Chapter 6: Natural Runes (Part 2)

Without deep-seated hatred, altar masters generally wouldn’t fight to the death. Guo Shier’s slash just now was already excessive—although it didn’t kill his opponent, it inflicted severe spiritual damage and destroyed half of the altar, greatly weakening him. Lin Su found such consequences unbearable.

Nan You said, “I just wanted to teach him a lesson. He thinks he’s so great, acting all arrogant—really annoying!”

Guo Shier didn’t understand the rules of these ancient clans. He asked, “Will he rely on his clan’s power to cause trouble for you?”

Nan You laughed, “No. This is a personal matter, not a clan affair. Even if he comes to seek revenge, he can only bring his friends, not act in the name of his clan.”

Guo Shier asked, “Why not in the name of the clan?”

Huo Yu smiled, “That would trigger a war between the two clans, something all the major clans strive to avoid.”

Guo Shier nodded. That made sense. Otherwise, if every altar master relied on their clan’s strength to deal with enemies, the world would be in chaos. He said, “Hmm, anyway, we won’t be here long. We’ll leave in a few months. Even if he sends someone to seek revenge, hehe, he won’t be able to find us. I’m too lazy to bother with him.”

Nan You’s face darkened. He had seen irresponsible people before, but never someone this stubborn. He said, “His altar is broken. Even if he wants to retaliate, he first needs to restore his strength. With such damage, it will take at least two or three years to recover.”

Guo Shier said, “So we don’t need to worry about him.”

The handsome old man said, “With this natural rune, I can reinforce your altar again. Whether you can advance depends on your luck. Kid, don’t disturb me unless necessary. I’ll be very busy these days.”

Guo Shier responded with a spiritual pulse. He was also eager to see what the handsome old man would do. Since advancing to a two-layer solid altar, the Gu Miluo clan’s heritage had been unlocked, allowing him to learn much about using altars and spells. He realized how lucky he was to have such a powerful spirit guide.

With the handsome old man around, Guo Shier had it easy. Whether it was advancing, crafting sacrificial treasures, or maintaining the altar, he didn’t have to worry much—the old man handled almost everything for him. He could also teach Guo Shier the knowledge and skills he needed whenever necessary.

Eagle Demon said, “Another enemy has appeared.”

Luo Zhan said, “Whatever, as long as the two of us make it to the Virtual Form Altar, we can help the twelve. Sigh, it’s only now that I realize even the Great Sage is trash!”
Eagle Demon shook his head. “The Great Sage is by no means trash. If you go back to the Northern Talisman Gate, you must know what kind of figure a Great Sage is.”
Luo Zhan sighed. “Even if I go back to the Northern Talisman Gate now, I doubt I’d want to stay long.”
Eagle Demon nodded silently; he felt the same way. It’s like someone who’s used to living in an international metropolis being forced to return to a remote village—they’d find it extremely uncomfortable.
After obtaining this natural Lei Character, Guo Shier was extremely satisfied. He said, “Alright, let’s go back. Hehe, we’ve reaped quite a lot this time. Nan You and Huo Yu, don’t be envious—I’ll give each of you a replicated character.”
Nan You and Huo Yu were overjoyed and thanked him repeatedly. Although replicated natural characters weren’t as good as those drawn originally, their power was still countless times greater than ordinary runes. Such items were extremely rare, and replicating them required a lot of precious materials. Using them as foundational support runes for altars was ideal.
The five of them returned to the mining area. As soon as they reached the castle, they saw several Great Sages waiting there. After seeing Nan You and the others, one of the Great Sages said, “Lord, this is a message sent by our family.”
Another Great Sage stepped forward to Huo Yu and also produced a message, saying, “Lord, here it is! It’s a message from our family.”
Guo Shier watched curiously. Two ancient families sending messages at the same time meant something serious must be going on.
Nan You said, “It’s a notice from my family—they want me to leave the mining area.”
Guo Shier asked eagerly, “What’s the matter?” If Nan You left, he didn’t see any reason to stay. Guarding the mining area was Nan You’s task; they had only come along and were temporarily staying here—they had no duty to guard anything.
Nan You forced a smile and said, “Shier, come with me. It’s an exploration mission, and only the best warriors go.”
Eagle Demon said, “Sigh, Nan You… I feel like… we’re just your followers, running around with you.”
Nan You replied with a playful smile, “It’s better to be busy than idle. Exploring new areas broadens our horizons. Besides, new areas often have many good things—it’s a good chance to take advantage of them.” He tried his best to persuade them. After all, Guo Shier was a professional with two-layer Solid Form Altars—his strength was absolutely formidable. Having someone like him by his side could reduce many dangers.

Huo Yu also said, “Mm, it’s a task to develop new areas. I’ve received this task too. This is a big operation, with top experts being mobilized—probably on a significant scale.”
Guo Shieru hesitated for a moment. He had originally planned to let Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan set up their own virtual altar first, but their souls were still just a bit short of meeting the requirements for advancement. He asked, “Uncle Eagle Demon, Uncle Luo, what do you think? Should we go?”
Eagle Demon smiled and said, “Shieru, you’ve actually already made up your mind. Hehe, anyway, we’ll follow you.”
Luo Zhan said, “Shieru, if you say we go, we go; if not, we don’t. I have no objections.” Both of them would support him unconditionally. Guo Shieru felt a warmth in his heart. After being together for so long, these two were like family to him.
Guo Shieru thought for a while and said, “Okay, Nanyou, let’s go.”
Nanyou was overjoyed. This guy was finally willing to go with him, which would greatly enhance his own strength. Huo Yu said envyingly, “Hey, Nanyou, look at you smiling… Is it that necessary?” She added, “The Guo Huo family is also great. Sir, come to our family…”
Nanyou immediately grew anxious and said, “Sister Huo, really? Trying to poach me right in front of my face… That’s too much!”
Huo Yu smiled seductively and said, “Is it not okay?”
Nanyou replied firmly, “Of course not! Do you think I’m dead?” His horse-like face stretched out, foam appearing at the corners of his mouth as he said, “Sister Huo, don’t act recklessly… Be careful, or I’ll fight desperately!”
Huo Yu giggled and said, “Go ahead and fight. Who’s afraid of whom?”
Nanyou deflated. Dealing with unreasonable women always gave him a huge headache. He said, “Hehe, just dreaming. I’d never fight you seriously, or people might say I’m bullying a woman.”
Huo Yu said indifferently, “Haven’t you bullied enough?” Her words were somewhat ambiguous and could lead to misunderstandings, so as soon as she finished speaking, Nanyou’s face twisted in pain.
Guo Shieru grinned and said, “Alright, let’s go with Nanyou instead.”
Nanyou immediately perked up again, grinning widely, though his smile looked rather ugly. Guo Shieru sometimes wondered why, since it should be easy for a professional to change their appearance, this guy still had such a long face, almost like a horse with an oddly shaped face.
“I knew it! Hehe, Huo Yu, you have no chance! Shieru is mine!”
Guo Shieru felt as if countless crows were flying around his head. How could this guy speak like that?
Huo Yu said meaningfully, “Oh… right.”

A group of great saints stood by silently, though their expressions seemed somewhat unnatural—as if they wanted to laugh but struggled hard to hold back, clearly finding it extremely difficult. Guo Shier’s face turned dark; these two guys were no easy opponents.
Huo Yu said, “Alright, I’ll go back first to arrange the handover. We’ll leave together in a bit.”
Nan You waved his hand as if shooing flies and said, “Go ahead, go!”
Huo Yu huffed and turned to leave. Eagle Demon whispered, “I didn’t notice anything special about these two usually, but something feels off today.”
Nan You glared at him fiercely and said, “Don’t guess randomly!” Then he called over the mine’s managers to start arranging the handover. Guo Shier didn’t bother with it and took Eagle Demon and Luo Zhan back to the talisman house.
After finishing the arrangements, the four of them waited for a while. Huo Yu descended and said, “Let’s go.”
Through the teleportation talisman array, the five of them left the Desert Stone Secret Realm and arrived at the unfinished Great Diving Fortress. Here, Huo Yu bid them farewell; she was heading to the gathering point of the ancient Huo family. Nan You took Guo Shier and the others to the gathering point of the ancient Nan family.
It was a simple cluster of buildings, all temporary structures, with each major family occupying its own area. Guo Shier asked, “Nan You, are these all professionals from your ancient Nan family?”
Nan You nodded. “Most of them are. There’s also a small number who are guest elders or friends of the family’s strong members.”
Ancient families generally treated external professional experts favorably. High-ranking great saints could serve as guest elder positions, professionals from virtual altar levels could serve as guest grand elder positions, and those from real altar levels or above could serve as guest clan elders—all receiving generous rewards.
Guo Shier had held many such guest positions in various families and was well familiar with this system. While guest positions didn’t carry much real power within families, they came with high status and good benefits. One only had to contribute when needed; otherwise, they could do as they pleased, as the family wouldn’t force them to do things they didn’t want to.
The five of them entered a large hall. The floor was paved with cloud stone, and the pillars were as thick as a person’s arms—clearly ancient trees harvested from secret realms, carved with intricate runes. Exquisite talisman lamps hung from the pillars, emitting a soft light. The hall was very quiet; some servant-like professionals knelt by the pillars. Upon seeing the five of them enter, two servants immediately stepped forward quietly.

Those who can enter here are at least experts at the elder level within the family, that is, family professionals at the advanced Grand Sage level. The two servants lowered their gazes, glanced at the identity badge on Nan You’s belt, and showed respectful expressions. One of them said, “Greetings, Great Elder.”
Nan You nodded and said, “First, take me to the place where outsiders are registered in the family. I have a few friends who want to join the family temporarily.”
The two servants bowed respectfully and said, “Yes, please follow us.”
Guo Shier watched coldly and noticed that both servants were low-level professionals, only at the master level. He couldn’t help but smile bitterly. Since when did master-level experts seem unimpressive? Thinking of the North Talisman Gate, he felt a chill in his heart. For these ancient families, conquering a continent like the North Talisman Gate would be an easy task—they wouldn’t even need to send altar-level experts.
They walked down the corridor to a large room where several people were inside. Before Guo Shier could take a closer look, someone called out, “Oh, isn’t this our Great Elder Nan You? So he can even recruit outsiders into the family?”
The voice was harsh, causing Guo Shier to frown slightly. Nan You’s expression also darkened.