of overcoming levels.”
“What a pity. If it weren’t for Zhou Yuanzhang, the position of guarding the president would have belonged to Zhang Hongyu.”
Zhang Hongyu paid no attention to the opinions of the crowd. He directly drew a large knife from his waist. Although this knife was only a low-grade Yellow-tier treasure, it bore a mysterious runic pattern on the blade.
This mysterious runic pattern came from the runic symbol created by Jiang Yuan.
After purchasing Jiang Yuan’s runic symbol, Zhang Hongyu personally enhanced it onto his weapon. Despite only studying runic arts for a few years and unable to produce finished runic symbols, he could still manage to infuse them into weapons with some effort.
After drawing the large knife, Zhang Hongyu’s opponent, Zhou Yuanzhang also took out a long axe.
“The match begins!”
With the referee’s voice, Zhang Hongyu and Zhou Yuanzhang immediately engaged in intense combat, clashing head-on.
Zhang Hongyu’s strength was noticeably inferior to Zhou Yuanzhang’s. In every clash, Zhang Hongyu was pushed back several steps, while Zhou Yuanzhang stood firm without moving an inch.
From the beginning of the match, Zhou Yuanzhang had an absolute advantage, completely suppressing Zhang Hongyu.
In just a few rounds, Zhang Hongyu was covered in wounds, while Zhou Yuanzhang remained unscathed.
Spurt!
Zhang Hongyu spat out a mouthful of blood, his body flying like a kite with a broken string, and crashing heavily at the edge of the square.
“Tsk tsk, there is no suspense in this duel. How could Zhang Hongyu possibly be a match for Zhou Yuanzhang?”
“Exactly! The gap in levels is not so easily overcome!”
In the eyes of the onlookers, the outcome of the match was already clear.
However, Zhang Hongyu didn’t give up. He wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth and struggled to get up from the ground.
“You still won’t admit defeat? It seems I have to use my ultimate move!”
Zhou Yuanzhang was a bit impatient. He gathered a large amount of vitality onto his long axe, apparently intending to unleash a powerful martial skill.
“Since I can’t outlast you, I’ll have to compete with you!” Zhang Hongyu poured all his vitality into the large knife at once.
At that moment, the vitality poured into the knife like water encountering a sponge, and it was continuously absorbed by the runic patterns on the blade.
Then the mysterious runic patterns on the blade lit up with a dazzling brilliance.
At this moment, Zhou Yuanzhang had already swung his axe towards Zhang Hongyu.
The moment the axe struck, it generated a massive axe energy, splitting the air apart.
The onlookers instinctively held their breaths, their hearts hanging in suspense for Zhang Hongyu. Because Zhou Yuanzhang was using the Yellow-tier Middle-grade weapon— the Mountain Splitting Axe!
Although the power of this blow didn’t reach the level of splitting mountains, it was more than enough to cut a large rock in half!
If Zhang Hongyu were directly hit, there would be almost no chance of survival.
At the same time Zhou Yuanzhang swung his axe, Zhang Hongyu also slashed horizontally with his knife.
In that moment of the slash, a crescent-shaped blade energy, three meters wide was released like a flat crescent moon, irresistibly slashing towards Zhou Yuanzhang.
