Instant Kill Volume 7 Chapter 9

For the next 10 days, Guo Shier buried himself in books in the Runic Hall. He worked hard to learn any book given to him as soon as possible.

Ku Mu also kept busy. He taught Guo Shier a new set of exercises dedicated to increasing flexibility in the fingers—an important skill for performing a hundred hand seals within a minute. It was the most basic of exercises.

Being in the Saint level, Ku Mu can perform a thousand gestures a minute—an impossible feat without flexible and strong hands.

Once in a while, he walked up to Guo Shier to correct his slight mistakes. He felt satisfied as he oversaw his student's progress.

"Shier, I'll take you to a place today that you will often visit in the future. It's something that does not exist in your low-level world. Let's go," he said.

Guo Shier was curious but did not ask.

He simply followed Ku Mu to somewhere in the Chen Xiao Sect.

The place was called the 'Mysterious Virtual Path.'

It was an open-air circular road, the outer loop circling inward six times towards the center.

Upon arrival, Guo Shier immediately noticed glowing paths. There were many people walking slowly along these paths—all of them surrounded by innumerable floating Runes, some of which flashed and disappeared mid-air. He also saw a couple of people sitting cross-legged along the path, and they seemed to be concentrating on resisting something.

Guo Shier looked at the signpost. "Master, what is this 'Artificer Mysterious Virtual Path'? What are those people doing?"

"There are two of these within the inner door of the Chen Xiao Sect," Ku Mu explained. "One is for the Artificer Class and the other one is for the Marked Warrior Class. We can see the people within the path, but they can't see us from inside."

"This path will help cultivate Artificers," he continued. There are six loops in total. Each circle represents a stage. The outermost circle represents Artificer Adepts, the second is for Artificer Masters, and so on and so forth."

He then looked Guo Shier in the eye to emphasize his next point. "Remember this. The first time you enter is the most important. It's all about laying a solid foundation. The longer you hold on, the better the effect," he explained.

Guo Shier was confused. "Is that all? Is there anything else I should know?"

Ku Mu shook his head. "You will know the rest when you go in. It's useless for me to say anything else."

A large group of people were standing at the entrance. Most of them were wearing silver robes and sending their own disciples into the Mysterious Virtual Path.

There were also some people wearing fuchsia robes. The most conspicuous among them was Zhu Tien, who was sticking out of the crowd due to his huge physique.

Zhu Tien's eyes were very sharp. He immediately noticed Ku Mu and Guo Shier.

"Ku Mu, will you take your apprentice to the Mysterious Virtual Path? Hehe! This is his first time, right? Go ahead—feel free to go in first. I want to see how far he can go."

He then turned to Guo Shier to give him advice. "Go slowly," he said. "There will be unexpected benefits."

"Thank you for your pointers, martial uncle," Guo Shier replied.

Zhu Tien laughed loudly. "Hey! I really like you, kiddo! You're very polite."

Ku Mu cleared his throat. "So fatty, what are you doing here?" he asked coldly.

"Why do you ask, Mu-tou? Can't I come here? I have these two apprentices, and this is our third visit. Those kids are stuck in the outermost circle and can't meet the requirements of an Artificer Master. Ugh! Why can't they make progress? Look—they're just sitting there!"

Ku Mu sighed. "Just accept that this is the extent of their potential. The master and apprentice deserve each other."

Zhu Tien, visibly offended, raised his voice. "My apprentices have very good potential! They're only fifteen years old this year. They can definitely reach the Artificer Master level. Why—you don't think that's good enough?!?"

Out of the blue, someone shouted.

"Shier, what are you doing here?"

Guo Shier looked around and saw Moni-er. He braced himself and started to act like a child. He hurriedly ran towards her and tugged at her sleeves.

"Guo Shier greets Master's Wife!" he cried out.

Moni-er hugged Guo Shier and excitedly said, "Shier, baby! What are you doing here? Are you going into the Mysterious Virtual Path?"

"Yes! I'm going in right now. Master told me to be careful."

Guo Shier hugged Moni-er, although he didn't really like her. He could see that Moni-er was really fond of him, treating him like her own child.

"This Artificer Mysterious Virtual Path contains the set of learning, detection and legacy Runes through transference," Moni-er explained.

"Artificial Adepts can only stay at the outermost circle. Once you're able to enter the second circle, it means that you have advanced to an Artificer Master. The third circle is the Artificer Grandmaster stage; the fourth circle is the Artificer Unbound Master stage. The fifth circle is the Artificer Saint level. And when you can enter the sixth and inner most circle you have become an Artificer Grand Saint. That last part can be difficult. Hehe!"

Staring at the sixth circle, Guo Shier noted that it's only a dozen meters in diameter. There was no one inside. There was also no one within the fifth circle, either. There were many people in the fourth circle and even more in the third circle. There were about a hundred people in the third circle, and they're all Artificer Grandmasters.

Guo Shier was amazed. He thought about the whole North Rune Sect and how only a handful of them had this level of strength.

As for the first and second circle, there were even more people inside them.

"You should hurry and enter the Mysterious Virtual Path," Moni-er urged. "There is a quota on how many people can enter."

"The first circle can accommodate up to a thousand people," she continued. "The second circle can take 800 people. The third circle can take 500, the fifth can take 100. The last circle is by appointment only. Your Master already reserved a quota for use."

"Alright, Shier, time to go in," Ku Mu announced.

"I'll take you to the entrance," Moni-er said.

Most of the people within the first circle were teenagers, and a handful of them were children. The usual age was around 13 years old. There were also a couple of 15- and 16-year-olds. All of them were already Artificer Adepts—impressive, because in the North Rune sect, kids in this age group are typically no more than just apprentices.

There was also a handful of teenagers in the second circle. Those genius teenagers were amazing—they show that the Chen Xiao Sect was truly focused on training its disciples.

At the entrance was a purple clothed old man sitting down and guarding the place. Around six people dressed in silver robes were assisting him.

There were a dozen inner gate disciples going around maintaining order, handling the hundred plus disciples that were lined up waiting to enter.

"Old Yan! Yan Ziling! I want an entry spot!" Ku Mu called out.

The old man saw Ku Mu approaching and said, "Hey, Ku Mu! What do you want a spot for? You don't have a disciple."

Ku Mu was annoyed. "I have one now. Stop wasting my time and give me a spot!"

"Wahaha! The cultivating madman is willing to spend time teaching someone? This I have to see! Who is your apprentice?" Yan Ziling said.

Ku Mu called out, "Shier! Come and meet your Martial Senior Yan."

Guo shier stepped forward and cried out, "Guo Shier greets Martial Senior Yan!"

Yan Ziling was taken aback. "Is this your first time entering the Artificer Mysterious Virtual Path?

Guo Shier noticed that everybody who met him here seemed to ask the same question. This first entry must really be important; he should definitely try hard to hold on.

"Yes! This is also my first time seeing this Artificer Mysterious Virtual Path," Guo Shier politely answered Yan Ziling.

Yan nodded and proceeded to say a few words to the people wearing silver robes around him. "Okay, arrange for him to enter immediately. Someone's going to come out soon."

Yan called Guo Shier. "Alright, Shier. I'll send you in. Take this Rune with you. If you feel like you can't hold on any longer, just crush it, do you understand? Come here, I'll hang this Rune around your neck."

Moni-er cheered him on. "You can do it Shier!"

Ku Mu did not speak and just nodded at him. He nodded back as he felt Ku Mu's silent encouragement. He then turned around and entered the Artificer Mysterious Virtual Path.

Once inside, Guo Shier stood still and cautiously examined his surroundings. He found himself in the middle of a vast white expanse. The space was quiet—no sound at all.

On the ground, a glowing pathway emerged, leading the way. Guo Shier started to move forward, very carefully.

The moment he took a step, the path released a dozen Runes from the ground. The Runes floated and rotated around him. Once a Rune has flown a lap, it would flash a white light and streak into his body.

The moment a Rune enters Guo Shier's body, he immediately senses it within his soul. It is instantly absorbed by the Innate Rune Orb.

Guo Shier was amazed as he inspected his Innate Rune Orb and found new Runes flying around. He closed his eyes and took a closer look. The Runes contained some meaning but they seemed to be incomplete—they couldn't be deciphered with just the handful of new Runes.

He couldn't help but take another step. Another dozen or so Runes started to emerge and float around him again. They slowly got 'attracted' to his soul and entered his body.

He now understood that he was experiencing a special Legacy Rune Transference method. With this method, an individual can quickly learn the knowledge of an Artificer.

Outside, Ku Mu, Moni-er, Zhu Tien and Yan Ziling can clearly observe Guo Shier's every move. They noticed that Guo Shier was very cautious of his surroundings. He went slowly along the path, unlike other children who hurried forward.

As this was Guo Shier's first time to enter the Mysterious Virtual Path, the observing group was eager to see the potential of this child—his perseverance and ability to learn.

Yan Ziling was surprised. "Not bad. Not bad at all," he said. "This child is really careful. He takes his time to absorb all the Runes before moving on."

Moni-er was mumbling nervously on the side. "Don't stop, okay. It doesn't matter if you're very slow. Just keep going forward," she told Guo Shier, even though she knows he couldn't hear her.

Guo Shier walked slowly and deliberately. Each measured step he took released a batch of Runes, and the number of Runes released also increased as he advanced his way along the path.

The rotation of the Innate Rune Orb was gradually getting faster as he attracted more and more Runes into his body. A singular Rune almost fluttered but was sucked back again by his soul.

Unconsciously, Guo Shier finished walking the loop of the outermost circle.

Ku Mu watched on as though this was nothing special. He already knew that Guo Shier's strength was beyond the Artificer Adept level.

Moni-er, on the other hand, was fidgeting nervously by his side. As a motherly figure, she wanted Guo Shier to do well. Although the previous simple test proved his exceptional potential, she knew that potential was nothing without actual strength.

Yan Ziling look on, still very surprised. He did not expect Guo Shier to go so far. Very few children are able to finish the outer loop on their first try. Most of the kids give up halfway, as it is difficult to handle such sustained pressure for a long period of time. Guo Shier looked like he was not struggling at all.

"He's good. He's already in the second circle," said Yan Ziling.

Guo Shier kept moving forward—not too fast nor too slow. He took about 30 steps per minute, maintaining his pace even when he reached the 2nd inner circle.

Yan Ziling murmured, "This kid…how can he maintain this speed?"

He turned his head and asked Ku Mu, "Hey Ku Mu, how old is this child?"

"Ten years old," Ku Mu answered.

Yan Ziling gasped in astonishment. "Ten years old?!? That's unbelievable! Where did you find this child?"

Ku Mu ignored him and continued to watch Guo Shier with a satisfied expression on his face.

Chapter end