Chapter 0293: Shaman Doctor

Chapter 0293: Shaman Doctor

Qin Yun had long been yearning to visit Runes Hall headquarters and was eager to see what this shelter in the First District was like.

It was said that the strongest individuals from the First Town had gathered there to collectively protect Runes City.

"Within Runes City, there are many hidden talents!" Elder Zhou said. "Although we are at the Martial Dao realm, we still need to be very careful inside. There are many people stronger than us in Runes City. Some of them even possess unique skills!"

"Is Runes City open to just anyone?" Qin Yun asked. "They've worked hard to build this city, so they must charge some fees to maintain its safety."

"Of course," Lao Tan said, "In addition to regular taxes, they also charge an eighth-grade magic crystal core each time you enter. To us, eighth-grade magic crystal cores are insignificant."

Qin Yun had some eighth-grade magic crystal cores but didn't know what to do with them.

"It's a pity we didn't take the Dragon Demon Lion's corpse!" Elder Zhou sighed. "The Dragon Demon Lion is full of treasures. It would have been perfect for crafting weapons for Ah Yun!"

Qin Yun smiled. "We managed to get the Dragon Demon Lion's Demon Beast crystal egg, and we should be satisfied! The situation was too urgent for us to do anything else."

Although he also felt it was a pity, thinking back to the situation, there really wasn't any time to collect the Dragon Demon Lion's corpse. If they had been greedy for those remains, they might have suffered casualties.

Elder Zhou nodded with a smile. "Ah Yun, you have a good perspective. I've been thinking about it all this time!"

"When we get to Runes City, we need to hide our identities well and avoid being recognized. Getting the Dragon Demon Lion's Demon Beast crystal egg has made us a target," Lao Tan advised.

Many people had watched their battle with the Dragon Demon Lion horde, and many of them were strong individuals who had been to Runes City.

If those people returned to Runes City, they would definitely spread the news about this.

Because of his Rune King Cannon, Lao Tan was quite famous, and many people recognized him. He needed to be the most careful about hiding his identity.

After several days of travel, Qin Yun finally caught sight of Runes City.

The city walls of Runes City were 100 meters tall and silver-white, appearing extremely sturdy. The entire city was enormous, said to accommodate up to a million people.

Most of the surviving strong individuals from the First Town were now in Runes City.

Lao Tan led Qin Yun and the others to a small door.

To pass through this door, one had to crouch down to prevent Demon Beasts from entering. Even if the guards were negligent, larger Demon Beasts would find it difficult to pass through this door. If smaller Demon Beasts managed to get in, they would be easy to deal with.

They handed over the eighth-grade magic crystal cores to the guards and entered Runes City smoothly.

Inside Runes City, there were many iron towers tens or even hundreds of meters tall, clearly built to defend against beast hordes. If Demon Beasts attacked, these towers would not be reduced to ruins immediately.

Upon entering, Qin Yun was awestruck by the numerous magnificent iron towers and giant iron palaces!

Although the headquarters of Runes Hall was impressive, it only had one grand palace. In Runes City, there were many palaces, all constructed with silver spiritual iron.

"The First District has abundant resources!" Qin Yun could immediately tell that many of the buildings here were protected by grand arrays, especially the grand halls.

Lao Tan said, "The First Town is filled with talented individuals. Due to the high death toll, resources have been centralized here! The major powers often send out teams of a thousand people, all of them desperadoes, to gather resources outside. Many buildings outside have been destroyed, but the storage rooms hold many collected items."

"What is the currency used here?" Qin Yun asked.

"Crystal coins or purple crystal coins!" Elder Zhou said. "Maintaining these grand arrays demands a significant amount of crystal coins. Here, crystal coins can purchase various items, including Demon Beast crystal eggs, though they are extremely expensive—potentially costing hundreds of millions each."

Qin Yun had very few crystal coins left, so even if he wanted to buy something, he wouldn’t have enough.

"Let's go find that witch doctor!" Qin Yun suggested. They had already disguised themselves outside the city, with Lao Tan, in particular, dressing up as a very old man.

Elder Zhou said, "We won’t join you. We’ll just wander around and check into the Tianyi Inn. You can find us there."

Lao Tan nodded and said to Qin Yun, "Ah Yun, the two of us will go. Just stay close to me!"

After bidding farewell to Elder Zhou and his sons, Qin Yun and Lao Tan set off down a narrow street leading north.

The narrow street bustled with street vendors. Various demon beast bones, oddly shaped magic crystal cores, and patterned demon beast hides were laid out—all parts of demon beasts for sale.

"There are a lot of different demon beasts!" Qin Yun marveled.

"Yes! Especially in this area known as First Town," Lao Tan replied. "There are all kinds of demon beasts. They’ve killed many humans, but humans have also killed many of them! However, demon beasts reproduce very quickly, and the newborns are quite strong. Humans can’t compare in that regard."

"Uncle Tan, where is that witch doctor? How long will it take to see him?" Qin Yun asked, having changed how he addressed Lao Tan.

"Not long at all. He stays here because he needs demon beast materials to brew his potions," Lao Tan explained with a grin. "His name is Wu Xiang, and he’s quite famous around here."

After a short walk, Lao Tan led Qin Yun into a small alley, making several turns. They passed many small houses, circling around before arriving at a small courtyard house.

The door was quite unique, adorned with the skull of a demon beast—a pig head with two long, white tusks.

"This guy Wu Xiang is something else!" Qin Yun chuckled, eyeing the pig head.

Suddenly, the pig head’s jaws moved and even spoke. "Who’s there?"

Qin Yun was startled!

"It’s me, Little Tan!" Lao Tan called out with a grin. "I brought a young friend. I mentioned him last time, remember?"

The empty eyes of the pig head glowed with two green lights, enveloping Qin Yun and Lao Tan.

"Little Tan! Go ahead and push the door open," Lao Tan urged, opening it for Qin Yun.

Once inside, Qin Yun saw a brick path with two rows of skeletal figures standing alongside it. They weren’t exactly human—their skeletal bodies were human, but their limbs and heads were not; they belonged to demon beasts, as if human and beast bones were pieced together.

"Stay still. Those bones are tough!" Lao Tan warned in a low voice.

"I thought they were just decorations!" Qin Yun said, slightly startled, and dared not move.

They entered the small house and came into a hall where a skinny old man with a topknot sat.

The old man, the witch doctor named Wu Xiang, only reached Qin Yun’s waist. His beard was very long, touching the ground, and his topknot was wrapped with many colorful threads of unknown material.

Despite his small stature, the old man exuded an energetic presence. His smiling eyes were bright and full of vitality as he greeted them. "Please, take a seat!"

Qin Yun and Lao Tan quickly sat down. The chairs were also made of beast bones, and many things in the hall were crafted from snow-white beast bones, giving off a peculiar feeling.

"Little Tan mentioned you. He said you’re a junior Runes Master at a young age and can refine mid-grade immobilization runes," Wu Xiang said, looking at Qin Yun with great interest.

"Elder Wu, I can now refine top-grade immobilization runes!" Qin Yun said, taking out his refined top-grade immobilization bone rune and handing it to Wu Xiang with a smile. "Consider it my gift to you, Elder Wu."

Wu Xiang was surprised and quickly took the bone rune, bringing it close to his eyes to examine it carefully.

"Five levels of precision, did you really refine this?" Wu Xiang was startled by the level of precision and asked in surprise.

"Yes!" Qin Yun was also secretly amazed that Wu Xiang could directly see the level of precision, which showed he had done some research on Qi patterns.

"Can you make one in front of me?" Wu Xiang said. "I know that Old Tan brought you to me because you want help stepping into the Martial Dao realm. No worries, you can trust me!"

Hearing this, Qin Yun felt much more at ease and nodded with a smile. "Alright, I'll make one now!"

"Old Tan, if you're bored, you can go out for a stroll! Don't worry, I won't eat this young one!" Wu Xiang's words gave Qin Yun the creeps.

Old Tan chuckled dryly. "Alright, I'll leave Qin Yun here and come back later."

After seeing Old Tan out, Wu Xiang came back to see Qin Yun setting up a workbench and a prepared bone plate, ready to engrave the mystic patterns.

"I'm going to start!" Qin Yun took out the Lingxi Xuan Brush (a brush used to engrave mystic patterns), about to engrave the patterns, when he heard Wu Xiang let out a strange cry.

"It's... it's the soul of the mystic pattern, the Beast King!" Wu Xiang was so surprised that his eyes widened, his face full of disbelief as he pointed at the brush.

Qin Yun was also startled. The secret of the mystic pattern's soul, the Beast King, was a big one for him, and now someone had seen through it.

"Elder Wu, you won't tell others, right?" Qin Yun asked worriedly.

"Rest assured, even if I killed you, I wouldn't be able to use the mystic pattern's soul of the Beast King!" Wu Xiang took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

This put Qin Yun at ease. He said, "It's because of this brush that my level of precision improved. Originally, I was only between the third and fourth levels."

"That's still pretty good!" Wu Xiang said. "You don't need to make it. I believe you can achieve this level of precision! I'll prepare the elixir for you now, but you have to agree to help me refine two talismans!"