“Didn’t somebody say that the Ning City folks are here with us? Where are they?”

“What should we do now?”

This was the furthest anyone has been into the labyrinth in decades, and if someone did not disable the shield, then this would be the end of the expedition. People started to speculate and try to figure a way to push further into the mysterious depths of the Bloodmist Labyrinth.

Lin Zi Yan scanned the hall, and she sensed quite a lot of outstanding individual, but she knew that none of them would be strong enough to break the enormous runic barrier, not even Luo Wu Xue, who was the strongest.

“These attacks mean nothing. The only chance of breaking through is to have multiple people who know how to focus all their power onto the barrier’s weak spot while striking it simultaneously! It would only take a few strong Warriors to get the job done!”

Lin Zi Yan was getting a little bit frustrated because she knew she couldn’t break the shield on her own. She was under the suspicion that Ye Wei could actually open the rune barrier without breaking a sweat by fiddling with the breakpoint like he had on the earlier rune barriers. However, she was not going to let him draw any attention to himself, especially not here at the Bloodmist Valley.

‘Whoever set this rune barrier up must be a very, very strong cultivator...’ Ye Wei was startled by the rune shield. As he observed the rune and energy flow of it, something became clear to him.

‘When the creator of the shield set it up, he didn’t make it hard to break; the complexity of this shield vastly exceeds the strength of it. Had he put more Qi into the shield, it might actually take a Prime to break through!’

This was an inspiring experience for Ye Wei. He had never seen a rune sequence this complex before. The shield taught him a thing or two about rune synergies and combinations, but he was still a bit confused as to why the creator did not build the defense system to its fullest potential.

Just as Ye Wei was deep in his own world, an aqua blue light intensified at the exit of one of the tunnels while a sharp noise of something breaking through the air at a high speed was getting louder.

Seconds after, a blue flash shot out of the tunnel into the hall which then levitated above the thousands. It silenced the crowd as everyone was in awe and trying to figure out what the blue light was.

Ye Wei was no exception; he lifted his head to see a fading blue light. As the light died down, a hovering ancient, ice-blue sword appeared in front of his eyes and on the sword stood a teenager wearing a blue robe.

He didn’t look a day older than sixteen, and he was standing straight with his hands behind his back. His long hair came to rest as he stopped mid-air.

This blue robed teenager looked down calmly on the crowd below. “That’s Mo Ya from Ning City!” Luo Mu Xue’s pupils dilated, and his face twitched, he remembered this face.

‘Why is he here? The treasures in the Bloodmist Valley shouldn’t be that attractive to him...’ All of the four strongest group leaders shared the same thought; they were agitated by Mo Ya’s presence.

“Mo Ya?” Ye Wei turned to Lin Zi Yan. He could guess that Mo Ya was a renown person but having lived in Green Moon City his whole life, he had no idea who this teenager was – him who silenced the crowd of thousands without speaking a word. Back in his junior class at South Star Academy all they talked about was what was happening in their local city.

“Mo Ya is one of the four strongest teenagers in Ning City; he is only sixteen years old, but he’s already a ten star Warrior. He is famous for beating another well known ten star Warrior with a single sword strike in a dual!

‘Sixteen years old and as strong as my uncles...’ Ye Wei was astonished by how big the world was. He never imagined that talents like this existed.

“That sword under his feet...” Ye Wei was curious about the hovering sword.

“Medium grade three stars Mystic Arm.” Li Zi Yan knew what Ye Wei was going to ask and answered calmly.

“What?” Ye Wei eyes widened. “Are you sure?” He could not believe a teenager would carry such a valuable treasure around. “Is he not afraid of getting attacked and mugged?” He frowned and whispered in an envious tone. He was afraid that Mo Ya was going to hear him.

“With that sword, he can fight condensed prime Warriors to a draw anytime, and maybe even come out on top. People who are capable of mugging him don’t really have a reason to. Unless, they feel like declaring war against the Mo family; who are one of the four biggest families in Ning City.” Lin Zi Yan replied.

“Don’t be intimidated little Wei, you’re a talented boy. I believe that you will be able to catch up with them sooner or later!” Lin Zi Yan read Ye Wei’s facial expressions like an open book.

“Ha Ha Ha! Mo Ya, do you enjoy showing off in front of a large group of trash? That’s classy!” A booming voice caught the attention of the crowd as they were admiring Mo Ya’s godly aura.

This loud voice echoed through the hall, and some of the weaker cultivators in the crowd turned as pale as a sheet and started bleeding from their ears. Ye Wei was affected too. The thundering laugh shook him inside and out. Lin Zi Yan saw that and therefore placed her small hand on his shoulder to strengthen him with a surge of Qi. This lifted the pressure off his body, and his face slowly regained color.

‘I thought you just broke into the Warrior ranks not long ago... Are you hiding from me?’ Ye Wei could see that Lin Zi Yan was not affected by the Qi powered voice at all while the stronger Warriors who were trying to break the shield were struggling to even stand up straight.

As the laugh died down people started to look towards the tunnels where it came from. A golden flash shot out of the tunnel’s exit where everyone was looking, as another overbearing presence entered the hall.

While Mo Ya’s presence was cold and elegant, this man’s entrance was more violent. The crowd was already afraid of him before he showed his face. The golden light dimmed before everyone’s eyes, and a muscular teenager with rugged hair revealed himself. He was levitating in the air and holding a golden spear.

He arrogantly glanced around, and his gaze itself was like a spear that penetrated people’s souls. “Jin Yan!” Luo Wu Xue knew this gaze, and it caused him to shiver nervously as he tightened his grip. Drops of cold sweat dripped from his hand onto the ground. Being number one in Frozen Sun City caused Luo Wu Xue to be very prideful but standing in front of these two from Ning City he felt worthless. He was breathing heavily while shaking.

“First, it was the Selenic beast statue... Now these two are here! I think that confirms it. This is probably the Frost King’s tomb!” Lin Zi Yan mumbled.

“The Jin’s let you out of Searing Valley? And you were given Burning Gold, looks like the geezers in your family have great expectations from you!” Mo Ya’s eyes stopped on the ten-meter long spear then at Jin Yan as he indifferently chuckled.

“You have Autumn’s Grace with you too. It looks like we were both sent on the same mission, huh?” Jin Yan said in an unfriendly tone as he flexed his firm muscles and stared at the sword under Mo Ya’s feet.

“Well, I feel kind of lucky that they sent you here. I can’t imagine how much fun I would have, and how long it will take to break this rune shield if I have to work with these people!” Mo Ya shrugged and replied sarcastically.

Jin Yan’s eyes followed Mo Ya’s as they looked at the rune barrier. They had a concerned expression on their face as they felt the energy that it was emitting, and although they were pretty confident about breaking it, they weren’t sure if they were ready to face whoever was powerful enough to set this shield up.