Awakening the Divine Spark
Chapter 209: Disciples of the Primordial Flame sect.

Chapter 209: Disciples of the Primordial Flame sect.

The Primordial Flame sect was built south west of a tall mountain that towered through clouds. The legend had it that the mountain was once an active volcano, but it was hard to imagine that the snowy peak, visible only on sunny days, had ever spewed out lava and ash.

Half way up the mountain there were ruins of once prosperous sect, possibly the predecessors of the Primordial Flame sect. And these were the ruins elder Qu was passionately researching.

At first Lee wasn’t sure whether it was the passion for archaeology that brought the old man here. The air was cool and fresh, and the rushing sound of the nearby river, disturbing the tranquility, somehow made the place feel more welcoming. And the scenery below ...

No wonder people back in the day built a whole city here. The place was a dream come true for any artist’s soul or a cultivator looking to comprehend heavenly laws.

But there was a problem. The Primordial Flame sect has been there for many millennia and everything that was to be found here, had been found long ago.

Lee walked around the ruins, enjoying the sights and actually felt he understood the old man well. He also would’ve loved to research the strange runic markings on stone tablets scattered around and piece together fragments, discovering events that had long passed. That is – if he had a hobby like that.

Now, though, he needed to get to the other continent and for that he needed the elder to open a rift for him. And that required him to meet the old man.

After inspecting the ruins, Lee sat down and enjoyed the sunset while snacking on sweets he bought in Flame City. The general outlines of the plan were done by now and he only needed to figure out few details. For example, how many forgeries he should craft and what runic symbols he should use.

Regarding the last part he had a plethora of choices. The yin-yang mark on his right palm was inscribed with hundreds of small symbols, many of which he had seen around the ruins. To arouse elder’s interest it was probably the best to mix ones that were common around here with others that looked more unique.

Lee meditated through the night on the mountain. In the morning he gathered a bunch of stones in one of the spatial rings and went back to the Flame City. There, he purchased a few tools, and left, only to come back half a month later.

He went back up the mountain, to the ruins and hung out there for half a day until saw a bunch of sect’s disciples arrive.

Lee had no clue what tasks the four young men had, but it didn’t matter. He partially undressed, and stepped into the rapid waters, barely withstanding the raw power that almost carried him away.

The water was ice-cold and Lee found it almost impossible to stand on his feet. With the first problem he easily dealt by guiding the fire elemental particles around his body, neutralizing the cold, but the second had to be solved purely with physical effort.

His ridiculous actions immediately attracted the attention of the disciples. The jeering laughter and the ridiculing of Lee’s suicidal tendencies echoed through the ruins, but he even welcomed that. While getting laughed at wasn’t anything a normal person enjoyed, it was pivotal that these guys witnessed him finding the strange stones in the river.

Under the ridiculing gazes Lee slowly moved about, picking up a larger stone, then throwing it away. He repeated it several times, until he picked a slightly smaller stone, inspected it and loudly cheered. Then he climbed out of the river, hid the stone in his bag, and got back in.

His actions were observed by the disciples, and after he fake-found another peculiar stone, their interest was peaked. The disciples didn’t directly come over, though. They watched Lee getting dressed, and followed him when he rushed down the mountain. Lee, of course, saw that and made sure they didn’t loose him.

After getting to Flame City, he entered a larger tavern, sat at the table next to a window and ordered a hot stew. While waiting, he pulled out several stones from his bag and began to carefully inspect them.

"Friend, would you mind selling me those things?" One of the disciples who followed Lee came over and directly asked.

"Sorry, not selling." Lee shook his head, without taking eyes of the stone in his hand.

It was in the size of two palms, thick, but flat, and covered with faint runic marks. Lee considered this to be the pinnacle of his work – the stone was smooth, and the runes barely visible, as if rapid waters had washed over them for many millennia.

He doubted there was anyone who could tell it was a forgery, except maybe if the symbols he carved didn’t make sense. But even then one had to research it for a longer period to come up with such assumption.

"Friend, you probably don’t understand." The guy didn’t let go, "I’m from the Primordial Flame sect."

"Mhm." Lee nodded, still refusing to look at him.

His idea was to play an eccentric – a person whom Elder Qu could resonate with. According to his plan these guys would fail to purchase his fake findings and inform elder about it. Then the elder would come to him and the rest was about how he would persuade the old man to open a rift.

The problem was, he overestimated, or maybe the opposite – underestimated these particular outer disciples. The guy hissed something that sounded blame yourself! and left. Lee knew that his first attempt failed, but wasn’t really bothered. He would wait for others to come to ruins and repeat the play.

Unfortunately, when he left the tavern, the four disciples surrounded him, with grins on their faces. All of them were in late twenties, but since they were still disciples of the outer sect, they clearly were useless bums.

"Get out of my way." Lee said, slightly annoyed, but mostly at himself for misjudging the situation earlier.

"You had your chance, kiddo." One of the four, the one who spoke to Lee earlier, said, "Leave the stones and we’ll let you go."

"It’s been some time since you heard your own scream, huh?" Lee asked, but inwardly kicked himself one more time.

He had missed the biggest flaw in his plan – he was only a teenager, unaffiliated with any sect. And that meant he was a random person set up for bullying. He noted that in the future he’ll have to take his status in consideration, but for now he had to deal with these four.

"Bastard!" One of the guys didn’t like Lee’s taunt, unsurprisingly the one standing behind him, and reached for Lee’s bag, but only grabbed a thin air.

It was clear that he will have to fight the moment the four surrounded him, but went easy on the guys nevertheless.

After throwing a glance over his shoulder, Lee kicked the one reaching for his bag in the chest, holding back to not instantly kill him. The guy flew few yards and heavily landed on the ground, but his buddies went at Lee at the same time.

Utilizing a simple footwork technique, Lee took three quick steps, appearing behind another disciple and smacked him on the back of his head. The guy fainted on the spot, but the other two, realizing they were no match to the teenager, drew their weapons.

"You don’t want to do this." Lee said, slightly bending his knees, "Take your buddies and scram."

The two looked at each other, then the people who were starting to rush over to watch the show. It was clear they couldn’t kill an unarmed teenager in the middle of the street, at least not without getting punished.

"You’ll regret that!" One of them said, sheathing his sword, and to the great disappointment of the onlookers, the fight was over.

Lee didn’t care about the small incident, and the same evening went back to the ruins, to look for more reasonable disciples to scam.

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